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 2651 to 2675 of 5000 results

2651. Jacob's Well

John 4:1-26, John 4:27-38, John 4:39-42

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... fish tank as your soul. We start out clean and fresh, poured out with the Holy Spirit. But something happens to us when we are not continually flushed and filled with the living waters of God. We can suck on our own juice only so long, but without prayer, without scripture, without worship, we can stray away from the fresh waters of the Spirit that cleanse us, remove the impurities that surround us, provide fresh nourishment and oxygen so that we can see and hear and taste clearly again. Something happens ...

2652. Moving On

Luke 6:12-16, Luke 9:1-9, Luke 10:1-24

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... God has come near. I tell you, on that day it will be more tolerable for Sodom than for that town. “Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the deeds of power done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago, sitting in sackcloth and ashes. But at the judgment it will be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon than for you. And you Capernaum, will you be exalted to heaven? No, you will be brought down to Hades. Whoever listens to you listens to me, and whoever rejects ...

2653. Precocious

Luke 2:41-52

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... better. J] The church today is behaving like a confined bird. A bird in a cage. But a self-imposed cage. The church has so loved its silence, and its safety, that it has locked itself inside of heavy walls. And when the church stays inside of its walls long enough, it becomes afraid of the world. Once afraid of its mission field, it forgets how to sing. Has the church lost its song? Has THIS church lost its song? Our churches must again learn to find their song of praise. The church must learn again to sing ...

2654. Lost

Luke 15:1-7, Luke 15:8-10, Luke 15:11-32

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... be in need. So he went and hired himself out to a citizen of that country, who sent him to his fields to feed pigs. He longed to fill his stomach with the pods that the pigs were eating, but no one gave him anything. “When he came to his senses, he said ... your son; make me like one of your hired servants.’ So he got up and went to his father. “But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him ...

2655. Lazarus

Luke 16:19-31

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... ! “This is what will happen to you as a result of what you’ve done!” But what had the “certain rich man” done? He had allowed Lazarus to lay at his own gate after all! Wasn’t that enough? Perhaps he even fed him. The story tells us that Lazarus “longed” for the scraps that fell from the man’s table. Did the “certain rich man” share some of those scraps? We don’t know for sure. But we do know he allowed him to lay right at the gate where he would have to come in and out each day ...

2656. No Fair!

Matthew 20:1-16

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... Him from the onset. God wishes all disciples to celebrate with God upon the found, not to grumble at sharing God’s table or giving up a seat to another. This is one of the hardest lessons his disciples have to learn. And in a sense, they never do as long as he’s with them. This parable comes on the heels of the prior exegesis, and many of the same scriptures apply. Again, God is the owner of the Vineyard, from which we all are given part. The lesson that all belongs to God, and we must accept the grace ...

2657. What If It's True?

John 20:1-18 · Matthew 28:10

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... was that the flowers had grown from seeds that had lodged in the coats of lions brought from Africa to eat Roman prisoners in the Colosseum 2,000 years before."[2] 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. “I know . . . I KNOW . . . I KNOW . .that my Redeemer liveth.” He lives in us and He lives among us. That’s the proof ...

2658. Redemption

Acts 2:1-13

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... preparation, we are free to celebrate. The betrothal has been consummated. What began with a betrothal now has been fulfilled in a wedding. In a sense, this is what we need to understand about Pentecost. It’s the wedding feast that culminates a long history of courtship, sacrifice, promise, and fulfillment. But Jesus is the bridegroom, and the church is the bride. What began with the Passover Feast, when Jesus met with his disciples in an upper room as he was being betrayed, what led to his death, what ...

2659. Vetted

Luke 3:21-38, Luke 4:1-13

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... , which consisted of a dog pad, bag of toys almost all of which were brand new tennis balls, his dishes, and a sealed letter from his previous owner. See, Reggie and I didn't really hit it off when we got home. We struggled for two weeks (which is how long the shelter told me to give him to adjust to his new home). Maybe it was the fact that I was trying to adjust, too. Maybe we were too much alike. For some reason, his stuff (except for the tennis balls – he wouldn't go anywhere without two stuffed in ...

2660. Slow Burn

Matthew 5:13-16, Matthew 6:19-24

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... , one must have “salt” within. What does this mean? When you cook BBQ (especially if you’re from the south!), you know that slow is better. To grill is fast heat; to barbeque is lower heat; but the best of the best, to smoke, requires low heat and long time. A cook will tell you that when you cook large hunks of meat, slower and lower means a lot more flavor. It means that the outside won’t burn before the inside is done. It means more even cooking, juicier meat, smoky flavor. For this, your outdoor ...

2661. The Plank

Matthew 5:38-48; 7:1-6

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... the grain from the chaff, the threshing board serves as a vehicle of “judgment.” If Jesus is using the threshing board as a metaphor in his teaching about the “plank,” he would be saying that there’s no way you can see whether something is chaff or wheat as long as you have the plank in front of you and are busy threshing “judging.” The board is in your way. To have the board in your eye (note that the eye is the window to the soul/heart/mind) means that you are focused on judging and not on ...

2662. The Balm of Gilead

Mark 8:1-13, Mark 8:14-21

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... Gedara). He has just come from Tyre and Sidon, where he healed the daughter of a Canaanite (Syro-Phoenician) woman. The word Canaanite is no mistake. He is making clear that we know, she is not a Jew –or at least not anymore. Her blood has been long mixed with those of the Assyrians and others after them. Or she has never been Jewish at all. All of this occurs after conversations Jesus has with his disciples and with a number of Pharisees about the meaning of defilement. And we must remember that all that ...

2663. Masks Off!

John 7:25-45 and 8:11-59

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... Himself in Jesus and His Coming to all of His faithful people. And on that day, all souls will be raised, all lives will be (ac)counted. Jesus’ mission is the final action in an extraordinary Story of Salvation that God put into play a long time ago –long before the beginning of time. Before the patriarchs, before the prophets, before the rise and the fall of Jerusalem, Jesus was now standing before Jerusalem and all of her people, saying, the time of God’s salvation has come. I AM God among you. I ...

2664. Ten Pounds of Mercy, One Pound of Faith

Luke 19:11-27, Matthew 25:1-13, Matthew 25:14-30

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom. Five of them were foolish and five were wise. The foolish ones took their lamps but did not take any oil with them. The wise ones, however, took oil in jars along with their lamps. The bridegroom was a long time in coming, and they all became drowsy and fell asleep. “At midnight the cry rang out: ‘Here’s the bridegroom! Come out to meet him!’ “Then all the virgins woke up and trimmed their lamps. The foolish ones said to the wise, ‘Give us some of ...

2665. The Funeral Crasher

John 14:1-4, John 14:5-14, John 14:15-31

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... his girl that he was coming home from a confederate POW camp in Georgia....” Not sure if his beloved wanted him back after so long without contact, the young soldier asked that she tie a ribbon to a tree. When he approached the house, if he saw the ribbon ... Philip said to Jesus, “Lord, show us the Father, and that will satisfy us.” Jesus replied, “I have been with all of you for a long time. Don’t you know me yet, Philip? The person who has seen me has seen the Father. So how can you say, ‘Show us ...

2666. Identity Crisis

Genesis 32:1-21, Genesis 32:22-32, Genesis 33:1-20

Sermon

Lori Wagner

We all walk with a limp. Our walk with God is a broken gait. Or at least an uneven one. God is always in the lead. Always sure. Always strong. We (on the other hand) walk with God weakly and imperfectly. Sometimes even disastrously. But as long as we continue to walk, we remain in relationship. And that’s what’s most important. In life, our limps and our scars tell our stories. Stories of the struggles we’ve survived. Stories of the wounds we’ve suffered. They leave a visible trace upon our person ...

2667. The Apothecary

Isaiah 40:1-31, Isaiah 61:1-11

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... healing power, and the response of a thankful and gracious heart. God’s true people don’t worship Jesus in a jar…..somewhere on a shelf ….that Jesus from a dusty past. He’s not just some figure in history, or someone who did miracles and healings long ago in another time and another place. But God’s true people worship a living, and powerful, and merciful Jesus –one as Isaiah tells us—with the power to heal and restore in the here and in the now. Tomorrow and TODAY! Jesus is the anointed one ...

2668. House of God

Ephesians 2:1-10, Ephesians 2:11-22

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... be alike to be in common. In fact, it’s much more beautiful to be different “in common,” to celebrate a community of difference, to live in the creative tension, the beautiful tension that comes from differing ideas, views, thoughts, and even feelings. As long as everyone worships the same Jesus! And agrees that He is Lord. That’s the only thing you need to have –Jesus Christ as your foundation! And a firm foundation can be built, some of the best foundations are built, when the bottom falls out ...

2669. Massah and Meribah

Exodus 17:1-7

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... quenches us with the Living Waters of healing and life-giving hope. If only we can read the signs. So go ahead. Wrestle with God. Shout at God. Some characters in the Bible were even known to curse at God when the journey of life God too hard and long. God is God. God can take all your Massah and Meribah. But never forget this. God sends us Jesus –the greatest “sign” of all, God’s Living Water, and the rock of our salvation. Let Jesus remind you each and every day that God is near. For Jesus himself ...

2670. Run Away Bride

Exodus 24:1-18, Matthew 22:1-14, Hosea 1:1-2:1

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... . So, I quietly packed up, the guests slowly slipped away, and the groom was left to his sorrow, as he realized, his bride had quite literally “run away” from their wedding. I figured that relationship was surely doomed at that point. And yet, when I saw that pastor long after and asked about that couple, he told me, they had indeed later married! And had remained happily married. Am I the only one here stunned by that? A runaway bride who runs back into the arms of the one she ran away from? So maybe ...

2671. Big Spender

1 Kings 10:14-29, 1 Kings 11:1-13, Luke 15:11-32

Sermon

Lori Wagner

2672. What is Your Golden Calf?

Exodus 32:1-33:6, Luke 19:1-10

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... faith and love. Those soldiers couldn’t know for sure that their honey would be there when they eventually got back. But as long as they could see that picture, they knew, they had something and someone to live for. Today, often, it isn’t a ... of us wear God’s engraving of love and commitment upon our hearts and our minds. When we feel alone, when we feel afraid, when it feels long since we’ve felt God with us, all we really need to do is feel that image of God within us, feel that engraving of Jesus ...

2673. Deliverance

Isaiah 49:8-26, Isaiah 44:24--45:25, Exodus 15:22-27, Exodus 13:17--14:31

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... times! In fact, we already know, don’t we, that even after they are led through the miracle of the Red Sea, still they take 40 long years to make the two-week pilgrimage from Egypt to the Jordan! 40 years! And we think our ….can be slow! 40 years to make one ... the night the cloud brought darkness to the one side and light to the other side; so, neither went near the other all night long. Then Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and all that night the Lord drove the sea back with a strong east wind ...

2674. Star Maker

Matthew 2:1-12, Psalm 19:1-14

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... If this painting were a piece of music, it might sound like both lament and joy at the very same time. Loneliness and hope. Silence and praise. The mundane and the miraculous. It’s a painting of longing. For whenever we look to the heavens, to the stars, whether to wish or to dream, we are longing –longing for meaning, comfort, peace, and release. And yet this painting is a painting of promise, that even in the darkness, God’s holy Spirit is present and moving, creating beauty and meaning in the world ...

2675. Don’t Just Do Something, Stand There!

Matthew 17:1-13

Sermon

Dean Feldmeyer

... adequately footnote and site my source, and I didn’t have one. I sent a text message to my son, who is a criminologist, asking him to give the old man a hand and tell me where I could find the data on this concept. It didn’t take him long to get back to me: Sorry, Dad, there is no such data. The whole third grade reading scores thing is an urban legend that’s been going around for about ten years. It’s just not true. Freedom Schools? Oh, yeah, they’re great. Proven winners. But the whole thing ...

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