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 1726 to 1750 of 3108 results

1726. A Letter in Time

1 Peter 3:18-22

Sermon

John B. Jamison

Let’s just be honest about it. What we are all trying to do here is difficult. We can pretend it isn’t. We can pretend that it gets easier. We could stand here and say, “If you just try harder, and believe more, the bad stuff will all go away and the really good stuff will start to happen. It will all get easier if you just believe.” The problem with that is that, for a lot of us, we spend most of our time wondering, “Okay, just when is that going to happen? How much harder do I have to try? How much more ...

1727. Do You Believe in Miracles?

Mark 4:26-34

Sermon

Lori Wagner

[Optional beginning: Have the congregation share about the men who have left an imprint on their lives. Fathers, dads, also learn from their children. What have you learned? We all live in covenant together, and a covenant relationship is one in which we all learn, grow, and take responsibility for a role.] Do you believe in miracles? How do you define a miracle? Sometimes, in our culture, we’ve come to disregard “miracles,” because we’ve set the bar so high for what “wows” us and “pows” us that we end up ...

1728. Two Lives to Live

Luke 6:17-26

Sermon

John B. Jamison

The crowds had found him again. Ever since Jesus had moved to Capernaum, more and more people heard about the things he was doing and had come to hear him, to be healed by him, or simply to be near him. Capernaum was not a large town, but was on the north shore of the Sea of Galilee, just south of busy roads following the fertile crescent stretching all the way from Egypt in the south to Mesopotamia in the east. It was the interstate highway system of its day and it carried traffic from every land, with ...

1729. A Living Memorial

Exodus 12:1-30

Sermon

Douglas J. Deuel

Maundy Thursday can and should be one of the most meaningful days on the Christian calendar. It brings us face-to-face with the heart of the matter -- our sin, the estrangement from God it causes, and the cost of reconciliation. For much of the year, even faithful and good Christians can avoid facing the painful reality of sin in our lives and our need for a dramatic remedy for that sin. On this special day, we see clearly the pain and agony of what Christ faced. The suffering of Christ was essential ...

1730. When Self-esteem Gets Out Of Hand

Luke 18:9-14

Sermon

J. Will Ormond

Once I had a friend who was offended whenever the phrase "we are miserable sinners" was used in the corporate prayer of confession. She did not feel that she was a miserable sinner. And indeed she wasn't in comparison to most of the other people in the church. She was compassionate, kind, thoughtful, and a great teacher of little children in Sunday School. Nor did she "regard others with contempt" -- or at least, not many others. I don't think she liked the phrase in an old hymn, "Would he devote that ...

1731. Paths Of Desperation

1 John 5:1-12

Sermon

Richard A. Jensen

Where do you go when you feel hopeless? Dick learned something about that when he was 13. Dick was raised in a Lutheran Church and age 13 was confirmation time. The climax of the two-year confirmation program was the public examination. At this examination the pastor put his class on public display. With the parents of the confirmands present, the pastor grilled the students with questions about what they had learned in the course of their two-year instruction period. It was quite an ordeal! Dick wasn't ...

1732. The Taught Can

Mark 8:31--9:1

Sermon

George W. Hoyer

You have heard that it has been said in old times, "Those who can, do; those who can't, teach." But I say unto you this morning, "Those who are taught, can do." As one who has been taught, I say this unto you as to those who have been taught by God, "Having been taught, we can." All this is pertinent to us all because as the Preacher in Ecclesiastes wrote, "For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven" (Ecclesiastes 3:1). Are we aware of what time it is? There is a time to be ...

1733. Tiny Town: Promised Power

Micah 5:1-4

Sermon

Tony Everett

Country and western music tells stories of broken dreams and sad times. The mournful lyrics are often cries of hopelessness, helplessness, and insignificance in the overall scheme of things. Perhaps you are familiar with titles like these: "Every Time I Make My Mark, Somebody Paints The Wall"; "Here's A Quarter, Call Someone Who Cares"; "I'm Standing In The Middle Of The River And Dying Of Thirst"; "Why Don't Your Dog Bite Nobody But Me?"; "There's A Light At The End Of The Tunnel; Lord, I Hope It Ain't No ...

1734. Confession

Job 42:1-6

Sermon

John A. Stroman

Job got what he wanted. He got a chance to present his case before God and to hear God's response. After hearing God's reply to him, he confesses that he said things that he really did not understand. There were things about God, creation, and human life that were just too wonderful for him, things that he did not know. His accusation before God now seemed to him to be ludicrous and unwarranted. But at no time did God ever chastise him for speaking his mind. It was those moments of desertion and ...

1735. Friendship? Yes, Please!

2 Samuel 11:1-27

Sermon

Stephen M. Crotts

According to a recent poll only about ten percent of American males say they have a good friend. And while women fare somewhat better, neither do they set a record. Why is this? I believe it is because we place such an emphasis on doing, producing, and having that we have very little time and energy left for developing relationships. In short, we'd rather have things than people. Actually, the Bible predicts this is how it will be in the end of times. Revelation 18:11-13 describes the economy of Babylon, ...

1736. Take Up Your Ministry

Mark 9:38-41

Sermon

Steven E. Albertin

Several years ago at my previous congregation I remember a discussion I had with the church council. It was very revealing of the kind of distorted vision of ministry that is very much afoot in the church these days. I had a sudden change in my vacation plans and was going to have to be out of town for a Sunday that I had not planned on. I was having great difficulty finding another pastor to fill the pulpit. It was the summer. Many pastors are already on vacation and those who are available for pulpit ...

1737. Do You See What I See?

Mark 10:46-52

Sermon

Steven E. Albertin

There is a gentle and quaint Christmas carol in which the shepherds of Bethlehem point out to everyone they meet on their way the marvel they have seen in the manger. "Do you see what I see?" they ask all those gathered in Bethlehem. According to this Christmas carol, this birth, which had taken place under the most plain and ordinary of circumstances, would surely have been overlooked were it not for those shepherds who called it to everyone's attention by exclaiming, "Do you see what I see?" In my church ...

1738. Getting In Tune Again

Isaiah 40:1-31

Sermon

William L. Self

A radio station in Missouri had an interesting experience. They had a popular program that played the music that most of us like -- music middle-America could understand. The program had a very loyal following. People would stay up into the night to listen. It became their friend, especially to those people who have difficulty sleeping. One day the disc jockey got an interesting letter. It said, "Dear Sir, I am a farmer living alone on my farm. My wife is dead and my children and grandchildren have moved ...

1739. What It Takes To Be A Winner

Isaiah 40:1-31

Sermon

William L. Self

This text for the fifth Sunday of Epiphany is probably the most sublime passage of Scripture in the Old Testament. It is the poetic description of the soaring of eagles. The Jewish people were in exile and it is likely that every one of them had looked up at the sky, seen eagles soaring, and cried out in their souls to the Lord to give them the freedom of the eagles. They were beginning to doubt that God cared for them. They desperately needed assurance that God was still in charge and that he cared about ...

1740. Our Jealous Husband

Exodus 20:1-21

Sermon

Paul W. Kummer

These are Ten Commandments that little children know to be true: 1. When your mom is mad at your dad, don't let her brush your hair. 2. No matter how hard you try, you can't baptize cats. 3. You can't trust dogs to watch your food. 4. Never hold a dustbuster and a cat at the same time. 5. You can't hide a piece of broccoli in a glass of milk. 6. Puppies still have bad breath even after eating a tic-tac. 7. When your sister hits you, don't hit her back. They always catch the second person. 8. Don't sneeze ...

1741. Too Light A Thing

Isaiah 49:1-7

Sermon

Paul E. Robinson

A man by the name of Kevin Trudeau has marketed a memory course called "Mega-Memory." In the beginning of the course he quizzes the participants about their "teachability quotient." He says it consists of two parts. First, on a scale of one to ten "where would you put your motivation to learn?" Most people would put themselves pretty high, say about nine to ten, he says. Secondly, though, Kevin asks the listeners of the tape to put themselves on a scale of one to ten in terms of his or her willingness to ...

1742. Share Your Unique Story

Acts 10:23b-48

Sermon

Richard Hasler

The ageless comedian George Burns once told how a church amateur contest started him in show business more than 90 years ago. When he was only seven years old he and three other Jewish kids from the neighborhood organized a singing group and called themselves "The PeeWee Quartet." In those days growing up in New York City a large department store, Siegel and Cooper, used to hold an annual picnic. The highlight of the festivity was an amateur contest involving churches throughout the city. Near where George ...

1743. The Hope Of Peace

Romans 5:1-11

Sermon

Sandra Hefter Herrma

Today's epistle lesson shows us Paul's legal training. Throughout his letters to the early Christians, Paul uses the language of the court system to talk about our relationship to God, from seeing Jesus acting as our attorney to this statement -- that we have been justified: that is, acquitted or pronounced innocent. It is not the same word as "virtuous" nor "innocent as a child." It means that, having been put on trial, we are acquitted; we are free to leave the courtroom and return home. The courtroom ...

1744. Say Goodbye -- Say Hello

Sermon

Richard Hasler

Roy Oswald, a leader at the Alban Institute, relates the following incident from his boyhood in rural Canada. As a young boy, Roy and his two older brothers often took a shortcut to school through an enormous thistle patch. In some places the prickly patches were 50 to 100 feet wide. The boys rarely wore shoes to school in the summertime, hence their dilemma: how to cross the thistle patch in bare feet. The option of taking the long way around and avoiding the thistles was quickly overruled. The only other ...

1745. Week Four Of Lent

Sermon

Richard Gribble

Monday Week FourIsaiah 65:17-21John 4:43-54 God Restores Hope In 1935 Bill W. and Dr. Bob lived on the fringes of society. They were drunks spending their nights and many days drinking away the cares of life. Both men needed someone who could help them to regain their dignity and self-worth. They found that special person in each other. The story of the sobriety and recovery to productivity of these two men is the story of the beginnings of Alcoholics Anonymous (AA), an international organization which ...

1746. Words, Words, Word

John 1:1-18

Sermon

Alex Gondola

Let me begin by reading a few announcements from church bulletins. These are actual announcements. I hasten to add that none of them appeared in our church bulletin. One read: "This being Easter, we will ask Mrs. Lewis to come forward and lay an egg on the altar." Another: "Thursday night Pot Luck Supper. Prayer and medication to follow." Still another: "This afternoon there will be a meeting in the South and North ends of the church. Children will be baptized at both ends." And: "Thursday at 5:00 p.m. ...

1747. "Friend, Why Are You Here?"

1 Corinthians 10:14-22

Sermon

Alex Gondola

Isaiah 53:1-6; Matthew 26:47-50 In the sixth century A.D., Saint Columba sailed from Ireland to the Isle of Iona on the West Coast of Scotland. Since that day, Iona has been considered a holy place by many in the Christian Church. Perhaps some of you have visited the island. For one thing, Iona is the burial ground for over sixty Norwegian, Irish, and Scottish kings, including Duncan and Macbeth; as well as for many martyrs from the early Celtic Christians. But the focal point of Iona is the magnificent ...

1748. "Friend, Why Are You Here?"

Sermon

Alex Gondola

1749. Is Christ In The Manger?

Drama

Karren Boehr

Theme: The Christ Of Christmas Changes Lives (Based on Isaiah 61) Scenes I - IV are placed in various areas of the sanctuary. In Act I each of the four scenes portrays a different pitfall of the holiday season: the bitter family feelings, the busyness, the anxiety, the loneliness. In Act II the same scenes are touched by the glory and power of the Christ Child. (The optional use of a spotlight enhances the effectiveness of each scene.) Act I (Actors in Scenes I - IV take their places, then freeze) Scene I ...

1750. Sometimes It's Simple

Luke 3:1-20

Sermon

Charles H. Bayer

Do you ever feel religion is complicated beyond belief? A very pious chap was once explaining to a friend the difference between his denomination and another with which his had been at swordpoints for centuries. "One group believes you are baptized into Christ, and the other believes you are baptized in Christ," he said. "There have been strife, arguments and battles over the issue for as long as anyone can remember. I would bet my soul that my church is correct, and the other one is wrong! It is a matter ...

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