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 4651 to 4675 of 5000 results

4651. The Johnson Account (A Drama about the Holy Spirit)

Drama

Dave Marsh

... , now calmer) April? April: Yes? Jeff: Do you hear that? April: Yep. Jeff: Sounds like a turn signal. April: Yeah. That’s the Holy Spirit again. (Jeff just stares at her, uncomprehending) Well, you see, He’s a guide. He gives me direction in my life. You want to know what to do? Just ask Him for guidance. Jeff: (long pause) Right. Okay. Well, gotta go. (walks out, looking back over his shoulder at her as he goes) April: (shrugs her shoulders and goes back to work.) Jeff: (a couple of seconds later, Jeff ...

4652. The Box (A Drama about Using Your Talents for God)

Drama

Dave Marsh

... batteries! You just, you know, play with it in the tub. Jimmy: Whatever. Here, I’ll put it back. Dad: No, uh, that’s okay. I want play, er, look at it later. Jimmy: What else is in here? What’s this? (pulls out a box) Dad: Wow! It’s my Strange Change ... did he mean by that? Dad: I didn’t know until after he died and my dad gave me the picture. He told me that Grandpa Fred wanted me to have it. I told my dad the story and asked him about it. He said that Grandpa was a really good writer. One of the ...

4653. The Remote (A Drama about Obeying Your Parents)

Drama

Dave Marsh

... : Why of course, dear mother. (turns it off) Beth: Thank you. Diane: No, mother, thank you. Thank you for everything you do! Thank you for driving us and thank you for washing clothes and cleaning and loving us! Ohhh, mother! Beth: Um, no problem honey. Do you want to watch TV with me? Diane: Oh no, mother, I wouldn’t think of barging in on your quiet time. But perhaps you would like me, your humble daughter, to read a poem I wrote about how wonderful you are! Beth: Uh, sure. Diane: Mother, mother, how ...

4654. The Healing Power of the Resurrection

Mark 16:1-20

Sermon

James W. Moore

... advantage of a job opportunity there. One member of this man’s family was a handsome young son who dreamed of joining the circus. He wanted to become a trapeze artist or actor in the circus. This young man, biding his time until a circus job or even one as ... the circus as the Man Who Had No Face… and he did this for a while. But still he was rejected by everyone and no one wanted to be seen in his company. This went on for five years… and the young man became depressed. Then one day he passed a church. ...

4655. Eager For The Journey

Luke 5:1-11

Sermon

Brett Blair

... otherwise. It has always amazed me that non-Christians look upon Christians as weak and naive. I am not sure where that perception started but next time I’d like to ask these people, Alright, you think it is so easy being a Christian lets see you try. First I want you to stop lying. Then stop cheating people in your business practices, don’t steal, don’t stretch the truth, just let your yes be yes and your no be no. Don’t hate your enemies and pray for those who hate you. Oh yeah, and did I mention ...

4656. Hypocrites

Matthew 6:1-4

Sermon

Brett Blair

... the presidential election, not because of a Florida recount, or Ralph Nadar taking 3% of the votes away, but because of that one stunt in the second debate when Governor Bush was speaking and Gore got off his stool and walked toward center stage, toward Bush, like he wanted Bush to sit down because he had something more important to say. It was arrogant. And because he was the Vice President it made him look all the more hypocritical. No one has the right to do that, not even a VP. Several years ago, when a ...

4657. Excuses

Luke 14:15-24, Genesis 3:1-24

Sermon

David E. Leininger

... class at Ragsdale High School since September. She says he was improperly placed in a class that is too hard for him. She wants his failing grade removed from his transcript. "If they can ruin his life, how many other students' lives have they ruined because they didn ... , excuses, we hear them every day." By the grace of God, let us take these weeks of Lent as a NEW excuse to be what God wants us to be...in the name of Jesus. Let us pray. Lord, we confess that we have relied on excuses to get by in every area ...

4658. Family Feud

Genesis 29:15-30

Sermon

David E. Leininger

... sounded and we see Jacob talking to Laban. Seven years are up. "Uncle, a deal's a deal. I am READY for my wife." "That's fine. But we've got to do this right. After all, a big wedding is every little girl's dream, and we don't want to disappoint her do we?" "No." More music as players hustle about getting announcements sent out, neighbors invited, food and drink prepared, all made ready for a week-long feast. Now the big day. The bride and groom are both bathed, anointed with oil and perfume, and dressed in ...

4659. Remembering 9/11

Exodus 12:1-30

Sermon

David E. Leininger

... upper floors of the Trade Center towers, or the cell phone calls from United flight 93, not to express fear or anger, but simply to say, "I'm stuck up here; I don't think I'm gonna make it...I love you...Take care of the children." We wanted to talk with our own family. We appreciated in a new way how fragile life really is. No doubt that is why church attendance took such a jump in the days following the tragedy. Even folks who, for every other day of their lives were blissfully irreligious suddenly found ...

4660. Remembering the Good Old Days

Numbers 14:1-10a

Sermon

David E. Leininger

... spies had been sent in to check things out. But they had come back with mixed reports. "Yes, the land is as fertile as can be, but the inhabitants are GIANTS...they will clobber us. Forget it." Scared those people to death. Scared them so bad that they wanted their old slave life back again. "Gee, the chains were not so bad...the whippings did not last all THAT long...so we had to make bricks without straw - a little hard work never hurt anybody...so some of our babies got killed - we had enough mouths to ...

4661. Look Up and Live

Numbers 21:4-9

Sermon

David E. Leininger

... angry because a meeting was held without his knowledge. One of the elders is upset with the youth director because the youth director wants to take the church youth group to a secular Rock concert. The Women's Kitchen committee is up in arms because, at the ... church to get the focus back. To Look and Live. And to remember how contagious that sort of thing is: look up, and everyone else wants to look up with you. What a witness! "The main thing is to keep the main thing the main thing." What is the main thing ...

4662. Growing in Faith

Deuteronomy 6:1-25

Sermon

David E. Leininger

... It was Franklin D. Roosevelt who said, "To train a man in mind and not in morals is to train a menace to society." A recent national poll shows that 92% of Americans who go to church and even 68% of those who do NOT go to church want their children to receive religious instruction. It is not unusual to see young couples returning to church after years of inactivity once a baby comes along. They stand before God and the congregation at the child's baptism, promise to raise their little one in the faith, then ...

4663. Blessed Be The Title That Binds

Deuteronomy 14:22-29

Sermon

David E. Leininger

... way in which we can acknowledge that everything good we have comes from God. And if you do it off the top, it can even be painless. I want to say a word here to our young people. As I have told you before, I believe in tithing and I practice it. I have been doing ... those of you who have not been able to get to that yet (and I have talked to a number of you who have said that you want to do better), I am going to suggest something that might lead you in that direction. I am going to suggest that you set up a ...

4664. When God Is Gone

Job 23:1--24:25

Sermon

David E. Leininger

... , he is not there; if I go to the west, I do not find him. When he is at work in the north, I do not see him; when he turns to the south, I catch no glimpse of him." God is gone - east, west, north, south, look where you want - God is gone. How can you present your case when the judge is nowhere to be found? Ever feel that way? That God is gone? I recently read of a woman who came to see her pastor on her lunch break. A nicely dressed, dignified, late-thirties woman whose face ...

4665. A New Look at an Old Treasure

Psalm 23:1-6

Sermon

David E. Leininger

... was that God had failed to keep the promise. But before Peter had a chance to reply, from behind the gate came a great voice thundering, "I sent you a sheriff's deputy, I sent you a pontoon boat, I even sent you a helicopter. What more do you want?" "The Lord is my shepherd..." When we encountered these verses in the lectionary last year I told you that someone has suggested that this is a psalm of faith that covers present, past, and future. "The Lord IS my shepherd"...right now. Not was nor will be. And ...

4666. Who's The Boss?

Psalm 50:1-23

Sermon

David E. Leininger

... of the wealthiest Americans reported only slightly greater happiness than other Americans, and 37 percent were LESS happy than the average. Even people who have won a state lottery gain only a temporary jolt of joy. Satisfaction is not getting what you want, it is wanting what you have. Third, as cultures become more affluent, do their people become happier? In 1957, as John Galbraith was about to describe us as the "Affluent Society," our per-person income, expressed in today's dollars, was less than $8 ...

4667. Of Rubble and Trouble

Luke 21:5-38

Sermon

David E. Leininger

... as a "Big Brother" for the past three years to a young African-American boy. The lad is now in 6th grade. One day not long ago, the man asked the boy, "What do you want to be when you grow up?" "I want to be a GOOD person," he responded. Terrific answer. "OK. Then what do you want to DO when you grow up?" "I want to be a drug dealer." Say what? A bit non-plussed by the combination of answers, the Big Brother pressed for more. "A drug dealer? Why?" "Because they are good people. They treat people right ...

4668. There's No Such Thing as Too Much Sugar

Psalm 91:1-16

Sermon

David E. Leininger

... too much sugar." Please be aware that I am not advocating some sickening sweet, pie-in-the-sky bye-and-bye, attitude that ignores or denies what is amiss in the world and sees life through rose-colored glasses. Jesus never did that. I do not want that any more than I want folks who view the same world as an abyss into which we are all falling and view every waking moment through lenses of grimy gray. Jesus CERTAINLY never did that either. But if I am going to lean in one direction or another, you know which ...

4669. Grace and Golf

1 Corinthians 9:1-27

Sermon

David E. Leininger

... SADLY! My game is biblical - it is defined by a text in Romans, chapter 7, verse 19. Paul must have been a golfer because he describes my game to a tee ("to a tee," he repeated, grinning). He says, "I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I do." That is Leininger golf. To be honest, Paul was probably not a golfer. Roman emperors apparently played a relaxing game called PAGANICA, using a bent stick to drive a soft, feather-stuffed ball. Over the next 5 centuries the game developed on ...

4670. Good Medicine

Proverbs 10:1-32

Sermon

David E. Leininger

... and started eating. It was really delicious and he said so, despite the dirty dishes. When dinner was over, the hostess took the dishes outside and yelled, "Here Soap! Here Water!" Person 2: A 4 year old boy spilled his cola on the rug the other day, and wanted to clean up the mess himself. He was told that the mop was just outside the back door. Quickly, he ran to the door, then realized that it had become dark outside. Suddenly scared, he told his mom what the problem was. Assuring him, she told him that ...

4671. Do You Hear What I Hear?

Luke 1:46-56, Isaiah 61:1-11

Sermon

David E. Leininger

... hand and the newspaper in the other. There are lots of sermons in the news stories, and there is great value in that. But I want to expand the process this morning. Let it not only be the preacher with both Bible and newspaper. YOU do it too. There is even greater ... could stay with him. But I told him I couldn't, because I didn't have a gift to give him like everybody else did. But I wanted to stay with Jesus so much, so I thought about what I had that maybe I could use for a gift. I thought maybe if I kept ...

4672. Going Fishing

Mark 1:14-20

Sermon

David E. Leininger

... help of God, GOIN' FISHIN'? We live in an exceedingly mobile society...nothing is nailed down, change is a constant. But if times of transition and change are good moments to extend our nets in the name of Jesus, what might we do? How about GOIN' FISHIN'? What makes fish want to swim our way? The bait. And how do the fish get hold of the bait? They get it when we bring it to them, when we are GOIN' FISHIN'. But suppose we are not very good at preparing our hook, or heaven forbid, our bait is bad? No problem ...

4673. Real Religion

Micah 6:1-8

Sermon

David E. Leininger

... hear was "God's in his heaven and all's right with the world." Micah even joked about it: "If a liar and deceiver comes and says `I will prophesy for you plenty of wine and beer,' he would be just the preacher for this people."(1) They did not want to be embarrassed by anyone who would have called them to account for their behavior. It was time for them to hear a word from the Lord. So Micah came to them with a message that was not only valid for his own age, but for every age to come ...

4674. The Lord's Prayer: Thy Kingdom Come

Matthew 6:5-15

Sermon

David E. Leininger

... one could miss the arrival of the kingdom in Jesus, God validated Jesus' life and work by fulfilling for the first time the ultimate hope of people of faith, the hope of victory over death. Yes, the kingdom of God arrived with Jesus, and God showed it for any who wanted to see on Easter morning. But in another sense, the kingdom has not yet arrived. We know that all too well when we turn on a newscast or pick up a paper or even look in a mirror. The coming of Jesus did not mark the end of disobedience; it ...

4675. Winning over Worry

Matthew 6:25-34

Sermon

David E. Leininger

... has not been trying to say that we should be totally unconcerned about what kind of life we and our families have. He just does not want us to come to the place where we begin to think that we are in this all by ourselves. That is the problem that irreligious people ... to the robin, Friend, I think that it must be That they have no heavenly Father Such as cares for you and me.(6) What Jesus wants us to know is that we do INDEED have such a heavenly Father...and because of that we do not have to spend all our ...

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