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 526 to 550 of 679 results

526. Hear Him

Matthew 17:1-13

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... days. Or you can just stack a half dozen flat stones by yourself, perch them on your coffee table and call it a day. The “cairn” tradition is Celtic, but such rock-stacking behavior has been with human beings ever since we first began to yearn to remember and recall the important places and moments in our lives. Gilgal commemorated a pivotal moment in the history of Israel, the moment the people and the Ark of the Covenant finally entered into the land that God had promised to them. Biblical scholars ...

527. An Invitation to Tired Souls

Matthew 11:25-30

Sermon

King Duncan

... Statue of Liberty. Within the pedestal on which this great statue stands is a poem by Emma Lazarus graven on a tablet with these immortal words that describe the highest ideals of this nation of immigrants, “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-tossed to me, I lift my lamp beside the golden door!” Today, we as a nation may not be quite as willing to extend that invitation as we once were ...

528. The Language of the Heart

Psalm 98:1-9

Sermon

David E. Leininger

... words. It is the language of the heart. In the American church, we hear it most vividly voiced in the songs of slaves in the South. The spirituals reflected an unconquerable faith even in the midst of a horrible life. They grew out of a deep yearning to pass beyond the harshness of today to reach a better tomorrow. "Swing Low, Sweet Chariot, comin' for to carry me home...." That faith in the ultimate triumph of justice is with us still: "We shall overcome, we shall overcome, we shall overcome someday." The ...

529. Sex, Sex, and More Sex

Song of Songs 2:8-13

Sermon

David E. Leininger

... me of the time when, as a teenager, I discovered ardent letters written by my grandparents when they were in the throes of young love. The discovery completed my picture of them. They were real people after all, animated by the kind of impulses and yearnings I knew quite well. These dignified and upright people - who, before my discovery, I could only imagine going to bed fully clothed - also had a love for one another that was as hungry and tumultuous as the sea. And as their lives demonstrated, passionate ...

530. Soul Bread!

John 6:24-35

Sermon

Robert Leslie Holmes

... He satisfies the thirsty and fills the hungry with good things" (Psalm 107:9). It is amazing! The very God I offended by my self-centered living and sinfulness became a man for me and suffered what I should have suffered so that all my yearning is met in him. My conscience rests in contentment because he satisfied divine justice on my behalf. Jesus speaks to this society of ours that is bloated with overindulgence in potato chips, cheese curls, candy, and soda pop. He compares our deepest needs to hunger ...

531. Calling Out in the Darkness

Mark 10:46-52

Sermon

Steven Molin

... answered. "Set me free? What do you mean, ‘Set me free?' Free for what?" Abraham Lincoln said, "Free. Free to do what you want to do. Free to go where you want to go." The astonished woman replied, "Then I choose to go with you." After a lifetime of yearning for freedom, the first thing this former slave chooses to do when she becomes free is to yield herself back under the authority of someone else. This is our call. You and I are free; that's what Jesus said. May we use our freedom to be his servants ...

532. Can This Be Christmas?

Illustration

M. R. DeHaan, M.D.

... humble soul now kneels in prayer, Who knows the Christ of Christmas. But see the many aimless thousands Who gather on this Christmas Day, Whose hearts have never yet been opened, Or said to Him, "Come in to stay." In countless homes the candles burning, In countless hearts expectant yearning For gifts and presents, food and fun, And laughter till the day is done. But not a tear of grief or sorrow For Him so poor He had to borrow A crib, a colt, a boat, a bed Where He could lay His weary head. I'm tired of ...

533. Resist the Shortcuts

Illustration

Philip Yancey

... and study, and meditation are designed primarily for our sakes, not for God's. Kierkegaard said that Christians reminded him of schoolboys who want to look up the answers to their math problems in the back of the book rather than work them through...We yearn for shortcuts. But shortcuts usually lead away from growth, not toward it. Apply the principle directly to Job: what was the final result of the testing he went through? As Rabbi Abraham Heschel observed, "Faith like Job's cannot be shaken because it is ...

534. The Story of Sarah's Sorrow

2 Corinthians 7:10

Illustration

Max Lucado

... passed away. She was left alone with her name, her money, her memories, ... and her guilt. It was her guilt that caused her to move west. A passion for penance drove her to San Jose, California. Her yesterdays imprisoned her todays, and she yearned for freedom. She bought an eight-room farmhouse plus one hundred sixty adjoining acres. She hired sixteen carpenters and put them to work. For the next thirty-eight years, craftsmen labored every day, twenty-four hours a day, to build a mansion. Observers were ...

535. When God Wants To Mold a Man

Illustration

Staff

When God wants to drill a man, And thrill a man, And skill a man, When God wants to mold a man To play the noblest part; When He yearns with all His heart To create so great and bold a man That all the world shall be amazed, Watch His methods, watch His ways! How He ruthlessly perfects Whom He royally elects! How He hammers him and hurts him, And with mighty blows converts him Into trial shapes of ...

536. A Fig Tree Retreat

John 1:43-51

Illustration

Paul E. Flesner

... or to reflect or to pray. Sitting under a fig tree was a sign of seeking and praying for God's living presence. Now, I realize that this church looks nothing like a fig tree. But isn't that why we're here? We have come together here with the yearning to know the touch of the living God. We come to "retreat" from the chaos of the world around us so we can read scripture, reflect, and pray. I hope you will see that, despite his relative anonymity, we do have much in common with Nathaniel.

537. Crying at the Tomb

John 20:10-18

Sermon

King Duncan

... , to have the fog of doubt and fear lifted from your mind and heart and to know that the Good News really is true. Christ lives and because he lives, you and I can receive the gift of eternal life. It is natural for us to have these yearnings. Even the most skeptical among us still have a glimmer of hope that the Easter story is true—that Christ has been raised from the dead. There was a report sometime back in the The Futurist magazine. The Futurist is a magazine for people who seek to anticipate ...

538. Sandbox First, Soapbox Second

Mark 1:29-34, Mark 1:35-39

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... of wisdom. Simeon’s longing for privacy and alone time started a whole movement of “stylites,” pillar dwelling recluses, devoted to prayer and introspection. Hermits, cave dwellers, monks and nuns devoted to a cloistered existence soon followed. The yearning for spiritual solitude drove generations of the devoted. But other spiritual disciples found fulfillment in communal faith. As the tribal and feudal boundaries of the medieval world were regularly over-run by various armies and invaders, men and ...

539. No Cleansing, No Refreshment

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... the air. The bantering and bargaining between sellers and buyers snuffed out any spiritual sentience. The space that had intentionally been set aside for Gentiles to pray, those whose faith was determined not by birthright but by a personal spiritual yearning, was overwhelmed by the economic activities of Temple business. Of course, all these exchanges of money were making the Temple establishment very rich. The place reserved for the prayers of seekers had become a shopping mall and banking house for ...

540. Red, White and Pink

Luke 24:36-49

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... actively struggling to find their own identity. They invest huge amounts of psychic energy breaking free from authority figures and childhood expectations. They struggle to be completely “themselves.” So why do they end up looking alike? The power of ruling “cliques” and the yearning for popularity and acceptance end up homogenizing all but the most daring. I remember as a teenager thinking I might not be doing what I’d really like to do, but at least I’m not doing what is expected of me either ...

541. Zombie Zone or Beulah Land?

Ephesians 2:11-22

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... creatures. Oddly, while the fact that they are now walking-around in dead bodies doesn’t seem to concern zombies all that much, the fact that they are quite literally “brain dead” does seem to perturb the corpse creatures. According to Hollywood, what all zombies yearn for is to munch down on nice, living brains. For the zombie, it seems, eating brains is like us consuming an entire pint of chocolate cookie dough ice cream. It doesn’t change anything, but it does make them feel better for a brief ...

542. Jesus Makes All the Difference

Matthew 2:1-12

Sermon

Cynthia Cowen

... gate, With a clatter of hoofs in proud array; But they went not back to Herod the Great, For they knew his malice and feared his hate, And returned to their homes by another way.[1] Longfellow spoke of these kings, people searching for a sign from God, people yearning for a king, a spiritual leader, a Savior. Longfellow may have seen himself in these wise men when confronted with Matthew's account of their visit to the Christ Child. This is not a story of a road trip by men who had no idea where the path ...

543. Bridge Builders

Luke 7:1-10

Sermon

Cynthia Cowen

... could meet and worship. Even though he was religious, he approached faith from his own experience of God. Having become disenchanted with the worship of so many gods, he looked to the wisdom of philosophers, but failed to find answers to his religious yearnings. Witnessing the Jews' strong faith in the one God, he began to embrace Judaism. He joined in Jewish worship, followed its moral laws, and expressed his love and dedication toward God with good deeds. Because he built bridges of genuine concern and ...

544. Veni, Spiritus Sanctus, Veni

John 14:8-17 (25-27)

Sermon

Arley K. Fadness

... gospel, which is the good news — the story, the witness of Jesus Christ died and raised from the dead! When Pilate, swimming in a swamp of half truths, myths, and political intrigue asks, "What is truth?" he unwittingly expresses to Jesus humanity's eternal yearning and longing for truth. Little did Pilate realize, standing there, right in front of Pilate, was and is the truth! The old speech professor, the teacher, who has been around a long time, urges all to know the truth, teach the truth, and tell ...

545. Sit Up and Speak!

Luke 7:11-17

Sermon

Arley K. Fadness

... listed in the book, Coming of Age, by Hill, Anderson, and Martinson. Young men are sitting up and speaking at a new mission church in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, under the leadership of a young visionary pastor. A men's retreat designed to meet the yearnings and thirst for vision, leadership, purpose, challenge, risk taking, hunting, and sports. Christ speaks, "Young man, I say to you, rise!" not only to young men but to young women, to children, to Boomers, and to the elderly. All of us along with the ...

546. Baptism of Our Lord

Psalm 29:1-11, Isaiah 43:1-7, Luke 3:1-20, Acts 8:14-17

Bulletin Aid

Julia Ross Strope

... the challenge to make the world better, we thank you. Amen. Intercessory Prayers (Leader or Readers) Dependable God — our mortality greets us as we prepare for sleep and as we wake; our fragility shows up when disease clobbers us. We long to feel your healing presence; we yearn for reassurance that this life is not all there is. We look for signs of your work among us; we make time to be still and to be aware that you are sustaining Holiness in the clamor of earning our keep in society. Thank you for the ...

547. Epiphany 7

Genesis 45:3-11, 15, Psalm 37:1-11, 39-40, Luke 6:27-36, 1 Corinthians 15:35-37, 42-50

Bulletin Aid

Julia Ross Strope

... beauties: we see, we hear, we touch, we smell, and we taste. God is the Designer and continues to create. Our minds think about what we perceive and we choose to know and love God who comes to us in storms, in mountains, and in still small voices. Our souls yearn to relate to God as a parent; we find ourselves loved. Jesus of Nazareth was the Godbearer we relate to and to whom we give our loyalty. The Holy Spirit, a gift promised by Jesus, lives within us and supports us as co-creators with God and as those ...

548. Lent 3

Psalm 63:1-8, Isaiah 55:1-9, Luke 13:1-9, 1 Corinthians 10:1-13

Bulletin Aid

Julia Ross Strope

... with your grace and power. Nurture our souls with words and silences, with relationships and fresh opportunities. We walk the human path Jesus walked; grant us insight to be faithful. Amen. Sermon Idea Using Psalm 63, the sermon might explore contemporary yearnings for spiritual satisfaction, touching on the various religions, and concluding with the Christian plan. Consider aspects of our culture that “dry us out,” coming back to the psalmist’s feeling that we are in the “shadow of God’s wings ...

549. Proper 9

2 Kings 5:1-14, Psalm 30:1-12; 66:1-20, Isaiah 60:10-14, Luke 10:1-24, Galatians 6:1-16

Bulletin Aid

Julia Ross Strope

... us for us. Speak through us words that inspire and comfort. Throughout the world, we ask for peacefulness. Banish ignorance and arrogance from negotiating meetings. Replace small lord-doms with benevolent states. Put your reign in place for our times. God of Galaxies — we yearn to understand, to have intellectual food, which also satisfies our souls. Guide us to ideas that nurture our psyches and stretch our minds. Encourage us to let down our defenses and to be real with one another. Let us see the whole ...

550. Proper 18

Deuteronomy 30:15-20, Psalm 139:1-6, 13-18, Jeremiah 18:1-11, Luke 14:25-35, Philemon 1-21

Bulletin Aid

Julia Ross Strope

... — the world has become a global neighborhood with governments, officials, and citizens. We pray for wisdom for each of our roles in society. We pray for people who get caught on the craggy edges of filibusters and votes, rebellions and power plays. Most of all, we yearn for an end to hatreds and wars. We pray for peace. God of Foundations and Spires — we believe you ask us to love you more than anything or anyone. Grow us deep into the mysteries of heaven and earth; grow us outward with respect for ...

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