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 376 to 400 of 1185 results
Sermon
Kent Moorehead
... us the cures as well. "You are mistaken in your emphasis," he says, "on things, possessions, money, power, what you shall eat, drink and put on. Seek first, emphasize first, stress first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; then these things will cease possessing you, controlling you, suffocating you; and you will be able to master them and use them wisely and well." Suppose we should take his prescription and obey his directions. Could anything more readily help to heal the ills of this sick world ...
Sermon
Leonard Mann
... 1:16-19). And John wrote - the incomparable vision of victory which stands now as the final book of the Christian Bible, and one of the most hopeful and courage-engendering things ever to come from the pen of any man. But the comings of Jesus did not cease when the New Testament book of history closed. He has done a lot of coming this side of that. If you could ask John Wesley concerning the dramatic transformation of his life, I think you would hear him say, "I was defeated and frustrated and lost; all my ...
378. Illustrations for Lent Easter Old Testament Texts
Isaiah 42:10-17, Isaiah 42:18-25
Illustration
Jon L. Joyce
... who is eager to show love to those who turn to him is equally determined to root out and destroy evil. Isaiah is warning us not to be lulled to sleep by thinking only of the kindness of God. He who shows patience toward our waywardness will eventually cease to overlook unatoned sin and will destroy. He holds all the power of the universe in his hands to work his ends. Our eternal destiny is for him to determine. Are we tempting God by clinging to things he opposes? Remember God has said, "I will destroy ...
379. Become an Ant
Isaiah 43:14-28
Sermon
Jon L. Joyce
... taking a walk through a pasture. He came upon an anthill and amused himself by watching the ants as they busily scurried in and out. Then he happened to move into a position which cast his shadow over the anthill. Immediately all activity ceased. The ants disappeared into their home. When he stepped back so that his shadow was not over the anthill, the ants resumed their activities. Intrigued by the ants’ reaction to shadow and light, he proceeded to conduct a little experiment. He repeated his movements ...
380. An Invasion of Privacy
John 20:24-31, John 20:19-23
Illustration
William G. Carter
... but pointed letter on his firm's letterhead. "I am writing to complain about the congregational ritual known as 'passing the peace,'" he wrote. "I disagree with it, both personally and professionally, and I am prepared to take legal action to cause this practice to cease." When the pastor phoned to talk with the lawyer about the letter, he asked why the man was so disturbed. The lawyer said, "The passing of the peace is an invasion of my privacy." I have no doubt that there are people who would take their ...
381. The Sabbath - Delightfully Different
Exodus 20:1-21, Mark 2:23-3:6
Sermon
Bill Bouknight
... . This commandment has also been the most controversial. The essence of the commandment is the first sentence, verse 8: "Remember the Sabbath day and keep it holy." The word "Sabbath" ("shabbat" in Hebrew) does not mean "seven." It means to desist or to cease or to rest. The word "holy" means "different." Therefore, we could render that sentence as follows: "Remember the rest day and keep it different from the other days." As you probably know, the Jewish Sabbath has always been from sundown on Friday until ...
Drama
Jerome W. Nilssen
... , the kind brothers are supposed to have. And he spoke to me about religion. Because he is ... JAREL WAS CAIN WAS a very religious man. He spoke to God as a friend. And apparently God heard him. So Abel claimed. At least he was continuously giving thanks. Continuously. Without ceasing. And I told him: "You are an offense to me, a stink!" And he prayed my forgiveness. And I told him to move away, to leave me alone. And he said it was not right that brothers should be apart. And next I thought I saw a hint of ...
383. Judgement Day Is Coming
Matthew 13:24-30, Matthew 13:36-43, Matthew 13:47-52
Sermon
Bill Bouknight
... A FOURTH TRUTH IS THIS: WE MUST FISH WITH A BIG NET. Notice in verse 47 that the net Jesus talked about in his fishing parable caught fish of every kind. If we ever decide in advance that somebody is unreachable for Christ, we have ceased to be a church. We are then a club, not worthy of the name of ChriSt. Listen to the types of people who became Christians and joined the New Testament church at Corinth: fornicators, idolaters, adulterers, male prostitutes, homosexuals, thieves, the greedy, drunkards, and ...
Sermon
Bill Bouknight
... fear, let's look at the cure for it. The cure is simply this: a growing confidence that God is with us and is sufficient for our needs. That confidence is called faith. In the middle of that stormy sea, Jesus shouted, "Hush! Be quiet!" And the wind ceased and there was a great calm. After that night the disciples never again feared a storm on the Sea of Galilee if Jesus was with them. They knew he was sufficient. But the longer they lived with Jesus, the more they learned that he would not always make ...
Sermon
Bill Bouknight
... in Memphis and Shelby County, this will require prayer. If Christ Church is going to help God reform and renew United Methodist Church, this will require prayer. Jesus said: "You have not because you ask not." "Ask and will be given you." "Pray without ceasing." Arthur J. Moore was one of our greatest Methodist bishops. He was pastor in some of our largest churches. It was said that at least one person was converted every Sunday that he preached. One Sunday morning about fifteen minutes before a worship ...
Sermon
Bill Bouknight
... would expect, like Billy Graham and Mother Teresa. But I believe it will also include a less famous person, a Methodist named E. Stanley Jones. When Dr. Jones first went to India as a missionary, he had great enthusiasm. But the humid climate and never-ceasing work weakened him. He had a nervous breakdown. He went to the mountains to recuperate. A year later returned to his work and had a second nervous breakdown. Dr. Jones returned to the United States to recover. After in the States, he returned to India ...
387. Judgment Day is Coming (Adapted)
Matthew 13:24-30, Matthew 13:36-43, Matthew 13:47-52
Sermon
Bill Bouknight
... . Jesus warned, "Judge not, lest you also be judged." Notice in verse 47 that the net Jesus talked about in his fishing parable caught fish of every kind. If we ever decide in advance that somebody is unreachable for Christ, we have ceased to be a church. We are then a club, not worthy of the name of Christ. Listen to the types of people who became Christians and joined the New Testament church at Corinth: fornicators, idolaters, adulterers, male prostitutes, homosexuals, thieves, the greedy, drunkards ...
Drama
Denny C. Wise
... shall all the proud of the earth bow down, he who cannot keep himself alive. And men shall tell of the coming of the Lord to coming generations, and proclaim his deliverance to a people yet unborn, that he has wrought it." Mary: Jesus, your young memory never ceases to astonish me, but the hour is late. It is time for you to sleep. Why don’t you pray your first bedtime prayer. Perhaps it will bring back more peaceful memories and allow you to sleep. You know, the one about the four guardian angels! Boy ...
Sermon
Donald Macleod
... of things, while we have neglected the moral and spiritual order by which we should be held. If you and I break the laws of nature, eventually and surely we break ourselves against them. Our world is "out of joint" today. Does this mean that God has ceased to care for it? Certainly not! The proper question is: Have we been fully responsible to those eternal laws by which God steers his world? 2. This would be a sorry state of affairs were it not for the second lesson the Book of Chronicles leaves with ...
Sermon
Robert Allen
... was 450 feet high. If he would leap from this and land among the people without being harmed, then the people would follow him. But, Jesus recognized that faith which was founded on magic or the sensational was doomed to failure when the sensational events ceased to be sensational. And so he rejected this temptation by saying, "You shall not tempt the Lord your God." The third temptation was the temptation to compromise with evil in the world. The tempting voice said, "Fall down and worship me and I will ...
Sermon
Robert Allen
... a little strange because they had prayed all of their lives. However, when they began following Jesus, they saw what prayer meant to him. The Gospel of Luke describes the scene this way: It came to pass, as He was praying in a certain place, that when He ceased, one of His disciples said unto Him, Lord, teach us to pray, even as John also taught his disciples. Evidently, they had been observing what prayer meant in his life. He went into prayer in one mood and came out in another. Praying for Jesus was not ...
Sermon
Frederick C. Edwards
... for peace and mutual understanding of people. Thousands of Christians representing many denominations and people of other faiths speaking a variety of languages come to Coventry to pray and work for world peace, to the end that such wanton destruction of life and beauty will cease and people will learn at last to live together peacefully and unafraid. No, it was not the destruction, but what was called forth out of the ashes and rubble that was to glorify God. It was the work of that great church that was ...
393. Break Through
2 Samuel 7:1-17
Sermon
Frederick C. Edwards
... many arguments put forth for Israel to be established in 1947 as the Jewish homeland. David, in proposing a temple, was proposing an idea that supported not just a religion centered in a place, but a mindset that had "settled," and in a very important sense had ceased its quest. On the other hand there was the idea that the Israelites should always be a pilgrim people, and always be in quest of a land of promise that was not geographical, but mental and spiritual. The ark of the covenant still in the tent ...
394. We Know Jonah
Jonah 3:1-10
Sermon
Frederick C. Edwards
... only to another Jew. Jesus even had to contend with a couple of his own disciples who were ready to call down fire from heaven to consume the people of an inhospitable Samaritan village. Jesus himself, though, offered water - spirit - that would spring up and never cease, to a Samaritan woman he met at Jacob’s well one day, whose life needed to be redeemed from the mess she had made of it. Here was the redemptive action of God personified in Jesus. Ideas of prejudice and exclusiveness are among the most ...
Sermon
Frederick C. Edwards
... She was young and beautiful, and intelligent, and well educated, and articulate, and it would seem she had everything going for her. Yet she struggled with seasons of depression, and in between those she never really felt good about herself. In her late teens she had ceased having any participation in the church. But later on, thinking that religion might be the answer to some of her problems, she linked up with a small religious group. It was not much like the church in which she had grown up, and it didn ...
Sermon
Durwood L. Buchheim
... the world, the world would love you as its own. Because you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world - therefore the world hates you." (John 15:18-19) So this young congregation is under official notice to cease operations. Before, such a warning would have brought on fear and trembling, but now of all things, it results in a joyous, public prayer meeting. This beginning community of believers responds to threats and pressures, not with guilt or fear, but with prayer. These prayers ...
397. When God Was Nothing
Philippians 2:1-11
Sermon
Brett Blair
... love and he called upon a song. My favorite line in the Hymn is this: But made himself nothing. God made himself nothing. Well, that’s impossible isn’t it? Hw can God who made everything become nothing. The Hymn of course isn’t saying that God ceased to exist, this is poetry. It is a way of expressing how in the world God condescended, changed his nature in being solely divine and became fully human. God becomes man in Christ. Songs succeed where words fail. The hymn words it like this: Jesus, being ...
Sermon
Leonard H. Budd
... across the blue sky. These early, early human lives saw the hunted as animal stalked animal. They share in it, stalking prey that provided them with food and clothing. They saw their own lives grow through cycles that brought them to the mystery when life ceased and the body returned to the dust of earth. There seemed an order. Yet, even as the boy and the Ancient One sat by the fire, there was the possibility that a wild animal would devour them both - even as the fire continued. Life had uncertainty ...
Sermon
R. Blaine Detrick
... relationship between Abraham and his nephew. As their flocks and herds grew and multiplied, there arose serious dissension between the shepherds of Lot and those of Abraham. The lack of enough good pasture caused discord and dispute so severe that Abraham decided it must cease. Not wishing to live in a constant state of tension and turmoil, of stress and strife, Abraham took young Lot to a mountaintop, where they could look in every direction. "Now, Lot," he said, "we will divide the land. Take a good look ...
Sermon
R. Blaine Detrick
... ; yea, come, buy wine and milk without money and without price" (55:1). To preach on Faith: "I will trust and not be afraid" (12:2). Or "If ye will not believe, surely ye shall not be established" (7:9). To preach on Social Justice: "Cease to do evil; learn to do well; seek justice; relieve the oppressed; judge the fatherless; plead for the widow" (1:16, 17). To preach on Peace: "They shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruninghooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation ...
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