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 601 to 625 of 1245 results

601. On Keeping Quiet about Easter

Mark 16:1-20

Sermon

Donald B. Strobe

... looks forward to the account of at least one resurrection experience with Jesus. “But after I am raised up, I will go before you to Galilee,” He said. Mark knew about the resurrection even as he wrote his Gospel. One can imagine that he was eagerly looking forward to telling us more about it when he got to the end of the story. But his Gospel was never finished. The apparent incompleteness of this ending prompted early Christians to add either a short two-sentence ending which appears as a footnote in ...

602. The Unfinished Story

Mark 16:1-20

Sermon

Donald B. Strobe

603. The Ninth Commandment: Liar, Liar

Exodus 20:1-21

Sermon

Eric Ritz

... with truth your neighbor’s deed." I am sure ever since Adam and Eve there has been a tabloid spirit in the hearts of men and women. I am sure there must have been The Jerusalem Inquirer or The Bethlehem Star which they read with great and eager expectation. Too bad they did not read the Torah with the same devotion and enthusiasm. I can just see the disciples sitting around watching, Hard Copy or Oprah. No wonder Jesus had to take them away on retreat to get their minds focused on "kingdom thinking." This ...

604. The Triumph of the Cross

Galatians 6:11-18, Acts 1:1-11

Sermon

Eric Ritz

... is on!" (4) SOMETHING LIKE THAT HAPPENED AT PENTECOST. And its purpose was to equip the saints who had been delivered from death to life by the cross, and to build up the Church. For by one spirit we were all baptizes into the one body. Be willing. Be eager. Be ready. As you come to rededicate yourself to the Lord today, remember. Because of the triumph of the Cross, THE POWER IS ON! When the power is on, you will always see a "wider" world of witness for the Lord Jesus Christ. The Cross reminds us: THE ...

605. The Greatest Table in the World

Mark 14:12-26

Sermon

Eric Ritz

... and drink. Enter every lowly and repentant heart, to renew our lives and love and fellowship. Let your holy Spirit cleanse us of all the hate and resentment and brokenness of spirit that now clutter our existence, and make us new men and women and boys and girls, eager to go into the world where we live and reclaim it for you as part of your eternal kingdom. For you have bought us at the price of your own life." (1) Why is this table before us today the most important and greatest table in the world? What ...

606. The Test of a True Testimony

James 1:19-27

Sermon

Eric Ritz

... about a Christian who found a magic lantern. He rubbed it, and a genie came out. The genie said, "I will grant three wishes to you. But there''s a catch. Whatever I give to you will be doubled for your mother-in-law." After a few seconds, the man eagerly agreed. First, he asked for $1,000,000. So his mother-in-law got $2,000,000. Second, he asked for a $2,000,000 house. So his mother-in-law got a $4,000,000 house. Finally, he said, "Genie, for my third wish, I''d like you to ...

607. The Lord Is My Shepherd

Psalm 23:1-6

Sermon

Eric Ritz

... imprisoned in a jail cell in Singapore. One day as the tray was slipped through the slot in the door it looked different. The bowl was the same, the scruffy brown tray was the same. A tiny wad of paper half hidden beside the bowl was the only difference. Eagerly, Neivelle Tan reached for the paper, spread it out on the tray, and began to read the tiny page torn from a book-the Bible. It was the 23rd Psalm. With little else to think about, with nothing else to read, he thought of these words from the ancient ...

608. Still Waters

Psalm 23:1-6

Sermon

Eric Ritz

... is a parable of the way we run from God. The only stronger and deeper desire in the human spirit to find God that he knows is the desire of God to find us. When we stop running from God and accept the guidance and direction that God is so eager to share, then we will find the green pastures and the still waters where we can be nurtured and find authentic life.

609. Goodness and Mercy

Psalm 23:1-6

Sermon

Eric Ritz

... ,000 years. David has given us a song to sing. If you don't sing this song and the message it shares, all other songs will only lead to dark valleys and empty cups and the paralyzing power of fear. God's gifts are much better than these! God is eager to lead you but will not force you to do so. The choice is yours. Fulfillment or frustration. Amen.

610. When Life Seems to Be Going in the Wrong Direction

Philippians 1:1-11

Sermon

Eric Ritz

... on the second choice. Third, to follow our dreams, we must have the determination to run the good race. I love the story about a 10-year-old baseball player who went to summer camp to improve his skills for the game he loved. He came home and was quite eager to show his Dad how much his hitting had improved. He took his Dad to the playground. He threw the ball up in the air and took a mighty swing. His Dad felt the breeze, but the ball landed on the ground. He had missed it. He smiled at his ...

611. Staying Focused--Traveling Light

Hebrews 12:1-13

Sermon

Eric Ritz

... that hold the passenger car and sit on those ropes. Then they can cut away the basket beneath them. As they sever the very thing they had been standing on, it drops into the ocean, and the balloon rises. Not a minute too soon, they spot land. Eager to stand on terra firma again, the five jump into the water and swim to the island. They live, spared because they were able to discern the difference between what really was needed and what was not. The "necessities" they once thought they couldn''t live without ...

612. A Vision and a Voice

Mark 1:9-13

Sermon

Paul E. Flesner

... can be present at the service. Sponsors, sometimes called godparents, are selected. There is a class to attend about the meaning of baptism. On the day of the baptism, there is an air of excitement. During the service, the children of the congregation are always eager to come forward and get a firsthand look at the new baby being baptized. The parents of the baby are frequently nervous that their child will be too noisy during the baptism. The godparents are proud to have been asked to be sponsors. The ...

613. Your Sins Are Forgiven

Mark 2:1-12

Sermon

Paul E. Flesner

... to our concern that people will be able to get up and walk. On the level of material and physical need, the picture is bright and getting brighter. Yet, despite all our efforts, the eyes of people are still empty and fearful. Political demagogues find eager followers for their offers of security at the expense of freedom and justice. New age spirituality promises to fill the vacuum in peoples' souls with its brand of religion. Add to it a pinch of corruption in government, a dash of drive-by shootings, a ...

614. Chosen

John 15:1-17

Sermon

David G. Rogne

... and I together cannot do.' " The love to which Jesus calls us is an inclusive love that helps us to see others as part of God's family. A rabbi asked his disciples how one could tell when the night had ended and the day had dawned. One replied eagerly, "It happens when you see an animal at a distance and you are able to tell whether it is a cow or a horse." The rabbi shook his head in disappointment. A second disciple said, "Day has begun when you can distinguish an oak tree from a cottonwood tree." Again ...

615. Making Compassion a Verb

Mark 6:30-44

Sermon

David G. Rogne

... two dollars from the table.1 Those who are so hardened to the suffering of another certainly invite our contempt. Fortunately, most people are capable of more compassion than that. Mencius, a Chinese philosopher who lived several hundred years before Christ, and was eager to show that there is good in everyone, said, "All people have a capacity for compassion. If people see a child about to fall into a well, they will, without exception, experience a feeling of alarm and distress. This is not because they ...

616. The Dark Didn't Catch Me!

John 6:25-59

Sermon

Stephen M. Crotts

... with the covenant my parents made for me at my infant baptism, I wanted to make my own covenant with God. I wanted to profess my own faith in Jesus, and I wanted to do so publicly! So, I was enrolled in a Confirmation Class. And there was no more eager student than I. But in Confirmation Class I was not taught the Bible. I was taught the church; instead of being taught Jesus, I was taught John Wesley and John Calvin. But still, in all of this weakness I reached out in faith and accepted all of Christ I ...

617. The Impossible Option

Mark 10:17-31

Sermon

Cathy A. Ammlung

... and easily toted. We sometimes act as if following Jesus is more like an occasional weekend ramble, not a life-long journey with its own logic and demands -- and certainly not as a life-altering Adventure. And we compound the problem. At times, we're so eager to draw new people into the life of the Church that we make it sound like discipleship really is a jaunt in a spiritual Winnebago, complete with all the comforts we're used to. We soft-pedal obedience to Jesus, and are uncomfortable mentioning self ...

618. With a Bang or a Whimper?

2 Peter 3:1-18

Sermon

Fredrick R. Harm

... which we find ourselves! Finally, what is the type of life that should be expressed by those who look forward to the things Saint Peter describes? Verses 11 and 14 make it clear. A key word in these verses is "strive." It means "to be zealous, to be eager." What is it that we are to be zealous about? Peter does not hesitate to tell us: "Lead lives of holiness and godliness ... be found by him at peace without spot or blemish." What a garland of Advent graces to carry with us during these sacred days! What ...

619. So Great a Love

Ephesians 2:1-10

Sermon

Paul E. Robinson

... God you have been introduced to in your life is the God who is most likely responsible for your cancer, for "somewhere in your youth and childhood, you must have done something wrong." Hollow words these are, if worship and prayer and good works, instead of being eager responses to a God who cares, are instead desperate attempts to get that all-seeing, wrathful God off your back. I heard just yesterday about someone who was behind a car at an E-ZPass tollgate. The driver obviously didn't have an E-ZPass and ...

620. The Amazing Holy Week Equation

Philippians 2:1-11

Sermon

Paul E. Robinson

... , Jesus emptied himself, and allowed his spirit and mind to be filled with God. Here is the meeting place of Palm Sunday, A.D. 33 and Palm Sunday 2003. It is in the conscious making room in our minds for the Mind of Christ in order that we might be eager to do the will of God. It is in the emptying of all that would get in the way of God so that it becomes possible to think thoughts that lead us to paths of righteousness and holiness and joy. Think how important that is. Remember the words of the ...

621. Grace in the Midst of Suffering

2 Corinthians 4:1-18

Sermon

Glenn McDonald

... , on the whole, informs us that Christians die from accidents and diseases at almost the same rate as non-Christians. Enthusiastic evangelists who say otherwise are dangerously off the mark. They either fail to understand the Bible or reality or both. In fact, some preachers are so eager to get God off the hook when it comes to suffering that they are willing to put us on the hook. Whose fault is it if we aren't healed of cancer or saved from a tornado? Why, it's our fault, of course -- for not earnestly ...

622. The Battle of the Wisdoms

James 3:13-18

Sermon

Harold Warlick

... a question. "What is the largest major in this university?" With perfect candor, the Dean replied, "In the fall we have the highest number of majors -- engineering. In the spring, business undecided has the highest number of majors." He explained that new, eager, and bright students enter the School of Engineering in the fall with commitment, excitement, and promise. Their initial academic work goes well. Then, in the spring term, they are required to take a certain physics course. It is a back-breaker ...

623. Needy People Please Apply

Acts 4:32-37

Sermon

King Duncan

... service, and this excellence is reflected in their rising profits. Betsy Sanders, an executive with Nordstrom department stores, tells of a meeting that occurred one time between executives of Nordstrom and J. C. Penney. J. C. Penney’s executives were eager to learn Nordstrom’s secrets for success. Imagine their surprise when a Nordstrom executive pointed them to a business book written over 100 years before by . . . guess who? J. C. Penney himself. Nordstrom had taken Penney’s recipe for success ...

624. Such As I Have

Acts 3:1-10

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

... and class leaders were not the most educated, they were not the wealthy with time on their hands, but they were laboring men and women, husbands and wives, and young folk with little or no training, but with spiritual gifts and an eagerness to serve. Community became the incubator and the training camp for Christian ministry. This provoked disdain and mockery from Wesley’s critics. Augustus Montague Toplady, for instance, the fellow who wrote the great hymn, Rock of Ages, accused Wesley’s lay preaching ...

625. Gospel Through The Person

Philippians 1:12-30

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

... you about the movie Gandhi. I beg you – I beg you, see that movie before it leaves the city. Here is one of the most dramatic, historical examples of the power of a person. Now let’s look at verse 20 of our scripture lesson. Verse 20. It is my eager expectation and hope that I shall not be at all ashamed, but that with full courage now as always, Christ will be honored in my body, whether I live or whether I die. Now that’s the Revised Standard Version of the verse. Now listen to my choice translation ...

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