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 5000 results

1726. I Am The Good Shepherd

John 10:1-21

Sermon

Richard A. Jensen

... just do not know people the way we used to know them. That is true in rural America. That is true in urban America. The pace of life is so swift that we do not know, and we are not known by others, in a way that satisfies our human longing. "I am the good shepherd." Those were Jesus’ words in our reading from John’s gospel text for this sermon. "I am the good shepherd; I know my own and my own know me ..." These words come gently to our ears. "I know my own and my own know me ...

1727. Discipleship - Path to Fulfillment

Mark 10:35-45

Sermon

James W. Robinson

... want me to do for you?" Perhaps he smiled indulgently as he spoke. "Grant us to sit, one at your right hand, and one at your left, in your glory." What unmitigated gall! But Jesus did not blink an eye. He had known the two fishermen too long to be surprised at anything they might say or do. He responded firmly and without hesitation; his response reveals how great is the gap between the divine and human understanding of what is truly important. I. Most men and women, it is safe to say, attach considerable ...

1728. Take a Close Look (At the Widow)!

Mark 12:41-44

Sermon

James W. Robinson

... remarried and moved to a distant city. Then his brother took a wife, and he, too, moved away. The house, once a home that had raised and sheltered a family, was somberly silent, a lonely young man its sole occupant. But, strangely, he was not lonely for long. He became aware of a warm and comforting Presence in his rising up and his lying down. When at night he closed his eyes to sleep, the Presence was there. When a sound disturbed his rest and he clutched his covers in the darkness, the Presence quieted ...

1729. Finding the Truth That Makes Us Free

John 8:31-41

Sermon

James W. Robinson

... and his face pale, but his smile was as radiant as ever. He had responded years before to the divine command, "Follow thou me." He had learned in his own experience who it was who had called him, and he had found the truth in his long and faithful walk with Christ. He was reading his New Testament when the pastor walked into his room. "Isn’t this wonderful!" he exclaimed, pointing to a favorite passage. "I never understood it quite this way." In the fellowship of Christ, he was making fresh discoveries ...

1730. Waiting

Isaiah 63:7--64:12

Sermon

Thomas D. Peterson

... building one, I would start in the morning with every expectation it must be done by night. I do not know enough about the process to work and wait through the many stages which building it requires. But, I know a lot about building ideas, so I can wait a long time for them to come around. If an idea does not make sense I put it aside, let it sit for weeks or months, and eventually come around to it again, only to discover that it has come around to me. Another layer of waiting lies all around us, deeper ...

1731. All Dressed Up and No Place To Go

Isaiah 61:1-11

Sermon

Thomas D. Peterson

... times in life when, in the blahs, people go to the closet and look at their fancy clothes. "Oh, that’s a beautiful gown," the woman says as she eyes her sleek black evening dress, loaded with sequins and slit up one side almost to the thigh. The man looks longingly at his tux, "Gee, it would be nice to get all dressed up tonight," and then they both look at each other and sigh, "but we don’t have any place to go." Christmas is a time we get all dressed up. We dress up the house, ourselves, our attitudes ...

1732. Noise Is Anything That Corrupts the Integrity of a Message

1 Samuel 3:1--4:1

Sermon

Thomas D. Peterson

... know, you have lots to do." Something in them corrupts the message that I sent. We read words. The message we bring to them often stops us from grasping what the words actually say. Once I gave a person a manuscript to read and evaluate. He kept it for a long time. Finally, we met for lunch so I could hear his comments. Naturally, as a writer I was eager for a critique. We talked about the weather for quite a while. Finally, I said, "Well, tell me what you thought of my manuscript." He said, "I read a few ...

1733. You Don’t Really Feel That Way

Job 6:1-7:21

Sermon

Thomas D. Peterson

... he confronts a paralyzed man who had been lying beside the Pool of Bethzatha for 38 years. Jesus knew that after such a long time, his frightening condition must be something that the man himself knew a lot about. So his first response was to ask, "Do ... to major, unexpected breakdowns in life we do not know any routine way to fix our problem. Having broken a relationship or lost a longed-for opportunity, we do not just fix it, we must turn and do grief work. So we set about claiming our loss as courageously ...

1734. Pentecost

Ezekiel 37:1-14, Acts 2:1-13, Acts 2:14-41, John 15:18--16:4, John 16:5-16

Bulletin Aid

Paul A. Laughlin

... Holy Spirit, to give both strength and understanding to all disciples. People: LET US PRAISE AND WORSHIP GOD FOR THE GIFT OF THE HOLY SPIRIT, AND OPEN OURSELVES TO ITS MOVEMENT THIS HOUR! Collect Great Spirit God, who never leaves us helpless or hopeless for long, inspire us with your life-giving and truth-yielding divine presence; that, like the first disciples, we may be moved from being merely followers of the Christ, and may become truly apostles of his message in mission for the world. In his name we ...

1735. The Snake

Drama

Robert Clausen

... it pull, George. It wants me to go. GEORGE: God, Harry, I hate to think where it’s taking you. Let it go! HARRY: We’re tied together. GEORGE: You’re just holding the rope. Drop it. HARRY: I can’t, George. GEORGE: Nothing is making you hold it. As long as you hold it you’ll have to go where that thing takes you. HARRY: You’re wrong there, George. I’m the boss. GEORGE: It’s getting bigger. I can’t stay, Harry. For God’s sake, let the thing go and come with me. HARRY: No. I’m ...

1736. THE NEIGHBORHOOD GAP

Sermon

William McKee Aber

... AWARE OF THE PROBLEM, which is to say, BE AWARE OF THE REALITIES OF THE WORLD IN WHICH WE LIVE. Someone once said that "Man’s troubles began when he learned to make houses of two stories, for then cities were possible." Well, man’s troubles began a long time before two-story houses but I’m sure that the creation of cities was instrumental in increasing them. In the creation story in Genesis, we read: "Cain went out from the presence of God and built a city." I think that "out from the presence of God ...

1737. He Ought to Stick Out!

1 John 4:7-21

Sermon

Charles L. Koester

... But there are no such products, are there? Peace, happiness, and real joy do not come instantly, but through the long haul, not the impatient pull. Nor will we find peace or contentment or fulfillment of life by taking prescriptions ... stewardship lived as God’s representative in this world. I read somewhere of a boy whose father’s will provided him with $10,000 per year as long as he was in college. Do you know what that boy did? He continued in college for 46 years, and when he died, he had accumulated ...

1738. The Seekers

Matthew 2:1-12

Sermon

Theodore L. Yewey

... last gift was the most difficult for it was a giving of ourselves and a journey into sadness. A young family very similar in age and composition to our own had a few weeks past lost the mother to an incurable disease. We had put this visit off as long as possible, but now it would be our gift of myrrh - a giving of ourselves. Perhaps our visit that evening did turn the sadness of that household just a bit toward hope! And so it was that our gifts for "Three Kings Day" were presented. They were certainly not ...

1739. A Chance Meeting

Sermon

Leonard H. Budd

... -times as the guards mocked and tortured the rabbi. Shortly, I was brought out of my cell. The sunlight took away my eyes. How long had the darkness been my only light. The guards were now hot and angry. They spurred us, and shoved the crowds that came to ... I swung around. But before the sound had fully left my lips, something happened. He was looking into my eyes. And I into his. How long is eternity? Is it one second? Is it the time between the shout of "march" and the cut of the whip? Who was this man who ...

1740. Toward Health With Confidence

Sermon

Leonard H. Budd

... hill. The sun bakes it during the day, and the evening wind brings dust and chill to our doors. Our town has existed as long as anyone can remember - rooted here in the same way and size, and with the same bleakness. Our life was stirred only when an ... center of the crowd. Leaning against the wall of the well. Turning her head sideways so as to see up into the face of Jesus. How long she had been there, and how she had gotten there, I do not know. He turned and saw her. She did not say a word. Jesus ...

1741. Recognizing The Hidden

Sermon

Leonard H. Budd

... of leather dropped to the crude wood flooring. A pain in his chest - such pain he never knew. He lay still, yet the pain continued. How long he lay he did not know. It was the lad who found him. He reached over to see if his master was alive. The look in ... little bit of the water. It would be impossible for it to cover all the surface. It isn’t that big, and won’t stay afloat long enough. Well, just like that, we’ll never know all about life what it means, and is going to be, what we are to do with ...

1742. OUR LORD DELIVERED UP

Sermon

E. Jerry Walker

... by the brisk, dry east wind. His two servants occasionally quick-stepped to keep pace, their sandals padding softly on the dust of the deserted streets. As they turned eastward from the upper city, the declining, full moon flung their shadows ahead like long moving fingers pointing toward the white limestone buildings of the temple compound. Nicodemus’ mind was thoughtless, yet filled with many thoughts. He had no plan, no course of action, but he hastened his pace as if just getting there were of utmost ...

1743. Called into Friendship

John 15:1-17

Sermon

O. Garfield Beckstrand, II

... what I was like in the old days, just the same as you are now - craving a drink hour after hour and hating myself for it. Do you doubt that life can change? It can happen to you, Tom, here and now." Dick went on to tell about his long fellowship with Alcoholics Anonymous, and how it all began when he bared his soul before Christ and surrendered his pride and admitted his helplessness. Then he added, "Every day I throw myself upon the love of God. Without him to sustain me and to strengthen me daily, I would ...

1744. Advent 2: Let Us Go Over To Bethlehem And Find The Promise of Christmas

Matthew 1:18-25

Sermon

James W. Moore

... sleep most of the way to New York. Her head had just nestled into the pillow when an obnoxious man with a loud, booming voice boarded the plane… and sat down beside her. He tapped her on the shoulder and said, “Hi there. It’s going to be a long flight, so to pass the time, would you like to play a fun game?” Politely, she declined and rolled over toward the window to take a nap. However, the obnoxious man persisted saying the game is really easy and lots of fun. He explained how the game works: “I ...

1745. Advent 3: Let Us Go Over To Bethlehem And Find The Peace of Christmas

Luke 2:8-20

Sermon

James W. Moore

... the angels of heaven together one day for a special choir rehearsal. He told them that he had a special song that he wanted them to learn… a song that they would sing at a very significant occasion. The angels went to work on it. They rehearsed long and hard… with great focus and intensity. In fact, some of the angels grumbled a bit… but God insisted on a very high standard for his choir. As time passed, the choir improved in tone, in rhythm, and in quality. Finally God announced that they were ready ...

1746. The Need for A Community of Healing

Mark 1:29-34

Sermon

Maurice A. Fetty

... about their friends. They were doing everything in their power to cure them. Yes, they were bold and impetuous, perhaps even ludicrous. But this is clear -- they loved their friends and they were convinced Jesus could help them. My sick friend's wife said for a long time in the hospital they didn't seem to be making any progress. But one day, she sat the busy doctors down and said, "Look, we're not getting anywhere. My husband is getting worse and you have no answers. I believe the medical profession can ...

1747. Standing Room Only Religion

Mark 2:1-12

Sermon

Maurice A. Fetty

... . They were determined their friend was going to see Jesus, the man of God who had a reputation for healing the sick. No doubt their strongest motives were altruistic. They genuinely wanted him to be well. But they may also have had some less altruistic motives. Who knows how long they had been carrying their paralyzed friend? If they went to a party, he had to be carried. If they went to a feast, he had to be carried. If they went to a meeting, he had to be carried. It would be a relief to everyone to have ...

1748. A Dreadful Declaration

Mark 8:31--9:1

Sermon

George Bass

... ." He must have read Richard Jeffries English classic, Bevis, the Story of a Boy, because his reaction was similar to the boy’s reaction to Jesus’ death: "The crucifixion hurt his feelings very much; the cruel nails; the unfeeling spear; he looked at the picture a long time and then turned the page saying, ‘If God has been there, he would not have let them do it.’ " My friend says, "During the crucifixion scene, I sobbed so loudly an usher threatened to order us out of the theatre." He adds, "On the ...

1749. The Man Who Asked For Dinner

Luke 24:36-49

Sermon

George Bass

... to eat a potluck supper, so the pastor invited the man, who had the look of one who hadn’t had a good meal for some time, to join them; they sat down at the end of one of the tables by themselves. "How long have you been on the road?" asked Webb. "A long time, a very long time," came the answer. "And it never occurred to you to settle down and take some steady work?" "No," the man replied, "I used to be a carpenter. But I’m one of those who has to be on his way. I’d never ...

1750. In Quest of Fire

2 Chronicles 36:15-23

Sermon

Larry Powell

... the Spirit," Cuyler focuses attention upon a party of Artic explorers. The gathering darkness finds them exhausted following a long, treacherous march through driving snow storms and bitter cold. They huddle together beneath an ice ledge to draw forth ... sermons by abruptly remarking that Israel had come to terms with the desert. It had been their training ground for forty long years, influenced their culture, and was ingrained upon their consciousness. They could deal with the desert. There was one desert ...

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