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 1858 results
376. Famine of the Heart
Luke 15:1-3, 11b-32
Sermon
Lori Wagner
... sons (hence the comparison). For Jesus, this may refer to two groups: 1) the tax collectors and sinners and 2) the religious folk who follow “the rules.” The errant son feels the need to “sow his wild oats” so to speak and so requests his inheritance at which he goes out on a wild and woolly spending spree, trying to find fulfillment by filling his every desire. Now here comes the famine. [Notice by the way that scripture always uses metaphors to help us understand the meanings implied. In this case ...
377. Last Things First
Matthew 24:36-44
Sermon
Frank Ramirez
... it will be obvious when God wraps up history for real, let us be just as obvious in our loving care for the world at large. That’s what those who are seeking truth are looking for. I’m intrigued that Jesus is suggesting we are in danger from both “wild, drunken parties” as well as the “cares of ordinary life.” Both have the potential to distract us from the good news. Our cares can weigh us down, to where we feel as if we cannot act, or if our actions have no effect. But one of the liberating ...
Sermon
Douglas J. Deuel
... reason he might possibly have for doing so was that God had never let him down before. There was much to fear in Abraham's day. He lived the life of a nomad and life was hard. People's lives were constantly threatened by disease, famine, wild animals, and formidable military foes. But God said, "Fear not and you will be greatly rewarded." Since God had always been faithful and true to God's word, Abraham placed his trust in God's continued provision for his life. Sometimes we underestimate God's ability ...
Sermon
Douglas J. Deuel
... could have tried to deny it. Instead the disciples spoke without apparent hesitation. They came down firmly on the side of their Lord and Savior. I know a minister whose son, Scott, had a tumultuous adolescence at best. As a teenager, Scott was as rebellious and wild as you would want to imagine. And every inch of the way his parents struggled not to lose the battle. They struggled not to give up. And the battle in their home raged on relentlessly. Scott wore his hair down to his shoulders. And he messed ...
Sermon
J. Will Ormond
... I attend church regularly. When I say the Apostles' Creed, I am sure I believe every word of it. I pay my pledge, usually on time. Occasionally I volunteer for the night shelter." But is that enough? Where is the exuberant praise, the extravagant gratitude, the wild, joyful freedom in living, the willingness to go beyond what is required? You know, I wonder what it would be like in my daily living to be motivated entirely by thanksgiving to God. My guess is that it is a great deal more freeing than always ...
Sermon
J. Will Ormond
... the pioneer and perfecter of our faith, who for the sake of the joy that was set before him endured the cross, disregarding its shame, and has taken his seat at the right hand of the throne of God" (Hebrews 12:1-2). Is that not an invitation to a wild and exhilarating freedom? "If the Son makes you free, you will be free indeed" (John 8:36). "
382. Joseph's Friend
Matthew 2:13-18, Matthew 2:19-23
Drama
Robert F. Crowley
... , let me tell you. Just to know him was honor enough. No, I wasn't his father, but I got the privilege of teaching all those things a father gets to teach his son. I got to walk with him through the woods and see his joy at watching the wild animals. I swam in the river with him. I ate with him. After a while, it became apparent to both of us that he knew more than I was teaching him. I became the student. He became the teacher. He never abused the privilege. He always honored me. He taught ...
383. Factions
Luke 20:9-19
Drama
Robert F. Crowley
... DARIEN: More stained glass, that's what. We don't have enough stained glass. It's embarrassing. JILL: Embarrassing? DARIEN: That's what I said, embarrassing. JILL: I'll tell you what's embarrassing -- listening to all of you talk. MYRA: Well, if the pastor goes ahead with this wild scheme I'm just going to stay home. JILL: Is that the way you're going to protest -- stay home? MYRA: I've done it before. But I'm not protesting. I'm just staying home so I can be alone and pray for the pastor. JILL: Right. MYRA ...
384. Noah
Luke 12:22-34
Drama
Robert F. Crowley
... think we got here? GERHON: You know I believe in Yllis. NOAH: The flying turtle? Come on, Gerhon. GERHON: Yllis is a goddess. You know that. NOAH: I don't know that. I do know that any turtle that flies over the countryside spitting out people is a pretty wild thought, even if you think she is a "goddess." GERHON: Hey. I don't make fun of your god, do I? Yllis doesn't bother your god. So don't pick on mine. NOAH: Look, Gerhon, your "goddess" is nothing. A figment of someone's imagination. Why not worship ...
Drama
Robert F. Crowley
... we got here?\nGERHON: You know I believe in Yllis.\nNOAH: The flying turtle? Come on, Gerhon.\nGERHON: Yllis is a goddess. You know that.\nNOAH: I don't know that. I do know that any turtle that flies \nover the countryside spitting out people is a pretty wild \nthought, even if you think she is a "goddess." \nGERHON: Hey. I don't make fun of your god, do I? Yllis doesn't \nbother your god. So don't pick on mine. \nNOAH: Look, Gerhon, your "goddess" is nothing. A figment of \nsomeone's imagination. Why not ...
386. The Open Hand
Mark 2:23-3:6
Sermon
Ron Lavin
... sins." That is the problem with closed minds, hard hearts, and clenched fists -- the unwillingness to let go of what others have done to us or said to us. Henri Nouwen tells the story of an elderly woman in a psychiatric center3 who was acting wildly, swinging at everyone and everything in sight, and scaring everyone so much that the doctor had to take everything away from her, everything except a coin which she gripped tightly as if it were her last possession. She grasped the coin as if being deprived ...
Sermon
Ron Lavin
... fair. It seems like God doesn't care. Life is like that. We have only a little boat. The sea is so vast, so huge and so stormy. And the boat on which we ride is so precarious, so vulnerable. Life is like the sea. The sea -- the turbulent, unpredictable, wild, stormy sea. Have you ever been on a wind-tossed lake or in a storm at sea? One sea captain describes a storm at Cape Horn at the tip of South America like this:This mighty swell of waters that giant force seems to be pressing upon us. This crowding ...
Sermon
William G. Carter
... the end.3 The good news of the gospel is this: when all is said and done, God is going to win. We are invited to live as if God's final victory is a done deal. But can we believe it? Iwan Russell-Jones recently asked why so many wild-eyed prophets of the future end up as television preachers. In the world of religious broadcasting, you have to look long and hard to find a reasonable and faithful voice. To take one example, he observed an evangelist named Jack Van Impe and his wife Rexella, two figures who ...
Sermon
William G. Carter
... Jonathan. He cleared his throat. He stood erect and looked around the group. Then with a note of sobriety he said, "Jesus wept." That did it. The rest of the kids burst into laughter. Bob and Betsy tried to grab the reins of those runaway wild horses. "Tell us, Jonathan," Betsy said, "why did you pick that verse?" With perfect teenage logic, Jonathan replied, "Because it's the shortest verse in the Bible." At first glance, that brief verse looks like a lightweight compared to other verses. The Gospel of ...
Sermon
Maurice A. Fetty
... potatoes" men. No fancy foods for them. Just the basics. Forget all the fuss and bother. They just like a good steak, salad and potato. Let's sit down and eat and get it over with. But John the Baptist was even more rigid than that. Locusts and wild honey were his daily fare. No fine cuts of meat. No good dairy products. No wine touched his lips. Fasting and prayer and preaching were his daily regimen. He couldn't waste time with the frills and pleasures of a dinner party. Jesus was different; so different ...
Sermon
Tony Everett
... . Each of the older children was given a choice of a Biblical name and told to act out what that person might be like. Abraham was, of course, the father of the group. Tabitha was a gazelle. Jonah was a dove. Isaac was full of laughter. Leah was a wild cow. Terah was a goat. Noah "took a break" from hard work (Genesis 5:29). Tamar was a palm tree. When it was Sally's turn her mother asked what name she would like to be called (thinking that Sally would choose "Jesus," meaning "Savior"). Sally thought for a ...
Sermon
Tony Everett
... 's brothers sold him to the traders for twenty pieces of silver. Joseph, the spoiled brat, would no longer trouble them. They sprinkled goat's blood on Joseph's robe and returned it to a grieving father, speculating that Joseph must have been killed by a wild animal. Two wrongs never make a right. Joseph certainly was a spoiled tattletale. His brothers had good reason to be angry. But one sin is never canceled by another even more grievous than the first. Joseph's brothers knew that. We know that. We are in ...
393. Weather Signs
Luke 12:49-53
Sermon Aid
William E. Keeney
... Context of the Lectionary The First Lesson. (Isaiah 5:1-7) The image of a vineyard belonging to the Lord is described. The Lord exerted a great amount of effort to clear the ground, plant it, and expected it to produce fruit. Instead it produced wild grapes. Now the Lord will remove the protective walls that allowed it to prosper. The image is applied to Israel and Judah. Where the Lord had expected justice as the response to the care devoted to them, they disappointed the Lord with bloodshed. The Second ...
Sermon
Charles H. Bayer
... even more frantic voice. "He thinks he's dead." This text is about those times when you don't even have lemons, when all your resources are exhausted, when you have been beaten and buffeted by forces beyond your control, when the heavens shake and the cosmos has gone wild, when you have no boots or bootstraps or even legs. What good then is a religion which says, "think your way out of it," or "cheer up," or "turn your scars into stars"? I stand by a body bag which contains all that is left of my son. You ...
395. Plain Talk
Luke 6:17-26
Sermon
Charles H. Bayer
... home each wrote an article for his favorite magazine about the resulting crisis. One was an avid outdoorsman and his article was titled, "Survival In The Frozen North." The other was very religious and his article was titled, "How Prayer Saved Me From The Wild Wolf Pack." The stories were about the same incident. The authors were different, and so was the audience for whom each wrote. Matthew and Luke both record in their gospels a collection of Jesus' sayings. We know Matthew's version as, "The Sermon on ...
Sermon
Glenn E. Ludwig
... they stood, all out of breath, talking all at once about an empty tomb and two strange men who reminded them of Jesus' words and all giddy and giggly again as hope rushed in to find a home in their sorrowful hearts. And the disciples had trouble believing this wild story. In fact, they didn't believe it, dismissing it as an idle tale told by hysterical females in the midst of grief that was obviously too much for them to handle. Well, fortunately, the story doesn't end there either, for if it did we'd have ...
397. Fire Wood
Luke 12:49-53
Sermon
John G. Lynn
... with a sacrificial bull. They danced, shouted incantations and even lacerated themselves until the blood flowed. No fire came from heaven to consume their sacrifice. Then Elijah stepped forward, pouring water over everything. He drenched it all and then he prayed. That's all. No wild cries, no limping dances around the altar, no self lacerations. "O Lord, God of Abraham, Isaac and Israel," he prayed, "let it be known this day that thou art God in Israel, and that I am thy servant and that I have done all ...
Sermon
John G. Lynn
... off. They did not leave the flock. They were driven out. Jesus, going after them, did not leave the 99 in the sheepfold where the wolf could not enter in. Nor did he secure them in a rich pasture. He abandoned them in a desert where wolves ran wild and no grass grew. Jesus knew from experience that no one finds nourishment or protection in the desert unless it comes from God. The 99 had something to learn. The 99 were too self-sufficient and too much in control. They needed God only to control him. Secure ...
Sermon
William L. Self
... suffered, and even more deeply the wrongs they have done. They are brokenhearted; they cannot receive and they cannot give restitution. The Hebrew here is simply to break in pieces. They are like ships broken by the storm or people torn asunder by wild beasts. But we must understand that even in the most disastrous human situations, when sorrow robs the heart of its last resources and strengths, the Bible discovers an opportunity for the coming God. The Lord hears those whose hearts are broken. "A broken ...
400. No Apology
Acts 4:1-22
Sermon
Paul W. Kummer
... to king Neb. When Daniel heard the dream this time, it terrified him. "My lord, if only the dream applied to your enemies and its meaning to your adversaries!" Daniel went on to describe a time of judgment upon the king that would turn him into a wild animal foraging in the wilderness. But Daniel told it anyway. Daniel always told the truth -- no matter the bold cost. So did Saint Peter. Last week we saw Peter trying to convince the Jewish people assembled around a healed man that their only hope was Jesus ...
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