Dictionary: Face
Synonyms: countenance, physiognomy, profile, features, expression, facial expression, look, appearance, air, manner, bearing, guise, cast, aspect, impression, grimace, scowl, wry face, wince, frown, glower, smirk, pout, moue, side, flank, vertical, surface, plane, facet, wall, elevation, dial, display, (outward) appearance, nature, image, front, show, act, false front, facade, exterior, mask, masquerade, pretence, charade, pose, illusion, smokescreen, veneer, camouflage, respect, honour, esteem, regard, admiration, approbation, acclaim, approval, favour, appreciation, popularity, estimation, veneration, awe, reverence, deference, recognition, prestige, standing, status, dignity, glory, kudos, cachet, effrontery, audacity, nerve, gall, brazenness, brashness, shamelessness, look out on, front on to, look towards, be facing, have/afford/command a view of, look over/across, open out over, look on to, overlook, give on to, give over, be opposite (to), accept, come to accept, become reconciled to, reconcile oneself to, reach an acceptance (of), get used to, become accustomed to, adjust to, accommodate oneself to, acclimatize oneself to, be confronted by, be faced with, encounter, experience, come into contact with, run into, come across, meet, come up against, be forced to contend with, beset, worry, distress, cause trouble to, trouble, bother, confront, burden, brave, face up to, meet head-on, dare, defy, oppose, resist, withstand, cover, clad, skin, overlay, dress, pave, put a facing on, laminate, inlay, plate, coat, line
Antonyms: dodge, fear, back, give way, back down, dodge, avoid, throw in the towel, withdraw, cave in, retreat, succumb to, lay down one's arms, throw in the sponge, defer, submit, escape, bashfulness, shun, evade, elude
Showing 1 to 25 of 215 results
1. A Dream Deferred
Illustration
Langston Hughes
The poet, Yeats, said that responsibility begins in dreams. What happens to a dream deferred? Does it dry up like a raisin in the sun? Or fester like a sore - And then run? Does it stink like rotten meat? Or crust and sugar over - Like a syrupy sweet? Maybe it just sags Like a heavy load. Or does it explode?
Sermon
Theodore F. Schneider
... to ask, "Is God like this?" is to miss the point of the parable. The parable is about prayer: "They ought always to pray and not lose heart." The parable is about faithfulness: "When the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?" In light of the deferred hope of Christ's early return as Luke wrote his account, the phrase "when the Son of Man comes" carries huge importance. The central truth here is the faithfulness of God which gives a solid hope to the people of God. There must be no doubt that God ...
3. RSVP
Matthew 22:1-14
Sermon
Lori Wagner
... during the reception celebration. “Please respond.” Sometimes I think this phrase should be a Christian’s key phrase –the message we bear on our palms and sleeves. For followers of Jesus, response defines them as willing to invest––in relationship, in interest, in deference, in repentance and in faith. Think about the messages of the prophets. The warnings throughout scripture to those who do not honor God. Think about the call of God to Adam and Eve in the garden, or the answers to God’s call ...
4. The Uncloudy Cloud?
Hebrews 11:1-40
Sermon
Leonard Sweet
... Hughes (1902-1967) was called the poet laureate of Harlem. He was the first African-American author to support himself solely through his writing. In perhaps his most famous poem, "Dream Deferred," he asks this core question about the black experience in America, "What happens to a dream deferred?" He ends his poem with a veiled warning: What happens to a dream deferred? Does it dry up like a raisin in the sun? Or fester like a sore and then run? Does it stink like rotten meat? Or crust and sugar over like ...
5. Haman Hanged
Esther 7:1-10
Understanding Series
Timothy S. Laniak
... : “Who is he? Where is the man who has dared to do such a thing?” Without hesitation, she answers (with similar staccato in Hebrew), “The adversary and enemy is this vile Haman” (v. 6). Her enemy is now his enemy and thus The Enemy. Esther’s extreme deference to the gracious Xerxes is matched by her open spite for the “wicked” Haman. The Hebrew adjective is the simple term for evil, the opposite of the Hebrew term for good used of Esther (1:19) and Mordecai (7:9) and the king’s choices (i.e ...
Understanding Series
Gerald H. Wilson
... a sign of divine blessing or an outpouring of public honor and respect. In verses 7–17, however, it becomes increasingly clear that Job is focused on public acknowledgement of his wise and righteous behavior. Wherever Job appeared in public, people met him with deference and solicitude befitting his honored position in society. 29:7–8 When I went to the gate of the city. The city gate is the place where the elders, sages, or rulers decided matters of business, justice, and social order. Job goes to the ...
Sermon
Lori Wagner
... replies, “Give therefore to the emperor the things that are the emperor’s, and to God the things that are God’s.” At this, Jesus has them. For what belongs to the emperor? “a coin with his head on it.” What belongs to God? Our faith, our deference, our hearts, our souls, the Temple, the people, and all things created. What belongs to God? You do. And nothing Caesar can do can ever take that away from them. They are not serving God by giving Caeasar back the coin that bears his image. For every ...
Sermon
Lori Wagner
... those given the task to oversee it in God’s truth and love. We are blueprints of the Creator, inscriptions of the Master. No matter how much we tend to like to pretend we have the power, the power belongs to God, and our loyalty, our love, our deference, and our lives belong only and always to God. The word, “to cast” in English is an interesting one. It can refer to “throwing” in the sense of casting a ballot, casting an image, casting doubt, or reckoning one’s truth. It refers to the form a ...
9. Proper 17
Psalm 81:1-16, Hebrews 13:1-25, Jeremiah 2:1-3:5, Luke 14:1-14
Sermon Aid
William E. Keeney
... of who you are. It has something to do with the high value of all human life. Closely related to the accurate assessment of oneself and the awareness of the worth of all human life is the respect for others. The Christian should show deference to the worth of others. Does that not mean that persons do not push their self-interests ahead of others? When choice positions are available, a person should first consider whether others should have precedence unless some functional reason requires one to take the ...
Sermon
Robert Salzgeber
... another and love one another out of "reverence for Christ!" The Hebrew morning prayer went something like this: "I thank you Lord that I am not a slave, that I am not a Gentile, and that I am not a woman." Once again, we see Paul deferring to Christ in Galatians 3: "So there is no difference between Jews and Gentiles, between slaves and free men, between men and women; you are all one in union with Christ Jesus." Thus we are called, by God, to follow his instructions regarding marital commitment. Overhear ...
Sermon
Theodore F. Schneider
... 2000 years later with Jesus still delayed in his coming. I know what Luke would say. He would tell us again about this parable that Jesus told. III First we have a hope that does not disappoint but secondly it is a hope that often is deferred. And so, third, let me offer you this parable of reassurance. The early Christians of the late first century, in the context of all this turmoil, found great usefulness in retelling today's parable about the widow and the uncaring judge. The introduction and conclusion ...
Sermon
Maxie Dunnam
... a conscious that is occasionally fired by the fact that, after all, she gave him birth. Money won’t buy love. And money won’t buy respect. We may get some of our selfish wants by money. We may use it to gain loyalty and deference from others, but this loyalty and deference is a charade for respect and usually turns into contempt. And money won’t buy exemption from the problems that are common to us all. Money or the lack of it doesn’t keep children from breaking the hearts of their parents. Money or ...
Sermon
Phil Thrailkill
... to face alone, so large that if you dared speak against the myth or even voice doubts, people labeled you and distanced themselves. We were born in a prison of our ancestor’s making, and what we inherited as a legacy we maintained and serviced out of deference and the privileges it afforded till one day we heard a new and larger world was coming. It did not hurt that there were rumors out of Washington that the prison was to be dismantled and destroyed. So we packed our mental bags and moved out into ...
14. Poor Mary
Luke 1:39-45
Sermon
Mark Trotter
... chose some old couple, like Abraham and Sarah, and told them, "You're going to have a baby." So the precedent was with Elizabeth. But the blessing went to Mary. The greater defers to the lesser, the older to the younger, the first-born, "leaping in the womb," acknowledges the priority of the second-born, just like Esau and Jacob. The mighty defers to the powerless, the wealthy to the poor, the proud to the humble. That's who Mary is. That's who Mary represents, the humble, the poor, and the powerless. This ...
15. Two Women
Luke 1:39-45
Sermon
Mark Trotter
... and blessed is the fruit of thy womb!" Elizabeth will give birth to John the Baptist. Mary will give birth to Jesus. So even in the womb, John gives deference to Jesus. John will become the one who "prepares the way of the Lord." But here, Elizabeth, the socially superior, the culturally sophisticated, the economically advantaged, defers to the simple, uneducated, uncultured, poor Mary. Elizabeth listens to Mary's story, and she rejoices. Then she tells her story. And afterwards, I imagine, they wept, then ...
16. Easter 4
Acts 2:42-47, Psalm 23:1-6, 1 Peter 2:13-25, John 10:1-21
Sermon Aid
Marion L. Soards, Thomas B. Dozeman, Kendall McCabe
... motifs make clear what the implications of God's grace must be in our perception of situations of suffering, even when those situations are evil. The first attitude is fear in v. 18 (NRSV, "with all deference"). The NRSV translation makes the master the object of the slaves' "fear" (hence the translation, "with all deference"). Fear, however, is a quality that arises in Christians who know the salvation of God (see I Peter 1:17), and not a quality that arises from other persons. The call for fear in the ...
17. Lent 5
John 11:1-45 · Romans 8:6-11 · Ezekiel 37:1-14 · Psalm 130
Sermon Aid
Marion L. Soards, Thomas B. Dozeman, Kendall McCabe
... that exiles cannot live. The opening question to the prophet in v. 3 and the prophet's evasive response simply confirm this answer. When God asks the prophet whether dried bones can be brought back to life, note how the prophet never answers, and, instead, defers the question back to God. The equivocal answer of the prophet goes to the heart of this text. From the prophet's perspective, the "you-know" response is easily interpreted as an attempt to avoid the obvious—of course dried bones cannot come back ...
Sermon
Leonard Sweet
... than when you were, but he didn’t know what it was called” (p.171). Pooh is describing, of course, the joy of anticipation, the sweet taste of honey-yet-to-come. The Puritans called it the joy of “deferred gratification,” though they tended to “defer” until their deathbeds. The Emmaus Road travelers felt “anticipation” only AFTER their eyes were opened to Jesus’ presence at their table. They remembered how their hearts “were burning” while he spoke to them on the road. We tend to ...
19. James 2:1-10
James 2:1-13
Sweet
Leonard Sweet
... as an absolute rejection of this law. Favoritism rejects the law of love and so is a “sin” that is “convicted” by the law. The Torah declares such favoritism to be a rejection of the law, which declared “you shall not be partial to the poor or defer to the great.” Justice cannot be achieved under such partiality. The love the Torah demands of the faithful is not a response that can be piece-mealed or portioned out. Loving the neighbor is an all-or-nothing proposition. The law of love is either ...
20. Mark 10:35-45
Mark 10:35-45
Sweet
Leonard Sweet
... the completion of all of God’s plots and plans to . . . God. Enacting his messianic obedience, Jesus announces that seat assignments in the kingdom of heaven are not his to make. Showing traditional Jewish deference to using God’s name, Jesus merely states that these seating arrangements have been entrusted to other hands. It is little wonder that the audacity of the request made by James and John, and Jesus’ response to their rude request, causes the other disciples to be “angry.” It is hardly ...
21. Not So With You
Mark 10:35-45
Sermon
Leonard Sweet
... the completion of all of God’s plots and plans to . . . God. Enacting his messianic obedience, Jesus announces that seat assignments in the kingdom of heaven are not his to make. Showing traditional Jewish deference to using God’s name, Jesus merely states that these seating arrangements have been entrusted to other hands. It is little wonder that the audacity of the request made by James and John, and Jesus’ response to their rude request, causes the other disciples to be “angry.” It is hardly ...
Understanding Series
Timothy S. Laniak
... , having succeeded in that first breach of protocol, she is about to ask the king to do the “impossible,” to change unchangeable law (e.g., 1:19). The king extended the gold scepter (v. 4), a sign of his continued favor on her behalf. Esther increases her deference toward her king and husband: “If it pleases the king,” she said, “and if he regards me with favor and thinks it the right thing to do, and if he is pleased with me, . . .” The first phrase is a standard one used often in Esther (1:19 ...
23. The Death of Sarah
Genesis 23:1-20
Understanding Series
John E. Hartley
... to buy. His reasons are unknown. A possible explanation is that he wanted to free himself from civil obligations, such as taxes, that went along with owning land and that were relieved only by selling the entire plot. 23:12–13 Again Abraham bowed in deference before the people. He pressed Ephron to accept cash for the field. Abraham agreed to buy the field, not just the cave, for whatever price Ephron would set. Shrewdly and politely he did not name a price. He strengthened his offer with an appeal that ...
Understanding Series
John E. Hartley
... were Jacob’s flocks and that they were a gift for him. Each servant was to address Esau as lord and to refer to Jacob as servant. Jacob sought to pacify Esau by having him receive all these gifts, accompanied by words of Jacob’s deference, in several stages. He hoped the repetition would soften Esau’s anger so that he would receive his younger brother. The text reads literally, “I will see his face, and perhaps he will lift up my face” (nasa’ panim). “Face” captures the critical issue. If ...
25. Jacob Meets Esau
Genesis 33:1-20
Understanding Series
John E. Hartley
... bowed before Esau. 33:8–11 Esau asked the meaning of all the droves of animals that he had passed. Jacob answered directly, admitting that they had been placed along the way in order that he might win his lord’s favor. Relishing Jacob’s deference (Jacob addresses him as lord also in vv. 13, 14 [twice], 15), Esau declined the gifts, saying that he had plenty. Among peoples of the Near East it was not proper to accept a large present without strongly protesting. Jacob countered by pressing him to ...
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