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 4951 to 4975 of 5000 results

4951. John 14:15 21

John 14:15-31

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... But sail out to that apparent end and whole new expanse of ocean stretches out before you. What looked like it was the end of everything was really the place of a new beginning. In John’s gospel once Jesus reaches Jerusalem he spends a long time speaking to his disciples about the events that are about to unfold there. Repeatedly he warns his companions that he is going away from them soon. Not surprisingly the disciples are flummoxed and frustrated by Jesus’ words. Jesus’ predictions of his own death ...

4952. A Lesson from Dr. Seuss

Romans 6:1-14

Sermon

King Duncan

... to work hard today, decide to volunteer to do an extra event to help your team then others will say you ‘have’ dedication. But it is only the doing of those little things, all taken together, that makes that dedication. Great [athletes] aren’t made in the long run; they are made every day.” (7) Positive addiction. Servants of God. Or, as Dr. Seuss says, “You’ll look up and down streets. Look ’em over with care. About some you will say, ‘I don’t choose to go there.’ With your head full of ...

4953. Cross Purposes

Matthew 10:38-39

Illustration

Leonard Sweet

All around the upper ledges of the curved glass windows in our living room perches a collection of dappled and dimpled art glass tumblers. These brightly colored tumblers come from an old family collection. They were put together long ago by grandparents long gone. They bring hundreds of different shades and hues of color into the room on a sunny day. Of course, our house is also located in an earthquake zone. In fact, every year at least a couple low-number, rocking-n-rattling sessions roll through the ...

4954. The Bristlecone Pine

Matt 10:40-42; Heb 12:11

Illustration

Carlyle Fielding Stewart (adapted)

... older specimens often have only one thin layer of bark on their trunks. Considering the habitat of these trees, such as rocky areas where the soil is poor and precipitation is slight, it seems almost incredible that they should live so long or even survive at all. The environmental "adversities," however, actually contribute to their longevity. Cells that are produced as a result of these perverse conditions are densely arranged, and many resin canals are formed within the plant. Wood that is so structured ...

4955. The Receptive Heart

Matthew 13:1-23

Sermon

King Duncan

... , engrossed in thinking about the woman he had loved. After a while he went upstairs to her room and sat down in the chair beside the bed on which she had been lying for months. He realized with painful regret that he had not sat there very often during her long illness. “He noticed her diary. While she was alive, he never would have read it, but now that she was gone he felt free to pick it up and thumb through its pages. One entry caught his eye: ‘Yesterday he spent an hour with me. And it was like ...

4956. God’s Most Troubling Promise

Romans 8:28

Sermon

King Duncan

... or to test them. They didn’t have a God like that. Instead, they gave God thanks for allowing them to have their son as long as they did. Friends, that’s faith. The secret to a successful life is to love God. Many people believe in God. Few people love ... they cannot do, however, is separate us from God’s love. If we love God as God loves us, God has promised us that, in the long term, together we can handle our lives in such a way that we will be able to praise God for His goodness and give thanks for ...

4957. It IS Enough

Matthew 14:13-21

Illustration

Johnny Dean

In an article in The Christian Century magazine the problem of homelessness in America was being addressed. It was a long article, it was the cover story, discussing every possible aspect of the problem. And in this long article, this extensive examination of a serious problem, in a Christian publication, not one mention was ever made of the church and what the church could do to help. Homelessness? Sounds like a government problem to me! Send them away, Jesus. But Jesus says, "No. You give them something ...

4958. Save Me, Lord

Matthew 14:22-36

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... s gospel text Jesus shows his great love for his disciples by sending them off, by themselves, without his help, to struggle alone. Jesus lets them sail into a big storm, and allows them to battle against the wind and the waves all night long. The timing is important. The well-fed five thousand are touting Jesus as king. The disciples are in a triumphant, thankful mood, adoring their master and congratulating themselves for having picked the right star on which to hitch their wagon. Suddenly Jesus insists ...

4959. The Family Album

1 John 3:1-7

Sermon

David E. Leininger

... their brothers or sisters, are liars; for those who do not love a brother or sister whom they have seen, cannot love God whom they have not seen" (1 John 4:20). Jim Bakker — a child of God. God bless you, brother. And forgive me for taking so long to acknowledge that you and I are family. Turn the page in the album. A group of teens with skirts too short, pants too low, and hair too weird — church kids. Whoa. A little different from my generation. Yes, this family album has some strange photographs. But ...

4960. The Healing Touch

Mark 1:29-39

Sermon

David E. Leininger

... God's most gracious act will be to let life mercifully end. Those decisions are not ours; rather they are rightfully in the hands of a caring and loving God. There is much to learn about our ministry of healing because the subject has been neglected for so long. Of course, we can study the subject to death and use our incomplete work as an excuse for inaction. No, if the church is to regain its healing touch, the church has to, as the commercial says, just do it! Please note that scripture does not reserve ...

4961. Riff-Raff

Mark 2:13-22

Sermon

David E. Leininger

... He cared too much to be careful. Not that he would get down to the level of his companions, but simply by sitting and eating with them, would raise them to his. Suddenly, we find ourselves in church. We are about to commemorate a dinner party long ago. Jesus, himself, was the host. There was more riff-raff — common folk — laborers, fishermen, no one really special. There was even one there who, within hours, would betray him, another who would deny he ever knew him. For three years he had sat with them ...

4962. Sunday’s Comin’

Hebrews 10:16-25

Sermon

David E. Leininger

... it's Friday ... Sunday's comin'. Yes, there is much wrong with this world. There is a war, there is disease, there is oppression, there is terrorism. Things are not what they ought to be. But I have hope. It comes from being a Christian. I remember a special day long, long ago, and with heart and soul and every fiber of my being I can shout, "It's Friday, but, praise God, Sunday's comin'!"

4963. He Descended Into Hell

1 Peter 3:18-22

Sermon

David E. Leininger

... of a black church cemetery. That sure sounds like hell to me. Why? We remember the news reports. Young John William King, in a perverted effort to show that he had the right stuff to lead a racist gang, wanted a trophy. What kind of trophy did not matter, as long as it was black. Whether or not King and Byrd had ever seen each other on the streets of Jasper, Texas, no one knows. It made no difference. Hard to imagine, isn't it? In years past, yes — between 1882 and 1968, we know of 4,752 people who were ...

4964. Look Up and Live

Numbers 21:4-9

Sermon

David E. Leininger

... against Moses' leadership ended up costing the lives of almost 15,000 people in a plague. There are complaints about not enough water, so God arranges for Moses to be able to strike a rock with his staff and bring forth enough for all. Now, the end of the long journey is near. And they have encamped in this desert region that is infamous for the snakes. The griping and moaning resume: "Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? For there is no food and no water, and we detest this ...

4965. Fickle Folks

Mark 11:1-11

Sermon

David E. Leininger

... because the Lord did not fit the image of the Messiah that Zealots had in mind. You see, the Zealots wanted a ruler in their own image, one who would be as willing to fight as they were. They would be happy to follow someone ... at least, as long as that king would lead where they thought he should go. But if that king wanted to lead in some other direction ... ummm ... trouble! The day after Jesus' triumphal ride, he came into the temple and made a wreck of the place. The religious establishment had put ...

4966. The God Who Is Always There

Esther 7:1-6, 9-10, 9:20-22

Sermon

David E. Leininger

... drops in on the king for a little chitchat. You come to the king when you are summoned and not before. Otherwise, it might be off with your head! For that matter, it had been more than a month since King "Headache" had called for her, so who knows how long it might be. Mordecai responded, "Do not think that because you are in the king's house you alone of all the Jews will escape ... Who knows but that you have come to royal position for such a time as this?" (4:14). Esther finally agreed she had no choice ...

4967. Grand Opening

Matthew 2:1-12

Sermon

Robert J. Elder

... . Naturally, the time comes when the opening ceremonies, the torch bearing, the lighting, the parading are over, and it is time for the games to begin. The torch, the pageantry of the opening ceremonies are at one and the same time the end of a long road of expectation, the end of expectation and the beginning of participation. Both of these little recollections are meant to help us see the sense of the new season we are now entering. When Christmas is at an end, we find ourselves in the Sundays reflecting ...

4968. Jesus at Home

Mark 2:1-12

Sermon

Robert J. Elder

... tarp. For those Christians, the hole in the roof became a sign, a powerful symbol of their calling to be open to the word and to minister to human need. For whatever reason people may have needed to get in, this congregation was committed to finding a way. As long as forgiveness is the way of our faith, it's a little like maintaining a sort of hole in our otherwise self-satisfied spiritual roof, a reminder that we need to let more into our understanding of what it means to be in the presence of Jesus than ...

4969. Due for Renewal

Mark 2:13-22

Sermon

Robert J. Elder

... it, but we will learn it anyway." Then after you have sung it through, the members of the congregation will take advantage of the opportunity to say, "I did like it; see, our pastor is wrong again!" Sir Francis Bacon once declared, "It is singularly amazing how long the rotten can hold together." People cling to false hopes, go through empty rituals, and celebrate the past to such an extent that often it has no bearing on the present. There comes a time when the old is no longer sufficient and the new must ...

4970. Weed and Feed

Sermon

John Smylie

... and creates little areas around our house and yard that are designed to bring pleasure to all. She has a gift and yet it's obvious that the gift is supported by long hours of work, weeding, pruning, and taking care of the plants and flowers, protecting them from the elements and from the deer that delight especially in the tulips. Not long ago Jill, my wife, asked me to see if I could get the string trimmer working again. After checking a few things and reloading the string in the string trimmer, and then ...

4971. Do You Love Me?

John 14:15-31

Sermon

Kristin Borsgard Wee

... the question, "Do you love me?" In case the disciples hadn't heard the answer clearly enough, the fire and wind of the Spirit at Pentecost proved it. They proved it forever. James Baldwin, in his book, Another Country, tells of an incident that expresses our longing for love. The joint, as Fats Waller would have said, was jumping. And during the last set, the saxophone player took off on a terrific solo. He was a kid from some insane place like Jersey City, or Syracuse, but somewhere along the line he had ...

4972. God’s Anthills

Mark 6:30-34, 53-56

Sermon

Kristin Borsgard Wee

... problem, Lord. I am just one person. We are just a few people. Send the hungry away to take care of themselves." And Jesus, who interrupted his one-day vacation to give them what they need, says, "Go and see what you have to share." For a long time, scientists didn't understand how ants managed to live and thrive in the midst of a terrible drought and famine. But then one man studying them discovered the reason. In one huge anthill he was examining, he found an ingenious shaft running through the mound from ...

4973. Soul Bread!

John 6:24-35

Sermon

Robert Leslie Holmes

... : Never make major life decisions based on physical hunger or thirst! For 36 years, Don Hewitt was the king of one of television's most powerful news shows. As creator and executive producer, he made the final decision about what went on the air on the long-running 60 Minutes news magazine program. Don Hewitt could make or break a reputation by what he allowed to go on the air. The famous 60 Minutes clock ticked on for Don Hewitt for sixteen years beyond what most Americans think of as the normal retirement ...

4974. Planning Your Way Out

John 6:35, 41-51

Sermon

Robert Leslie Holmes

... Good-bye!" "Winning," it seems, leaves all its possessions behind and is therefore no different from losing. How can winning and death be mentioned in the same sentence? Yet, there are many people, including some in the church, who live their lives by this measure of success. Long ago, the apostle Paul spoke to those who are committed to this way of life when he wrote, "If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are to be pitied more than all men" (1 Corinthians 15:19). There is a fourth belief system ...

4975. Tough Talk for Tentative Disciples

John 6:56-69

Sermon

Robert Leslie Holmes

... nothing more than a speculative novel in the style of so many before it, written by one who rejects the claims of Christ and of the ancient scriptures. Moreover, it is not original in its attacks on the gospel. Rather, it is one of the latest volumes in a long list of heretical writings. There are others among the crowd who seem blind to truth no matter how obvious it is. They see and benefit from Christ's miracle with the loaves and fishes, and they marvel as to how Jesus crosses the lake (see John 6:5-13 ...

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