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 2351 to 2375 of 3108 results

2351. Death Stinks

John 11:17-37

Sermon

Johnny Dean

All of us have been there, or will be there someday – where Mary and Martha are in the story of the death of Lazarus. Having prayed as hard as we can for the recovery of someone we love, we find ourselves grieving their loss, wondering what we will do without them. Or we will find ourselves wondering where Jesus is, trying to comfort a sorrowing family member or friend, wondering what in the world we could possibly do or say to take away some of the pain this loss is causing them, to make their sorrow ...

2352. The Benefit of the Doubt

John 20:24-31

Sermon

Johnny Dean

Well, I guess Easter is over for another year. The lilies are gone, attendance is down from last week, the new has worn off the Easter dresses and suits, and the candy has long since been devoured. Things are pretty much back to whatever passes for normal these days, back to the old, pre-Easter routine. And in churches all across America today, pulpits are being filled by substitute preachers. Our denominational leaders advise us that it is wise for preachers to take some time off the week after Easter. ...

2353. Dancing with the Wind

Acts 2:1-13

Sermon

Johnny Dean

I know it’s not summer yet, but the summer SEASON has already begun – at least, as far as department stores and Hollywood are concerned. The summer season for those who manufacture and sell summer clothing items, and for those who produce, direct, and market movies for public consumption begins each year in the month of May. Of course, the biggest hit of this summer season supposedly will be the newest entry into the "Star Wars" series. As I watched and read reports about how anxious and enthusiastic ...

2354. Trying to Face the Strain

Genesis 28:10-22

Sermon

Johnny Dean

In the late 1960’s a new genre (which is just a fancy word for "type" or "style") of music appeared on the American cultural scene. It was called "protest music," because that’s exactly what it was about. The songwriters and performing artists wanted to express their displeasure or discontent with a variety of social or political issues of the day: the war in Viet Nam; the rules and regulations parents place upon children; the style of clothing or length of hair you had to have in order to be considered " ...

2355. A Great Flashlight

Matthew 4:12-17

Children's Sermon

Brett Blair

Exegetical Aim: To convey the images of darkness (sin) and light (Gospel of Christ) and that the church has been given the source of that great light. Props: A long flashlight that holds many batteries. Pass out the batteries among the congregation. Lesson: What do I have in my hand? (response) Have you ever seen a flashlight this long before? (response) Hand the flashlight to several kids so they can feel how light it is. How many of you have flashlights at home? (response) What do we use flashlights for ...

2356. The Shouting of the Crowd

Matthew 27:11-26

Sermon

Wallace H. Kirby

Spivey's Corner is a little town in Sampson County, North Carolina. I never heard of it until I lived in a nearby county. I passed through it numerous times on my way back and forth to Clinton and was aware of a terrible automobile accident there. A few years ago, Spivey's Corner became famous, featured on the nightly news, written about in news magazines, and visited by people who would never have thought of going there if it had not gained notoriety. That little community, really a mere crossroads, is ...

2357. Praying With Tears in Your Eyes

Hebrews 1:1-14

Sermon

John R. Brokhoff

In the days of his flesh, Jesus offered up prayers and supplications with loud cries and tears to him who was able to save him from death, and he was heard for his godly fear. (Hebrews 5:7) When you finish your prayers, are there tears in your eyes? Usually we "say" our prayers, not "cry" them. We associate prayer with peace, calm, and strength. We may feel weepy when we begin our prayers, but we expect to be comforted by the end of them. Because there are very seldom tears in our eyes when we pray, our ...

2358. Loving

1 Corinthians 13:1-13

Sermon

Larry Powell

If I speak in the tongues of men and angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. (verse 1) A gong has always impressed me as an almost unnecessary instrument. Each time a musician slams into one with a mallet to achieve the dull, disconcerting clash, I fully expect a secret passage to appear, or an oriental servant to fawn onto the stage. Cymbals provide slightly more flexible, functional accents of emphasis. However, both the gong and the cymbal produce but a single monotonous tone ...

2359. The Gift of Peace

Sermon

Alan Bacon Bond

Scripture: Psalm 37:1-4; 37-40Ephesians 2:11-222 Chronicles 14:1-7John 14 (selections) Text: "Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you." John 14:27 At the drive-in window of the bank there is a pneumatic tube. The transaction slips, checks, and money are put in a capsule, which is dropped into the tube. As air is sucked out from in front of the capsule and pressured behind it, the container is pushed through the tube. I used the tube one day. It came as no ...

2360. T.G.I.F

John 1:43-51

Sermon

William Luoma

[A Message for Good Friday. Bulletin outline found below.] Nathanael said to him, "Can anything good come out of Nazareth?" Philip said to him, "Come and see. Early in his Galilean ministry, Jesus invited Philip to follow him. Philip found Nathanael and said to him, "We have found him of whom Moses in the law and also the prophets wrote, Jesus of Nazareth." Nathanael responded somewhat sarcastically, "Can anything good come out of Nazareth?" Philip's simple answer was the challenge that is still given to ...

2361. Sin is an Ugly Matter

Matthew 18:15-20

Children's Sermon

Brett Blair

Exegetical Aim: Sin marks us. Props-Suggested: Water soluble black felt pen and a damp rag. Lesson: Using the felt pen make a big mark on your forehead before the children come forward. Good morning. I have a question for you this morning. How many of you know what sin is? (response) Sin is when we do things that are wrong -things that hurt God and other people. Can anyone give me an example of a sin? (response) How many of you here today have brothers and sisters? Do you ever get angry at them? (response ...

2362. Encounters With Christ III: Jesus and Nicodemus

John 3:1-21

Sermon

James W. Moore

His name was Paul. He lived in a small town in the Pacific Northwest some years ago. He was just a little boy when his family became the proud owners of one of the first telephones in the neighborhood. It was one of those wooden boxes attached to the wall with the shiny receiver hanging on the side of the box… and the mouthpiece attached to the front. Young Paul listened with fascination as his mom and dad used the phone… and he discovered that somewhere inside the wonderful device called a telephone lived ...

2363. Encounters With Christ V: Jesus and James and John

Matthew 20:20-28

Sermon

James W. Moore

Some years ago when William Howard Taft was President of the United States, he found himself in an interesting dilemma. A woman who was a friend of the Taft family kept pestering President Taft to appoint her husband to the post of Secretary of Commerce. Now, the woman’s husband had no political experience at all – no training for the job at all – no real expertise or qualifications to bring to the position at all. In fact, he was a house painter! But, the woman wanted her husband to be named by the ...

2364. Raised Voices

Deuteronomy 26:1-15

Drama

Pamela Urfer

Cast: Two women, HANNAH and REBECCA Length: 8 minutes REBECCA is seated on her stool when HANNAH rushes in, very excited, and takes the stool next to her. REBECCA: Hannah! Hannah! Have you heard the news? HANNAH: What news? REBECCA: Then you haven't heard. We're to get packed and ready. We're leaving. Immediately. HANNAH: Leaving? Leaving for where? Why should we be leaving? REBECCA: Leaving for the Promised Land, silly! Of course you knew this. You're just teasing me. HANNAH: I don't know anything about ...

2365. Monologue: A Slave, A Jailer, A Child Of God

Acts 16:16-40

Drama

Robert F. Scott

We have only a bare-bones mention of the Philippian jailer. He received Paul and Silas, beaten and bleeding; he fastened them in the painful stocks; after his conversion, he personally dressed their wounds and then fed them at his own table. What other changes grew from the jailer's new Christian faith? Let us attempt to stretch some living flesh over those bare bones. Call me Quintus, but my name doesn't matter. Most people just see me as a slave, a piece of the house furniture, nothing more. My master is ...

2366. Six Nails of the Cross V: The Nail of Hatred

Luke 6:17-26

Sermon

Wesley T. Runk

Hatred rings out in the world like the shrill clash of metal against metal; the hammer against the nail. Hatred is the force of darkness that covers the face of the earth, reaping destruction where it goes. Hatred is most often aroused by our self-righteous resentments. It is easier to shoot the villains, to seek retribution for the satisfaction of our moral feelings, than to get at the root of villainy or to transform the villain. It is easier to kill bad people than to build bridges. The passion hatred, ...

2367. Do You Love Me?

John 21:15-25

Sermon

Robert Allen

There is a very tender and moving scene in the play, Fiddler On The Roof. Tevyev and his wife Golda are being forced to move from their home in Russia. One day Tevyev comes into the house and asks his wife, "Golda, do you love me?" "Do I what?" "Do you love me?" Golda looks at him and then responds: "Do I love you? With our daughters getting married and this trouble in the town, you're upset, you're worn out, go inside, go lie down, maybe it's indigestion." Tevyev interrupts and asks the question, "Golda, ...

2368. Paul Meets a Celebrity

Acts 25:23

Children's Sermon

Wesley T. Runk

Object: None or pictures of various celebrities from different fields (movies, sports, presidents, etc.) Have you ever met a celebrity? A celebrity would be someone who is well known because of a talent he has or because he is a government official, or because he is rich. Movie stars, baseball and football players, presidents and kings and owners of large companies are usually celebrities. When we meet people like this we usually feel different from when we meet other people like ourselves. They seem so ...

2369. Make Way For Poets Of The Heart

Sermon

James Angell

One of the dividends of the ministry is coming to know and enjoy different people - all ages and all human conditions. Often there are surprises. One came for me on a fall afternoon in the 1960s when some members of my Lexington congregation and I visited a Trappist monastery to see what life is like as a monk. Coming out of the Reformed tradition which has no such orders, I never thought of life behind the walls as anything involving me personally. The silences. Rising at 2 a.m. to pray (after having gone ...

2370. The Wedding Feast

Matthew 22:1-14

Drama

Robert A. Lehmann

Theme: A parable of the Kingdom of heaven Characters: Narrator a king Three solo voices (or a narrator and four solo voices). Narrator: And again Jesus spoke to them in parables. Solo 1: He told them a story. Solo 2: A story with a message. Solo 3: A story with an inner meaning. Narrator: And Jesus said to them: The Kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who gave a marriage feast for his son. Solo 1: How can the kingdom of heaven be like a marriage feast? Solo 4: What do you suppose this guy's trying ...

2371. The Freedom To Be Wrong

Luke 18:9-14

Sermon

I want to begin with a situation that might happen to a young person. I hope that those of us who are older will think back to our youth and put ourselves into the same story. Let’s say you’re still living at home and going to school. On a Saturday night you take the family car. Let’s admit you’re an excellent driver and that you have the right to think of yourself as careful and prudent at the wheel. This is the image your parents have of you and you’re pleased with that. Good for you. You are with the ...

2372. Faith Bridges the Gap

Luke 7:1-10

Sermon

All through the last half of the movie Reds the viewers were prepared for Jack Reed’s death. After he had lost a kidney when he was a young man, his physician had warned that an infection could be fatal to a person with one kidney; there were no "wonder drugs" in the World War I period. Toward the end of the movie, when Jack was hospitalized with a high fever in Petrograd, Russia, it was rather obvious that his time had come. His wife, Louise, who had reached his side after a long and difficult - and ...

2373. Lord, I Believe - Or Do I?

Luke 18:1-8

Sermon

In his ministry of teaching, Jesus was a master at the art of storytelling. Many of his stories, known as parables, have been our favorites through the years since first we heard them. They can be repeated many times, and we will never tire of them - the story of the Good Samaritan, the prodigal, the two men praying in the temple, the sower in the field. And the lessons that the Master taught in parables are pointed, holding up for our inspection virtues to be practiced, vices to avoid, relationships to be ...

2374. The Gospel of the Little Man

Luke 19:1-10

Sermon

Children of all ages quickly recognize Zacchaeus as the little man who shimmied up a sycamore in Jericho to get a glimpse of Jesus as he passed through town. His story has long been a favorite with the children of the church schools, especially those who have experience in climbing trees. His image is imprinted on the mental screen of everyone familiar with the story, for when pilgrims tour the Holy Land and come to Jericho, to see a sycamore rates high in their priorities, and travel guides who find ...

2375. Emancipation Proclamation

John 8:31-41

Sermon

These are slippery words that Jesus used when, fifteen centuries ahead of Martin Luther, nineteen centuries ahead of Abraham Lincoln, he issued the emancipation proclamation: "If you continue in my word, then you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free." Slippery words, I said, for when we think we have these concepts, truth and freedom, neatly boxed and wrapped with pretty ribbons, they begin to slip away. The usual baggage we have stuffed inside of them is ...

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