Sermon and Worship Resources

Synonyms: thirstiness, dryness, parched, craving, strong desire, longing, yearning, avidity, hunger, voracity, keenness, eagerness, lust, appetite, passion, love, crave, want, covet, desire, hunger for/after, lust for/after, hanker for/after, have one's heart set on

Antonyms: aversion, distaste, apathy, dislike, hatred, antipathy, disgust, disregard, abhorrence, acrimony, wet, animosity, animus, antagonism, bad feeling, bitterness, be averse to, detestation

Showing 4551 to 4575 of 5000 results

4551. How to Be a Blessing

I Peter 3:8-12

Sermon

Mark Trotter

... prove the curse that was put upon them. On the other hand, you tell somebody that they are made in the image of God, that God loves them, and they have great potential, that they can even fail and it doesn't matter because we all make mistakes, because you have it ... only on what we have done, but he looked on what we can be. And he treated us, therefore, as people with potential because we are loved by God. We can become that, he believed, if only we knew who we are. And he came to tell us who we are. Not ...

4552. Laugh It Off

I Corinthians 1:18-20, 26-31

Sermon

Mark Trotter

... one. If we can see that, if we can see who we really are, see this paradox of who we are, the way God has made us and loves us the way we are, then we can see that it is all right if we act like a baboon once in a while, as long as ... want to quote it in full, but simply go to the last line, which is the most important. It says, "We are more than conquerors through him who loved us." If life is a tragedy, then we are victims. But if life is a comedy, then we can be more than conquerors. Then in our epistle ...

4553. Pre-Game Analysis

I Corinthians 9:19-27

Sermon

Mark Trotter

... said, "When God took on our flesh, he took on our suffering." That was the scandal. God did that so that we would know God's love for us. God so loved the world he gave his son to suffering. Now here is the genius of Paul. He said, the Son became a hero. He lived a ... the Athenians to view this busy spectacle of our great city, life as we have it before us day by day, falling in love with her as we see her and remembering that all this greatness, she (the city) owes to man, with the fighter's daring, ...

4554. When to Hold On

II Timothy 3:14-4:5

Sermon

Mark Trotter

... broken, then there is jeopardy in that society. But if two legs are broken, there is collapse of the civilization. In my opinion the Church is the most critical part of that trinity, because the Church is the steward of the tradition of loving the stranger, without which there is no civility. The Church proclaims the importance of fidelity, without which marriage and family will not survive. The Church proclaims the divine worth of each child in this society, which is the motivation for public education. It ...

4555. The Burglar's Christmas

Luke 15:22-24

Drama

Matthew Powell

... How could you rob your own house? How could you take what is your own? They are all yours, son, as wholly yours as my love - and you can't doubt that, Will, do you? Narrator 1: That soft voice, the warmth, and fragrance of her person stole through his ... you have come back to me, just as you always did after you ran away to swim in the river that was forbidden you, the river you loved because it was forbidden. You are tired and sleepy, just as you used to be then, only a little older and a little paler and a ...

4556. Lent 5

John 11:1-16, Ezekiel 37:1-14, Romans 8:1-17, John 11:17-37, John 11:38-44

Sermon Aid

John R. Brokhoff

... . If we do not have it before death, we will not have it after death. 3. Compassion. Jesus is a full human who has the capacity to feel the hurts of friends. He shares the sorrow of Mary and Martha. He weeps with Mary over Lazarus' death. He expresses his love for his friends. Jesus did not really need to cry, for he knew what he was going to do in the raising of Lazarus. Yet, human as he was, he was caught up in the situation and identified with his friends. 4. Partnership with God. God did not speak nor ...

4557. The Cry for Help

Matthew 15:21-28

Sermon

Stephen M. Crotts

... not placed in some general idea of deity but in the God of Israel and his Messiah. She continued to trust in him and his ability to help even when it looked as if her appeal were going to be turned down rudely. God's character is fundamentally one of love and mercy. That is stated often in the Old Testament and is revealed most fully in the life of Christ. The demands of the law and divine judgment are realities but they are not the deepest truth about God. When the law convicts you of sin, its purpose is ...

4558. Church Discipline: A Cure for What Ails the Body

Matthew 18:15-20

Sermon

Stephen M. Crotts

... 15-20 uses the word brother. We are not to pull specks out of other's eyes (Matthew 7:3). We are to "forebear one another in love" (Philip-pians 2:3). Like a well-waxed car in the rain, water falls on the hood and quickly glides away. So with us when we live ... Gettysburg battlefield. It is rough and ugly. The other is from a river where it empties into the sea. It is smoothly polished and lovely. One tumbled with other stones in the river and so got its rough edges knocked off. The other lay alone in a field ...

4559. Supper's Ready!

Matthew 22:1-14

Sermon

Stephen M. Crotts

... to take the life out of the party, he came to put life in the party. When I was a student in college, my hall adopted a stray dog as a mascot. One winter this mangy, undernourished mutt wandered into the dorm seeking warmth. The fellows on the hall immediately loved that animal and sought to help him. Can you imagine what went on in that dog's brain as the fellows washed him in the shower? Soap and water were alien to a dog used to ugly, smelly, matted fur. Then there was the mange medicine and the rabies ...

4560. Cross Purposes

Matthew 10:1-42

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... signs at these cross-roads make it difficult to tell which direction is the correct choice. Signs can be misleading, enticing, cajoling. Jesus warned his disciples that they must not be led astray, even by such seemingly right choices as love for family, love for companionship, love for life's comforts. The meaning of the Greek diabolos, which we translate "devil" in English, literally means "one who throws something across one's path." The Devil tries to divert us and detour us from the ancient paths. The ...

4561. Low Carb Christianity

Luke 14:25-35

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... you would marry? No, your family did. It was that very influence, that essential hold on heart and head, that Jesus called his disciples to reject, to hate. Jesus' harsh words shocked and shook up that crowd of would-be disciples. For he called them to understand love and loyalty in a whole new way. These earthly connections that we all feel make us who we are - a father, a mother, a husband, a wife, a brother, a sister, a son, a daughter - are only secondary identities. What we are, what we must be first ...

4562. For All the Saints

Luke 19:1-10

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... a name that dominates that history of jazz. His name also needs to grace the history of the church. In fact, there's even The Church of Saint John's, where the saint is Saint John Coltrane. [If you can, get a copy of the Coltrane recording "A Love Supreme" and play it while you focus your a richer, fuller, more productive life. At that time, in gratitude, I humbly asked to be given the means and privilege to make others happy through music. I feel this has been granted through His grace. ALL PRAISE TO GOD ...

4563. Hands On

Luke 7:36-50

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... do, I have offered my life for the salvation of the world. Give me the seat of honor at the right hand of your majesty and let me share you power.' Let me see your hands, your feet, and your side,' God answered, 'for those dreadful wounds suffered in love are the proof of your faithfulness, and they alone can gain for you access to my majesty and power.' Of course the devil had no such wounds to show, as all in heaven could see from his uplifted hands. At that very moment Christ appeared--See! He lifts his ...

4564. Saved by the Bell

Luke 23:26-43

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... has nothing to do with dinner tables or boxing rings or the beginning of school. Nor does it derive from the use of bells to regulate the offices of the day and mark significant ritual moments. What it does have to do with is cemeteries. I love to worship at churches that have cemeteries next to them. My brother is interim pastor at a Presbyterian church in New Jersey where the path from the parking lot to the front of the church takes you right through the graveyard. There is nothing more theologically ...

4565. Can You Smell the Perfume?

John 12:1-11

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... My God, My God, Why have you forsaken me!" And when even this cry is mocked by those who mistook his cry to God as a cry to Elijah – Then Jesus smelled the perfume . . . ...And he remembered this woman who gave all she had that he would remember God's love for him, and in that smell even detect odors from home that told him he was returning from whence he came. The greatest honor anyone can give anyone is to tell his or her story. Here was someone who did what she could (literally, "She used what she had ...

4566. Building Bridges While Getting Shot at from Both Shores

Revelation 22:1-6

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... person, this glint of sunlight off this dragonfly wing, and, insofar as is possible, to perceive each of those around us as subjects. This isn't a simple plea for us to all just get along. I'm not suggesting we replace abstract hate with a love just as abstract . . . Nor am I suggesting we simply step way from violence. I'm suggesting that there's a difference all the difference in the world, really between real fights between real people even when real blood is spilled and killings based on preconceptions ...

4567. Which Will It Be - the Silvered Cross or the Slivered Cross?

Matthew 17:1-13, Mark 9:2-13

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... the likes of which has not been seen since Madonna recorded "Like A Virgin" (remember when we were shocked by that?). Whether you love Mel's movie, hate Mel's movie, are totally confused about Mel's movie, or could care less about Mel's movie, you ... discipleship. The cross of Christ tells us that we're broken and in need of healing. The cross of Christ tells us that there is one who loves us and was broken for us that we may be healed. There was no room at the inn for Jesus, but there is room at the cross ...

4568. The Lonesome George Church

Matthew 4:23-25, Matthew 4:18-22, Matthew 4:12-17

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... the field or grinding corn, whether you are a priest or a professor, a cook or a porter, or an old age pensioner. What matters is how your life looks when you hold it up to the light of the gospel of the God whose nature is to love of all humankind. --Edward Schillebeeckx, For the Sake of the Gospel (New York: Crossroad, 1992), 28 as quoted in Brennan Manning, Abba’s Child: The Cry of the Heart for Intimate Belonging (Colorado Springs, CO: Navpress, 1994), 147-48. What do you think the greater need of the ...

4569. A New Attitude

Matthew 17:1-13

Sermon

King Duncan

... While Peter is still speaking, a bright cloud envelopes them, and a voice is heard from the cloud, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased. Listen to him!” As you might expect, by this time, the three disciples are terrified. They fall face ... completely, it is this: Listen to Christ’s words. That’s what the voice said on the mountain: “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased. Listen to him!” That should be the reason we come to this room each week--to listen for ...

4570. Proper 12

Genesis 29:15-30, Matthew 13:31-35, Matthew 13:44-46, Matthew 13:47-52, Romans 8:28-39, Psalm 105:1-45

Sermon Aid

Marion L. Soards, Thomas B. Dozeman, Kendall McCabe

... . The text in Matthew takes in a broad sweep of material, all of which challenges us to rethink and reorient our priorities in relation to God; for encountering God motivates us to put God (and God's ways) above all else. Romans 8:26-39 - "God's Love Prevails!" Setting. Readers may turn to Proper 11 for discussion of the setting of this week's epistle lesson. Structure. Verses 26-30 are actually the last part of the section 8:18-30, but the verses serve in this lesson to declare a theme that is the point ...

4571. Changed Lives - Nicodemus

John 3:1-21

Sermon

King Duncan

... kingdom, a kingdom of the heart, a kingdom of the spirit. In order to enter that kingdom you need to experience some profound changes in the way you think and the way you feel. You need to open yourself to a new level of devotion, a new capacity for love, a new set of eyes by which to see the world--eyes filled with compassion and acceptance and forgiveness. He is saying to Nicodemus what God said through Ezekiel: “I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you . . .” That way you will be able ...

4572. What Does It Really Mean to Be a Christian?

Mark 10:17-22

Sermon

James W. Moore

... to pray, My prayer shall be for others. Others, Lord, yes others Let this my motto be Help me to live for others (Listen now closely, to the last line) That I may live like thee.” Jesus teaches us that the best way to show our love for God is to love others just like he did… tenderly, graciously, sacrificially, unconditionally. III. THIRD, HE IS THE ONE WHO SHOWS US THE WAY TO CELEBRATE LIFE. The joy of life is not in material things… they rust, they corrode, they break, they go out of style. The real ...

4573. Don't Look Back, Remember Lot's Wife

Genesis 19:24-26

Sermon

James W. Moore

... You’re going to send me back to the orphanage! I know you will! I know you will! Please don’t send me back!” His family would say: “Christopher, Christopher. You are not going back. This is your home! You are our son! We are your parents. We love you so much. You belong here with us.” But, Christopher just could not believe it. It felt too good to be true. He was just so afraid he might be sent back. Finally, one night that family did a beautiful thing. After dinner, the whole family went together ...

4574. The Bridge over Troubled Water

Psalm 23:1-6

Sermon

James W. Moore

... wedding and now I’m going on the honeymoon!” But, the pilot said, “We’re going to drop the bride and groom off at Love Field in Dallas. You can sit back here with them… or up front with me… whichever you would like.” I chose the co-pilot’ ... was with us. I knew come what may God would be with us… because the Scriptures tell us that nothing can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. That’s the first and the most important thing to remember when we are hit by the storms ...

4575. Life in the Living Stone Age

1 Peter 2:4-12

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... “cry out.” Stones are hard and unyielding, yet they are also strong and enduring. They can hold up the walls of our civilizations, or they can crash through and crush the shelters we have created. We give precious stones, gemstones, as tokens of love and fidelity. We hurl stones in anger and hate as the ultimate signs of condemnation and punishment. Strong voices in the Christian tradition have argued that even stones need to be seen, not just as “organic” entities, but as in some way as “living ...

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