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 876 to 900 of 3108 results
876. The Next Big Thing
1 Samuel 16:1-13
Sermon
Lori Wagner
When spring comes, we change things up. We clean our homes from top to bottom. We wash our curtains. We clean our car. We put away our winter clothing and get out our spring and summer wear. And importantly, we take our vehicles for an oil change, because over the winter, the cold weather puts extra demands on our oil and our oil filter. But whatever your manner of “spring changeover,” we all feel that need to cast off the pall of winter blues and do something constructive to get ready for the excitement ...
When I do good, I feel good; when I do bad, I feel bad, and that is my religion.
Abraham Lincoln
Sermon
King Duncan
There is an ancient Scottish legend that tells the story of a shepherd boy tending a few straggling sheep on the side of the mountain. One day as he cared for his sheep, he saw at his feet a beautiful flower—one that was more beautiful than any he had ever seen in his life. He knelt down upon his knees and scooped up the flower in his hands and held it close to his eyes, drinking in its beauty. As he held the flower close to his face, suddenly he heard a noise and looked up before him. There he saw the ...
Sermon
Albert G. Butzer III
Master, I knew that you were a harsh man, reaping where you did not sow, and gathering where you did not scatter seed, so I was afraid and I went and hid your talent in the ground. — Matthew 25:24 A number of years ago my wife and I and several of our friends went on a sailing vacation in the Caribbean. One day we went ashore on the island of Dominica, hired a taxi, and took a tour of that tropical paradise. While making small talk with the taxi driver, one of my friends casually mentioned that I was a ...
880. Justice
Matthew 18:21-35
Sermon
Will Willimon
The story begins with mathematics. Peter asks Jesus, "Lord, how often should I forgive my brother or sister who sins against me?" Seven times? That sounds reasonable, even mathematically merciful. Jesus responds with a geometrically progressive figure. Forgiveness is limitless. It cannot be tallied. Throw away calculator and slide rule. Stop counting. There are no mathematicians or accountants in the kingdom. In my kingdom there is no forgiving seven times but forgiving seventy times seven times. Seven ...
881. Clean Hands
Psalm 26:1-12
Sermon
Will Willimon
Here is someone whom you would not want for a roommate. Here is someone whom your mother might pick for your roommate, but even your mother wouldn't want to live next door to the person who wrote Psalm 26. Hell would be an entire Saturday night in the presence of this person. Would you listen to him pray? "I have walked in my integrity, I have trusted in the LORD without wavering… I walk in faithfulness to thee. I do not sit with false men, nor do I consort with dissemblers; I hate the company of evildoers ...
882. Mary's Song
Luke 1:46-47, 52
Sermon
Will Willimon
I suspect that many of you are anxious for me to get off my chest quickly whatever it is that I want to say, to get out of the pulpit, so you can get on with the beautiful music of Christmas. We have restrained ourselves throughout the Sundays of Advent, confined ourselves to slow-­moving, somewhat somber hymns of hope, anticipation, expectancy. "Come, O Come, Emmanuel, and ransom captive Israel." Anticipation has become fulfillment. Now, we are at last ready to sing of Christmas. There are Sundays when ...
883. Jesus' Tears
John 11:32-44
Sermon
King Duncan
Today on this All Saints’ Day, we remember those who have served God on earth and now enjoy His company in Heaven. This is not a day of sorrow, but a day of gladness, for we know that because Christ lives, we, too, shall live with the company of all those who are part of the family of Christ. We remember the words of St. Paul when he instructed the church at Thessalonica with these words, “Brothers and sisters, we do not want you to be uninformed about those who sleep in death, so that you do not grieve ...
884. Exposed and Expunged
Mark 10:17-21 · Hebrews 4:12-16 · Job 23:1-9; 16-17
Sermon
Lori Wagner
To aspire to perfection is to curse oneself to eternal frustration. Have you ever felt that feeling that no matter how much you do, it’s never enough? Did you ever try to please an unpleasable person? No matter what you do or how you do it, you can never reach their standards. Or how about those people, who are so insecure that no matter how much you show you love them, they will never believe you. Or are you simply that person who sets for yourself unattainable standards, sets the bar higher than humanly ...
Sermon
Lori Wagner
Is there anything so exciting as a touchdown? It’s football season! Every Sunday afternoon, folks all over the country gather around televisions in homes and gathering places to cheer on their favorite teams. Who are you cheering this season? What makes football so exciting is the struggle, the raw energy, initiative, and strategy it takes to maneuver down the field toward the goal. Each time the team gets another down, a cheer of glee rises from the bleachers. People will pay a lot of money and spend a ...
886. I Need
Luke 10:38-42
Sermon
Dave Zuchelli
My lovely bride and I used to laugh about our youngest daughter’s use of the phrase, “I need…” It seems as though she never simply wanted things — she “needed” things. At one point in her life, these two words became her mantra. “I need this dress. I need a car. I need to go out tonight. I need…” I don’t mean to pick on her, because I’m sure most other parents go through a similar stage with each of their teenagers. They all need something. Interestingly enough, their actual needs are already being met (in ...
887. God's GPS
Exodus 20:1-4, 7-9, 12-20
Sermon
King Duncan & Angela Akers
When was the last time you got lost? Was this the result of human error or technological error? Or both? Last year, a news station in Indonesia broadcast a story about an Indonesian groom who went to the wrong wedding and almost married the wrong woman because of an error by Google Maps. It appears that this was an arranged marriage, so the prospective bride and groom did not realize the mistake. Family members from the two families discovered the mistake as they chatted before the wedding. Fortunately, ...
888. The Main Thing
Luke 12:32-40
Sermon
Dean Feldmeyer
For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. Luke 12:34 “The main thing is to keep the main thing the main thing.”[1] The main thing is to keep the main thing the main thing. That’s important. You might want to write it down. I’ll say it again: The main thing is to keep the main thing the main thing. It’s one of those seemingly self-evident rules that is absolutely essential if you want to succeed at anything. My Uncle John had a colorful way of illustrating the essential truth of it. Uncle ...
Sermon
Lori Wagner
“Awake you who sleep, and arise from the dead, and Christ will give you light.” (Ephesians 5:14) In 1908 Jack London wrote a short story, published in Century Magazine called “To Build a Fire.” In the story a man hikes the Yukon trail along with his dog in subzero temperatures despite urgent warnings about the dangers of the extreme cold by those in Sulphur Creek. Thinking he can light a fire whenever he wants if the cold gets too harsh, the man’s overconfidence and insistence on going it alone leads to a ...
Sermon
Douglas J. Deuel
I have always liked the children's story Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day. In the story a little boy named Alexander has an absolutely rotten day. The story relates all of the traumatic experiences Alexander faces: waking up with gum in his hair, finding no prize in his box of cereal, having no dessert at lunch, going to the dentist and having a cavity, having lima beans for dinner, getting soap in his eyes from his bath, and having his pet cat choose to sleep with his brother. ...
Sermon
Thomas G. Rogers
They looked over their shoulders one final time to see what was left of their city and their homes. The prisoners searched the rubble with their eyes hoping to find a familiar sight. They longed to see something familiar that might bring comfort to their unsettled hearts and minds. But when the smoke from the fires cleared enough for them to see, they saw only empty spaces where their houses had stood. They felt anger toward the soldiers who had replaced their homes with sky, but their anger turned to ...
892. Called To Freedom
Galatians 5:1-15
Drama
Jerry Eckert
Comment: Several times over the years, I preached a series of sermons out of the letter to the Galatians. Having tried a number of other dramatic techniques, I decided to have a phone conversation between Paul and Barnabas. I prepared a script and got two phones, one for me (Barnabas is one of the great saints of the New Testament and I played him) and one for a church member who played Paul. In succeeding weeks, I went further, having a four-way phone consultation including a representative of the ...
893. Proper 23
Job 23:1-9, 16-17, Mark 10:17-31, Hebrews 4:12-16
Sermon Aid
Russell F. Anderson
Theme: The difficulty of entering the kingdom of heaven when material things have a hold on you. COMMENTARY Old Testament: Job 23:1-9, 16-17 Job responds to Eliaphaz, one of Job's friends and supposed comforters. Job wants to talk with God face to face, to make his case and hear God's response. But Job experiences only God's absence and it upsets him. Job's arguments sounds like what humanistic philosophers of the twentieth century have said about the so-called death of God. Yet the absence of God is a ...
Sermon
Rev. Donald R. Shank
Today is Stewardship Sunday. It marks the beginning of our Every Member Canvas campaign for financial support of our church's ministry. It will culminate next week on Loyalty Sunday with our members affirming their loyalty to Christ through their membership vows and their support of His Church. I am well aware that for the pastor to speak about stewardship, especially as it may relate to money, makes some members a little up tight, nervous and uneasy. Uneasy, perhaps because things are getting a bit too ...
Sermon
Let us pray: Gracious and eternal God, we pause now to hear your word as we worship together in this holy season of Lent. Today we continue to explore the powers of prayer, faith and healing which you have granted to us. In these times together O God, we pray that you would open our hearts and our minds so that we may have faith and understanding. In Jesus' name we pray, Amen. You may have heard the expression, "He has an Atlas complex." This usually refers to an individual who seems to have an exaggerated ...
Sermon
Peter Rudowski
This morning’s Gospel lesson is a very difficult one for me. The lesson is a story or a saying concerning the coming of the end - the judgment. Jesus is laying out before his disciples what will happen when he comes for the second time. He tells us the questions that are going to be asked of each of us: "Did you feed the hungry, clothe the naked, did you visit the sick, did you make the stranger welcome?" Basically what he is asking us is, how did we relate with each other? How did we relate with our ...
897. Dessert in the Desert
Deut 32:10-12 · Ez 37
Sermon
Robert Noblett
On one occasion our family went to a park for a picnic, and as my wife and I sat watching our children play, we beheld the most unsettling of sights. There was a child, perhaps eleven months of age, playing in the sand next to his mother, and he was eating handfuls of sand the way you and I consume handfuls of Planters Peanuts. One of his siblings brought this matter to the attention of his mother and her comment was, "Don’t worry about it; it won’t hurt him!" After watching him wolf down a few handfuls of ...
Sermon
Barbara Brokhoff
"God sent me," "God made me" - strange words for most people to say! We say instead, "The devil made me do it!" It is almost remarkable then, that in a few short verses in the text, Joseph says four times: "God sent me," "God made me." Joseph feels that all of his life is under the guiding hand of God. Since God is his master, Joseph feels that no matter what happens - of good or bad - sadness or joy - God is in it and nothing can touch him but that God will ultimately work it out for the best. Things did ...
Sermon
James W. Robinson
It was getting too hot too risky - for Jesus in the Jerusalem area, and he thought it prudent to get away from town for awhile before his enemies could do him harm. The Pharisees had threatened to stone him, and, on another occasion, to arrest him. So he and his disciples hurried to a remote district in TransJordan, "to the place where John at first baptized, and there he remained" (John 10:40). He had been there about three months when some messengers, sent by his good friends Mary and Martha of Bethany, ...
Sermon
William McKee Aber
In this pre-Lenten period we are thinking about the gaps in life - gaps between generations, between sexes, between races - in short, all of the separations that exist in our world, pulling us apart and rupturing relationships that were meant to be vital. Our thesis has been that there is in fact a God who is cncerned about gaps - who meets us in the midst of our separation, and who may enable us to bridge the gaps that exist. Today we come to one of the most difficult of all - the neighborhood gap. When, ...
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