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 776 to 800 of 1164 results

776. Are You the One?

Matthew 11:1-19

Sermon

Johnny Dean

H. A. Williams, one of the leading preachers and theologians of the Church of England, titled his autobiography, Someday I’ll Find You. That may seem like an unusual title for an autobiography, but if you read the book, as I did when I was a seminary student, it begins to make sense. You see, there was a period in Dr. Williams’ life when he was almost totally incapacitated by phobic anxieties. He was afraid to into the streets and marketplaces, afraid of elevators and escalators, afraid to ride on trains ...

777. He Leadeth Me

Psalm 23:1-6

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

There was a story being circulated back in the days when President Carter was in the White House. He was meeting with the Prime Minister of Israel about the negotiation of a peace in the Middle East. Since both were religious men and worshiped the same God they thought it would be a good idea to consult God on the matters that were before them. Carter offered to use his private phone to do it, pay the charges. So they placed the call, talked to God for five minutes. When the call was completed Carter asked ...

778. Toss Your Cap Over the Wall

Mark 3:20-30

Sermon

King Duncan

Even though this is baseball season, I want to begin with a basketball story. It is about Michael Jordan, perhaps the greatest professional basketball player of all time. One night he scored sixty-nine points in a single game. In that same game, rookie Stacey King made his inauspicious debut. He shot one free throw and made it. After the final buzzer, a reporter asked King for his thoughts on the game. Stacey King, with tongue planted firmly in his cheek, replied: “I’ll always remember this as the night ...

779. Blow The Trumpet In Zion

Joel 2:1-11

Sermon

Larry Powell

Is there a word which falls upon the human consciousness with a more resounding "thud" than the word "Repent"? "Oh no," you say. "It is the theme of the prophets, the touchstone of the gospel, and the initial requirement for entrance into the kingdom." That is true, but it is also true that the inherent dynamic of "Repent," one of the foremost action words in the vocabulary of humankind, has been neutralized by a generation no longer arrested by its appeal. A concrete sign in the shape of a cross stands ...

780. What Does It Mean to Be Blessed?

Matthew 5:1-12

Sermon

King Duncan

“‘I’m so blessed.’ You hear it more and more these days,” notes Pastor Richard Allen. “Most noticeably . . . from famous people, and often in acceptance speeches. Clutching a golden statue they say, ‘I’m so blessed to be here today’ . . . My issue,” continues Allen, “with such usage is not that it is flippant, or even untrue. Actors and politicians can be deeply sincere about feeling blessed. My issue with such usage is that it is so easy. It requires little effort, in a moment of victory, to know oneself ...

781. Watch What You Eat

1 Corinthians 8:1-13

Sermon

King Duncan

Columnist Erma Bombeck has set up some rules for herself for eating or not eating food on her many travels. She offers the following suggestions: Never eat anything you can't pronounce. Beware of food that is described as, "Some Americans say it tastes like chicken." If a country does not have one single head of cattle, no range and no cowboys, don't order beef. This is no time to be a sport. When they tell you how the skin of what you are eating makes wonderful shoes and handbags, leave it. Resist eating ...

782. Finding Answers to Family Feuds

Genesis 25: 21-34

Sermon

J. Howard Olds

To live above with those we love, Well, that will be glory. To live below with those we know, Well, that’s another story. Family feuds. I would like to chat with you a few moments about that today. According to a survey done by Randy Carlson about eight years ago, 91% of American adults long to improve their relationships with their adult siblings. The pains of family life continue to haunt us, often for an entire lifetime. One of the most compelling stories of the Bible is the struggle between two ...

783. Determining Your Destiny

Luke 16:19-31

Sermon

James Merritt

A well-to-do man and his family of five lived in a plush, gated neighborhood in a wealthy urban community. He was a righteous man, by all accounts. A volunteer worker in the student, faithful to his wife, never missed one of his son’s baseball games. “I’ve never met a better man than that one,” someone was overheard saying of him at church. “It’s amazing how the Lord has blessed him.” At night, when the man turned into his neighborhood, he would always catch a glimpse of a young lady on the far street ...

784. Baptism of Our Lord

Luke 3:21-38, Luke 3:1-20, Isaiah 43:1-13, Isaiah 42:1-9, Acts 8:9-25, Acts 10:23b-48

Sermon Aid

John R. Brokhoff

COMMENTARY Lesson 1: Isaiah 43:1-7 The nation of Israel is God's creation. This lection comes from 2 Isaiah written in the sixth century (540 B.C.) by an unknown author to the exiles in Babylon. To those in bondage this is a comforting message. Since Israel is God's people, he will rescue them from captivity. On this Baptism of Our Lord Sunday, we, too, in our baptism are made God's people by his gracious adoption. The Lord rescues us from the bondage of our sins. Lesson 1: Isaiah 42:1-9 God anointed his ...

785. How To Bring Tears To Jesus' Eyes

Luke 19:28-44

Sermon

John R. Brokhoff

"O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, killing the prophets and stoning those who are sent to you! How often would I have gathered your children as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you would not." And when he drew near and saw the city, he wept over it, saying, "Would that even today, you knew the things that make for peace." (Luke 13:34; 19:41-42) Bill and Judy were traveling across the country with their six children, ages three to thirteen. They made a rest stop, and everyone jumped back into the car, ...

786. Superstition Or Authentic Faith?

Luke 13:1-9

Sermon

King Duncan

Why do bad things happen to good people? It is a question all of us ask from time to time. Some of Jesus' listeners asked him this same question. They brought up a recent news story about some Galileans who had been cruelly offered as human sacrifices by Pilate. Were they greater sinners than others in Galilee that they should suffer so? A tower had fallen in Siloam and crushed eighteen bystanders. Was it because of their sin? Jesus had already dealt with this question when confronted with a man who had ...

787. Catching The Thanksgiving Spirit

Deuteronomy 8:1-20

Sermon

King Duncan

For some people, Thanksgiving is just another occassion for feasting and football. As someone has said, "If God had meant for us to fast on Thanksgiving, he would never have created 30-pound turkeys." I believe it was Erma Bombeck who said that the most remarkable thing about her mother is that for thirty years she served the family nothing but leftovers. The original meal has never been found. Some of us will feel that way after Thanksgiving. Robert Orben reports on the practice of raising your own ...

788. Christ's Promise To His Saints

John 11:17-37

Sermon

King Duncan

"Hey, Buddy," said the taxicab passenger, as he tapped the driver on the shoulder. The driver screamed and lost control of the cab, nearly hit a bus, jumped the curb and stopped just inches from a huge plate-glass window. For a few minutes, everything was dead still and silent. Then the driver said, "Man, you scared the living daylights out of me'" "I'm sorry," said the passenger. "I didn't realize a tap on the shoulder would scare you so badly." "It isn't your fault," said the driver. "Today is the first ...

789. The Ultimate Thirst Quencher (Alternate Addition to the "I Am" series: Living water)

John 7:25-44

Sermon

Eric Ritz

Have you ever been extremely hot and extremely thirsty? Go with me in your imagination to South America, to the country of Chile. There is a desert there, the Atacama Desert. In the Atacama Desert it does not rain for centuries at a time. This forsaken, narrow strip of land lies along the western coast of South America. It is protected from clouds by the Andes Mountains, the world''s second highest mountain range. Some parts of the Atacama Desert have not seen rain in 400 years. Although the desert is ...

790. The Lord's Prayer: Deliver us from Evil

Matthew 6:5-13

Sermon

Eric Ritz

Dr. Tony Campolo is a Professor of Sociology at Eastern College and a Baptist Minister whose prophetic speaking and writing ministry is a great source of encouragement to this pastor and many others. Dr. Campolo also has a well-known mission project that works in the inner cities of Philadelphia and Camden. Last year 250 college students worked without pay to help bring the Good News to a place where days are long and full of evil and laborers are desperately needed to share the Good News. One of the ...

791. What a Serve!

Acts 6:1-7

Sermon

John E. Harnish

It didn't last long, really, the disciples' first attempt at communal living—selling everything they had, bringing it together for distribution, so that no one claimed anything as their own, but everyone had enough. Just two chapters later, what happens? The Hellenists—that is, the Greek Christians—complain because their widows aren't getting as much aid as the Hebrew Christian widows. Maybe it was greed or racial prejudice on the part of the Hebrews. Maybe it was grabbing on the part of the Hellenists. ...

792. The Gospel of Marah

Exodus 15:22-27

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

I delight in hearing a great sermon. I relish reading the creative writing, of other preachers. I have a sort of insatiable appetite for preachers. I heard recently of a man who was telling of his surgery. A lot of people like to tell about their operations, though not many people like to hear about them. This fellow said that when the doctor sewed him up after surgery, he left the sponge inside. His sympathetic listener asked him if he had any pain. “No,” said the fellow, “but I sure do get thirsty.” I ...

793. In the House of the Lord

Psalm 23:1-6

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

If you saw the “Places in the Heart,” starring Sally Field, you will probably never forget the closing scene. Many in the audience and most critics could not believe what they were seeing. The scene is set in a small and simple sanctuary lit Texas. Everyone who figures in the movie drama is seated there in the pews. The camera moves in on the preacher at the pulpit, and he reads the moving cadences of the apostle Paul’s great hymn on love from 1 Corinthians 13.-We hear again how faith, hope and love ...

794. While This House Lies In Ruins

Haggai 1:1-15

Sermon

Frank Ramirez

Thus says the LORD of hosts: These people say the time has not yet come to rebuild the Lord's house. Then the word of the LORD came by the prophet Haggai, saying: Is it a time for you yourselves to live in your paneled houses, while this house lies in ruins? Now therefore thus says the LORD of hosts: Consider how you have fared. You have sown much, and harvested little; you eat, but you never have enough; you drink, but you never have your fill; you clothe yourselves, but no one is warm; and you that earn ...

795. Blessed Are the Abnormal

James 2:1-13

Sermon

King Duncan

Everyone knows the name Vincent van Gogh. Van Gogh is best remembered as a troubled, but highly talented post-impressionist painter who died at the age of 37, perhaps at his own hand. His best-known work is titled, “Starry Night.” But let me tell you some things about Vincent van Gogh that you may not know. Did you know that Vincent van Gogh was drawn toward the Christian ministry at an early age? In the winter of 1878, van Gogh volunteered to move to an impoverished coal mine in the south of Belgium, a ...

796. How Much Are You Worth?

Matthew 10:29-31

Sermon

King Duncan

A large train pulled by two engines was making its way across America. While crossing the Western mountains, one of the engines broke down. “No problem, we can make it to Denver and get a replacement engine there,” the engineer thought, and carried on at half power. Farther on down the line, the other engine broke down, and the train came to a standstill in the middle of nowhere. The engineer needed to inform the passengers about why the train had stopped. He didn’t want the passengers to get too upset and ...

797. The Stiller of Storms

Matthew 14:22-36

Sermon

Dennis Kastens

Then he (Jesus) made the disciples get into the boat and go before him to the other side, while he dismissed the crowds. And after he had dismissed the crowds, he went up into the hills by himself to pray. When evening came, he was there alone, but the boat by this time was many furlongs distant from the land, beaten by the waves; for the wind was against them. And in the fourth watch of the night he came to them, walking on the sea. But when the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were terrified, ...

798. Wrestling In A Title Bout

Genesis 32:22-32

Sermon

Mark Clark

In one corner of the ring stands the challenger, the Mystic Marvel. In the other corner stands the champion, the Supplanter. The Supplanter basks in all his successful conquests. He relishes that last match with Laban the Larcenist. It was such a sweet victory because the champ had beaten Laban at his own game ” somehow he had gotten away with more deceitful moves than even the underhanded Laban. The champ laughs as he thinks about how easy so many of his victories have been ” like taking candy from a baby ...

799. Welcome To The Mountain. Now Go Home

Exodus 24:1-18

Sermon

King Duncan

"WELCOME to San Diego. Now go home." That's what the bumper sticker said. Soon there was another: "Enjoy San Diego. Then go home." People who have been there say that San Diego, California is a friendly city. It is also a city bursting with promise. San Diego, however, is now the seventhlargest city in the United States. And many residents believe that is big enough. So they put bumper stickers on their cars, "Welcome to San Diego. Now go home." And to be sure you take the hint, they've put their airport ...

800. A Terrorist among the Twelve

Luke 6:12-16

Sermon

Donald B. Strobe

One of the retired ministers in our congregation bet me that I won’t be able to finish my series of sermons on the Twelve Apostles. The reason is because we know so very little about some of them, especially these last four. In the case of the one we are considering this morning, we only know one word. But that one word speaks volumes. The Gospel says that he was a “Zealot.” Luke refers to him as “Simon who was called the Zealot.” (Luke 6:15) The designation is important, because there are at least nine ...

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