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 4626 to 4650 of 5000 results

4626. Why Me?

Proverbs 16:4, Colossians 1:16

Sermon

James Merritt

... no other purpose in their life. I want to go ahead and give you the punch line. If you take God out of the question, you will never be able to answer it. If you take God out of the equation, you will never be able to solve it. I love to go into bookstores and just browse. I would ask you to go into a bookstore sometime in the next week and just see how many books have been written on somehow helping yourself to find out who you are, to be what you should be, or to do what ...

4627. What Do I Do When My Prayers Go Unanswered?

Deuteronomy 3:1-11, 23-26

Sermon

James Merritt

... favorites. He can say "No" to the most noble prayers and He can say "No" to the greatest prayers. God said, "No" to some of the greatest men in the Bible. Without question, outside of Jesus Christ, the hero of the entire New Testament was a man named, Paul. Nobody loved God more than Paul, served God better than Paul and was more devoted to God than Paul. Yet, Paul had what He called a "thorn in the flesh." We are not sure what that thorn was, but what we do know is that he asked God, not once, not twice ...

4628. Parenting 101

Ephesians 6:1-4

Sermon

James Merritt

... I'd rather stay with you and mom." Well, I believe every child ought to be reared in a good Christian home by parents who love the Lord, who read the Bible and pray with their children, and who model the life of Christ before them. Though I do not claim ... study the word of God, and the discipline to do it. Do you know why that is true—because if you teach your children to love their Bible, learn their Bible, and live their Bible, you will have an influence on them long after you have left this planet. I want ...

4629. Your New Home

Joshua 24:14-15

Sermon

James Merritt

... of the Lord." (Ephesians 6:4, NIV) Mom and dad, God has given to us the responsibility of spiritually training our children and it is not an option. It is a command. The most important lesson we will teach our kids is about how to know God, love God, and worship God. The bottom line of good parenting is to point our kids to God. Why is that so important? Proverbs 9:10 says, "Knowing God results in every other kind of understanding." (Proverbs 9:10, LB) Philippians 3:8 says, "Everything else is worthless ...

4630. The World Is Not Enough

Luke 12:13-21

Sermon

James Merritt

... pastor of the local Baptist church came to call. He was an Englishman, and he also was 75. He was a widower, and he had spent most of his free time taking care of his two invalid sisters. He was jumping up and down, full of enthusiasm, full of love for Jesus and love for others. They were talking and the Baptist preacher said, "You know, Billy, I don't have two pounds to my name, but I am the happiest man in the world." Billy Graham said when they walked out of that man's house, he looked at Ruth and ...

4631. Hotline to Heaven

Matthew 6:5-15

Sermon

James Merritt

... a trumpet would blow and would signal that it was time to pray. Wherever you were, and whatever you were doing, you were expected to stop and immediately begin to pray. You were to stand, turn toward the temple and begin to pray. Well, the Pharisees, who loved to make a show of their religion, realized this was a great time to strut your stuff. It was a great way to show off your spirituality. So they would time their prayers so that when the trumpet would blow, they would be standing at the busiest ...

4632. The World’s Favorite Scripture

Matthew 7:1-6

Sermon

James Merritt

... Well, I'm going to take her home today, I'll let you know how it goes." So he took her home. The next day his friend called him up and said, "How did it go?" The bachelor said, "Terrible." The friend said, "Why?" He said, "Well, my mother loved her, but my father couldn't stand her." Again, no one likes fault finding critics. But there has been a backlash in this country against any type of criticism of any type of immoral behavior, no matter how bad it may be. Jonathan Alter, a writer for Newsweek magazine ...

4633. WeatherProofing Your Home

Matthew 7:24-27

Sermon

James Merritt

... to know what is going on in your heart. I want to hear what you have to say. I want to know how you feel. I love you enough to keep my mouth shut and my ears open. Men, I want to come back to us one more time. The number one complaint that ... women make against us is that we don't listen. That is why so many affairs begin with conversation. Women do love to talk and if we don't listen, they will find someone who will. One of the ways to affair proof your marriage is to learn ...

4634. Finishing Strong

Nehemiah 9:38--10:39

Sermon

James Merritt

... to the one you are marrying. A couple came by to see me last week and with a smile on their face said, "We just want you to know today we became covenant members of Cross Pointe." I don't mind telling you that is music to my ears. I love to hear that phrase because that tells me they understand their membership means something. It is a commitment before the Lord that they are going to live up to. These people were driving a written stake into the ground. They were saying in effect, "God's word is going to ...

4635. Eating in the Echoing Hall

2 Samuel 18:5-9, 15, 31-33

Sermon

Stan Purdum

... us to be. Recall Peter's denial of Jesus after Jesus had been arrested. When Peter realized what he'd done, and when he saw that it could not be undone, he wept bitterly. Those were tears of regret. But later, the resurrected Jesus came and asked Peter if he loved him. When Peter said he did, Jesus told him, "Feed my sheep." In other words, "Do my will. Don't wallow in the regret. Learn from it, repent of your part in it, but turn your eyes back to me and follow me." Let's not kid ourselves. Deep regret ...

4636. A Pair of Ducks and Abundant Life

Mark 8:31--9:1

Sermon

King Duncan

... guilt that all of us feel when we lose someone close. And often we do not need that guilt because we had a wonderful relationship with the person who has gone. But there is also that element of truth that we have so much that we could give away our love, our friendship, our time. Anything we save we will lose. That’s true of all aspects of life. The person who sits around the house all the time conserving his or her energy will have less and less energy to conserve. It’s the person who sits around all ...

4637. Woe to the Blessed

Luke 6:17-26

Sermon

Gary L. Carver

... the sky" statement. Jesus is saying that it is not only worth it then, it is all worth it now! A life surrendered to Jesus is the very best of all lives, and that will work in the best of your days and in the worst of your days. I love the story that is told of a factory that was having problems with employees stealing. The company hired a security firm to help with the problem. They had guards posted at all exits and they were to check each employee as they left for the day. They searched their clothing ...

4638. More Time

Luke 13:1-9

Sermon

Donald Charles Lacy

... think of a time when you did not want God in charge of justice? Probably, we all can and that is when it involves a loved one or some figure in whom we have great confidence. Our salvation, so to speak, is found in remembering God has no beginning or end. ... and start anew? The list of questions can go on and on. Most of all, we must impress upon them that God still loves them. One of the paramount lessons we can teach our children and grandchildren is to spot opportunities that will not only benefit them, ...

4639. Mary Magdalene’s Day

John 20:1-18

Sermon

Donald Charles Lacy

... even the most brilliant and committed scholars. So, it is by faith and mystery we let his words rest and relax in our hearts, minds, and souls. Briefly, whatever the Lord is doing is fine with us. We know everything will come out well for those who love him and seek to follow him. There is nothing quite like putting faith in him and his ways. Mary is to tell his brothers. That within itself must have been quite innovative. Again, we encounter the relationship between the two. It means he trusts her! What ...

4640. Abba, Your Kingdom Come

Luke 11:1-13

Sermon

Ron Lavin

... reign and control. The Lord's Prayer is all about God's reign over us for our own good. We approach God in prayer as our loving Father and as the Lord of the universe. The prayer "Abba, Your Kingdom Come" picks up both ends of paradox of the king of the universe ... the stranger, "The captain is my daddy." The captain of the universe is our Abba. He pays attention to our petitions because he loves us. The first word in the Lord's Prayer encourages us to believe in the affectionate intimacy of the Lord of the ...

4641. Ready or Not, Here I Come

Luke 12:32-40

Sermon

Ron Lavin

... the pastor. "I'd like to pass out plastic forks to everyone as they arrive for the funeral." "Plastic forks?" "Yes," she said. "I love the story about the woman who went to many church potlucks and always rejoiced when she was given a new plastic fork at ... is the Father's pleasure to give you the kingdom" he said, quoting Luke 12:32. Then he told the story of the woman who loved homemade pie at the end of church potlucks and he pointed out that Harry was being buried with a plastic fork in his casket because ...

4642. A Puzzling Parable with a Sharp Point

Luke 16:1-13

Sermon

Ron Lavin

... What is prized by human beings is an abomination in the sight of God" (Luke 16:15b). Elsewhere the Bible puts it this way: "... the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil" (1 Timothy 6:10). Not money, but being overly fond of money, is the root of ... Jesus and place our faith in him as Lord and Savior. The invitation is to connect faith and life, to make faith active in love. The invitation is by the power of the Holy Spirit to follow Jesus' example of selfless service to people. If we accept Jesus as ...

4643. The Difference between Knowing and Doing

Galatians 2:15-21

Sermon

John Jamison

... . I mean, the new guy wasn't even circumcised. In reality, there should not have been a problem. Every one of the church members was familiar with Jesus' comment that he had fulfilled the obligation of the old laws, and the only law in effect now was to love one another. They knew that. But they didn't know how to do that. Having lived their entire lives under the myriad of laws, they couldn't conceive of doing otherwise. Yes, the old laws had been unbearable at times, and had created an inequality in the ...

4644. The Promise that Won’t Be Broken

2 Timothy 1:1-14

Sermon

Clayton A. Lord

... it includes the promises of God. What is this treasure and what are these promises that Paul speaks about to Timothy? The first promise is that we will receive grace. Grace is getting something we don't deserve. You cannot earn it. It is given simply because God loves us. It shows itself in terms of forgiveness. God sees us in our sinful state and decides to offer us a complete pardon. So many people try to earn God's favor and end up feeling frustrated. The good news is that God has abundant grace for all ...

4645. Sowing Eternal Seeds

Isaiah 55:10-13

Sermon

Mary S. Lautensleger

... and remained a faithful, active youth member of the congregation. Years later, Tom, who had been director of music at Allison's church, was teaching a seminary class in church music. Tom's class sang the hymns as they studied and learned hymnology. One afternoon they sang "What Wondrous Love Is This," the story of Christ's gracious life given for us. The final stanza ends with the words, And when from death I'm free, I'll sing on, I'll sing on, And when from death I'm free, I'll sing on, and when from death ...

4646. The Undoing of Babel

Acts 2:1-21

Sermon

Stan Purdum

... into a new monologue, which, of course, we couldn't understand, but he was using his hand to point toward a hut not far way and was making motions that finally led me to believe he was inviting us to join his family for dinner. I would have loved to accept the invitation and to have the experience that such a visit would bring, but because we couldn't communicate effectively, I felt the whole thing would be awkward and exhausting. So using my own hand motions, I indicated that we had to be moving on, and ...

4647. The Sign of God

Amos 7:7-17

Sermon

Stan Purdum

... sister and mother" (Matthew 12:49-50). So Jesus plainly tells us that God has a will to which we should conform. But what is less clear is what that means. There is no question that God's will for all of us is that we should live righteously and love our neighbor. But beyond that, does God have a detailed plan for each of us that includes what sort of job we should take, whether we should marry, and if so, who should we marry and how many children we should have? That is less clear from the scripture ...

4648. No Room for Jesus

Luke 2:1-7

Sermon

King Duncan

... even forgotten to hang it up. The stocking for the child born in a manger. It’s his birthday we’re celebrating. Don’t let us ever forget that. “Let us ask ourselves what He would wish for most. And then, let each put in his share, loving kindness, warm hearts, and a stretched out hand of tolerance. All the shinning gifts that make peace on earth.” (5) Wouldn’t that be a wonderful tradition for us to begin in our households this Christmas Eve? Hang up an extra stocking for the Christ child. And ...

4649. A Squirrely Holiday

Matthew 6:25-34

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... face of November’s barren trees and bleak forecasts, we offer thanks to God for the gifts of grace and abundance and love that we receive every day. Now that is squirrely! Every now and then, admittedly not very often, one of those “author unknown” ... you a future and a hope.' 'Thanks, man,' he said. 'I know we just met and we're really just strangers, but I love you.' 'I know,' I said, 'I love you, too.' 'The Lord is good!' 'Yes, He is. How long has it been since someone hugged you?' I asked. A long ...

4650. Every Day God Empowers

Matthew 3:13-17

Sermon

Billy D. Strayhorn

... of us with checkered pasts and junk filled hearts, what is normal. What is expected. And! And, what the outcome will be. It's for this reason that Jesus went to the cross. To show us just how much God loves us and how much God wants us to belong to family of God. Conclusion: You have been created by a loving God. You are a designer original. There are no plain label or generic brands in God's eyes. Each of you is a unique creation. You have been created in the Image of God, therefore, you each have a famous ...

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