Dictionary: Hope
Synonyms: aspiration, desire, wish, expectation, ambition, aim, plan, dream, daydream, pipe dream, hopefulness, optimism, expectancy, grounds for hope, promise, light at the end of the tunnel, expect, anticipate, look for, wait for, be hopeful of, pin one's hopes on, want, intend, be looking, have the/every intention, have in mind, aspire
Antonyms: pessimism, despair, disbelief, distrust, doubt, fear, hopelessness, discouragement, abandon, depression, reality, fact, mistrust, despond, despondence, anguish
Showing 2576 to 2600 of 4754 results
Sermon
Maxie Dunnam
... the light of the glory of God which shone in the face of Jesus Christ, now shining in his face. His 87 year old big, rough hands trembled as he handed me that divine morsel. The trembling in his hands may have been the result of his age, though I doubt it. I do know that the trembling in my hands was the result of my awareness that I was kneeling on Holy ground, and I was receiving spiritual bread. The bread that has nourished the church, Christ body, from 33 A.D. in the Upper Room, until 1982 in Tolene ...
Sermon
Maxie Dunnam
... King of Salem, as well as a priest of God. Now hear the amount of the separated portion is designated for the first time and the separated portion is to be 10%. It was common practice among ancient warriors to tithe the spoils of war. Abraham no doubt was familiar with that practice, yet there’s something very unique about what Abraham was doing. It was an act of genuine devotion, and for the first time in history, persons were bringing a tithe of that which they possessed as an act of gratitude to God ...
Sermon
Maxie Dunnam
... 16 of that chapter, he says this. Jesus says this, this man Paul is a chosen instrument to carry my name before the gentiles and their kings and before the people of Israel, and I will show him how much he must suffer in my name. Aeneas, no doubt, shared that word with Paul. And Paul remembering that, that even from the beginning, though it might have not been clear to him then, a part of his calling was to suffer. Now we need to remember this – Calvary had already taken place. Jesus had already suffered ...
Sermon
Maxie Dunnam
... suicide. At first the overworked priest puts her off. Just puts her off. Then he senses the depth of her despair and suggests that they kneel and pray together. But instead of praying, he says, and I quote him, “We live far away from God, so far away that no doubt he doesn’t hear us when we pray to him for help. So we must help each other. We must give each other the forgiveness that a remote God denies us. I say to you, that you’re forgiven your husband’s death. You’re no longer to blame. I ...
2580. Soul Drain
Psalm 63:1-11
Sermon
Maxie Dunnam
... God’s deliverance to take place in the moment. And when those expectations are not met, disappointment and disillusionment come; and I meet people like that every week. Blinding them to the things that are occurring that could have deep meaning, and often doubt and despair result, cynicism and the loss of faith. I thank God even now, as our family spent long days in pain and puzzlement, as we anguished in our relationship with our nephew and prayed long and hard about our responsibility, our Christian ...
2581. Getting It All Together Inside
Psalm 51:1-19, 1 Thessalonians 5:23-24
Sermon
Maxie Dunnam
... than what we know in our heart of hearts, we are called to be and can be. But we do know that that is our plight. Our outward image may communicate confidence and competence, but inside we are confused. Our inner needs are knocking. We are contorting in doubt and we spend many days on the verge of despair. To use the vernacular, we haven’t gotten it all together inside. And that’s what I want to talk about this morning. Getting it together inside. Let’s get a perspective from scripture. There are some ...
Sermon
Maxie Dunnam
... as a family – tired of doing like other people wanted him to do them. Tired of being told to come and when to go, decided that he wanted to cut loose and do his own thing. He decided to drop out, so he did. His father, a responsible parent no doubt, allowed him to do so. Though the scripture doesn’t say, I have an idea, I have an idea that the lamp burned late in that home for many nights, as the father and son talked of the son’s feelings and desires, as the father sought to assist the ...
Sermon
Maxie Dunnam
... you see, like us Paul did not know Jesus in the flesh. His was an experience of faith, as ours must be. He was not an eyewitness to the earthly ministry of Jesus. With a note of sadness, he referred to himself as one untimely born. Yet there is no doubt about it - Paul knew Christ. And for that reason, we can know him as well. Today I am beginning a series of sermons on the theme - The Shaping Power of the Indwelling Christ. In the first two sermons, today and next Sunday, I want to rehearse the gospel and ...
Sermon
Maxie Dunnam
... just one hour?” The bitter cup that Jesus was going to have to drink was made even more bitter by those whom he loved being unable to share his anguish. Now it’s not hard to understand the disciples’ predicament. If we give them the benefit of the doubt, we know that there come those times in our life when we are so dog- tired, that we simply cannot keep our eyes open. Nothing is more frustrating than fighting heavy sleep. But let’s not let them or ourselves off the hook too easily. Something earth ...
2585. Saints In The Light
Colossians 1:1-14
Sermon
Maxie Dunnam
... a very blatant statement that I think speaks to a false understanding of too many Christians. It is a surrender of our identity as human beings and a blasphemy against God to give in to the pain, hopelessness, and helplessness we feel, the gnawing doubts that haunt us by passing through our struggles, conflicts, pain, disillusionment, and despair with the superficial affirmation, “It’s God’s will.” That sort of glossing over with glib affirmation is a straw bridge which will not hold as we pass over ...
Sermon
Maxie Dunnam
... Church as a Resurrection community speaks of power for life now, not just the promise of life after death. Johnny Carson who is not known for his depth of thought, told a news conference he planned for his epitath to read: "Johnny will be right back". I doubt if Johnny was thinking theologically, but the truth is there -- the promise of Life after death. Yet, we're talking of more than that. Paul kept sounding the theme of resurrection -- power for life now. He puts it in a stark, starchy way in Romans 14 ...
Sermon
Maxie Dunnam
... in the Lord. Husbands, love your wives, and do not be harsh with them. Children, obey your parents in everything, for this pleases the Lord. Fathers, do not provoke your children, lest they become discouraged. " Do you know what the key to that passage is? I doubt if you noted it, and that's okay. But it's crucial. The key is the conditional phrase at the close of verse 18: "as is fitting to the Lord." Paul centers his teaching about home -- about marriage and family -- in Christ. Unless you begin there ...
Sermon
Maxie Dunnam
... Presence, and seeking to give expression to his presence in my life and work. This does not mean I have not struggled or that spiritual formation and growth have been consistent and smooth. It does not mean that there has not been suffering, doubt-wrestling, dark nights of the soul, failure in relationship and ministry. All of these, to excruciating depths and degres, have been my lot. But I can trace a pattern. When I have been intentional in cultivating the awareness of the indwelling Christ, yielded ...
Sermon
Maxie Dunnam
... with his deeds, and have put on the new man who is renewed in knowledge according to the image of Him who created him." Paul moves now to explain in specific terms what it means to live the new life in Christ. His words are sharp and incisive, leaving no doubt about the dramatic changes that are to be made in our lives. In verse 5 he says,"Put to death therefore what is earthly in you." In verses 7 and 8, he says, "In these you once walked, when you lived in them. But now put them all away..." Then ...
Sermon
Maxie Dunnam
... The room was dark and the coach was talking, but there was a shuffling and a sound of scraping chairs as one after another they moved to make contact with me. They wanted to convey the unspoken message: 'We're with you.' I wondered how I could have doubted them. I knew one thing. I'd never forget that moment." Rentzel's strength was found in the frank expression of his weakness. And in that courageous moment he felt the strong support of his team -- or may I say his "church"? For they did indeed respond to ...
Sermon
Maxie Dunnam
... he wrote the words that we read for our text. Paul's cesspool was in a prison. There he sang and prayed, and wrote letters to Christians which have become Scripture for us. As he wrote the Philippian Letter, he was soon to face trial. No doubt his friends were worried about him because they knew altogether too well that death might be Rome's judgment against him. But Paul has risen above any anxiety about death, or his prison confinement and suffering. The primary passion of his life made everything else ...
Sermon
Maxie Dunnam
... , John made such a great impact on the nation that many people wondered whether he was, in fact, the Messiah. He carefully and clearly denied it, and publicly declared Jesus to be the Messiah (see 3: 15-17; John 1: 19-34); but in case any doubt should arise then or later, the angel in naming him saw to it that family tradition, which was essential to Messiah, should be declared to be irrelevant to John's ministry. It did not matter who his father or family was. "For Jesus, by contrast, the maintenance ...
Sermon
Maxie Dunnam
... of many in Israel, and for a sign that is spoken against -- and a sword will pierce through your own soul as well – that thoughts out of many hearts may be revealed. What might that have done for Mary's thinking -- her thoughts were confused enough -- no doubt her mind was contorting in anguish. Her head was spinning -- what is all this about -- and now this word of this man of God -- that a sword will pierce through my own soul as well. But there was even more -- the other little story that Luke tells ...
Sermon
Maxie Dunnam
... weight when we wait on the Lord because then we turn our worries into concern. III. Now a third suggestion -- and this gets to the primary focus of our sermon. Stress that comes from fear is killing -- but stress that comes from commitment is creative. I doubt if there is any issue in our personal life and in the world that is thought about and talked about more than stress. Almost every magazine you pick up has an article on stress. Especially airline magazines. I've made it a practice not to read airline ...
Sermon
Maxie Dunnam
... , and sometimes even defied, but the flame of faith was never extinguished in his heart. The word used of him is that great New Testament word hupomone, the word which describes, not a passive patience, but that gallant spirit which can breast the tides of doubt and sorrow and disaster, and still hold on, and come out with faith still stronger on the other side" (William Barclay, The Daily Study Bible, pp. 147, 148) That's what James is talking about: the confidence that the uncertain future has a certain ...
Sermon
Maxie Dunnam
... responses at a mere touch." (quoted by Donald J. Shelby, "Relate in Love and Courage", Santa Monica, April 12, 1981). We haven't seen that Mr. Kahn is right -- but he still may be proven right -- with all the advancement in technology. If he is right, love will no doubt be one of those levers we will be able to pull. And what sort of sensation of pleasure do you think will come when we pull that lever? That misses the mark more than a country mile. It misses it by a galaxy. Love is not a pleasure principle ...
Sermon
Maxie Dunnam
... witnessing task of the Christian is wherever he or she is. II Now a second word: availability, not ability, is the key issue in discipleship. Availability, not ability, is the key issue in discipleship. You see, in terms of ability, James, John, and Simon Peter, no doubt were excellent fishermen. That's the way they made their living. They must have wondered about Jesus when He told them to move further out into the deep and let down their net in order to have a great catch. Was He questioning their ability ...
Sermon
Maxie Dunnam
... him anything because he’s a friend, “Yet because of his importunity he will rise and give him whatever he needs.” Importunity. We don’t use that word in normal conversation. It is somewhat archaic, but in this context of Jesus’ teaching I doubt if any other word would do. To importune means to press or urge or beg with troublesome persistence. A sense of urgency is always present when we importune. This is obviously the central lesson of the parable. “Because of his importunity, the friend who ...
Sermon
Maxie Dunnam
... it was grassy and wanted wear; Though as for that the passing there Had worn them, really, about the same, And both that morning equally layin leaves no step had trodden black. Oh, I kept the first for another day! Yet knowing how way leads on to way, I doubted if I should ever come back. I shall be telling this with a sigh Somewhere ages and ages hence: Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—I took the one less traveled by, And that has made all the difference.” Jesus was always calling us to decide ...
Sermon
Maxie Dunnam
... today. "Are you the teacher of Israel, and do not know these things?" It's a question relevant to us -- because it's the question of grace. Let's look at Nicodemus for a moment. John doesn't dwell on him, doesn't tell us much about him. Yet I doubt if there is an any more intriguing person in the gospels. He was an important man, obviously a well-thought-of member of the Pharisees. The Gospel tells us that he came to see Jesus at night. He was a prudent man. He had a reputation to maintain. This was ...
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