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. The Way Up Is Down!

Mark 9:30-37

Sermon

Robert Leslie Holmes

... was insensitive at best. That they would forget so soon the impact of this one they followed should tell us something about human nature that none of us should like to hear. The Lord takes this moment to teach them a lesson about pride and servitude. If you want to be first among your brothers, he tells them, aim for being last. If you would be the greatest, start out by being a servant. It turns this world's way of thinking upside down. Well, actually, it turns it right side up! The lesson seems simple but ...

1602. An Absolute Cure for Boredom

Philippians 3:7-4:1

Sermon

King Duncan

... . Could he live like that, Pastor Murrell asked? No, the man replied. He was at a breaking point. Something in his life had to change. So Pastor Murrell proposed option number two. He could simply give up serving God at all. He could go back to living the way he wanted to live like he did before he gave his life to Christ. He could forget all about serving God. He could settle for a life of doing what felt good. He could take as his moral guide what everyone else is doing. He could go back to his old life ...

1603. What Super Power Would You Choose?

Luke 10:1-11, 7-20

Sermon

King Duncan

... decided to help him. Mikey stepped in front of his dad and put his hands on the mower handle. Stevens, like any good father, relaxed his pace and followed behind Mikey. The work slowed down to a crawl. Stevens chuckled inwardly as he thought about how much he wanted to get the job done quickly. But Mikey needed to help his dad. He needed to learn how to mow a lawn. And as slow and awkward as it was to share the work, it was an absolutely necessary part of father-son bonding. Rusty Stevens says, “Suddenly ...

1604. In Need of a "Rally Monkey"

Luke 17:5-10

Sermon

King Duncan

... ’s how the police caught him. I think the apostles couldn’t stand Jesus looking at them at this point. They knew they were going to fail him. They knew they couldn’t live the kind of grace-filled life he was prescribing under their own power. “You want us to be like you,” they were saying, “forgiving those who sin against us and setting an example of flawless love and holiness? We can’t do it! It’s beyond our power!” And so they asked for an extra dose of faith. But were they asking for ...

1605. Jesus Destroys the Power of Sin

Mark 2:1-12

Sermon

Richard Gribble

... he needed to obtain models, each of whom was to have a face that expressed da Vinci's vision of the particular person he wanted depicted. Needless to say, this was a difficult task. One Sunday, when da Vinci was at the local cathedral he saw a young man ... is a creek between us. I suspect he did that to spite me, but I will do him one better. You see that big pile of lumber. I want you to build a fence, an eight-foot-high fence, between us so that I never have to look at his place again. Can you handle such a ...

1606. Healing

Luke 17:11-19

Sermon

Molly F. James

... . When I was thirteen, I was diagnosed with bone cancer and given a 70% chance of survival. And here I am today. And I am sure you can attest to miracles that have happened in your lives. Miracles do happen. Just not always how or when we would want. And most importantly, we must remember that not all stories of healing and transformation in the scriptures happen as they did for Naaman in 2 Kings or the lepers in Luke’s gospel. Jacob was injured when he wrestled with the angel and he walked with a limp ...

1607. Seeing God

Matthew 4:12-23

Sermon

King Duncan

... and serve others. Did she find joy in her decision? She did. Indescribable joy because she focused more on the opportunity to serve God and those who needed her than on the life that she left behind. But there’s one more thing to be said. If you want to see God more clearly, you’ll find Him in serving others. Look at what Jesus was offering his new disciples. He didn’t say, “Come, follow me, and I will make you more successful, or happier, or wealthier.” He didn’t say, “Come, follow me, and we ...

1608. New Tendons for Dry Bones

Ezekiel 37:1-14

Sermon

King Duncan

... to us. Pastor John W. Ritenbaugh says, “When a person is freezing to death, he feels a pleasant numbness that he does not want to end. He just goes to sleep as he is freezing to death. But when heat is applied, and the blood begins rushing ... to prophesy to living people. You may have a hard time believing this, but there are some hardheaded people in churches sometimes who don’t want to listen to a word from the Lord. Why prophesy to dry bones? The power wasn’t in Ezekiel’s prophesy; the power was in ...

1609. Your Faith Has Made You Well

Mark 5:21-43

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... power he has! The two most interesting tidbits about this story however are 1) that the story is “sandwiched” in the midst of the story about the dying girl and 2) she attempts to touch Jesus in secret. Does she believe that she is unworthy, and therefore doesn’t want to disturb him? Is she embarrassed by her state of uncleanliness? Does she think he might reject her if she asks? Or can she not get his attention, and simply reaches out as he is going by? We really don’t know. But we do know that she ...

1610. The Death of John the Baptist

Matthew 14:1-12, Mark 6:14-29, Luke 9:1-9

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... do with a number of things. First and foremost, the honor of his word given to Herodias’ daughter in front of his very important, chic, high-powered guests (most of them no doubt non-Jewish). Then there was the pressure of the women in his life (he wouldn’t want to look wimpy, would he, or a coward?). Then there was the flow of the evening, and the goading of the guests themselves, who may have urged him on, drunk on wine and the dancing of his daughter. He had protected John from his wife up until this ...

1611. Lazarus

Luke 16:19-31

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... replied, ‘Son, remember that in your lifetime you received your good things, while Lazarus received bad things, but now he is comforted here and you are in agony. And besides all this, between us and you a great chasm has been set in place, so that those who want to go from here to you cannot, nor can anyone cross over from there to us.’ “He answered, ‘Then I beg you, father, send Lazarus to my family, for I have five brothers. Let him warn them, so that they will not also come to this place of ...

1612. Lady of the House / The Practice of Joy

Luke 10:38-42

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... Jesus knew she needed to do it. But, he said, whatever you do, do it with great joy! For no matter what else, this is a time to be joyful! God is here. I am here! “Put on a happy face,” Martha! Put on a happy face ______ [You may want to name various people in your congregation] And Jesus didn’t just mean, smile, look happy! He meant, Martha, BE happy! Because I am here. God is here. And that’s the ONLY truly important thing about this celebration of Sukkot! Be happy to BE with me. Be happy to ...

1613. The Bramble King

John 15:1-17, John 15:18--16:4, John 16:5-16

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... glorify me because it is from me that he will receive what he will make known to you. All that belongs to the Father is mine. That is why I said the Spirit will receive from me what he will make known to you.” Image Exegesis: Judas “Those who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. 10 For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced ...

1614. Crossing Over

Luke 10:25-37, Genesis 48:1-22

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... ’s admit it. None of us most of the time do anything without having a good reason for doing it. Even if we’re being spontaneous –we still have some desire to cross that road in the first place. There’s something lying out of our reach that we want to attain, to claim, or to be in relationship with. There’s something across that road beckoning to us to follow, something powerful that allows us to bypass all of our fears of cars and highway and danger and peril. And we take that first step toward it ...

1615. Now, It's Personal

Matthew 5:21-37

Sermon

Dean Feldmeyer

... you are a guy and you are married to one woman, like Jacob, and you see another woman who’s really hot and you really want to, well, you know. What if you marry her, too? That’s not adultery, right, because you’re married to her and whatnot. Or what ... kids would be spending all of their time either riding or waiting in line to ride. So she suggested to Sarah that she might want to bring a friend along who felt the same way she did about those wild rides — someone who could hang out with her. Maybe ...

1616. Dealing with T-A-R-E-ists

Matthew 13:24-30, 36-43

Sermon

R. Kevin Mohr

... process of straightening the star on the top of the tree, pulled the whole thing over on top of me! My desire to immediately want to make things right doesn’t go over too well in our relationship to our grown-up daughters, either. My wife Debbie and I ... vision that only sees through a mirror dimly in this life. We don’t like the messy ambiguity of who’s in or out, so we want to draw a line in the sand. The problem with drawing lines in the sand, or in immediately trying to tear out the tares, is that ...

1617. Don't Forget the Best!

Luke 2:21-40

Sermon

King Duncan

... and of this year that is nearly over, just as the shepherd boy made his way out of the mountain vault, we do not want to forget the best. John Wesley, the spiritual father of the Methodists, said on his deathbed: “The best is God with us.” The Biblical ... a character in the lowlands, where it was said not a single cemetery might be found in which his work had not been done. He wanted to make sure that no one forgot what these men and women had done. (3) We dare not forget either what God has done in ...

1618. Cherish the Moment

Mark 1:14-20

Sermon

King Duncan

... the opportunity to just take a quick peek at your life five or ten or twenty years from now—would you do it? Would you want to know? I thought about that question when I read about some coffee houses in Shanghai, China, called Mo Mi Cafes. In some ways the Mo ... cafes also have post office boxes for mail that is intended to be delivered to you over the next 5-10 years. So if you want to send a message to your future self, you can just purchase a post card, write out your message, and put it in the ...

1619. Wash All of Me

John 13:1-17, 31b-35

Sermon

Timothy W. Ayers

... you may remember, the brothers James and John had come to him and asked that Jesus do for them whatever they requested. Let’s look at that passage. Then James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came to him. “Teacher,” they said, “we want you to do for us whatever we ask.” “What do you want me to do for you?” he asked. They replied, “Let one of us sit at your right and the other at your left in your glory.” “You don’t know what you are asking,” Jesus said. “Can you drink the cup I drink ...

1620. The Cost of Discipleship

Philippians 2:5-11

Sermon

Richard Gribble

... grew tall and mighty. Then one day three woodcutters climbed the mountain in order to harvest some trees. As they cut down the first tree one of the men said, “We will make this one into a manger.” The tree shook its branches in protest; it did not want to become a feed box for animals. It had grander ideas for its beauty but the woodcutters made it into a manger and sold it to an innkeeper in a small town called Bethlehem. And when the Lord Jesus was born, he was placed in that manger. Suddenly the ...

1621. Mutual Submission

Ephesians 5:22-33

Sermon

Will Willimon

... your true self. That's where your true self is said to be, somewhere deep inside of you. Maslow's the psychology of self-fulfillment, justifies me as a wholly autonomous, solitary, contained individual. If it feels good to you do it. If it's what you want -- get it. Dr. Ruth is everybody. And yet, here is scripture which says, like many biblical passages, that you can't "find yourself," by looking inward. You are a web of relationship and responsibilities to others, that's who you are. You can't find "you ...

1622. Jesus' Temptation

Luke 4:1-13

Sermon

Will Willimon

... how the devil tempts us (despite how lurid and titillating your temptations), but rather more deeply as a story about bow we tempt Jesus, about how you and I are determined to make him into a Messiah more in tune with our own assessment of our needs. If God really wanted to help us, why in God's name did he send a Savior like Jesus who, when confronted by our need, just stands there and quotes scripture? If God is love and God is power, why, in the name of heaven, does God just stand there? Why doesn't he ...

1623. Meeting Jesus

John 3:1-17

Sermon

Dean Feldmeyer

... someone who seemed to think like he thought? His opening lines to Jesus would tend to give credence to this notion. He seems to think that Jesus has it all together, too. He may think that Jesus is Pharisee material and has come to offer him a sponsorship if he wants to join the club. “Rabbi,” he says, “we know that you are a teacher who has come from God; for no one can do these signs that you do apart from the presence of God.” A little flattery, maybe? Or is he sincere? Maybe he’s just here to ...

1624. Being Good

Matthew 5:17-20

Sermon

Will Willimon

... me can really sink his teeth into." And then Jesus, in one of the greatest understatements in all of the gospel says, "OK. You want to be good? All you must do is one teeny, weeny little thing. Go. Sell all that you have and give it to the ... in which he appears to put himself at odds with some of Torah's commands. 5:17-20 is a tough text to interpret. While not wanting to relax in any way the tough commitment to Torah (which Davies points to so well in his commentary on The Sermon), I felt that Calvin's ...

1625. Living Bread

John 6:51-58

Sermon

Dean Feldmeyer

... commitment goes, well, how often do we get a chance to die for our faith? And, even if we did have the opportunity, does anyone really expect that of anyone anymore? I mean, isn’t that what those crazy people over in the Middle East are doing? And who wants to be like them? No, it’s sufficient to be a fan. It’s safe and, though it requires some effort, it’s not anything like fanatical. You just learn the jargon, wear the symbols from time to time, sing the fight song and the alma mater when everyone ...

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