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 501 to 525 of 679 results

501. What Would Jesus Say About War?

Matthew 5:1-12

Sermon

J. Howard Olds

... acknowledges that when peaceful alternatives have failed, armed force may be necessary.” We support those who serve in the military and those who conscientiously object to such service. Some of us are pacifists. Others of us endorse “just war” theories. All of us yearn for the day when peace and justice will prevail for all people of all nations. That is where our denomination stands. No one else, not even the bishops of this church, can change that. I. WHAT SHALL WE BELIEVE? Ultimately, down in the ...

502. Living on Full Alert

Revelation 22:12-14, 16-17. 20-21

Sermon

J. Howard Olds

... will never run dry. It is bright as crystal, pure and clean. The river of Eden has been reclaimed. Drink from this fountain that will never run dry. Come you who are thirsty; there is a bountiful supply. Are you thirsty for God? Is there a yearning in your soul that no thing, no created object, no person, no pleasure, can satisfy? Are you in touch with that thirst—that vital, fundamental, spiritual need? We cannot quench that thirst by our own efforts, even though we constantly try. Only God can supply ...

503. From Greed to Generosity

Mark 10:17-27

Sermon

J. Howard Olds

... not his best book, not the book I liked the best. It was a less popular title, When All You've Ever Wanted is Not Enough. In it he said, “Money and power do not satisfy that unnamable hunger of the soul. Even the rich and the powerful find themselves yearning for something more. They know something the rest of us have yet to discover. “If we have it all, we still won't be happy." Somebody needs to write a new book. Not on how to be happy, we don't need another book on how to be successful, we ...

504. Make Disciples—Intentionally

Matthew 28:16-20

Sermon

J. Howard Olds

... killed the cat, but curiosity has caused many persons to turn their lives over to the Lordship of Jesus Christ. There is a spiritual vacuum in the soul that remains when the world has given you more than you can imagine. That curiosity, that vacuum, that yearning for something more is none other than the voice of God. And it finds expression in multiple ways. A toddler climbs up into his grandfather's arms. They talk about the fun they've had together and how much they enjoy one another. Then the kid ...

505. Keeping Company with the Weary

Matthew 11:25-30

Sermon

J. Howard Olds

... of the Statue of Liberty and read once more those inviting words to immigrants landing on our shores. You know them as well as I: “Keep ancient lands, your storied pomp!" cries she with silent lips. “Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses, yearning to breathe free, The wretched refuse of your teeming shore. Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me, I lift my lamp beside the golden door!" As I walked through those old buildings on Ellis Island, as I looked at the artifacts left behind by ...

506. Praising Our Savior

Philippians 3:7-11

Sermon

J. Howard Olds

... their homes and into their lives. Also, it has been a joy to share their victories and defeats, their joys and their sorrows, their lives and yes, sometimes their deaths. These relationships have greatly enriched my life. I believe it is this kind of relational yearning that inspired Paul to write the text I want to use today. Please read it with me. “I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, and so, somehow ...

507. With a Firm Foundation, Application Is Second Nature

Matthew 7:15-23, Matthew 7:24-29

Sermon

Mark Ellingsen

... lure you away from where you are planted, providing instead its promises of self-fulfillment and novelty. To cling to a firm foundation seems to make you a "stick-in-the-mud." What is new and fresh and customized to your needs is what attracts us and makes us yearn. America and a lot of its religious convictions teach us that you've got to be flexible and think about what's in your own self-interest, about acquiring or being in the presence of what makes you seem like a winner.13 Martin Luther put it just ...

508. Life’s Purpose Is Often Hidden!

Matthew 13:24-30, 36-43

Sermon

Mark Ellingsen

... for his works. His life is fleeting and its end is death. History goes on and pulls down all the towers of Babel again and again. There is not real, definitive security, and it is precisely this illusion to which men are prone to succumb in their yearning for security.6 Because of our sin, there is no security in life; nothing lasts forever. Contrary to all the talk about "legacies" you hear these days in the media, no one will remember you and me someday. As the preacher said in Ecclesiastes 5:15-17 ...

509. Is It Time Yet?

Isaiah 2:1-5

Sermon

Tony Everett

... for you, for us, for all nations, in Jerusalem. God's Word rose again in Jerusalem. Through the Holy Spirit, God's Word reaches all nations. This is perfection ... God's perfect plan of salvation for us and for all people. Is it time yet? We still yearn for a time and space that is free from the stress and anxiety of daily living. During this season of the year, family tensions, economic stress, and every day worries seem to grow even stronger occupying our existence. And yet, it is time ... God's time ...

510. The Holy Way

Isaiah 35:1-10

Sermon

Tony Everett

... God's promise? What closes your mouth from proclaiming the joy of the coming Christ Child? (Isaiah 35:5-6). Just like God's people in exile, we have our own wilderness space. We are exiled in our own, personal "bah-humbug" experience, and each one of us yearns for a way through it. Today, God promises that way. It is God's holy way through the very wilderness space in our souls. "A highway shall be there and it shall be called the Holy Way ... it shall be for God's people: no traveler, not even fools ...

511. What About the Baby?

Isaiah 9:2-7

Sermon

Tony Everett

... in life. Isaiah presents the ceremonial names for a king that certainly reaffirm God's promise and purpose. These names express God's intention for a renewal of spirit, a restoration of power, and a promise of eternal salvation. These names also connect with the yearning of God's people for a transformed identity and a renewed hope. God's people were more than ready for a miracle. So are we! Get ready! Keep your eyes on the manger, lying open in your family, in your community, and in your souls. Open ...

512. I Don't Do Windows

Deuteronomy 11:18-21, 26-28

Sermon

Tony Everett

... of the mountain" (Exodus 32:19b). In the wilderness journey, even God's called leaders are stained with sin, both outside and inside. It's hard to journey faithfully in the wilderness of the present. We remember wonderful times in the past and yearn for glorious times in a promised future. However, a closer look through the windows of the past also reveals shameful streaks and guilty grime. The future appears only as a wishful, wistful dream. Certainly many of us have experienced the same frustration. The ...

513. Sleeping through the Alarm

Joel 2:1-2, 12-17

Sermon

Schuyler Rhodes

... ideology or rigid orthodoxy. Dispel the smog of our own narrowly held points of view and pose the questions that beg the asking. What things are we doing that we need to stop doing? If we lift the veil of our own unconsciousness, the answers are right there, waiting, yearning for us to embrace them. How are we, as the church, called to repentance? In what ways do we carry on that are not faithful to who God has called us to be in Jesus Christ? What walls have we built? Who have we kept out? What actions do ...

514. Putting the Genie Back in the Bottle…

Genesis 2:15-17, Genesis 3:1-7

Sermon

Schuyler Rhodes

... behind my back, I began to pick up the cues and to learn about the expectations and realities of the country I was visiting. To me, the story of Adam and Eve is a mourning story. It mourns the loss of innocence for us all and speaks to a deep yearning in each of us for some kind of return to Eden and its ways. Why else would we be so charmed by the antics of children? But alas, the genie is out of the bottle for us. Child-like innocence, while precious in a child, doesn't work for us ...

515. A Friday We Call “Good”

Hebrews 10:16-25

Sermon

David O. Bales

... can strike a little fear in you. No matter how much people enjoy criticizing worship on the drive home from church or dining at Sunday's dinner of roast pastor, the book of Hebrews points us toward a problem that's deeper than craving for novelty or yearning for the good old days in worship. Our problem with worship isn't because we're bored with old songs or hate new ones. Our problem isn't that the preacher is too intellectual or too ignorant, too liberal or too conservative, that the sanctuary is too ...

516. A Spiritual “Re-formation”

Romans 3:19-28

Sermon

Mary S. Lautensleger

... of doubt and debt. Previously, he had always found strength and solace in reflecting on the life and teachings of Dietrich Bonhoeffer, a German pastor and Nazi resister. Tyler has found that the cost of discipleship is indeed high, as he yearns to recapture his spiritual certainty in a confused world. Tyler and his congregation eventually do find their way back to God and to each other in their life together, discovering that faith entails much more than a feeling. Through reconciliation, they experience ...

517. All in the Family

1 John 3:1-3

Sermon

Mary S. Lautensleger

... is as eternal as God's love and as the life yet to come. Small group members can more easily explore their sense of spirituality, and seek and give prayer support, thereby deepening their awareness of God's working in all our lives. We all yearn for nurturing relationships — with others and with the Christ in each of us. The community of believers, the church, is the place where we receive and accept God's love. Families are configured differently today from the time of Christ, and even from a generation ...

518. Kierkegaard's Four Steps in the Religious Quest

Luke 15:1-10

Illustration

Carl B. Rife

... level pleasure, the second level the good. The first level casual dabbling, the second level earnest living. The third level, he says, is divided into two and he calls them Religion One and Religion Two. Religion One has to do with seeking the truth, where we yearn, where we reach out to find this something extra we know is somehow a part of life. That is Religion One and the emphasis there is on truth. So you go pleasure, good, truth. But he said there is another level that we must discover. This level ...

519. Rooting for the Bad Guys?

Lk 16:1-13

Illustration

King Duncan

... only filmed one ending to his movie, not two. He was so sure that the audience would vote to kill the bad guy that he only filmed that ending to save money. This quirky little story provides us a window into human nature: We have a yearning for justice. Philosopher Immanuel Kant believed this universal desire of human beings to see justice accomplished pointed the way to God. He called it "a universal sense of oughtness." The Hero's Adventure is what it is sometimes called in storytelling. It is the classic ...

520. The Beginnings of a Spiritual Journey

Luke 18:9-14

Illustration

George Hermanson

... of my sources of my spiritual grounding is the blues. Van Morrison's Hymns to the Silence has become the sound track of my soul. It floats around me and catches me in moments of solitude. It speaks to me of my journey, the things that have made me, the yearning for depth in prayer. It reflects a nostalgia for the innocence of youth, time that is gone, and a longing for a safe place to be ... the thirst for God. There is a spirit of rejuvenation and rebirth in Morrison's blues - there is no us and them. He ...

521. The Irrational Season

Romans 14:1--15:13

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... time — Traditions that recall The precious memories down the years, The sameness of them all. Helen Lowrie Marshall (1904-1975) So which is it? Sameness or Newness? The truth is Christmas finds us caught between our quest for the new and our yearning for the old. We are starved for new stories about the same old thing. The “Hallmark” channel is showing repeats of every schmaltzy Christmas movie ever made 24-7 from Thanksgiving Eve through Christmas Day. But the sappy sentimentality of those shows ...

522. Last Christmas Letter

Matt. 2:13-23; Luke 2:1-20

Illustration

Martin Luther King

... his "I Have a Dream" speech. But this Christmas Letter is also a dream speech. So here it is in its entirety. Greetings of the Season: When the horizons of man’s destiny loom ashen and somber; when the deafening report of weaponry stuns yearnings for peace; when people are alienated from the outside society, spiritually isolated, and weary of heart; when a child is hungry, a father desperate, and a mother fearful, the beseeching question arises, where can one turn? This year that question is so relevant ...

523. Carbon Pure and Perfect

1 Corinthians 1:10-17

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... diamonds are used to give life-saving microsurgical instruments their edge. One house congregations can transform the world one neighbor at a time. Jesus is our diamond, whatever his carat. Third, Clarity: In the past, every diamond dealer yearns for the “perfect clarity” of the “flawless” diamond — the one with no inclusions or blemishes under 10x magnification. But more recently there has been a greater appreciation for these crystals of foreign material or tiny cracks that appear whitish ...

524. The Great Physician

Matthew 4:23-25

Sermon

King Duncan

... There are many well thought out reasons for this. For one thing, many of these people have become disenchanted by some so-called Christian healers who have taken advantage of people at their moment of greatest need. They have seen these unscrupulous charlatans exploit the yearnings of people who are hurting. And it’s turned them off. You and I can appreciate their feelings. There is nothing worse than those who take advantage of weaker people in the name of Christ. Philip Yancey tells the story of a young ...

525. What Kind of Pillar Are You?

Matthew 5:13-16

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... “not yet” requires disciples to always be in forward motion, a Carpe Manana moving towards a future that is forever being unveiled. Jesus’ disciples are called to flavor that future with the good news of the gospel, acting as salt to a planet that is yearning for a taste of God’s power and presence. The pillars of God’s kingdom are not found in immoveable fortresses of stone, the “Pillars of Hercules” beyond which no one might sail. The pillars of God’s kingdom are not found in unchanging ...

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