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 651 to 675 of 1185 results
651. Mark 8:31-38
Mark 8:31-38
Sweet
Leonard Sweet
... found little to appreciate in this message. In Galilee they had watched their master's reputation and acclaim blossom. Admittedly the jealousy of some of the establishment had been whetted. Still the crowds had swelled beyond imagining as the miracles had never ceased or slowed. Surely the disciples on their way to Jerusalem envisioned this as a triumphal journey, not as a death march. Peter's response reflects the chasm between the disciple's vision of Christ's mission and Jesus' own perception of his ...
652. Hebrews 4:1-3; 9-13
Hebrews 4:1-3; 9-13
Sweet
Leonard Sweet
... creation), so the faithful can now enter into that same rest every seventh day. Of course, our best efforts at Sevening here on earth will never be entirely successful. Our Sabbaths are only pale reflections of the eventual Sevening we will experience when we "cease from our labors as God did from his." With this profound gift awaiting us it is little wonder that the author urges Christians not to miss out through unbelief. In verse 11 he again makes reference to the wandering generation of Hebrews, whose ...
653. Matthew 14:22-33
Matthew 14:22-33
Sweet
Leonard Sweet
... . Just as doubt is a verb in Matthew's text, so must faith be an activity, not merely an attitude. It is the whole experience of this episode Jesus' walking on water, Peter's own walk, Peter's falter and Jesus' rescue, the sudden ceasing of the winds that leads to the final scene. Only Matthew records this positive ending to the water-walking episode. Because of what they have witnessed, all 12 disciples now "worship" Jesus together and confess, "Truly you are the Son of God." This corporate confession ...
654. Deuteronomy 34:1-12
Deuteronomy 34:1-12
Sweet
Leonard Sweet
... Yahweh deemed Moses' time was over, Moses continued to be venerated by the people as one graced by the Divine without ever being deified. The only constant on which to base one's life, this text reminds us, is God's ultimate authority and the presence of God's never-ceasing grace in the lives of people.
655. 2 Thessalonians 3:6-13
2 Thessalonians 3:6-13
Sermon
Leonard Sweet
... be exercised about them, but they are not to be exorcised. These "idle" ones (the NIV renders this term as "disorderly") are probably those who had become convinced that the Parousia had already come or was imminent - causing these believers to cease working altogether while they waited for Jesus' arrival. It is not unlikely that these misinformed believers also used their identity as Christians - chosen ones of the coming Lord - to envision themselves as "above" menial labor. In the Greek ideal, such labor ...
656. Mark 8:31-38
Mark 8:31-38
Sweet
Leonard Sweet
... found little to appreciate in this message. In Galilee they had watched their master's reputation and acclaim blossom. Admittedly the jealousy of some of the establishment had been whetted. Still the crowds had swelled beyond imagining as the miracles had never ceased or slowed. Surely the disciples on their way to Jerusalem envisioned this as a triumphal journey, not as a death march. Peter's response reflects the chasm between the disciple's vision of Christ's mission and Jesus' own perception of his ...
657. Hebrews 4:1-3; 9-13
Hebrews 4:1-3; 9-13
Sweet
Leonard Sweet
... creation), so the faithful can now enter into that same rest every seventh day. Of course, our best efforts at Sevening here on earth will never be entirely successful. Our Sabbaths are only pale reflections of the eventual Sevening we will experience when we "cease from our labors as God did from his." With this profound gift awaiting us it is little wonder that the author urges Christians not to miss out through unbelief. In verse 11 he again makes reference to the wandering generation of Hebrews, whose ...
658. Ephesians 2:1-10
Ephesians 2:1-10
Sweet
Leonard Sweet
The Jewish-Christian author of Ephesians never ceases to be amazed at God's unifying and uplifting grace, offering in today's text a kind of comparative "before" and "after" picture of all humanity. The line of demarcation, of course, is Jesus Christ. The "before" picture portrayed by the Ephesian author is grim. All those who think they ...
659. Luke 15:1-3, 11b-32
Luke 15:1-3, 11b-32
Sweet
Leonard Sweet
... a sermon built on the theme Len Sweet presented in this weekly sermon. Here are their responses. Imagine a Church Imagine now, a church. Its doors are as wide as the world, and the flow of people moving into and out of its many aisles never ceases. Marita and Arianne approach the entrance and stop while one introduces the other to several people. The two of them had met at a networking breakfast several months ago. Each worked in an office out of her home and struggled to juggle career, family and personal ...
660. Revelation 21:1-6
Revelation 21:1-6
Sweet
Leonard Sweet
... waters of the sea are identified with the untamed, disruptive powers of chaos. The sea harbored monsters and demonic forces that constantly threatened human existence. Little wonder that John's vision calls for these unknown waters to dry up and cease to exist. Again John's vision leans heavily on established Jewish images and concepts when it envisions the centerpiece of a new creation as a "new Jerusalem." Although Jewish coinage already proclaimed Jerusalem a "holy city," the old Jerusalem shared ...
661. Romans 8:14-17
Romans 8:14-17
Sweet
Leonard Sweet
Paul never ceased celebrating the exciting, unprecedented good news of salvation, and was ingenious in finding ways for others to join him. His letter to the fledgling Roman church is a case in point. Paul knows his audience is made up mostly of Jewish-Christians, or at least "God-fearers" (Gentiles who worshipped ...
662. Hosea 11:1-11
Hosea 11:1-11
Sweet
Leonard Sweet
... an unfaithful wife an image played out in the reality of his own marriage to the prostitute Gomer is developed primarily in chapters 1-3. But the deep personal insights Hosea offers into the emotional relationship between God and the people of Israel doesn't cease at that point. Though his message in chapters 4-10 turns to one of judgment against Israel for willful disobedience and arrogant apostasy, the pain this attitude inflicts upon Yahweh is also a part of the prophet's word. As chapter 11 opens we see ...
663. Isaiah 1:1, 10-20
Isaiah 1:1, 10-20
Sweet
Leonard Sweet
... of the bloodstains that they have accumulated on their hands and souls because of their evil behavior. Isaiah follows this prescription to "wash" with what may be seen as a complete synopsis of his prophetic mission and message to Israel in one brief command: "Cease to do evil, learn to do good" (vv.16-17). He then expands slightly on this directive by offering the fundamental point as people of the covenant: "Seek justice, rescue the oppressed, defend the orphan, plead for the widow" (v.17). The final two ...
664. Jeremiah 2:4-13
Jeremiah 2:4-13
Sweet
Leonard Sweet
... ], 161). Von Rad goes on to observe that there were two primary factors which colored Jeremiah's prophetic witness. The first was the political exigencies related to Assyria's dominance in the Pan-Mesopotamian area and subsequent decline (Israel had long since ceased to be a state, subjugated by Assyria nearly a century before Jeremiah's call). The second was tradition represented by both his connection to the priestly line into which he was born and the reforms which were now underway under the leadership ...
665. Exodus 17:1-7
Exodus 17:1-7
Sweet
Leonard Sweet
The incident described in Exodus 17:1-7 is the third in a series of complaints the newly delivered Hebrews bring to their leader Moses. Pharaoh's army was practically still sinking into the sea when the people ceased singing Yahweh's praises and began bemoaning their hard circumstances instead. When drinking water grew scarce in the wilderness of Shur, and the waters of Marah were found to be "bitter" and undrinkable, the people immediately turned on Moses, crying "What shall we drink?" (Exodus 15:24). ...
666. Breaking the Rules
Mark 1:40-45
Illustration
Charles Swindoll
... yeah, I did." "We don't like that," they replied. Without trying to be argumentative, the youth worker reasoned, "Well, I remember that at the last missionary conference, our church showed slides " One of the church officers put his hand up signaling him to cease talking. Then, in these words, he emphatically explained the conflict: "If it's still, fine. If it moves, sin!" You can show slides, but when they start movin', you're gettin' into sin. At first glance verse 41 seems cursory, "Jesus reached out his ...
667. Epiphany 6
2 Kings 5:1-27, 1 Corinthians 9:1-27, Mark 1:40-45
Sermon Aid
John R. Brokhoff
... is sinless, no one can approach him with unclean hearts and dirty hands. Only the pure in heart see God. In approaching God we must come clean. 3. Pity (v. 41). Jesus felt sorry for the leper. In Jesus' day lepers were so numerous that people ceased to care for them. If lepers did not keep their distance, they were often stoned by the people. They were unwanted because of fear of contracting the disease. "Pity" is the motivation for helping others. Because Jesus felt sorry for the leper, he was willing to ...
668. Proper 21
James 5:13-20, Esther 7:1-10, Esther 9:18-32, Mark 9:38-41, Mark 9:42-50
Sermon Aid
John R. Brokhoff
... . 42. 3. People of distinction (9:50). Need: Jesus says that Christians are to be different as salt is. In recent years the cry was that Christians should get into the word and identify with it. We were told to get out of our church buildings and cease to be an institution but rather a movement in the world. When we did, we became so much like the world that we lost our distinctiveness we became as salt without saltiness. Outline: Christians are salty saints because like salt a. They purify society. b. They ...
669. The Forgiveness Business
Luke 24:36b-48
Illustration
Brian Stoffregen
... all. Grace and morality, therefore, are two different kettles of fish. Morality deals with virtue and vice, with what is strengthening or weakening for human nature considered as an operational possibility. Grace, however, deals with sin, with a condition in which human nature has ceased to be an operational possibility and has ended up a lost cause. Grace is, to say it once again, about raising the dead. In the Bible the opposite of sin is not virtue; it is faith – faith in God who raises the dead. All ...
670. Romans 8:12-17
Romans 8:1-17
Sweet
Leonard Sweet
... -transcending “chosenness” that Paul claims and celebrates. In Paul’s previous life of chosenness as a Jew, the language of being a “child of God” was an image reserved for the people of Israel alone. Once Israel as an independent nation ceased to exist the identity of being “children of God” took on a distinctly eschatological tone. In the eschatological future the “children of God” would at last inherit the fullness of God’s promised deliverance and salvation. As Paul introduces the ...
671. Mark 4:35-41
Mark 4:35-41
Sweet
Leonard Sweet
... by his disciples, Jesus now “rebuked the wind.” The verb used here, “epetimesen,” is a technical term used to describe the silencing of evil spirits or demons. Likewise Jesus’ order to “Be still” recalls the exorcism conducted in 1:25. At Jesus’ word the winds do cease and the waters do become still, and remain so, creating a “great calm.” The power Jesus exercises over the wind and water echo the divine power flexed in both Jonah 1:4-15 and Psalm 107:23-32. In both those texts it is God ...
672. The Ride of Your Life
Mark 4:35-41
Illustration
Leonard Sweet
... calms the storm, he is not overly gentle about it. He doesn't say: "Peace, be still." It would be nice if he did. But it would be far too mild. A better translation would have Jesus saying to the waves: "Hush! Be silent." Better still might be: "Shut up! Cease and desist. Down boys." The entire purpose of the story, you see, is not to show Jesus as some heroic figure who gives us an example of how to be courageous when waves start to swamp our boat. ("Now remember children, if you are ever caught in a storm ...
673. Proper 6
1 Samuel 15:34--16:13, Psalm 20:1-9, Mark 4:26-29, 2 Corinthians 5:1-10
Bulletin Aid
B. David Hostetter
... are planted in the house of the Lord will flourish in the courts of our God. People: We are eager to declare that the Lord is just in whom there is no unrighteousness. Pastor: Friends, believe the good news! People: In Jesus Christ, we are forgiven. Exhortation Never cease to be confident, that when we leave our home in the body that we will go to live with the Lord. Live now to be acceptable to the Christ in all you do. PRAYER OF THE DAY Public Teacher, private Tutor, increase our ability to receive all ...
674. First Sunday of Advent
Psalm 80:1-19, Isaiah 64:1-9, Mark 13:24-37, 1 Corinthians 1:1-9
Bulletin Aid
B. David Hostetter
... nations through the scriptures and the church that there may be a new heaven and new earth redeemed from rebellion and violence. As we approach another Christmas and listen for the angelic anthem of peace on earth, grant the world not only the traditional 'cease fires' that often suspend armed conflict at the season but a spirit of reconciliation that should be the approach of the church of Christ. May the church in every nation preach the apostolic message: 'Grace to you and peace from God our Father and ...
675. Proper 8
2 Kings 2:1-18, Psalm 77:1-20, Luke 9:51-62, Galatians 5:16-26
Bulletin Aid
B. David Hostetter
... , between color and color. Help us to find a new sense of community which will transcend color and country and in which we all live as one family parented by you. Take from the world all injustice and poverty, and make this a world where poverty shall cease to fester and where none shall prey on another. Remember in your mercy the poor and the needy, the friendless and the workless, the widow and widower, the fatherless and all who mourn. Remember the sick and the dying and especially all such dear to us ...
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