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 1801 to 1825 of 2173 results

1801. No One Enters The Kingdom… Save With Empty Hands

2 Samuel 5:1-5

Sermon

Richard Hasler

The black man standing in the arena was an affront to Der Fuehrer’s authority. The scene was the 1936 Olympic Games held in Berlin, Germany. The black man was Jesse Owens of The Ohio State University representing the U.S.A. He was aptly called “the fastest human alive.” Der Fuehrer was Chancellor Adolph Hitler who had recently risen to power championing an arrogant theory that his “Aryan race” of “supermen” would conquer the world. In implementing his theory he began systematically to stamp out the Jews in ...

1802. What Christmas Is About

Isaiah 9:1-7

Sermon

Robert Beringer

Charlie Brown isn't the only one who asks, "What's Christmas all about?" Real people also ask that same question. Several years ago there was an exchange student from Indonesia, spending his first December in America. The crowds of shoppers in the stores, the Santa Clauses, the bright lights, the trees, the manger scenes, the parties, and the growing sense of excitement and revelry - it was all more than a little confusing to him. Then one night as he satwatching television with his host family, the ...

1803. At The Name Of Jesus

John 12:12-19

Sermon

Theodore F. Schneider

It was the season of the Passover, one of the three feasts of obligation for the faithful Jews of the first century. Jerusalem overflowed with religious pilgrims - people who by their very definition took the things of faith seriously. Some authorities estimate that there could have been as many as 2,700,000. In one such Passover season, it was reported that 256,500 lambs were sacrificed, about one for each 10 pilgrims.1 The mood was one of religious fervor and of celebration. On this particular day, the ...

1804. Captive To The Word Of God

John 8:31-41

Sermon

Theodore F. Schneider

The Zealots had made a courageous stand, holding off General Silva and his elite Roman legion for more than a year. Jerusalem had already fallen months ago, and the mesa named Masada, along the west coast of the Dead Sea, was the site of the last pocket of Jewish resistance. Come morning, that, too, would change. The wooden walls were burning, and within the day's first light the Roman battering ram would begin again and make its final assault upon the weakened walls and gates. The leader of the 960 men, ...

1805. Death of the Unchurched For a Recovering Alcoholic

Eulogy

Alan Bacon Bond

Using the Available Spiritual Resources The deceased was a forty-eight-year-old married man with five children in their late teens and early twenties. He was a recovering alcoholic with a twelve-year chip. He had been sick for two days with influenza, and, while having had some high blood pressure problems some years earlier, showed no signs for alarm. He simply failed to wake up one morning. The family was unchurched and seemingly bereft of spiritual resources until it became evident that most of them ...

1806. Called in From Off-stage

1 Samuel 16:1-13

Sermon

Donald Zelle

The Lord said to Samuel, "How long will you grieve over Saul, seeing I have rejected him from being king over Israel? Fill your horn with oil, and go; I will send you to Jesse the Bethlehemite, for I have provided for myself a king among his sons." And Samuel said, "How can I go? If Saul hears it, he will kill me. "And the Lord said, "Take a heifer with you, and say, 'I have come to sacrifice to the Lord.' And invite Jesse to the sacrifice, and I will show you what you shall do; and you shall anoint for me ...

1807. We Don't Know How To Pray

Romans 8:18-27

Sermon

Johnny Dean

The name of the game is control. Control is a big issue for us. We seem to feel that we have to be in possession of something, in charge of something, ANYTHING, or we are just worthless. Perhaps it’s the pioneering spirit that gave birth to this nation that drives us to believe so strongly that our worth is determined ultimately by our possessions, the things over which we appear to have control. Therefore, one of the most difficult things we are called upon to do is to admit that there are some things in ...

1808. Get Ready

Sermon

Rolf E. Aaseng

Be dressed for action and have your lamps lit; be like those who are waiting for their master to return from the wedding banquet, so that they may open the door for him as soon as he comes and knocks. Blessed are those slaves whom the master finds alert when he comes; truly I tell you, he will fasten his belt and have them sit down to eat, and he will come and serve them. If he comes during the middle of the night, or near dawn, and finds them so, blessed are those slaves. But know this: If the owner of ...

1809. He Who Has Ears to Hear, Let Him Hear

Luke 8:1-15

Sermon

Larry Powell

There is an old "preacher story" about the traveling evangelist who had a flair for the dramatic. His sermons were flamboyant and intensely theatrical. His ability to turn a phrase and masterfully create "word pictures" captivated his listeners almost to the point of hypnosis. He was a strong portion. After accepting an invitation to preach in a little country church, he went out early one afternoon to familiarize himself with the church and its appointments. Among other things, he observed that the ...

1810. WHAT IS MAN?

Sermon

Larry Powell

Fascinations often come upon me from the strangest sources. For instance, two recent obituaries strike me as being peculiarly fascinating. The first is that of Vitaly Rubin, aged fifty-eight, a Soviet scholar. Rubin, a native of Moscow, was the former leader of the Soviet Jewish emigration movement. The intrigue here is that in 1976, Rubin, a Russian, was allowed to emigrate to Israel where he taught Chinese philosophy, of all things, at Hebrew University. The other obituary was David Wadell Guion's, aged ...

1811. The Household Leader

Deuteronomy 6:1-25

Sermon

R. E. Lybrand

(Moses said), "And these words which I command you this day shall be upon your heart; and you shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise." Perhaps you have heard this old story, but I feel it bears repeating on this Father's Day. A crowd of men was standing outside the pearly gates of Heaven waiting to be admitted. They were instructed by Saint Peter to get into two different lines. ...

1812. What Children Owe Their Parents

Exodus 20:1-21

Sermon

R. E. Lybrand

Then some Pharisees and teachers of the Law came from Jerusalem to Jesus and asked him, "Why is it that your disciples disobey the teaching handed down by our ancestors? They don't wash their hands in the proper way before they eat!" Jesus answered, "And why do you disobey God's command and follow your own teaching? For God said, 'Respect your father and your mother.' and 'Whoever curses his father or his mother is to be put to death.' But you teach that if a person has something he could use to help his ...

1813. The Cross And Our Shadows

Joel 2:1-11

Sermon

Carl Jech

Many of us grew up singing the hymn "Beneath the Cross of Jesus" with it's memorable line: "I take, O cross, thy shadow for my abiding place ..." This image of "the shadow of the cross" has been used in many different ways by poets and writers. In the hymn, it refers to a place of refuge and rest "from the burning of the noon-tide heat and the burdens of the day." The hymn also refers to the strength-giving character of the cross by comparing it to "the shadow of a mighty rock within a weary land." Surely ...

1814. "Crown Him Lord of all!"

Sermon

William Luoma

According to the three-year ecumenical lectionary, developed in recent years, the Sunday before Easter is primarily known as the Sunday of the Passion, instead of Palm Sunday. The procession with palm branches is still recommended, but the emphasis of the day has shifted to the Passion of Christ, as seen in the suggested lengthy Gospel readings appointed. In this worship service, however, we have chosen to lift up the Palm Sunday theme, and to focus on the kingship of Christ and his triumphal entry into ...

1815. Encounters With Christ I: Jesus & the Man Born Blind

John 9:1-12

Sermon

James W. Moore

Recently, I ran across a “fascinating list” that carried this intriguing title: “Great Truths About Life That Little Children Have Learned.” Let me share a few of these “great truths” with you. (1) “ No matter how hard you try you cannot baptize a cat.” (2) “When your mom is mad at your dad, don’t let her brush your hair.” (3) “Never ask your 3-year-old brother to hold a tomato… or an egg.” (4) “You can’t trust dogs to watch your food for you.” (5) “Don’t sneeze when somebody is cutting your hair.” (6) “ ...

1816. Monologue: Hagar

Genesis 16:1-16

Drama

Lynda Pujad

I am Hagar, mother of Ishmael. (Bows) Perhaps you have never heard of me because throughout my life I had little value and was so unknown. I was a slave purchased by Abraham to be used along with the rest of his personal property. My master Abraham is a famous man of God. You know about Abraham and how God commanded him to leave his home and all he had ever known and go to the land of Canaan. He spoke with God and received special blessings from him. I did not know his God, nor had I any interest. As a ...

1817. Love Over Logic

Luke 13:1-9

Sermon

Carl Jech

Those eighteen upon whom the tower in Siloam fell and killed them, do you think they were worse offenders than all the others who dwelt in Jerusalem? I tell you, No. (Luke 13:4-5a) Reward and punishment! A basic fact of life! In San Francisco there is a chain of pastry stores called "Just Desserts" - a clever name with more than one level of meaning. "You've been good. Treat yourself! You deserve a reward." But many of us would also think: "Too many of these rewards and my just desserts will be obesity and ...

1818. Names, Not Numbers

Deuteronomy 26:1-15

Sermon

Carl Hoefler

What comes to your mind when you hear the name "Moses"? Do you think of Chariton Heston standing on a rock with his hair and his beard and his robe blowing in the wind, while at the same time, beneath his feet the Red Sea churns and rolls back as mighty walls of waves forming a path for the fleeing Israelites? Perhaps you imagine Moses as a white-haired man standing on the jagged cliffs of a mountain and holding in his sinewy arms the two stone tablets of the law. It is doubtful that any of you imagine ...

1819. A Covenant Sealed By a Sacrifice

Genesis 15:1-18

Sermon

Carl Hoefler

Our First Lesson today contains a bizarre and even a weird story. It sounds like an eerie tale of the occult rather than an account from Holy Scripture. God asked Abraham to bring him a cow, a goat, a ram, a turtledove, and a young pigeon. Abraham obeyed. He brought the animals before the Lord and slaughtered them. He cut each animal in half and laid the pieces in two neat rows. Vultures hovered and circled over the slain beasts. Abraham flung his arms in a wild frenzy driving the birds of prey away. ...

1820. The Rich Man and Lazarus

Luke 16:19-31

Bulletin Aid

Carl Hoefler

Call to Worship Pastor: Important as it is to be a church member, it is also a potential hindrance to being a Christian. People: If we are careless with our faith, church membership can become a poor substitute for Christian discipleship. Pastor: Being a Christian is a new life in which we live in the awareness that God is our Father, and all persons are our brothers and sisters. People: We want our faith to be strong enough to lead us into a new life, without letting our church membership excuse us from ...

1821. Holy Trinity Sunday

John 16:12-15

Bulletin Aid

H. Burnham Kirkland

Call To Worship Let us come before the Lord with minds open to his truth, with hearts receptive to his love, and with wills subject to his Spirit. Invocation As we worship this morning, our heavenly Father, we pray that your Spirit will be our strength; your Word will be our guide; your Love will be our comfort; and your Promises will be our hope. Amen. Ritual Of Friendship As our voices unite in singing, may our hearts unite in love as we reach out and greet one another at this time. Offertory Sentences ...

1822. Come From Anywhere

Matthew 15:21-28

Sermon

"... Great is your faith!" - Matthew 15:28 When Jesus walked with his disciples among the hills and valleys and towns of Palestine, he often led them in directions they had not expected to go. Traveling from Judea to Galilee, he chose to take his disciples through Samaria, although the Jewish people, who had no dealings with the Samaritans, normally went around another way. Although there was grave danger to them in Jerusalem at the time of that final Passover, and although his disciples objected ...

1823. The Sign in the Subway

Luke 11:1-13

Sermon

Carveth Mitchell

On a subway platform in one of our Eastern states there was a large printed sign that said "God Answers Prayer." Some experienced person had scrawled across the bottom underneath the printed letters these words: "Sometimes the answer is NO!" This is what we have to deal with in any discussion of prayer. Someone says, "I felt the need of God. I prayed for something to happen, and it didn’t. Prayer failed." No, Sir. I suggest that you did not want God - you wanted God to do something, and that’s different. ...

1824. Jesus and the Rascal

Luke 16:1-15

Sermon

Carveth Mitchell

Why in the world would Jesus tell this story? On casual reading it seems as though he is making a hero out of a villain. What does it mean? To help us answer that we put the spotlight on three verses; but first, a bit of background. In Palestine there were absentee landlords who employed overseers to manage the property in their absence. The tenants paid their rents "in kind" - that is, with a portion of their produce; in this case, a hundred measures of oil, a hundred measures of wheat. Any thought that ...

1825. Weed-Pulling

Matthew 13:24-30

Sermon

Richard Patt

"Jesus told them another parable: 'The Kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field. One night, when everyone was asleep, an enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat, and went away. When the plants grew and the heads of grain began to form, then the weeds showed up. The man's servants came to him and said, "Sir, it was good seed you sowed in your field; where did the weeds come from?" "It was some enemy who did this," he answered. "Do you want us to go and pull up the weeds?" they ...

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