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 4576 to 4600 of 5000 results

4576. Christian Courage

Acts 4:1-22

Sermon

Durwood L. Buchheim

... and demands. Faithful preachers therefore, are not just to be nice and do nice things, but they are also to speak the truth in love. Christian courage is not just for the pulpit, but also for the pew. Most of us like to be liked a lot more than we want to admit. It begins in childhood. How hard it is to be different than our friends. We have to like the same movies, music, hair styles, and clothes. And it doesn’t change all that much as we get older. "What will the neighbors think?" is usually much more ...

4577. The Church Reaches Out!

Acts 8:26-40

Sermon

Durwood L. Buchheim

... us." In our text, Philip asks the Ethiopian eunuch, "Do you understand what you are reading?" He replied, "How can I, unless someone guides me?" Thus Christian nurture and Christian education become essential parts of our mission. If we are going to "open our mouths," we want to be sure that what comes out is more sense than sound. We are reminded of the foundation words for all Christian teaching and learning by the Apostle Paul, "When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned ...

4578. The BIG Rules

Exodus 20:1-21

Children's Sermon

Mary O

... rules. I think my second grade teacher had a separate rule for every occasion. Sometimes it felt like I couldn’t turn around without breaking a rule! But other teachers only had one rule. Can you guess what it was? (Response) That’s right, to treat others like you would want to be treated. We call that the Golden Rule because it is so important. Do you know why we have rules? (Response) That’s right, to tell us how to act. Sometimes we need a guide to help us figure out the best way to act. What if I ...

4579. Dual Citizenship I - What Do We Owe To Our Country?

Matthew 22:15-22

Sermon

Bill Bouknight

... take their citizenship vows. Every place on earth was represented. They reminded me of that old Coca Cola commercial about "I want to teach the world to sing." These sixty folks had waited five years for this day. They had learned the language ... saying that both God and the nation have legitimate claims on us; but one is supreme over the other. Today, I want us to think about our dual citizenship. Today I want to ask: What do we owe to America? On next weekend my focus will be: What are our obligations to God ...

4580. Egypt: Unlikely Refuge

Matthew 2:13-18

Sermon

J. Ellsworth Kalas

... they were in Egypt. Then we went down into the bowels of the church, into a dark, dank spot. Those of us who cared to, put a finger into the flowing water, or dipped in a cupped hand, then touched a bit of the water to our lips. I wanted to believe as I dipped my finger into that cool stream, that I was indeed bending at the spot where Joseph and Mary once scooped up water for the infant Jesus. The solemnity, the heavy darkness, and the inescapable mystery of the place - a mystery that seems to pervade ...

4581. Obedience to God

Drama

Curt M. Joseph

... Passover and all. And you Pharisees aren’t helping, with all your little games and traps. In fact, he just left some of your pharisaical friends who were trying to get some evidence against him. Why don’t you just leave us and him alone! Joseph: That’s what I want to talk to you about. There are a lot of things I don’t understand. I’m looking for some answers. I believe he may be the Messiah, but some of his answers cause me to wonder. No one has ever spoken like him before. But I just don’t ...

4582. Jesus the Hope of the World

Drama

Curt M. Joseph

... do anything on our own. It’s hopeless. Mary: Look, maybe he is dead, but the dream is not dead. All that he stood for, all he wanted us to do is still before us. If we don’t carry on, who will? John: Now, Mary, we know you’re upset. Mary: Don’t "Now ... light. John: She’s got a point. Maybe she is right. Thomas: And maybe you’ll wind up on a Roman cross. Is that a gamble you want to take? I’m leaving. The sun will be up soon and I’ve got to go while it’s still night. Are you coming? Peter: I ...

4583. Stewards and Our Bodies

1 Corinthians 6:12-20

Sermon

Jerry L. Schmalemberger

... wrong of society’s beliefs about sex. We need to base all we say and do on biblical principles and to conduct our own relationship with our spouse as a model of Christian conduct. It is true that some kind of sex education happens whether we want it to or not. So many of our children grow up learning about their sexuality from dirty stories in locker rooms or from those who pervert sexuality for profit. Some learn from well-meaning physical education teachers in public schools who may not be permitted to ...

4584. A Man Whose Dreams Came True

Genesis 37:1-11

Sermon

R. Blaine Detrick

... answer was, "Yes, my God can tell you what is meant. The two dreams are the same. They mean that we’re going to have seven years of plenty, followed by seven years of famine. And the seven years of famine will completely devour the years of plenty. God wants you to know ahead of time, that you may plan and be prepared. You ought to appoint a responsible person to serve as the administrator of all crops. If you save wisely during the years of plenty, there will be enough when the time of famine comes." The ...

4585. A Dead Man in a Witch’s Cave

1 Samuel 28:1-25

Sermon

R. Blaine Detrick

... for the stunning success and for his heavenly help. Years ago, after a trying experience in our family, my wife brought me an unexpected gift. It was not a special occasion, not a birthday, not an anniversary. She came with a key-chain that she wanted me to have, after this critical time we had gone through together. It was engraved with my initials on one side, and on the other side ... "Ebenezer." She was reminding me, "Hitherto the Lord hath helped us." The key-chain has long since lost its usefulness ...

4586. Augustine, Defender of the Faith

Sermon

Jerry L. Schmalemberger

... . • You are my family and that means self-discipline. • The real joy of life is what you give away and share with others. • Love those who persecute you. • Love your enemies and you will be blessed. St. Augustine would condemn any practice of faith which simply endorses what the masses want. He would want to talk to Christians who join the church and fail to experience a real change in their lives, except for that certain respectability they feel because they attend worship occasionally. Usually we ...

4587. Discipleship - Path to Fulfillment

Mark 10:35-45

Sermon

James W. Robinson

... be slave of all." Two men, one a Baptist and the other a Roman Catholic, come to mind whenever I make the connection between greatness and servanthood. The Baptist said: Every now and then I think about my own death, and I think about my funeral ... I don’t want a long funeral. And if you get somebody to deliver the eulogy, tell them not to talk too long ... Tell them not to mention that I have a Nobel Peace Prize ... Tell them not to mention that I have three or four hundred other awards ... I’d like ...

4588. You Don’t Really Feel That Way

Job 6:1-7:21

Sermon

Thomas D. Peterson

... . Is this not good news? Kennedy also reminds us that when good news comes it comes as a surprise. Or as he puts it, "But spring never comes the same way twice" (Ibid., p. 67). People who cry out to be looked at with compassion know this. Perhaps all they want is someone to watch with them through the transition into a new spring. I knew my illness; my friend knew her plight as she sat till twilight in her room; and, the man by the pool knew his despair well. Since there is no way that by slight effort we ...

4589. Confronting Hypocrisy With Humility (I)

Matthew 23:1-39

Sermon

Brett Blair

... in. I am going to vote honor out and duty in. That’s whom I am going to vote for and I wish it were that simple. Truth is, leadership, the way Jesus described it, is hard to find, even among the religious. So what is it exactly that Jesus wants out of leaders and how do they get there. We will look at that in a moment. I But first, what is it that keeps most leaders from being effective leaders? It is Hypocrisy. It can quickly undermine the work of the greatest teachers. What is hypocrisy? Charles Shultz ...

4590. How Big is God?

1 John 4:7-21

Children's Sermon

Wesley T. Runk

... if I can get started by seeing how big you are and then maybe I can tell. I need some volunteers to help me with my problem. (Select some children of various sizes both heighth-wise and also weight-wise). Oh, this group will be absolutely perfect for what I want to do. Now first of all I will see how tall or short they are and I wonder if someone will mark down on this paper the numbers that I give them? That’s fine. (Go about measuring them) Now I think that we will weigh these volunteers also because ...

4591. Does God Really Know Me?

Matthew 10:1-42

Children's Sermon

Wesley T. Runk

... talk about for a long time and just never had the right kind of people to talk them over with until you came here. I know that your parents have appreciated listening to the kind of questions that you ask because they have told me so. Now I don’t want you to think that I am the only one to whom you are important because that is our question for tonight. Does God really know and care about me? Do you think that God cares about someone as little as you? How important are you? Do you work, make things ...

4592. Christmas Carols · Silent Night

Luke 2:1-20

Children's Sermon

Wesley T. Runk

... write a poem or sing "Silent Night," and when you do you will be telling others about Jesus the same way the daughters of a glove maker told people a couple of hundred years ago. Think of all the strange things that made "Silent Night" happen. A pastor who wanted to do something different for his people wrote a poem. An organ broke down and would not play on Christmas Eve. A man who loved hymns about Jesus took a simple song back to his village where a man who sold gloves let his daughters sing the new song ...

4593. Thomas - The Hard Worker

John 11:16

Children's Sermon

Wesley T. Runk

... and Jesus would never leave. Sometimes we forget all of the hard workers like Thomas and just remember the good thinkers and good talkers. But Thomas is one hard worker we will never forget for many reasons. He was loyal to Jesus, and willing to go wherever Jesus wanted him to go. We also remember him because he looked so much like Jesus that they called him the twin. But most of all we remember him because he was such a hard worker. That’s why this symbol has a carpenter’s square. Jesus needs many hard ...

4594. "Why Belong to Church?"

John 14:15-31

Sermon

... . The great hope that cast its anchor behind Jesus Christ in a pessimistic, chaotic, dismal day - when men seem to be at each others throats and when hatred and violence and crime are running rampant, there comes from the Christ, the saved, and the churches hope. I want to belong to an organization that still has that kind of hope that hopes that we can be good stewards of the earth and survive pollution and that we can have peace among races and countries. I am sick of all the prophets of doom and making ...

4595. It Might Have Been ...

Luke 22:1-6, Matthew 26:14-16, Matthew 27:1-10, Matthew 26:47-56

Sermon

... little thing is the last straw for any of us? When he walked out into the night to betray Jesus, did he hope Jesus would call him back? Haven’t we done that? On impulse, we begin to make some gesture - one perhaps we didn’t even really want to carry through - but having committed ourselves, we move on. And nobody stops us. So our pride sends us on almost against our will. To his credit, Judas confessed. "I have betrayed innocent blood." It was a bonafide confession but it was in the wrong place. We’ve ...

4596. Which Self Are You?

Genesis 2:4-25

Sermon

Louis H. Valbracht

... were meant to be and what THEY were meant to be also - children of God. Oh, yes, any of our kids could have walked into a bar anyplace in Mexico. The drinking age is twelve years, so any one of our kids could have drunk all he wanted. We had not one single disciplinary problem in the whole trip. Those students and those Mexican people knew that here was a group that was praising God, that they were using the talent, the discipline, the concentration, the consecration that it took to produce a concert like ...

4597. If You Had Been Here

John 11:17-37

Sermon

Louis H. Valbracht

... -centered, and we storm the gates of God seeking His help, and if He were to grant it, He would be contributing to our further selfishness. Too many of our prayers are pagan. They are something like the housewife’s telephone call to the grocer. "We want this. We want that. And we want it right away." A philosophy professor of mine used to say, "Be careful what you pray for in your youth. God might grant it in old age." As I see it, the heart of prayer is communion with God. Prayer is the "practice of the ...

4598. The Forgotten Virtue

Philippians 2:1-11

Sermon

Louis H. Valbracht

... we appear to the world. We have given them a picture of Christianity which comprehends the whole gospel in a few things that we are proud that we don’t do. And the world on the outside of us looks and says, "If that’s the way it is, I want nothing of it." Oh, yes, we’re out to save the lost and condemned sinners, but only if they’re nice people, and they fit into our social strata, and they can support the church properly. We operate like some banks; we will loan money only to those who can ...

4599. He Ought to Stick Out!

1 John 4:7-21

Sermon

Charles L. Koester

... is doomed to eventual failure. We are unable to produce any radical changes within ourselves. But we keep on trying, and keep on striking out with mere positive thinking. Ours has become the "instant, can’t wait" society. We want everything to occur instantly. Instant breakfast, rice, and potatoes. Instant relief from headaches, heartburn, indigestion. Instant credit, loans, financing. Advertising media constantly bombard us with the themes of the "now" generation. Is it any wonder we venture the hope ...

4600. What's Mine Is Yours

Luke 12:13-21

Sermon

Ewart E. Turner

... , the butler, Obed. "Begging your pardon, sir, but this man knocked at the door and asked for you, saying he had something which would be to your great benefit. Since it concerned something to your great benefit, I said you were in. I felt you would not want to turn him away out of hand." Obed bowed and disappeared. Godson was seen, standing at the head of the stairs. A gruff Mr. Barnes looked him over and said, "Well?" Godson drew nearer and bowed. "Mr. Barnes, I represent CROP, an agency of God for the ...

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