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 4701 to 4725 of 5000 results

4701. Simeon and Anna: The Quiet of the Country

Luke 2:21-40

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

... our waiting and hoping must be in prayer and that God’s Will, not ours, is constantly sought. “Mine eyes have seen Thy Salvation” Simeon said. Holy hopes and obedient worship will be honored. God’s answer may be delayed for awhile, even sometimes for a long while, but in due time it will come. It is as certain as the rising sun. Those who ask will receive; the seeker will find; the worker will reap; those who knock will have the door opened to them. Holy hopes and obedient worship will be honored ...

4702. Muggeridge Encounters Mother Teresa

Mark 12:41-44

Illustration

Brett Blair

... began his interview. "Oh, yes," she replied, "it is my mission. It is how I serve and love my Lord." "How long have you been doing this? How many months?" "Months?" said Mother Teresa. "Not months, but years. Maybe eighteen years. "Eighteen years!" ... . The Lord is so good to me. How privileged I am to serve him." Later, Malcolm Muggeridge said, "I will never forget that little lady as long as I live. The face, the glow, the eyes, the love—it was all so pure and so beautiful. I shall never forget it. It was ...

4703. Mark 13:1-8

Mark 13:1-31

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... to dramatic and extensive additions to the temple mount buildings. Although the utter destruction of the temple has made archaeological reconstructions mere estimations, individual stones located north of the “Wilson Arch” have been unearthed measuring forty-two feet long, eleven feet high, fourteen feet deep, and weighing in at over a million pounds. Truly these were “large stones and large buildings.” Jesus’ response to his disciples’ awe was dismissive: “Not one stone will be left here upon ...

4704. The Good News about the Future

Mark 13:1-31

Sermon

King Duncan

... orchestra, but some people refused. Some just didn’t want to play beautiful music. Also, the conductor made members sign a contract for life. Once you were committed, you were committed forever. That didn’t appeal to some. Now, the Conductor had worked long and hard writing a wonderful score of music titled, “The Grand Finale.” He was eager for His musicians to learn it. But after a few preliminary instructions, the Conductor left and let the musicians practice it on their own. His only stipulation ...

4705. Miracles? No Problem!

Luke 2:1-7

Drama

Lois Anne DeLong

... ve had the baby, you’ll have visitors. Mary: (nodding her head like she knows the answer) Those wise guys from the East, right? Mary’s Mother: What wise guys? Mary: I’ll tell you later. Gabriel: No, they won’t come ’til much later. It takes a long time to make that journey. No, your visit will be from some shepherds. The star the Wise Men were talking about first appeared to a group of shepherds watching their flocks out in the fields near Bethlehem. It was very late, and most of them were sound ...

4706. If We Do It, It Will Work

Luke 2:1-7

Drama

Lois Anne DeLong

... while Mary and Joseph enter from the back of the church and begin walking up center aisle. Once they reach the front, Messenger exits right.) Gabriel: (to Michael) How did he do that? God: I’m God! It’s all part of the plan. Mary: We’ve been walking so long, Joseph. Can’t we find any place to stay? Joseph: We’ve tried just about every inn in town. Everyone’s here to pay the taxes. Mary: The baby will be coming soon. Joseph: It looks like there’s a place just up the road. I’ll try to talk ...

4707. Rehearsal for Christmas Eve

Luke 2:1-7

Drama

Lois Anne DeLong

... could signify the birth of a new king. And so they set out to find him. They followed the star all the way to Bethlehem. (Kings come down center aisle, each carrying a small package. All sing “We Three Kings.”) Clark: (points to Baby Jesus) These guys came a long distance to see him? Mary: Yes, I told you, he was a special baby. Narrator: They brought him gifts. (Kings stand in a single file in front of Mary and Joseph. As each says their line, they place a gift in front of the baby and then move to ...

4708. Good News about Thanksgiving

Matthew 6:25-34

Sermon

King Duncan

... as a national holiday primarily in the U.S. and Canada, two former British colonies. Thanksgiving in the U.S. is usually traced to 1621 when a Pilgrim leader, William Bradford, proclaimed a day of feasting to commemorate the first harvest after a long year of suffering. What you may not know is that, as the colonies grew more prosperous, the people forgot all about Thanksgiving and the meaning it held for their ancestors. For generations Thanksgiving was celebrated sporadically, if at all, with no set date ...

4709. If This Is Your Faith, Tell Me Your Stories

1 Thessalonians 3:6-13

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... of God’s love for the world. Each new generation of Christians must pass on the story to the next, or Christianity will become something learned form history books but no longer lived out in a life of faith. That is why Paul longed to return to Thessalonia and spend some serious “face time” with that fledgling Christian community. Paul had stories to tell. He had faith stories, prayers, and parables that needed to be communicated to that first, most crucial generation. If the first generation, which ...

4710. The Whole Family Survival Kit

Luke 3:1-20

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... the location for the genetic markers for specific populations. These genetic markers would allow the researcher to trace the long distant ancestry, the genetic history, of any individual. What the researchers hadn’t figured into their analytic assignment, ... expands “relative” to include creation itself, as he cries out for the earth to prepare for the arrival of the long awaited Messiah. Not Palestine, not Israel, not Bethlehem, but “all flesh” is to make its preparations for his coming. John ...

4711. Luke 3:7-18

Luke 3:1-20

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... in the one who is baptized; it is only a symbolic beginning of a renewed dedication to a life lived according divine law and justice. To the “crowds,” the “tax collectors” and the “soldiers,” John’s instructions in vv.10-14 recall long established scriptural standards. Care for the hungry and naked were basic themes within the Mosaic covenant tradition. Compassion for the poor, for those in need, is the bare minimum expected of those who would live in accordance with God justice and mercy ...

4712. Every Kiss Begins with K

Luke 3:1-20

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... the giver. Ripping through the wrappings in order to stockpile more, faster and further had become the whole point of Christmas. Determined to cure her kids of the “gimmes,” this Mom invented “The Present Game,” and the children learned to “play” it all year long. Each child was given a sack or container of some sort and told to go and choose something in the house to put in it. The present had to fit in the container and they were instructed to find something they though their sibling would ...

4713. Preparation

Luke 3:7-18

Illustration

Brett Blair

... you people doing just standing there. You must get prepared immediately. Go home and fill your bathtubs up with water. Be prepared to live without city services for 72 hours. The sun will set in another hour and your time is running out. Go and get prepared. A long, long time ago a man came on the scene by the name of John the Baptist. John's message was not told in soft monotones, but rather there was an urgent screaming in his voice. "Why are you not getting ready?" he yelled to the Hebrews. Why are you ...

4714. Putting Ourselves in the Picture

Matthew 13:44-46

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

... was a district meet and this was the big event in the life of this young track star, and the father, of course, would be there. But there was a meeting at the church that night, they thought it wouldn’t last very long, but unfortunately like most church meetings are, it went on too long, and by the time he arrived at the stadium, the event in which his son had run had just concluded. And he began to feel guilty. He saw his son walking across the field, his head hanging down, dejected, and he knew that ...

4715. Deliverance through Thanksgiving

Psalm 50:1-23

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

... ? There it is. Offer to God a sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving. Listen. Listen. God’s hunger; God’s deepest longing is satisfied by our love and gratitude. Does that make you stand at attention inside? I mean does that make you feel tall ... inside? That the God of the universe, the one who created and owns the world is satisfied, his deepest longings are satisfied by your praise and thanksgiving? That’s simple. And since this is thanksgiving Sunday, we need to learn that lesson ...

4716. What the Lord Does Best

Exodus 1:1-22

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

... do we do between our living today and our dying tomorrow? We have a choice. The Israelites had a choice. And they made a choice. The ease that they had known in Egypt had been a good ease. The good of all the land had been there as long as Joseph lived, and as long as there was a pharaoh who knew Joseph, but when a new pharaoh arose who knew not Joseph, something happened. And read there in verses 9 and 10. and pharaoh said to the people, behold the people of Israel are too many and too mighty for us ...

4717. Beware of Cute

Luke 1:39-45, Luke 1:26-38

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... blatant, hurtful lies was a tactic used to discourage troops and sow despair among all those who heard them. Today, I can’t listen to TMZ. TMZ is shorthand for TMI (Too Much Information). Research on the reactions of babies still in utero has proven that long before we see or touch or taste the world around us, we experience it through sound. Mothers-to-be are encouraged to talk to their babies, play music for them, read to them. Angry words and harsh sounds cause physical changes in the fetus, increased ...

4718. Two Great Men and Two Simple Women

Luke 1:39-45

Illustration

Charles H. Bayer

... things, things of import and influence. But perhaps these great men do not have an iota of the influence on the world as did two simple women, who met for three months at the home of one of them somewhere in the hill country of Judah, and talked. From their long conversation comes a song, a reflection of Hannah's song of long ago. And from that song has come to us the ethic of Jesus of Nazareth, Prince of Peace, savior of the world.

4719. Pick Up the Baby

Luke 1:39-45

Illustration

King Duncan

... story about the birth of his first child. The first night home the baby would not stop crying. His wife frantically flipped through the pages of Dr. Spock to find out why babies cry and what to do about it. Since Spock's book is rather long, the baby cried a long time. Grandma was in the house, but since she had not read the books on child rearing, she was not consulted. The baby continued to cry. Finally, Grandma could be silent no longer. "Put down the book," she told her children, "and pick up the baby ...

4720. Fruitcakes, Fruit-Baskets and New Year’s Babies

Ephesians 1:1-14

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... all believe WE are fruitcakes. We are the present nobody wants. At least that’s what we’re afraid of. Being the present nobody wants. That’s what makes this whole fruitcake thing so painful. Maybe that’s what makes us hate fruitcake so. The church has long debated the concept of an “unpardonable sin,” a sin usually associated with bad mouthing the Holy Spirit. You can find this mentioned in Matthew, Mark and Luke: Matthew 12:31-32; Luke 12:10; and Mark 3:29. Anyone who has grown up in the church ...

4721. Every Day God Encourages

Acts 4:36-37; 11:22-24

Sermon

Billy D. Strayhorn

... retired school teacher wrote, "My eyes are blinded with tears as I write. You are the first student in all my career who has ever written me a letter to express thanks. I will keep it and treasure it as long as I live." (3) With that letter in hand, he thought of someone else. So he wrote another letter and another. And you know what, because of that sense of gratitude that took hold of his heart, he didn't even notice when he got well. But that gratitude was ...

4722. The Good, The Bad and The Ugly

Luke 23:32-46

Sermon

Billy D. Strayhorn

... , "Father, into your hands I commend my spirit." Having said this, he breathed his last. I've thought about using this title for a long time because the story of the two thieves has always fascinated me. And I want to look at them in the context of the ... where the gold is buried. Trying to find out which grave, Tuco goes for water for the dying man, hoping he will last long enough to tell which grave. When Tuco turns around, he discovers Eastwood with Bill Carson and discovers that Eastwood has been told which ...

4723. Seeing God In The Ordinary: Friends

John 11:1-45

Sermon

Billy D. Strayhorn

... , "I know something yoooooou don't know" and make me guess till I figured it out." (1) One of the greatest human longings and desires is to be close to someone through the bond of friendship. Friends offer us companionship. Friends offer us support and ... out, he would never hear the end of it. He also knew that when the girls found out, they would never speak to him again as long as he lives. That little boy believed his heart is going to stop, so he put his head down and prayed this prayer: "Dear God, this ...

4724. Seeing God In The Ordinary: Work

Matthew 5:13-16

Sermon

Billy D. Strayhorn

... character Jason discovers in the movie the Ultimate Gift. Jason is a Trust Fund baby who loves all of life's gifts as long as they are bankable. But when his wealthy grandfather, Red, dies, Jason receives a rather unusual inheritance, a series of twelve challenges ... In The Ordinary Through Our Work. Conclusion Now, I'll bet you're wondering why you've been holding that shop towel for so long and why I've got the one sticking out of my pocket? This is simply a white cotton shop towel or shop cloth, whatever ...

4725. WaterFire Faith

Acts 2:1-13

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... Do you know what TGIF stands for? No, not “Thank God Its Friday.” It’s “Twitter-Google-Internet-Facebook:” TGIF. Only two years ago to “twitter” and “tweet” was just something small birds did. Now tens of millions of people twitter and tweet all day long. Tech-words are not intimidating — we’re so used to them springing up we can usually decipher what they mean even without a given definition. I “tweeted” an off-the-cuff comment the other day that included a word I had just made up ...

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