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 1551 to 1575 of 3108 results

1551. The Waiting Father

Luke 15:11-32

Sermon

King Duncan

A teenager came to his pastor for advice: "I left home," said the boy, "and did something that will make my dad furious when he finds out. What should I do?" The minister thought for a moment and replied, "Go home and confess your sin to your father, and he'll probably forgive you and treat you like the prodigal son." Sometime later the boy reported to the minister, "Well, I told Dad what I did." "And did he kill the fatted calf for you?" asked the minister. "No," said the boy, "but he nearly killed the ...

1552. Why Jesus Likes Sinners

Luke 18:9-14

Sermon

King Duncan

Jesus continually shocks us. No wonder the people of his own day crucified him. He wouldn't be too popular in our community. At least not among the better people in town. It is almost as if he preferred to associate with the disreputable, the rejects, the rubble of humanity. "Two men went up to pray," he said on one occasion, "a Pharisee and a tax collector." Now the audience was suppose to hiss and boo when the tax collector's title was given. The IRS is not too popular with us, but at least most of the ...

1553. The Difference Is You

Matthew 5:13-16

Sermon

King Duncan

After the Los Angeles riots, Steve Futterman of CBC radio broadcast an interview he had with one of the riot ™s many looters. The man had been one of many people who had looted a record store. When asked what he had stolen, the man replied, "Gospel tapes. I love Jesus." (1) Our text for the day is about people who love Jesus, but hopefully in a more positive way than did this looter. Jesus defined his followers as the "salt of the earth" and the "light of the world." "You are the salt of the earth," Jesus ...

1554. What Goes Around Comes Around

Luke 16:19-31

Sermon

Timothy J. Smith

"Grandfather's Corner," is the story of an old man who lived with his son and his son's wife and children. The man was almost deaf and blind and had difficulty eating without spilling his food. Occasionally, he would drop a bowl and break it. His son and his wife thought it was disgusting and made the old man eat in a corner behind the stove. They gave him a wooden bowl which could not be broken. One day the old man's little grandson was working with some pieces of wood. When his father asked what he was ...

1555. A Holiday For Every Day

1 Thessalonians 5:12-28

Sermon

Dr. Chane M. Hutton

There is nothing harder than to be consistently thankful. All of us have a hard time maintaining an attitude of gratitude, that mind set, that demeanor, that disposition of thanksgiving. And yet, there is no greater resource for living than a thankful heart. Maybe the reason we have such a tough time with being thankful is because we put so little emphasis on it. We don't hear much about Thanksgiving. It's just a day of feasting, football and falling asleep. It's the start of the Christmas rush. I suppose ...

1556. Pretenders

Matthew 6:5-15, Matthew 6:1-4

Sermon

King Duncan

A little boy had just returned home from an Ash Wednesday church service. The little girl from next door asked him what the smudge was on his forehead. He replied, "It's Ash Wednesday." "What's Ash Wednesday?" she asked. "Oh," he replied, "It's when Christians begin their diet." Ash Wednesday is about more than giving up chocolate for Lent. It is about examining ourselves in the light of Christ's sacrifice on the cross. And the central question which we ask ourselves this night is, Which is it: Pretense or ...

1557. On Having The Right Credentials

1 Corinthians 1:1-9

Sermon

King Duncan

Humorist Robert Orben says that when he was in grade school, he was told if he wanted to get a good job he had to graduate from high school. So he went to high school. When he was in high school, he was told that to get a good job he had to go to college. So he went to college. When he was just about to graduate, he was told everybody had a bachelor's degree, and to get a really good job, he had to get a master's degree. So he got his master's. Then he was told that a master's degree would take him only so ...

1558. God Is Not Fair (Grumbling in the Vineyard)

Matthew 20:1-16

Sermon

King Duncan

Years ago there was a golf tournament in Knoxville, Tennessee that had a fascinating ending. It was a hole-in-one tournament. The rules said that whoever came closest to getting a hole-in-one on the 90-yard hole was the winner. You didn't have to actually make a hole-in-one to win. Just come close. One man hit a terrible shot. It was so bad that it ricocheted off the scorer's tent, then miraculously bounced onto the fairway, where it hit another golfer's ball, and ricocheted again, finally coming to rest ...

1559. The Good Parent

John 10:1-21

Sermon

King Duncan

A television commercial for a pest control company shows two happy families, one on the right half of the split screen and the other on the left. On each side, the camera shows the family sitting on a comfortable sofa. It also shows the flooring and the foundations of the house under them. The voice described the family on the left, whose house had a solid, strong foundation. No problems there. Then the announcer turns to the family on the right. He lowers his voice a bit and speaks with urgency as he ...

1560. Building An Understanding Of God

Mt 28:16-20 · Jn 3:16-18 · 2 Cor 13:11-13

Children's Sermon

King Duncan

Object: a kite Good morning, boys and girls. Have you ever flown a kite? It's a lot of fun, isn't it? I brought in a kite to show you. You know, there are three things a kite needs in order to work. First, there's the kite itself. It's got to be large and stiff, so the wind can catch it and lift it high up in the air. The next thing a kite needs in order to work well is a tail. It could be a little strip of cloth or plastic. The tail is important because it helps to guide the kite and hold it up straight ...

1561. Take This Job And Love It

2 Thessalonians 3:6-15

Children's Sermon

King Duncan

Object: Picture of your loved ones Good morning, boys and girls. What holiday is coming up soon? That's right, Thanksgiving. Why do we celebrate Thanksgiving? To thank God for loving us and taking care of us. You know, God is so good to us. We should be thankful all the time. We are kind of like the birds. Most birds sing their prettiest songs in good weather. That's us. We thank God when things are going well, when we are happy. But there is a bird called a missel thrush that sings its prettiest song when ...

1562. The Ultimate Solution For Sin

Mark 9:38-50

Sermon

King Duncan

In 1939, a coast guard vessel was cruising the Canadian Arctic when the men spotted a polar bear stranded on an ice floe. It was quite a novelty for the seamen, who threw the bear salami, peanut butter, and chocolate bars. Then they ran out of the food. Unfortunately, the polar bear hadn't run out of appetite, so he proceeded to board their vessel. The men on ship were terrified and opened the fire hoses on the bear. The polar bear loved it and raised his paws in the air to get the water under his armpits ...

1563. The Problem With Keeping All The Rules

Luke 18:9-14

Sermon

King Duncan

Photographer Wendy Ewald travels around the world teaching children to use photography to express their thoughts and feelings. Take a child who is relatively powerless and give him a camera, and suddenly that child is empowered by the chance to express himself. Ewald recalls a little Indian boy named Pratap. When Ewald handed him a camera, Pratap began to shake all over. He explained that he was a Harijan, a member of the lowest, untouchable caste in India. Harijans aren't allowed to hold cameras. Pratap ...

1564. Life Is What Happens When You've Made Other Plans

Genesis 37:1-11

Sermon

Dr. Robert E. Lair

A while back the editor of Theology Today chronicled his family's misfortunes one winter. Dr. Hugh Kerr told about two emergency hospitalizations: one in Tucson, Arizona -- the other in Princeton, New Jersey. He said that for a period of ten weeks, the outside world seemed to fade into unreality. He and his family were caught up in filling out endless insurance forms, the cancellation and remaking of reservations. He and his friends were interrupted by both hospital staff and well-meaning friends. The Kerr ...

1565. An Unforgettable Day

Luke 2:41-52

Sermon

King Duncan

The September 2002 issue of More magazine carried an article titled, "The Day I'll Never Forget." It was an interview with prominent people about where they were and what they remember from the most momentous events in American history. Janice Aldrin recalled the giant, rocket-shaped cake her family and friends ate to celebrate the day when her dad, astronaut Buzz Aldrin, first set foot on the moon. Former Olympic track star Madeline Manning Mims remembered the terror she and her teammates felt at the 1972 ...

1566. The Coat Of Many Colors

Genesis 37:1-11

Sermon

King Duncan

A man wrote in to the "Clean Laughs" online board with this story: "I was in my wills and trusts course when the professor posed this question to the students: Why do people choose to have their children, rather than their siblings, inherit their estate? "After students offered various theories, one fellow raised his hand. "˜This may be a bit off the point,' he said, "˜but when I was little, when my brother and sister finished playing with me, they would put me into a drawer.'" (1) Most of us can relate to ...

1567. Is There Hope for the Hapless Wedding Guest?

Matthew 22:1-14

Sermon

Darrick Acre

Strange parable. Great beginning; catastrophic ending. Yet I find myself drawn to the hapless wedding guest because nobody else is. The first sermon I ever heard in a Nazarene Church was when I was in high school. Pastor Roy Hoover preached on this wretched wedding guest. It so chilled me out that I didn’t go back for a year. I’ve never forgotten it. I’ve never heard one on it since! When preachers come to this miserable fellow, like the Jews of old meeting a leper on the road, they give him a wide berth. ...

1568. I JUST WANTED YOU TO KNOW...

Drama

Angela Akers

SUBJECT: Encouragement, gratitude CHARACTERS: Wendy, Carmen, Wendy''s husband, Jamal, (about thirteen to fifteen years old) SETTING: Restaurant, Wendy''s apartment, Carmen''s house (signs may be necessary for clarification) PROPS: Table for restaurant scenes, note for table, aprons and dish cloths for restaurant scenes, chairs for houses Wendy: "...and then I yelled at him, and that just made it worse. I dread going home today." Carmen: "I understand. I mean, what did he expect? He changes ...

1569. The Saint without a Name

Luke 6:12-16

Sermon

Donald B. Strobe

In Ludington, Michigan, there is a street called “No Name Street.” I don’t know why. Perhaps the city planner simply ran out of names when they got to this one. Perhaps there was a comedian in the crowd. But how would you like to live on “No name street”? Imagine explaining that to the IRS! I. NAMES ARE FUNNY THINGS. My own name, which seems so simple to me, is often mispronounced. They want to call it Strobie. When they do, I tell them that I am a minister and each Sunday I get to wear a “robie.” I ...

1570. Wining and Dining with Jesus

Mark 2:18-22

Sermon

Donald B. Strobe

Doesn’t it seem sometimes that the people who are NOT religious are a whole lot more fun than the people who are? At times the church suffers more at the hands of its friends than at the hands of its enemies. It suffers more from the rigidly righteous than from the blatantly irreligious. There are those who in their self-righteous zeal appoint themselves as monitors of other people’s morals and delight in pointing their fingers at the failings of everybody but themselves. Let’s face it: there have been a ...

1571. Only a Carpenter

Mark 6:1-6

Sermon

Donald B. Strobe

William Muehl of Yale Divinity School tells of visiting a fine old ancestral house in Virginia. The aged owner was the last of a distinguished colonial family, and she was proudly showing him through the home. Over the fireplace he noticed an ancient rifle which intrigued him. He asked if he might take it down and examine it. She replied, “Oh, I am afraid that wouldn’t be safe. You see, it is all loaded and primed to fire. My great-grandfather kept it there in constant readiness against the moment when he ...

1572. Feasting and Fasting for Lent (Part I)

Luke 4:1-13

Sermon

Eric Ritz

Many of you sitting in the congregation today often ask me where do I find the material and ideas for sermons. I must confess that 75% of the time the ideas find me. The ideas come from a variety of sources. I recently shared how a splendid quote from St. Frances de Sales helped create the sermon "The Measure of Love." I get ideas from the conversations I share with you at weddings, anniversary parties, hospital rooms, nursing homes. I get them from the many books I read. I get them from scripture verses, ...

1573. When "Well Done" Is Rare

Matthew 25:14-30

Sermon

Eric Ritz

Jesus was one of the greatest storytellers and communicators who ever lived. He was able to communicate the great spiritual truths and insights about the kingdom of God by using the everyday ideas and items of life. He often taught in parable form. The communication experts of today agree that parables are an excellent way to teach because they allow each person to see themselves and how they are pictured in the story. The story I am opening with is called "The Person Down the Road." In thirty, forty or ...

1574. Cross Connections

John 18:1-11

Sermon

Robert Noblett

Good Friday is not an easy day on which to preach, nor is what happened on Good Friday easy to explain. Many thoughtful Christians have a difficult time understanding how this very bad day in the life of Christ has become for Christians a good day. What's more, many find it perplexing to say that Jesus died for their sins because he died some 2,000 years before they were born. Then perhaps most perplexing of all are those theories of atonement that come to us in the New Testament, theories steeped in a ...

1575. Easter for Thomas, Too

John 20:24-31

Sermon

Robert Noblett

The urge to be a part of what is going on is very powerful. Or to say it differently, to be on the outside looking in can be unsettling at best. Just remember the last time you came into a room and found a group of people talking excitedly about a news event or something that happened to someone else in the office. You probably went right up to those assembled and in some way signaled your interest in their conversation. Or think of it this way. Whenever you have been part of a group of three -- perhaps at ...

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