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 26 to 50 of 154 results
Sermon
John N. Brittain
... some people that I don't like." "How is it that you, a Jew, ask a drink of me, a woman of Samaria?" There are always some good reasons why we should respond negatively. When Jesus asks us to do something for him, we are being asked to relinquish a certain amount of control and to take a certain risk, and none of us likes to lose control and take risks. In the past fifteen to twenty years, many churches have been designed in response to consumer surveys. In several midwestern suburban areas the surveys have ...
Sermon
Frank Luchsinger
... and success have brought him no happiness. His greatest artistic triumph was a modeled self- portrait titled Remorse for a Ruined Life. He has sacrificed everything for his art -- the love of his youth and his idealism. In the end his art has been betrayed by the relinquishing of these as well. The studio model who posed for him in his youth and with whom he fell in love appears to him in his moment of destiny. She brings to him the truth: "She calls him a 'poet, one who creates his own fictitious world ...
28. Followership
Matthew 4:18-22, Matthew 4:12-17
Sermon
Mark Radecke
... some and giving orders to others. Why is it, then, that we are so averse to teaching and learning the skills of good followership? In large part I think because it means giving up control. And most of us have a dreadful fear -- a deathly fear -- of relinquishing control of any segment of our lives. Indeed, we do not give up control willingly; and God will not take control from us by force or false promise. So what's the answer? How does God make disciples -- followers -- of the likes of us? The only power ...
29. Epiphany 7
Mt 5:38-48 · 1 Cor 3:10-11, 16-23 · Lev 19:1-2, 9-18 · Ps 119:33-40 · Ps 71 · Ps 62
Sermon Aid
Russell F. Anderson
... so the closer we draw to God, the more we will be like him. Outline: God's people are called to be holy (set apart to reflect the love of God) (v. 2) God's people are charged to love their neighbor by: reasoning out the conflicts (v. 17) relinquishing grudges and offenses (v. 18) treating others as you desire to be treated Epistle: 1 Corinthians 3:10-11, 16-23 1. Sermon Title: How To Build A Church. Sermon Angle: Paul laid the foundation for the church the grace of God in Christ, our Lord. Others have built ...
30. How To Plant An English Garden
Mark 4:26-29, Mark 4:30-34
Sermon
William G. Carter
... us about someone who planted a garden and left it alone. The sower did not worry about weeding. Neither did he worry about rocks. He just scattered the seed, and let the seed do all the work. Here is a picture of letting go, of someone who relinquishes control, of business without busy-ness. For people like me, it is a picture that is difficult to keep in focus. Most of us want to think we are indispensable. We wake up each day hoping to fuel the world with our enthusiasm and boundless strength. At Ronald ...
31. Mending
Ephesians 4:1-16
Children's Sermon
B. Kathleen Fannin
... hands; I have no idea what the children will say, and bite my tongue to not make suggestions before they have had time to think about possible replies. How often in a conversation it is important to allow the other person(s) space for silence, relinquishing our need to be in control.Finally, a tentative response comes: "Prayer?" "Yes," I answer, with delight, "we can use prayer. Prayer is like the needle that draws the two pieces of cloth back together; prayer can draw two friends back together; prayer can ...
32. Easter 4
Psalm 23:1-6, Acts 4:1-22, 1 John 3:11-24, John 10:1-21
Sermon Aid
William E. Keeney
... life is about. Any threat to our standard of living is offered as the wolves, robbers and thieves. Thus an illegal immigrant is a person to be rejected. A person of another race or ethnic group is to be hated. So we are to fight any relinquishing of our national interest or sovereignty for the welfare of the larger global society so that other people who are in dire straits may have a better life. Any question about our status as number one in the world requires that we spend more for sophisticated weapons ...
33. Epiphany 8
Hosea 2:2-23, Mark 2:18-22, 2 Corinthians 3:1-6
Sermon Aid
Russell F. Anderson
... it is a hellhole of hopelessness. This prison is particularly foul because it is run by a corrupt and brutal warden. Andy becomes a friend of Red, who is serving a life term for murder. Red sees little reason for optimism but Andy refuses to relinquish his hope. He obtains financing for a prison library, which helps liberate the prisoners through discovering new worlds of the mind and spirit where they are no longer bound. One day he locked himself in the prison's public address center and played a record ...
34. Proper 25
Hebrews 7:11-28, Job 42:7-17, Job 42:1-6, Mark 10:46-52
Sermon Aid
Russell F. Anderson
... blessing. That church turned its back on the dying man. The friend also wanted to be baptized and so Zoe called the local Lutheran pastor, since that was her religious affiliation. This pastor put aside all judgment, came to the dying man and baptized him. Zoe's friend relinquished his life a couple of days later and Zoe arranged a memorial service. "What was I to do?" she exclaimed. "I don't really approve of the gay lifestyle but this man is my friend. How can you turn your back on a friend?" "You did the ...
Drama
Dr. Raymond Bailey
... No one knows who those role players are.Eventually he calls the three up on the platform and interviews them.When he asks how they felt, they usually say, "Powerful!" There is a sense in which our helplessness can put us in control. That can be difficult indeed to relinquish. Within me I knew, and the Savior knew, that I needed to make a decision.But, before I could say anything, He gave me an order that I willingly obeyed."Rise up," he said, "take up your bed and walk."I did it.I walked.I carried my pallet ...
Sermon
Gordon Pratt Baker
... on the verge of the woman's mind -- an idea so big it must be too good to be true. Could the weary rabbi smiling at her beside Jacob's Well be the long-awaited Messiah? Reason sought to shout the notion down. But the woman's heart refused to relinquish it. Thus, almost before she knew it, she found herself saying, "I know the Messiah is coming (he who is called Christ); when he comes, he will show us all things." (John 4:25) The words were barely past her lips when she heard the reply, "I who speak to ...
Sermon
Carlyle Fielding Stewart
... around him to "take off the grave clothes and let him go." You see, it is not enough to be raised and given a new lease on life. It is not enough to be transformed and transfigured from the living dead to the living. It is not enough to relinquish one condition for another: death for life, or hopelessness for hopefulness. It is not enough for God to liberate us from one particular set of habits, to be freed from sin and guilt and despair; we must take off the grave clothes and be let go, loosed, forever ...
Sermon
Carlyle Fielding Stewart
... becomes more complex, we still need something: a faith that will sustain us through the difficult and troublesome times. We need a power to hold on to, a God to keep trust in. Our spirituality is the lifeblood of our health and vitality. We must not abandon our heritage or relinquish our faith, for if it can get us through the past, it can prepare us for the future. We must keep the faith to remain strong, get stronger, and take a rightful place as a proud and gifted people in this land.
39. Can You Dig It?
Genesis 26:1-35
Sermon
Carlyle Fielding Stewart
... communities. It may be something as simple as grandma's hum or as complex as holding onto some practice or belief which sustains the family through difficult times. Some traditional and ritual practices we should unearth and preserve. Some practices of abuse we should relinquish. Every family has something of value from its past which can help it find its future. Isaac understood the value in doing such. He was reclaiming the faith of his father as a means of living out the promises of the future. Can You ...
Sermon
Harold Warlick
... American experience. As we become a minority, albeit the largest minority, in our own land we will face some of the same theological issues which faced those ancient Jews who woke up in Babylon. We will have to think through the double theme of relinquishing the old and receiving the new. The moral corruption of the clergy, the temptation toward formalism and legalism, and the appearance of the defeat of our former American way of life always call the presence of God into question. Are these other gods from ...
41. The Dreamer Within You
Joel 2:18-27, Joel 2:28-32
Sermon
Richard Hasler
... last lap. Jim Landy of Australia had led all the way, but he wondered during the last lap how close Roger Bannister of England was to him. He turned his head to see, slowed his pace a bit, and in that split second Bannister passed him and never relinquished the lead as he broke the tape. How essential it is to keep our eye on the target. We must never lose sight of our dream. Enunciate Your Dream First, you identify your dream, then you take precautions to hold on to your dreams, and finally, you enunciate ...
42. An Empty Tomb
Matthew 28:1-10
Sermon
Robert Allen
... have told these adoptive parents that their little girl is mentally retarded and she will never be the normal child they wanted. The reason this story made the news is because the adoptive parents no longer want the child. They have sued in court to relinquish their parental rights and return custody of the child to the adoption agency. When I heard that story on the news, I remembered a couple who were members of a previous church I pastored. They adopted a little boy and when he was about four years ...
43. Some Man
Luke 10:38-42
Sermon
... put a gun to his head when his pastor declared that Philadelphia was "the best governed city in the country." He never went back to the Baptist Temple, where he had served as Sunday School superintendent as well as a faithful member, but he never relinquished his relationship with God and his faith. Not long ago, one of the first books he published, Living the Good Life, was rediscovered and republished by a well-known firm; it has sold over two-hundred-thousand copies, but more than that, it is vindication ...
44. Ready or Not
Matthew 10:1-42
Sermon
... by children and grandchildren as senile because they chose to live by Christian standards in a changing world. Those who have had this kind of experience do not think that the words "sword" and "cross" are too severe. For them it is often a matter of relinquishing honor in the very place they should have it. For them it is often a matter of surrendering that form of life from which they have drawn comfort and nourishment. But they feel that they have no real choice. A situation arises in which they have ...
Sermon
Dennis Kastens
... with little or no effort. Each year in our denomination (and statistics show that we are not alone), approximately 50,000 adults go out the back door, many of them because they give up too easily. Here there are hundreds of church officers who relinquish their offices, scores of Sunday school teachers and superintendents who feel that too much is required of them, and even pastors who bow out because they think too much is expected of them. However, there is one thing which liturgical Christians promise on ...
46. A Tale to be Told
Matthew 23:1-39
Sermon
George Bass
... us." They might have given up some of their traditions, but it had not been easy; they held on to them as long as they could in foreign lands. Customs generally change slowly, and holding on to them sometimes is quite costly, but people often refuse to relinquish them. Alpheus Shikwaya, a pastor from Namibia who has been studying at our seminary, tells about a woman who was unable to give up village customs. Her child was ill and Pastor Shikwaya said to her, "Take him to the doctor." She said that she had ...
47. Issachar
Genesis 49:1-28
Sermon
Warren Thomas Smith
... who voluntarily sold himself into slavery because he did not want to be encumbered by the problems of freedom. Many people prefer to spend their days free from mental and spiritual exertion. Tragically, such individuals become spiritual slaves. When freedom is relinquished, servitude results. ISSACHAR The venerable Jacob was nearing death. He called his twelve sons to his side, and there followed a classic deathbed scene. Jacob had not taken leave of his senses nor was he in tearful remorse. He listed his ...
Sermon
Kent Moorehead
... , and it meant worse than nothing. That is all that happened. Abel was sincere and his gift was acceptable to God. Cain had an ulterior motive and his gift meant nothing. The result of this was that there seemed to be recognition that Cain had relinquished the prerogative of being the first-born, and he was dispossessed of his spiritual birthright. When this dawned upon him and he saw his more pious brother acceding to the place of spiritual priority, it made him angry and he began to impute to Abel ...
Sermon
Susan Hedahl
... can mean. The cries from the cradle and from the Cross are one and the same for us. John’s call for commitment to God is not easy to hear. In a season when we look forward to receiving good things, it is difficult to relinquish that which blocks an effective Christian lifestyle. John’s "sackcloth and ashes" attitude can seem more like the threat of ashes in our own Christmas stocking! Over recent years we have heard people encouraging the celebration of an "alternative Christmas." There are articles and ...
50. When God Was Nothing
Philippians 2:1-11
Sermon
Brett Blair
... He loves us here by coming and serving us. The great irony is this: God came to serve us when in fact it is we who should be serving God. Love empties itself and serves others. That’s what love does. But Paul reminds the Philippians that Jesus does not relinquish his place in heaven and become a man so we can feel good. He pours his love into us so we can give it back to the world. Look how Paul words it in our text this morning: In humility consider others better than yourselves. Each of you should look ...
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