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Showing 76 to 100 of 154 results

76. Romans 14:1-12

Romans 14:1--15:13

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... days vis a vis the more generic dailyness and openness of a Gentile lifestyle. But remember, the pagan world was packed to the gills with special observances, feast and fast days — any and all of which might be difficult for a Gentile Christian to relinquish. The apostle uses this second example of selective behavior to once again argue his points. First of all, he insists that the behavior of the individual Christian be based “in honor of the Lord.” As long as honoring God is the ultimate priority of ...

77. Heresies of the Heart

Jeremiah 31:31-34

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... through people's souls. Support groups, selfhelp therapies, stressed-out schedules stretched one more hour to include a stress management session, are all ways we try and cope with the sinking sensation that we are unloved. It is perhaps the most difficult heresy to relinquish, and the one most easily disproved: "For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, that whosoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life." Convinced of the truth that we are unloved, it is easy to hold the ...

78. Christ the Apple Tree

Isaiah 11:1-10

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... often let the evergreen image overrun the message of the apple tree and the Second Adam. Christ incarnates the Tree of Life and brings the possibility of eternal life back to all humanity. Through Christ, the Second Adam, death itself will die, finally relinquishing its icy grip from humanity's throat. In the 18th century a remarkable folk hymn, "Christ the Apple Tree," was anonymously written: The tree of life my soul hath seen, Laden with fruit and always green; The trees of nature fruitless be Compared ...

79. The Family Ideal, Not Idol

Genesis 12:1-4a

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... clan life: a known code of legal and moral behavior, an established place in the hierarchical pecking order and the personal cults, gods and idols that were worshiped by the family. Abram was not just being asked to go on a long trip. He was commanded to relinquish his old identity, all that he had based his life upon, in order to covenant with God. The family and the "family as idol-source" had to be completely dethroned before Abram could become a new individual, Abraham, the father of a nation. It is for ...

80. Strength's Weakness

John 20:19-31

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... ' offer of love and forgiveness, to Jesus' demand that he "not doubt but believe" in the resurrected Christ. Thomas allowed himself to be "weak" enough to accept the fact that his "strength" had become his potential for self-destruction. This "doubting disciple" relinquished the hold his "show-me-strength," false faith had on his heart and accepted the gift of faith and forgiveness Jesus offered him. Christ's gift to Thomas to all who believe empowers us with the genuine strength of redeeming love brought ...

81. Just Showing Up Doesn't Get the Job Done

Matthew 25:1-13

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... do our best, but to try to manipulate the system to bring about our desired ends. But we cannot ultimately control outcomes, and when we try to, we either alienate others or drive ourselves crazy. Wisdom through the ages has always counseled a wise relinquishment: Learn to do what you are able, then let go." (Managing Transitions [Reading, Mass.: Addison-Wesley, 1991], 99-100.) Once ushered into the bridegroom's presence and party, you will never want to leave. One taste of God, even for a moment, and you ...

82. Call the Tribe of Issachar Together

Luke 12:49-56

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... will not be without a witness. It is God's mission, not the church's mission. So God will be there in this emerging new world. If we would resuscitate the church, make it a vital active force for Christ in this new world, then it must relinquish its identity as a dignified "institution" and "organized religion" and claim a new name for itself as a tribe. Specifically, the church must try to mold itself into the tribe of Issachar (1 Chronicles 12:32). The tribe of Issachar, we are told, "had an understanding ...

83. Hebrews 13:1-8

Hebrews 13:1-8

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... [Fall 1989], 73-74.) Verse 8 serves as a capstone to this first series of exhortations. Perhaps it was a liturgical formula like Romans 10:9 or 1 Corinthians 12:3. If so, it was also a very reassuring declaration. In light of the author's insistence that Christians relinquish their love of money and their concern for preserving their own welfare and way of life, this statement is even more comforting. No matter what lay ahead for this Christian community they could trust in a steadfast, unchanging Christ.

84. Galatians 2:15-21

Galatians 2:15-21

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... to carry and obey the law every day of his life, is now gone. Under the law, a right relationship with God was dependent upon how obediently Paul followed the works of the law. Now that Paul has died to this law, even as Christ did, he is free to relinquish his striving to grace. Christ now lives in him, and it is "by faith in the son of God," not by slavish devotion to laws, that Paul now enjoys his new life. Paul specifies two unmerited, unexpected acts of God's Son that make commitment to Christ, not to ...

85. Luke 12:13-21

Luke 12:13-21

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... take long for devotees to define Epicureanism as the license to "eat, drink and be merry." These are the exact words, and that is the precise attitude, that the rich farmer uses to describe his future as he sees it. Not until verse 20 does the rich man relinquish narration of this parable. A neutral narrator now records that God spoke to "him," the rich man (in the third person), and reveals that God's plans for his life are profoundly different from his own. The fact that the rich man's life will come to ...

86. Hebrews 13:1-8

Hebrews 13:1-8

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

87. John 20:19-31

John 20:19-31

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... the Holy Spirit makes possible, can bring true peace, the peace of Christ, to the believer. Thus Jesus could bestow neither his peace nor his Spirit upon the disciples until after his death and resurrection (as implied in John 1:33 and 7:39). Jesus relinquishes his own spirit on the cross (19:30) so that it may become available to all after his resurrection. Jesus formally proclaims, "Peace be with you" to his disciples as introductory words to a great commissioning sentence "As the Father has sent me, so I ...

88. Mark 10:17-31

Mark 10:17-31

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... dialogue between Jesus and his disciples over his nontraditional views of the wealthy and their relationship to the kingdom. Far from wealth as a sign of divine favor, Jesus only highlights the increased difficulties the rich face in entering the kingdom. Relinquishing power and wealth is hardest for those who have the most power and wealth to lose. The wealthy face the personal challenge of willingly becoming like a "little child" powerless, dependent, without control in order that they, too, may receive ...

89. A Powerful Sacrament

Mark 1:1-8

Sermon

King Duncan

... The script has failed. The sooner we are aware of this, the better off we will be. There’s something wrong, something rotten in our society. This brings us to the next thesis: our physical, mental, moral and spiritual health depends on disengaging from and relinquishing the failed script. That makes sense, doesn’t it? If the script has failed us, we need to disengage ourselves from it. Easier said than done. How do we undo a lifetime of programming from our family, from our society, from all the myriad ...

90. Refusing to Quit

2 Timothy 4:5-8

Sermon

James McCormick

... – that is, all but one. And, he took his place next to a boy from Birmingham, the defending champion, and the odds on favorite to win the mile. The gun sounded and the runners all started out. The runner from Birmingham took the lead early and never relinquished it. He won the mile in record time, amid cheers from his team and from all the fans in the stands. They were clearing the track and beginning to set up the hurdles for the next event, when someone shouted, “Move out of the way. Someone is ...

91. I'm a Leper, You're a Leper

Mark 1:40-45

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... Bacteriologically the practice made good, hygienic sense. But being branded as a leper was not just a diagnosis. It was a cultural death sentence. Those infected were forever forbidden to participate in normal social life. Those infected had to relinquish family ties. Those infected had to abandon all social relationships. Those infected had the human touch exorcised from their lives. The enforced isolation required by Levitical law made a physical disease into a spiritual disease, both for those suffering ...

92. What Shall We Become?

Luke 3:7-18

Sermon

Gary L. Carver

... sweat for, suddenly, intercession had become more than a matter of words. Now it was the precious substance of his own life that was at stake. He pondered this question very deliberately for a while and then dropped back to his knees and said, "Yes! I hereby relinquish half of the time I have left, if this will enable my friend to survive." He got up off his knees with no idea of what the ultimate outcome of this agreement would be. This little episode sets into sharper focus the issue I found myself facing ...

93. Boasting and Praying for You

2 Thessalonians 1:1-4, 11-12

Sermon

Donna Schaper

... boasting as people of faith or as people of pride, is whether we personally gain or not. Like the Mel Gibson Christian foundation, the best proof of the gospel is when it is given away. It is spread around. It is not about us. It is about God. We relinquish and release when we boast. We point, like a good steeple, to the heavens, not to our position or résumé on earth. Indeed who we are and what we have as a reputation is important in the service of God. Getting invited to the chamber of commerce meeting ...

94. God's Eminent Domain

Jeremiah 18:1-11

Sermon

Lee Ann Dunlap

... true eminent domain is God's alone. When we acknowledge this fact, we are freed from our futile strivings for self-domination and from the anxiety such strivings produce. We cannot determine our own destiny; we can only receive it from the hand of God. When we relinquish all illusions of self-determination, we are freed to hear the good news: God is working on our behalf to give to us what we can never achieve on our own terms. Jesus gave his life to reveal God's love, God's goodness — and Easter revealed ...

95. Commitment (Series: Fundamentals of Family)

Ephesians 5:22-33

Sermon

J. Howard Olds

... the Bible can hurt us. When passages like the one today about “wives submitting to your husband,” are used as an excuse for power and control, marriages are sure to crumble. A prominent pastor in this country says Ephesians 5:22 means that a wife should relinquish her rights and fall in line under her husband’s authority like a solider obeys his commanding officer. It might not be the wife’s desire to fall in line under her husband’s orders, but it is her spiritual calling under God. Let me kindly ...

96. One Lord, One Table

Exodus 20:1-4

Sermon

Billy D. Strayhorn

... . Wallace was at the door hollering for me to come show her what I had done. I was dead meat. I was ordered off the property and told I couldn't even cut through to the other kid's homes, for two weeks. Not only that, but I had to relinquish the apple. I didn't even get to eat it. And then she called my Mom and told her what I'd done. One tree, one law. Pretty easy to follow. Wrong. Once upon a time there were two people who lived in the perfect place. It was designed by ...

97. Discipline and Means of Grace

Romans 12:1-8

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

... to assume it is never the case. God blesses us, and we become so with the blessing that we lose sight of the One Who blesses. Surrender is thus the daily worship of a hue Christian and not just in the big things either. If we gladly relinquish the small sacrifices,” our growth will be great, for any small surrender is a great victory; any refusal of surrender is a great defeat. We need to understand the seriousness of rebellion. When we refuse in the big things, He will move to the small. When we ...

98. Lessons from the Ordinances

Exodus 21:2-11

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

... these many pages of commiseration on our common discomforts and misfortune, only to propose the amendment of our vocabulary by the one word, sin. What then is the message? The message is simple. It is that concern is the touchstone - caring. Relinquishing the sin of indifference. This recognizes indifference as the great sin; the heart of all sin. Some call it selfishness. Some call it alienation. Some call it schizophrenia; some call it egocentricity. Some call it separation.” (p. 189) Whatever we call ...

99. Ecological Politics

Matthew 14:22-33

Sermon

Wayne Brouwer

... he got the hang of it. They were flying, and he was piloting the tent! After what felt too short a time but could well have been many dream hours, the man guided the tent back to its place along the cliff. But my friend was not yet ready to relinquish the freedom of the craft, nor his power to control it. So he scuffled with the man, and threw him out onto the cliff. "There!" he cried in victory. "Now I can go wherever I want!" Immediately, however, the tent began to collapse in on itself and started to ...

100. Love Your Enemy

Matthew 5:38-42

Illustration

Dr. Martin Luther King

... the salvation of our nation and the salvation of mankind, we must follow another way. This does not mean that we abandon our righteous efforts. With every ounce of our energy we must continue to rid this nation of the incubus of segregation. But we shall not in the process relinquish our privilege and our obligation to love. While abhorring segregation, we shall love the segregationist. This is the only way to create the beloved community."

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