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 2126 to 2150 of 3108 results

2126. The Parable of the Careless Farmer

Matthew 13:1-23

Sermon

King Duncan

Somewhere I saw a long list of wise sayings attributed to farmers. Let me list just a few of these wise sayings for you. Maybe you will relate to one of these: 1. Keep skunks and bankers and lawyers at a distance. 2. Forgive your enemies. It messes up their heads. 3. Do not corner something that you know is meaner than you. 4. Life is simpler when you plow around the stump. 5. When you wallow with pigs, expect to get dirty. 6. And this last bit of advice: Always drink upstream from the herd. Jesus told ...

2127. About that Salesman

Matthew 23:1-39

Sermon

King Duncan

How many of you have ever tried to sell anything? Would I be wrong if I said that, at some time or another, every one of us has tried to sell something? It may be no more complicated than trying to sell your toddler on the idea that vegetables really do taste good. O.K., you’re still trying to sell your teenager or your husband on the idea that vegetables really do taste good. But all of us have been sales people at some time or another. Selling is truly our oldest profession. Remember the serpent ...

2128. Joy Giver

Luke 2:8-20

Sermon

James Merritt

[Open gift of stopwatch] Christmas is my favorite time of the year, but like many of us it is absolutely one of the busiest times of the year. If there is ever a season where you always feel like you are short on time, where you get frustrated and angry in having to wait in line, and where you almost feel like right up to the holiday you are trying to enjoy, you still can’t get it all done - it is Christmas! Christmas is so different when you are a child as to when you are an adult. When I was a child, it ...

2129. Don't Give Up Now!

2 Corinthians 4:16 - 5:2

Sermon

Have you noticed that some people can’t seem to win, no matter what they do? It’s like one lady I heard about. True story. In 1957 Richie Ashburn, center fielder for the Philadelphia Phillies, swung and hit a foul ball that went into the stands and hit a spectator named Alice Roth. As she was being taken away on a stretcher, Ashburn slammed another foul ball . . . and hit her again. (1) Poor Alice. I guess it just wasn’t her day. I’ve had days like that, haven’t you? I would guess we all have. Pastor Alan ...

2130. She Looked Great, But...

Mark 7:1-23

Sermon

One of the truisms of life is that you can’t judge a book by its cover. Things are not always what they seem. I read a delightful story, allegedly true, about a zoo in Spain that decided to conduct an emergency drill. The drill simulated how to handle it if a gorilla escaped from its enclosure. To make the drill more realistic, a zookeeper dressed up as a gorilla and took off loping through the zoo. Unfortunately, not everyone on staff was notified about the drill. Upon seeing a “gorilla” fleeing from its ...

2131. Dealing with Cantankerous People

Ephesians 4:30-5:2

Sermon

King Duncan

There is an old, old story about a cantankerous, crabby old man. His neighbors avoided him. His four boys moved away from home as soon as they could. You get the picture. His poor wife stood by him, but it was not easy. One night he went to bed and just slipped away. His four boys were called in. What should they do? “He was hard to live around,” one of them said, “and no one could get along with him, but he was our pa. We owe him a decent burial, out in the meadow beyond the field.” So they went out to ...

2132. She Looked Great, But...

Mark 7:1-23

Sermon

King Duncan

2133. A Cry in the Dark

Luke 21:25-36

Sermon

Wayne Brouwer

"Screw your courage to the sticking-place," says Lady Macbeth to her doomed husband in Shakespeare's tragedy, "and we'll not fail." But fail they do and no amount of courage in the world can save them or turn them into heroes. Courage is a funny thing. It's a bit like happiness: the more you seek it, the more you demand it, the more you try to call it up, the less it shows its face. Words can stir us to courage but only when they are grounded in confident expectation and hitched to unshakable values or ...

2134. Discipleship: Backward or Forward to God

Luke 9:51-62

Sermon

Maurice A. Fetty

Leave the dead to bury their own dead; but as for you, go and proclaim the kingdom of God. — Luke 9:60 It was Thomas Wolfe who made the saying famous: "You can't go home again." He said these words that have been repeated and quoted thousands of times since. It has some affinity with another saying, "You cannot step into the same river twice." Life, like a river, is an ever-flowing and ever-changing reality. One philosopher altered the familiar saying to "you cannot step into the same river once," meaning ...

2135. Mary and Martha: Nine to Five and Five to Nine

Luke 10:38-42

Sermon

Maurice A. Fetty

(A Dialogue Sermon) Man: Good morning! It's a pleasure to be here in the pulpit. But you may have noticed that I have someone in the lectern vying for equal time. Woman: Yes, indeed. This is a feminist age, you know — a time of equality between women and men, a time for women to catch up on centuries of lost time in subjugation and oppression. Man: That may be, but do you intend to regain all the lost time this morning? Woman: No, but at least I'd like to make some progress. Man: I don't blame you. ...

2136. God's Adopted Children

Ephesians 1:1-14

Sermon

King Duncan

Welcome on this first Sunday of a New Year. Some of you have probably been working on your New Year’s resolutions. On the other hand, it’s been three days. Some of you have probably already given up on your New Year’s resolutions. One poor guy I heard about tried praying about his resolutions. He got down beside his bed one night, closed his eyes and offered this earnest prayer: “Lord, in 2016, my prayer for the New Year is a fat bank account and a thin body. Please don’t mix these up like you did last ...

2137. Atheism’s Oversimplification

Illustration

C.S. Lewis

My argument against God was that the universe seemed so cruel and unjust. But how had I got this idea of just and unjust? A man does not call a line crooked unless he has some idea of a straight line. What was I comparing this universe with when I called it unjust? If the whole show was bad and senseless from A to Z, so to speak, funny-photo-man-falling-rain why did I, who was supposed to be part of the show, find myself in such violent reaction against it? A man feels wet when he falls into water, because ...

2138. Living for God

1 Peter 4:1-11

Understanding Series

Norman Hillyer

Live Wholly for God 4:1 What are the practical implications for Christians of Christ’s suffering and consequent triumph over death and the powers of evil? Recalling the opening of this section, back in 3:18, Peter reverts to the death of Christ. This is the example that believers should follow. They must turn their backs on the immoral practices of their pagan neighbors, formerly their own life-style, and wholeheartedly follow their Master by copying him. Christ suffered in his body, that is, he gave his ...

2139. The Sin and Doom of Godless Men

Jude 1:1-16

Understanding Series

Norman Hillyer

Writer and Readers 1 By custom, Hellenistic letters began with a threefold formula: (a) the name of the sender; (b) the name of the recipient; and (c) an opening salutation. Greek writers followed the pattern “(a) to (b): greetings.” A NT example is the letter of Claudius Lysias to Felix (Acts 23:26). Jewish letters were introduced slightly differently. The opening sentence gave the names of writer and recipient. A second sentence invoked a blessing upon the reader. The three elements of (a) author, (b) ...

2140. Let Him Kiss Me

Song of Songs 1:1-17

Understanding Series

Elizabeth Huwiler

Introducing the Characters (1:1-6): The opening verses of the Song give the title and introduce the characters. The central woman (identified in the NIV as “Beloved”) and a group (NIV “Friends”) both speak. The central man (NIV “Lover”) is addressed in the second person and mentioned in the third person. He does not speak here, although admiration of him by both the individual woman and the group forms the core of this section. Both sensory images and royal language are used to describe him. 1:1 The first ...

2141. A Widow at the End of Her Rope

1 Kings 17:7-24

Sermon

King Duncan

I ran across a story recently that tickled my funny bone. A woman was going through the check-out lane in a grocery store. She noticed that the bag boy was eyeing her two adopted children curiously. That was not unusual, she says. They often draw attention, since her son’s a blond Russian and her daughter has shiny black Haitian skin. The boy continued staring as he carried the groceries to the car. Finally, he asked, “Those your kids?” She replied proudly, “Yes, they are.” “They adopted?” he asked. “Yes, ...

2142. An Army Officer Deeply Concerned

Luke 7:1-10

Sermon

King Duncan

There is a ridiculous story going around about a country church one Sunday morning, where the preacher gave an invitation to the altar. “Anyone who has a special need that you would like prayed over,” he said, “please come to the front.” With that, a young man named Leroy got in line. When it was his turn, the preacher asked, “Leroy, what do you want me to pray about for you?” Leroy replied, “Preacher, I need you to pray for help with my hearing.” The preacher put one hand on Leroy’s ear, placed his other ...

2143. Silly Superstition

1 Corinthians 10:1-13

Children's Sermon

King Duncan

Object: A rabbit's foot, four-leaf clover or some other kind of charm and a mirror Good morning, boys and girls. Today we are talking about superstition. I have with me a four-leaf clover that I found out in my yard. What is that supposed to make me? That's right. It is supposed to make me lucky. Of course, if I spent all my time out in the yard looking for four-leaf clovers, I wouldn't be too lucky, would I? I might even have to find another job. Suppose I broke this mirror. What would that mean? That's ...

2144. Abraham Tested

Genesis 22:1-19

Understanding Series

John E. Hartley

The Binding of Isaac: In an episode repulsive to a contemporary audience, God commands Abraham to offer up his son Isaac as a whole burnt offering. How could the God who created life and blessed humans with fertility require his faithful servant to offer up his only, beloved, son as a sacrifice? How could God ask Abraham to give up the son of promise for whom he had waited so long? On the other hand, how could Abraham obey God’s command without energetically entreating for Isaac’s life as he had done for ...

2145. A Rebellious Nation

Isaiah 1:1-31

Understanding Series

John Goldingay

Introduction--Jerusalem Judged and Restored: Chapter 1 introduces both the message of Isaiah ben Amoz over three decades and the book as a whole. The people have paid the penalty for abandoning their relationship with Yahweh (vv. 2–9) and need to own the fact that they have perverted their life with Yahweh by practicing religion but not justice (vv. 10–20); judgment can then be a creative purging that restores justice as well as the relationship (vv. 21–31). 1:1 The fact that the word vision always denotes ...

2146. The Year of the Lord’s Favor

Isaiah 61:1-11

Understanding Series

John Goldingay

Five Responses to Yahweh’s Promises: Chapters 61 and 62 recapitulate much of chapter 60, but they do so in a new framework. They offer five responses to those promises. Whereas the prophet’s word was a brisk preliminary to Yahweh’s word in 59:21–60:22, in chapters 61–62 the prophet speaks a number of times in a way that has significance in its own right but also introduces recapitulations of the promises. Accounts of a prophet’s own experience or actions appear in the OT because the testimony is in some ...

2147. Praise and Prayer

Isaiah 63:7--64:12

Understanding Series

John Goldingay

Where Are Your Zeal and Your Might?: As the chiasm in chapters 56–66 treads its return path, the vision of the battling warrior (63:1–6) paired with the one in 59:15b–20. This prayer, then, pairs with the prayer in 59:9–15a. As the new vision was bloodier, the new prayer is much longer and more urgent. It has the features of a lament on the part of the community such as those that appear in the Psalms and in Lamentations, but like some of them (and like chapter 62) it unfolds as more of a stream of ...

2148. Possessions and Choice in the New Kingdom Community

Mark 10:17-31

Teach the Text

Grant R. Osborne

Big Idea: This section is about choices and the effects emanating from them. The wealthy man chooses his possessions and therefore will be “last” in God’s kingdom. Those disciples who choose to “leave everything” will be made first, blessed now and vindicated for all eternity. Understanding the Text Wives and children (10:1–16) had very little social status, and Jesus elevated their place in God’s new community. Now he turns to rich and poor. The rich man, though with high moral standards, chooses the ...

2149. Worship and Proper Attire

1 Corinthians 11:2-16

Teach the Text

Preben Vang

Big Idea: The form of the Christian worship service must express the nature of Christ, and the behavior of the worshipers must exemplify his character and humility. Understanding the Text After a strong call to Christians to avoid participation in pagan banquets, which ultimately were worship services, Paul now turns to the Christian worship service itself. Since the behavior at pagan worship services so clearly was an abomination to God, how should Christians reconsider their practices when approaching ...

2150. Living by God’s Sexual Standards

Leviticus 18:1-30

Teach the Text

Joe M. Sprinkle

Big Idea: God’s moral and sexual standards bring life. Understanding the Text Leviticus 18 within the laws of holiness (Lev. 17–27) teaches holiness to laypersons in the areas of incest and sexuality. It exhorts the Israelites to live differently than do the Egyptians or the Canaanites (vv. 1–5) in those areas (vv. 6–23) or else be expelled from the land (vv. 24–30). The present chapter overlaps in content with Leviticus 20. In terms of sacred space, Leviticus 18–20 arguably describes things that ...

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