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 376 results

126. Celebration As Worship

2 Samuel 6:1-23

Sermon

Roger Prescott

... children ..."? A poet/philosopher/caregiver tells us about this in one of his bursts of creative imagination: I want to be ever a child I want to feel an eternal friendship for the raindrops, the flowers, the insects, the snowflakes. I want to be keenly interested in everything, with mind and muscle ever alert, forgetting my troubles in the next moment. The stars and the sea, the ponds and the trees, the birds and the animals are my comrades. Though my muscles may stiffen, though my skin may wrinkle, may ...

127. What If It Is True?

Luke 1:26-38

Sermon

... glory And peace on earth to men. And idol forms shall perish And error shall decay And Christ shall wield his scepter Our Lord and God for aye. Notes from the Homiletician The congregation in which this sermon was preached shares with many others a keen awareness that the secular society in which we live finds the story of the virgin birth a stumbling block to the modern mind. At the same time, like all congregations it has the continual need to hear the gospel unfettered by the distractions of controversy ...

128. "I Don’t Hate Any More!"

Sermon

Robert G. Tuttle

... mind Too unhappy to be kind. Undone with misery, all they can Is to hate their fellow man; And till they drop need must still they Look at you and wish you ill. That is a plague I would hope to escape. E. Stanley Jones shares his keen insight into the self-destruction of hate. He reminds us that "a rattlesnake, if cornered, will sometimes become so angry it will bite itself. That is exactly what the harboring of hate and resentment against others is: a biting of oneself. We think that we are harming others ...

129. Spiritual Blindness

Mark 10:46-52

Sermon

Warren Thomas Smith

... must be redesigned in such a way that all people may use them. Why have we been so blind, so deaf, so unfeeling so long? Jesus Came By When Jesus passed along, going from Jericho to Jerusalem, there was a "great multitude" of those like us - people keen-eyed. Interesting, indeed, the only one who really beheld Jesus was a blind man. Bartimaeus, and only he, called out "Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!" Not once, but twice, he cried out, even after the crowd attempted to silence him. The throng, with ...

130. The Communion of Saints

Hebrews 12:1-13

Sermon

T. A. Kantonen

... . Here is our teacher who by word and example is supposed to teach us the Christian life and he only sees himself as a sinner." Whereupon another professor answered, "Young man, don’t you recognize a saint when you see one? The closer to God a man is the more keenly aware he is of his sin." That is the kind of saints we are at best. This is what Luther had in mind when he said that a Christian is a saint and a sinner at the same time. He is a sinner but one who is on a footing ...

131. Giving Everything: The Widow's Might

Mark 12:41-44

Sermon

Brett Blair

... from this text that should be obvious. Jesus was watching people give. He did not tell the leaders to stop collecting money. In fact, even when this widow gave everything she had, he did not criticize the temple that collected it. Let me add here, that I am keenly aware that the church has been accused of extorting people out of their money. In some cases that is a legitimate criticism but I will submit to you that in most cases it is not the church which motivates people to give; it is people are moved by ...

132. Blind Man's Bluff

Acts 9:1-19a

Sermon

Carlyle Fielding Stewart

... tenderness; cold, relenting, bloodthirsty eyes were the eyes of Saul. As a man who relied heavily on his eyes to plan and execute his premeditated murder of Christians, he would now be without the very sight that enabled him to do evil. As a man who used his keen vision and insight to anticipate and set traps for the followers, his eyes were indispensable to his crimes. But now that sight was gone. Now he couldn’t see where he was, know where he was going, or know how he would get there. Now he was blind ...

133. Light to Serve

Isaiah 6:1-13

Sermon

Harry N. Huxhold

... in the kind of false modesty most of us resort to when we really want to be coaxed into something. Nor was Isaiah merely self-conscious about this radically new experience as he performed his usual stint in the holy of holies. Rather, Isaiah was deeply aware how keenly we should feel the burden of our guilt and shame in the presence of our Creator. All of us should sense the same emotions as Isaiah as we approach our worship. As a place set apart where we can be confronted by the presence of the holy, our ...

134. God's Not Done With Us Yet!

Genesis 17:1-27

Sermon

David E. Leininger

... when suddenly God stopped him. Abraham had passed this strange test. The boy was spared, a ram which had been caught in a nearby thicket was sacrificed instead. And all lived happily ever after. Really? No, not really. Nor had things been all that peachy-keen before. You see, there are other stories about Abraham in our Bible that probably were not covered in Sunday School. For example, not long into this family journey, a famine arose in Canaan. But Abram, despite all his vaunted faith, was not so sure now ...

135. John the Baptist

Matthew 3:1-12, Matthew 3:13-17

Sermon

David E. Leininger

... told me stories from before my birth of a visit from Jesus' mother, Mary. My mother said I jumped for joy within her in Mary's presence. I saw him from time to time as we grew up. I always had a great deal of respect for him. He was keenly intelligent...always honest and just in his dealings with people. He was gentle, modest, gracious...a friend to all, easy and outgoing. Many times I wished I were more like him. "Then one day, as I was preaching by the riverside, I saw him in the crowd. An odd sensation ...

136. The Preacher Was A Bigot

Jonah 3:1-10

Sermon

David E. Leininger

... has reminded the country of what it preferred to forget or even to pretend never occurred. Thanks to Lott's fond remembrance of the racist presidential campaign of Strom Thurmond and the Dixiecrats in 1948, which cost him the leadership of the Senate, we are keenly aware of what it is we celebrate today. This is one Martin Luther King Day when no one should feel compelled to question whether such a holiday is justified.(2) The day after Dr. King was assassinated, a civil rights worker, Marian Wright Edelman ...

137. Let's Play, Stump The Theologian!

John 16:5-16

Sermon

King Duncan

... three weary, endless years. Over and over she asked the question, "Why, oh why do I have to lie here month after month? Why can't the doctors do something?" Yet it was during this time that Catherine learned many important spiritual lessons. She became keenly aware that there were no shortcuts. God alone was in charge. She learned to deal ruthlessly and fully with sin in her life. She committed her life completely to Jesus Christ as Lord during that time. The seeds of her ministry of writing ” a ministry ...

138. More Than A Mannequin; Not Quite A Masterpiece

Acts 4:32-37

Sermon

King Duncan

... LOVE. These were people who cared about each other. James Moore in his book titled STANDING ON THE PROMISES OR SITTING ON THE PREMISES? tells a wonderful story about Bennett Cerf, a respected publisher and author for Random House a few years ago. Because of his keen intellect and warm sense of humor, Cerf was often featured as a panelist on numerous television and radio programs. Some of you will remember seeing him on those early popular TV shows like "What's My Line?" and "I've Got a Secret." One evening ...

139. Are You Successful Or Do You Just Have Money?

Acts 1:1-11

Sermon

King Duncan

... began smoking in childhood, and moved up to drinking and drugs in his early teen years. Although a smart and talented kid, Ron ran with the wrong crowd and squandered his talents on a life of crime. He began stealing whatever he could get his hands on. His keen mind and quick feet kept him from getting caught most of the time. He got a job with a supermarket, and began stealing food and cash from his employers. Ron spent some time in a youth reformatory, but it didn't slow him down in his illegal pursuits ...

140. The Love of a Father (Father's Day)

Matthew 10:1-42

Sermon

King Duncan

... that Joseph must have been a very special kind of father. We center much of our attention on his mother, Mary, but Joseph must have also combined those very special qualities of strength and gentleness that we associate with Jesus. Jesus had a very keen knowledge of the Old Testament Scriptures. In the Jewish home it was the father who had the primary responsibility for his son's religious instruction. Of course we know that Jesus had an unique relationship with God. Still, I have to believe that Joseph ...

141. Teach Us To Pray

Luke 11:1-13

Sermon

King Duncan

... this analogy. She told the story of a young stamp collector who wrote to Buckingham Palace asking for a special stamp to add to his collection. His request for the stamp was denied, but he was granted a visit with King George V, who was keenly interested in stamps also. Afterward, as the young boy recounted his experience the stamp itself seemed insignificant. "Real prayer is like this," writes Ms. Fling, "to have fellowship with the King of Kings is far better than to have a specific request granted." (1 ...

142. Keeping Alert For Christmas

Mark 13:32-37, Mark 13:1-31

Sermon

King Duncan

... . Jesus had warned his followers that there would be these pretenders to his throne. In addition, there were those who had calculated that the time was right for Jesus' return. It was a very confusing situation for the early believers. The absence of the Lord was keenly felt in their lives. They needed to once again hear the words of Jesus. Of that day Jesus told his followers, "The sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will be falling from heaven, and the powers in ...

143. Watch What You Eat

1 Corinthians 8:1-13

Sermon

King Duncan

... for beauty. His letters reveal his knowledge about and love for the finer things of life. His travels in Italy have provided us with enchanting watercolors of Venice and other cities, as well as drawings of rocks, trees, even hailstones, all testifying to his keen perception of beauty everywhere. Here was a man of great sensitivity to everything ” except those things that really matter. Once he was in Bologna, drawing a woman with a baby in her arms. Merely looking at the light and shade in the folds of ...

144. Lessons From The Locker Room

Hebrews 12:1-13

Sermon

Lowell D. Streiker

... requires of his followers, before everything else to seek God's dominion and His justice and to let everything else fall into place. But there's one more lesson to be learned from the locker room. WE NEED TO EXPERIENCE, IN ADVANCE, IN OUR MINDS AND HEARTS THE KEEN JOY OF VICTORY. In his second letter to Timothy, Paul says, "...I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day...." (4:7-8 ...

145. Do You Have A Forgiving Spirit?

Matthew 18:21-35

Sermon

Eric Ritz

... once brought before King James II of England. The King chided the prisoner: "You know that it is in my power to pardon you?" The scared, shaking prisoner replied, "Yes, I know it is in your power to pardon me, but it is not in your nature." The prisoner had keen insight to know that unless a person had a spiritual rebirth that we have no nature to forgive. The good news of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, is that it is both in the power and the nature of Jesus to forgive and to pardon. Yes, Jesus doesn't forgive ...

146. Humility You Can Be Proud Of

Micah 6:1-8

Sermon

King Duncan

... took was met by support emerging from the deep. She woke with a new sense of confidence and trust in God. (5) At times in our lives all of us will be in deep water. At such times where will we put our trust? Will we put it in our keen intellect? Will we put it in our robust health? Will we put it in our stocks and bonds or the equity in our home? There may come a time when all of these will fail us. If we put our trust in ourselves ” our accomplishments, our possessions, our investments ” there ...

147. Whatever It Takes

1 Corinthians 9:1-27

Sermon

King Duncan

... , “Well, what do you think? Shall we call him?' The good church folks were appalled! Consider a sickly, trouble making, absent-minded ex-jailbird? Was the board member crazy? Who signed the application? Who had such colossal nerve? The board member eyed them all keenly before he replied, “It's signed, The Apostle Paul." There is more than a little truth to that parody. St. Paul couldn't seem to please anybody. It was a common practice in Jesus' day for prominent philosophers and teachers to charge a fee ...

148. A Penny For God

Mark 12:41-44

Sermon

King Duncan

... to what God has done in Jesus Christ. We have been in a series of messages that have emphasized Christian discipleship. It is important that we understand that discipleship is not an attempt to buy off God or even to please Him. Discipleship grows out of a keen awareness of our connection to the Lord of life. Christ has given himself for us. He loved us even when we could not love ourselves. Out of our love for him we bring our tithes and offerings to sustain God's work in the world. Our giving simply ...

149. Dare To Dream

Joel 2:1-11

Sermon

King Duncan

... or a dial. And yet, it is more important than the number of years an athlete has been on this earth, or of his height or weight. Some call this "heart," "spirit," or "will to win," but whatever it is called, a coach develops a keen sensitivity to its presence and a true respect for the near-miracles it can work on an athletic field. "Heart," "spirit," "will to win""”those are certainly appropriate words to describe the early church. They also describe a person with a dream. We need the motivational ...

150. The Eureka Experience

Genesis 12:1-8

Sermon

Edward Inabinet

... 've been a member of this church, baptized, you may have served as a Sunday School teacher, a deacon or you've had other positions of responsibility in the church and you've done that, you've done your duty. And yet you know there's something still lacking. That keen expectancy as you get up in the morning is not there. That excitement for living that the scriptures speak of and that we see in the lives of those who truly love the Lord is not there. I say to you: it's not too late to make a fresh ...

Showing results