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
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Sermon
Richard Hasler
... I’m singing music from the African-American tradition. There is always this context running in my head, in my soul, that I’m singing music that was born out of their context. I stand in awe of the grace of a people who would adopt and adapt the religion of those who hurt and abused them — make truth telling complex, beautiful music out of that experience.”[2] A black minister spoke to other people gathered to discuss racial prejudice and discrimination: “Until you have stood for years knocking at ...
1227. Sola Fide
1 Peter 1:3-9
Sermon
Dr. Ronald Love
... Jesus by faith. We have confidence in our relationship with Jesus because of the assurance of our heart and because we believe in the promises of the Bible. The Westminster Confession of Faith is a Reformed confession of faith. It was adopted in 1646 at the Westminster Assembly and became the standard confession of the Church of England. Regarding sola fide the creed states, “Faith, thus receiving and resting on Christ and his righteousness, is the alone instrument of justification.” The creed states ...
Sermon
Ronald Love
... of a shepherd and how they parallel the expectations of Christian discipleship. This has become most prominent in literature regarding Jesus. Having referred to himself as the Good Shepherd, Jesus underscored the significance of this imagery. This was then adopted by the first-century authors, most notably Peter and Paul, in highlighting the shepherding ministry of the church. Peter conveyed this message with these words from our Lectionary reading that I read earlier this morning, “For you were going ...
1229. The Tiger Who Thought He Was a Goat
Illustration
Maxie Dunnam
There is a fable about a motherless tiger cub who was adopted by goats and brought up by them to speak their language, eat their food, and, in general, believe that he was a goat. One day a king tiger came along and when all the goats scattered in fear, the young tiger was left alone with the king tiger. All that ...
Sermon
Will Willimon
... one thing was left: The Word of God, thank God, was not fettered. It is a fearful thing to be abandoned to our own devices, left in a world with no one to speak the unfettered word. Powerful social forces conspire to make the church adopt, adapt, conform. Reinhold Niebuhr, as a young pastor, said that he thought there were so many tame, innocuous little preachers because pastors feared that, if they spoke, they would be fired. Later, Niebuhr learned the real truth. It is love of the congregation, rather ...
Sermon
David E. Leininger
... loving for God to give us Jesus...our Savior. As scripture has it, “But when the fullness of time had come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, in order to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as children.” (Galatians 4:4-5). Children do not have to worry about “better watch out/better not cry,” because he seems to come to us most especially at the point of our tears. Children need not concern ourselves that “He’s gonna find out who’s ...
Sermon
King Duncan & Angela Akers
... were the beginning of modern-day hospitals.” Then there’s the virtue of Humility. Did you know that before Jesus came into the world, humility wasn’t considered a virtue? Jesus’ life as a foot-washing servant would eventually lead to the adoption of humility as a widely admired virtue. Forgiveness was also a radical idea that had its roots in Jesus’ life. “In the ancient world, virtue meant rewarding your friends and punishing your enemies. Imagine how shocking it was when the humble preacher ...
1233. A Child of God
1 Corinthians 8:1-13
Sermon
Ronald Love
... and wine are changed in substance into the flesh and blood of Christ, even though the elements appear to remain the same. This doctrine has no basis in scripture. There are traces of this dogma in some of the post-apostolic writings. It was adopted by the fourth Lateran Council, which convened in 1215. It was formalized at the Council of Trent, which was held from 1545 to 1563. The doctrine was reaffirmed at the Second Vatican Council, which was held from 1962 to 1965. “Consubstantiation” was derived by ...
Sermon
David E. Leininger
... of state either. In Iraq, women fill at least 25% of seats in the Parliament because the Iraqi Constitution has a quota requiring it. Overall, fifty countries have quotas for female representation in their legislatures. In many countries, like Sweden, political parties have adopted rules that force them to field a set number of women candidates. However, the lowest female representation by region is in the Arab world, with women making up only 8% of legislatures.[2] Does all this gender shift make any real ...
1235. Prophets and the Powerful
1 Kings 21:1-3, 17-21
Sermon
Will Willimon
... until the prophet hears a word that God may not want what the king wants. Sunday before last, the New York Times Magazine ran a fascinating article by Bernard Weinraub on “The Reagan Legacy.” In the article, Weinraub wonders why fundamentalist Christians came to adopt and adore a President who “came of age in show business, enjoys a ribald joke, rarely goes to church, became the first divorced man to serve as President and has had an often-strained relationship with his children.” (p. 19) And I was ...
1236.
Psalm 86:1-17
Understanding Series
Craig C. Broyles
... in loyal love” (Hb. ḥesed, vv. 5, 13, 15). Similarly, the psalm presupposes all that a covenant relationship entails. We must keep in mind here that these self-descriptions do not follow from the character of the actual composer; they are to be adopted by worshipers if they wish the psalm to have its desired effect. The fourth motif on which the psalm is founded is that of historical precedents. As noted above, the psalm quotes confessions well rooted in Israel’s historical experience of Yahweh ...
1237.
Psalm 110:1-7
Understanding Series
Craig C. Broyles
... addressed to the Davidic kings, his reinterpretation is endorsed by the book of Psalms itself. The historical superscriptions invite readers to re-read the “psalms of David” as those authored by David (see the Introduction). Jesus, in his debate with the scribes, adopts this secondary setting for Ps. 110. There are other cases where an OT passage is reinterpreted in the NT with divergent meanings, esp. when a key term is resignified. For example, the promise of Abraham’s “seed” (Gen. 12:7; 13:15 ...
1238.
Psalm 120:1-7
Understanding Series
Craig C. Broyles
... war, verses 2–3 state it in terms of “deceitful tongues.” The psalms, in fact, often use the imagery of warfare as a figure for hostile speech (27:1–3, 12; 35; 57:4; 64:3). The psalm surprisingly closes without resolution (unless we adopt the second interpretation of v. 1 below), thus leaving readers/listeners with a profound sense of dissatisfaction at living in a foreign land. It may be for this reason that Psalm 120 became the introductory psalm of ascent, in the collection that appears to serve ...
1239.
Psalm 123:1-4
Understanding Series
Craig C. Broyles
... not obedience. In this case our eyes seek mercy. 123:3–4 The sole petition makes the simple request that Yahweh have mercy; it does not specify any form of intervention. This reticence makes sense in view of the humble stance explicitly adopted by the petitioners, who are as “slaves.” The distress is one of contempt and ridicule. The instigators are not specified any further than as the proud and the arrogant, the antithesis of the slave image defining the petitioners. This characterization points not ...
1240.
Psalm 128:1-6
Understanding Series
Craig C. Broyles
... the attitude of fear, the second defines the behavior of “walking” in his ways. As the poetic parallelism suggests, the one considered blessed by Yahweh is an integrated person. Presumably, this promise of blessing is also held out as a motivation that worshipers adopt such an attitude and behavior. What we so often take for granted was not the case in the ancient world, namely that you will eat the fruit of your labor. Because of the uncertainties brought on by war, famine, and disease, this was ...
1241.
Psalm 139:1-24
Understanding Series
Craig C. Broyles
... the heart of vv. 1–18) is to confirm the rhetorical question and confession of verses 21–22. But we must first note that the wicked in these verses pose no direct threat. They are, in fact, God’s enemies and become the speaker’s enemies only by adoption (vv. 21–22). They do not accuse the speaker: “they speak of you with evil intent” (v. 20). Second, there is no plea for rescue or protection, which is seen so clearly in Psalms 7 and 17. Third, if from the beginning the psalm reflects a notion ...
1242. Life in the Future
Philippians 1:3-11
Sermon
Scott Bryte & Kimberly Miller van Driel
... (literally “in the flesh”) in the baby Jesus at Christmas. Advent is also a time to wait in joyful anticipation for the return of our Lord Jesus, when God will make all things new. In the past half dozen decades or so, more and more congregations have adopted blue as the color associated with Advent. This is not simply a matter of decoration or style. Advent is all about expecting, hoping for, and counting on, what comes next. It is about the coming of Jesus into the world, first as a baby in a manger ...
Sermon
Wayne Brouwer
... been scattered and deported? What about the children? This couple thought about the children. They ached for the children. They worked tirelessly for the children. They wrote letters. They contacted government officials. They sponsored orphanages. They arranged for adoptions. They got interviewed constantly, in order to keep the tragedies alive. They traveled incessantly, all for the children. One night, while they were holding another planning session in the living room of their home, the talk got noisy ...
1244. Never Satisfied
John 14:8-17, (25-27)
Sermon
Dean Feldmeyer
... his example. It is in that seeing, that hearing, and that watching that we become his disciples. It is when we stop simply reading the gospels and start actually studying them and discussing them with others who are on the same journey we are on, that we can adopt his name as our own and call ourselves Christian. That brings us to the other way we can encounter, hear, watch, learn from, and abide with the Master. That is, when we enter into and become a part of his resurrected body, the church. It is in the ...
Sermon
Dean Feldmeyer
... news is that God has weighed us and judged us, and by the grace and love of Jesus Christ, has found us acceptable. The Creator of all that is desires for us to come and sit at a banquet table that has been prepared for us and be God’s adopted sons and daughters. The Lord of history requests the pleasure of your company. And the bad news is that just as sure as we say yes to that kingdom, that family, that life to which God has called us, we’re going to end up making somebody mad. But only ...
1246. Bare Stage
Matthew 1:18-25
Sermon
Frank Ramirez
... who love their clobber verses, and instead to listen to God, to God’s great wonders, and in obeying God make it possible for God to enter into history and save the people. In response, Joseph took action, and that action was to do the right thing. He would adopt Jesus as his own. He would bring joy to the world! A bare stage brings a drama to life in our lives as well. We see ourselves more clearly when there are fewer distractions. We hear God more clearly as well. And the question for us, having seen ...
Sermon
Kenneth L. Gibble
... Moses to lead the Israelites out of Egypt. Needless to say, Moses was hardly thrilled at that prospect. The Pharaoh of Egypt was a powerful person, not someone to be trifled with. Remember that Moses himself had grown up in the palace of Pharaoh as an adopted child. Moses knew that anybody who took on the assignment this god was proposing could get into big, big trouble. “Okay,” Moses answered the voice, “you say I’m to lead the Israelites out of Egypt. When I go and tell them all this, the first ...
Sermon
Will Willimon
... Thomas to Sunday School; maybe that would help.” Yes, maybe we could tame the little pagan in our Sunday School! After all, isn't that what church is good for? Taming? Subduing? Civilizing? Yet not in today's story from First Samuel. As a boy, the adopted son of a priest, young Samuel spent a great deal of time hanging around church. He was what Luther might have called a “sacristy rat,” someone who hangs around the church. Samuel helped old Eli. The old priest's eyes were growing dim and he used ...
Sermon
Will Willimon
... such a narrow, limited view of the world, such a parochial vision of what is and what isn't--and can venture forth with a postmodern appreciation for the “strange new world of the Bible” {Barth). By that I mean the nerve of modern people to adopt a superior attitude toward the Bible. We say that the Bible is “sexist,” “patriarchal,” as if we weren't, as if we moderns have risen above the Bible. It is easier to see the Bible's culturally conditioned blinders than our own. The nerve of a ...
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