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 76 to 100 of 376 results

76. Loving

1 Corinthians 13:1-13

Sermon

Larry Powell

... was an exceptionally learned man. Having studied at the feet of Gamaliel, strengthened by his position and experience as a Pharisee, he is reputed to have been one of the most knowledgeable figures of New Testament times. He possessed an exceptionally keen mind and was exceedingly astute at grasping "things which had already happened." Likewise, we are told that the disciples were men of strong faith, although our Lord chided them from time to time for their self-centered efforts and attempts at showy ...

77. Joseph Ponders

Matthew 1:18-25

Drama

Edward G. Hunter

... son. The young woman, Mary, lies exhausted, leaning against the back wall of the cave on a straw mat. She is sleeping peacefully, as is the tiny infant. Joseph, however, is wide awake. The midwife has left and returned to her family. Joseph's mind is keenly alert, though physically, he is exhausted. He would prefer to rest for a couple of hours, but his brain will not let him. So many events have indelibly impressed his senses this night. He closes his eyes and the drama is replayed once again. He ponders ...

78. After A Lost Election, Field Of Dreams

Jeremiah 8:4--9:26

Sermon

James Angell

... , where I had gone to Simpson College. In that church I would be nurtured and equipped for a church career that would continue 42 years. The newly-ordained minister asks, "Will I get a chance to do what I have been trained to do?" "Where" is a matter of keen interest - though "where" turns out to be one of the least important questions of all. A wise parishioner once told me, "It isn't where you are, but what you are." And lucky is the pastor who does not begin as someone else's assistant, but who from the ...

79. Of Preachers and Preaching

Micah 1:8-16

Sermon

... even to unemployment or loss of credentials. The problem is not new. Micah recognized it when, as recorded in the third chapter of his message, he deplored the fact that "priests teach for hire" and "prophets divine for money." In other words, he was keenly aware of the fact that people who pay the bills tend to have a controlling influence on the message. Need I remind you of the pastors who have been removed from their pulpits for speaking out about such matters as slavery, race relations, class snobbery ...

80. Let God Be God

Zephaniah 3:1-20

Sermon

... forms with which the Holy of Holies of our lives may be desecrated. Regardless of whether we make them exclusive occupants of that sacred place, or merely ask God to share it with them, we put our souls in jeopardy. As many of the Old Testament writers were keenly aware, God is a jealous God. He does not take kindly to the idea of being asked to fit into a pantheon of deities. We cannot expect to find the blessings of peace, happiness, and fulfillment that God wants us to have so long as we deny him full ...

81. If Only We Would Let God Mold Us ...

Jeremiah 18:1--19:15

Sermon

Wallace H. Kirby

... to the hospital, and loving attention from his older brother and sister prepared John for his ordeal. That was nineteen years ago. John never again had to undergo the procedure, and now our twenty-two-year-old college senior has no earaches, but rather a keen sense of hearing. Jeremiah, out of an everyday experience, tried to explain to his people how Yahweh would use their suffering to mold them, to help them become the whole persons their creator envisioned. The prophet felt led to go to the potter’s ...

82. If Only We Would Accept Responsibility ...

Ezekiel 33:1-20

Sermon

Wallace H. Kirby

... to heed the trumpet call of the watchman; if he paid no attention and was overtaken by the enemy, he was responsible for his own fate. If the watchman failed to give a warning, he was to be held responsible for those killed by the invaders. Ezekiel was keenly aware that he had been called to be God’s watchman, to be a messenger to warn the Israelites of impending destruction for those who did not give up their evil ways. The twofold responsibility of God’s messenger and those to whom he was sent is ...

83. The Bells Of Christmas Eve

Drama

... and bumps into Pietro who is entering.) Out of my way, fool! (He exits.) PIETRO: Buona sera, Padre. Buon Natale! FRANCO: Buon Natale, Pietro, my brother! What brings you to my door on such a cold night? PIETRO: The bells are not ringing. FRANCO: I am keenly aware of that, Pietro. PIETRO: Why? I am told that our village is famous throughout Italy for the beautiful bells that on Christmas Eve announce the birth of our Blessed Lord. FRANCO: The bells do not ring because of a curse - PIETRO: A curse? FRANCO: It ...

84. Religion - One Way to Get in God’s Way

Zechariah 7:1-14

Sermon

... to be dealt with as we will. Not our keeping of fasts or some other religious duty, but the decisions and actions we take toward people determines what our religion is, what our worship life is. Zechariah’s message from God is one of compassion, "a keen awareness of the interdependence of all those living beings, which are all part of one another and involved in one another," according to Thomas Merton. To render true judgment is to give people an even break, to give them what they have coming. They don ...

85. I Kid You Not

2 Kings 4:8-37

Sermon

... would meet new people, the inevitable question would come up, "Do you have any children?" She had learned how to answer it politely and to hide her true feelings, but it still hurt every time it happened. She knew how her culture regarded childlessness and was keenly aware of the empty place in her life. She had reached the point of accepting her childless circumstance, and had put out of her mind any hopes of becoming a mother. However, what this wealthy woman had accepted as certain for her life, was due ...

86. Micah’s Orders

Micah 6:1-8

Sermon

... me?" To "do justice" means to act, quarrel, walk, and pray in such a way that I constantly affirm that God is my judge, my Lord, and the sovereign in my life. Only that One exercises Lordship over me. I serve no other Master. Luther’s keen awareness of God’s Lordship in his life gushed to the surface in his Small Catechism, written after he had heard of beer recipes passing for sermons during his visitation of the parish churches near Wittenberg. In his commentary on the Second Article of the Apostles ...

87. The World's Best Kept Secret

Matthew 6:25-34

Sermon

Harold Warlick

... Evans of ABC for 20/20 and World News Tonight. My former classmate and suitemate, David Stockman, was directing the nation's budget. At the time, ABC was putting together a segment on his former life. Now, my wife Diane, in my opinion, has a keen eye for furniture and furnishings. My secretary at the time, Ruiko Conner, was a Japanese woman who was also an artist. To say the least, my office looked very attractive, with Cohasset Colonial furniture and Harvard chairs all over the place. Then the camera crew ...

88. Invitation to the Dance

2 Samuel 6:1-23

Sermon

... . Let us find time to worship the Lord. Not in glum-faced, duty-bound obedience to some Puritan God, but in happy praise of him who is the Lord of all creaton. 1. Joseph Helter, God Knows, Alfred A. Knopf, New York, New York, 1984, pp. 262-263. 2. Sam Keen, To A Dancing God, Harper Row, New York, New York, 1970, pp. 116-118.

89. Proper 19

Matthew 18:21-35

Sermon Aid

... of our sin will we begin to fathom the depth of God's forgiveness for ourselves and others. 2. In our thinking, we commit the forgivable sins; others commit the unforgivable ones. "We are the 'good empire;' they are the evil empire.' " (See Sam Keen's book, Faces of the Enemy: Reflections of the Hostile Imagination, Published 1986 by Harper & Row, publishers, San Francisco.) 3. A line in a country-western song reads, "When you learn that forgiving doesn't mean giving in, that's when love can begin again ...

90. Is Jesus Still in the Healing Business?

Luke 4:38-44, Luke 4:31-37

Sermon

Bill Bouknight

... Jesus did not want that kind of publicity. Furthermore, at that point the people were not ready to understand what his mission as Messiah really was. Verses 38 and 39 tell us how Jesus healed Simon Peter’s mother in law of some kind of illness. Luke, with the keen eye of a physician, is the only gospel writer to note that she had a high fever. Some cynics have guessed that part of Simon Peter’s willingness to leave home and go with Jesus was because his mother in law lived in his house. Folks, there is ...

91. The Touch of the Master's Hand

Luke 5:12-16

Sermon

Bill Bouknight

... at just one example. Luke 5, verse 12, tells us that Jesus was in one of the towns of Galilee. A leper fell on his knees and shouted to Jesus, "Lord, if you are willing, you can make me clean." Leprosy was a slow, agonizing, terminal illness. Notice the keen physician’s eye of Luke. The other gospel writers just note that the man was a leper. But Luke tells us that he was covered with leprosy; he had a severe case. Perhaps he was missing several fingers or a nose. The leper’s encounter with Jesus must ...

92. Oaks in the Shadows

Job 12:1--14:22

Sermon

... frames. There are many such oaks whose strength, image, and memory I carry - a quiet, insightful father who never had more than a ninth grade education in his large farm family, and yet I would hope in the years to come for a measure of the knowledge and keen understanding he shared; a cheerful mother who never knew an easy day’s work but always faced the morning with a song that seemed to brighten as the day went on; a music professor in college whose life was a poetic hymn of simple beauty; a father-in ...

93. For He Shall Save His People

Matthew 1:18-25

Sermon

Staff

... day you’re being handed the wish list. Such is life! This is when the dilemma enters in too. Not for everyone. There are still some sad sacks out there who are 40 years old still filling out their wish list like their 4. But for those who are keenly aware and can read between the lines, you will take note that when the Angel meets the shepherds out abiding their fields he says, “Peace good will toward men.” That’s well and good and fits my four year old concept of Christmas. But the second part of ...

94. For He Shall Save His People - Sermon Starter

Matthew 1:18-25

Illustration

... one day you're being handed the wish list. Such is life! This is when the dilemma enters in too. Not for everyone. There are still some sad sacks out there who are 40 years old still filling out their wish list like their 4. But for those who are keenly aware and can read between the lines, you will take note that when the Angel meets the shepherds out abiding their fields he says, "Peace good will toward men." That's well and good and fits my four year old concept of Christmas. But the second part of the ...

95. Midnight Turned Into High Noon

Isaiah 42:10-17, Isaiah 42:18-25

Sermon

Barbara Brokhoff

... the bathroom mirror. There were tears rolling down his cheeks. Alarmed and sympathetic, she asked, "What’s wrong? What’s the matter? Why are you crying?" The boy replied, "I just don’t like the way I turned out!" Dissatisfaction with our wrongdoing makes us keenly aware that confession is called for. We need to admit we are in darkness and have lost our way. However big and black and condemning our sins are, they need to be laid open to the searchlight of God, as we declare our sinfulness. Bishop ...

96. Which Jesus? This Jesus!

Acts 17:1-9

Sermon

Barbara Brokhoff

... graders. For that victory she gave me a book (naturally) as a prize, It was the first book I ever owned, and I literally wore it out reading it. How wise she was. Not all teachers and speakers are so wise. Economist John Kenneth Galbraith relayed, with keen good humor, his wife’s comment on the lengthiness of his speeches. "She says," he reported to an audience, "that people may not be a great deal wiser after my talks, but they are always a great deal older!" Great minds have always fascinated us and put ...

97. How’s Your Appetite?

Matthew 5:6 · Luke 14:1-14

Sermon

Wallace H. Kirby

... . I’ll take care of things at this end. Now, don’t forget what I’m doing for you." That shrewd manager was putting all the customers under obligation to him so that when he did lose his lob, they would be obliged to look after him. He had a keen appetite for security. He wasn’t quite clever enough, however, for the boss heard what was happening. He called him back in. Can’t you just hear him? "Don’t pack a thing; just get out. We’ll clean out your desk and send your stuff. But you go - now ...

98. Whatever Became of Sin?

Romans 5:12-21

Sermon

Robert G. Tuttle

... and violent group behavior. We in America are becoming victims of mass dishonesty, which we have helped to develop by our own personal negligence. There is a factor that contemporary people have almost overlooked: it is difficult to sustain a high moral awareness without a keen sense of God. To be "human" is not enough. When we deal only with people, we are apt to pride ourselves on our cleverness and our ability to outwit the other person. When we accept the fact that our dealings with other persons are ...

99. A Thinking Person’s Thankful Prayer

Philippians 1:1-11

Sermon

Raymond Gibson

... a bare subsistence. It looked as though young Bill’s education would end with the eighth grade. But Bill was one of those boys with every God-given talent to be a great football player. He was fast, tall, heavy, and well-coordinated, with an alert keen mind. One of the local churchmen, who also happened to be a rabid football fan, heard about the situation and stirred the townspeople to action. They got Bill’s father a better job and made sure Bill enrolled in the local high school. Sure enough, Bill ...

100. Leah

Genesis 49:29--50:14

Sermon

Warren Thomas Smith

An elderly woman of keen mind and understanding heart stood gazing at Whistler’s portrait of his mother. "It’s a remarkable painting of a lovely lady," murmured the viewer, "but there is too much peace and calm to be the likeness of a real mother." To be sure, serenity and tranquility are marked qualities ...

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