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 2401 to 2425 of 3108 results

2401. Expectations of a Vital Faith James K. Cobb

Exodus 1:1-22

Sermon

The lessons appointed for the ninth Sunday after Pentecost reflect on the issue of the power and presence of God in the context of suffering. This narrative gives us no easy answers. If anything they exclude some cherished complacencies such as belief that God protects his people from suffering and pain and anguish and hopelessness. But in the text, suffering is undeserved and prolonged and bitter. The fact is that ordinary people lose control of their lives and see their children abused and murdered; but ...

2402. No Telltale Clues

Matthew 9:9-13

Sermon

At times the author of Matthew's Gospel startles us by the small amount of information he offers. Just when we would like to know what it is that is going on, he is silent. Just when we most feel the need of a telltale clue, he tells us nothing. Jesus stands before the stranger called Matthew and says, "Follow me." Matthew accepts the invitation without question or hesitation. All that the evangelist offers us is the fact that "he rose and followed him." You and I would like to know why. What in the world ...

2403. Familiarity Breeds Contempt

Exodus 19:1-25

Sermon

Our "take-it-or-leave-it" attitude concerning God is evidence that we do not always fully appreciate who he is. You may have watched Marlin Perkins of TV's "Wild Kingdom." This wonderful animal lover and trainer has been trying to get people on a first-name basis with animals for most of his seventy-seven years. His wife, Carol, gave this account: "When Marlin and I were dating, I wanted him so badly that I never let him know how little I knew about animals. Soon after our marriage we went to the Belgian ...

2404. One Commandment is Enough!

Exodus 20:1-21

Sermon

Rules, commandments, and laws are nothing new. For instance, everyone knows Murphy's Law: "If there is a possibility that something will go wrong, it will." Or how about the Law of Gardening: "You get the most of what you need the least." Jones' Rule of the Road is: "The easiest way to fold a map is differently." I like Erma Bombeck's Rule of Medicine: "Never go to a doctor whose office plants have died." One of my favorites is Agnes Allen's Law: "Almost anything is easier to get into than out of." But no ...

2405. Death of a Blacksnake

Luke 17:11-19, Genesis 1:1-2:3

Illustration

Staff

I was driving along a rural road recently when the car in front of me swerved off the shoulder and came to a sudden stop. The driver jumped out of the car and ran up a small bank, grabbing a large stick with which he immediately began to flail wildly at the ground. I stopped and rushed up to the man, certain that he had encountered some vicious threat to human life. But I was wrong. "Why did you kill it?" I asked. "It was only a blacksnake." "Blacksnake or rattlesnake, it makes no difference to me," the ...

2406. "He Who Commands Is He Who Fulfills"

Matthew 22:34-40

Sermon

Some years ago, a parishioner gently offered his pastor a piece of criticism. It had to do with the way one of the rubrics in the weekly bulletin had for decades been phrased: an asterisk in the margin indicated those times when "the congregation reverently kneels." "You can command people to kneel," said this lay theologian, "but you can’t command that they be reverent about it." Interesting observation. On the one hand he had a point: some people kneel humbly and reverently; others kneel haughtily ( ...

2407. Round Trip to Bethlehem

Ruth 1:1-22

Sermon

This story has the stuff in it for creating a modern day television soap opera. It mirrors life as it was, and is right now in this world, at its worst and at its best. The Book of Ruth begins with a refugee problem. Elimelech, a native of Bethlehem, leaves home with his wife and two sons to seek refuge in Moab (of all places); it was here Moses was buried. As a result of his sin Moses got into real trouble with God and was not allowed to enter the Promised Land. The move from Bethlehem to Moab was nothing ...

2408. Compassion

Luke 10:25-37

Sermon

Harold Warlick

One of the pivotal questions in life is this one: "What does it mean to grow up?" How do you know when someone is mature? When is someone real? Most of the time it doesn't have anything to do with age. I've known some 20-year-old girls who live like they're 75-year-old old maids. And occasionally friends will even ask me what I'm going to do when I grow up. What does it mean to grow old? When buying a ticket to a movie theatre, you're an adult when you reach 13 years of age. The state says you're old ...

2409. Six Feet Tall

Romans 3:23

Children's Sermon

Object: A six-foot ruler and a stick of gum for each child. Good morning, boys and girls. How tall are you? (Let them answer.) When you grow up, how big do you want to be? (Let them answer.) Most boys want to be tall but most girls would rather be a little smaller than the boys. I brought along a measuring stick because I will be glad to give a stick of gum to any child who is six feet tall today. You must be at least six feet tall to receive a piece of gum. I want all of you to stand up and walk by my ...

2410. The Primacy of Human Relationships

Matthew 5:33-37

Sermon

Joe Pennel

People being properly related to one another was important to Jesus. He spoke with great clarity about the primacy of human relationships. He wanted good relationships to be maintained. The re-establishment of broken relationships was a central concern. According to his teaching a person who was not properly related to others could not be properly related to God. People loving God by loving each other was of ultimate significance. We are living in a society which does not stress the primary importance of ...

2411. Proper 7 & Pentecost 5

Jeremiah 20:7-18, Psalm 69:1-36, Psalm 91:1-16, Genesis 28:10-22

Sermon Aid

THEOLOGICAL CLUE Only the name of this Sunday, the Fifth Sunday after Pentecost, gives any theological clue from the church year; the church is moving eschatologically and continues to anticipate the last times and the return of Christ. The Pentecost cycle/season is roughly one-fifth completed today, so there's a long way to go, as well as a long time to wait for the eschaton. The business of the church continues to be proclaiming "the Lord's death" - in worship, preaching, witnessing, and working - until ...

2412. Proper 27 & Pentecost 25

Psalm 50:1-23, Psalm 43:1-5, Psalm 63:1-11, Amos 5:18-27, Hosea 11:1-11, 1 Thessalonians 4:13--5:11, Matthew 25:14-30

Sermon Aid

THEOLOGICAL CLUE It is in the gospels and the other readings assigned to this Sunday that one hears the message that the "end times" are coming and the Lord will return to usher in the fullness of the kingdom of God. This note culminates in Christ the King Sunday, the last Sunday of Pentecost and of the Church year, too; it spills over into the first Sundays of Advent and the new church year. There is a kind of call to spiritual perception and understanding at the end of Pentecost that becomes a call to ...

2413. A Princely Passion

2 Samuel 13:1-22

Sermon

She has just passed her twenty-fifth birthday. A pert miss, young, attractive, and popular. Possessing more threads in her closet than could be found on your Singer Sewing Machine’s spool. She is a doll. She is rich and famous. Her name is Barbie. Her boyfriend is tall, dark, and handsome. His tennis outfit would make Jimmy Connors’ eyes turn green with envy. His tailor-made gloves would make the likes of Michael Jackson drool with jealousy. His well-tailored suits are a model for budding executives on ...

2414. Faces of the Nation

2 Samuel 19:9-43

Sermon

You see their smiling faces everywhere. They have their own birth certificates. Their birthdays are cause for celebration. Legend has it that they are orphans who have been found in a cabbage patch. Each toddler who clutches one of the Cabbage Patch dolls in her arms feels as if she were a mommy. Cabbage Patch dolls sell out quickly and, in some cities, near riots have occurred in stores where they have become available. Cabbage Patch dolls became as popular as an airconditioner salesman in the Mohave ...

2415. Ascension Sunday

Matthew 28:16-20, Luke 24:50-53

Sermon Aid

Liturgical Color: White Gospel: Matthew 28:16-20; Luke 24:44-53 Theme: The Great Commission. Pastoral Invitation Try this: Invite the choir and congregation to respond with the following litany (Perhaps the choir could develop a tune to go with the words, and maybe a soloist could sing the congregation's line, and the congregation then repeat it.): Choir: Come, come with open hearts and lives. People: O Lord, we come. Choir: Come into community, communion with one another, and with God. People: O Lord, we ...

2416. Hail! Your King!

Mark 15:1-15

Drama

Setting: One platform, or chancel area, should have an ornate chair in the center for the Pilate’s throne. A bowl of water and a towel should be on a table somewhere on the stage. Near it, a sign with the words, "King Of The Jews." At the edge of the chancel, front center stage, there will be a stand for the cross. The cross should be substantial in size but not too difficult for an actor to hold it on his shoulder and carry it. The cross may be placed in one of the aisles toward the back but not so far ...

2417. The Precepts of the Lord

Exodus 20:1-21, Psalm 19:7-14

Sermon

The Covenant is a Covenant of Law. WHOA! Isn’t the Christian Covenant a covenant of grace, as opposed to works? Doesn’t Saint Paul complain that the Law, the "dispensation of death," kills, while only the Spirit gives life? (2 Corinthians 3:6-7) "Law" has often gotten bad press among Christians. While not arguing for the kind of legalism that rightly offended Jesus and very nearly made a neurotic out of Saint Paul, there are some positive features of God’s Law. 1. Martin Luther, who waged a famous quarrel ...

2418. The First Council

Acts 15:1-21

Sermon Aid

CSS

The elation among the Christians at Antioch lasted "no little time." We can only guess how long. But in the early church the storms and sunshine, the happy days and the dark days of controversy, the good times and the bad seemed to alternate in rapid succession. How quickly the ecstasy of the people at Lystra, in their zeal to make Paul and Barnabas into gods, changed into violence and threats! Now the same sudden storm comes to Antioch. Some men came down from Judea - from Jerusalem itself, in all ...

2419. Striking Silversmiths Start Riot

Acts 19:23-41

Sermon Aid

CSS

Paul was too restless to remain long in any place. As he completed the second year of his ministry at Ephesus, he began planning his next move. To pave the way, he sent two of his helpers, Timothy and Erastus, ahead of him into Macedonia. Shortly after they left, a major shift in the situation at Ephesus took place. Paul’s teaching had been tolerated and even welcomed by the Ephesians so long as it remained in a purely religious context. When it began to swell in influence so that it affected the city’s ...

2420. No Longer Spectators - But Participants!

Acts 2:14-41

Sermon

Barbara Brokhoff

But Peter, standing up with the eleven, raised his voice and said to them, "Men of Israel, hear these words: Jesus of Nazareth, a man attested by God to you by miracles, wonders, and signs which God did through Him in your midst, as you yourselves also know--Him being delivered by the determined counsel and foreknowledge of God, you have taken by lawless hands, have crucified, and put to death;whom God raised up, having loosed the pains of death, because it was not possible that He should be held by it. ...

2421. Christians Die Well

Acts 7:54--8:1a

Sermon

Barbara Brokhoff

Now in those days, when the number of the disciples was multiplying, there arose a murmuring against the Hebrews by the Hellenists, because their widows were neglected in the daily distribution. Then the twelve summoned the multitude of the disciples and said, "it is not desirable that we should leave the word of God, and serve tables. Therefore, brethren, seek out from among you seven men of good reputation, full of the Holy Spirit and wisdom, whom we may appoint over this business; but we will give ...

2422. Sinners Anonymous

Matthew 9:9-13

Sermon

Dennis Kastens

As Jesus passed on from there, he saw a man called Matthew sitting at the tax office; and he said to him, "Follow me." And he rose and followed him. And as he sat at the table in the house, behold, many tax collectors and sinners came and sat down with Jesus and his disciples. And when the Pharisees saw this, they said to his disciples, "Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?" But when he heard it, he said, "Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. Go and ...

2423. Echoes of Eternity

Matthew 10:24-32

Sermon

Dennis Kastens

"A disciple is not above his teacher, nor a servant above his master; it is enough for the disciple to be like his teacher, and the servant like his master. If they have called the master of the house Beelzebul, how much more will they malign those of his household. "So have no fear of them; for nothing is covered that will not be revealed, or hidden that will not be known. What I tell you in the dark, utter in the light; and what you hear whispered, proclaim upon the housetops. And do not fear those who ...

2424. We Are Driven!

Jeremiah 20:7-18

Sermon

John R. Brokhoff

O Lord, thou hast deceived me, and I was deceived; thou art stronger than I, and thou hast prevailed. I have become a laughingstock all the day; every one mocks me. For whenever I speak, I cry out, I shout, "Violence and destruction!" For the word of the Lord has become for me a reproach and derision all day long. If I say, "I will not mention him, or speak any more in his name," there is in my heart as it were a burning fire shut up in my bones, and I am weary with holding it in, and I cannot. For I hear ...

2425. Children of the Eighth Day

Romans 6:1-14

Sermon

Robert G. Tuttle

It’s a long way from the bottom to the top. But that is the call of the Christian life. "That like as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life" (Romans 6:4b). The title of this chapter belongs to Thornton Wilder. In his book, the scene opens on New Year’s Eve, 1899, just before the new century is born. A group of men are sitting around the stove in a country store. Dr. Gillis, the community seer, is facing the question, "What will the new ...

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