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 1051 to 1075 of 4962 results

1051. One Bride For Seven Brothers

Luke 20:27-40

Sermon

J. Will Ormond

You are middle-aged or older if you remember when the movie Seven Brides for Seven Brothers was first released. It was an exuberant, fast-paced musical about seven brothers on the frontier of the United States who were all looking for brides. Such "commodities" were rare in their part of the world. But, of course, in the end each brother got his bride. The story in our lectionary passage for today is about one bride for seven brothers, but the end of the story is not as happy and upbeat as was the movie. ...

1052. Believing is Seeing

Luke 23:26-43

Sermon

Alton F. Wedel

When Jesus came to Galilee, he began his preaching with the message, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand." And the expectations of the people soared to heights not known since Solomon. They had been oppressed, depressed, distressed, and had been waiting for the day when from their midst a hero would arise to lay a left hook on the jaw of the hated Roman Empire, restore the glory of the dim and distant yesteryear, and make those good things happen that the prophets had foretold. The land should ...

1053. A Favored One

Sermon

James Bjorge

An angel appeared to Mary and said, "Hail, O favored one, the Lord is with you!" (Luke 1:28). Again the angel said, "Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God" (Luke 1:30). Chosen to give birth to God’s only begotten Son is no small thing. A human vessel to house the embryonic Messiah, conceived by the Holy Spirit, was a privilege of unmatched magnitude. And in our Christmas manger scenes with softly glowing lights, neatly arranged animals and shepherds, everything seems too cozy and ...

1054. One to Take the Place of Jesus

John 14:15-31

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

Introduction to Scripture: In Chapters 14, 15, and 16 of John’s Gospel, there are telling and descriptive words of Jesus about the Holy Spirit. Since this is Pentecost Sunday, the occasion on our Christian calendar when we celebrate the gift of the Holy Spirit and the birth of the Church, I’m again leaping ahead in my preaching through this Gospel to consider these power-packed words of John concerning the nature and ministry of the Holy Spirit. In the Sermon, I’ll refer to a number of these words, but for ...

1055. Two for the Price of One

Mark 5:21-43

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

No one would accuse me of being a baseball fan. I am a World Series fan. My time investment in the game is compressed into about eight or ten days when the national championship is determined by seven games. I’m always happy when it’s played out to the most dramatic possible end - one team winning four, the other, three. But there are other baseball times when my attention is caught by the drama of some record in the making. Such was my interest in Willie Mays, that phenomenal hitter who caused all America ...

1056. They Didn't Have To Do It, But They Did

Genesis 14:1-24

Sermon

Carlyle Fielding Stewart

Life is filled with stories of those selfless saints who have done the great things, made the great sacrifices and moved the boundaries of human reciprocity beyond their current constraints. A friend shared with me his experience at getting a flat tire while traveling at night through Southern Georgia en route to Florida. He knew of black men being lynched on remote Southern roads and now he was stranded on a road at eleven o'clock at night. It was pitch black with no houses in sight, and he was filled ...

1057. Then There Was One

Luke 17:11-19

Sermon

J. Will Ormond

Does not Jesus say to the ten lepers, "Go and show yourselves to the priests"? He does not say anything about coming back to tell him what the priests said or did; he does not mention that he expects the lepers to return and thank him for their healing. Yet when one does come back to thank him, he asks, "The other nine, where are they?" The one who returns gives no answer to that question. But he could have said, "They are following your instructions. They are on their way to show themselves to the priests ...

1058. Have a Jolly Imperfect Christmas This Year!

Matthew 1:18-25

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

Some Christmas’s stay forever in our hearts and minds because they were so beautiful, so magical, so perfect. You got your Red Ryder BB gun or Malibu Barbie. The time the Christmas pageant went off without a hitch. The year when everyone got to come home. A blanket of snow on Christmas Eve draped everything in white and wonder. But other Christmas’s are forever etched in our memories because they were so IMPERFECT. The year it flooded and Christmas was spent at the neighbors who lived on higher ground. The ...

1059. When One Is Better Than Many

2 Kings 13:10-25

Sermon

Keith Hammer

Recently I heard a radio commercial by a well-known travel service. In the ad a neighbor asks the man in the family if he is moving when he sees him get in a large flatbed truck with a tow truck on the back. No, the man replies, they are just going on a vacation and his wife is afraid of breakdowns so they are bringing their own tow truck along. Then the neighbor asks whom the uniformed man is standing near the truck. The man says that he is Bill, the security guard, who they are taking along to guard ...

1060. You Have Been Subpoenaed!

1 Peter 3:8-22

Sermon

Bill Bouknight

One of the greatest preachers of modern history was Charles H. Spurgeon of London's Metropolitan Tabernacle. One day a new church member came to him, brimming over with fresh commitment and enthusiasm. "Dr. Spurgeon," he said, "I want to do something for my church." Spurgeon studied him for a moment and then asked, "What do you do for a living?" He replied, "I'm a railroad engineer." Spurgeon got out of his chair, walked over to the window and without looking at the man asked, "Is the fireman on your train ...

1061. In the Event of Power Failure

Acts 1:1-11

Sermon

Charley Reeb

A friend of mine once shared a story about his first visit to Niagara Falls. He said it was magnificent — the rush and roar of the water — the display of raw power. But as he looked upon the water gushing forth, he remembered a picture in a textbook. It showed Niagara Falls in the middle of winter, and much of the water was frozen. Big lightning-shaped forms of water were at a standstill. There was no movement, no action, no power. As my friend reflected on the picture, he thought how disappointing it ...

1062. You Have a Story to Tell

John 9:1-41

Sermon

King Duncan

Here’s a story from the headlines that all of you will remember. In March 2019, the FBI announced the completion of “Operation Varsity Blues,” a nationwide scam in which wealthy parents paid outrageous bribes to get their children into prestigious colleges like Yale and Stanford. Fifty people were charged in the scandal, including parents, test administrators for the ACT and SAT, and college coaches who all collaborated in getting unqualified students admitted to big-name schools. In addition to the bribes ...

1063. We Have All Become Nicodemus

Romans 16:25-27

Sermon

Ronald Love

John Wycliffe is best known to us as a Bible translator. He is remembered as a historical figure for translating the Vulgate, the Bible written in Latin that only the priests could read, into English, a Bible which the common man could read for himself. We also recognize him from the organization that was established in his name, the Wycliffe Bible Translators. It is the mission of this organization to translate the Bible into the common vernacular of every country that presently does not have a Bible that ...

1064. We May Have to Change Our Name

Isaiah 61:1-11

Sermon

Richard L. Eslinger

You can find them in almost every big, old downtown church: the pictures of the pastors of that congregation. They are lined up in a rogues’ gallery of clerics. And they look down at us over their names and dates. As you walk down the hall and move back through the decades, some things are easy to notice. The collars get out of date, and then simply strange-looking. Sideburns march up and down as if matched to the stock market cycles. Above all, the farther back you get, the sterner they look in those ...

1065. The One and Only Original Sin

1 Peter 3:18-22

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

In a culture where even the atheists claim to have a "spirituality," it's time for the church to soul out. Until March of 1997, the approaching Third Millennium sneaked up on us like some great, fun adventure. For intrepid entrepreneurs, the year 2000 promises huge sales in commemorative junk. Party planners have been plotting big New Year's Eve blowouts for years. Except for those nerdy computer types who are wringing their hands and predicting crash and burn for all computer systems that use just two ...

1066. Have You Accepted Jesus' Invitation?

Matthew 22:1-14

Sermon

George Johnson

This morning I want to talk to you about becoming a Christian - the invitation of Jesus to come and follow him. It is not my intention to judge who is or is not a Christian, or criticize anyone's experience of salvation, or to suggest that you are not already a member of God's family. My intention is rather to allow this text to speak clearly to us about Jesus' invitation. My purpose is to give voice to Jesus' call to discipleship. I approach this text from Matthew with a few assumptions, a few underlying ...

1067. Have We Kept Our Contract with God?

Genesis 17:1-27

Sermon

Richard Gribble

One day a man went to his son's room and knocked on the door: "John, wake up, it is time for you to go to school!" From inside the answer came back, "I don't want to go to school, Dad." The father was persistent, knocked again, and said, "You must go to school." The answer again came back, "I don't want to go to school!" "Why not?" asked the father. "There are three reasons," came the reply. "First, I find school boring; second, the kids tease me terribly. Third, I simply hate school." Then the father ...

1068. One-Fired Up Preacher!

2 Kings 2:1-18

Sermon

Robert Leslie Holmes

Norval Christy was fifteen years old when he agreed with the Lord that everything he possessed was a gift and that he was willing to use it in God’s service however, whenever, and wherever God chose. After attending Westminster College in Pennsylvania, Norval applied to Harvard Medical School and was accepted in spite of long odds. He was in the process of doing his medical residency when a call came to help the thousands of refugees who were flooding into Pakistan from India. Norval agreed to interrupt ...

1069. One Stone Faith

1 Sam. Chapters 16-19

Sermon

Lori Wagner

The story of David is the story of a Shepherd defending the holy flock of the Lord. But it is the Lord who saves them. For God is the true Shepherd of Israel. The boomer generation may well be the last generation that has significant memories of growing up on a farm. Anyone here a farmer? Anyone lived either on a farm, or a ranch, or know someone who does? If you live on the land, particularly in undeveloped areas or frontier regions, one of your major concerns are predators. Today, your threat may be as ...

1070. That Believing Ye Might Have Life

John 20:24-31

Sermon

King Duncan

A young scientist named Stephen Hawking made a dramatic presentation to a group of elite physicists at Oxford University in England in 1974. When he finished, the session moderator blurted out, "Oh, this is rubbish." Physicists attempt to prove the size, shape, and workings of the universe with mathematics. Everyone has heard of Einstein's theory of relativity, which attempts to prove that light traveling through a field of gravitation is slightly distorted. Einstein knew that there was another force ...

1071. I Have Come Into My Garden

Song of Songs 5:1-16

Understanding Series

Elizabeth Huwiler

Dream and Search: A new scene opens with 5:2. The central man, who was the principal speaker throughout the fourth chapter, is no longer present. Now the woman’s voice predominates, occasionally punctuated by a question from the daughters of Jerusalem. The structure of the section is much like that of 3:1–11. It opens with an apparent dream report (5:2–7; compare 3:1–4), followed by an address to the daughters of Jerusalem (5:8; compare 3:5), a transitional question (5:9; compare 3:6), and a descriptive ...

1072. Judgment and Comfort: Part One

Isaiah 1:1-31

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

1:1–12:6 Review · Prophecies against Judah: The first twelve chapters of Isaiah may be compared to a painting with three panels (a triptych). Isaiah’s call to be a prophet (chap. 6) is at the center, while the other two parts of the triptych concern judgment and hope. The first section (chaps. 1–5) is in the form of a covenantal lawsuit, and the third section (chaps. 7–12) presents God’s word of judgment and hope in the historical situation of the growing Assyrian Empire. A holistic approach to these ...

1073. A Vexing Vision

Acts 9:1-6 (7-20)

Sermon

Charley Reeb

Have you have heard the expression, “Something got lost in the translation?” On the Internet there are programs which will translate an English document into several different languages. All you do is type in a phrase or a word and the program translates it into French, Spanish, German, or whatever language you desire. Sound helpful? It is, especially if you are learning a foreign language. But how do you know if these programs create an accurate translation? A linguist had the same question and decided to ...

1074. Have You Had Your Caffeine Today?

Acts 2:1-13

Sermon

King Duncan

Pastor Scott Hippler tells about a day when he was about 7 years old. His grandmother had taken him and his cousin to the grocery store. On the way, his grandmother stopped at another store for a few minutes. Young Scott and his cousin stayed in the car. Scott Hippler blames his grandmother for what happened next. She was gone longer that she had said she would be. Back then, he remembers, they put prizes in laundry detergent boxes as an incentive for people to buy those detergents. His grandmother always ...

1075. It's Worth Everything!

Matthew 13:45-46

Children's Sermon

Wesley T. Runk

Objects: Some money, jewels, and other valuables, and one great pearl. Good morning, boys and girls. Have you ever wondered what God's kingdom is like, and how much you have to really want it to be a part of it? That is a big question. What is God's kingdom really like? Well, Jesus had an answer, and I want to share it with you. Jesus told the story about a man who was very wealthy. He had a lot of money, some jewels, and some pretty furs that actually belonged to his wife. All of these things were ...

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