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 626 to 650 of 4959 results

626. Seeds And The Kingdom

Mark 4:30-34, Mark 4:26-29

Sermon Aid

William E. Keeney

... and as they apply them to their life and the world in which they live. Context of the Lectionary The First Lesson. (1 Samuel 15:34--16:13) Samuel had concluded that Saul was no longer qualified to be king. A successor who was more in accord with God's desire for a king over Israel was needed. Fearful of Saul's reaction if he knew what Samuel was doing, Samuel went searching on the pretext of offering a sacrifice. The choice of Saul as king was made at least in part because he was a striking figure and stood ...

627. Simply Simon

Luke 7:36-50

Sermon

Alexander H. Wales

... . We are Christians, after all. We know all about this love and forgiveness business. When we are part of the chosen people, how could we possibly be so insensitive? How could we possibly be so blind? We know we are. It is the sin active in us, the desire to be right as often as possible, the ability to overlook the obvious and center in on our pride. We are used to being simply us, simply the self-centered creatures that Jesus warned us about being. We get to believing our own public relations stuff. We ...

628. How Costly Grace? Or Does Spelling Count?

Micah 6:1-8

Sermon

Paul E. Robinson

... Old Testament records the dawning of the awareness among the people called Hebrews, that there was not a number of gods, all with various powers, but rather there was one God, more powerful than all the others. This God created the world out of love and a desire to be in relation with us. Only later did they understand that there was only one God, period. It was only natural then that some of the understanding from other pagan cultures would slip into their worship of this great Yahweh, the Lord. And one of ...

629. The Christmas Cactus

Isaiah 35:1-10

Sermon

Paul E. Robinson

... are all on a journey. And it is a very "long, long trail awinding" indeed, into the land of our hopes and dreams, into the arms of our loving God. Such a journey has been known by people as long as there have been people, for God placed that desire for relationship with God in our very soul. This is what Christmas is all about. For the people in the day of Isaiah the prophet, 740 years before Jesus was born, their understanding of God was still a mixed message, all jumbled up with their hopes and dreams of ...

630. A Ransom Paid

1 Peter 2:4-12

Sermon

Sandra Hefter Herrma

... for something that goes beyond our world bounded by glitz and the latest fashions in everything from earrings to $40,000 cars. Every once in a while we may look around us and wonder, is this all there is? Just a round of getting whatever your heart desires, and then paying the bills and worrying what we'll do for money when retirement time comes? Our release has not been easy. Like the hero in some tensely plotted suspense movie, Jesus has had to search for us. And we have been innocently bobbing along with ...

631. Week Two Of Lent

Sermon

Richard Gribble

... our house. As Jesus says, "Whoever exalts himself will be humbled, but whoever humbles himself will be exalted." We all like to be recognized for what we do. This is a natural human desire, even a need. Recognition will happen along the path of life, but it should not be that for which we live. The kind of recognition we should desire is that which comes from going about our business, carrying out God's plan for us, and doing it without seeking recognition. We can all think of examples of saintly people we ...

632. Holy Week

Sermon

Richard Gribble

... in the shadow of Jesus. Let our footprints match his on the way to the cross. Tuesday Holy WeekIsaiah 49:1-6John 13:21-33, 36-38 The Darkness Of Sin The world lives in a daily contrast of light versus darkness. The light is that which is normally considered desirable. Light brings life. Flowers open their beauty to the light; all plants seek the light for sustenance and growth. The light brings warmth from the rays of the sun. People seek the light for many reasons. The light allows the clear path that we ...

633. Make A Choice

Luke 19:28-44

Sermon

Robert Beringer

... of a warrior-king, there was a humble man riding on a donkey, a symbol of peace. Jesus' whole entrance into the city was a challenge to the world. It said God's ways are not the world's ways. It said love and not hatred is what God most desires. It said God's power and grace can save us, not human strength and wisdom. The gospel writer tells us that Jesus wept over the city, because of the unwillingness of people to choose life over death. I believe God still weeps over the conflicts in this broken world ...

634. Week One Of Lent

Sermon

Richard Gribble

... the concept of conversion and how God rejoices over our ability to be reconciled with one another. The prophet Ezekiel says that God is desirous that we become transformed to a life of virtue and rid ourselves of all that draws us away from God. The final aspect ... little merit in loving those who will love us in return. We know how difficult it can be to love those who have not the desire nor it seems the ability to love us in return. Unanswered love can be quite draining, but Jesus asks us to try. Jesus in ...

635. The Fifth Meal

Sermon

Robert F. Scott

... are more important than the externals of the room.When we are at table with Jesus, it is even more important, not that the externals are right or wrong, but that they come from inner feelings that are right. What matters is our love for Christ, our inward desire for his forgiveness, our intention to strive for his holiness, an inner holiness that comes only by the grace of God. We want to worship him with dignity and with beauty. This is right; it is very right. But let us first offer him our love and seek ...

636. A Misguided Game of Hide-and-Seek

Exodus 32:1-33:6

Sermon

Robert S. Crilley

... in the distant darkness of the universe, looking casually down upon creation, as if from a celestial balcony? Perhaps an all-powerful or all-knowing God would assume such a vantage point, but surely not One who is all-loving. Because love seeks community, and desires above all else, a response. In fact, according to Matthew, if you're searching for the Lord, you'd do well to start with that one wandering the streets, hungry, and whom someone yesterday offered a little food; thirsty, and someone gave a cup ...

637. Life's Loose Threads and The Tie That Binds

Deuteronomy 34:1-12

Sermon

Robert S. Crilley

... blessing upon the beloved servant: Well done, dear Moses, well done. Your work is now complete! Perhaps then, the question we really need to ask is not about Moses' unfinished business, but about what Yahweh still wanted to accomplish. And from the outset, God's desire has been to establish a people of faith -- something which can hardly be achieved unless they are first weaned from the person of Moses in order to walk with the Almighty themselves. Obviously, it would do little good if the one who has tried ...

638. Proper 4

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

Sermon Aid

William E. Keeney

... 7:26, 27) Consider examples of false bases for finding the meaning and welfare of life. A. Mind-altering and addictive drugs B. Sexual gratification C. Fame and fortune 4. Forces that Destroy or Build (7:25-27) A. Internal Forces arising from impulses and desires B. External Forces arising from the environment C. Spiritual Forces, e.g. the temptation to play God 5. Good Building Materials (7:25-27) How do we gather the materials for a good life, so that we build with stone and not the clay which dissolves ...

639. Service And Reward

Matthew 20:1-16

Sermon Aid

William E. Keeney

... God. The owner had the right to choose how the goods were to be distributed. The standards for reward were not always according to conventional wisdom. God's awareness of need is larger than the human tendency to be centered in one's own needs or desires, and not to be equally concerned with the needs of others. 2. The Right Side Up Kingdom. (v. 16) A. The False Values Turned Around. God corrects false values when people get obsessed with who is number one. B. Supplying Daily Needs. Jesus understood that ...

640. Prepared Or Not?

Matthew 25:1-13

Sermon Aid

William E. Keeney

... come as a surprise. Therefore, be alert and ready at all times. A. Be Awake! B. Be Watchful! C. Be at God's Work! Contact: Points of Contact 1. Reading the Future. People try many ways to read the future. Horoscopes in the daily papers attest to this desire to know how things will happen to us. Tarot cards, fortune cookies, Ouija boards and fortune tellers are some of the means people consult to try to determine their futures. All of these represent a lack of trust that God has the future in hand. For those ...

641. Christ the King

Psalm 100:1-5, Ezekiel 34:1-31, Ephesians 1:15-23, Matthew 25:31-46

Sermon Aid

William E. Keeney

... of us that is dark. Generally we try to hide it and to present ourselves from our light side so that we will be accepted. We want help to be released from the dark impulses that we feel. It is not condemnation but salvation that we really desire. From that personal awareness we can understand that it is also the condition of others. Out of that awareness we act to offer help to others rather than condemnation and rejection. When we do, the power of the Holy Spirit within us helps the light side to overcome ...

642. Jesus, The Servant

John 13:1-17

Sermon

Elaine M. Ward

... knew that the meaning of life was the good news of God's love and our response of love and service. He taught "Love one another as I have loved you," and showed us how. We long for such love. In Tennessee Williams' play, A Streetcar Named Desire, Blanche longed desperately to be loved. She was not easy to love, however, because she talked too much and the way she talked repelled those from whom she wished love. When Blanche met Mitch, overweight, lonely, and in need of love, as well, she shared with him ...

643. The Backside Of God

Sermon

John N. Brittain

... follows, of a disciple. Seeing the back side of God is, thus, not only not a slight, it is a beautiful metaphor of the wonderful privilege of being able to follow our God. Gregory's image contrasts the desires of the people in Exodus 32 to have an experience with God and Moses' desire in Exodus 33 to know God. Aaron and Company proceeded with the time-honored practice of trying to manipulate and control God, making an idol; but Moses asked God for a meeting. Some modern Christians of all stripes -- liberals ...

644. Responsibility And Motivation

Ruth 1:1-22

Sermon

John N. Brittain

... grateful for it. But Ruth had chosen to be responsible for Naomi, and stuck by that decision, which leads to the question, "What was her motivation?" She really could, after all, have gone home. It does not seem to have been the need to be needed or the desire to be appreciated, since she was neither. But she had made a choice and was now willing to live with its obligations. "Your people shall be my people, and your God my God," sounds a lot like a religious conversion. Ruth had come to recognize the God ...

645. Meeting Jesus At The Well

John 4:1-26

Sermon

John N. Brittain

... issue again. Does God have any control over the church, or is the church simply an institution designed to meet the articulated desires of its members? The woman at the well felt comfortable turning Jesus down. Sometimes we do too. Now, someone may be thinking, ... get a little too personal, if it looks like we might not be totally in control, we check out. The woman stays. She has the same desire we all have to be in touch with God. It may make some demands of us and it may be uncomfortable, but if we can be ...

646. "Friend, Why Are You Here?"

1 Corinthians 10:14-22

Sermon

Alex Gondola

... ." Maybe some of us are here this morning because someone else "dragged" us! Jesus' question for Judas is a valid question for us. "Friend, why are you here? Why are you here today?" I hope, in the midst of all our mixed motives -- habit, a desire to support your minister or your church, curiosity, concern for yourself or another, or whatever -- I hope that, somewhere, in the midst of all our mixed motives, somewhere, deep down inside us, we are also moved by feelings of love and thanksgiving. Love for the ...

647. "Friend, Why Are You Here?"

Sermon

Alex Gondola

648. Prayers for Memorial Day, Election, Thanksgiving

Bulletin Aid

Rolland R. Reece

... the messiah would appear and lead them to victory over their suppressors. Someday Israel would be free. Many centuries later those words would be echoed by Martin Luther King, Jr., "free at last." Is there a dream of more grandeur? Is there a more powerful desire? Is there a more universal hunger and thirst? Moving to our independence is done with just one goal in mind -- to be free! But what happens when those about us set out to reach the same goal? We run the real risk of becoming enemies. Suddenly ...

649. Wedding: Garments Of Marriage (for a formal wedding)

Colossians 3:1-17

Bulletin Aid

Derl G. Keefer

... that all these things require a kind of self-forgetting that we are not inclined to practice very often. So, he says, we need to wrap all these attitudes and action in love. Your love for each other, (Bride) and (Groom), will give you the energy and desire to show compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, patience, and forgiveness to one another. But your love alone won't make this happen. Human love has a way of fading in and out, unless it finds its Source. And the Source of all love is God. Let God be ...

650. Life Beside The Falls

Ezekiel 47:1-12

Sermon

David O. Bales

... finally in her place, we left her alone. She would have it no other way. The game began and although we stood to yell or slapped our gloved hands to stay warm, Millie sat motionless, head bent forward. Mildred had always wanted children, desired children more than she desired marriage. The happiest moment in her life was not when she married Harold Freeman -- dear man that he was -- but when she gave birth to her first child, Henry. Then her happiest moment was when she birthed Marshall, and so also with ...

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