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 2026 to 2050 of 3108 results

2026. Proper 17

Psalm 45:1-17, Song of Songs 2:1-17, Mark 7:1-23, James 1:17-27

Bulletin Aid

B. David Hostetter

READINGS Psalter—Psalm 45:1-2, 6-9. A love song [OR] Psalm 45:1-2, 6-9 First Lesson—A romantic song of love includes a touch of spring fever. Song of Solomon 2:8-13 Second Lesson—This reading introduces the 'wisdom literature' of the New Testament. James 1:17-27 Gospel—Jesus teaches that genuine purity is in our inner life, not merely ceremonial sanctity. Mark 7:1-8, 14-15, 21-23 CALL TO WORSHIP Leader: The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. People: And also with you. Leader: Give yourselves ...

2027. John the Baptist, Sanctified Indifference, & the King of Pop

Mark 6:14-29

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

Who wants your head on a platter? What truth is worth your head? What truth is worth your life? There are two types of people in the world we despise. The first are people who can never be trusted to tell the truth. The second are people who can only be trusted to tell the truth. We all know people who have trouble telling the truth. Is there anyone here who doesn’t know someone for whom a lie is just a more convenient interpretation of reality? The great psychoanalyst Carl Jung once noted that there were ...

2028. Proper 7

1 Kings 19:1-8, Psalm 42:1-11; 43:1-5, Luke 8:26-39, Galatians 3:23-29

Bulletin Aid

B. David Hostetter

READINGS Psalter—Psalms 42 and 43 First Lesson—Elijah seeks to hear the voice of God in a variety of sounds in nature. 1 Kings 19:1-4 (5-7), 8-15a Second Lesson—Paul describes the role of law in bringing the baptized to the dignity of the children of God. Galatians 3:23-29 Gospel—The Creator and Healer also has the power to destroy his creation. Luke 8:26-39 CALL TO WORSHIP Leader: The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. People: And also with you. Leader: Come to God’s dwelling as to a beacon ...

2029. Tinctures of Truth in the Tincture of Time

Ephesians 4:17--5:21

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

Our lectionary reading from Ephesians this morning offers a healing ointment to a church that is sick and in need of salve, a word from which we drive our word “salvation.” This morning I have before me some salves I grew up with: a bottle of iodine, a bottle of merthiolate, a bottle of mercurochrome. [It will not be easy to find these except by asking some of your older members if they still have any samples in their medicine chests.] Here are their replacements today: bacitracin, neosporin. [These will ...

2030. The Man in the Mirror

2 Samuel 12:1-31

Sermon

James Merritt

I will never forget the first time I was able to actually go to see the Master's golf tournament in person. I wanted to follow a young phenom by the name of Tiger Woods. I was right behind him on the seventeenth tee box to see him rip one of those majestic drives. In the split second that he hit the ball, one man in the crowd yelled at the top of his lungs - "You 'Da Man." Every time you go to a tournament you are going to hear someone yell that at Tiger Woods. I don't know how that phrase got its origin, ...

2031. Until He Comes

2 Timothy 4:7-8

Sermon

James Merritt

The last two years of my life have passed by faster than a speeding bullet. Though the pace of being President of this Convention has been exhausting, the honor has been exhilarating. I will never get over the fact that you, my fellow Southern Baptists, have entrusted me with this position. Being President of the Southern Baptist Convention has made me realize more than ever how blessed I am to be a Christian and how great it is to be a Baptist. I am reminded of Charles Spurgeon the great British preacher ...

2032. What Do I Do When My Prayers Go Unanswered?

Deuteronomy 3:1-11, 23-26

Sermon

James Merritt

I have been a follower of Christ ever since I was nine years old. For over four decades, I have followed Jesus Christ and I have spent most of those years studying the Word of God and learning more about the God of the Word. I have literally been on mountaintops and I have been in valleys. There have been times in my life that God was so real it was as if I could literally reach out and touch His face. There have been other times I've felt like God was so far away that I could not see Him with the Hubble ...

2033. Are You In The Know?

John 10:27-29

Sermon

James Merritt

If there is anything this post-modern culture that we live in is sure of it is that you cannot be absolutely sure of anything. You can believe in many things. You can be passionate about a lot of things, but nothing can be known absolutely, especially in the area of spirituality and morality. I discovered this quote by Gandhi that serves to emphasize the almost universal uncertainty that is associated with religious belief of any kind. When he was asked why he tried to persuade people of his political ...

2034. The Climb

Joshua 14:6-15

Sermon

James Merritt

A Ph.D. - a Doctor of Philosophy degree is the highest degree awarded in academics. Three to four years of seminars, literacy required in three to five different languages, and three years of continuous research on a dissertation that must be totally original in its subject, meaning that no one has ever written on it before. This dissertation must then be presented in written form and passed by three professors with three different fields of expertise all of which you must study and include in your ...

2035. The “Gratitude Salute”

James 1:19-27

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

Why are you here? Why did you come to church this morning? What made you voluntarily choose to spend the last summer Sunday before the too busy, too crowded Labor Day weekend inside a church? Why aren’t you lolling on some beach? (Okay, okay maybe you will be later this afternoon!) Maybe you are here out of habit. Maybe going to church is “what you do” on Sunday morning. Maybe you are here because your parents dragged you into the car, kicking and screaming, and you would rather be anywhere else. Maybe you ...

2036. RSVP—By Invitation Only

Luke 14:15-24

Sermon

James Merritt

Several years ago a book came out entitled "The Greatest Story Ever Told". I am sure that millions of people knew the subject of the book before they even opened its pages. Because it was the story of Jesus Christ. Quite frankly, the greatest story ever told is the story of how God the Son left heaven and came to earth in the form of human flesh, lived a human life, died a human death, was raised from the dead supernaturally that He might come and live in the hearts of those who would receive Him by faith ...

2037. Houston We Have a Problem

Nehemiah 1:1-11

Sermon

James Merritt

"Houston, we have a problem." They are the most famous words ever uttered in the history of space travel. One single sentence, five small words, but they signal what could have been the greatest disaster in the history of NASA. It was April 13, 1970; astronauts Jim Lovell, John Swigert, and Fred Haise were in the lunar module - Apollo 13. They were two hundred thousand miles from Earth, 5/6th of the way to the moon, 55 hours into their flight when disaster struck. A mysterious explosion rocked the ship and ...

2038. In God We Trust

Proverbs 3:5-6

Sermon

James Merritt

At first glance, I thought it was a great victory. The past week a Federal Appeals Court ruled that the phrase "In God We Trust" on a government building, does not violate the separation of church and state. The Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals, based in Richmond, Virginia, ruled on May 13th that the national motto may remain on the facade of a county government building in Lexington, North Carolina. Then listen to what the court has to say and I am quoting Judge Robert King. "The Fourth Circuit has ' ...

2039. The Dark Side Arrives

Sermon

James Merritt

As we left our story last week in galaxies beyond, we found Darth Vader kneeling before the hologrammed image of the Emperor pledging his loyalty to his evil master. In the meantime, the battle between the forces of light and darkness has intensified and the Jedi are gaining ground. The young, but powerful Jedi leader, Luke Skywalker, must be stopped and the Emperor is making a visit to insure his demise. Every day, in every way, when you walk out the door of your home, Satan is going to try to turn you to ...

2040. Holy Extravagance

John 12:1-8

Sermon

Donald Charles Lacy

In our spiritual voyages, surprises — sometimes outlandishly — come to us. We scratch our heads and wonder if what we are experiencing is fact or fiction. It may or may not be a time of inspiration. However, it may be one of instruction, as we view it in retrospect. You and I are to remember that every occurrence may very well be a teaching event. Mary's act near the time of Jesus' crucifixion is a scene mostly outside of our expectations and predictions. It catches us off guard and the same may have been ...

2041. Family Ties and Good-byes

Luke 12:49-56

Sermon

Ron Lavin

If ever we needed to strengthen the institution of family, it's today. Many forces of evil are pulling the family apart. Ethical relativism, which teaches that there are no absolutes, not even God, is increasingly popular. Immorality abounds. Listening and hearing one another seems to be a lost art in many homes. Spouses often seem to be going in opposite directions. Parents and children have a hard time communicating. Many modern homes are little more than large telephone booths where arrangements are ...

2042. Only the Lonely

Luke 14:1, 7-14

Sermon

Ron Lavin

There are three words I hope you will take home from church today. The words are "Only The Lonely." As you think about these words, the assurances of God's Word will comfort and strengthen you. But I'm getting ahead of my story. Before we get to these three words, we need to look at the full text of Luke 14:1, 7-14. That involves looking at three other words: humility, hospitality, and hope. Humility The inciting incident in our story is that guests at a party started to take places of honor. Jesus told ...

2043. Father, Forgive Them!

Luke 23:33-43

Sermon

John Wayne Clarke

Each of the gospel accounts of the crucifixion has its own peculiarity. Luke presents the trial of Jesus in a way that points fingers directly at the Jewish leaders involved. Luke goes out of his way to make sure we understand that the Jewish leaders are the ones who frame the charges against Jesus. It is they who insist he be crucified. Luke also is careful to make sure that we understand that the Roman governmental officials find no reason for Jesus to be prosecuted. It is important to recognize that it ...

2044. Minding the Store of Our Lives

1 Corinthians 10:1-13

Sermon

Richard Gribble

A man lived in an old stone cottage that was badly in need of repair. He made do, day-by-day, and got on with his life, struggling to wrench a living from the meager land. Eventually the rain that leaked in on him got too heavy and the wind around his ears was too cold. He had to do something about the gap in his wall. Up on the hillside there was an ancient Celtic cross. It had stood there since time immemorial. It was silent and uncomplaining in the Atlantic gales that swept over it, but its very silence ...

2045. Carrying the Burdens of Others

Philippians 2:5-11

Sermon

Richard Gribble

There was a man named Sundar, a convert to Christianity who decided to go to India to be a missionary and bear witness to others about Jesus. One day, late in the afternoon, Sundar was traveling on foot high in the Himalaya Mountains with a Buddhist monk. It was bitterly cold and darkness was rapidly starting to fall. The monk told Sundar they would be in danger of freezing to death if they did not reach the monastery before nightfall. As they crossed a narrow path above a steep cliff, a cry for help was ...

2046. Itchy Ears

2 Timothy 3:14-4:5

Sermon

Donna Schaper

As usual, the epistle is a little more graphic than we can quite grasp. Itchy ears: what a concept just in physical terms. Experience it for a minute. You itch, you scratch, you sort of know you shouldn't scratch because it will only make the itch worse. But still you scratch, while wondering how the itch ever got started in the first place. What a concept: itchy ears as a vehicle for spiritual truth. When we itch, we scratch. We awaken. We know we are not comfortable. We want to be comfortable. This ...

2047. Weary in Well Doing

2 Thessalonians 3:6-13

Sermon

Donna Schaper

What makes people weary is conflict. We are torn apart, split in two, we are challenged at our core in large and small ways all day long. We say wryly, "No good deed goes unpunished," running right into the conflict of getting weary in well doing. Biologists tell us we have two choices in most situations: We can fight or take flight or tend and befriend. The fight and flight response is most often articulated in funny hand motions — where we both beckon the person close and push them away at the same time ...

2048. In the Waiting Room

Luke 21:5-38

Sermon

King Duncan

Have you ever noticed how uncomfortable people are when nothing is going on? The great pianist Rachmaninoff tells of giving a piano recital when he was very young. He began with a Beethoven sonata that had several long rests in it. During one of those long rests, a motherly lady leaned forward, patted him on the shoulder, and said kindly: “Honey, play us something you know.” There is an awkwardness in silence, in waiting. Do you remember your first date? Do you remember those long, painful periods of ...

2049. The Intimate Gospel: The Word became Flesh

John 1:1-18

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

We’re beginning today a series of sermons on the Gospel of John. Earl Palmer rightly calls this gospel, the intimate gospel. Because that’s what it is. It’s the personal story of John of the personal Christ. We’re going to be doing during the next few weeks, maybe more than a few weeks, we’re going to be doing what I call ‘preaching through this gospel.’ Now this will not be a verse-by-verse or a chapter-by-chapter study of the gospel, but rather we will hit the high spots. In fact, I have an idea that we ...

2050. A Miracle Child

Exodus 2:1-10

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

I’m sure that our parents here today would identify at least with the sermon title today, A Miracle Child. The truth of the matter is that every child is a miracle. Where did you come from baby dear? Out of the everywhere into the here. Where did you get those eyes so blue? Out of the sky as I passed through. Whence that three cornered smile of bliss? Three angels gave me at once a kiss. Where did you get this pearly ear? God spoke and it came out to here. Where did you get those arms and hands? Love made ...

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