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 1601 to 1625 of 5000 results

1601. Given as Light

Isaiah 42:1-9

Sermon

... as a great source of strength and consolation in his life. "I have taken you by the hand and have kept you ... I have given you as a covenant to the people, a light to the nations." When the prophet first spoke these words, he was a long way from the River Jordan and a long way from Jerusalem. He, with many of his fellow Jews, was in Exile in Babylon on the Euphrates River, in modern day Iraq. Word from God gave them hope in what looked like a hopeless situation and light in a darkened land. The promise was ...

1602. Micah’s Orders

Micah 6:1-8

Sermon

... was in danger of falling into temple worship, the idolatry of stone, glass, and polished wood? Or did these pastors, in their own lives, merely reflect the lives of their people, who refused to worship brick, mortar and bits of colored glass? In fact, has New Shiloh long been a place where Jesus is Lord? In that mural behind the choir, way down in the corner, is a tiny painting of a bright new church. I asked about it. New Shiloh is moving. Their time at Lanvale and Freemont Streets is over. "What will you ...

1603. No Appeal

Matthew 20:1-16

Sermon

... humbleness under one Lord. The question of you and me is not, "Are people honoring us sufficiently?" The question is: "Are we doing our part?" Are we answering the call God has given us without belittling the call God has given others? What the church long ago struggled to learn and still struggles to grasp, is that God's grace is sufficient for all of us. Not trusting that the Spirit works through others of a differing opinion, and so resorting to devious means to get our own way, is clearly unacceptable ...

1604. No Telltale Clues

Matthew 9:9-13

Sermon

... must have met before. They must have been introduced by a mutual friend and must have felt an immediate attraction. Or surely, we guess, Matthew must have been sick of his job. He probably felt that he was rotting away in a place of no advancement. For too long he had quenched the spirit of adventure. Now he had a chance for something new and exciting and he might as well make his move. Or surely, we imagine, Matthew must have been a man in need. He must have been emotionally hungry, or in desperate need of ...

1605. Weightlifting

Matthew 11:25-30

Sermon

... put away for the night. He is hungry. His mother is expecting him and he is looking forward to a walk in the hills. He hesitates, but the anguished look of the farmer and the bloodied back of the ox cannot be ignored. The job of planing takes him a long time, but the yoke is finally smoothed out and replaced. The grateful farmer returns home with a beast that will suffer no more while it does its work. Years later, Jesus looks out on a crowd which seems every bit as bloodied as the farmer's ox. He sees a ...

1606. Invincible Harvest

Matthew 13:1-23

Sermon

... think that I ever tired of having my ears called to attention. I find that I still do not mind it. Like you, I have known for a long time what a difficult thing it is to listen. All sorts of things block my ears. My mind wanders or I find myself preoccupied with my own ... with fewer members." Both worry and criricism of this kind grow out of a concern for the coming of God's kingdom. We long for the promised harvest. At times, however, what we may be doing by such worry and criticism is trying to push God's ...

1607. Real Absence

Matthew 25:1-13

Sermon

... New Testament speaks of the "Master who delays his coming" (Matthew 24:48) or the Master who returns only after a long time (Matthew 25:19). Today’s Parable of the Ten Maidens with its image of the overdue bridegroom is another that ... child who’s learned to call you Father? Where are you? Why don’t you speak? Why don’t you come? You said you would. How long, oh Lord, how long? But our Father does not answer his children’s questions, at least not as we would have him do. He didn’t answer his own ...

1608. Promise or Threat?

Matthew 24:1-35

Sermon

... back to when I was six or seven years old. My grandfather was taking me somewhere in his 1949 Hudson - probably one of the ugliest cars ever made, but it rode like a dream! It was getting close to Christmas, close enough that I had already made the longings of my heart known to Santa Claus. I was hoping for a bicycle that year, a shiny red one, with chrome fenders, and plastic streamers on the handlebar grips that would flutter in the wind, sleek and fast. Santa Claus had taken due notice of my request, and ...

1609. Our Place in the Parade

Luke 19:28-44

Illustration

... event; he lives, and is as current at today's sunrise. Therefore, if we follow after him at all, we are really not far away, because the living Christ is very close. Here today we take our place in a parade that is almost 2,000 years long. Here today we join with others who "went before" and who will "follow after," shouting hosannas and saying from the heart, "Blessed is the King who comes ..." And come he does - to each new generation, to each new age - the triumphant Lord, marching on through time. 'What ...

1610. Power

2 Corinthians 6:7

Sermon

Harold Warlick

... assistants, those students who are paid to help manage a floor in a dormitory. Blessed are the peacemakers. I once served as a dormitory manager in Harvard University. It would have been an easy job except for a student named Dan. Dan was a little scrawny guy with a long red beard. But he made up for his small frame with his over-sized mouth. Dan's apparent goal in life was to become the world's biggest pest. He was an expert in irritation. When Dan found a chapter he needed to read in a library book, he ...

1611. Repairing Your Broken Dreams

Luke 24:13-35

Sermon

Harold Warlick

... 'd be up on their music, and kind and tolerant when they brought home poor grades. I'd spend hours communicating with my boys. We'd go down the road, arm-in-arm like Andy Taylor and Opie in Mayberry on the way to the fishing hole and have these long, meaningful father-son talks. You dream one life and are forced to live another. College can be that way. Everyone had a dream of what college would be like. Mid-term grades are soon to be out and I'm certain a few students will go limping home on the ...

1612. Servants Are Important

Mark 10:43

Children's Sermon

... talk about servants and how they can become great. There aren't many servants today like there were a long time ago. Long ago there were people who worked for other people in their homes and lived where they worked. They waited ... game. Your servant, the bat is made of wood and cannot talk, but it sure can hit a baseball. I think you would like that bat for a long time. That is the way that Jesus thought about people. There were some people who thought that they were too good to work or do anything for anyone ...

1613. Getting Back To Work

Luke 17:1-10

Sermon

Brett Blair

... element: Truth. And how true is this story. The young man's intentions are noble but he is not able to follow through. Before long he is competing in his "monastery" to be the star pupil. Our leaders have been giving us good advice these past two weeks. They ... to sell the cheese. As the months passed, the young boy began to despair because he was not making any money, in spite of his long hours and hard work. One day he pulled his pony to a stop and began to talk to him. He said, "Paddy, there is something ...

1614. Studying under the Greatest Teacher

Matthew 10:1-42

Sermon

Gary W. Houston

... often from selfish motives? I know that I did. I wanted Jesus to help me to direct my life, to give me a central focus. Why then should not these getting ordained do the same? I have now been in the ministry for eleven years. That is not a long time, but I have seen that most people come to church, at least in the beginning, to get something. People even express this when they say things like: "I didn’t get anything out of that sermon." Most preachers hear something like this from time to time - some of ...

1615. Epiphany

Isaiah 60:1-22, Psalm 72:1-20, Ephesians 3:1-13, Matthew 2:1-12

Sermon Aid

... his disciples to the church at Ephesus. The difference between them - and both of them died the same way, by being beheaded - was that John was uncertain about the identity of Jesus Christ while Paul was absolutely positive that Jesus was the Christ of God, the long-awaited Messiah. He had not only been party to the establishment of the church, but he had also witnessed to the now-elusive unity of the church that brought Jew and Gentile into the body of Christ. The Gospel - Matthew 2:1-12 This is the third ...

1616. Epiphany 7

Matthew 5:43-48, Matthew 5:38-42, 1 Corinthians 3:1-23, Leviticus 19:1-37

Sermon Aid

... be Sexagesima Sunday, the second of the "three-to-get-ready for Lent" Sundays. They were removed from the church year's "Pre-Lent" and added to Epiphany simply because they had become part of Lent, making Lent, in effect, nine and a half weeks long. If there is any value in extending the length of Epiphany, it is simply that the second readings from 1 Corinthians and the gospel from Matthew are given the task of establishing the theme of the day. At best, the theological clue, manifestation/ministry, is ...

1617. Proper 11 & Pentecost 11

Isaiah 44:6-23, Psalm 103:1-22, Psalm 86:1-17, Exodus 3:1-22, Romans 8:18-27, Matthew 13:24-30, Matthew 13:36-43

Sermon Aid

... you to the end of time." 4. Follow the leader. That's what the Lord God requires of us, just as he did of Moses and the people of Israel. He gives us divine directions which we, too, are to follow without question or reservations. Follow Jesus, our Leader, as long as you live! Wisdom 12:13, 16-19 (R, E) - "Justice - Human and Divine." 1. Divine justice. God is the God whose judgment is tempered by mercy. The prophets tell us so, and Jesus Christ proved God's love and mercy in his life and death on behalf of ...

1618. Proper 12 & Pentecost 10

1 Kings 3:1-15, Exodus 3:1-22, Romans 8:18-27, Romans 8:28-39, Matthew 13:44-46, Matthew 13:47-52

Sermon Aid

... you will I give the land of Canaan to be your allotted inheritance." The unused portions of the psalm are a recitation of Israel's history, speaking of Moses and the Exodus following verse 26. Obviously, to use all of the psalm would be impractical; it is simply too long as a responsory. The first verses were used to highlight the identity of God: "He is the Lord our God; his judgments prevail in all the world" (v. 7), and to complement and respond to the first reading. THE READINGS 1 Kings 3:5-12 (R, E, L ...

1619. Pentecost 7

Matthew 18:21-35, Romans 14:1--15:13, Exodus 20:1-21, Psalm 19:1-14, Psalm 103:1-22, Genesis 50:15-21

Sermon Aid

... , called, "The Garbage Man." He was concerned about his family, about his neighbors - near and far - in the world, about ecology, and his relationship with God. For years all went well with him and his family, but then, for some reason, he began to drink and before long was in danger of losing his job. A pilot-friend, who was aware of the drinking problem, told his wife to get in touch with the company doctor; she did, and managed to get her husband into a counseling program that saved his job and, at that ...

1620. Pentecost 24

Mal 1:6-14, Lev 2:1-16, Mic 3:1-12, Am 5:18-27, Ru 4:1-1, 1Th 2:1-16, 4:13-5:11, Mt 23 and 25:1-13

Sermon Aid

CSS

... at any time. They may not even think about the promised - and sudden - return of the Lord. 3. Christians are involved in a lifetime of preparation. We are always "becoming" the people of God. Hearing and doing the Word is our business, and we have to do both as long as we live. That's what the Christian life is all about. 4. Hearing and keeping the Word is the way that we watch for the coming of the Lord. Matthew still says - to us - "Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour." Malachi 1:14 ...

1621. Giving Thanks Before Thanksgiving

Luke 17:11-19

Sermon

Brett Blair

... pass. The wretched sores that scarred their hands and faces began to vanish. Their flagging strength began to return. Luke simply words it this way: “And it came to pass, as they went, they were healed.” As they had obeyed the command of Christ their longing for healing had come. At this point we feel that we don’t have to even finish the story for we certainly know how it will end. These cured men will go running back to Jesus with the words: “Blessed healer”, “Great Physician”, “Praise be ...

1622. The Prodigal Prince

2 Samuel 14:1-33

Sermon

... flying with magic carpet speed as you urge your San Francisco-based son to eat more, spend less, and get to bed on time. You long for a glimpse of your daughter’s baby boy, but know you can’t afford the airfare to Atlanta. Miles may separate parents from a ... did he not also have a son who had murdered in cold blood? A son named Absalom who had been in exile for years. A son he longed to see from the time the sun climbed to the peaks of the Judean hills at dawn to the time his weary head was laid upon the ...

1623. The Secret Story of Gabriel

Luke 1:26-38

Sermon

... . We will proclaim, even by the manner of His birth, that in God’s Kingdom the first are last and the last are first." That is the secret story of Gabriel. The ancient manuscript concludes by saying that Gabriel went on to have a long and successful career with Peace and Goodwill Associates. He landed many other heavenly advertising accounts and eventually moved his office to the penthouse suite on Cloud Ninty-Nine. Fortunately, this unofficial story will never find its way into Scripture, but there is a ...

1624. Some Assembly Required

Malachi 2:17--3:5

Sermon

... and those Christians, the Christmas story is over just as the Christmas shopping season is over, and it’s back to business as usual. But in our text from Luke, we see how the story of Jesus continues. We see that even Mary is not given very long to bask in the afterglow of that glorious and mysterious night. Now Joseph and Mary are in Jerusalem, to present their firstborn in the temple and to offer a sacrifice according to the Law. And while they are there, they have a disturbing encounter with a stranger ...

1625. The Fashioning of Christians

Ezekiel 36:1-38

Sermon

... , their eyes followed me. When you’re only two years old, you’re not quite sure whether such things are dead or alive. I could only draw marginal comfort from the fact that they were chained up by a clasp, so they couldn’t get away. I was okay as long as they kept their distance. However, there’s something in a woman that gives her the false impression that a two-year-old isn’t capable of standing on his own two feet. For this reason, as I look back on it now, I didn’t have a chance. As ...

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