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 2151 to 2175 of 5000 results

2151. Shame on You

1 Timothy 1:12-17

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... decimation. As our ozone holes grow larger, our water supply grows fouler and our wildlife grows scarcer, it is high time to feel a societal stab of guilt. It is so easy to become insensitive to what we are doing to our environment. After a long debate on the issue of pesticide use, one soul spoke up, saying that he didn't care what the farmers did. He bought all his vegetables in cans anyway!...Shame on us! Americans, overweight and overindulged, overmediated and overmedicated, have another reason to feel ...

2152. Armageddon Anxiety

John 6:56-69

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... has been down under for some time and knows the scene. Obviously, he has just been quizzed by a rather dazed, innocent looking gentleman, about what it is like farther down into the scorching caverns. As a frowning devil looks over his shoulder at them, the long-term human resident of Hades tells the expectant, hopeful arrival, deflatingly, "No, it's not going to be okay." (James V. Schall, "The Power of Evil Is Based on a Lie," Vital Speeches LXII (July 1, 1996), 557. The world is desperate for "It's-going ...

2153. What Are You Looking For?

John 1:35-42

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... conversions - e.g., St. John 2. crisis conversions - e.g., St. Paul 3. series of crises followed by a conversion - e.g., St. Peter 4. a crisis conversion at the end of a gradual process - e.g., the Ethiopian eunuch Which one are you? Sometimes it takes long years of sitting at the Rabbi's feet, listening to his teachings, before we can truly claim our discipleship, before we can kneel at the foot of the cross. We all must first ask, "Teacher, teach us," before we can confess, "Jesus, save us." Is that ...

2154. The Well That Will Never Run Dry

Exodus 17:1-7

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... . Our job is simply to get people to drink. What happens after that is beyond us. It is up to each generation to make sure the living water of God's redeeming love, Jesus Christ, is made accessible for the tastes of the next generation to come. As long as we don't try to tamper with the recipe, living water - like plain old H2O - is perfectly adaptable to almost any shape or size of container. [Note: You may want to demonstrate this. Have some weird-shaped bottles, glasses, etc. to show the fact that water ...

2155. Self-Fulfillment Through Self-Sacrifice

1 Peter 2:19-25

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... to say that no human will ever love you the way you want to be loved because "no one has ever loved anyone the way everyone wants to be loved." Presbyterian minister Fred Rogers builds his children's program, "Mister Rogers," around his conviction that everybody longs to be loved and longs to know that he or she is lovable. Consequently, the greatest thing that we can do is to help somebody know that he or she is loved and capable of loving. 3. Become Aren't we the only part of God's creation that becomes ...

2156. Dr. God

Matthew 9:18-26

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... lab coat, spoon in hand, announcing "Next," is ... "Dr. Mom." The cough medicine hawkers are obviously trying to cash in on the fact that despite all the advanced scientific knowledge, all the technological wizardry of the modern medical profession we still all long to be cuddled, coddled and cured by the care of a loving parent no matter what our age. The oftentimes cold, clinical approach of scientific medical practices and procedures doesn't seem to be satisfying our quest for wellness. Perhaps this is ...

2157. B.T.D.T.

Matthew 11:25-30

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... answer to previously unfocused prayers. Jesus' words, then, sounded familiar but to a few who had seen Jesus' miracles and heard Jesus' message, this "come to me" phrase had an unmatched depth and resonance. For those who had caught the vision of Jesus as the long-awaited Messiah, this promise of "rest" was real. As Messiah, Jesus offered a glimpse into the kingdom, into a place where burdens grew weightless. What does our culture offer all who are "weary and heavy laden" all who have "been there, done that ...

2158. The Four R's

Matthew 13:1-9, 18-23

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... wits about me, memory blazing, I'll cope and make do. By the way, Berryman wrote this poetic psalm to rootlessness not long before he leapt from a bridge over the Mississippi River and committed suicide (John Berryman, Collected Poems 1937-1971 [Farras, Straus, Giroux ... being bought that there is a separate 'Best-Selling List' just for them. Remember newspapers without personal ads? Not too long ago, they could only be found in the New York Times Book Review. Today, 'personal ads' are in virtually every ...

2159. Day-Timers or Begging Bowls

Matthew 14:22-33

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... books, A Pretty Good Person (1990), he tells this story: A few years ago, I spent a hot August day at the Los Angeles county jail, waiting for the wheels of the system to open jail doors for someone I was bailing out. It takes a long time to spring somebody from this mammoth prison, so I had to wait and watch. I watched the pimps in white suits bailing out their prostitutes; lawyers in black suits bailing out their clients; drug dealers bailing out their peddlers; girls bailing out their boyfriends; and ...

2160. Was Jesus the First Buster?

Matthew 21:23-32

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... the first Buster. I believe he may be right. Consider some surprising evidence. Jesus didn't join the rat race of his day; he wasn't on any fast track; he had to assume responsibility of a single-parent household Joseph died sometime after he was 12 but long before he was 30; he was single; when he began his public ministry, which was late in life, he wasn't into church growth and bigness he formed a small band of friends, and invested in them; the group of friends he surrounded himself with, however, were ...

2161. Easter Dreams

Luke 24:1-12

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... was not eager to get out. Instead, he stood there, weeping for joy. When at last he left the baptismal box, I thought he would hurry away to change into something dry. I was mistaken." The prisoner, the newborn Christian, told them, "I want to wear these clothes as long as I can .... In fact, I wish I never had to take a shower again." They walked to the nearby tables and sat quietly in the Carolina sun, "hearing this new Christian explain why his baptismal burial was too good to dry off. 'I'm now a free ...

2162. An Action-Packed Faith

John 13:31-35

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... we celebrate today on Mother's Day. Love in action is the force behind all those meals Mom prepared; all those chauffeured trips to soccer, baseball, ballet and piano lessons; all those good-night books read to sleepy children by a sleepier mom; all those long walks and long talks and all those other things that were done by a Super Mom who juggled both a career and an active, energetic home life. We even reflect a tiny bit of that action-packed love back to our mothers on this day although whether this ...

2163. Heirs of the Promise

Galatians 3:23-29

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... force. In contrast, the Sinai covenant God established with Israel is termed conditional a promise that remains in force only as long as the "conditions" in this case the Mosaic laws are fulfilled. What excites Paul so completely in this week's ... be promise makers, promise keepers and promise trusters. 1. Promise Makers: Promise-making can put you on the spot. Ever promise your child some longed-for toy, only to find out that it is so popular that there is none to be had within a three state radius? What ...

2164. Mark 4:35-41

Mark 4:35-41

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... . It begins by setting the scene and placing it in context with what has preceded it. In this case we find Jesus concluding a long day of teaching by proposing that he and the disciples now cross over the sea of Galilee to begin work on the opposite shore. ... territories that do not adjoin. But Mark is not a poor geographer, or even simply confused about the order of Jesus' journeys. As long as we look at the sequence of events as Mark did, with a theological eye instead of a historical/geographical one, his ...

2165. Luke 4:1-13

Luke 4:1-13

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... ' 40 days are like Moses' 40 days spent on Mt.Sinai (Exodus 34:28), or Elijah's 40 day journey to Mt.Horeb (Kings 19:4 8), and even the 40-year sojourn of Israel in the wilderness (Deuteronomy 8:2-6). Luke has already tied Jesus genetically to the long history of Israel by carefully reciting his entire lineage in 3:21-38. The experience of Jesus' 40 days in exile now tie him into the spiritual lineage of Israel's great religious leaders as well. Further on in the text, we also see that as Jesus faces his ...

2166. Exodus 17:1-7

Exodus 17:1-7

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... or Moses' own familiarity with wilderness survival, the problem of finding water does not seem to be an issue for him. There has been some suggestion that the miracle of Massah and Meribah might easily have been carried out by Moses, based on his long familiarity with the wilderness. Apparently, there are rock formations in the Sinai that combine a hard, igneous lower level of rock with an upper level of soft, porous sandstone. Nomads know to look for these formations as sources of hidden, trapped pools of ...

2167. Mark 4:35-41

Mark 4:35-41

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

2168. Mark 13:1-8

Mark 13:1-8

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... . In response to the disciples' request for more facts, Jesus gives them a discourse that combines informational data with inspirational ideals of how the faithful should interpret these signs of the end. Verses 5-8 conclude this week's reading. But Jesus' long discourse (13:5b-37) the longest single discourse in Mark's gospel constitutes only his opening remarks on this subject. Jesus' first words to his disciples warn them about the alluring snares and deceptions that will usher in this age. The greatest ...

2169. Luke 9:51-62

Luke 9:51-62

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... Baptist's role of proclaiming Jesus' coming. This "mission strategy" depicted in verse 52 will be more fully fleshed out after this first step of Jesus' journey, when the 72 are deployed with their marching orders (10:1-20). The first stop on Jesus' long journey makes for an inauspicious beginning (9:52-53). Remember how Jesus' public ministry in Galilee began with an experience of rejection (4:23-30). So now does this journey to Jerusalem. In fact, Luke's gospel makes it clear that at every new juncture ...

2170. Learning to Love Ourselves

Matthew 22:34-40

Sermon

James McCormick

... expected. It is true, “As a person thinks in his heart, so shall he be.” And listen now, this is important: the more we act according to our own high expectations, the more we become people we can like. And, the fact is, in order to love ourselves over a long period of time, we must be able to like ourselves. We must become worthy of our own self respect. One of the most important things in life, for me, is to be able to go into the bathroom at the end of the day, look at myself in the mirror ...

2171. A Burden or a Song

Matthew 5:43-48

Sermon

James McCormick

... ” giving us everything we need, and enabling us to grow into the persons God intends us to be! I tell you, that’s good news. I can sing about that! A friend of mine died not too long ago. He had been struggling with heart disease for a long time. Years before his death he had six arterial by-passes, in a long and tedious surgery. When he came home after that near death experience, I went to see him. We talked about all he had experienced. And he wanted to talk about his faith. Tears came into his eyes ...

2172. Romans 12:9-21

Romans 12:9-21

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... verse 9 translates as "the love, unhypocritic" - Paul's injunction that we love genuinely with all sincerity. Such a simple command. Yet it is a demand that challenges all members of a koinonia community every moment of every day. Indeed among Paul's long litany, this first line remains the most difficult to consistently recreate. Where genuine love thrives, Paul suggests, these other attitudes will spring up and prosper - a hatred of all evil, a commitment to the good (that is, God's will) and the kind ...

2173. Rainbows and Roses

Genesis 9:1-17

Sermon

King Duncan

... the truth is I don’t want comfort. I’ve lost a baby and I’m angry with God.” Just then someone else, a man named Phil, walked in the shop. He said his wife sent him to pick up their usual Thanksgiving arrangement . . . twelve thorny, long stemmed stems! “Those are for your wife?” asked Sandra. “Do you mind me asking why she wants something that looks like that?” “No . . . I’m glad you asked,” Phil replied. “Four years ago my wife and I nearly divorced. After forty years, we were in a ...

2174. Jesus Baptism and Ours

Isaiah 42:1-9

Sermon

Mike Ripski

... listens thoughtfully for some time and then says, “You have been given questions to which you cannot be given answers. You will have to live them out – perhaps a little at a time.” “And how long is that going to take?” asks Jayber. “I don’t know. As long as you live perhaps.” “That could take a long time,” Jayber replies. “I will tell you a further mystery,” says Dr. Armire. “It may take longer.” (Quoted in Pulpit Resource, 1/13/08, p. 8) It’s been called a God-shaped hole in ...

2175. Love that Kneels

Luke 15:11-32

Sermon

Mike Ripski

... way sometimes.” The father had to feel conflicted. But during his wait, his conflict ended. Love won. So that when he saw his younger son coming over the ridge, he did what no man in that culture would ever do – he ran. He grabbed hold of his long garment and ran to the son. He embraced him. He kissed him. He put a robe on him. Had the family signet ring put on his finger. Sandals on his feet – only family members wore sandals. He ordered the fatted calf killed and barbequed. Invitations were sent to ...

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