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 3426 to 3450 of 5000 results

3426. The Art of Following

Matthew 4:12-17, Matthew 4:18-22

Sermon

Dean Feldmeyer

... a good tournament he won by ten strokes, but when he was having a bad tournament he only won by five. Most golfers would have loved to be able to play golf like Tiger did. But then we look at what it costs to be able to play like that, even ... other, twenty times in the four gospels is not “admire me,” not “believe in me,” not “worship me,” or “sing about me,” or even “love me,” but “follow me.” Follow me. Do as I do. Walk where I walk. Go where I go. Relate as I relate. Talk as I ...

3427. What Kind of Sheep Are You?

Luke 2:1-7, Luke 2:8-20, Ezekiel 34:1-31

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... decided to put David on the throne, God through the prophet Ezekiel, outlined exactly these kinds of sheep --those who were power hungry and trampled on the rest…and those who were trampled and needed to be brought into the fold of those loyal sheep who loved their shepherd. Let’s listen to God’s words from Ezekiel: [Read the passage from Ezekiel.] Just as God, the Good Shepherd, made David his Shepherd King, so later would God send another Shepherd to call home the lost sheep of a new generation in a ...

3428. The Infiltrator

John 10:1-21, John 10:22-42

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... a call not to division but to unity. It’s a call to all of God’s people everywhere who don’t need a Temple built on a hill, don’t need to come from a particular heritage nor have a special pass. It’s a call to unite in love and response to the One and Only Voice of the One True God that holds everyone and everything together, who promises us eternal waters and green grasses and the abundance of the heavenly table. No matter where you are from, no matter what your past or your mistakes, or your ...

3429. Lazarus Rising

John 11:1-16, John 11:17-37, John 11:38-44, John 11:45-57, John 12:1-11, John 12:12-19

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... Can we get so deterred by our ways to promote “rightness,” that we miss life’s miracles? That we miss the loveliness of love and life, the beauty of our neighbors and our friends? Lent is a time when we must humbly confess that to follow Jesus, ... to the Nations (Isaiah 40 and 42) Tobit’s Prayer of Thanksgiving for What God Has Done (13) The Power and Mercy of God Who Loves Life (The Wisdom of Solomon 11:21-26) On Mourning the Dead (Sirach 38:16-23) The Death and Raising of Lazarus and the Plot to ...

3430. Identity Crisis

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

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... you can remove the arrows that you shot, or take back the words you spoke, the holes in the tree, remain, as do the wounds they created. Whether they remain as open wounds or scars depends upon the way healing is done. It can take time, care, a lot of love to turn wounds into scars. Yet still the scars remain. As reminders. On both sides. In a sense, the rainbow (bow) is God’s scar left upon the created world. It rips across the sky like a multi-color glistening wound that fades away to a muted beam of ...

3431. All In

Exodus 3:1-22

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... better…or for worse. [Ok Jack and Karen..you’re off the hook now.] Well, that’s also how it works with God. When God loves and cherishes us humans, God doesn’t do it only halfway. God’s all in! And God doesn’t say, “Look, you’re totally not ... meets us exactly where we are. May our hearts be turned to the One with the power to change us and move us, free us and love us with a fire that burns brighter than any furnace. God’s all in. Are you? It doesn’t matter how much. No matter how far ...

3432. House of Prayer

Matthew 6:5-15, Matthew 6:16-18

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... of deflection, isn’t it? Cause this is a prayer meant for disciples of Jesus in particular. It’s a disciples’ prayer. It’s a prayer we kind of say in a rote like fashion a lot of the time, probably not thinking too much about what it says. We love it. It makes us feel all warm and good. It reminds us we are loyal followers of Jesus. It praises God and helps us say “the right words” Jesus wanted us to say. But I wonder if we really “hear” those right words in the right way that Jesus wanted ...

3433. The Prodigal

Luke 15:11-32

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... lay aside our pride, our sense of justice, our vindictiveness, and our judgements, even our own guilt, and allow Him to welcome us back into relationship with Him. Jesus is a Big Spender. He is excited and yearning to spend and expend the most amazing grace and love upon us in every kind of way. All we need is to realize, repent, return. Come home. Jesus issues every one of us an invitation to His heavenly Feast. Which of you will enter in? Will you enter in even if you see your enemy sitting there beside ...

3434. The Flock Paradox

2 Samuel 5:1-5, Luke 2:1-7, Luke 2:8-20, Ezekiel 34:1-31, Jeremiah 33:1-26

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... come at a high cost to the Shepherd. This is the beauty of humanness. To be human is a high calling. Even those base instincts that can so often lead us into trouble are not in themselves bad. They are what drive us to be both communal and individual, loving and protecting. This Christmas, we will celebrate God’s coming to earth as a human being, not to disdain humanness, but to celebrate what it means to be human at its best. Jesus shows us how to be the good Shepherd, and the Lamb of God. Jesus shows us ...

3435. Shepherd Dreams

Jeremiah 23:1-8, 1 Samuel 16:1-13, Psalm 80:1-19, Psalm 23:1-6, John 10:22-42, John 10:1-21

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... and to lead God’s lost and missing flocks to the Living Water of Life –a life filled with Jesus, the only Life worth living, and the only mission worth risking your life for. God’s dream is to rescue and save every one of His children. For He loves each and every one. God has invested that dream in you, has entrusted that dream to you. Shepherds of God –go out in God’s peace. But more importantly, go out and be shepherds. Dream some God’s sized Shepherd Dreams for our world. And the peace of The ...

3436. The First Songs of Christmas

Luke 1:39-45, Luke 1:46-56

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... you revel in song and joy, remember that you too are deeply blessed. For the first songs of Christmas, those sung by Elizabeth and Mary are your songs too! And when you accept God’s call for your life, when you find your voice and proclaim Jesus sovereignty and love from the top of your lungs in every way God is calling you, you too will become God’s heart song. Christmas is a time when we look at each other, and instead of magnifying our faults, we find in each other a “Magnificat” of God’s grace ...

3437. The Thorny Price of Perfidy

Esther 3:1-15

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... live in peace. For us today, sometimes it may seem that to be a Christian means to try to make a home among the haters, the war-mongers, the angry, a world smattered with evil. But for better or for worse, for now, this is the world God loves. The briar patch, with all of its thorny issues, and thickets of sin, and unexpected pricks and sticks and stones and sedition, may be a world of sin. But it’s the world Jesus died for. And among those briars live God’s beautiful children, the sweet and beautiful ...

3438. Jacob's Sheep

Matthew 28:16-20

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... in the power of the Holy Spirit. We are adopted and chosen by God to be part of a community so unique, so different, so extraordinary that people can’t help but say, “I need to find out what makes this people so joyful! So healthy! So kind! So deeply loving! So full of life and potential for growth!” “I want to be part of a community like that!” Being on top of the world is not being elevated or better than anyone else, but it’s being able to see the vista God is showing us –to see the “Big ...

3439. Building a Winning Team

Matthew 16:13-20

Sermon

King Duncan

... alone. You have a family who shares your joys and your heartaches. We belong to Jesus and we belong to each other. That’s what it means to be the church. Jesus calls us to be a light for the nations. He also calls us to be a community of love. And finally, Jesus calls us to reach out to those who do not know him. Look again at Jesus’ words in verse 18: “. . . and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it.” “I will build my church”—Jesus is building the ...

To love one's neighbors, to love one's enemies, to love everything - to love God in all His manifestations - human love serves to love those dear to us but to love one's enemies we need divine love.

Leo Tolstoy

3441. A Working God

Matthew 13:31-33, 44-52

Sermon

R. Kevin Mohr

... nothing in all of creation — not any natural or human-caused disaster; no crazed fanatic in Charleston or anywhere else — can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus (2 Peter 3:9; Romans 8:31-39). God is at work, and though what God does in and through ... is powerful in its effects, changing us from the inside out to become the people God wants us to be. The reign of God’s love at work in our lives is so precious that, like a pearl of great price, we will seek it out, giving up the precious ...

3442. Dealing with Grief

1 Thessalonians 4:13--5:11

Sermon

King Duncan

... it or set a timeline on it. We will grieve. But we don’t have to grieve as those who have no hope. Death, from God’s perspective, is the doorway to eternal life. Life with God. Life without sorrow or pain. And life reunited with those we love. Paul ends these few verses with the words: “And so we will be with the Lord forever. Therefore encourage one another with these words.” The pain of grief cannot compare to the hope of eternal life. Decide today to trust God with your life and with your death ...

3443. Abba! Father!

Galatians 4:4-7

Sermon

Ron Love

... who ask him!” All of the mothers and fathers seated in the sanctuary are evil only in the sense that we are imperfect sinners. We are not evil in the sense in that we deliberately abuse our children. Despite our faults as individuals, as parents the care, love, and devotion we have for our children cannot be measured. We are happy when our children are happy. We are sad when our children are sad. When our children are sick, we feel their pain. When our children are disappointed, we do what we can to give ...

3444. Go!

Acts 9:10-19

Sermon

Will Willimon

... by the term, "Brother," touched him, laid hands upon his head, and was thus the agent of one of the most dramatic transformations in all of scripture? When we are converted to Christ, we are not simply converted into loving Christ, but, in loving Christ, we are commanded to love those whom Christ loves. His love is always reaching out, grasping hold of lives, changing others, bringing lost sheep in the fold. And if you are already in the fold, how does it feel when some of these lost sheep get found? It is ...

3445. The Heart's Deceit

Mark 7:1-8, 14-15, 21-23

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... who dreams of climbing higher in his career and yet shoots down any attempt at further education, opportunities that might require a new learning curve, or a chance at a promotion when it means moving to a new area. Think of the neighbor who says he or she loves children and yet posts signs in the yard saying “Stay off the Lawn” and constantly critiques the manners and behavior of any child who dares set foot in the immaculately kept house. Think of the man who longs for a dog but when gets one sets so ...

3446. A New Identity for a New Year

John 1:(1-9), 10-18

Sermon

King Duncan

... of the family of God. As a child of God, you have a place at the table. You have a new family who is waiting to love and support you. And you have a new relationship with God. You can know God’s character and purposes in a more intimate way and that ... that of a new focus for our life. As a child of God, you are now a partner with God in sharing the hope, the love and the truth of Jesus Christ with the world. That’s the family business you have inherited. Think for a moment about your schedule, your ...

3447. When Good People Pray

Luke 3:15-17, 21-22

Sermon

King Duncan

... hope that every Christian takes his or her baptism that seriously. When Jesus prayed on the day he was baptized, the heaven opened, and the Holy Spirit descended on him in bodily form like a dove. And a voice came from heaven: “You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased.” Something like that should happen at some time in our life. Baptism at its best should result in our becoming a new person. We should become aware of our identity as a part of the family of God. We should discover that ...

3448. The Art of Fruit

Luke 3:7-18

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... of Jesus. Do you see that face of Jesus in the faces of your neighbors and friends? Will they see Jesus’ face in yours? That is the question. May your face to the world be as beautiful as God’s gift to you. And may God’s gift of love to you in the birth of the Christ child resonate in your heart and be revealed in your soul, now and always. [1] For example portraits of Arcimboldo’s work, see Ian Shank, “The Renaissance Artist Whose Fruit-Faced Portraits Inspired the Surrealists,” artsy.net,Sep 8 ...

3449. Don't Miss Jesus

Luke 2:41-51

Sermon

Derl G. Keefer

... do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid” (John 14:27). By seeking purity of desire and heart. The beat of our heart ought to be like Jesus. We need to allow his Holy Spirit to fill us, and his love to overwhelm us. I want to act like Jesus, live as close to Jesus as possible, and seek his heart’s desire for me! By seeking a spirit of cheerfulness and positive outlook. Listen to what God’s Word says: Philippians 4:8 (NIV) “Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever ...

3450. Valued Families

1 John 3:1-3

Sermon

Will Willimon

... faith. Parents' Weekend is when we acknowledge our debt to our parents. We wouldn't be here at Duke (or anywhere else) if not for our parents. Today's epistle uses a parental analogy to speak of our relationship to God in Christ: See what love the Father has given us, that we should be called God's children. Scripture often resorts to family analogies, speaking of the divine-human relationship through the most intimate relationship we know, that of the family. Some years ago, I had an epiphany. Changing the ...

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