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 2376 to 2400 of 5000 results

2376. Form Without Function

Illustration

Keith Copley

... also find an olive tree, supposedly dating from his time. If this is so, this tree would then be some 2400 years old. The trunk of this tree is very large but completely hollow. The tree is little more than thick bark. There are a few long, straggling branches, but they are supported by sturdy wooden poles every few feet. It has an occasional leaf here and there and might produce a few olives each year. In the fields around, however, are olive groves in many directions. The strong, healthy, young trees with ...

2377. Historic: The Declaration of Independence

Illustration

Staff

... as to them shall seem most likely to affect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn, that mankind are ... suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it ...

2378. The Old Man and the Gulls

Illustration

Paul Harvey

... would fight the water, and the weather, and the scorching sun. They spent many sleepless nights recoiling as giant sharks rammed their rafts. The largest raft was nine by five. The biggest shark...ten feet long. But of all their enemies at sea, one proved most formidable: starvation. Eight days out, their rations were long gone or destroyed by the salt water. It would take a miracle to sustain them. And a miracle occurred. In Captain Eddie's own words, "Cherry," that was the B- 17 pilot, Captain William ...

2379. Life Is Yours

Matthew 25:1-13

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... yet another “end of the world” date came and went for National Family Radio founder Harold Camping and his followers. Those who put more trust in the ancient Mayan calendar give us one more year (2012!!). Isn’t it interesting that the Mayans are long gone, and Harold Camping has disappeared from the radio and from sight. So much of our faith’s focus has been planning for the end. What happened to celebrating the beginning? All those “end-time” eagle eyes zero in on everything that is happening ...

2380. Back To The Fifties

Humor Illustration

... going to be impossible to buy a week's groceries for $20. Have you seen the new cars coming out next year? It won't be long when $5000 will only buy a used one. If cigarettes keep going up in price, I'm going to quit. A quarter a pack is ridiculous. ... get by with saying ''damn'' in ''Gone With The Wind,'' it seems every movie has a ''hell'' or ''damn'' in it. Also, it won't be long until couples are sleeping in the same bed in the movies. What is this world coming to?" Pretty soon you won't be able to buy ...

2381. I Was Born In A Small Town

Humor Illustration

... and news of it gets back to town before you do. Without thinking, you wave to all oncoming traffic. You don't buy all your vegetables at the grocery store. The city limits signs are both on the same post. The mayor had to annex property to eat a foot long hot dog. The local gas station sells live bait. You go to the State Fair for your family vacation. You get up at 5:30 am and go down to the coffee shop. You're on a first name basis with the county sheriff. You have the number of the ...

2382. When the Service was Interrupted

Mark 1:21-28

Sermon

King Duncan

... this wonderfully challenging puzzle from a military setting: You are a captain in charge of one sergeant and four men. Your task is to raise a 100-foot flagpole and slide it into a hole 10-feet deep. You have two ropes one 22-feet long and one 26-feet long two shovels, and two buckets. How do you accomplish your task? The answer is this: Since you’re a captain, you turn to the sergeant and say, “Sergeant, get the flagpole up!” That’s positional authority. You command those who are under you, and ...

2383. No Cleansing, No Refreshment

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... Facebook?” The point is: we voluntarily choose to “rough up” and “slough off” some part of our ordinary lives in order to let something new be exposed. The only reason to “give up” something for Lent is if every time you crave a chocolate or long for a steak or loath going to the gym, that “roughed-up” moment reminds you of why you have sloughed off sweets or meat or sloth. Every craving should remind you of Christ. If you are “cleansing” your temple, your mind/body/spirit through some ...

2384. Candidates for God’s Candid Camera

1 John 3:11-24

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... appears to be nothing less than the refusal by some to affirm Jesus as “the Christ,” as “the Son” of God (2:22‑23). Despite the shatteringly serious nature of this brokenness, 1 John does not dwell on that rift. Nor does it toss a long hissy-fit over the failures of those whose faith has faltered. Instead 1 John focuses on what those who do confess Jesus as the Christ must exemplify in their life of faith. For the Johannine author, theological precision takes a back seat to decisive action. The ...

2385. No Other Name

Acts 4:1-22

Sermon

King Duncan

... name of Jesus as well. Sam explained, “You know, when the last alternative option to Jesus has been exhausted and shown for its true bankruptcy, the name of Jesus takes on great power and allure.” (9) Yes it does. In the words of the Gospel song writer of long ago, “Take the name of Jesus with you, Child of sorrow and of woe; It will joy and comfort give you, Take it then where’er you go. Amen.” By no other name can we be saved. Jesus. 1. William Hartston, The Encyclopedia of Useless Information ...

2386. True Abundant Life

John 10:11-18

Illustration

King Duncan

... for her to meet. The other day, I carried her a cup of coffee and sat with her for a while. "Her only son lives a long way away. She last saw him two years ago, when he boarded one of the buses right there. He is married now, and she has ... increased when she looked into the face of her grandchild for the first time. The store owner commented, "I'll never forget that look as long as I live." The next day the same man returned to the convenience store. The owner was again behind the counter. Before the store ...

2387. Toss Your Cap Over the Wall

Mark 3:20-30

Sermon

King Duncan

... said, “A man’s reach should exceed his grasp, or what’s a heaven for?” And it is true. There are times when all of us long to toss our caps over the wall. There are times when we hunger in our own way for the heroic whether we want to change jobs, start ... be a little boy’s turn. The teacher pointed to a deer and asked him if he knew what it was. He hesitated for a long time, looking unsure of himself. So the teacher tried to prompt him by telling him to think of what his mother called his father at ...

2388. Stop Carrying the Anvil

Mk 6:1-13

Illustration

Maxie Dunnam

... , I'm not going to carry this anvil any longer." (Printed 1978 for Wider Quaker Fellowship with permission of Douglas V. Steer) There comes a time when we put the anvil down because we can keep trying too long. It's not easy but we have to find that rhythm, that balance, between not giving up too soon but also not continuing too long. There is a time to stop trying. When things do not work and you know it; when people do not respond and you feel it; when the situation goes from bad to worse and you can do ...

2389. Walls, Walls, Everywhere Walls

Ephesians 2:11-22

Sermon

King Duncan

... a spiritual truth so evident that it is hard to see how so many persons have missed it. The biblical testimony is that we all belong to one family. We all descended from one set of parents. The Genesis writer called them Adam and Eve. We don’t know how long ago that was. We only know that the first man was fashioned from the dust of the earth and at death his physical body returned to that earth. We don’t know how God created Adam and Eve. We only know that God breathed into them His own Spirit. Then ...

2390. Zombie Zone or Beulah Land?

Ephesians 2:11-22

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... sung as a memorial song, “Sweet Beulah Land.” Whichever version you use, be sure to make it clear that “Beulah Land” is not just something we have to wait for. That we are bring heaven to earth now, and that the “Sweet Beulah Land” we long for need not be only on the other side. We can begin “Sweet Beulah Land” now, in heaven’s borderlands, even in the world of “zombie-land” and “zombie-zones.” John Bunyan’s Pilgrim’s Progress (1678) was the first to use “Beulah Land” as ...

2391. Tradition Can Be Changed

Luke 2:41-52

Sermon

Cynthia Cowen

... admire it. The Christmas season had been a blur for her this year. She watched it rotate on its plastic stand, waiting for her favorite ornaments to come into view. Who cares if the twelve days of Christmas are over? Why hadn't she bought an artificial tree long ago? Answer? Because it had been tradition in her home to have a real tree. Of course, as dictated, it had to be a blue spruce. They smelled the best. "Never a black spruce," Grandpa had warned her. "They stink like cat urine!" When her husband was ...

2392. Oh, Jerusalem

Luke 13:31-35

Sermon

Frank Ramirez

... as our minds are focused on the glut of news that leads us to choose celebrity scandals over the true ills that beset us. We know so much and we need to forget so much. There is a cross imprinted in the world around us — and a long memory. Nancey Murphy, in her book Reconciling Theology and Science, connects science and faith in one cohesive system. She reminds us that we live in a cruciform world, a world built around the cross.1 The death of plants feeds the animals, animals die for our table, we ...

2393. Low-Carb Christians

John 21:1-19

Sermon

Frank Ramirez

... would include a hefty meat course and no green stuff. The first day was great. I never felt so full, yet so virtuous. It wasn't long before it began to work. My pants were loose. Was this great or what? No exercise, no deprivation. No pain, plenty of gain. I lasted a ... , reaping, cooking, eating — it's all good. These things only become idols when we put them at the center of our world. As long as we keep God in the center, there is no problem with any of these things. Nor are we to consider ourselves ...

2394. That We May All Be One!

John 17:20-26

Sermon

Frank Ramirez

... their solitary stance against everyone else. But Jesus willingly laid down his life to complete God's work, so that, as Jesus says, "the world may know that you have sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me" (v. 23). This whole prayer, this long extended plea from the Son to the Father, has been about tying up all the loose ends before Jesus sets about the great task of salvation. This is not about eschatology, the study of last things. It's about taking care of first things, about setting into ...

2395. Veni, Spiritus Sanctus, Veni

John 14:8-17 (25-27)

Sermon

Arley K. Fadness

... heresy that promoted the Trinity as expressed in three separate modes. Pelgius, an Irish monk, confused salvation by trying to mix water and oil, teaching that grace needs an act of human will to be efficacious. The list of dubious teachers is long: Joseph Smith, Charles Taze Russell, and in our own day, Warren Jeffs, and many others. It is refreshing that Jesus promises a teacher, an instructor, an advocate, worth listening to. This instructor/advocate, the paraclete, guides Jesus' followers into the truth ...

2396. Checked the Ditch Lately?

Luke 10:25-37

Sermon

Arley K. Fadness

... for you. All I can say is, that I'm sorry, and I want you to know that if you need anything at all, come to me. What is mine is yours." Years later, Edgar Guest thought about this experience. Jim Potter, a neighbor across the way, the druggist, may long since have forgotten that moment when he gave his hand and his sympathy, but I shall never forget it — never in my life. To me it stands out like the silhouette of a lonely tree against a crimson sunset.2 My friend, Charles, and I were driving home from ...

2397. Will He Find Faith?

Luke 18:1-8

Sermon

Scott Bryte

... to what the unjust judge says. And will not God grant justice to his chosen ones who cry to him day and night? Will he delay long in helping them? I tell you, he will quickly grant justice to them. And yet, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith ... is a contrast. "And will not God grant justice to his chosen ones who cry to him day and night?" [asks Jesus] "Will he delay long in helping them?" (vv. 7a8). "I tell you, he will quickly grant justice to them." So why does this story disturb people? Why is ...

2398. Choosing a God

1 Kings 18:20-21 (22-29) 30-39

Sermon

David E. Leininger

... of Baal on Mount Carmel for a confrontation. Once and for all, they would determine just who the God of Israel would be. It would be a fight to the finish with the entire nation as witness. The word went out and the people gathered at the mountain. "How long will you waver between two opinions?" asked Elijah. "If the Lord is God, follow him; but if Baal is God, follow him" (1 Kings 18:21). Short and to the point. The word of the prophet was, "Choose a God." Of course, they would have preferred not to. They ...

2399. Would A Loving God Really Let Anyone Go To Hell?

Luke 16:19-31

Sermon

David E. Leininger

... pointed our attention to an area out the window to our right — Gehenna. I was surprised. I would have figured it to be an awful, smoky, smelly dump, but it was a park: tall trees, green grass, playing fields for youngsters' ball games. The fires have long since gone out. Unending Gehenna? Apparently not. If our witness is to include the reality of hell at all, perhaps it would be better explained like this: God, in divine love, wants everyone, but God will force no one. And because that love is so great ...

2400. You're a Treasure!

Mark 7:24-30

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... Abby’s” response: Yes, dear, I lost my beautiful mother (she was only fifty-seven), and a few years later I lost a wonderful father (he was sixty-two). And not a day passes that I don’t thank God for letting me have my parents for as long as I did. I know many who were not nearly as blessed as I, and I think of those who have survived a far greater tragedy -losing their children. Now, what were you saying about clippings and pictures and other ‘treasures?’ The ultimate “treasures” in life are ...

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