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 1301 to 1325 of 5000 results

1301. Get Your Third-Class Tickets Here!

Acts 1:6-14

Sermon

King Duncan

... s parents began attending church. One Sunday morning when the invitation was given one of the young people came forward with his younger brother, followed closely by their mother. All three of them made commitments that morning to Jesus Christ. And before too long this family was bringing other families. Eventually most of those children and youth and even some of their parents made decisions to follow Christ. God used this woman who felt she was incapable of teaching. (4) God could use her because she had ...

1302. Selling Out

Luke 8:26-39

Sermon

Dave Zuchelli

... (probably a consortium of townspeople), they lost a lot of capital. As we know, pigs don’t fly. What’s worse is they don’t grow on trees, either. I’m sure they were concerned about Jesus’ seeming penchant for drowning swine. If he hung around too long, they would be broke and destitute. If Jesus tried that today, he’d be sued. I once heard a story about a group of Christians who were getting together each week to pray that the neighborhood bar would close down. Apparently, it was a nasty place ...

1303. Being Different

Matthew 1:18-25

Sermon

John Jamison

... today, Nazareth was a very small town of perhaps 300 people when Mary’s family lived there. Nazareth had been around for a long time, sitting on a hill overlooking some of the most famous events of history, but is never mentioned once in the Old Testament ... lesson and remove the shame from their village. Then the old man saw his son approaching. Luke said, “But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed ...

1304. Stay Awake

Matthew 24:36-44

Sermon

King Duncan

... scripture lesson this morning can be summed up in two words: wake up! Jesus spoke these words in Matthew 24 just a few days before his arrest and crucifixion. He knew he wouldn’t be with his disciples much longer. And even though this passage sounds like one long warning, it is also a message of tremendous hope. In the verses before our Bible passage, Jesus has just told his disciples that a day is coming when he will return as the Son of Man, the Messiah. And though there may be false prophets and false ...

1305. A Courageous Leader

Judges 4:1-7

Sermon

King Duncan & Angela Akers

... directing me to do so. But as I trusted Him completely with my life and future, He always gave direction . . . I also learned that I was accountable for each day — for the opportunities and responsibilities and work of that day. I did not know what the future was, how long I would be in India, or what was going to happen to my parents in America. I learned just to leave all that with God and remember my daily accountability for what He placed there for me to do.” (7) When we frame reality around God’s ...

1306. The Great Discovery

Luke 15:14b-18a

Drama

Arley K. Fadness

... what? I discovered penicillin. The miracle antibiotic drug. What a find. What a fantastic discovery – and now you know the rest of the story. MARTIN LUTHER: Guten tag. Good day. I am Martin Luther. You know my story and why I am here today. I was tormented for a long time about the status of my soul. I worried that I could not do enough good works to save my soul. Then one day, as I studied scriptures, I realized that the “just live by faith.” Oh my. I realized that it is by the grace of God grasped ...

1307. Let's Go Fishing

Mark 1:14-20

Sermon

David E. Leininger

... hook snagged a lantern from the depths of a lake. The lantern carried a tag proving it was lost back in 1912. But the strangest thing of all was the fact that it was a waterproof lantern and the light was still lit. For a long time the first man said nothing. Then he took one long deep breath. “I’ll tell you what I’ll do,” he said slowly. “I’ll take 200 pounds off my fish, if you’ll put out the light in your lantern.”[3] Fishing stories — you gotta love ‘em. What brings them to mind this ...

1308. The Lord Is With Us

Luke 1:26-38, 2 Samuel 7:1-17, Romans 16:1-27

Sermon

Will Willimon

... The Holy One whom we await must be exalted;·high and lifted up. The Messiah - must hover above the ground upon which we walk, the dust of which we are made. And he will be high and lifted up, if we must nail him up there ourselves!) Thus spoke Israel long ago. But there is enough of this in each of us to say, Amen. Let us put an end to this desecration of the Eternal, this vulgar, primitive yearning for God's condescension. Let's keep our crosses polished and bare, and our mangers full of well washed straw ...

1309. Marketplace Christianity

John 2:13-22

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... . And we must all ask ourselves these questions as the church of Jesus Christ: Do we as the church of Jesus Christ engage with people only for their “market” value? Do we value only their money and numbers but not their presence? Do we help people, as long as we can keep them at a distance? Or are we committed to developing relationships with those who are not “one of us”? Who are we excluding from God’s favor and presence? Who are we deeming unworthy of worship and prayer? These are questions we ...

1310. The Christian Mother

John 15:9-17

Sermon

King Duncan

... low-heeled shoes. But she wore a red rose on the rumpled brown lapel of her coat. The girl in the green suit was walking quickly away. I felt as though I was split in two, so keen was my desire to follow her and yet so deep was my longing for the woman who's spirit had truly companioned me and upheld my own. And there she stood. Her pale, plump face was gentle and sensible, her grey eyes had a warm and kindly twinkle. I did not hesitate. My finger gripped the small worn blue leather copy of the ...

1311. Soul Testing Kits

John 15:1-8

Sermon

Mary Austin

... Every time they move, they look at houses together. He diligently checks for the right number of bedrooms and bathrooms and evaluates how long the drive to work is. She looks at how the light falls, how the rooms flow together, how the house “feels” to ... need different things. We have the same root in God, but we grow in different ways. For myself, the older I get, the more I long for times of silence to listen for God speaking and know that I have to build those into life. I’m sure you’ve seen changes ...

1312. Bread for the Journey

Mark 12:28-34

Sermon

Thomas C. Willadsen

... to vote! Do you see why Presbyterians sometimes seem baffling and odd to other Christians? This is why we need to love the process and to love the journey. It helps if we really believe that “getting there is half the fun,” because the road is often so long and has so many bends and hills that it seems that we’ll never arrive anywhere. The reading from Ruth this morning is the very beginning of Ruth’s journey to a foreign land, the land of her in-laws. After her father-in-law, husband, and brother ...

1313. 2025 Lent Sermon Series

Sermon

Various Authors

... Won a Super Bowl – 1 Corinthians 11:23-26 9. I Shall Rise Again! - I Corinthians 15:19-26 · Luke 24:1-12 Shouting Joy to the Storm by Schuyler Rhodes 1. Treasure Hunters – Matthew 6:1-6, 16-21 2. “Until an Opportune Time…” – Luke 4:1-13 3. Long View – Long Haul – Luke 13:31-35 4. One More Year – Luke 13:1-9 5. They Should Have Fired That Shepherd – Luke 15:1-3 (8-32) 6. You Will Always Have the Poor With You… - John 12:1-8 7. I Love a Parade! – Luke 19:28-40 8 ...

1314. Messiah’s Community

John 20:19-31

Sermon

Wayne Brouwer

... last night. God came to him and commanded him to tell me that one of us here, at the monastery, is Messiah!” All four brothers stopped eating in mid-bite. All turned to stare at the abbot. No one moved or said anything for a long moment. Then they began to chuckle ― and laugh ― great belly laughs. Soon they were in tears with hilarity. When they returned to their small rooms for evening personal devotions, everyone was in a good mood. Chuckle medicine had lifted their spirits. But then the wondering ...

1315. The Call to Encounter

Luke 8:26-39

Sermon

Dean Feldmeyer

... did Jesus deal with this legion of demons that possessed this poor man and had been torturing him for a long, long time? Oddly, enough, he employed mercy. The Swine and The Swineherds The person with the illness stepped back into the ... out of control and the next thing you know, chaos! It’s not a rational thing. It’s a feeling like when you run down a hill and before long you are going too fast to stop and you know that a crash is eminent. You do crash and fall down and your mother comes and dusts you off ...

1316. An Up-Close Nativity

Titus 2:11-14

Sermon

Heather Sugden

... of the season pushes us too quickly, while loneliness and grief can make the moments unbearably heavy on our hearts. We hold memories of gifts from our childhood — even smells and the tastes of old family recipe that only a relative could make perfectly. We long for a Christmas when all people will come together, when all will not want for anything, and when peace will reign. Past, present, and future seem like too much for any one day to hold. And perhaps Christmas cannot hold it all perfectly still, in ...

1317. Suffering And Service

Isaiah 51:17--52:12

Sermon

Douglas J. Deuel

... , and this leads to traumatic disappointment. Hospitals attract people with illness. Churches attract people filled with sin. Hospitals are not built and intended for people who are healthy. In a similar way, churches do not function only for the saints. As long as we place our trust in humans and institutions (including the church) made up of humans, we will be severely disappointed. Somehow we have forgotten the lessons of history. Throughout history humankind has shown a propensity for cruelty and hatred ...

1318. A Maturing Faith

Acts 16:16-40

Sermon

Douglas J. Deuel

... not going to make it unless he helped me. So, I said, 'It's up to you, God. I've tried and I cannot do it. If you have something good planned for my life, you had better reclaim me now because I know I'm not going to live long.' "And when I finished praying I could feel God so close to me. I was literally afraid to reach out my hand, for fear of touching God. That is when I knew I was not alone. That is when I knew I just might make it." What difference does the ...

1319. Holy Wisdom From On High!

Proverbs 8:1-36

Sermon

Barbara Brokhoff

... and responsibility to do it all with such a great and confident spirit. "You see," she answered, "I'm in a partnership. One day, a long time ago, I said, 'Lord, I'll do the work, and you do the worrying,' and I haven't had a worry since!" God, ... need. The true story is told of a woman named Mamie who made frequent trips to the branch post office. One day she confronted a long line of people who were waiting for service from the postal clerk. Mamie only needed stamps, so a helpful observer asked her, "Why don' ...

1320. Deep Depression Or High Hope?

1 Kings 9:1-9

Sermon

Barbara Brokhoff

... we sigh, "Well, here's hoping," the message we give is that "I might as well give up." When we hear someone say, "Well, as long as there's life, there's hope," then we know it is really bad! Hope has been devoured by hopelessness. You hear a lot of ... then a sacrifice would be made. The god who answered by fire, consuming the sacrifice, would be declared "the God!" All day long the prophets of Baal prayed, without result, to their gods, but at eventide Elijah prayed his relatively short prayer and God answered ...

1321. Food For The Body And Food For The Soul

John 6:25-59

Sermon

J. Will Ormond

... and often does get out on hand, but food is surely one of the blessings for which we need to express gratitude. It is one of the necessities of life and a gift from God. The passage which we read from the Gospel of John is part of a long discourse about food -- food for the body and food for the soul. One of the characteristics of John's gospel is that it is difficult to isolate a short passage from its larger context. John's narratives and extended speeches are so intricately and closely woven that when we ...

1322. When The Odds Are Against Us

1 Samuel 1:1-20

Sermon

Zan W. Holmes

... ritual! Whatever the reason, Eli the priest thought that she was drunk with wine and chastised her. He said to her, "How long will you make a drunken spectacle of yourself? Put away your wine!" (v. 14). In other words he was telling her, "You ... says: "For this child I prayed; and the Lord has granted me the petition that I made to him. Therefore I have lent him to the Lord; as long as he lives, he is given to the Lord" (vv. 27-28). If Hannah had not risen up and turned to the Lord she would not have overcome ...

1323. Nobody Owes You Anything

Luke 17:1-10

Sermon

Richard Patt

... salvation. Again, Jesus would be saying that nobody owes us eternal life. The flip side is surely that you and I cannot claim or accomplish one single thing that would be considered a credit toward our salvation. We can work in the field all day long, all week long, for a lifetime, and there would still be no reason why God should feel indebted to save us. The comforting side -- the gospel side -- of what Jesus was saying in this parable would then be that God nevertheless does save us, evidently purely out ...

1324. Made New By Interior Design

Luke 21:5-38

Sermon

Richard A. Wing

... pain to the ground until she was made stronger by it, rather than defeated by it. So, bring your tears to Advent. Bring to this place the things you have lost, the things you are sorry for and the things you have not forgiven in yourself even though God has long ago forgiven you. The promise of God is that your tears will be transformed to triumph if you come to this place and grieve your own way and refuse to allow yourself to be fixed by the advice of others. By our learning to sit closely to each other ...

1325. Reach For The Light

Isaiah 60:1-22

Sermon

Tony Everett

... was at the beginning, middle, and end of her list. Prayer connects us to the true Light. Prayer keeps the vision of the true Light in view as darkness threatens to overcome it. Prayer enables us to place one foot in front of the other in the long and difficult journey through unknown darkness. Reach for the true Light in prayer. Lift up your eyes to see the guiding light of Christ along your life journey. Pay careful attention to what our text says happens when we journey in this light. Using vivid imagery ...

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