Dictionary: Face
Synonyms: countenance, physiognomy, profile, features, expression, facial expression, look, appearance, air, manner, bearing, guise, cast, aspect, impression, grimace, scowl, wry face, wince, frown, glower, smirk, pout, moue, side, flank, vertical, surface, plane, facet, wall, elevation, dial, display, (outward) appearance, nature, image, front, show, act, false front, facade, exterior, mask, masquerade, pretence, charade, pose, illusion, smokescreen, veneer, camouflage, respect, honour, esteem, regard, admiration, approbation, acclaim, approval, favour, appreciation, popularity, estimation, veneration, awe, reverence, deference, recognition, prestige, standing, status, dignity, glory, kudos, cachet, effrontery, audacity, nerve, gall, brazenness, brashness, shamelessness, look out on, front on to, look towards, be facing, have/afford/command a view of, look over/across, open out over, look on to, overlook, give on to, give over, be opposite (to), accept, come to accept, become reconciled to, reconcile oneself to, reach an acceptance (of), get used to, become accustomed to, adjust to, accommodate oneself to, acclimatize oneself to, be confronted by, be faced with, encounter, experience, come into contact with, run into, come across, meet, come up against, be forced to contend with, beset, worry, distress, cause trouble to, trouble, bother, confront, burden, brave, face up to, meet head-on, dare, defy, oppose, resist, withstand, cover, clad, skin, overlay, dress, pave, put a facing on, laminate, inlay, plate, coat, line
Antonyms: dodge, fear, back, give way, back down, dodge, avoid, throw in the towel, withdraw, cave in, retreat, succumb to, lay down one's arms, throw in the sponge, defer, submit, escape, bashfulness, shun, evade, elude
Showing 2351 to 2375 of 4949 results
Sermon
James Merritt
Promises, Promises. Every time someone breaks a promise, they just blame it on the old saying "Promises were meant to be broken." It is very hard not to believe that and accept that as a way of life. The world's three most famous promises are promises that are never kept. Do you know what they are? The check is in the mail I'll love you in the morning I'm from the government and I'm here to help you Let's face it. Politicians are famous for making promises they don't keep. In the 20th century these are ...
Sermon
James Merritt
I'm reminded of the story of a local businessman who was a fourth grade Sunday School teacher. He was really trying to impress the class because his son was a member of the class. So he asked the class this question, "Why do you suppose that people call me a Christian?" Well, there was dead silence. Nobody spoke up. He asked the question again: "Now kids, why do you suppose that people call me a Christian?" Still no response. Finally, the man with an exasperated look said, "Now come on, think about it, ...
2353. A Sense of Place
2 Samuel 5:1-5, 6-10
Sermon
Stan Purdum
In one of his books, writer Scott Russell Sanders tells that whenever his father would come to new place, he would bend down, scoop up a pinch of dirt, sniff it, stir it around in his palm, squeeze it, and finally rake it across his tongue. When asked why he did this, he explained, "Just trying to figure out where I am."1 I have never used that particular method to locate myself, but being in ministry in a denomination where the bishop periodically sends pastors to new churches and communities, the dirt- ...
Sermon
Donald Charles Lacy
History shows that people are invariably looking for Messiahs or Christs. There is that special person who is to come among them and, in a sense, do for them what they cannot do for themselves. Even for years after our Lord arose from the dead and ascended — yes, and still at this moment — people are looking. Our Jewish friends, in particular, have this long historical record of watching and waiting. There were, and are, many disappointments in all of this yearning. Indeed, before and after Christ there ...
2355. A Guide for Growth
Philippians 1:1-11
Sermon
Maxie Dunnam
My friend, Don Shelby, minister of First United Methodist Church in Santa Monica, California, has told a moving story which introduces the sermon today. It happened when Don was a pastor in San Diego. One weekday morning, on arrival at the church, he was called to the sanctuary. The custodian wanted him to see a strange offering which had been placed at the very center of the altar. Upon examination they discovered it to be a pair of brown corduroy trousers, a belt, a white T-shirt, a pair of tan suede ...
Sermon
Mark Ellingsen
It takes a lot to be a Christian; you have to make your share of sacrifices. That is the popular version of Christianity. Megachurch pastor, Rick Warren, teaches, on the basis of our gospel lesson for today, that "each of us will have to give a personal account to God." Eternal rewards are at stake if we have served others with our lives.1 That is only part of the story. Those concerned with purpose-driven living make it too hard, but also too easy. The whole story is evident in today's gospel lesson. ...
Sermon
David O. Bales
Peter writes to Christian slaves. In the late first century AD, when the Christian church spread from Palestine into the larger Roman Empire, a greater and greater percentage of the church was slaves. In the ancient world slaves were any color. Masters thought up excuses why it was allowable to enslave another, but at least they didn't create the most laughable and tragic excuses, reasoning that it was okay to enslave a person of a different color. Slaves were a legal commodity, bought and sold. Some were ...
Sermon
Steven E. Albertin
Some consider it a secret. Others consider it almost a badge of honor. Some don't want to talk about it. Others almost seem to want to brag about it. What is it? It is "adoption." Some children won't find out that they are not being raised by their biological parents but by their adoptive parents until they are in middle school or even later. Other children are aware of their adopted status from the earliest days of their childhood. It is not something of which to be ashamed. It is essential to their ...
2359. Here I Am
Hebrews 12:18-29
Sermon
Billy D. Strayhorn
Every now and then one of the TV networks offers up one of those shows with an overview of old TV commercials. We look back and laugh at the hairstyles and clothing and laugh. Some the of the more famous and prominent ad characters are still around. Do you remember E.F Hutton commercials. They were for a stock brokerage firm. The TV ads would show two people talking in the midst of a crowd of noisy people: at a party or a sporting event or a restaurant. The two of them would be discussing stocks. One of ...
Sermon
King Duncan
Pastor Paula Womack made a “Top Ten” list (aka David Letterman) of ways you can tell it’s the Sunday after Easter. Not all the items on her list fit us, but some of them are very clever. So, here are six ways you tell it’s the Sunday after Easter: Number six: There’s not a lily available for purchase anywhere. Five: Wal-Mart has rotated the Easter candy to the clearance table and brought out the Mother’s Day cards and gift ideas. Four: The stores have removed the stuffed bunnies from the shelves and ...
Sermon
Robert Leslie Holmes
Traditionalism is the living religion of the dead or the dead religion of the living. Tradition imagines that nothing worthwhile will ever again be done for the first time because everything worth doing has already been done. Therefore, traditionalism repeats what it imagined always was and what it imagines always will be. The problem with tradition for tradition's sake is a terminal case of spiritual heart disease. In this scripture reading, a delegation of religious leaders makes their way from Jerusalem ...
Sermon
Leonard Sweet
How many parents have blessed the invention of the “Swing’N’Sway?” Can I get a witness?! There are actually two versions of this battery operated baby care gizmo. For newborns there is a Swing’N’Sway bassinet that gently rocks from side-to-side and back-to-front to simulate the infant being held and walked and rocked. This enables new Moms and Dads to catch some desperately needed shut-eye. For babies old enough to sit up there is a Swing’N’Sway rocker — an infant seat secured in a kind of swing-set stand ...
Sermon
Frank Ramirez
It was over forty years ago, in the middle of December 1963, when my aging father retired from the Navy. He was only 37 years old at the time, but to a nine-year-old that sounded pretty old! He and mom packed us into the car and we moved from Nor­folk, Virginia, back to our native California, taking the old High­way 66, a two-lane highway that could really cause motion sick­ness at times! Dad made sure we stopped at important places from the sights of Washington DC to the austere majesty of mountainous ...
2364. Christmas Eve
Psalm 96:1-13, Isaiah 9:2-7, Luke 2:1-7, Titus 2:11-14
Bulletin Aid
Julia Ross Strope
If there are children in the congregation and adults who enjoy “performing,” invite them ahead of time to pantomime the Luke 2 story. (Everyone can wear slacks and a turtleneck shirt.) Designate the lead adult angel (Gabriel), lead adult shepherd, adult Mary, and adult Joseph several weeks prior to Christmas Eve. Since there is no rehearsal, ask the lead characters to arrive fifteen minutes early in costume and go over space, props, and costumes for other participants. Masking tape on the floor, labeled ...
2365. The Lamb
Revelation 7:9-17
Sermon
Argile Smith
Have you ever heard of a man named Polycarp? Don’t feel badly if you haven’t. Polycarp’s not exactly a household name, at least in most houses. Yes, it’s an odd name, to our ears anyway. The name conjures up for most people today a product that’s manufactured from something made of plastic that tastes like freshwater fish. In the history of the church, the name lived through one century after another, and the person who bore it gave good reason for people to keep on mentioning the name. Because of the ...
2366. A Man of God
Matthew 1:18-25
Sermon
King Duncan
It was the day after Christmas. Dad was trying to take a nap, but his young son kept finding ways to interrupt his siesta. Finally the father lost his patience and said sternly, “Go to my room, and go now!” Hearing this, the boy’s mother asked, “Why did you tell him to go to your room and not his?” The father replied: “Are you kidding? Did you see all those Christmas presents the kid received? In his room he has a TV, an iPod, an iPad, an Xbox and 3 new electronic games. If we want to punish him, we have ...
Sermon
Wayne Brouwer
When Vince Lombardi was hired as head coach of the Green Bay Packers in 1958, the team was in dismal shape. A single win in season play the year before had socked the club solidly into the basement of the NFL, and sportscasters everywhere used it as the butt of loser jokes. But Lombardi picked and pulled and prodded and trained and disciplined the players into becoming a winning team. They were NFL cham­pions in three consecutive seasons, and took the game honors for the first two Super Bowls. Lombardi was ...
Sermon
James Merritt
I believe the single most important person who has ever lived or will ever live is Jesus Christ. I believe the most important book that ever has been written or ever will be written is the Bible. I believe those two things are true, because of two other things I believe are true. I believe Jesus is the Son of God and I believe the Bible is the Word of God. Those two things are important because what we really know of the Son of God is found in the Word of God Therefore, the two most important beliefs of my ...
Understanding Series
Michael S. Moore
Judah’s Famine and Elimelech’s Death: The story of Ruth has a specific historical context, the days when the judges ruled (lit. when the judges judged). The act of repeating a seminal Hebrew root twice (shepot hashopetim), however, immediately implies that Ruth’s opening line attempts to do more than just situate the book historically. Hebrew, like English, repeats words for emphasis (GKC 117p). Ruth, in other words, is very much a story about mishpat (“justice,” from shapat, “to judge, rule”). 1:1 The ...
Teach the Text
C. Marvin Pate
Big Idea: Chapters 9–11, which correspond to the curses component of the covenant (chaps. 5–8 enunciate the blessings), answer the question “Have God’s promises to Israel failed?” Paul answers, “No!” In 9:1–5 he broaches the problem of Israel’s unbelief. Israel previously enjoyed the blessings of the covenant but is now under its curses for rejecting the Messiah. Understanding the Text In order to situate Romans 9:1–5 in its literary setting I must briefly make four points. First, what is the relationship ...
2371. Divine Tenants
Matthew 21:33-46
Sermon
Kristin Borsgard Wee
My husband's first call as a pastor was to a small parish in North Carolina. The parsonage was on a large corner lot. The hill in the backyard was badly eroded with wide grooves running down to a little creek. Shortly after we moved in I learned that the US Forestry Service would give away 100 pine seedlings to anyone who would use them for soil conservation. I ordered the seedlings and went out one fine spring day to start planting pine trees. I was on my hands and knees planting seedlings when a neighbor ...
Understanding Series
John Goldingay
Yahweh’s Closing Critique and Vision: In these last two chapters of the book, once more we cannot discern an order or structure. The succession of phrases that look like introductions to prophecies (65:8, 13, 25; 66:1, 5, 12, 22) and the movement between verse and prose suggest that here it is not because a prophet let a stream of consciousness have its way. It is, rather, because a number of separate prophecies have been accumulated at the end of the book. These different prophecies have overlapping ...
2373. Wave Riders and Deep-Sea Divers
Jonah 1:1-17, Jonah 2:1-10, Jonah 3:1-10, Jonah 4:1-11
Sermon
Lori Wagner
Today we celebrate one of the most monumental days in history –when Martin Luther, a German monk, posted 95 theses on the door of the church in Wittenberg, creating a permanent schism within the Catholic church, one that would result in a new strain of Christianity –Protestantism. The root of Protestantism is “protest.” We are a church that built its identity upon protesting an existing church structure that many felt was corrupt. As new independent churches developed, new theology developed too –a ...
Sermon
King Duncan
We’re just ten days past April Fools’ Day, and I wanted to run a little poll this morning. Raise your hand if you fall into one of these camps: How many of you love to pull pranks on April Fools’ Day? How many of you have ever fallen for an April Fools’ prank? It’s hard to admit it, but some of us are just a little more trusting than others. And that can get us into trouble sometimes. There’s an old story of a man who walked into a local pub and introduced himself to the guy at the next table. The man said ...
Sermon
Richard Gribble
The resident bishop at the Cathedral of Notre Dame in Paris, who was known to be a great evangelist, reaching out to cynics, unbelievers and scoffers, told the following story. It seems that years ago there was a young man who would daily stand outside the cathedral and shout terrible words and derogatory slogans against God, the church, and anyone who entered the cathedral. He would call these people fools and all sorts of other names. People tried to ignore the man, but it was rather difficult. One day ...
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