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 2076 to 2100 of 4490 results
Sermon
Mark Trotter
Jesus charged the disciples to take nothing for their journey except a staff; no bread, no bag, no money in their belts, but to wear sandals and only one tunic. Not even a change of clothes. When I preached this text before, I ended up preaching a sermon about St. Francis, because this is what Francis used as the first rule for his order, the Franciscans. He just took the words of Jesus' instruction to his disciples on their first missionary journey, and said, we will do this. There would be other rules ...
2077. Lent 4
John 9:35-41, John 9:13-34, John 9:1-12, 1 Samuel 16:1-13, Ephesians 4:17--5:21
Sermon Aid
John R. Brokhoff
COMMENTARY Old Testament: 1 Samuel 16:1-13 Samuel anoints David to succeed Saul as king. Here is a story of a shepherd boy who is made a king. Because God was sorry he ever chose Saul to be the first king of Israel, he instructed Samuel to secretly anoint a successor to Saul. He is sent to the home of Jesse in Bethlehem to anoint a replacement for Saul. Which one of the eight sons of Jesse did God want as king? All seven sons were interviewed but none satisfied God's choice. The youngest, David, was in the ...
Sermon
Leonard Sweet
[This sermon needs popcorn and popcorn smells. You may want to distribute little bags of popcorn with the bulletins. Or during the sermon you may want to have someone making popcorn so that the smell can percolate through the sanctuary. But in some way, your parishioners need to have a popcorn experience to go along with the sermon. Maybe even give each person an uncooked popcorn kernel so that the contrast between one that has undergone fire and one that hasn't can be felt and tasted.] The New Year always ...
2079. Fear Factor
Psalm 25:1-22
Sermon
Leonard Sweet
So . . . when did throwing up become the newest spectator sport? The hottest TV trend in pop culture? The red-hot reality show fear factor is supposed to highlight people facing up to and facing down their greatest fears. Whenever I've tuned in, the only thing I've seen is people hurling. They have good reason. The most crowd-pleasing, Nielsen-boosting activity seems to be when the "everyman" and "everywoman" participants are forced to consume large quantities of such disgusting delicacies as horse rectum ...
Sermon
James Caldwell III
This is the season of at least two kinds of fever going around. The first is an elevated body temperature. The kind that accompanies an illness. After all, this is the flu season. And with the flu comes fever. But a fever is a symptom of many diseases. All of us have had it at one time or another. Frequently, fevers are caused by bacterial infections, sometimes causing a fever to be extremely high. Several times when one of our children has been sick, my wife would say "He's on fire!" Unless it's a family ...
Sermon
James McCormick
When the Empire State building was being planned, there were cynics who said that you can’t build a building out of concrete and steel 102 stories high. It is impossible. The whole thing will come crashing down! However, engineers said that there is virtually no limit to how high you can build, providing the foundation is deep enough and strong enough. Jesus was a builder. He understood the importance of foundations. That is why he painted the vivid picture contrasting sand and rock as foundation materials ...
Sermon
King Duncan
A pastor went to a nursing home to offer communion to the residents. This was not one of those upscale places called a retirement center. This facility was for the poor and its residents were mostly in various stages of dementia. When the pastor arrived she was told by a volunteer, who was wheeling patients into the room, that since it was late afternoon, everyone’s medication seemed to be wearing off. Some would sleep through the service as usual, but for the most part, her little congregation would be on ...
Sermon
James W. Moore
When I was in the tenth grade in high school, I was a sprinter on the Memphis Tech High School track team. Back then, tenth grade was the first year of high school, so I was a real rookie on the track team. I had been running: - The one hundred yard dash. - I was also running on the sprint relay teams. - In addition, I was doing the long jump and the high jump. One day in a practice track meet, the coach suddenly decided to try me in the two hundred and twenty yard dash. I had never run this event before, ...
Sermon
James Merritt
The fifth chapter of the gospel of Mark is a menu of miracles. There are three miracles in this chapter, each of which illustrate the authority and the sovereignty of the Lord Jesus Christ. In the first miracle, a man comes to Jesus bound in chains, bleeding from cuts, controlled by demonic forces. Jesus cast out these demons. He frees this man from the hounds of hell that have hunted him and haunted him, and changes him from a child of the devil to a child of God. Then Jesus encounters a woman with a ...
Sermon
James Merritt
The summer after I graduated from high school, I worked in a carpet factory. I met a very interesting man who, at one time, was a professional boxer. We got to talking about boxing and he said, "Do you know the two biggest mistakes boxers make?" I said, "No, what?" He said, "Number one: telegraphing their punches; and number two: failing to keep their guard up." The theme of the book of Jude is "Keeping Your Guard Up." This is the third smallest book in the New Testament, but it illustrates the truth that ...
Sermon
Bill Bouknight
The late Bishop Lance Webb used to tell a story about a little five-year-old boy who misbehaved. His mother decided to give him some quiet time. She had a large closet. So, she pushed back the hangers in the closet so there would be room for his chair. She turned on the light and told him he would have to stay in the closet for 30 minutes. She heard strange sounds inside the closet and then everything got quiet. The mother was curious, so she opened the door. “Jimmy, “she asked, “what on earth are you ...
Sermon
King Duncan
Welcome on this first Sunday in a new year. Did you know that New Year’s Day is the one holiday that is almost universal? It is the world’s most observed holiday. I trust you’ve made your New Year’s resolutions one of which is to be in worship each week. Well done for this first Sunday. I won’t ask you if you’ve resolved to lose the weight you gained between Thanksgiving and Christmas, or if you’re planning on joining a health club, or if you’re going to run five miles a day. Five miles, by the way, is my ...
2088. Mind Games
2 Corinthians 10:3-5
Sermon
James Merritt
(After a video of Hershel Walker) Oh, those were the glory days! Now there is something most of you probably missed in seeing that video. You thought the focus was on Hershel Walker, but the key to what you just saw was the offensive line. Not even Hershel Walker, the greatest college running back who ever lived, who happened to play for the greatest college football team, at the greatest university in history, cannot run one yard unless he has an offensive line opening the holes. There is an old football ...
2089. Until He Comes
2 Timothy 4:7-8
Sermon
James Merritt
The last two years of my life have passed by faster than a speeding bullet. Though the pace of being President of this Convention has been exhausting, the honor has been exhilarating. I will never get over the fact that you, my fellow Southern Baptists, have entrusted me with this position. Being President of the Southern Baptist Convention has made me realize more than ever how blessed I am to be a Christian and how great it is to be a Baptist. I am reminded of Charles Spurgeon the great British preacher ...
Sermon
James Merritt
I am at a distinct disadvantage here for one simple reason. I believe it is easier for a woman to address a group of men than it is for men to address a group of women. The reason is simple. Women at least think they understand men; men know they don't understand women. One of the reasons for this problem is there are undeniably tremendous differences between men and women. For example: Women have many faults Men have only two; Everything they say and everything they do. I told Teresa the other day in a ...
Sermon
James Merritt
If there is anything this post-modern culture that we live in is sure of it is that you cannot be absolutely sure of anything. You can believe in many things. You can be passionate about a lot of things, but nothing can be known absolutely, especially in the area of spirituality and morality. I discovered this quote by Gandhi that serves to emphasize the almost universal uncertainty that is associated with religious belief of any kind. When he was asked why he tried to persuade people of his political ...
Sermon
James Merritt
There is one thing that seven years at seminary never taught me. I learned a lot about Greek, Hebrew, sermon preparation, counseling, etc. but I didn't learn hardly anything about leadership. Nobody ever told me that the words "pastor" and "leader" are synonymous. Nobody ever told me, specifically about two aspects of leadership. First of all, the pressure of leadership and second the price of leadership. There is indeed great pressure in leadership and a high price for leadership. If you are a leader, I ...
2093. The Two Prodigals
Luke 15:1-3, 11b-32
Sermon
Donald Charles Lacy
The relationship between and among siblings is a study both intriguing and challenging. Many of us know the truth here firsthand from the experience of growing up in families. Even if one happens to be an only child, we are brought in touch with brothers and sisters in other families. A great deal is made of the birth order in a family. For example, the oldest son has traditionally been known as the child who is to make his mark in the world and, in some cases, look after parents and those siblings who are ...
Sermon
Billy D. Strayhorn
In the movie, "With Honors," Joe Pesci plays Simon Wilder a homeless man slowly dying from asbestos poisoning. Brendan Fraser portrays Montgomery 'Monty' Kessler, who is a student at Harvard who has reluctantly befriended Simon. In one of their conversations Simon pulls out a leather pouch and says, "There it is. That's it, my life." He dumps a bunch of stones out in his hand, picks up one and says, "I got this one on a beach in Bali. Best night's sleep I ever had." Monty asks, "You remember one night of ...
Sermon
Billy D. Strayhorn
I remember an old Family Circus cartoon, Dolly was sitting with her baby brother on her lap and was telling him the story of Christmas. It was something like this: "Jesus was born just in time for Christmas up at the North Pole surrounded by 8 tiny reindeer and the Virgin Mary. Then Santa Claus showed up with lots of toys and stuff and some swaddling clothes. The 3 wise men and elves all sang carols while the Little Drummer Boy and Scrooge helped Joseph trim the tree. In the meantime, Frosty the Snowman ...
2096. They Said 'Yes!'
Ephesians 1:11-23
Sermon
Billy D. Strayhorn
Do you remember the first table grace you learned? You can join with me if you want. God is great, God is Good Now we thank Him for our food. By His hand we all are fed, Thank you Lord, for daily bread. Amen. Where did you learn that prayer? Who taught it to you? Your folks right? Who taught it to them? Their folks. I have no idea when that little ditty of a table grace was first written, but almost everybody knows it. It's the standard at many family meals. It's been passed on from generation to ...
Sermon
King Duncan
A group of boys and girls, ages 4‑8 was asked, “What does love mean?” Here are some of their answers: “Love is when a girl puts on perfume and a boy puts on shaving cologne and they go out and smell each other.” Karl - age 5 “Love is when you kiss all the time. Then when you get tired of kissing, you still want to be together and you talk more. My Mommy and Daddy are like that. They look gross when they kiss.” Emily - age 8 “Love is when you tell a guy you like his shirt, then he wears it every day.” ...
Sermon
Maxie Dunnam
There is an old adage which has God saying: “Take what you wish - take it and pay for it.” That puts us immediately into the heart of our theme today: There is a Price For Everything. There is truth in that saying that the best things in life are free but we have to be careful about that. It isn’t absolute truth. Certainly we can’t buy love, but isn’t there really a price tag on love? How can we appropriate the love of a husband or a wife without paying the price of attention and tenderness, caring and the ...
Sermon
Maxie Dunnam
I’ve told you this story before I think, but it’s the most appropriate story with which we can begin the sermon today. A man had an awful day at work. Everything had gone wrong. There was one interruption after another, and he was never able to complete his work. When he entered the door at home that evening, he knew that his wife must have had a similar day. You could see it on her face. So, to set the process straight he began, “I’ve had the worst day of my life; it’s been bad news, bad news, bad news. I ...
Sermon
Maxie Dunnam
For most of the ten years I was with The Upper Room, we lived in Mt. Juliet. Mt. Juliet is a small rural town about 20 miles east of Nashville, which was fast becoming a densely developed suburb. When we moved there from California, I was looking for space. I’d lived ten feet from my neighbors too long. I wanted at least the “country feeling.” Mt. Juliet had it. At least two “famous” people lived in Mt. Juliet. Charlie Daniels of country music fame, who is the best fiddler and whose band continues to be a ...
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