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 2426 to 2450 of 5000 results

2426. Belonging to Christ's Flock

John 10:22-42

Sermon

King Duncan

... they said. That would mean that the wife had been loved but the love was now gone. Then he asked, “Could you ‘dva’ your wife, [d-v-a]?” “Yes,” they said. That kind of love depended on the wife’s actions. She would be loved as long as she remained faithful and cared for her husband well. Then Lee Bramlett asked the question that truly puzzled him, “Could you ‘dvu’ your wife, [d-v-u]?” Everyone laughed. “Of course not!” they said. “If you said that, you would have to keep loving ...

2427. John 5:1-9

John 5:1-15

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... in v.7. The severity of this man’s illness is evident by its extreme longevity — he had been ill for “thirty-eight years.” Although the exact nature of this illness is not given, the despair and hopelessness of enduring such a condition for so long is surely part of this man’s misery. When Jesus “saw” the man lying down among that crowd of desperate people, he instantly “knew” (“gnous”) that here was an individual so steeped in an illness that it sapped the body and the soul. Jesus ...

2428. A Matter of Trust

Galatians 1:11-24

Sermon

King Duncan

... . This is a big deal! Our world was designed to run on trust. Trust is essential to everything we do. We trust the other drivers on the road to stop when the light turns red. We trust the builders of bridges to get it right when they build a long span across a wide waterway. We trust the doctor to be accurate in her diagnosis and the hospital to provide the equipment and the sterile environment we need to survive a disease. We have to trust the banks, the government, yes, even Wall Street to guard our funds ...

2429. Luke 13:10-17

Luke 13:10-17

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... daughter of Abraham.” Jesus’ argument is further strengthened because the plight of this “daughter” was not caused by any accidental tumble into a pit, but was the direct result of demoniac actions. She had been “bound by Satan for eighteen long years.” The synagogue crowd opts for miracle over micro-management. Jesus’ argument convinces those in attendance both of his authority and of the legitimacy and legality of his actions. They rejoice over the healing, the “wonderful things” he had ...

2430. Cure for an Aching Back

Luke 13:10-17

Sermon

King Duncan

... Or, in modern terms, maybe Luke is saying to us that this woman’s problem was caused by something that was troubling her mentally or spiritually. One of the Psalms attributed to David is very interesting. David writes, “I am bowed down and brought very low; all day long I go about mourning. My back is filled with searing pain; there is no health in my body. I am feeble and utterly crushed; I groan in anguish of heart” (Psalm 38:6-8). If you read the rest of the Psalm, it is clear that David attributes ...

2431. The Total Gift

Romans 1:1-17

Sermon

Timothy J. Smith

... that moment, to put himself to use for Jesus. Because of that powerful experience Paul completely surrendered to his Lord. We are called to follow Jesus just as Paul was called. Paul in his opening words to the Romans makes the case that Jesus was the long-awaited messiah. The Old Testament prophets foretold of the coming of God’s messiah hundreds of years before the birth of Jesus. Isaiah told of God giving a sign for all the people, “Look, the young woman is with child and shall bear a son, and shall ...

2432. The Best Gift of All

Titus 2:1-15

Sermon

Timothy J. Smith

... and Thanksgiving as well as other things to help. Many years have passed; Rose is married and has her own children. She longed to try something different at Christmas. She suggested that instead of buying expensive gifts that they help meet someone else’s needs ... .[2] Christmas Eve is a time to receive the gift that God has for each one of us. Just as Jesus was born on this night long ago, so may he be reborn in our hearts and lives. To receive God’s gift in our lives anew we must make room for this most ...

2433. Grow Up!

1 Corinthians 3:1-23

Sermon

Timothy J. Smith

... name. The danger is when we reach a point in our spiritual lives when we feel we no longer need to grow. That was the point Paul was trying to make to the Corinthians. The people stopped growing and were in effect stuck in infancy for far too long. They should have been eating solid food but were still only drinking milk. They should have been maturing in their faith but were behaving like babies. They should have been walking or learning to ride a bike but they were still crawling on their hands and knees ...

2434. When God Tests Us

Exodus 32:1-33:6

Sermon

Argile Smith

... t work. It rarely does for anyone else either. Jesus told us as much when he warned us not to put new wine into old wineskins. The new wine of a living relationship with Christ can’t ever be contained in the old wineskin of dead religion for very long. We tend to look at the Israelites in this episode of their journey with at least a hint of disgust. Such a perspective on their huge blunder would be easy to develop. We say they should have known better, and Aaron should have known better. Before we cast ...

2435. When God Does Something New

Jeremiah 30:1--31:40

Sermon

Argile Smith

... the world report the same good news. Here in the United States, reports of spiritual awakening in some of our cities have been circulating for a while now. God has been changing hearts and transforming lives in places in which we thought he would have given up long ago. Now to the questions before us. On this Reformation Sunday, what can we say about what God is doing among us? Is God showing that he’s doing something among us that’s making an eternal difference to anyone? God’s always in the business ...

2436. God Cares

Ezekiel 34:1-31

Sermon

Argile Smith

... form of malnourishment. One of the character traits of such a chronic problem is that we don’t even know we are hungry anymore. We have grown so accustomed to the gnawing pain in our soul that we don’t even sense it. We have gone so long without any spiritual food that we have lost our taste for it. In the New Testament, Peter talked about the food. He compared Christians to newborn babies who depended on mother’s milk exclusively for their nourishment. He went on to say that believers needed to take ...

2437. You Never Noticed

Luke 16:19-31

Sermon

King Duncan

... from crying, because whatever you may call it, being poor isn’t any fun. “There was a rich man,” said Jesus, “who was dressed in purple and fine linen and lived in luxury every day. At his gate was laid a beggar named Lazarus, covered with sores and longing to eat what fell from the rich man’s table. Even the dogs came and licked his sores. “The time came when the beggar died and the angels carried him to Abraham’s side. The rich man also died and was buried. In Hades, where he was in torment ...

2438. Remembering Jesus

Matthew 26:17-30

Sermon

David O. Bales

... reeds that we used to use.”[1] Some people think the Bible always tells us what to do. Yet, read the Bible and you find that a great deal of the Bible shows us, which is a much more “telling” way to communicate: like Emma just sweeping away with her long-handled broom. Since we weren’t alive in first-century Galilee and Judea, God has given us the gospel stories of Jesus so we too can see a divine way of living. Jesus isn’t just a wonderful example, because try as we may we’ll never live up to ...

2439. Finding the Perfect Gift

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... by Ebay’s slam on homemade items. Only a couple registered displeasure at the slam on the church. Welcome to the 21st century. Every year there is the “it” gift — the big score, big cheese, the big dog goodie that is sought out and sold out long before Christmas Eve. The “it” gift is, of course, age-related, although increasingly it seems that the greatest wish lists of ten year olds, thirty year olds, sixty year olds, and eighty year olds, have a lot more in common than not. [Note: If you can ...

2440. Nothing to Hide

Psalm 32:1-11

Sermon

King Duncan

... and to a brother or sister in Christ. Dietrich Bonhoeffer once put it this way: “A man who confesses his sins in the presence of a brother knows that he is no longer alone with himself; he experiences the presence of God in the reality of the other person. As long as I am by myself in the confession of my sins everything remains in the dark, but in the presence of a brother the sin has to be brought into the light.” The point of it all is to come out of hiding. Live transparently. Get rid of the baggage ...

2441. Be Reconciled With God

2 Corinthians 5:11--6:2

Sermon

King Duncan

... any improvement, no matter how striking, is but temporary. This is how Lent begins with a reminder of our mortality “Dust to dust and ashes to ashes . . .” For forty days leading up to Easter we assess our lives 40 days because that’s how long Jesus was tempted in the wilderness. During this time we ask ourselves what is really important in our lives. Religious people are often accused of indulging in escapism. Nothing could be further from the truth. We are the only people who deal with the really ...

2442. In the Mood for Murder

Matthew 5:21-26

Sermon

King Duncan

... front of the altar. First go and be reconciled to them; then come and offer your gift” (23-24). In other words, he is telling us, anger needs to be resolved at the first possible opportunity. Anger is most destructive when it is allowed to lie dormant for a long time and fester like an infected wound. In his book, The Great Divorce, C.S. Lewis tells the story of a visitor who is permitted to be a temporary guest in hell. At one point, the visitor accompanies a busload of souls from hell who are allowed to ...

2443. Jesus and the Man Born Blind

John 9:1-41

Sermon

James W. Moore

... something about it. Jesus is trying to teach us that here. So, notice this… He spits on the ground and makes clay of the spittle and then He anoints the man’s eyes with the clay. Now, if that seems repulsive to you, don’t let it be. Saliva has long been a folk remedy. Ancient people believed strongly in its curative powers… and in a sense, we still do. At least, our children do. A child burns his finger and into his mouth it goes… or a child scrapes her arm and wants mom to kiss it and make it ...

2444. What If It's True?

John 20:1-9

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... reality of a sudden accident or violent act makes the fragility of life all too apparent. For others it is a loving, long term involvement in the gradual decline of a loved one, caring, watching, waiting for the end. For small children the first “ ... Your Life [2007] by Harry Mount). The seeds fell off the lions as they tore into the Christians in the arena. The lions are long gone. The suffering is over. But those seeds are still bearing fruit, bearing witness to the power of life to win out over death. “ ...

2445. Voice Recognition

John 20:19-23

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... unique bark. The baby seal locates its mommy by voice recognition. Our “voice prints” are as individual as our fingerprints. The unique properties of each of our voices are what made it possible for us to recognize who was on the other end of a phone call long before there was “caller id” Our brain has a huge “vocal directory” stored up, and can immediately identify the unique tenor and timber of a familiar voice, telling us who is giving us a call. That is why it is so frustrating when we get a ...

2446. You Have a Friend (Memorial Day)

John 14:15-31

Sermon

King Duncan

... . But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you. I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. Before long, the world will not see me anymore, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live. On that day you will realize that I ... the operation is over and you are recovering, you will eventually awaken in a special recovery room. “‘You will be immobile for as long as six hours. You may be unable to move, or speak, or even to open your eyes, but you will be perfectly conscious. ...

2447. Good News about Sparrows

Matthew 10:1-42

Sermon

King Duncan

... it is to open yourself up to it. A simple prayer will do, perhaps the prayer uttered by a man whose son was having convulsions. He brought him to Jesus. Jesus’ disciples were powerless to help the boy. Jesus asked his father, “How long has this been happening to him?” The distraught father answered, “From childhood . . . if you can do anything,” he pleaded, “have compassion on us and help us.” And Jesus said to him, “All things are possible for one who believes.” Immediately the father of ...

2448. On the Ropes: Round 3 - Defending God

Habakkuk 3:1-19

Sermon

James Merritt

... is the God that will not fail me today. What about you? If you really were to sit down and think (and it wouldn’t take very long) you could write down page after page after page of the way God came through for you in the past or the way you could see God ... a situation where there would be nothing – complete devastation, nothing to eat, everybody starving, death everywhere. One day if you live long enough your fig tree won’t bud either. There won’t be any grapes on your vines. You may lose your health ...

2449. Family Re:Union - Inverting the Pyramid

Deuteronomy 6:1-25

Sermon

James Merritt

... the LORD your God directed me to teach you to observe in the land that you are crossing the Jordan to possess, so that you, your children and their children after them may fear the LORD your God as long as you live by keeping all his decrees and commands that I give you, and so that you may enjoy long life.” (Deuteronomy 6:1-2, NIV) God’s blueprint for a happy home begins with the parents. A nation never rises above its home and a home never rises above its parents. Parents, repeat this after me (if you ...

2450. Trust

John 4:43-54

Sermon

James Merritt

... there I need to care for.” That little boy, lying on his bed, grabbed that doctor by his face with both hands, pulled it down to within an inch of his own, and looking that doctor squarely in the eyes, with tears coming down his cheeks, he said, “Doc, as long as there is a tongue wagging in my head, there ain’t nobody ever gonna forget what you’ve done for me.” When you just trust that is what will happen to you. God will work miracles in you, through you, for you, and with you. There is nothing ...

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