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 1 to 25 of 376 results

1. Poem: To Jane: The Keen Stars Were Twinkling

Eulogy

Percy Bysshe Shelley

The keen stars were twinkling, And the fair moon was rising among them, Dear Jane! The guitar was tinkling, But the notes were not sweet till you sung them Again. As the moon's soft splendor O'er the faint cold starlight of Heaven Is thrown, So your voice most tender To ...

2. A Keen Justice

Illustration

Editor James S. Hewett

Zaleusus flourished about 500 B.c. His government over the Locrians was severe but just. In one of his decrees he forbade the use of wine unless it were prescribed as medicine; and in another he ordered that all adulterers should be punished with the loss of both their eyes. When his own son became subject to this penalty, the father, in order to maintain the authority of the laws, but to show parental leniency, shared the penalty with his son by ordering one of his own eyes to be thrust out along with one ...

3. The Lost and Found Coin

Luke 15:8-10

Sermon

James W. Moore

... you something. - Can people tell that you are a Christian? - Do your friends and co-workers know that you are a Christian? - Do you stand out in a crowd because the spirit of Christ is radiant in you? - Or, do you just blend in? As Christians, we have a keen responsibility for our children, for our church and for our friends… to live our faith daily… and help others see the light of Christ in us. You don’t have to wear a sign or get on a soapbox… or preach on a street corner, just live your faith ...

4. The Lost and Found Coin

Luke 15:8-10

Sermon

James W. Moore

... ask you something. Can people tell that you are a Christian? Do your friends and co-workers know that you are a Christian? Do you stand out in a crowd because the spirit of Christ is radiant in you? Or, do you just blend in? As Christians, we have a keen responsibility for our children, for our church and for our friends… to live our faith daily… and help others see the light of Christ in us. You don't have to wear a sign or get on a soapbox… or preach on a street corner, just live your faith daily ...

5. Bart and Homer, Father and Sons

1 Samuel 20:24-42

Sermon

John E. Harnish

... sworn in the name of the Lord, saying ‘The Lord shall be between me and you forever.'" (I Samuel 20:41-42) Several years ago, my brother wrote a book on male spirituality called Passion, Power and Praise. In it he quotes Sam Keen's classic book on men, Fire in the Belly, where Keen says one of our most basic problems is not "..our lust for power, our insatiable hunger for gadgets, or our habit of repressing women and the poor." Rather, he said, it is our lack of joy. He writes: "Most of the men I know ...

6. Poem: In Memoriam

Eulogy

Alfred Lord Tennyson

... their green, The noble letters of the dead: And strangely on the silence broke The silent-speaking words, and strange Was love’s dumb cry defying change To test his worth; and strangely spoke The faith, the vigour, bold to dwell On doubts that drive the coward back, And keen thro’ wordy snares to track Suggestion to her inmost cell. So word by word, and line by line, The dead man touch’d me from the past, And all at once it seem’d at last The living soul was flash’d on mine, And mine in his was ...

7. The Un-Parade

Matthew 16:21-28, Luke 19:28-44

Sermon

Robert Noblett

... and what "the un-parade" that we remember on Palm Sunday can revive within us is the assurance that we will have spontaneous moments of eternal revelation, or, if you will, moments of serendipitous faith. Sam Keen discovered in his own life something more of us need to be tuned in to. Wrote Keen: I have always been more interested in the graceful dimensions of the ordinary than in those supposedly crucial events which Christian orthodoxy has focused upon. I find more grace in conversation than in The Word ...

8. The Gift Of Inadequacy

Luke 18:9-14

Sermon

King Duncan

... : "All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God...." In First John we find this verse, "If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us." Understanding our inadequacy is a prelude to grace. Pastor Dennis Keen tells of a woman from a small town in Pennsylvania's depressed coal region who would cry uncontrollably every time she took communion. He asked other parishioners about this woman, and they said she had cried at communion for as long as they could remember. After ...

9. “The Span of My Years Is as Nothing before You”

Psalm 39:1-13

Teach the Text

C. Hassell Bullock

... man who is born of a woman is few of days and full of trouble” (Job 14:1 ESV), and the psalmist joins the dirge as he prays, “Teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom” (Ps. 90:12). This means that the more keenly we recognize how brief our life is, the more fulfilled our life will be, because we will hopefully “redeem the time.” While Psalm 39:4b does not formally constitute a result clause (“so that I may know how fleeting life is”), it could be read like that (so KJV ...

10. The Writing on the Wall

Daniel 5:1-31

Teach the Text

Ronald W. Pierce

... the other sages, as a conditional inducement before the fact, which might be understood as influencing the outcome. This kind of reward carries inherent dangers for corrupting the integrity of the message. In using the gifts God has given us, we must remain keenly aware of our inner motives and of the outward perceptions of corruption by others. This is not to say that believers should refuse payment for serving in professional ways. But we should carefully guard the opportunities God gives us so as not to ...

11. Giving and Receiving

Matthew 14:22-33

Sermon

Tom Garrison

... is a blessedness in knowing how to be helped that is in fact different from the blessedness of helping, but it is nonetheless real and significant and learning this lesson may be one of the most important challenges facing many people. The old-timers in Virginia warned Sam Keen that it was the really good swimmers who often got into the most trouble, because they thought their one skill was enough by itself, when it was not. It may have even been so with Peter since he had been in all kinds of seas and when ...

12. Miracle Three: Healing A Leper

Mark 1:40-45

Sermon Aid

Harold H. Lentz

... and spread unfounded charges of immorality. Other members of the congregation believed her lies. They joined in a spreading ostracism of the young lady, who could not understand the growing resentment against her. She started to feel cut off from others and a keen sense of loneliness engulfed her. When she learned of the false rumors, she did her best to refute them, but without success. The burden of animosity finally became so great that she committed suicide. At her funeral the pastor, who knew the true ...

13. Receive The Holy Spirit

John 20:19-23

Sermon

Larry Powell

... the rapid access it provides, we can be almost anywhere in seconds. To express it in a very unrefined manner, the telephone allows one's presence to be spread around and the very thought of that is not always exhilarating to someone who is not all that keen about anyone having easy access to their presence. Remember this the next time your telephone rings and you answer it to discover a voice on a computer inviting you to purchase siding for your home. Twain may have had a point. We deal with all kinds of ...

14. Beyond Denominationalism

John 13:31-38

Sermon

Thomas Slavens

... . Perhaps we are coming to understand that Christ’s statement on love and discipleship is related to our attitudes toward Christians in other denominations. How is one world-wide church to be achieved? Argument has been tried, and that has failed. Keen competition has been tried, and that has failed. Force has been tried, and that has failed. Perhaps Christians should take the Christ seriously and try love. In this day Christians should envision one holy, universal church and should work for a structure ...

15. A Visit With An Old Friend

Psalm 23:1-6

Sermon

Johnny Dean

... , the 23rd Psalm. And it’s not just because they know it by heart, and have known it all their lives. It’s because the psalm dares to speak about death, about the end, about that dark valley. It names that place as a place where we are most keenly aware of the presence of the Good Shepherd and receive the comfort only God can give. Here, then, is that rarest of scriptures that is both for the beginning of life, to be memorized in nursery school, and for the end of life, as a comforting old friend. It ...

16. Train Whistle In The Night

Matthew 25:1-13

Sermon

... may have been heard; but the complex, artificial trappings of a new religion made hearing impossible. The fluorescent lighting was too bright, the noise level was too high, and it began to look as though the worshipers had lost not only their keen sense of hearing, but their keen sense of living as well. At the heart of the new religion was a commandment which stated that "What you have is what you are," and the worshipers naturally took it as their religious obligation to be as much as possible. The ...

17. Old and New

Mk 2:22 · 2 Cor 5:17 · Is 43:19

Sermon

Robert Noblett

... always felt different than other days. It had an exhilirating aspect about it. Saturday could never come soon enough. Saturday represented for me newness, refreshment, re-creation and delightful departure. Newness is really the work of God upon the human heart. I think Sam Keen put it in a dandy way: Every man has Bethlehem where new possibilities and hopes are born, where his history is invaded by novelty and the potency for new action. At such times the tyranny of the past and the terror of the future ...

18. Lift Up Your Heads!

Luke 21:5-38

Sermon

Brett Blair

... of the new inventions, printing, fire-arms, and other implements of war...This compels me to believe that Christ will soon come to judgment...it must soon break in upon them (Martin Luther, Sermon on Luke 21:25-36: THE SIGNS OF THE DAY OF JUDGMENT). As great and as keen a mind as he had and he felt the world has reached its limits on building, manufacturing, and inventions. So what is this sign if it is not these things? Here is what I think. I think when the signs are here it will not take a theologian to ...

19. WaterFire Disciples

Acts 1:1-11

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... Endowment funded research team discovered something surprising. Can you guess the one common ingredient, one "common fire" in these people who are exercising the spiritual practices of peace, justice and hope? According to Laurent A. Parks Daloz, Cheryl H. Keen, James P. Keen, Sharon Daloz Parks (Common Fire: Lives of Commitment in a Complex World [Boston: Beacon Press, 1996], 177-80) the one common fire is "anger." Not knowing what to do with this startling finding, the research team calls it a "taboo ...

20. A Man for All Seasons

1 Corinthians 9:16-23

Sermon

Donald Charles Lacy

... may very well say such an approach is merely common sense and, yes, we do things that way. Don't be too sure! When we are in a hurry to meet a goal, we may cut some corners. Those empowered with responsibility and authority, lay and clergy, are to be keenly sensitive. This is not to imply everyone needs to know the number of paper clips in the secretary's desk on a given day in order to trust her. 3. To stretch in different directions in the Holy Spirit benefits all. I am a great believer in stretching with ...

21. Restarting Joy - Rejoice

Isaiah 55:10-13

Sermon

Derl G. Keefer

... into the Mabery family like a tornado. But, determined not to be bound by the cords of perpetual grief, Lucy remained positive, keen thinking, and joyful. How can a person in Lucy's situation recover, pick up the pieces, and go on? How does anyone press ... tore into the Mabery family like a tornado. But, determined not to be bound by the cords of perpetual grief, Lucy remained positive, keen thinking, and joyful. How can a person in Lucy’s situation recover, pick up the pieces, and go on? How does anyone ...

22. The Woman and the Dragon

Revelation 12:1--13:1a

Understanding Series

Robert W. Wall

... earth as well as the Christians to repentance. The author insists that the Christians in no way have ‘made it’ but that they are still in danger of losing their share in the New Jerusalem” (Revelation, p. 108). In our opinion, her point is keenly felt in this central section of John’s Revelation. 12:1 Because the woman appears as a heavenly sign, Ladd understands the woman as the “ideal church in heaven” (Revelation, p. 167). This, however, makes no sense of the woman’s man-child, who surely ...

23. Praise to God for a Living Hope

1 Peter 1:1-12

Understanding Series

Norman Hillyer

... ?” Matt. 24:43; Luke 12:39; Rev. 3:3). So the translation for this verse “what person or time” (as in RSV, NASB) is to be preferred to NIV’s the time and circumstances, or KJV’s “what, or what manner of time.” The OT prophets would certainly be keen to know the identity of the coming Messiah as well as the time of his appearance. The phrase the Spirit of Christ applied to the work of prophecy in the OT points to Christ’s preexistence; this is again brought out in 1:20 (cf. Rom. 1:4; 1 Cor ...

24. A Shrewd Christian?

Luke 16:1-13

Sermon

George Reed

... oxymoron as these two terms just seem to be so opposite in their minds. But in the parable of the unjust steward Jesus calls on his disciples to become as shrewd in doing good as others are in doing evil. According to Webster’s dictionary shrewd means “keen-witted, clever, or sharp in practical matters.” We have often used the word in its secondary sense of cunning and in a context where one has used their intellect to take advantage of a person or a situation in an unethical way. Jesus calls us to be ...

25. What Jesus Saw

Mark 12:38-44

Sermon

King Duncan

... when he was down below a thunderhead, he recognized it instantly and turned around and headed for safety. (1) If you’re a mountain climber, it pays to know the weather conditions that may affect your journey. Just as that pilot was a keen observer of the weather, Jesus was a keen observer of human nature. In today’s lesson he is in the Temple. As he taught the crowds that came to the temple for worship and instruction in the faith, he observed two groups of people. First of all, there were the teachers ...

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