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 1526 to 1550 of 3108 results

1526. Wormy Apples Are a Waste

Luke 3:1-20

Children's Sermon

Wesley T. Runk

Object: Some wormy apples We are going to talk about something most of us know very little about, and I hope something that none of us ever experience. We are going to talk about hunger. Has anyone here ever been sick because they had nothing to eat? (Let them answer.) I don’t think so, but there are boys and girls all over the world who do not have anything to eat. Can you imagine yourself being so hungry that you would eat tree leaves, sticks, and grass? Some children get so hungry they even eat dirt and ...

1527. Making A Christian

Mark 1:9-13, Mark 1:1-8

Drama

Robert F. Crowley

Theme: Depending on the leading of the Holy Spirit is better than some pattern. Summary: Sam is telling Bill how to evangelize and forces him to do some unnatural things. Amazingly there is some fruit. Playing Time: 4 minutes Setting: Anywhere Props: None Costumes: Contemporary, casual Time: The present Cast: Sam Bill Will SAM: (SAM AND BILL ENTER) Are you a Christian? BILL: Yes. I am. SAM: Get anybody born again yet? BILL: Well, no. I haven't. I'm not so good ... SAM: Not so good at that, are you? BILL: ...

1528. Human Nature Revisited

2 Samuel 18:1-18

Sermon

Roger Prescott

Introduction In this moving narrative we have several very effective character studies: King David, torn between losing a battle and losing his son; Absalom, the ambitious young man, caught by the "chances" of life; and "a certain man," a soldier of Joab’s, caught between loyalty to his King and loyalty to his commander. As parents, as leaders, as citizens of our country, we can all identify with the age-old dilemmas played out so powerfully in this account. When we look at the human situations described ...

1529. Ready or Not, Here I Come!

Mark 13:32-37

Sermon

Daniel G. Mueller

There’s an amusing commercial on television in which a man is about to let go of his bowling ball as he eyes the pins at the end of the lane. Just as he is ready to release the ball, he gets lifted out of himself by two men in sparkling white suits and goes walking off across the lanes, through the walls of the building and onto a staircase surrounded by clouds. At first he doesn’t understand what in the world is going on but then it suddenly dawns on him. He has just died. He looks at the two white-suited ...

1530. The Family Was God’s Idea

Sermon

Gregory J. Johanson

Currently J. Benton and Faye French Tulley Professor of Pastoral Psychology, San Francisco Theological Seminary, San Anselmo, California, and the Graduate Theological Union, Berkeley, EDWARD V. STEIN has been contributing books and articles to the field of pastoral care for a number of years, especially in the area of guilt formation and therapy. He has also engaged in considerable post-doctoral training in family therapy. The family in our day and time - ambiguous and needed, imperfect and hopeful, ...

1531. Ready or Not - Here I Come

Mark 13:32-37

Sermon

John R. Brokhoff

When you were a child, did you play the game, Hide and Seek? If you did, you will remember that the person who was "it" closed his eyes while the rest went to hide. To give them time to hide, the child started counting: 5, 10, 15, 20 and up to 100. Then he would say, "Ready or not, here I come!" The point of the game was to hide oneself so well that the leader could not find you, for if he found you, and beat you back to the goal, you had to be "it" the next go-around. The secret of the game was preparing ...

1532. Someone Greater Than a Prophet

Luke 1:26-38

Sermon

Maurice A. Fetty

As our world gets smaller and smaller we become more and more aware of other cultures and religions, and we increasingly wonder about our own religion. If once we thought of them in rather exclusive terms, can we do so in a world which seems to have relative exclusive truth claims? If once we thought of Christianity as the final word in religion, can we do so in face of a vital and resurgent Islam in the world? In his recent, brilliant discussion of Islam, Dr. Charles Ryerson of Princeton reminded us that ...

1533. "...Yet"

Jeremiah 4:5-31

Sermon

John W. Wurster

Some of the hardest weeks of my life were spent in an intensive eight week Hebrew course at Princeton Seminary. For those two months, Hebrew was my life. Morning, noon, and night, my time was filled with mastering vocabulary, deciphering grammar, and conjuring up English translations for this very old, very strange language that the writers of the Old Testament used to describe their experiences of God. Because biblical Hebrew is not something one really has an opportunity to speak these days, the focus of ...

1534. The Favor

John 20:1-9

Drama

Dave Marsh

Director's Notes: How is it that we allow ourselves to get caught up in other stuff that just pulls us away from the joy of our salvation? This drama shows that the most dangerous thing Satan can do to us is slowly and subtly encourage apathy and put stuff in our lives that just doesn't matter. Another unfortunate thing here is how the husband seems resigned to his wife's spiritual condition... The good thing about this drama is that it can also be used on Easter (or the week before as in this case) as a ...

1535. The Favor (A Drama about Backsliding)

John 6:60-71

Drama

Dave Marsh

1536. The Healing Power of the Cross

Luke 23:26-43, Mark 15:33-41, Luke 23:44-49

Sermon

James W. Moore

Each year on Good Friday here at St. Luke’s, our Chancel Choir gives a magnificent performance of Dubois’ sacred cantata, “The Seven Last Words of Christ,”… a moving musical presentation of the seven sayings of Christ while He was being crucified on Good Friday. How many of those seven last words can; you remember? First, He prays for His executioners – “Father forgive them, they know not what they do." Second, He says to the thief on the cross, “Today you will be with me in paradise." Third, He provides ...

1537. The Ten Commandments: One God, Only One

Exodus 20:1-21

Sermon

David E. Leininger

A few weeks ago, you no doubt saw or heard about a list of the 100 best English-language novels of the past hundred years. It got quite a bit of comment because virtually no one agreed with the list-makers in their selections, and virtually everyone agreed that the number one pick, James Joyce's Ulysses, is a miserable read. Still, no one could agree on a new number one, nor, for that matter, any substitute list either. About all anyone would grant is that Americans do love lists. In fact, the Arizona ...

1538. The Ten Commandments #3: God's Name

Exodus 20:1-21

Sermon

David E. Leininger

Exodus 20:7 "You shall not make wrongful use of the name of the LORD your God, for the LORD will not acquit anyone who misuses his name." Or, as the venerable King James has it, "Thou shalt not take the name of the LORD thy God in vain..." On a bulletin board outside an Episcopal church recently was this message: "You say his name often enough on the highway. Why not try saying it in church? You'll feel much better using the Lord's name in prayer. Worship this Sunday."(1) Interesting. The Reuters news ...

1539. A Wonderful Mother (In-Law)

Ruth 1:1-22

Sermon

David E. Leininger

Mothers' Day. I like Mothers' Day, as I know we all do. There is something very special in taking time out of the hustle and bustle to celebrate those special ladies who have given us life. The "Mother" of Mother's Day is Anna Jarvis who spent forty years developing the concept. Her drive to create the holiday reached fulfillment in 1914 with a presidential proclamation by Woodrow Wilson. Anna had two fears, both of them well-founded. She was afraid that her effort to honor mothers would be exploited by ...

1540. Now That School's Out...

Proverbs 8:1-36

Sermon

David E. Leininger

School is out. "No more pencils, no more books, no more teachers' dirty looks..." Somewhere I read of the last day of classes being marked by yelling and cheering, bells, whistles, cartwheels in the halls...and that was the TEACHERS! Of course, this is the time for Baccalaureate services and Commencement exercises. It was a delight to watch my own son march with his high school graduating class on Friday night. Just as every other proud pappa, with a tear in my eye and a lump in my throat, I was snapping ...

1541. The Lord's Prayer: "Thy Will Be Done"

Matthew 6:5-15

Sermon

David E. Leininger

"THY WILL BE DONE." GOD'S will. What is God's will? Do YOU know what God's will is? Lots of folks think they do, but I wonder. I hear that Pat Robertson is about to spend $1.4-million because he is convinced that President Clinton's Health Plan is NOT God's will. Randy Shilts died last week. Randy was a reporter for the San Francisco Chronicle who wrote the best-seller, And the Band Played On,(1) the story of the inception of the AIDS epidemic in America. Randy died of AIDS. He was gay. Some folks would ...

1542. The Jump to Judgment

Matthew 7:1-6

Sermon

David E. Leininger

I heard a story once. A Mr. Jones picked up the wrong umbrella in a hotel, and the umbrella's rightful owner called his attention to it. Embarrassed, Mr. Jones offered his apologies, picked up the right one, and went on his way. But the incident served to remind Mr. Jones that he had promised to buy umbrellas for his wife and daughter, so he went across the street to a store and purchased one for each of them. As he came out from the store and began to get in his car - THREE umbrellas on his arm now - the ...

1543. The News from Nazareth

Luke 1:46-56, Luke 1:39-45

Sermon

David E. Leininger

Interesting item in the paper the other day. "According to the Alaska Department of Fish and Game, while both male and female reindeer grow antlers in the summer each year...Male reindeer drop their antlers at the beginning of winter, usually late November to mid-December. Female reindeer, however, retain their antlers until after they give birth in the spring. Therefore, according to every historical rendition depicting Santa's reindeer, every single one of them, from Rudolph to Blitzen...had to be a ...

1544. Hope Wins!

Revelation 21:1-27

Sermon

King Duncan

The scene is a church camp in Illinois with about 100 kids and various counselors. Jim, the camp director, and Frank, the maintenance director, are away from the camp on business. The next day they return to camp to find everyone gone. Everyone. Gone. There are no campers or counselors anywhere. Empty kayaks float out on the camp lake. An electric typewriter is left on. In it is a sheet of paper. It looks like someone has stopped typing in mid-sentence. But the strangest thing is the clothes. Everywhere ...

1545. No More Pain!

John 8:31-41

Sermon

King Duncan

There is a ridiculous story about a weight lifter who appeared at an agent's office. The muscle-bound performer was carrying a stone, a big hammer, and a huge suitcase. "This big stone," he explained to the agent, "is placed on my head, then my assistant takes the hammer and swings it as hard as he can, and breaks the stone." The agent's head nearly ached just from the description, but he was quite enthusiastic. "Sounds wonderful!" he shouted. "But if you need only the hammer and the big stone for the ...

1546. God Spoke

Genesis 1:1-2:3

Sermon

King Duncan

It was the week of Christmas, 1968. Three men—Frank Borman, James Lovell and William Anders—left earth for a breathtaking voyage around the moon and back. Remember, this was 51 years ago. Within months other U.S astronauts would actually set foot on the moon, but this was the pioneering effort. The take-off was flawless. That is remarkable in itself considering the problems in our space program over the years. It is hard to realize how quickly back then we came to take the concept of space travel for ...

1547. In The Valley Of Dry Bones

Ezekiel 37:1-14

Sermon

King Duncan

"The toe bone's connected to the foot bone, the foot bone's connected to the ankle bone, the ankle bone's connected to the shin bone...now hear the word of the Lord." That delightful little spiritual brings to mind one of the most dynamic, hopeful images in all the Old Testament. It is Ezekiel's vision of the valley of dry bones. "By the Spirit of the Lord," Ezekiel testifies, "I was set down in the midst of a valley; it was full of bones." Perhaps these were the bones of an army that had been trapped in ...

1548. The Pearl Of Great Price

Matthew 13:44-46

Sermon

King Duncan

There are some things in life that are worth any price. How much would you take for your health? For one of your children? For your good mind? Many of us do not appreciate the really important things in life until we lose them. But there are some things that are priceless, though we may not realize their worth at the time. When Joseph Haydn worked for years as a composer for a certain Prince Paul in Germany, the Prince's advisors constantly advised him that the money could better be spent on fortifications ...

1549. The Lure Of The Easy Way

Matthew 16:21-28

Sermon

King Duncan

I like the story of the young man, eager to make it to the top, who went to a well-known millionaire businessman and asked him the first reason for his success. The businessman answered without hesitation, "Hard work." After a lengthy pause the young man asked, "What is the SECOND reason?" We want to deal this morning with the lure of the easy way. Jesus and His disciples were at Caesarea Philippi. Their ministry to this point had been a stunning success. Crowds pressed in on them everywhere they went. ...

1550. There's A Better Way Than Shooting Somebody

Matthew 18:15-20

Sermon

King Duncan

There is a story that Alfred, Lord Tennyson once invited a Russian nobleman to his estate to do some hunting. The nobleman went off by himself one morning and returned later in the day. "How did you do?" asked Tennyson. "Not too well," replied the nobleman. "I shot two peasants." "You mean two pheasants," Lord Tennyson said with amusement. "We pronounce it with a ph. Pheasant." "No," the nobleman said, "I mean two peasants. They were insolent to me, and so I shot them." The story is outrageous, of course. ...

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