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 1 to 25 of 87 results
1. Are You an Avid Fan?
Illustration
Staff
Football in the fall. Basketball in the winter. Baseball in the spring and summer. This pastor has been an avid sports fan all his life. But I've had it! I quit this sports business once and for all. You can't get me near one of those places again. Want to know why... Every time I went, they asked me for money. The people with whom I had to ...
Drama
Karren Boehr
... church disagreements today, and the possible ultimate consequences. Setting: The gates of heaven Characters:GATEKEEPER: Either male or female, must have air of authority, preferably older1ST SAINT: Male or female, Christian, avid church goer, opinionated, active in many committees2ND SAINT: Male or female, Christian, avid church goer, opinionated Costumes: Gatekeeper in white robe, Saints in modern-day dress Props: Podium, large books appropriate for Book of Life, bell, sign: "When the Lord comes he will ...
Sermon
Lori Wagner
... always knew what they were thinking. Their fiery temperaments may have made them zealous about the mission but rough around the edges in dealing with people. On the other hand, Philip and his friend Nathanael were studious and theologically focused. They were avid students of the Torah and powerful preachers in the early church. The intellectuals of the group, they were interested in change, but they tended to go about it in quieter, more organized ways, supporting Jesus’ teaching and doing what needed to ...
Sermon
Douglas J. Deuel
... of those games. In his mind, he can remember some of the good plays he made and even some of the joy he experienced by participating as a member of the team. Remembering the past is important for all of us. It is why we so avidly take pictures and movies. More than the events themselves, we want to remember the good feelings created by those events. The same is true in the church. People in the church want to remember highlights from their past together. Times of growth, times of meaningful involvement ...
Sermon
Charles H. Bayer
... there for him, no matter what he does. It is one thing to fish when they are not biting -- they might get hungry any minute. It is another thing to have the vague feeling there are no fish in the water. But heaven help anyone who tells us. An avid sport fisherman, who got to his favorite Canadian lake by seaplane, one day noticed, from the air, two other fishermen below who had landed their plane on a lake he knew to be sterile. For some strange ecological reason these waters held not a single fish. As a ...
6. Plain Talk
Luke 6:17-26
Sermon
Charles H. Bayer
... were traveling by light airplane to a business meeting in Alaska. Somewhere over the tundra the plane's motor failed and they were forced down. When they returned home each wrote an article for his favorite magazine about the resulting crisis. One was an avid outdoorsman and his article was titled, "Survival In The Frozen North." The other was very religious and his article was titled, "How Prayer Saved Me From The Wild Wolf Pack." The stories were about the same incident. The authors were different, and so ...
7. The Fruitful Vine
John 15:1-17, 1 John 4:7-21, Acts 8:26-40, Psalm 22:1-31
Sermon Aid
William E. Keeney
... supermarket. She asked me to buy a bunch. When I got there and saw they were the same price, I could not decide which to buy so I bought some of each! They were both delicious. In the '60s we lived in a house that had been owned by an avid gardener. On our lot we had a tree to which he had grafted two additional branches. The tree produced two kinds of apples and one of pears. All of them were good fruits. 4. Effects of Pruning · In the new property that a couple bought they had a small grape ...
8. Wings
Luke 17:20-21
Children's Sermon
B. Kathleen Fannin
... landing lightly on a delicate purple petal. She drank her fill of the flower's nectar. Then, her hunger satisfied, she took off again, realizing her dream really had come true. Julia had wings! Julia could fly! Julia was a butterfly!" The children have listened with avid attention to this story. Now I suggest to them, "In some ways the church is rather like Julia's leaf and its members are sometimes like Julia, wanting to fly, but not having enough faith in themselves to try. The church is a place where we ...
Sermon Aid
William E. Keeney
... supermarket. She asked me to buy a bunch. When I got there and saw they were the same price, I could not decide which to buy so I bought some of each! They were both delicious. In the '60s we lived in a house that had been owned by an avid gardener. On our lot we had a tree to which he had grafted two additional branches. The tree produced two kinds of apples and one of pears. All of them were good fruits. 4. Effects of Pruning. In the new property that a couple bought they had a small grape ...
10. Advent 2
2 Peter 3:1-18, Isaiah 40:1-31, Mark 1:1-8
Sermon Aid
Russell F. Anderson
... have grown tired of waiting. What a delight it is when that which we have earnestly hoped for really happens! I know all about waiting, hoping and praying for the kingdom to come. You see, I live in Nebraska. I, like almost everybody in the state, am an avid Nebraska Cornhusker football fan. Every year we are one of the top-rated and most successful teams. Yet the gold crown of number oneness had eluded us for 22 years and we had lost the last seven bowl games. Tom Osborne remains the most winning coach in ...
11. Proper 17
James 1:19-27, Song of Songs 2:1-17, Mark 7:1-23
Sermon Aid
Russell F. Anderson
... to the love of God each day. It's no accident that springtime is the season when lovers do their leaping, flowers do their blooming and birds do their singing. It's the light! In the winter it's rainy, cold and overcast. In the winter, unless you're an avid skier, your shoulders droop and your spirits lag. But in the spring, the days get longer and the rays of the sun are brighter and warmer. The sunlight draws out all the colors of life and love; the sky is bluer, the grass greener and our senses are in ...
Eulogy
Charles R. Turbin
... found comfort in knowing that during those difficult times, Jesus would watch over him. He knew the frustration of not being able to do all the things that some of the other kids could do, but at the same time, he became an avid ____________ fan, got into dinosaurs, enjoyed fishing with Grandpa ____________, was a friendly adversary with his dog, ____________, and looked forward, someday, to being a truck driver. He once asked Grandma ____________ if she thought Jesus would have a semi in heaven for him ...
Sermon
Barbara Brokhoff
Saul's conversion is important to us because we are always wanting detailed accounts of the journey of those people who have become great or famous. They always fascinate us. We avidly consume all the minute specifics we can find about them, sometimes even stooping to seek out tidbits of gossip. We are titillated by the trivial. Why was Sir Winston Churchill buried in a small country cemetery rather than in Westminster Abbey? Why was Churchill born in the servant's quarters ...
Sermon
Barbara Brokhoff
... other." And he did just that. He confused their language, and communication became impossible; therefore the finishing of the tower was a hopeless endeavor. A man was in consultation with his physician, and complained of an unsatisfactory physical relationship with his wife. The doctor, an avid jogger, said, "What you need is some vigorous exercise. I want you to run 10 miles a day for 30 days, and then give me a call." True to the plan, the patient called his doctor at the end of the month. "How are you ...
Sermon
Richard Hasler
Walter Cronkite, the former highly-regarded CBS Evening News anchor, is an avid lover of boats. Some years ago, he steered his boat into Central Harbor, Maine. As he approached land he was amazed at the greeting he received. People lined the shore waving their hands at him. He could barely make out what they were saying but their shouts sounded like: “Hello ...
Sermon
Johnny Dean
Before I went to seminary, I was an avid reader. I especially enjoyed reading novels by authors like Stephen King. Often I would literally devour a novel in one or two days. Then, a few weeks later, I would go back and read the same novel again at a slower pace to make sure I hadn’t missed anything ...
Sermon
... illustrating that there are times in life when a change of mind is exactly what is needed. A few years ago a major theological journal featured a series of articles on the theme, "How I Have Changed My Mind." I remember reading them avidly, because these articles were by "the big boys" of theology - the shapers of twentieth-century American religion, the teachers in influential seminaries, the writers of stacks of books. "These people actually have changed their minds," I remember musing to myself with a ...
18. God of the Ordinary
Exodus 13:17--14:31
Sermon
Some folks can look at something extraordinary, and write it off as commonplace. Ring Lardner was an avid baseball fan, but every other sport to him was just a bore. One afternoon, when a friend took him to see a football game, Lardner watched the action on the field with total disinterest. Suddenly, in the second half of the game, the crowd came to its feet when a ...
Sermon
Barbara Brokhoff
... of anything to say to the Chilean novelist. Finally, after a long, uncomfortable silence between the two strangers, Algren said, "It must be nice to come from a country that’s so long and narrow." We can talk of by-gone miracles, we can be avid watchers at the foot of Golgotha’s gory, gruesome gibbet, we can remain awe-struck beholders of the empty grave - but when we have experienced the miracle of forgiveness, when our sins are laid on the shoulders of Calvary’s victim, when we have been raised ...
20. Claim Your Ministry
Matthew 20:20-28
Sermon
Robert Bachelder
... crimson lines. I said this point was not lost on St. Martin. But it has been lost on many of our Lord’s followers who were not so eager to serve as to engage in one-upsmanship. In our lesson today, for example, we see the sons of Zebedee avidly contending for first place in the heavenly sweepstakes. So Jesus says to them: "You know the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great men exercise authority over them. It shall not be so among you; but whoever would be great among you must be your ...
Sermon
Robert G. Tuttle
... left it in FMA? As the afternoon waned, it was clear that no one did.1 We continue the sad picture: the Detroit police department states, "There has not been a sex murder in the history of the Detroit police department in which the killer was not an avid reader of lewd books and magazines." And much of this material is now poured into the movies and is even creeping into our homes on television. How can we and our youth be fit instruments for God when we are poisoned every day? The things I read and see ...
Sermon
Raymond Gibson
... , "Rejoice in the Lord always; again, I say rejoice!" (Philippians 4:4). When the church is the Church, it is made up of people who are so happy that they cannot contain their joy. This is even true in the secular world. My wife and I are avid fans of the University of Kentucky basketball team. When our team played Duke University in the 1980 NCAA tournament in Rupp Arena in Lexington, center Sam Bowie made a brilliant slam dunk basket, and 27,000 fans went into a near-hysteria of joy. I thought my wife ...
Drama
Tom Eberle
... are divided, lonely, insecure, sometimes not even loved. One: What are you going to do about it? Voice: That star overhead thinks it is playing a trick on you, but even mischievous stars have their place. I have decided to become one of you. And I have selected you three avid star-chasers to be the first to receive the good news. Three: Now that you are one of us, what are you going to do for us? Voice: That sounds like the question of one who is still chasing. I just want you to come inside to be with me ...
Sermon
Harold Warlick
... true of all of life. You have more agreements with the people in your life than disagreements, more in common than dispute. Paul knew this fundamental facet of human makeup. Wherever he traveled, the great Apostle emphasized the common humanity in all men. He avidly searched for agreements between the Hebrew concept of God and what others were worshiping. He set Christianity on a path of gracefulness. I, for one, am glad that he did. Friends, these are trying times in which we live. Many people are carrying ...
Sermon
Harold Warlick
... his back to the poverty and prejudice that exist and proclaims that we should either love America or leave it. To Henry, George Washington was Moses, Jesus was an American, and the United States is the New Israel. Henry is an avid believer in church-state separation and contends that prophecy and other calls to national accountability are the domain of the churches and not the government. He declares that preachers who utter "nonsense" about brotherly love, world peace, and fighting poverty are godless ...
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