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 151 to 175 of 3108 results

151. Out of Control

Mark 5:21-43

Sermon

Kristin Borsgard Wee

There is a marvelous miracle described in Willa Cather's book, Death Comes for the Archbishop. In the story, Father Junipero and his friend, Father Andrea, set out on a journey through a Mexican desert with bread and water for one day. On the second day, they are beginning to lose heart when, near sunset, they see in the distance three very tall cottonwood trees. They rush toward the trees and see a little house. An old Mexican comes out of the house, greets them kindly, and asks them to stay the night. ...

152. Graciousness and Grumbling

Matthew 20:1-15

Sermon

Will Willimon

Well, religion has suddenly become the burning concern of politicians. I can't remember when religion has been so important in a presidential campaign. It wasn't long ago that John Kennedy had to explain why, although he was a Catholic, his religion would not hinder him from being a good president. And a very short time ago, Jimmy Carter stood before the voters and admitted that, although he was a faithful Baptist, he would perform his presidential duties as if he were nothing at all -- or something like ...

153. To See and Be Seen

Luke 19:1-10

Sermon

Lori Wagner

To be seen, truly seen, is everyone’s greatest wish. This is the basis for all relationships, the desire that we don’t need to put on manners or masks but can be ourselves and accepted for who we are. To be seen is to be known in an intimate, real way. Unfortunately, many people never find that. Instead, they live their lives alone and lonely, never bonding with that special someone. For many, it means, they have been unwilling to be seen. Human nature can often cause us to “hide” ourselves from others. ...

154. Your Sins Are Remembered No More! You Are Free!

Jeremiah 30:1--31:40

Sermon

Mark Ellingsen

Have you ever felt weighed down by your sins and shortcomings? Have you ever despaired over your ability to live up to expectations — God’s expectations, society’s expectations, your own self-expectations? Do you wish that you could have a fresh start? The Prophet Jeremiah was proclaiming a Word to sinful, insecure people like us, to people whose confidence in the future had been badly shaken. Have you ever made a big mistake in your life, a mistake for which you paid for many years? Maybe you are still ...

155. God's Wrath Against Mankind

Romans 1:18-32

Understanding Series

James R. Edwards

Paul now launches into the body of the epistle with an indictment against humanity. He will maintain the charge until 3:21, at which point he will return to righteousness by faith which he introduced in 1:16–17. Romans 1:18–3:20 is a sobering exposé of the dark side of human nature. Throughout the attack Paul labors to demonstrate that there is no distinction between Gentile and Jew in the matter of sin and guilt, a point reasserted in 3:10–12, 3:23, and 11:32. Gentile and Jew are equally guilty before God ...

156. The Flow of Life

Ecclesiastes 3:1-22

Sermon

Gregory J. Johanson

DICK FRAZIER is presently associate director of the Presbyterian Family Life Center in Charlotte, North Carolina, a multi-service pastoral counseling facility. Before that he was a local pastor and then a Clinical Pastoral Education Supervisor and Chaplain Therapist at a psychiatric center working with institutionalized patients. He also preaches in the context of invitations from local churches that value his input and perspective. The Flow of Life underscores the normality of the ebb and flow of feelings ...

157. Invincible

John 14:15-21

Sermon

Lori Wagner

How many of you have someone in your life who you always know will tell you the truth, even if you don’t want to hear it? Someone you can trust to be entirely honest with you? Someone who accepts you as you are, sees your faults, and will not judge you for them, but who will guide you and encourage you to go the right paths, admit your mistakes, and live authentically in your own skin? Someone who you know cares about you so much that he or she calls you out on your “bads” and celebrates your “goods?” Who ...

158. Room For Questions

Matthew 11:2-11

Sermon

William B. Kincaid, III

It's interesting how we fix in our minds certain images of people and block other images of the same people. We do that to biblical characters. We remember Peter's denial of Jesus, but forget his powerful preaching recorded in the book of Acts. Or, we remember how women came to Jesus for help from time to time, but forget how Jesus depended on the women for financial support and to announce the news of the resurrection. We remember David's tryst with Bathsheba, but forget his courage and leadership in ...

159. I Am The Way, The Truth, And The Life

Sermon

Ronald Lavin

Simon Peter said, "Lord, we do not know where you are going"...Thomas said, "Lord, we do not know where you are going, so how can we know the way?" Jesus said, "I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life." -- John 13:36--14:6 (J.B.) ____________ Have you ever gotten lost or felt anxious because of the absence of someone on whom you depended? That's what the apostles felt one day, shortly before the death of Jesus, as the Master talked with them in the upper room where the Lord's supper was instituted. The ...

160. That All-Pervasive Snake

Genesis 2:4-25, Genesis 3:1-24

Sermon

Joann Hary

Do you believe in original sin? If I asked, some of you might answer quite cutely, "Yes, I believe in original sin, in fact I have always thought that if I was going to sin, I might as well be original about it." Then, of course, there are the many stories, such as the one about the church billboard that said, "If you desire to be done with sin, come on in." As the people read more closely, they discovered that someone had written in lipstick, "But if you are not quite sure, call 555-5271." What is ...

161. Bringing Back the Shine

Romans 6:6

Children's Sermon

Object: Rust on any object and some sandpaper (better have a large towel or some newspaper to collect the rust). I have something with me this morning that all of us have seen before and I want you to take a good look at it. It’s something that happens to your favorite toys, your dad’s automobile, and other things that mean a lot to us. When it happens, we feel bad about it. Have you ever left a toy that you liked very much (like this toy truck) out in the yard and it rained and you forgot all about it and ...

162. Some Crossroads of Family Life W. Dexter Moser

Genesis 25:19-34

Sermon

And Isaac prayed to the Lord for his wife ... and the Lord granted his prayer. Genesis 25:2 The horn of the diesel train sounded in the distance, awakening me in the dawn of the morning. A horn blast sounded at every crossroad, louder and louder as the engine came near. Then it faded as it passed into the hills on the other side of the city. I then considered the many crossroads that I have had in my life and meditated on the meaning for that very day. Today across this great land of ours, and other lands ...

163. Family Survival

Genesis 37:1-11

Sermon

Stephen DeFur

This morning I want to spend a few moments talking about families. And to do that, I want us to look at a family in the Bible. It is the family of the Old Testament character, Joseph. Joseph's family was an imperfect one much like yours and mine. So we start with Genesis, Chapter 37, verse 1. "Joseph, being seventeen years old, was shepherding the flock with his brothers; he was a helper to the sons of Bihah and Zilpah, his father's wives. And Joseph had brought a bad report of them to their father." ...

164. Too Good to Be True?

Luke 24:36-49

Sermon

Robert Noblett

Here's the scene. The disciples are huddled together and they have just heard Simon's account of experiencing the risen Christ when Cleopas and his companion enter and add word of their encounter with the risen Christ. Luke describes the scene like this: "While they were talking about this, Jesus himself stood among them and said to them, 'Peace be with you.' They were startled and terrified, and thought they were seeing a ghost" (v. 36). This account picks us up at a point where -- were we to be present ...

165. Forgiveness and Reconciliation at Last!

Genesis 45:1-15

Sermon

Arley K. Fadness

It happened to a rural Lake County, South Dakota, Lutheran church in August of 2000. Vandals attacked the fieldstone St. Peter Lutheran Church building with vengeance -- breaking windows, smashing light fixtures, flipping over the baptismal font, slashing a large "Jesus the Good Shepherd" painting, scribbling, and carving obscenities into the sanctuary walls and fixtures. The golden altar cross had been swung like a bat to gouge pews and walls. In the basement, kitchen dishes were broken and objects flung ...

166. Framing Values – Part Two

Daniel 1:1-21

Sermon

James Merritt

We are continuing to make progress on our Extreme Home Makeover as you can see and the framing is coming right along. Last week we talked about framing values for your children. Today, I want to talk about framing values for your teenagers. Have you listened to teenagers talk recently? I want to be honest and tell you that I suffer from TLD - Teenage Language Deficiency. If you have listened to your teenager talk lately, you know that their favorite word now is "like". I counted up one time and Joshua, my ...

167. Nothing to Hide

Psalm 32:1-11

Sermon

King Duncan

Jerry White, in his book Honesty Morality & Conscience tells two memorable stories. The first is from author Mark Twain. Twain says that when he was a boy, he was walking along a street and happened to spy a cart full of watermelons. He was fond of watermelon, so he sneaked quietly up to the cart and snatched one of the melons. Holding it in his arms he then ran into a nearby alley and sank his teeth into it. No sooner had he done so, however, when a strange feeling came over him. Without a moment’s ...

168. Here's Mud in Your Eye

John 9:1-12

Sermon

King Duncan

There is much speculation on the Internet about the origin of the time-honored toast, “Here’s mud in your eye!” Google the sentence and you will find numerous explanations as to its origin. Some say it became common in the trenches of Word War I as mud was everywhere, and in everything, including the drinks. But we know it didn’t originate there. The phrase was being bandied about in U.S. saloons as early as 1890 and was popular with the English fox hunting crowd before then. Others contend it comes from ...

169. Holy Happiness

Luke 6:17-26

Sermon

Susan R. Andrews

Psychiatrist Robert Coles tells a story about a poor black woman in New Orleans who sells her body almost every night to wealthy old men in order to take care of her five children. And each night this woman takes half of what she earns as a prostitute and gives it to the nuns who run the local soup kitchen. Coles asks the question, “Is this woman blessed or is she cursed?” From her perspective, I’m sure the answer is both. But from the perspective of today’s gospel lesson, she is more blessed than she is ...

170. What's In a Name?

Matthew 16:13-20

Sermon

Lori Wagner

Names define us. Our entire identity is caught up in the names we bear. Think about it. If a child is raised being called sweet, good, beautiful, and kind, that child will think of him or herself as sweet, good, beautiful, and kind. If a child is raised being called worthless, stupid, ugly, or bad, that child will begin to think of him or herself as worthless, stupid, ugly, or bad. The human capacity for language association allows us to perceive ourselves conceptually and emotionally according to the ...

171. Homecoming

Exodus 17:1-7

Sermon

Will Willimon

Our scripture is about a people on a journey, far from home. And if you know anything all about the Bible, this is the way it always begins-somebody being told to leave wherever they happen to be at the moment and to journey somewhere else. Adam and Eve were told to get out of the Garden, Abraham told to take his bride and baggage to he knows not where, Jacob on the lam, and Israel taking forty years to go about three hundred miles, to say nothing of Jesus, always on a journey, never at home, nowhere to ...

172. Proper 17

Lk 14:1, 7-14 · Heb 12:18-19, 22-24; 13:1-8 · Eze 18:1-9, 25-29 · Prov 25:6-22

Sermon Aid

John R. Brokhoff

COMMENTARY Ezekiel 18:1-9, 25-29 Each person is responsible for his/her life. Ezekiel here stresses individual responsibility for sin. Heretofore the emphasis was upon community, the nation. Now Judah is in bondage and the community (nation) exists no more. The old proverb said that the children suffer for the sins of their parents. Those now in exile holding to this view could feel no responsibility for their plight and could accept the situation as fate. Ezekiel corrects this one-sided view by preaching ...

173. I Am The Only One Left Who Cares!

1 Kings 19:9-18

Sermon

King Duncan

Many of us have felt what Elijah felt out in the wilderness. Things are quickly going from bad to worse and I am the only one left who cares! That was Elijah's weary response to God. It came after Elijah's momentous victory over the prophets of Baal on Mount Carmel. How quickly we can slide from the mountain of triumph into the valley of despond. Elijah did. Queen Jezebel was after his blood. He had fled out into the wilderness. He was hiding in a cave. God came to him in that cave and asked him, "What are ...

174. Do You Know the Gift of God?

John 4:5-42

Sermon

King Duncan & Angela Akers

Would you say you’re a good conversationalist? If you were plunked down in a room full of strangers, how quickly could you start up a conversation with someone? Would it all be chitchat, or are you better at meaningful conversations? Nicholas Epley, a professor of behavioral science, studies communication and human interaction. In his studies on conversation, he and his colleagues compiled a list of “shallow” vs. “intimate” conversation starters. Some of the shallow conversation starters are: What do you ...

175. Big Spender

1 Kings 10:14-29, 1 Kings 11:1-13, Luke 15:11-32

Sermon

Lori Wagner

Shopping addiction is right up there with drug and alcohol addiction. In fact, addicts shop for the same reasons that other addicts do what they do –the “high” of escaping negative feelings, the inability to cope with problems emotionally or spiritually, the need to fill an inner void, or a way to deal with anxiety caused often by approval seeking. The more the inner need to feel good or salve depression or anxiety, the more extravagant and flagrant the spending. The truth is, the lavish spender may be ...

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