Synonyms: renounce, relinquish, dispense with, forswear, disclaim, disown, disavow, discard, wash one's hands of, give up, stop, cease, drop, forgo, desist from, have done with, abjure, abstain from, discontinue, break off, refrain from, set/lay aside, desert, leave, leave high and dry, turn one's back on, cast aside, break (up) with, vacate, quit, evacuate, withdraw from, surrender, cede, yield, indulge in, give way to, give oneself up to, yield to, lose oneself to/in, uninhibitedness, recklessness, lack of restraint, lack of inhibition, unruliness, wildness, impulsiveness, impetuosity, immoderation, wantonness
Antonyms: keep, claim, continue, stick by, self-control, power through, achieve, defend, bear, hope, acquire, quick visit, adopt, continue along, adhere, remain, pursue, support, take up, keep up, reuse, advocate, stay, persevere, cherish, keep going, carry on
Showing 301 to 325 of 4489 results
Sermon
Richard Patt
There are few other speeches of Jesus in the New Testament that catch us more off-guard than this one. Nobody would deny that these are some of the most intense words of Jesus that we find in the Bible. It would follow that any reader of these words, including those who believe in Jesus, would probably want some kind of explanation. Frankly, the Lord seems to be shouting at the top of his voice here. A little later we will talk about the deeper meaning behind the words that capture our ears here, phrases ...
Sermon
Thomas G. Rogers
When Frank and Karen got home from their Bible study at church, there were two messages waiting for them on their telephone answering machine. Both messages were bad news. One call was from Ted, one of Frank's friends at work. Ted had received tragic news about a death. The other call was from Paula, one of Karen's friends from her aerobics class. Paula had received tragic news from her doctor. Neither Ted nor Paula were actively involved in a church. In the past, Frank had invited Ted to church and Bible ...
Sermon
King Duncan
This morning's lesson from the Gospel deals with the baptism of Jesus. It is a good time for us to affirm the meaning of our own baptism. William P. Barker tells about a machinist with the Ford motor company in Detroit who had, over a period of years, "borrowed" various parts and tools from the company which he had not bothered to return.. While this practice was not condoned, it was more or less accepted by management, and nothing was done about it. The machinist, however, experienced a Christian ...
Sermon
King Duncan
It's one of those stories you see circulating on the Internet. The author is unknown, but the sentiments are universal. It's titled THE CITY OF REGRET: "I had not really planned to take a trip this year, yet I found myself packing anyway. And off I went, dreading it. I was on another guilt trip. I booked my reservation on "Wish I Had" airlines. I didn't check my bags--everyone carries their baggage on this airline. I had to drag [my bags] for what seemed like miles in the Regret City airport. And I could ...
Sermon
Maxie Dunnam
There is a famous legend in Buddhist folklore in which the Buddha compared philosophical preoccupation with settling the matter of God’s existence to a man shot with a poisoned arrow. Before the man can allow the arrow to be withdrawn and the wound treated, he insisted upon knowing who shot him, what sort of poison was in the arrow, and what kind of medicine would be administered.. The man died before the questions were answered. Buddha concluded that in the same way, people need to be rescued from the ...
306. Thanks Be to God
Deuteronomy 26:1-15
Sermon
Richard Gribble
Once upon a time there was a woodcutter who spent the majority of every day in the woods. He knew every trail and basically every inch of the forest. One day the woodcutter was preparing to fell a tree when he heard a cooing sound not far away. He followed the sound and found two white doves that were caught in a wooden trap. He felt sorry for the birds and thus opened the trap door and allowed them to fly to freedom. He then returned to his job of felling the tree and forgot all about the birds. As the ...
Sermon
James McCormick
The all night wrestling match with God reveals much of the meaning of Jacob’s life. The verses I just read report the events of only a few hours, but in those hours we see the meaning of his whole life. Jacob’s entire life had been a struggle. From the very beginning, he struggled with his twin brother, Esau. Jacob was his mother’s favorite. But he knew that Esau, his brother, was his father Isaac’s favorite. It was a classic sibling rivalry which resulted in tragic consequences. You remember the story: ...
308. 1 Thessalonians 3:9-13
1 Thessalonians 3:9-13
Sweet
Leonard Sweet
After Paul and his teammates Silvanus and Timothy were expelled from Thessalonia, the apostle worried over the new community there like some anxious parent. Paul's fear had its basis not just in the usual vicissitudes of human nature, but in the disturbing reports of persecution these new Christians had already been forced to endure. It is against this anxious backdrop that Paul receives Timothy's uplifting news, his Thessalonian brothers and sisters have remained strong under stress. In verse 9, Paul uses ...
Sermon
J. Howard Olds
Living is a thing we do, now or never, which do you? Yesterday is a memory, tomorrow is a mystery, and today is a gift, that’s why we call it the present. Jesus said, “What shall it profit a man to gain whole control and lose his own soul?” Life, what a wonderful four letter word. Life, what a gift. Life, what an opportunity. Life, what a trust. It is one of those things that matters in the light of eternity. I’d like to take this brief time to share with you my thoughts on living a life that really ...
Sermon
J. Howard Olds
On January 31, 1829, Governor Martin Van Buren of New York wrote this letter to President Andrew Jackson. “As your know, Mr. President, railroad carriages are pulled at the enormous speed of 15 mph by engines which roar and snort their way through the countryside, setting fire to crops, scaring livestock and frightening women and children. The Almighty certainly never intended that people should travel at such breakneck speed.” Do you remember when a mouse was a rodent that liked cheese, a chip was a piece ...
Sermon
J. Howard Olds
Why? Why? Why? Why? - Once more Americans are asking why? Why should thirty-two people lose their lives in a shooting rampage on Virginia Tech campus? Inquiring minds want to know why. You would think after the Oklahoma City bombings, the 9/11 terrorist attacks, the devastation of hurricanes Katrina and Rita, and the high school shootings in Texas, Colorado, and Kentucky, we would eventually become too numb to notice. But something inside the human spirit will not let us off that easy. So people with ...
Sermon
J. Howard Olds
Buy a cup of coffee from any fast food restaurant and somewhere on the cup you will likely find these words, CAUTION: CONTENTS MAY BE HOT. What you need to wake you up can also scald your tongue. So beware, say the makers, and keep us all out of court. Something similar could be said about the Beatitudes of Jesus. These formulas for bliss are also bombshells for life. They are flashes of lightening across the landscape of our ordered lives. As William Barclay says, “The Beatitudes of Jesus turn standard ...
313. On Being Faithful and Focused
Hebrews 11:1, 32 – 12:2
Sermon
J. Howard Olds
It was Henry David Thoreau who wrote: “If you have built castles in the air, your work need not be lost. That is where they should be. Now put foundations under them." For the past few weeks, we have articulated a new vision for this congregation focused on “touching hearts and transforming lives." We have organized our church and deployed our staff to embrace a mission of inviting, worshiping, discipling, serving, and healing. We have built castles in the air. Now it is time to put foundations under them ...
314. Turning Evil Into Good
Genesis 45:1-8a, 50:19-20
Sermon
J. Howard Olds
The year was 1963. I was a graduating senior in high school and as president of our class I wrote in the year book this simple philosophy of life. “All things work together for good." Today, nearly 40 years later, I want to tell you why I still believe that statement is true. We catch up with our hero, Joseph, in the waning years of his life. His father is dead. His brothers are feeling guilty and afraid. But this young dreamer has lived too long to be revengeful. He has spent enough time in prison to ...
Sermon
J. Howard Olds
How do you define success? I would like to talk about that today. Robert Raines says, “Success is a moving target. Every time I make my mark, somebody paints the wall,” go the lyrics of a country song. Oliver Wendell Holmes at age 90 said, “The secret to my success is that at an early age, I discovered I was not God.” Ralph Waldo Emerson said, “To leave the world a bit better, to know that even one life has breathed easier because you lived, that is to have succeeded.” We catch up with our Old Testament ...
Sermon
J. Howard Olds
The poet, James Thurber, once said, “All men must learn before they die, what they are running from and to and why.” We catch up with our hero, Jacob, today on the muddy banks of the Jabbok River. Twenty years have passed since he left Bethel where God promised to go with him and guide him through all his days. In this productive period of Jacob’s life, he accumulates a couple of wives, eleven children, a host of servants, and a wealth of cattle, sheep, and camels. He has left his father-in-law, Laban. He ...
Sermon
J. Howard Olds
Lord, listen to your children praying, Lord, send your spirit in this place, Lord, listen to your children praying, Send us love, send us power, send us grace. Come, Holy Spirit, come. Fill the hearts of your faithful. Send forth your spirit and we shall be created and you shall renew the face of the earth. It's Pentecost! Pentecost is more than red paraments, strange language and smoke in the sanctuary. Pentecost is about the Spirit of God, bringing creation out of chaos, breathing into us the breath of ...
Sermon
J. Howard Olds
In Tennessee Williams’ play, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, Big Daddy and his son, Brick, are in the basement sorting through stuff while the other children are upstairs arguing about the family inheritance. Big Daddy says to Brick, “You know what I’m going to do before I die? I’m going to open all these boxes.” Then, realizing he doesn’t have enough time left for that task Big Daddy says, “There’s one thing you can’t buy in a fire sale or any other market on earth. That’s your life. You can’t buy back your life ...
Sermon
J. Howard Olds
When it comes to water, I am fundamentally afraid. It’s my mother’s fault. She was so concerned that one of her children might wade into a pond or fall into a creek that she put the fear of water into our psyche. So I was an adult before I learned to swim. When the water is deep and the waves are fierce, I can still find myself getting anxious. Perhaps that is why I have never preached a sermon on this text about Peter walking on the water. It’s just too personally intimidating. But, here it is, in three ...
Sermon
J. Howard Olds
Sooner or later it’s bound to happen. A child will climb into your lap and ask the question, a friend facing some struggle will want to know, or lifting up the floorboards of your own faith you will examine your basic assumptions. From age to age the question is the same, WHAT IS GOD LIKE? People in Jesus’ day needed an answer to the God question, too; so Jesus gave us the greatest story ever told. A certain man had two sons. We call it the Parable of the Prodigal Son, but really it’s a story about a ...
Sermon
J. Howard Olds
One of the most helpful organizations I belonged to as a teenager was the Future Farmers of America. What little I know about public speaking, organizational leadership and parliamentary procedure I learned from this association. The FFA opened its meetings with a distinctive ritual. The president called the meeting to order and immediately asked “Future Farmers of America, why are we here?” Jesus wanted people to know why he was here, so he went back to his hometown synagogue, read from the prophet Isaiah ...
322. When God Builds the House
Psalm 127:1-5, 1 Corinthians 3:10-15
Sermon
J. Howard Olds
Let me begin this sermon on a personal note. This time last year I was a patient at Vanderbilt Hospital feeling much too weak to either eat or pray. Through that dark night of the soul, the looming question of my ability to continue as pastor of this great congregation weighed heavily on my heart and mind. Last fall seems like a long time ago now. As we pause to celebrate a building milestone in the history of this congregation, I want to thank God for the privilege of being able to be present. Life is a ...
Sermon
J. Howard Olds
Author and spiritual director Richard Foster says, “The great moral question of our time is how to move from greed to generosity." That's what we would like to talk about today. A. GREED: the Bible calls it avarice, or covetousness. Greed is the gratification of my desires often at the expense of the common good. We all have a need for greed. We are born to be greedy. It would be easy today to talk about the greediness of Enron executives who are on trial for pocketing millions of dollars. It would be ...
Sermon
J. Howard Olds
Did you hear the story about two brothers who terrorized a town for decades? They were unfaithful to their wives, abusive to their children, dishonest with their customers and cheated on their income tax. Then suddenly one day the older brother died. In making arrangements for his funeral, the younger brother asked the town pastor to do the service. “And," said the surviving brother, “I insist that you refer to my brother as a saint in the funeral service." The good Reverend resisted. But when the brother ...
Sermon
J. Howard Olds
Country music artist, Martina McBride asserts in one of her hit songs that “WE HAVE BEEN BLESSED." Indeed we have. This world is a beautiful place. Most of us have people who love us. Few, if any, of us got out of bed this morning wondering where we would find something to eat. All of life is a blessing. That is where I would like to focus our attention for the next few weeks. I. OUR POSSESSIONS ARE BLESSINGS FROM GOD If you have food in the refrigerator and clothes on your back, a roof over your head and ...
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