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 126 to 150 of 399 results

126. The Guy With The Donkey

Matthew 21:1-11

Sermon

Bill Bouknight

... in your boat while he addresses these people?" And the owner said, "He's welcome to use my boat." That boat owner was a donkey-giver, so to speak. Later, Jesus was addressing another vast throng on a hillside. They had listened for hours and were craving to hear more. But it had been a long time since they had eaten anything. Stomachs were growling and children were whining. The disciple Philip found a teenaged boy who had two small pickled fish and five loaves of barley bread. Philip asked him, "Are you ...

127. Our Search for Intimacy - The "Father" God

Sermon

Harold Warlick

... I was moved. Our world needs a Love Story every so often. As we move about in a country that possesses destructive nuclear forces equal to 35,000 pounds of TNT for every human being alive, we grope for emotional foods. Intimacy is the one thing we crave. We need it to survive; we need recognition that we are alive, that we are essentially worthy in being the unique selves that we are. Most of us exist alongside other people, but not really "with" them. We are truly the parallel generation. Luis Bunuel, who ...

128. Manufactured Christianity: Jesus Sells, Jesus Sells!

Sermon

Harold Warlick

... top in the heavens, and let us make a name for ourselves,’ they exclaimed. No wonder, after their language was confused, God called the place Ba’bel. I imagine a lot of babbling took place. Samuel Goldwyn of MGM fame once remarked that human beings so crave the spectacular that the ideal money-making film would be one that begins with an earthquake and works up to a climax. Such is our limited perception of greatness. But greatness in the Christian faith is not defined in terms of splendor, or power, or ...

129. The Light that Shines Within

John 1:1-18

Sermon

Leonard Mann

... swallowed up another giant corporation. I look at his picture with a mixture of anxiety and pity. He may be a broad and deep and balanced man; but I somehow doubt if he is. He is very likely to see his life only in the light of an impassioned craving for more, to see himself only as a juggler of dollar signs and a manipulator of people. The wife and small son of a certain storekeeper sat by a window one evening looking at the stars and talking about heaven. The little fellow asked his mother, "Will I go ...

130. Signs Of A Vital Church

2 Corinthians 2:12--3:6, 2 Corinthians 4:1-18

Sermon

Bill Bouknight

... I hate to see you go.' A hug delights and warms and charms, It must be why God gave us arms. Hugs are great for fathers and mothers, Sweet for sisters, swell for brothers. And chances are some favorite aunts Love them more than potted plants. Kittens crave them. Puppies love them. Heads of state are not above them. So stretch those arms without delay And give somebody a hug today! Now for those questions again: Is our church a fellowship which radiates the love of Christ? Is there a group within the church ...

131. No Reserves, No Retreats, No Regrets

Luke 9:57-62

Sermon

Bill Bouknight

... hunting and fishing. Now his son is about 8 years old. The father's chance to be a spiritual influence on that boy is about over. It passes so fast. Life rolls along, alternating between mundane hours of boredom and awesome moments of eternal significance. A wife craves some sign that she is more important than her husband's job, until it's too late. Someone with low self-esteem longs to hear some particular person say, "You're really special," until it's too late. A child hears a parent say, "Let's report ...

132. Our Exclusive God (The First Commandment)

Exodus 20:1-21

Sermon

Bill Bouknight

... for a week. 16 percent would give us their American citizenship. 16 percent would leave their spouse. 3 percent would put their children up for adoption. Two-thirds of those polled would agree to at least one of the options I just listed. When the craving for more becomes the dominant drive in one's life, then one is worshipping affluence. The amount of money is not critical. One can worship $10 or $10 million. Affluence is the most seductive mistress in our society. More Americans go to hell every year ...

133. Wimps Become Warriors

Acts 2:1-13

Sermon

Bill Bouknight

... a pentecostal life-style. How does one do that? FIRST, ASK EACH DAY FOR A FRESH INFILLING OF THE HOLY SPIRIT. In Ephesians, chapter 5, verse 18, Paul issues this command: "Be filled with the Spirit." Those who are filled with the Holy Spirit are those who crave it, who are willing to change anything the Lord requires, who are willing to serve as the Lord commands. We should be unwilling to live a single day without being refueled by Almighty God. A few years ago in the Rose Bowl Parade in Pasadena, a float ...

134. "Almost" Is A Sad Word

Matthew 19:16-30

Sermon

Bill Bouknight

... God for first place in your life? Is it your weekend get-away place that you love more than church? Is it an illicit relationship that you know God does not approve? Is it your obsession with a hobby? Is there an addiction in your life that you crave more than God? What is your security blanket? Is it an ambition which is more dominant than God's plans for you? Is your security blanket the approval of your friends? Is your standard of living the real center of your security? What is your security blanket ...

135. Hungry for Anything?

Matthew 6:25-34

Sermon

Louis H. Valbracht

... and the microscope to extend our eyes that we might satisfy this insatiable hunger to be able to see beyond just the animal needs of life. Nor are we satisfied just to live in a cave, no matter how comfortable the cave. Our hunger for beauty craves its Sistine Madonnas, the lifting spires of the cathedral, the flower garden that furnishes no food for anyone, physically. I stand beneath the soaring Gothic arches of the Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris, and I have to ask myself what the motivation was that drove ...

136. Picking A Winner, Claiming A Treasure

Matthew 13:44-46

Sermon

Bill Bouknight

... Savior; when a person learns that this eternal cure for his terminal illness is free and available; then that person will gladly give anything at this disposal in order to have this gift. Having this gift requires neither money nor work nor learning. You just have to crave it more than you desire anything or anyone on earth. The New Testament tells us of two young men who caught a glimpse of the Treasure. One was a rich young ruler who loved his affluence just a little bit more than he loved Jesus. "He went ...

137. The Vicarious Servant

Isaiah 52:13--53:12

Sermon

Donald Macleod

... to a wounded brother in need of help. He bridged the distance between himself and an inconvenience which the others dismissed through sheer indifference. Sympathy for fails to become sympathy with as long as we know little about each other and care less. Everywhere human hearts crave for sympathy. How few of us are like the prophet Ezekiel who said, "I sat where they sat." How many there are around us who seemingly are saying: If only someone would come out of the careless crowd and let us feel we have the ...

138. Song of an Historian

Psalm 78:1-72

Sermon

Gordon Pratt Baker

... 78:21-29) without changing her attitude. But the Almighty has not dropped the matter there. He will not allow insolence and insubordination to go unchecked. For he has no intention of surrendering his sovereignty over his people. Consequently, ... before they had sated their craving while the food was still in their mouths, the anger of the Lord rose against them and he slew the strongest of them, and laid low the picked men of Israel. (Psalm 78:30, 31) It was to no avail. Not even catastrophe could turn ...

139. The Flight From Light

Isaiah 60:1-22, Matthew 2:1-12

Sermon

Erskine White

... I send my young children to the basement to get something for me, they say they cannot go because they are afraid of the dark. They beg me to leave a light on when they go to sleep. In our corporal lives, we fear darkness and crave light. But in our spiritual lives - in those intensely personal dramas which are played out in the privacy of our hearts and the sanctuary of our souls - our attitudes toward darkness and light are frequently reversed. Our spiritual lives often amount to a reluctant embrace of ...

140. Christmas 1

Isaiah 9:1-7, Titus 2:1-15, Luke 2:1-7, Luke 2:8-20

Bulletin Aid

Paul A. Laughlin

... lifted and the freedom realized in him. In the name of the newborn King we pray. Amen Prayer of Confession Most gracious God, how insensitive we often are to the marks of your Kingdom! Where you value peace, we make war; where you foster justice, we crave vengeance; where you proclaim righteousness, we exalt selfishness; and where you show compassion for the oppressed, we often find ourselves in the role of the oppressor. Forgive us, we pray. Make the spirit of this day and of the one who comes in your name ...

141. Thanksgiving Day

Joel 2:18-27, Matthew 6:25-34, 1 Timothy 2:1-15

Bulletin Aid

Paul A. Laughlin

... TRUE NEEDS, AND FOR PROMISING TO TAKE CARE OF THOSE WHO SEEK FIRST THE KINGDOM! Collect Almighty God, who provide generously for our needs, help us to be properly thankful for all you have done; that, recognizing your provision and providence, we may adjust our cravings to conform more closely with what is truly necessary and desirable for "the good life" in Christ. In his name we pray. Amen Prayer of Confession God of compassion, we confess that our values and wants are out of all proportion to our needs ...

142. Which Self Are You?

Genesis 2:4-25

Sermon

Louis H. Valbracht

... That was Saint Paul, writing to the people of Rome. You see how much he knew about us? We all go through the same thing. Christina Rosetti is saying somewhat the same things in these lines: "God harden me against myself, This coward with pathetic voice, Who craves for ease and rest and joys. Myself, arch-traitor to myself; My hollowest friend, my deadliest foe, My clog, whatever road I go. Yet one there is can curb myself, Can roll the strangling load from me, Break off the yoke and set me free." Yes, that ...

143. Facing the Glory Road

Matthew 20:17-19

Sermon

Louis H. Valbracht

... ourselves around, or, lacking it, leave a hunger, as painful a hunger to the soul as it is to the body when it has been denied solid food. Here is the torment of our boredom: an emptiness in the soul; a basic human need unanswered; an unfed craving of the heart for some devotion, some affection, some passion that will give life GLORY and meaning and exhultation. We are bored because we are empty. T. S. Eliot calls us "the hollow men, with headpieces filled with straw." We have nothing to live for, nothing ...

144. Called into Friendship

John 15:1-17

Sermon

O. Garfield Beckstrand, II

... me and took the children. I’ll kill myself one of these days." And on went the sad story of uncontrolled destruction and disgrace. When he finished, Dick said, "Tom, look at me. You know what I was like in the old days, just the same as you are now - craving a drink hour after hour and hating myself for it. Do you doubt that life can change? It can happen to you, Tom, here and now." Dick went on to tell about his long fellowship with Alcoholics Anonymous, and how it all began when he bared his soul before ...

145. A New Kind of Teaching

Mark 1:21-28

Sermon

Maurice A. Fetty

... which drew record crowds. Jesus took the demonic seriously, as do some present-day psychoanalysts. Rollo May says, "The demonic is any natural function which has the power to take over the whole person. Sex and eros, anger and rage, and the craving for power are examples." Today we sometimes would call demon possession by the word "psychosis." "The demonic," says Dr. May, "becomes evil when it usurps the total self without regard to the integration of that self" (Love and Will, p. 123). The demoniac ...

146. The Call of the Trumpet

Matthew 6:1-6, 16-21

Sermon

George Bass

... four sermons to cover the subject of suffering and human trouble. He comments: There are so many forms of trouble in this world - physical, mental, emotional, spiritual; and the challenge which they severally and collectively present to faith is so radical, that one craves passionately to be able to let in some light upon the darkness. Certainly no one who takes life seriously can escape the necessity of confronting this problem and coming to terms with it in his own soul ...4 Physical hunger - and entering ...

147. An Unusual Legacy

2 Samuel 23:1-7

Sermon

Roger Prescott

... the following piece in her Bible. It must have been her covenant with her Creator as she moved through the sunset of her life: Lord, Thou knowest I am growing older. Keep me from the idea that I must express mnyself on every subject. Release me from the craving to meddle in everyone’s affairs. Keep my tongue from the recital of endless details of the past which do not interest others. Seal my lips when I am inclined to talk about my aches and pains. They are increasing with the years, and my love to speak ...

148. Easter People

Colossians 3:1-17

Sermon

T. A. Kantonen

... hole in the ground. In the words of the poet Tennyson, "Thou wilt not leave us in the dust, Thou madest man, he knows not why. He thinks he was not made to die, And Thou hast made him, Thou art just." The righteous and loving God who put the craving for eternity into the hearts of his children does not mock our highest hope. He does not give us a tombstone when we ask for the bread of life. Just as the cross did not end the career of Jesus, so he promises to us too the fullness of life ...

149. True Freedom

John 8:31-41

Sermon

T. A. Kantonen

... the clay statue of Liberty and exclaimed, "O Liberty, what crimes are committed in your name!" One of the most common mistaken ideas of freedom is that one is free when he can do as he pleases. This is the kind of freedom that the prodigal son craved while at his father’s house. But what happened when the father gave him this freedom? His money gone, his health gone, his reputation gone, kneeling at the trough, trying to snatch a morsel before a hog got it - what a sorry picture of freedom! The same ...

150. The Second Touch for the Out of Touch

1 Kings 19:1-18

Sermon

Robert Leslie Holmes

... Elijah was on the edge. He was frightened. “He was afraid” (1 Kings 19:3). He wanted to be left alone. “He left his servant there” (1 Kings 19:3). One of depression’s primary symptoms is the desire for aloneness. Then, often when we are left alone, we crave company! He was detached from reality and caught in a web of ambivalence: “He got up and fled for his life” (1 Kings 19:3). Twice, it says, he had a sense that he stood alone against the world: “I have been very zealous for the Lord, the ...

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