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 101 to 125 of 399 results

101. Overcoming The Blues

1 Kings 19:1-8

Sermon

Robert Allen

... of their attitude toward property and the ownership of land. The word “Baal” means owner and in the beginning, it had nothing to do with religion. But, Baalism gradually became a god, a god that offered his followers the things human instincts crave, a god of the flesh, a god who encouraged his people to follow their natural inclinations. Baalism was worshiped in indulgence, expressed in lust, and adored in selfishness. Baalism had no inhibitions and simply said, “If it feels good, do it!” Elijah ...

102. Selling One’s Soul

1 Kings 21:1-29

Sermon

Robert Allen

... . This is the whole human problem in a nutshell -- giving in and allowing our desires to run uncontrolled through our lives. The desires which rampage through our lives come in a variety of packages. For some of us it may be sexual lust. For some it may be a craving for power. For some it may be a greed for money. For some it may be an addiction to drugs or alcohol. I saw a cartoon in a magazine once with two zany characters named Frank and Ernest. In the cartoon, they are walking out of church and Ernest ...

103. Holy Diet

John 6:24-35

Sermon

Donald Macleod

... , and a well-rounded life. We aspire, but fall short of spiritual awareness. This means: get to know him (read and reread the Gospels); live with him (talk to him in your prayers); love him (give him the edge of your affection over the things you crave for and want); and let his presence daily permeate your whole lifestyle. That is a tall order. It is a holy diet. It produces moving examples of eternal life. I heard the voice of Jesus say,"Behold, I freely giveThe living water, thirsty one;Stoop down ...

104. Endorsing The Future

Sermon

Harold Warlick

... schools were created in the past ten years and an abundance of candidates run for office who make us feel comfortable with our prejudices. A second response to life's misery is to let it fester until it explodes in the anger of our self-centered cravings. We get hooked on our pessimism. We run into people who are narrow-minded and mean. We encounter prejudice and hate. We know that everyone is selfish, ruthless, and cruel. What can we expect from this crummy world, anyway? We better punch it in the nose ...

105. Dim Visions And Blind Guides

Sermon

Harold Warlick

... of the grandest stages in Christianity is that moment when a person can simply but profoundly state, "Lord, I believe. That's all I need." When you are in love, your girlfriend or boyfriend starts off giving you little signs of affection. Sometimes we reach the point of craving a letter, a card, a flower, as a sign that he "loves" me. But any true love, any intimate relationship, in the long run must reach a point where you know the person is your love even if there is no sign of it. Otherwise, instead of ...

106. Competition In The Kingdom?

Matthew 20:17-19

Sermon

Mark Ellingsen

... analyst put it well. As a description of the modern American mind-set, he wrote: "Today men seek the kind of approval that applauds not their actions but their personal attributes. They wish to be not so much esteemed as admired. They crave not fame but the glamor and excitement of celebrity. They want to be envied rather than respected ...the successful bureaucrat survives not by appealing to the authority of his office but by establishing a pattern of upward movement, cultivating upwardly mobile superiors ...

107. The Dreamer Within You

Joel 2:18-27, Joel 2:28-32

Sermon

Richard Hasler

... , and we began to appeal to people looking for a new start in life. Some of us were newcomers to the community. Others were beginning new families or were seeking new relationships after suffering brokenness of one kind or another. Still others were simply craving a fresh spiritual adventure. As we continued our journey we came to believe that the dream was not so much our own dream but God’s Spirit dreaming within our fellowship. Our world needs people who are willing to respond to a compelling dream ...

108. Recollections of Enoch, A Jewish Captive In Babylon

Isaiah 12:1-6

Drama

Robert A. Morgan

... for that is why I'm talking to you. That's the only thing that matters to me now! Whenever this young man appears among us, his first words, consistently, are these: "Be comforted, be comforted, my people, says your God." See what I mean? There's nothing our hearts crave as much as a sense of comfort from God after all the pain of our long journey, the hurt and the uncertainty of being so far away both from Jerusalem our home, and, for all we know, far away from Yahweh himself. And in the midst of our need ...

109. Which Jesus Do You See?

John 12:20-36

Sermon

Brett Blair

... a few with genuine faith. But no one walks away uninterested in the man and the things he says and does." Rabbi Neusner then says, "I can see my self meeting this man, and, with courtesy, arguing with him. It is my form of respect, the only compliment I crave from others, the only serious tribute I pay to the people I take seriously. I can see my self not only meeting and arguing with Jesus, but challenging him on the bases of our shared Torah (The first five books of the Old Testament). I can also imagine ...

110. The Sound of Weeping

Luke 19:28-44

Sermon

Wallace H. Kirby

... whose children willfully estrange themselves from those who love them most know something of that sorrow: To bring a child to life and see that child become coarse and cheap, to dream the best for a child and see him or her choose the worst, to crave companionship and be met with indifference, to long for affection and get ingratitude, is almost more than those parents can bear. There is no pain to compare with the pain of rejection. In a small town in the western part of our country there once lived ...

111. Loving

1 Corinthians 13:1-13

Sermon

Larry Powell

... in the other. She explained that she wanted to use the water to put out the fires of hell and the torch to burn up heaven. Then, she reasoned, people "could love the dear Lord God for himself alone and not out of the fear of hell or out of craving for reward." Crude sensationalism? Yes, but it does have a bit of merit. To name God's name simply to "escape" hell-fire and brimstone is a placebo devotion (and to "fear" God means literally to "obey"). On the other hand, to name his name just to gain a reward ...

112. Faith-Filled Living

Luke 17:1-10

Sermon

... he first started to smoke when he was eight years old, although it did not become a steady habit until later. Eventually, he was "hooked" and could not stop smoking. He experienced brief victories over this problem, but they were all temporary. One morning he was craving a cup of coffee and a cigarette when he felt as though the Lord wanted him to talk about this cigarette problem. In a prayer-like conversation with God, John admitted that he did not have the strength to stop smoking. He was humbled in this ...

113. There’s Gotta Be a Day

Malachi 4:1-6

Sermon

... , the focus now turns to the self. The long-range view isn’t paying off, so the short-range view takes over. "What’s the use?" takes over. Israel is like the person in quest of some spiritual high which must always be higher than the last. Craving one more mountaintop experience, and finding none to match the last, the seeker begins to lose interest and often sinks below the starting level. So it is with Malachi’s people. There are not many like the former slaves in our country, those who hoped and ...

114. A Daffy, Magnificent Hope

Ezekiel 37:1-14

Sermon

... land because they envisioned a free "nation under God." Today integration and racial harmony are expected in America because Martin Luther King, Jr. and others dared to say "I have a dream." Daffy and magnificent dreams? Perhaps. But successful, too. Our world craves open-hearted people who dare to dream big. Two superpowers clutching enough nuclear weapons to destroy the world eight times over glare at each other, and no one knows how to disarm. The elderly and the unemployed - many of them members of ...

115. Easter 4

Acts 13:13-52, Revelation 7:9-17, John 10:22-42

Sermon Aid

... - a. His words - "I told you," v. 25a b. His works - "The works bear witness to me." v. 25b c. His workers (Sheep) - "You do not believe because you do not belong to my sheep." v. 26 2. Spiritual Security (10:28, 29). Need: People crave security: social, job, financial. Also spiritual security? The need is expressed in the hymn, "Blessed Assurance." A preacher was once asked by a newspaper reporter, "What is the most important thing you have learned about God?" The reply, "That God can be trusted in every ...

116. Reformation Sunday

Jn 8:31-36 · Rom 3:19-28 · Jer 31:31-34

Sermon Aid

John R. Brokhoff

... . Who can respond to God if he does not know him? How can anyone be saved if he dies not knowing what God has done for him in Jesus? This harmonizes with the Reformer's emphasis upon knowing the Bible to learn the truth of God. This craving for knowledge led to the translation and distribution of the Bible that the common people might know the truth of God. Today's lack of biblical knowledge is alarming. A poll reveals that youth know the composers of a popular song but only one-third associated Jesus ...

117. Monday in Holy Week

Isaiah 42:1-9, Hebrews 9:11-28, John 12:1-11

Bulletin Aid

... from our bondage to sin; that we may share in your new covenant of grace and mercy provided by your Son, our Savior, in whose name we pray. Amen. Prayer of Confession We have eyes to see, Father, but sin distorts our vision of that which is holy. We crave freedom, but sin makes us captives. We need your compassionate love, O God, to deliver us, and reclaim us as your children. Forgive us for our sins which oppress us as we struggle to come alive. Give us the blessing of your Son who came to minister on our ...

118. Invincible Harvest

Matthew 13:1-23

Sermon

... cartoon counterpart did. Not only could they be sure that everyone heard what had been said, but they would see some visible sign that eardrums had been affected. The mere impact of sound, of course, does not constitute hearing. Nonetheless, preachers I know crave for some response from their people, some indication that listening is taking place. "You gave me nothing," one preacher recently told a sermon feedback group. "I couldn't tell at all what you were responding to, if anything. In fact, I couldn't ...

119. Proper 15 & Pentecost 13

Isaiah 56:1-8, Psalm 67:1-7, Psalm 78:1-72, Exodus 16:1-36, Romans 11:11-24, Romans 11:25-32, Matthew 15:21-28

Sermon Aid

... of Israel, as well as to the specific situation in the first reading, Exodus 16:2-15, which is the account of the near-rebellion faced by Moses and Aaron when food was scarce in the wilderness: They tested God in their hearts, demanding food for their craving. They railed agianst God and said, "Can God set a table in the wilderness?" (vv. 18, 19) Since the reading recounts how God did just this by providing meat and manna for the people, this psalm seems more functional as a kind of introit rather than a ...

120. "I appeal to Caesar!"

Acts 24:1-27, Acts 25:1-12

Sermon Aid

CSS

... knew that Felix was not their friend and that he regarded them as nitpicking and intolerant, so they were willing to take what they could get from him. Yet they were not ready to drop the case. It remained high on their list, for they craved vengeance against Paul and were not willing to forget this setback, so they watched and waited for a new chance to attack. Felix displayed unusual concern for his prisoner. When the Jews had gone, he ordered that Paul, although nominally in custody, should have some ...

121. For Freedom!

Matthew 18:21-35

Sermon

... start to feel what it is like to be embraced, released from bondage, and set on the road into a usable and hopeful future. No one ever said that being Christian would be easy. No one who knows the satisfaction of struggling and prevailing in a challenge craves the easy way. In Christ we’re called to live with the unthinkable: We’re gifted with a totally impossible relationship - the burden of God’s healing grace. There is no way we could have gotten Uncle Max to cancel all our obligations and to set ...

122. Let’s Face It

Matthew 25:1-13

Sermon

Michael L. Sherer

... mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord ..." "Lord strengthen me, that I may dread The grave as little as my bed ..." As Jesus’ followers, we must get things settled between God and us concerning our departure from this earth. Much as we might crave longevity, much as we have learned to love this life, we can, we must, anticipate the translation of our existence into God’s eternity. Once we are ready and able to say, "Lord, when and if you’re ready to take back my life from me, I’m ...

123. Shepherding One Another in a Collapsing World

Romans 9:1-29

Sermon

Robert G. Tuttle

... but ye would not, ye would not." Paul is brokenhearted, Christ is brokenhearted; God is brokenhearted: why are we not brokenhearted? There is an urgency about God and a lost world. Meyers writes it into a poem, "Saint Paul"1: Then with a thrill the intolerable craving Shivers throughout me like a trumpet call; O, to save these, to perish for their saving Die for their life, be offered for them all. Now in verse 4 and 5 of the Scripture Paul explains his great sorrow over the Jews’ rejection of the Gospel ...

124. Journey To The Cross IV: Jesus and Judas

Mark 14:43-52

Sermon

James W. Moore

... in several states over many years. He needed to be in prison. I knew that and he knew that. The community needed to be protected from him. And he told me that day that he wanted to be there! He had come to realize that he really needed and craved some sort of strong supervision. Here was a man who, because of his traumatic early years, was now consumed with anger, was now a menace to himself and to his community and was now unable to recall a single moment of any tenderness at all in his life. Here ...

125. God and the Weather

Matthew 5:45; 16:2-3 · Psalm 18:7-11; 46:1-3, 11

Sermon

Robert Noblett

... calamity that God is for us what a good parent is to a suffering child. Wrote Nels Ferre years ago - God’s suffering is completely outgoing, through and through redemptive. It is pure sympathy, the feeling with the creatures, His own children, a craving for them the fuller fellowship ... We can throw our burdens on Him, for He understands. He carries all sorrows and shares all sufferings. God knows, cares, and suffers with us.5 Tragedy can throw us into the most difficult religious circumstances, but ...

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