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 3651 to 3675 of 3926 results
3651. In Spite of Failures
Illustration
Rev. James Brassard
... . Donna was “caught up in a tree.” Donna resigned from her legitimate jobs and for a while couldn’t pay the rent. But she refused offers to sell her story to the tabloids or to TV. Instead, she returned to her roots, and a few Christian friends supported her. She turned back to Jesus, began to pray again, and learned to love her enemies. She found hope in Romans 8: “All things work for good for those who love God and are called according to his purposes.” Over time, God gave her a new purpose ...
3652. The New Moses
Matthew 1:18-25
Sermon
Dean Feldmeyer
... three gifts there must have been three wise men. They are most definitely not kings, however. They are Magi — wise men — from which we get the word “magic” and “magician.”) One of the men in this story, Joseph, is humble, a laborer who is poor and supports his family from day to day by the sweat of his brow. He is probably illiterate, a Jew who follows the dictates of his religion as best he can, given his circumstances. The second man, Herod, is a great king. In fact, that is the name history ...
3653. Your Health Depends On It
Illustration
... with lower depression and anxiety levels and better overall health and self-esteem, say psychologists from the National Institute of Healthcare Research, in Rockville, MD, in their book To Forgive is Human. They suspect that forgiveness heals by lowering hostility, a major risk factor for cardiovascular disease, and increasing social support, which has been linked to lower blood pressure, better immunity and a longer life.”
Sermon
Richard Gribble
... , the highest authority possible. Lest, however, we think that prophecy ended with Jesus, we can look at people like Martin Luther King, Jr.; Oscar Romero, the Archbishop of San Salvador, who was assassinated by a military death squad in 1980 because of his support for the poor and marginalized in his country; Mother Teresa of Calcutta; or the retired Anglican Archbishop of Cape Town, Desmond Tutu, who along with F. W. de Klerk and Nelson Mandela worked tirelessly to smash Apartheid in South Africa, to see ...
Sermon
King Duncan
... ’re leaving those behind. We now belong to God. Let me give you an example of someone who’s pursuing a new life. His first name quite ironically is Christian—Christian Picciolini. I say ironically because Christian spent eight years as a violent supporter and recruiter for the white supremacist movement. But while participating in a violent attack on an African-American man one day, Christian experienced a moment of empathy for his victim—a moment that eventually led him to repent of his racism and ...
Sermon
King Duncan
... serve as a relief worker with her church’s Mission Board. In Iraq, Karen and her fellow aid workers built schools and worked on a water purification project. She led a literacy project for widows, teaching them to read and write and gain job skills to support themselves. And when the opportunity arose, she shared her faith in Jesus with those she helped. On March 15, 2004, Karen and her fellow relief workers were killed by gunmen in the city of Mosul, Iraq. Karen had sold her home and all she owned before ...
Sermon
King Duncan
... And what were the average folks in Jesus’ day saying? “Go away!” I’m kidding, of course, but they probably got tired of the religious leaders creating more rules and more roadblocks between them and God. Naturally each of these groups wanted Jesus to support their cause. And Jesus, of course, as usual confounded their expectations. Which reminds me of an old story some of you will remember about a country preacher who had a teenage son who was trying to choose a future profession. One day, while the ...
Sermon
Molly F. James
... just an historic building used for events and concerts. It wasn’t an active parish. We worshiped in the next town over which was big enough to have a real downtown and a wonderful Episcopal parish, St. Philip’s. I loved that community for the ways in which it supported and formed me, and for the valuable lessons it taught me. One of those lessons was about what it means to be a church. They taught me that being a church is about people and community. It is not about the building. St. John’s in my town ...
3659. Blessed
Matthew 5:1-12
Sermon
Dean Feldmeyer
... pastor to get arrested. In fact, they feel like you’re not really doing your job unless you get arrested once a year.” Hearing that, I was reminded of the story of Henry David Thoreau who went to jail for refusing to pay his taxes in support of the Civil War. When his friend, Ralph Waldo Emerson arrived to bail him out he reportedly crossed his arms and looked down his nose at his friend and said, “Thoreau, what are you doing in there?” To which Thoreau answered without looking up, “Emerson, what ...
Sermon
Lori Wagner
... she petitions the servants (who obey her) to take direction from her son. Jesus’ mother also seems to know that Jesus can help! But what she expects from him what he does is another matter. Is she aware he can do the kind of miracle he does? Is she supportive of him as the messiah? Or is she asking her son for help with the wedding, as a mother would request a son to do, expecting him to go in search of additional wine. One might suspect the former; surely at least the latter. The interplay between Mary ...
3661. The House on The Rock
Lk 6:12-49 · Mt 5:1-12
Sermon
Lori Wagner
... us choose the right materials to build our faith. The Scriptures are best studied together, not solo. As we study The Story together, we learn from each other, we help each other understand what Jesus wants for our lives. We talk about our faith, and we support each other through the storms of life. We look for ways to build a better house as we worship together, pray together, and heal together. Together, we build each other up, and keep each other going. In the midst of faults and failures, Stand by me ...
Sermon
Lori Wagner
... to suggest that Jesus was poor and destitute. There is ample evidence in the gospels that Jesus and his family had at least comfortable means, and that he owned a home in Capernaum, in addition to the one his family lived in at Nazareth. Jesus’ ministry was supported by wealthy donors. He had a treasury from which he and the disciples drew when they traveled. We know Peter had a home as well with his family. And we know that Mary and Jesus and the disciples were invited to a rather lavish and expensive ...
3663. Scandal
Matthew 16:21-28, Matthew 17:14-23, Matthew 20:17-19, Matthew 26:1-5
Sermon
Lori Wagner
... best treats. Or maybe, they just don’t see things as you do, don’t have the same goal in mind for you, don’t want to be that disciplined themselves, and so don’t want you to be either. How frustrating it is, when you don’t have the support of the people around you, and they just don’t get it. For Jesus, this frustration hits a head with Peter! And he lays into him, putting him in his place. In a sense, Jesus is saying, “you may not understand what I’m telling you, but if you don ...
3664. God Gives the Pharisees the Finger!
John 7:25-44, John 7:45--8:11
Sermon
Lori Wagner
... and property in the sense that no matter what she may have brought into the marriage, it now belonged to her husband. And if he should decide for whatever reason (and reasons in Jesus’ day were easy!) to divorce her, she would be left penniless and without support. She could then go back to her father’s household, or marry another. Think of the story of Ruth. You didn’t want to be a woman who was widowed or divorced. When Ruth’s husband dies and she is left only with her mother in law Naomi ...
3665. The Good Catch
Matthew 17:24-27
Sermon
Lori Wagner
... in the sea, and the “catch” of the day is free, as YOU are free, says Jesus. Just pay up. No big deal. From the excess of your means, whatever that means to you, you stay a part of your faith community. For many of us, it means, we support our faith community financially and with our time and talents. Some may voluntarily give more than others, as they can. In Jesus’ day, being part of the Jewish community meant paying the yearly “temple tax.” You also did a lot of other things as a part of that ...
3666. The Infiltrator
John 10:1-21, John 10:22-42
Sermon
Lori Wagner
... place in the Temple, where rabbis and others would meet for Torah discussion and gatherings. You might even call Solomon’s Porch the Temple’s “front porch.” In the words of Josephus: “There was a porch without the temple, overlooking a deep valley, supported by walls of four hundred cubits, made of four square stone, very white; the length of each stone was twenty cubits, and the breadth six; the work of king Solomon, who first founded the whole temple” (Josephus, Antiquities l. 20. c. 8. sect ...
3667. Three Wise Women
Luke 1:39-45, Luke 1:46-56
Sermon
Lori Wagner
... even bigger change. Sometimes they did this under the cover of a “baby shower,” or a “tea party,” or a “sewing circle.” These women were talking about things like women’s suffrage, the coming revolutionary war, how to end slavery or support prohibition. Men may have taken the main stage. But for centuries, women had a subculture of their own. It was masked under the pretense of a party or gathering. This was often a very powerful subculture, yielding momentous …and even revolutionary results ...
Sermon
Lori Wagner
... new life, that they didn’t know. And gradually, they became something new. Or maybe you were raised in a poor town in America. But you traveled a road and took some risks, and now you own a store, or a company, or have a job that can support your family well. You spent time in liminal space, in unknown territory, with unknown people. That is the story of the United States of America, the story of “The American Dream.” Liminal space is risky. There is nothing like the journey of when you go to college ...
Sermon
Lori Wagner
... over there, the sopranos to the right, and the basses to the left, all singing a different words and notes and beats of the song, but you’d tune with your ear, so that everyone became part of a beautiful harmony. You affirm each other, you support each other, you complement each other, and most of all, you listen to each other, while singing your heart out to the Lord of All Creation! And that music, that GodSong, just starts moving and vibrating in our hearts and minds, until everyone is focused on ...
3670. Oh That Cookie Jar Goodness!
Matthew 19:16-30, Mark 10:17-31, Luke 18:18-30
Sermon
Lori Wagner
... putting our trust in Him, to lead us, and to speak for us. We live in a world right now in which people on various sides of many, many issues are calling for us to be “good.” Make the “good” decision. Choose the “right” side. Support the “correct” cause. Be a “good” person….according to….? Whom? It depends upon whom you ask. We are living in a culture right now that insists it knows the difference. That insists it can label people good or bad, right or wrong, that insists it knows ...
3671. The Funeral Crasher
John 14:1-4, John 14:5-14, John 14:15-31
Sermon
Lori Wagner
... . But how? Because Jesus IS the “funeral crasher.” He’s the “Way-Truth-Life whisperer,” the blues player, the “wake” awakener, the “hope master.” He’s been that to so many people. But to his inner circle of disciples, he’s been their life support. Their lifeline. Their lifeblood. And they don’t understand how to live without him. And so, Jesus expounds a message of hope, an assurance that he will be with them in the expanded form of the Holy Spirit, and that they will one day follow ...
3672. 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
... about Lazarus himself, the plot to kill him and why, and the apparent power of his evangelism. But according to John, Lazarus may have been the first martyr, and one of the first evangelists on behalf of Jesus, as well as a significant financial supporter. We know he was a friend. He was obviously funding Jesus’ ministry and assisting him with a place to stay whenever he frequented Jerusalem. We know he spent at least one significant Jewish holiday with Lazarus and his two sisters (Sukkot), and he dined ...
3673. The Tragedy of Caiaphas
John 18:1-27 · John 11:45-47 · Matthew 26:36-75
Sermon
Lori Wagner
... mingle with the people, but kept to themselves, spending most of their time with the wealthy and elite of Jerusalem. Highly Hellenized, most of them were educated in the gymnasium in Jerusalem (built in the time of Menelaus in 172-162 BCE), and were supporters of the Greek arts, language, and culture as well as Roman politicians.*** The Sadducees were in frequent conflict with the Pharisees, the more devoted of the two to Jewish faith and practice. But Sadducees were the only ones in the Temple who could ...
Sermon
Lori Wagner
... he was a King . . . .King of the Jews! They had waved palms not for the high priest and his paschal lamb, but for this man, who went to a lot of trouble to signify his “kingship.” What if the Romans found out, and thought they were supporting him. What if the people actually revolted! He was trouble this guy. The Procession proved it! And not only that! Then he spent the entire day embarrassing them all in the Temple courtyard itself, teaching the people, huge numbers who had gathered around to hear him ...
Sermon
Lori Wagner
... often we think of our call as going into the wild blue yonder into God’s new adventure, sometimes too, our call is to leave behind a negative and dying place in our lives, and to move into a new place of livingness. The metaphor of the fig tree supports this idea. The fig tree is that place of well-being, nourishment, positive future, where there is life, and hope. Sometimes we can get stuck in dead gardens into of moving on to plant new seeds in new places. And this all is very hard. Sometimes when we ...
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