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 4851 to 4875 of 5000 results

4851. The Power of a Single Life

2 Corinthians 6:3-13

Sermon

J. Howard Olds

... the Western World. Rejoice in God’s saints, today and all days A world without saints, forgets how to praise In loving, in living, they prove it is true The way of self-giving, Lord, leads us to you. When Paul wrote to the church at Corinth and gave this long list of what he had been through, he came to the conclusion with just a couple of statements. I have poured my heart out to you; I’ve held absolutely nothing back. I have given you everything I’ve got and now my dear Corinthians, as I have opened ...

4852. Watch!

Matthew 24:36-44

Sermon

J. Howard Olds

... on time every time, he does not operate on our time. He is trying to say be prepared by living wise. Don’t be so engrossed with eating and drinking that the flame of your spiritual life flickers and fades. “Give me oil in my lamp, keep me burning.” However long it takes, let me wait in faith. There is a prayer in our ritual of burial and resurrection that I pray often, “Help us to live as those who are prepared to die and when our days here are accomplished, enable us to die as those who go forth to ...

4853. When God Builds the House

Psalm 127:1-5, 1 Corinthians 3:10-15

Sermon

J. Howard Olds

... year I was a patient at Vanderbilt Hospital feeling much too weak to either eat or pray. Through that dark night of the soul, the looming question of my ability to continue as pastor of this great congregation weighed heavily on my heart and mind. Last fall seems like a long time ago now. As we pause to celebrate a building milestone in the history of this congregation, I want to thank God for the privilege of being able to be present. Life is a gift. And I am grateful to God and to all of you. At last the ...

4854. Worship

Hebrews 10:19-25

Sermon

J. Howard Olds

... a little taste of heaven on earth. I need those little moments when heaven breaks through, even here. The movie, Places of the Heart, starring Sally Field begins in a church with people singing, “This is my story, this is my song, praising my Savior, all the day long." It ends in the same church with people singing the same song. In between Sally Field's husband has been killed, her hired man is beaten up and driven away, she nearly loses her farm—but in the end, they are all back in that little church ...

4855. Get Up and Go

Matthew 2:13-18

Sermon

J. Howard Olds

... for Egypt and stayed there until the death of Herod!" Have you been to Egypt? I was there for three days once; it was two days too long. I paid to get on a camel then had to pay even more to get off. The dirt and poverty were painful to see. I like ... Joseph, Egypt was a land of slavery, a place to make bricks with no straw, to endure whippings for no reason. It was a long way to Nazareth by way of Egypt. Wayne Oates writes “Life's fixed organizations, dreams, hopes, and fantasies have a way of slamming into ...

4856. Work

1 Corinthians 3:9-15

Sermon

J. Howard Olds

... didn't even need a U-haul. When I said something about moving the other day, something about downsizing, Sandy gave me one long, dirty look and then said, “Exactly what do you plan to do with all the stuff in this house?" Comedian George Carlin once said ... in affliction, faithful in prayer." All are saturated in love. If I have any regrets about life, it's that it has taken me so long to accept love and that it's been so difficult for me to express love. You see, those words were never spoken in my family ...

4857. Pray

Matthew 6:5-13

Sermon

J. Howard Olds

... pray. Could you help me?" Prayer is not an art to be mastered; it is a relationship to be experienced. Prayer is not primarily our striving for God. Prayer is God coming to us. As surely as God searched for Adam and Eve in the Garden, so He looks and longs for us. Let not our guilt and embarrassment over sin keep us apart. Paul put it this way: “We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us. He, who searches our hearts, knows the mind of the Spirit" (Romans 8:26). What ...

4858. Working Your Way Up

Luke 10:1-24

Illustration

Alexander H. Wales

... vice president of this company, and with a little help, I'd like to purchase this entire operation and take over your office." "Well, at least you're direct," said the startled president. "Do you really think you can replace me that easily? I've been at this a long time, you know, and experience counts for something. And what would you do with the company after you take over my office?" "As I see it," the young man brashly went on, "I'd hold on to the company for a little while, wait for the market to drive ...

4859. This Little Light of Mine

Matthew 5:14-26

Sermon

J. Howard Olds

... own. The flame comes from beyond us. Alex Haley, noted author who wrote great books like Roots, used to say, “I keep a portrait of a turtle sitting on a fence post in my office. Every time I get an award or receive a good book review, I take a long look at that turtle and remember that he didn't get on top of that fence post by himself." Will you let the Holy Spirit light your fire? A Mississippi country preacher prayed before he preached, “O Lord, give this thy servant this morning the eyes of an eagle ...

4860. Reconsider

Matthew 1:18-25

Sermon

J. Howard Olds

... to no one. We will not likely get another chance to reach those people. I was listening to a speaker describe the people of Brentwood not long ago. Among his conclusions were these: Brentwood people are quick to tell you what they think and very slow to change their minds. We don't ... holly bough, Parties, friends and mistletoe. I doubt that lawyers will protect His birth any more than governors did so long ago. Right is seldom a result of public opinion. O, that we who sing “Christ the Savior is Born" could ...

4861. Males or Females?

Acts 18:1-3, 18-19, 24-26

Sermon

J. Howard Olds

... In 1920 women won the right to vote. It was not until 1956 that the Methodist Church allowed women full clergy rights. We could brag today that we have more women clergy than any other denomination in this country, but we still have a long way to go. Churches, including the Roman Catholics, Mormons, Southern Baptists, and most independent churches continue to deny ordination rights to women. A very large church in Louisville, Kentucky claims no creed but Christ and no discipline but the Bible. They allow no ...

4862. Marketing or Disciplemaking?

Acts 2:42-47

Sermon

J. Howard Olds

... great. About 160 to 175 young adults gather every Monday night in the youth café and it's an all out worship service. Amy Saffell is one of those participants. I asked Amy if she would come talk with us for just a moment or two. “Amy, how long have you been attending the Loop here?" Amy: I started coming here in July shortly after I moved to Nashville from being in school in Greenville, South Carolina, and living in Georgia all my life. Dr. Olds: So you were new to Nashville this past July; you found ...

4863. Praising Our Savior

Philippians 3:7-11

Sermon

J. Howard Olds

... better. I do know that its not what happens to you, but what you do with what happens to you that makes the difference in the long run. I do know that the stripes of Jesus and the nail prints of his hands are sources of comfort for the strung-out soul. I ... as a result of a car accident. Lying there in the emergency room Henri says, “I heard the physician say you might not live long. There is serious internal bleeding. We will try to operate, but we may not succeed." Suddenly death was right in the room with ...

4864. The Broken Body of Christ

1 Corinthians 11:17-26

Sermon

J. Howard Olds

... that got approval from the people. Nobody ever slapped Jeremiah on the back and said, “We are lucky to have you as our pastor." There was never an appreciation dinner held in his honor, and no one came to him saying, “I hope you stay with us for a very long time." Instead they threw him in a cistern where Jeremiah cursed the day he was born. On another occasion he prayed, “O that my head were a spring of water and my eyes a fountain of tears, I would weep day and night for my people." Still, it was ...

4865. Fanning the Flames of Family

Ephesians 5:8-10

Sermon

J. Howard Olds

... eternal dimension, but on the flip side we must understand we never graduate from the school of discipleship. No one graduates from the school of Christian Discipleship. To be formed into the “likeness of Christ" is more than a course of study. It is a life-long adventure. We are forever growing into Christ and we need to be consistent about it at sixty or at six. The church needs to find ways to partner with you to do that. For families in the process of spiritual formation of children, youth and adults ...

4866. The Good Samaritan - Sermon Starter

Luke 10:25-37

Illustration

Brett Blair

... to Jericho. We can surmise that this man was probably a Jew because this was a road going right through the heart of Judea. He had probably been up to Jerusalem to worship and now he's going back to the City of Palm Trees. It was a very long serpentine road starting at Jerusalem, the highest point, 2,500 feet above sea level, and going straight down to Jericho, nearly 800 feet below Sea Level. The lowest place on the face of the earth not covered by water the deepest city in the world. The Jericho Road was ...

4867. Three Basic Attitudes about Life

Luke 10:25-37

Sermon

King Duncan

... us to want to go to heaven. No healthy person wants to die. But, if this is the sum total of our faith, we are a long way from the abundant life Christ desires for each of us. I say this realizing that this may be the reason most people come to religion. ... of seeking to justify my inaction. But I’m not sure, even if I wanted to change, that I could. I’ve been this way too long. I’m not making excuses this time. I just don’t think it’s possible for me to start reacting in a different way. I think ...

4868. Being Open to the Impossible

Mark 6:30-44

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

... and of the fish were taken up. In the 8th Chapter, it’s the miracle of feeding 4,000 with 7 loaves, and after all had been fed and were satisfied, 7 baskets full remained. The interesting thing about the story of the 8th Chapter of Mark is that not long after He had fed the 4,000, Jesus and his disciples got into the boat and started to the other side of the Sea of Galilee. Then it happened. Everyone became hungry again - it had been awhile since they had eaten. But, they had forgotten to bring bread, and ...

4869. The Cost of Discipleship: Get Lost!

Mark 8:31--9:1

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

... It says think of yourself. It says think of yourself. It doesn’t make commitments, especially to other people, especially life long commitments. It says create your own space, and protect it. “Well, if you’ve got the eyes to see, that prescription ... us with people with whom we are not comfortable. It may call us to tasks we would not choose ourselves. A war correspondent paused long enough to watch a nun as she unwrapped a wounded soldier’s leg. Gangrene had set in. The stench from the pus and blood ...

4870. When the Winds Are Against Us

Mark 6:45-56

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

... be to cut and run. He doesn’t have any plan, but he feels distressed in rowing. The pressure he is under and the sense of his own importance is the wind that is against him. Or here is a couple whose marriage has gone sour. They started out together long ago, but they have moved farther and farther apart, almost without noticing it. Now it is as though they are living in two separate worlds. They wake up one day and find that they’ve lost touch with each other. They don’t know whether it is easier to ...

4871. Heart Religion

Mark 7:1-23

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

... his head was ripped off the house and the roof too. And a great big hand came down out of heaven with a long outstretched finger, and the finger was pressed right up against his chest. And with a booming and majestic voice, the Lord said, “Because you ... with all his heart, he might be full of en and jealousy and concealed bitterness, and pride; that did not matter so long as he carried out the correct hand washing, and observed the correct laws about cleanness and uncleanness. Legalism takes account of a ...

4872. Sisters

Luke 10:38-42

Sermon

King Duncan

... I am certainly not knocking hard work. As Homer Simpson once said, “If you really want something in this life, you have to work for it. Then he added, “Now quiet, they’re about to announce the lottery numbers!” (5) There is nothing wrong with hard work as long as it does not stand in the way of close relationships with other people and with God. There is a time for work and there is a time for worship. Gordon Dahl in his book Work, Play, and Worship in a Leisure Oriented Society is quoted as saying ...

4873. Workaholism

Luke 10:38-42

Illustration

Michael Parker

... Japanese 1,784, and Americans 1,804. All of these nations have cut their annual hours by 16 to 20 percent over the last 40 years. The exception is the United States, which has remained more or less static. This is not a recent phenomenon. As long ago as 1840, Alexis de Tocqueville wrote of the "feverish ardor" with which "Americans pursue their own welfare," and "this strange unrest of so many happy men, restless in the midst of abundance" (Bk 2, chp. 13). A recent academic paper from professors from the ...

4874. Our Father...

Luke 11:1-13

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... lambs in his arms and carries them close to his heart; he gently leads those that have young” (Isaiah 40:11)? Where is the God who has been revealed as “compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding love” (Psalm 103:8)? Paul wondered at “how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ” (Ephesians 3:18), the one who was sent by the Father. In Jesus’ prayer, “The Lord’s Prayer,” we are reminded of God’s greatness, God’s graciousness, and God’s goodness. God’s name is ...

4875. First Lesson in Prayer

Luke 11:1-13

Illustration

... his head into the water. He held them there while the boy kicked and screamed and tried to get away. Finally, after an interminable period the holy man let the boy out of the water. "What was that?" the boy asked. "That was your first lesson in prayer. When you long for God the way that you longed to breathe, then you will be able to pray."

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