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 5000 results

2351. Right-Handed Sinners!

Mark 9:42-50

Sermon

Robert Leslie Holmes

... of any cocaine use. His wife and children were glad to have their husband and daddy back from his destructive lifestyle. Not long ago, Ray needed to make a business trip that allowed for a shortcut through the small southern town where his supplier — a ... of the eye? Eye sins are what we look at. It is through the eyes that almost all sinful offenses enter our body. Eve looks, longs for, and reaches out to take the forbidden fruit, and all creation falls in the wake of that one sin that begins in her eyes. ...

2352. It’s God’s Will?

Ephesians 1:3-14

Sermon

Scott Suskovic

... : Where are you ultimately headed? Now, put them together. Predestination means knowing beforehand where you are going to end up — before you even get there. It's not a word or idea I made up — nor did Luther or Calvin. It comes right out of the writings of Paul. Long ago, even before he made the world, God loved us and chose us in Christ to be holy and without fault in his eyes. His unchanging plan has always been to adopt us into his own family ... God's secret plan has now been revealed to us ... for ...

2353. Epiphany: All about You!

Colossians 3:1-17

Sermon

Scott Suskovic

... name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him" (Colossians 3:17). Epiphany shows us how to get over ourselves and have this Copernicus revolution of the heart. We follow the journey of the magi across the desert. It is a journey that slows us down long enough to put away the cell phones and turn off the computer to see that I didn't put the stars in their courses, I didn't dictate the rise of the tides, I didn't maneuver the earth around the sun, and I certainly didn't strap on a ...

2354. Nocturnal Christians?

1 John 1:1—2:2

Sermon

Nancy Kraft

... like they don't exist. We can delude ourselves into believing that we're nearly perfect if we stay in the darkness long enough — like people who are raised in a culture where the accepted response to violence is always retaliation with more violence. In ... being badly disfigured, the phantom looks hideous and is forced to live his life hiding in the shadows with a mask over his face. He longs to be accepted despite this, to be seen in the light, to remove his mask, and have someone look him in the face and ...

2355. Loving God

1 John 5:1-6

Sermon

Nancy Kraft

... really available to her. Often, they are the people who aren't interested in her. Then when someone is interested in her, she's not interested in them. Somewhere along the line, she's learned that if something is of value, it must be unattainable. She always longs for someone who is a little out of reach. Movies are filled with this kind of story line. Like the dorky guy who falls in love with the homecoming queen. It's also the stuff fairy tales are made of. Take Cinderella, the poor girl who poked around ...

2356. A Plea from The Heart

2 Corinthians 6:1-13

Sermon

Gibson “Nibs” Stroupe

... 't you love me?" - he asks them to open wide their hearts to him as he has opened his heart to them. He repeats it again at the beginning of the next chapter: "Make room in your hearts for us." There is a sense of Paul pleading to the Corinthians, longing for them to end their bickerings, to end their resistance to Paul and the message of gospel, and to work toward the reconciliation he mentioned so eloquently at the close of chapter 5. When my mother asked me, "Don't you love me?" she did not go on to list ...

2357. A Higher Calling

Ephesians 4:1-16

Sermon

Thomas Lentz

... to the pin you have been using," he said. After some reflection, Mr. Steinway said, "We are an old firm, slow and cautious about making changes. But we will install your pins in one of our pianos and give them a trial." The salesman was delighted. He said, "How long a trial will you need?" "Oh," said Mr. Steinway thoughtfully, "I'd say about fifty years." Today, you may not be the husband, the wife, the son, or the daughter you ought to be, but it's never too late to be the person you can be tomorrow. We ...

2358. Make a 119 Call

Romans 14:1--15:13

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... But there is also no denying the examples of sacrifice, of love, of faith and of hope for a new day that were demonstrated by a long line of heroes, men and women and children, on and since that day. One of the first things the media picked up on ten years ... . Instead of making distress calls, let’s honor the sacrifices and love and commitment of all those who responded to that decade long 911 call by purposefully making a “day-by-day” call, a “119” call. We’ve all had a lot of “911’s” ...

2359. The Water Witcher

Matthew 11:1-19

Drama

Arley K. Fadness

... Willard: Yep, you’re right. Joey: I’m thirsty. Willard: Already? Joey: Yep, hungry, too. I think I smell chocolate chip cookies. Willard: (laughs) Okay, let’s go to the pump and get a drink. Joey: Can I pump? Willard: Sure, lad, just take a long, steady stroke. (Joey pumps and Willard holds a cup — they drink and smile.) Willard: How is it? Like its taste? Joey: Ohhh — it’s cold and delicious! Not like town water with chemicals and all. Willard: It’s pure. No pollution. Natural, right from the ...

2360. Looking for the Child of Bethlehem

Luke 2:1-7

Drama

Arley K. Fadness

... : (chuckles) Of course, this is a church. This is (your) Church in (your town) . Are you looking for someone in particular? I’m sure our pastor would talk to you. Asher: I’m looking for a baby. But he wouldn’t be a baby now. It all happened so long ago. Leader: I think you should speak with our pastor. Asher: I must find out about the baby. I have all my notes and questions on these papers. (waves papers in the air) I must learn what happened to that baby! Leader: All right. Please calm down. I’m ...

2361. The Waiting Room

John 1:1-18

Drama

Arley K. Fadness

... her and blows her nose occasionally. She sits as the scene opens.) Mr. Rush: Boy, I don’t know what’s taking so long. I’ve been waiting here nearly an hour. Vickie: Whatcha here for, mister? (hiccups) Mr. Rush: They’re just gonna check my arm, ... waiting now, then I’d get in on time! Waiting Man: (stands) Please, can you tell me how my wife is? I’ve been waiting so long, I’m very worried. Nurse: Yes, I knew that you were both worried when you came in today. But I have some good news for you. ...

2362. A Christmas Program

Luke 2:21-40

Drama

Arley K. Fadness

... bring deliverance to the people of Israel. The immediate deliverance was for the Israelites to be freed from bondage in exile. The long-term deliverance applied to all people in bondage to sin, death, and the power of the devil. A deliverer would come who ... chase away a wolf or a lion or a rustler. No wild beasts or thief is going to get away with any of my flock as long as I have this staff and this club. (shows staff and club) Now, let me tell you what happened one night when my shepherd friends, Josh, ...

2363. Christmas Puppet Play

Luke 2:21-40

Drama

Arley K. Fadness

... , Odie, what do you hope you get for Christmas? Odie: Well, Carl, that’s easy. I have my list right here. Let’s see ... five dozen dog biscuits ... 46 chewy bones ... a plastic fire hydrant ... Carl: (interrupts) Okay, okay. Your list is extremely long. Here’s what I want: my own personal river to swim in ... 500 chocolate-covered fish ... 17 large toothbrushes ... a large mud bath ... and, and ... (Frieda enters, interrupting Carl.) Frieda: Hi, guys! Whatcha doin’? Odie: Hi, Frieda. Carl and I are ...

2364. Ascension Answers

Acts 1:1-11

Sermon

Ken Lentz

... ; another a fortress or a city. The third fresco clearly presented the figure of Christ the King. The visitors took in quick breaths. Imagine — someone came to the top of that mountain 1,200 years before and illustrated their conviction about Christ on that wall. Someone long ago had come over the Alps from the south and proclaimed Jesus as Lord to the mountain folk who as yet did not know him. The Jesus of the artist(s) was the Kosmocrator (ruler of the cosmos), the Pantocrator (ruler of all things), the ...

2365. God Never Gives Up on Us

1 Samuel 8:4-11 (12-15) 16-20, (11:14-15)

Sermon

William J. Carl, III

... try to fix things ourselves. But Samuel, being a holy and righteous man, knew better than to try solving this one himself. Instead, he took a deep breath and headed off for some time with God, the one who always seemed to have the right answer. Samuel had learned long ago that worrying about something didn't get him anywhere. In fact, worry, which affects one's health by eating at you, is a sure sign that you don't really trust in God to help you handle whatever trouble you are in. Samuel may not have been ...

2366. Getting Through the Grief

2 Samuel 1:1, 17-27

Sermon

William J. Carl, III

... dead, who struggled here, have consecrated it, far above our poor power to add or detract. The world will little note, nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here. It is for us the living, rather, to ... so filled David's life that even when he transgressed God gave him another chance. The good news is God does the same for us. God takes the long view of our lives and, when we come to the end, erases the sins and welcomes us in because of the one we call the Christ. Contrary ...

2367. Dancing in Holy Places

2 Samuel 6:1-5, 12b-19

Sermon

William J. Carl, III

... trying to show us that no matter what happens to us we never have to dance alone and we really should "dance with the one who brung us." I think the sixteen-year-old girl named Meredith whom I buried years ago understood all that. At a wedding reception not long after her funeral, I felt a tap on my arm and looked down and saw one of the little girls in our church asking me to dance, and suddenly imagined sweet Meredith, dancer that she was, tapping Saint Peter on the arm and taking a turn on heaven's dance ...

2368. Being Two People at Once

2 Samuel 11:1-15

Sermon

Donna Schaper

... both. We are people whom God both loves and chastens. We are often harder on ourselves than God is on us. I remember receiving a long letter from a writer friend of mine. He wrote the letter beautifully and said that he was no longer able to write! Unlike David, it ... have rather than becoming the prisoner of our own desires. Do we really need a full sabbatical to do it? Do we really need a long vacation to become new or can we put in place very quiet simple rituals that allow us to be who we are slowly? This ...

2369. Oh, That I Knew Where I Might Find Him

Job 23:1-9, 16-17

Sermon

Robert A. Hausman

... have seen evil" (Psalm 90:15). Ultimately, there must be a right and a wrong, and the wrong must be punished and the right rewarded. If not, what sense is there? The Old Testament wisdom literature is full of that challenge. The psalms of lament cry out, "How long, oh Lord, how long?" However, once we put God in the dock and seek to make God conform to our reality, we have a problem. In our modern age, Archibald MacLeish has framed it in a limerick: "If God is god, he is not good; if God is good, he is not ...

2370. From Emptiness to Fullness

Ruth 3:1-5, 4:13-17

Sermon

Robert A. Hausman

... has entrusted herself to the Lord and has not been disappointed. It sounds a bit like Job, doesn't it, where he gets it all back in the end? "And they lived happily ever after!" We know there is much truth to the story; it would not have lasted this long if there were not. Still, as with Job, we need to contextualize it, or complicate it, in order to avoid a shallow treatment. We can do that by looking at the gospel for today, the story of the widow's mite (Mark 12:38-44). The story of the widow ...

2371. Which Mask Will You Wear?

Matthew 23:1-39

Sermon

King Duncan

... who seems so cocky. Is it possible there’s a little boy behind his blustery camouflage, hoping his fear won’t show? The pushy woman crowding in front of [us] at the post office. I wonder if the little girl in her has felt ignored too long. “There’s a child in me, too,” says Marilyn Hellenberg, “and she sometimes hurts. Thank God for those special people who care enough to look beyond the false faces I sometimes wear!” (6) Those are wise words. Be careful about judging people by the masks they ...

2372. What Does It Mean to Be Blessed?

Matthew 5:1-12

Sermon

King Duncan

... home. May good and faithful friends be yours, wherever you may roam. May peace and plenty bless your world with joy that long endures. May all life’s passing seasons bring the best to you and yours.” Welcome on this All Saints’ Day, 2011 ... of my eyes like a green fringe,” she writes. “Trees grew down, not up, and the sky was a blue lawn that went on forever. For as long as I kept my balance I could tap dance on it, while birds and clouds flew under my feet. My swing set was no longer an `A’ but ...

2373. The Science of Happiness

1 Thessalonians 1:1-10

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... that he had a “happy” existence. Yet Paul was filled with joy. He was overflowing with love for all the churches and all the saints. Paul’s personal experience of genuine happiness came as a byproduct of his unshakeable resolve to “Please God.” As long as Paul stayed true to those two words he was unhesitatingly happy. Will you practice happiness this week? That doesn’t mean you will always feel happiness. But as John Wesley taught us, sometimes you need to act as if you have faith, even when ...

2374. Waiting for a Savior

Mark 13:32-37

Sermon

King Duncan

... women from the State legislature and other members of this prominent church crowded into this small chapel, rubbing shoulders with sixty homeless people. Can you see them taking the palm ashes and placing them on one another’s foreheads in the name of Christ? To Tom Long, this was a preview of how things will be in the Kingdom of God. (5) This is what Advent is really about. It’s not about lights and carols, and buying presents. True, it is about preparing ourselves to celebrate the birth of the Savior ...

2375. Keep an Inventory of Good

Illustration

Staff

... thinking it over," Rockefeller said, "and before I ask the man in to discuss the matter, I've been making some notes." Bedford later told the story this way: "Across the top of the page was written, 'Points in favor of Mr. _______.' There followed a long list of the man's virtues, including a brief description of how he had helped the company make the right decision on three separate occasions that had earned many times the cost of his recent error. "I never forgot that lesson. In later years, whenever I ...

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