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 826 to 850 of 3108 results

826. Who Are the Encouragers?

Luke 14:1, 7-14

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

There are few ministries more important than the ministry of encouragement. One of the most idealized lifestyles of all time is that of the American cowboy. The success of movies like "City Slickers" shows that the dream to be a cowboy still ranks right up there on people's "wish lists." What is the big attraction behind the cowboy persona? Perhaps it can be found in the cowboy "theme song" that we all know: "Home, home on the range Where the deer and the antelope play Where seldom is heard, a discouraging ...

827. Memories of Home: The Prodigal Son

Luke 15:11-32

Sermon

Mike Ripski

Last Sunday we began Advent, our preparation for the celebration of Jesus’ first coming and of our anticipation of his Second Coming. This Advent we’re looking at one of Jesus parables through the lens of Advent. It’s the parable that goes by different names, depending on which of the characters is put in the spotlight: the Elder Son, whom we focused on last Sunday; the Loving Father, whom we’ll focus on next Sunday. And the Younger Son, the Prodigal Son, whom we’ll focus on today. Using the lens of Advent ...

828. Heart-Healthy Christians

Romans 8:18-27

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

Beach and bathing suit season has begun. And I’ve noticed something I wonder if you’ll agree with me. The coolest new hot trend is “tiny.” No, not tiny swimsuits those have long been fashionable, at least since Brian Hyland’s 1960 hit single “Itsy Bitsy Teenie Weenie Polka Dot Bikini.” No, the new big thing is small . . . small and smaller portions of food. Worrying over waistlines has encouraged the food industry to re-package their goodies into “100 Calorie” snack bags. Teenie Weenie versions of Oreo, ...

829. Five Differences between a Franchise Faith and an Authentic Faith

Mark 9:38-41

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

A. J. Jacobs is an American journalist and guinea pig who write books based on plunge experiences. Once he joined Mensa and read all thirty-two volumes of the Encyclopedia Britannica to see what it would be like to be “The Know-It-All: One Man’s Humble Quest to Become the Smartest Person in the World (2004). In another plunge experience he decided only to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth about everything in life. That project had the title I Think You’re Fat (2007), which kind of ...

830. History Hangs in the Balance

Luke 23:1-49

Sermon

Donald Charles Lacy

One would be hard pressed to find a historical event with so many ramifications equal to these words from Saint Luke's Gospel. In fact, for the devout Christian there is no other! It is a moment when the universe seems to come to a standstill and the angels watch in troubled awe. You and I observe from afar, indeed, a great distance. Unless we figuratively or literally read the passage on our knees, we are not apt to catch this sublime, serious moment. Yes, and our appreciation may very well remain at ...

831. Seen The Doctor Lately?

Romans 12:9-21

Sermon

Billy D. Strayhorn

One afternoon, a man went to his doctor and told him that he hasn't been feeling well lately. The doctor examined the man, left the room, and came back with three different bottles of pills. The doctor said, "Take the green pill with a big glass of water when you wake up. Take the blue pill with a big glass of water after you eat lunch. Then just before going to bed, take the red pill with another big glass of water." Startled to be put on so much medicine, the man stammered, "Jiminy Doc, what's my problem ...

832. The Color Wheel of Blindness

John 10:22-42

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

When anxious teenagers finally go to get that sovereign rite of passage into adulthood called the “driver’s license,” they have to pass a tricky written test and a nerve-racking driving test. But there is a third test they must pass as well: A vision test. It is one of the odder quirks of the DMV (Division of Motor Vehicles) that the eye exam is often given last — suggesting that knowing the rules and operating a vehicle are more important than being sure you can see where you are going! For most drivers, ...

833. Updating Some Ancient Laws

Exodus 20:1-21

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

Several years ago on the cover of The Saturday Evening Post, there was a painting by Norman Rockwell showing a woman buying her Thanksgiving turkey. The turkey was lying on the scales, and the butcher was standing back of the counter, apron pulled tight over his fat stomach, a pencil tucked behind his ear. The customer, a lovely lady of about 60, stood watching the weighing in. Each of them had a pleased look as if each knew a secret joke. There’s nothing unusual about a butcher and a customer watching as ...

834. The Uniting Peace of Christ

Ephesians 2:11-22

Sermon

J. Howard Olds

Today’s sermon is captured in an ancient ritual of the Church known as the Passing of the Peace. You know it because we still use it from time-to-time. The peace of Christ be with you. And also with you. May the peace of Christ fill this place. The year was 1935. The world was feeling the desperation of the Great Depression. A group of ministers got together to see what they could do about it. Out of that gathering came the concept of World Wide Communion Sunday. It was the conviction of that little group ...

835. From Greed to Generosity

Mark 10:17-27

Sermon

J. Howard Olds

Author and spiritual director Richard Foster says, “The great moral question of our time is how to move from greed to generosity." That's what we would like to talk about today. A. GREED: the Bible calls it avarice, or covetousness. Greed is the gratification of my desires often at the expense of the common good. We all have a need for greed. We are born to be greedy. It would be easy today to talk about the greediness of Enron executives who are on trial for pocketing millions of dollars. It would be ...

836. Lessons from a Fool

Luke 12:13-21

Sermon

King Duncan

Bishop William Willimon was chaplain for many years at Duke University. He is a well-known writer and speaker. He says wise things in a witty way. Once Willimon and his wife had a group of students over to their home after a chapel service. They had a picnic, then some of the students lingered to play basketball or to talk. Willimon sat on the patio with one student who said, “Dr. Willimon, thanks for having us over to your home. This is the first time I’ve ever been in a faculty home.” “That’s a disgrace ...

837. Caught in the Middle

1 Corinthians 1:1-9

Sermon

John N. Brittain

It has become very popular to talk about how stressed out we are because we (both individually and collectively) are caught in the middle of too many demands and stretched too thin. For some years, we have heard about the "super-mom" syndrome of trying to juggle a full professional life with the many duties of motherhood. More recently, there is a lot of talk about the increasing time demands the workplace is putting on everyone, creating conflicts not just between work and family but between work and ...

838. Why Are You Acting Like Orphans?

Romans 8:18-27

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

There comes a time in every child’s life when he or she entertains two possibilities. One: your parents are from Mars. Two, you must have been adopted. Usually these revelations occur in tandem . . . after a huge fight with Mom and/or Dad; or after a sibling beats us up or puts us down. It dawns on us that no way could we really be related to such mean, bossy, completely opposite people. We must be adopted. Remember when adoption was a highly confidential, even secretive, process? That made it a great ...

839. Ephphatha...Be Opened

Mark 7:24-37

Sermon

David E. Leininger

Our text introduces us to a remarkable woman. She is courageous. She is clever. She is cool. But most of all she is a loving momma who will do anything to help her sick baby girl. The story itself has always been one that I would just as soon skip over because, at first blush, it makes Jesus come off like some insensitive jerk. This does not sound like the Jesus I know. In fact, I wonder why such a story was preserved in the gospel record anyway. But then the lectionary drops it in our homiletical lap and ...

840. Getting Through the Grief

2 Samuel 1:1, 17-27

Sermon

William J. Carl, III

Getting through grief may be one of the hardest things we do as human beings. One of the best ways to begin the process is to find it within ourselves to stand up and say something in a public setting that puts into words both the personal and collective feelings of all who have gathered to mourn. History is replete with stunning examples. Pericles' Funeral Oration as recorded by Thucydides in The Peloponnesian War is certainly one of them. At the end of the first year of war, the Athenians held, as was ...

841. Dancing in Holy Places

2 Samuel 6:1-5, 12b-19

Sermon

William J. Carl, III

Dancing in holy places — that's the theme of this text. I don't know about you, but sometimes in parish life you just don't feel much like dancing, especially when as a pastor you have to deal with several deaths in one week, and still have to get up and preach with a smile on your face. In a reversal of that British movie, Four Weddings and a Funeral, I remember one week when I was in the parish when we had "Four Funerals and a Wedding," and it was a bittersweet time for all of us. With two expected ...

842. Bear the Light

John 1:19-28

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

The five year old nephew of the bride was chosen to be in charge of carrying the rings down the aisle. At the wedding rehearsal he was unusually unruly. He kept leaping out at people, baring his teeth at and then chasing the flower girls. He growled and snarled as he practiced going down the aisle. He brandished the pillow like a pistol. Finally his mother pulled him aside and demanded to know why he was behaving so badly. “But Mom,” he explained, “I have to act fierce — I’m the ‘Ring Bear.’” Like so many ...

843. Doing Your Own Thing

1 Corinthians 6:12-20

Sermon

King Duncan

Have you ever had the urge to simply do your own thing without any regard to how the world may view your actions? If you have ever had that urge, you would not be the first to feel that longing . . . or to act on it. In the late 1960s, a group of hippies remember them? living in the Haight Ashbury District of San Francisco decided that personal hygiene taking baths and showers and washing your hair, etc. was a middle class hang up they could do without. So, they quit indulging in these bourgeois activities ...

844. Responsible Living

Exodus 20:1-21

Sermon

King Duncan

Jeanie Duck is a single mother with a three-year-old daughter. One day a friend gave Jeanie a two-pound box of See’s dark chocolate nuts and chews. Being a chocolate lover, Jeanie was in heaven! As she was oohing and aahing over the box her daughter, Jennifer, joined in the excitement. This was a bad sign. If Jennifer was excited, it was because she expected to share in Jeanie’s newly acquired bounty. Clearly the only way Jeanie could get rid of her was to share some of her precious chocolate, so she gave ...

845. When Others Serve Your Head on a Platter

Mark 6:14-29

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

This summer saw the “resurrection” of an old tale of family rivalry and betrayal. The show that started an industry of prime time “soap operas” is back on the air. Do you know show I’m talking about? . . . . Dallas. The ever-evil “J.R.” Ewing and all his battling, back-biting, embittered family have returned, with new generations, all of whom are admirably carrying on the family tradition of unabated greed and hatred. Added to yet another season of “Kardashians” and the History channel’s presentation of “ ...

846. No ... On

Luke 22:66--23:25

Sermon

Frank Ramirez

Today is a strange and peculiar day. It reminds me of a film clip that I am sure many of you have seen. It was November 22, 1963, in DeelePlaza, Dallas, Texas, just outside the Texas Book Depository. There was a parade. In that parade was the limousine with Jackie wearing her famous pink dress and pink pillbox hat. And there was her husband, JFK, waving to the cheering crowds. As we watch them go down the street we shudder, because we know that a disaster is about to happen. Today we remember another ...

847. But I Really Like the Best Seat in the House!

Luke 14:1, 7-14

Sermon

Years ago I was a director of alcohol and drug programs in a neighboring county. Sadly, I developed a new addiction. I'll put it as honestly as I can ... I became hooked on self-help books, tapes, and videos, especially those that promised if I followed their ten simple steps I would rise to the top of my field. I practiced thinking and growing rich and I studied the magic of thinking big. You name it, and sadly, I probably read it and treated it with close to the respect I gave the Bible at that time. I ...

848. A Bloody Cheer!

Philippians 2:5-11

Sermon

Steven E. Albertin

849. The Call of God

Jeremiah 1:4-10

Sermon

Derl G. Keefer

Jeremiah had a task, a vision, and a promise from God. The prophet Jeremiah had a call from God to preach his word to a people needing to hear from God. His call has been duplicated multiple times over the centuries. Moses, Samuel, Amos, Isaiah, and Ezekiel could point to a precise moment in their journey when God called them to be prophets ... ones who announced God's actions and words. Preaching, announcing God's presence, word, direction comes first from a person who has a passion for what matters in ...

850. Cure for an Aching Back

Luke 13:10-17

Sermon

King Duncan

One Sabbath day, Jesus was teaching in a synagogue. A woman was there who was severely disabled. Her body was all bent over so bent over that her head was nearly even with her waist. Dr. Luke tells us she could not straighten up at all. That strikes me as an unbelievably sad situation. Forgetting the pain and the inconvenience of not being able to straighten one’s body, imagine what that would do to your self image. Imagine not just the physical pain, but the emotional pain of this kind of obvious ...

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