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 576 to 600 of 5000 results

576. Floating on Your Back

1 Thessalonians 1:1-10

Sermon

King Duncan

... miles back to shore while holding his little girl. To save them, he would have to swim alone. “Mary, you can float on your back as long as you want,” he told her. She had practiced floating on her back in the pool at home. “Float on your back, Mary. I’ll ... he was rescued. He had come to know and believe that every day thereafter had been a pure gift. “How did you survive that long in the water?” Agnes asked. Gaines answered that all he did was recite Psalm 46 over and over again. “I hung on to ...

577. Discipleship: The Beauty and the Cross

Luke 2:21-40

Sermon

Richard Gribble

... he faithfully served, for this was his calling in life — namely to be a simple bowl. Sometimes after meals, he sat around a long time waiting to be cleaned. By the time it came for him to be washed, the water was rather dirty and cold; it ... pleasant to look at, as well." So the first bowl was packed up, along with a few other discarded items and sent away. It was a long journey and rather boring so the bowl slept through most of the trip. When he awoke, he found himself in unfamiliar but loving hands. He ...

578. Tasting the Gruel of Love

Matthew 22:34-40

Sermon

King Duncan

... , and kept crying. But they stayed there with him. They didn’t talk to him, they didn’t try to cheer him up, says Rev. Zencka, they just stood by him, willing to stand in his pain and be there for him. Slowly, his weeping tapered off, and before long the boys were scampering around the funeral home, chasing each other and giggling. Ever so often, Brian would come back to the front of the room and sit by his mom’s casket, and cry, and the other boys would stand with him quietly and wait with him. (4 ...

579. Grow Old Grace-fully

Deuteronomy 34:1-12

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... any place in our culture should be excited about these numbers and what they mean, it should be the church. For too long, all the denominations have been moaning about the "graying of the church" and the shrinking numbers in church schools and youth groups ... does not mean caving in to limitations. Instead, it means giving God the opportunity to strengthen your weaknesses no matter how long-lived they may be. Growing old "grace-fully" does not mean rattling around in an "empty nest." Instead, it means opening ...

580. Freedom in Bondedness

Galatians 5:1-15

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... we must be good citizens we must vote, pay taxes, obey the laws, respect property, be loyal and keep the peace. The freedom we enjoy every day of our lives as Christians demands of us only two things faithfulness and love. Despite the long list of fleshly "works" versus spiritual "fruits" Paul enumerates, he takes care to preface these itemizations with a single reminder: "You shall love your neighbor as yourself" (Galatians 5:14). When Thomas Jefferson listed the "pursuit of happiness" as one of humanity's ...

581. Home Improvement

Jeremiah 23:1-6

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... recorded history - the story of the children of Israel making their way from slavery to the Promised Land. God has put in us a homing instinct; our hearts are homesick until they find their home in God. The psalmist says this better than anyone: "As a deer longs for flowing streams, so my soul longs for you, O God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God" (Psalm 42:1-2). Then again in Psalm 63:1 "O God, you are my God, I seek you, my soul thirsts for you; my flesh faints for you, as in a dry and ...

582. Mark 12:38-44

Mark 12:38-44

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... , they were siphoning off monies from these estates for their own use. Remembering that anti-Temple, anti-cult themes define this whole section of Mark gives clarity to the second half of Jesus' condemnation (verse 40b). Jesus suggests that these "long prayers" said for "the sake of appearances" were not only spiritually valueless. They were draining the resources of those who needed it most - the helpless, dependent widows and orphans - for this worthless show. No wonder Jesus predicted the condemnation of ...

583. Acts 2:1-21

Acts 2:1-21

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... "every nation under heaven" (2:5). Both the diversity and the unity of language play an interesting role in this story. There is a certain unity present among the witnesses, even before they hear their own languages being spoken. As those who lived under the long authoritarian arm of Rome, these witnesses seemed to share a common tongue probably either Greek or Aramaic. They have enough in common that they can wonder together in a language intelligible to all "how is it that we hear, each of us, in our own ...

584. Mark 12:38-44

Mark 12:38-44

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

585. What Child Is This?

Isaiah 9:6-7

Sermon

James Merritt

... Churchill was the Prime Minister of England, he became ill with pneumonia. The best physician that could be found was called to the bedside of this great leader. His name was Sir Alexander Fleming, the developer of penicillin, and the son of that gardener who had long ago saved Winston Churchill when he was drowning. Winston Churchill later said, "Rarely has one owed his life twice to the same person."[1] Well we owe our physical life to God the Father who created us, and we owe our chance for eternal life ...

586. Your New Home

Joshua 24:14-15

Sermon

James Merritt

... like to gamble, you may like to dance, You may be the heavy weight champion of the world, You might be a socialite with a long string of pearls, But your gonna have to serve somebody... May be a construction worker, working on a home, Might be living in a ... the Lord." (Joshua 24:15, NASB) I want you to notice something. Joshua's children didn't have a choice. Joshua said in effect, "As long as they are my children and they eat at my table and sleep under my roof, they are going to be under my authority ...

587. Things Change

1 Samuel 3:1-10 (11-20)

Sermon

Stan Purdum

... change. There is a certain irony in saying that, for one of the testimonies about God in the Bible is that he does not change. For example, speaking through the prophet Malachi, God says, "For I the Lord do not change" (Malachi 3:6). One of the psalmists said: Long ago you laid the foundation of the earth, and the heavens are the work of your hands. They will perish, but you endure; they will all wear out like a garment. You change them like clothing, and they pass away; but you are the same, and your years ...

588. Call to Oneness

John 17:20-26

Sermon

Donald Charles Lacy

... under consideration speak with majestic authority and demand to be heard until all precious parts of the puzzle fall into place. At times, the Holy Spirit grieves and groans in sorrow. Our stance must always be never, never to give up. The world has been watching a long, long time and it continues to watch. Some of us yearn in nearly perpetual pain for the great day of days. We know it is to be but we do not know the final configuration. We must be patient. The Father and Son are perfectly related in love ...

589. Compassion Can Do More Than You May Think

Luke 7:11-17

Sermon

David R. Cartwright

... found in 1 Kings 17:23. But this story of Jesus' raising the widow's only son is not just a rerun of what Elijah did long, long ago. Jesus is most certainly a prophet of the order of Elijah, but he's much more than that. In the Elijah story in 1 Kings, ... of a large city on his way home from a meeting. It was night. Since his meeting had lasted later than it should, it was long after it was safe to be on the streets alone. By this time, there were all kinds of derelicts and people of questionable reputation ...

590. Claiming Our New Life in Christ

Colossians 2:6-15 (16-19)

Sermon

Clayton A. Lord

... We can follow all the rules and still come up short. No one has all the answers. Yet we keep looking for them. Just check out the shelves of the local bookstore and you will find best-selling books by modern day gurus telling us how to please God, live long, and prosper. We may think it is a modern phenomenon but things haven't changed over the centuries. Even in Paul's day there were people who made their mark in the community by selling people on the idea that if you did certain things you could earn God ...

591. Falling Short

Romans 3:19-28

Sermon

Donna Schaper

... be just like us, to be clones of their parents, but we don't want the apple to fall too far from the tree either. As long as everybody sees our picture, we don't need the money, either. Both Jesus and the writer of Romans join us on the trapeze that ... do it. Jesus offers the mustard seed as a way through the quagmire of conflicting demands and shortness. He says that a little faith goes a long way. He actually seems to be telling the disciples that they don't need a lot of faith so much as they need a little ...

592. The Possible Dream

Genesis 45:3-11, 15

Sermon

Mary S. Lautensleger

... . Years later, Joseph's ten big brothers travel to Egypt to grocery shop. There's a famine back home, so Dad sends them a little farther this time. They approach Joseph, Egypt's head grain grocer, who recognizes them right away. They had written him off a long time ago and have no idea who he is, dressed in that fancy military uniform and speaking a foreign language. Joseph can't resist messing with his brothers a little, and pretends they are foreign spies up to no good. He questions the brothers about the ...

593. In the Waiting Room

Luke 21:5-38

Sermon

King Duncan

... , painful periods of silence while riding together in the car? We are not very good at handling silence. It’s awkward, confusing. We are not very good at waiting. A man was in a restaurant. A waiter was passing by. “Excuse me,” said the man, “but how long have you been working here?” “About a year,” replied the waiter. The man said wearily, “In that case it couldn’t have been you that took my order.” Waiting is no fun. Over the next few weeks our boys and girls will become restless with ...

594. No Small Parts

Luke 2:1-7

Drama

Lois Anne DeLong

... to do whatever God asked of him. Joseph spoke with his actions, kind of like Vin Diesel minus the guns. Joseph: I’m not on stage long enough to do any actions. Look, give me something a little bigger, one of the kings or even a shepherd, and I’ll show you some ... God wanted me to play in this story. Just like you could be doing in this play. Joseph: I get it. It’s not about how long you’re on stage, or how many lines you say, or even if the audience notices you. It’s about doing what we can, as best ...

595. Home By Another Way

Luke 2:1-7

Drama

Lois Anne DeLong

... wrong with my couscous. Wise Man 3: So, tell us. What’s the news from the outside world? We’ve been on the road so long; it’s been hard to stay in touch. Merchant: Well, the biggest news I’ve heard is that Herod is tearing his hair out about ... very pretty this time of year. Narrator: And, so the Bible notes, they went home by another way. Sometimes God wants us to seek the long way home; maybe because there’s someone along the way we are supposed to help. And, he’s not always going to send a ...

596. I Am the Good Shepherd

John 10:1-21

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

... at him again today; and let’s look at him in light of this claim of his, I am the good shepherd. Let’s look long and longing. And if there’s a person in the congregation today that does not yet love him enough, and know him enough to commit their lives ... souls in order that we might go from this place today, willing to follow the good shepherd wherever he leads. My guide for this long and longing look at Jesus is very simple. I want us to take a look at a picture of the shepherd, then the priorities of ...

597. A Word to Prodigals

Luke 15:11-32

Sermon

King Duncan

... be in need. So he went and hired himself out to a citizen of that country, who sent him to his fields to feed pigs. He longed to fill his stomach with the pods that the pigs were eating, but no one gave him anything. “When he came to his senses, he said ... called your son; make me like one of your hired men.”’ So he got up and went to his father. “But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him ...

598. Harvesting What We Plant

Mark 4:26-34

Sermon

Billy D. Strayhorn

... , If they're constantly told how dumb they are and they'll never amount to anything or they can't do anything right, it won't be long until they live down to your expectations. I know, I did. I learned early on in school that I would never measure up to Dad's expectations ... and got in trouble for getting a C. If I got all C's and one D, well, you see the pattern. It didn't take me long to figure out I was going to get in trouble no matter what grades I got. So, why study? I was going to get in trouble whether ...

599. The Dachshund Dilemma

Luke 4:14-30

Sermon

King Duncan

... sociologist and educator Robert Bellah, author of the best-selling book, Habits of the Heart (1985). Bellah was for a long time a sociologist at the Institute for Advanced Studies at Princeton University. While there he came to this conclusion: “We ... most important lesson in her life when she was only a child. When she was a young girl she and some friends hitched up their long skirts to climb Mount Washington in New Hampshire. They went too far and before they knew it a late afternoon fog set in so thick ...

600. Resurrected Following (Series: Living on the Resurrection Side of Life)

John 10:1-21

Sermon

J. Howard Olds

... the Good Shepherd. IV. Follow the Good Shepherd Who Provides For His Own Great is thy faithfulness, O God, my Father; There is no shadow of turning with thee; All I have needed thy hand hath provided; Great is thy faithfulness, Lord, unto me. God made provision for our need long before we had a need. Before we felt cold, he stored up for us gas, oil, and coal in the earth to keep us warm. He knew we would be hungry, so he made the fields fertile and the fruit tasty so that all could eat. He knew that we ...

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