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 5000 results

601. Valley of Betrayal (Series: Peace in the Valley)

Luke 22:47-53

Sermon

J. Howard Olds

... spotted a lighted hall. Sounds of music and laughter came from behind the door. Judas opens the door and finds behind it a supper table set for thirteen. The guests were all seated as the host rises to embrace Judas with a kiss. “We have waited a long time for you to come. Let the feast begin,” said the host. And at last, Judas was home. Even in the deep, dark valley of betrayal, there laid the possibility of recovery and restoration. Maybe somebody here can hear the host say to you, “We’ve been ...

602. To Live in Joy

Revelation 1:1-3

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

... her way, but she plummeted to the sand. For a moment I felt pain. I identified with that butterfly’s helplessness. Had I held too long and hurt her fragile wings? I crouched over her, and you will think I am a little strange now, I crouched over her, and ... don’t bury them. To live in joy is to live this now—day of resurrection. Ill. And that’s the final word Resurrection. Not long ago. I was In Binghampton, New York in a retreat for lay persons. One day a 66 year-old woman asked for an appointment. ...

603. Samaria and Our Spiritual Journey

John 4:1-26

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

... some Samaria in our lives, but keep your eyes and ears open, be alert; there is a ministry for you in Samaria. Jesus discovered it there at the well in His encounter with the woman. Why she came to the well is something of a mystery, and Bible students have long reflected upon that. The well must have been a half mile from Sychar, and there must have been a water well in the village itself, We may well conclude from what we know about the story that this woman was so much a moral outcast that she could have ...

604. Redemption: A Wide Angle Picture

Exodus 3:1-22

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

... all of it, for this is my blood of new covenant.” Don’t miss either the symbol on the reality here. It won’t be long in the story of the Exodus before God will instruct His people to prepare and eat a special Iamb, a lamb without blemish, and to take ... man, short of going into the Promised Land. It was Joshua who finally led his people into the life that was long awaited, most expected, incessantly prayed for — the fulfillment of their life. So, when the angels say, “His name shall be called Jesus ...

605. The Geography of the Christian Experience

Galatians 1:11-24

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

... can’t ignore them. I don’t know anyone that gathers up the meaning of the gospel in her life and in the ministry that she fosters than Mother Theresa, the contemporary saint who gave her life for the poorest of the poor. On one occasion she observed, “We all long for heaven where God is, but we have it in our power to be in heaven with him right now, to be happy with him at this very moment.” Then she added a challenging word: “But being happy with him now means: Loving as He loved, helping as He ...

606. Emmanuel - God with Us

Matthew 1:18-25

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

... if keeping his distance, has come to dwell with us in the form of a person. This is what the world had waited so long for; a human quality in God which would bring him near, flesh of our flesh, body of our body. Some years ago, a teacher assigned ... and foam; Only where He was homeless Are you and I at home? We have that fashion and heads that know, But our hearts we lost - how long ago! In a place no chart or ship can show Under the sky’s dome. This world is wild as an old wives’ tale, And strange the ...

607. War and the Prince of Peace

Isaiah 9:2-7

Sermon

J. Howard Olds

... our Peace for He has broken down the walls of hostility that separate us one from another. So, I pray that we find peace today. I am absolutely certain that the peace we hope for will not be found by bombs bursting in the air, but from a Baby born long, long ago. So it is, that Longfellow did not end his poem in despair. He wrote another verse: Then pealed the bells more loud and deep God is not dead, nor doth he sleep. The wrong shall fail, the right prevail With Peace on Earth, good will to all. May The ...

608. Doing Our Best

Romans 12: 1-13

Sermon

J. Howard Olds

... grace that God may see fit to bless us. I want one hundred people to do that. I want five hundred people today to say, “I will pray, by name, for the boys, girls, and youth committed to our care." The children have been here by the hundreds all morning long. They are brought here week after week as babies for Baptism. We stand and make a promise and I am asking us to fulfill that promise, to surround every child and youth who is in this community with such an umbrella of love and prayers that the evil one ...

609. Touching Hearts and Transforming Lives

2 Corinthians 5:11--6:2

Sermon

J. Howard Olds

... you to do something today. I invite you with one hand to reach out and touch the hand of God. The hand of God is reaching for you, as it is beautifully portrayed on our campus. It is, in real spiritual life, a true fact; God is reaching for you. Long before you ever reach for him, God is reaching for you. With one hand, reach out and touch the hand of God, but with the other, connect with a friend. Under the Almighty hand of God, we can be about the business of Touching Hearts and Transforming Lives. I hope ...

610. Finding Our Place in All Creation

Genesis 1:1, 26-31

Sermon

J. Howard Olds

... the power to reason, the capacity to love, the ability to serve. You are a human being. There is no such thing as just a mere human being. You are a precious human being. You have worth, value, purpose and place in this universe. It has been a long, long time ago now, but I will never forget it. A severely handicapped child had been inspired by a ministry of our denomination to believe that he had worth and value. He, with a group of others, composed a choir which sang with unusual confidence and joy. At ...

611. Building Boats That Float

Genesis 6:1

Sermon

J. Howard Olds

... wood. Make rooms in it and coat it with pitch inside and out. This is how you are to build it. The ark is to be 450 feet long, 75 feet wide, 45 feet high. Make a roof for it and finish the ark within 18 inches of the top. Put a door on the side of ... and the cup was offered, bright sunlight flashed through the sky and a rainbow made an arch across the horizon. I will never forget it as long as I live. Every time I am tempted to bury my face in the mud, I remember the rainbow. Every time I have blown it again ...

612. We Believe in the Forgiveness of Sins

1 John 1:5-2:2

Sermon

J. Howard Olds

... is south to the intersection where I and every other person in Texas try to turn east. Each morning as I waited in a long line, for long minutes, at a long light, I mumbled there must be a better way. I found it. A half mile from the light I spotted an alley behind a ... stand in need of grace they proclaim for others. I am a servant. I will go door to door helping others, but days are not long enough to rid our souls of guilt. There is one remedy, and only one to the guilt that grips us. It is the unearned, ...

613. The Greatest Story Ever Told

Luke 15:11-32

Sermon

J. Howard Olds

... and what he was soon to become. It was love at first sight. He ran; it was improper for men in the Middle East, wrapped in long robes, to run. Aristotle said, “Great men never run in public.” This father runs. The son comes slowly with heavy heart and downcast eyes, with ... is that it is hard to be graceful. Why should this sinner be given grace so easily when we have worked for it so long and so hard? Herein lies the point of the parable. It is all grace. Karl Olson in his book, Come to The Party, writes ...

614. The Calling of Our Baptism

Luke 3:21-22; Matthew 28:18-20

Sermon

J. Howard Olds

... . I. BY THE WATERS OF BAPTISM WE ARE CLAIMED. We are claimed as children of God. Identity is important these days. You can’t get very far without it. A woman trying to make a purchase without proof of identity opened up her purse, pulled out a mirror, took a long look and said lovingly, “Yep, that’s me all right.” It didn’t work. A couple of years ago Sandy and I were flying to Cincinnati for my niece’s wedding. It was a one day trip straight up and straight back so Sandy saw no reason to take a ...

615. Living on Full Alert

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

Sermon

J. Howard Olds

... winsome invitation in Verse 17, “The Spirit and the bride say ‘come.’ And let everyone who hears say ‘come’ and let everyone who is thirsty come, let any one who wishes, take the water of life as a gift.” Thirst is our most primal human longing. It is more urgent than hunger. It is rivaled only in our need to breathe. We thirst. Thirst signals the absence of something vital to our lives. So these spiritual writers from the desert often used the analogy of thirst to describe our spiritual need ...

616. The Loving Friend

John 4:1-15

Sermon

J. Howard Olds

... :15 — I no longer call you a servant...instead I call you my friends. What a friend we have in Jesus, All our sins and griefs to bear. What a privilege to carry, Everything to God in prayer. Friends ask “How are you doing?" and then they stay around long enough for you to answer them. And Jesus Christ is that kind of friend. III. A FRIEND KNOWS US THE BEST THAT LOVES US THE MOST. A group of elementary students were asked “What is a good friend?" Their number one answer was “Someone you can depend on ...

617. Work, For the Night Is Coming

John 9:1-5

Sermon

J. Howard Olds

... legs on which to walk? In dramatic fashion we have witnessed something that has been in the making in this country for a very long time. That is, the division between the rich and the poor, the haves and the have nots, the healthy and the handicapped. Maybe people ... Wesley quote: Do all the good you can, By all the means you can, In all the ways you can, To all the people you can, As long as you ever can. We have an opportunity to do the works of God. Here are some ways we've begun. - We have already sent a ...

618. Mistaken Identity

Matthew 16:13-20

Sermon

Wayne Brouwer

... so sad Everything he gave to us took all he had. Jesus is their familiar stranger. He is the man who lives down the hall, yet remains an enigma. The disciples know they don't really know him, yet they are willing to live with the tension as long as nobody has to name it. We are not that different from them. One of the college courses I often teach is called "Which Jesus?" In it I take my students through Jaroslav Pelikan's book, Jesus through the Centuries (Yale, 1999) and the writings of the New Testament ...

619. Do You See What I See?

Exodus 14:19-31

Sermon

David J. Kalas

... the midst of what had been the sea, on which the people could walk to the other side. Every portrayal of this event is necessarily abbreviated. A portrait can only be a snapshot, and a movie scene can only be a few minutes long. But this was an event that lasted all night long, and it must have been a sight to behold. I certainly believe that God could have provided a more instantaneous way to defeat the Egyptians or to deliver the Israelites. If by saying "Let there be," he brings whole worlds into being ...

620. How, Then, Shall We Live?

1 Thessalonians 5:1-11

Sermon

Mary S. Lautensleger

... worry. I won't take anything because my father is a Duke in Spain. Don't worry. I'll clean your house for as long as you live here." It was signed "Prince Eddie." Police later discovered that this so-called burglar was a developmentally disabled boy who ... need and so little time. I don't know where to begin, but I'll see what I can do. Two thousand years is really not a long enough time, but I'll get busy right now, and you check back later." God has called us out of darkness and into God's wonderful light ...

621. Oops! I Didn't See You

Luke 16:19-31

Sermon

King Duncan

... her. (3) All of this is due to the reticular activating system. Jesus told a parable about a rich man who was dressed in purple and fine linen and lived in absolute luxury. At the rich man’s gate lay a beggar named Lazarus. Lazarus was covered with sores. He longed to eat even the scraps that fell from the rich man’s table. He lay there day after day in misery. Dogs came and licked his sores. Every day when the rich man left his estate, he had to pass by Lazarus. Do you think he ever paid attention to ...

622. Fast Forward Faith

Mark 10:46-52

Sermon

Billy D. Strayhorn

... realize one of my lifelong dreams. I've waited years for the opportunity to have schoolteacher in my court. Sit down at that table and write: 'I will not run red lights' 500 times!" (1) This past week, the kids of the SOS Club put me on a week-long treasure hunt. They drew elaborate treasure maps with cryptic clues which lead me each day to some new treasure. One of the treasures I found was this little book titled: The World's Greatest Collection of Clean Jokes by Bob Phillips. I told the kids I would use ...

623. An Invitation to Tired Souls

Matthew 11:25-30

Sermon

King Duncan

... , jump from bed, and run around the block six times . . . Then I kick that little block under the bed and go back to sleep.” Most of us are not tired from straining our muscles. Most of our fatigue is mental. It takes energy to deal with customers all day long. It is draining to sit in front of a computer screen. Many of us have jobs that are repetitive or that require precision, and so we drag ourselves into our homes barely able to put one foot in front of the other. We’re tired! We’re beat! Then ...

624. For What Do We Wait?

Luke 1:26-38

Drama

Arley K. Fadness

... waiting for, I might as well, too. Mrs. Abernathy: This oughta be interesting. Bonnie: I’m waiting for the perfect man, Mr. Right, someone who’ll sweep me off my feet and with whom I’ll live happily ever after. Mrs. Abernathy: Honey, you’re gonna be waitin’ a long, long time! I don’t know anybody like that. (speaks as she exits) Bonnie: And I don’t either, but it’s only a matter of time. And I’ve got all the time in the world. I can wait! Bart: Well, I’m getting sick of waiting. I have ...

625. Jingle Bells at a Funeral

1 Thessalonians 5:12-28

Sermon

King Duncan

... ’s what I do. Did you have anything particular in mind?” She said, “Well, it was so sudden and I’m so upset, I haven’t been able to think straight.” “What was something he really liked?” his friend asked, and she finally thought long enough about it to come up with “Jingle Bells.” “Yes, that’s it,” she said. “He really liked ‘Jingle Bells.’ Maybe you could sing that one.” His friend thought for a moment and said, “‘Jingle Bells’ wouldn’t be appropriate for a funeral ...

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