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 1151 to 1175 of 3108 results

1151. Surprised By Love

Matthew 22:34-40

Sermon

King Duncan

The large family had gathered at the old farm house for a reunion. Long after supper, the celebration moved indoors. Only the father of the clan ventured out to wander the vast acres in the dark. On his walk the old man fell into a ditch and found himself sitting waist-deep in slimy mud--very uncomfortable, but in no immediate danger. Without moving, he shouted, “Fire! Fire!” Since fire is one of the most dreaded rural disasters, the celebrating family poured out into the night, frantic with fear. On ...

1152. For Future Generations

Psalm 22:1-31

Sermon

Wayne Brouwer

We thought you might like to see the oral style in which Wayne Brouwer prepares his messages. INTRODUCTION (1) In 1976, Gail Sheehy wrote a book about the changes we go through in our lives. She called it Passages (Bantam, 1977). And it opens with a scene from one of the most terrible days in her life. She was a news reporter in Northern Ireland. She’d been sent there to write a story about the women: what they were doing; how they were coping with life in the middle of a war zone. She says she was ...

1153. On Having The Right Attitude

Matthew 13:1-23

Children's Sermon

King Duncan

Object: a picture of a snake (nothing too graphic, please) or a toy snake Good morning, boys and girls. How many of you like snakes? A lot of people are afraid of snakes. I don't blame them. Snakes aren't very pretty creatures. Did you know that snakes don't have any ears? At least, they don't have ears like most animals do. So how do snakes hear stuff? Through their tongue. The snake's tongue is very sensitive, and it can feel the slightest vibration of sound waves going through the air. So when a snake ...

1154. What In The World Is Happiness?

Luke 6:17-26

Sermon

King Duncan

A family had sold everything possible to pay bills and to put food on the table. Nevertheless, a burglar broke in one night when the family was gone. The family returned and found the door knocked off its hinges. "What did the burglar get?" the police officer asked. The head of the house just shook his head. "Practice," he said. It's not easy being poor. What did Jesus mean, "Blessed are the poor?" Jesus was a master at keeping his listeners off-balance. He always said the unexpected. He praised people ...

1155. Held Hostage

John 18:28-40

Sermon

King Duncan

Have you ever thought how you would handle it if you were held captive? There have been endless television shows and movies about hostage situations. Have you ever thought how you would handle it if you were taken captive? Would you be the tough guy resisting your captors each step of the way? Would you be the hero looking for the opportunity to sneak up behind one of the bad guys and take his gun? Would you look for a forgotten passageway where you could escape? History is full of exciting stories of ...

1156. Two Women Of Faith

Luke 1:39-45

Sermon

King Duncan

The red flag on the parking meter was visible, and sure enough, Scott Seomin found a souvenir on his windshield. It wasn't a ticket from the city of West Hollywood, California, however. Instead it was a poem that went like this: The meter was red, as time had expired. In the rush of the season, we knew you'd be tired. A parking ticket would just make you blue, And in the holiday spirit this just would not do. So during this time of friendship and good cheer, Season's greetings to you and best wishes all ...

1157. Something To Brag About

Galatians 6:11-18

Sermon

King Duncan

You already know the story, but it doesn't hurt to be reminded. The second and third Presidents of the United States were John Adams and Thomas Jefferson. These men were good friends in their youth, but after Adams was replaced by Jefferson, political disagreements separated them and they never saw each other again. They were eventually reconciled in the last 14 years of their lives and exchanged many affectionate letters. When John Adams died at the age of 91, his last words were, "Thomas Jefferson still ...

1158. Sleeping through a Revolution

Mark 14:32-42

Sermon

Donald B. Strobe

The story is told of a mother who called up the stairs to her son: “Get up! It is time to go to church.” The son said, “Aw, Mom, I don’t want to go to church. The people there all make fun of me. They don’t really like me. Nobody there ever listens to what I say. I’d rather stay home in bed.” The mother said, “But son, you’ve got to go.” The son said, “Give me two good reasons.” The mother replied, “Well for one thing, you are forty-two years old; and, for another, you’re the minister!” I’ve always had ...

1159. Depression: When the Spirit Is Faint

Psalm 142:1-7

Sermon

Eric Ritz

A disturbed and deeply troubled individual went to a psychiatrist to relieve his anxiety. He awoke melancholy every morning, and he went to bed in the evening deeply depressed. His day was marked by darkness and clouds. He could not find relief from this anxiety. In his desperate condition, he decided to seek the help of a psychiatrist. The psychiatrist listened to him for almost an hour. Finally, he leaned toward his patient and said to him, "You know, there is a local show at the theater. I understand a ...

1160. Saints In The Light

Colossians 1:1-14

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

“Saints in the Light” — does that conjure any images in your mind? Stained Glass? A well-lighted painting in a museum, like El Greco’s Saint Jerome which I saw at the Metropolitan in New York a few years ago? Or, maybe your mind is more playful or impish. Did you think of some of that religious art in luminous paint on black velvet? You can buy them on the roadside in some of your vacation travels, especially if you get near Mexico. Or, perhaps less impish, but also less sophisticated, you thought of a ...

1161. The Art Of Borrowing And Lending A Donkey

Luke 19:28-44

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

Imagine it. You've just bought a brand new BMW. You have had it a week. It only has 200 miles on it. You are coming to church on Sunday morning and you stop by the bank to get a little bit of cash from the automatic teller. While you are there, two men walk up and tell you that their leader has told them to borrow your car because their master is going to ride in it down Poplar Avenue to the center of the city to demonstrate who he is. They tell you that they will have the car back to you in about three ...

1162. Naming And Being Named

John 15:1-17

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

...Comes from the 15th chapter of John's Gospel. I'm going to read verses 12-17. Let's share now this Word of the Lord. "This is my commandment that you love one another as I have loved you. No one has greater love than this, to lay down one's life for one's friends. You are my friends if you do what I command you. I do not call you servants any longer, because the servant does not know what the master is doing. But I have called you friends, because I have made known to you everything that I have heard ...

1163. The Vocation of Leadership: A Prophet Among Them

Ephesians 4:1-16

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

The original invitation to deliver this Johannaber Lecture included the general instruction that the lecture theme have something to do with spirituality and/or spiritual formation. The more I thought of that in the context of a “ministers week,” the more certain I was that I wanted to focus on leadership – the vocation of leadership. Pastors are leaders, but they are specifically Christian leaders. So that’s my focus: leadership from a Christian perspective. I begin with three pictures. The first is out ...

1164. A Thousand Years Of Ashes

Matthew 6:1-6, 16-21

Sermon

King Duncan

When Pastor Derek Rust of Lakeville, Minnesota, preached a sermon series on the Ten Commandments, he decided to provide his congregation with a pro-active way to live out the lessons. For the eighth commandment—“Thou shalt not steal”—Rust placed large bins throughout the church and encouraged parishioners to drop off any items that they had stolen over the years. Rust was inspired by the example of British pastor J. John, who placed such bins in his own church. The response has been surprising. The week ...

1165. Stick to the Knitting

John 1:43-51

Sermon

Mark Trotter

"Stick to the knitting," is a phrase that I came across in that book by Peters and Waterman, In Search of Excellence. They outlined some successful businesses that emerged in this country following the Second World War. One of the characteristics they said successful businesses had in common was that they focused on what they did best. Peters and Waterman called that, "stick to the knitting." There have been other studies of businesses since then, founded after America's rude awakening that it was no ...

1166. Shalom Shattered

Genesis 37:1-4, 12-28

Sermon

Arley K. Fadness

It's art class. The student potter, under the watchful eye of the artist-instructor, carefully fashions, spins, and shapes a lump of green clay into a beautiful Grecian chalice. The clay figurine is then fired, soon to be painted and glazed. The potter and the mentor watch through the glass door of the oven as the fire heats the new creation toward a hardy sturdiness -- durable and strong. But then both apprentice and instructor notice, to their disappointment, cracks appearing in the chalice. The firing ...

1167. Removing Obstacles

1 Corinthians 1:10-18

Sermon

James L. Killen

Our church has an important mission. Our church was called into existence to witness to the good news of God's love that was shown to us in Jesus Christ. Our church exists to share God's love, to bring people into a fellowship in which God's love is shared, and to help people grow into followers of Jesus. There are people, perhaps many people, within the reach of our church who are hungry for the love of God that we were given to share. Our church has been commissioned to teach the way of love that is the ...

1168. The Sin of Being Less

Colossians 3:1-14

Sermon

Mark Trotter

There is a story about a woman who rode the same bus to work every morning. One day an old man got on the bus. He was shabbily dressed, obviously down and out. She thought about what she could do to express Christian love to this poor man. How could she reach out and help him? She got up, took a dollar out of her purse, went over to the man, pressed the dollar into the palm of his hand, and said, "Never despair. Just remember, never despair." The next day the woman was on the bus again. The man got on at ...

1169. In the Darkness of Despair, There Is the Light of Hope

Isaiah 9:1-7

Sermon

Thomas A. Pilgrim

A student at The University of Georgia got a job as a disc jockey at a little radio station in Commerce, Georgia. He also got a room at a hotel in town and commuted to school, which was not far away. Sometimes at night, he would crawl out of his window and sit on the roof of the hotel. He would look out over that little town. One night when he was up there, he wrote a song called “City Lights.” The rest is country music history. His name was Bill Anderson. An Episcopalian minister in Boston worked himself ...

1170. Show Me Your Passport

Philippians 1:12-30

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

This is my passport. Can you see it? It used to be that this little blue passport was an open sesame . . . it could open doors closed to other people around the world; it could open mouths wide in wonder about what it was like to actually live in the US; it could open eyes to see in ways of freedom and liberty and justice for all. Under the protective cover of this little blue book, a citizen could travel to even remote and dangerous destinations. We were US citizens. And we had behind us and above us the ...

1171. Generations

John 4:1-26

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

Boosters: Pre-1946 Will all those born before 1946, please rise and remain standing? Tom Brokaw calls you the greatest generation, and he's right. Sociologists call you the boosters. You comprise both the GI Generation and the Depression Babies. The Trotsky saying that anyone who wants to lead a peaceful life has chosen the wrong century in which to be born applies to you more than any other generation. Born pre-1946, you are the generation that survived the depression, was transfixed by the 1939 New York ...

1172. Let Familiarity Breed Contentment

Hebrews 13:1-25

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

Have you ever taken a new puppy for its first walk in the park? It takes forever. Not only because the pup is clueless about that leash-thing pulling at its neck. Not only because the pup has no understanding of the words you keep shouting at it. But mainly because to the puppy every single thing before its eyes, ears, and (mostly) nose, is brand new and endlessly enticing. A clump of grass is a tickly, delicious torment. A sprinkler head an eternal enigma. A blowing leaf a scuttling strangeness to be ...

1173. If We Had Known It Was You

Matthew 25:31-46

Sermon

James McCormick

One of my favorite musical forms is the spiritual. For as long as I can remember, one of my favorite spirituals has been “Sweet Little Jesus Boy.” I don’t know why, exactly. I like the melody. I like some of the images it calls to mind. It stirs up some deep feelings within me. I don’t know, I just like it. But recently, some of the words have been troubling me. All throughout the song there is the recurring phrase, “We didn’t know who you was,” or, “We didn’t know ‘twas you.” One typical verse says, “The ...

1174. It Is Also Blessed to Receive

John 13:1-17

Sermon

James McCormick

One of the most meaning filled stories in the New Testament is the account of the last supper. It was the Passover, and Jesus and his disciples gathered in an upper room to share in the meal. It was customary, and an expected act of hospitality, to have someone there to wash the feet of those who had come. But there was no servant present, and the disciples were busy jockeying for the preferred positions in the coming Kingdom. They all wanted to be pre-eminent in the Kingdom, so none was willing to lower ...

1175. Rise Above It

John 21:15-19

Sermon

James W. Moore

Let me begin with three quick stories. See if you can find the thread that links them together. First… Have you heard about the couple who had been married for over sixty years? As they approached yet another anniversary… they became nostalgic and reflective about their life together. The husband said: “I have always wanted to ask you something. From the night we married, you have always had a box in your closet. I have never looked in it. It’s your private property, but I have always wondered what is in ...

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