Synonyms: financial gain, gain, return(s), payback, dividend, interest, yield, surplus, excess, advantage, benefit, value, use, good, avail, worth, usefulness, be beneficial to, be of benefit to, be advantageous to, be of advantage to, be of use to, be of value to, do someone good, help, be helpful to, be of service to, serve, assist, aid, stand someone in good stead, further the interests of, advance, promote, make money, make a killing, make a profit
Antonyms: loss, disadvantage, debt, lack, need, payment, resource, want
Showing 1 to 25 of 4931 results
Sermon
Robert Beringer
Could it be? Who knows? There's something to anything, I will know right away, soon as it shows. It may come cannonballing down from the sky - Who knows? It's just out of reach ... down the block ... on a beach . . . under a tree,I got a feeling there's a miracle goin' to come true, coming to me! Could it be? Yes, it could ... Something's comin', something good if I can wait. Something's comin', I don't know what it is, but it's going to be great! Something's comin' - don't go away!1 Perhaps you recognize ...
Sermon
Robert S. Crilley
I've read that in one of Von Schlegel's avant-garde plays, the curtain rises to show the dimly-lit interior of a theater. There on the stage sit a group of people waiting for a curtain to rise. A ripple of amused laughter washes across the auditorium at the obvious irony of watching actors engage in the very activity which had occupied the audience only moments earlier. However, when this second curtain is lifted, it displays still another group sitting in front of yet another curtain. People begin to grow ...
Sermon
Robert Beringer
Christmas is the time of year for sending messages. That's why the postal service estimates some five billion Christmas cards and letters will be mailed in the next few weeks. By anyone's standard, that's a lot of money, time and trouble invested in sending a message of good news to friends and family. But messages are important, and for many of us, Christmas is the only time in the year when we hear from old and distant friends. Christmas is a time when God sends a message to the world as well, and these ...
Sermon
Robert S. Crilley
In 1481 Leonardo da Vinci was commissioned to paint an altarpiece for the chapel of a nearby monastery. He devoted an inordinate amount of time and energy to the depiction, compiling countless preparatory sketches and carefully attending to each intricate detail. The result was revolutionary: one of the most dramatic and innovative renderings of the Renaissance, before which succeeding generations of artists would later stand awestruck in absolute wonder. Mysteriously, though, just seven months into the ...
Sermon
James Garrett
The Beatitudes are familiar to us. We have heard them many times. Someone gave me an interesting article about the Beatitudes. It is titled: “The Lesson.” “Then Jesus took his disciples up the mountain, and gathering these around him, he taught them saying: “ ‘Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are the meek. Blessed are they that mourn. Blessed are the merciful. Blessed are they who thirst for justice. Blessed are you when you suffer. Be glad and rejoice, for your ...
6. Return To God
Joel 2:1-11
Sermon
Douglas J. Deuel
One Sunday morning, a teenage boy was awakened by his father. He followed his dad through the living room to look out the front window. His dad showed him that their trees were covered with toilet paper. In those days teenagers liked to "tee-pee" each other's houses. That meant wrapping toilet paper around trees and bushes as well as the house. The boy's parents never cared if they got "tee-peed." They just had a standing rule that whichever of their children's friends did it, that would be the one that ...
Sermon
Lee Griess
Every once in a while a whimsical story makes the news. A couple of years ago, the Associated Press carried a story about a woman in Olney, England, named Dawn Gallyot who defied snow and a biting wind to beat seven other women to the finish line in the annual Shrove Tuesday pancake race. In her first race, the 38-year-old schoolteacher made the 415-yard dash from a pub in the market square to the Church of St. Peter and St. Paul with a pancake and a frying pan in her hand in 73 seconds. That was 9.5 ...
Sermon
Lee Griess
A young man was sent to Spain by his company to work in a new office they were opening there. He accepted the assignment because it would enable him to earn enough money to marry his long-time girlfriend. The plan was to pool their money and, when he returned, put a down payment on a house, and get married. As he bid his sweetheart farewell at the airport, he promised to write her every day and keep in touch. However, as the lonely weeks slowly slipped by, his letters came less and less often and his ...
Sermon
Thomas Peterson
A couple stands before the pastor in the midday service. He asks, “Who gives this woman to be married to this man?” The father says, “I do.” Then the father takes the right hand of the bride in his right hand and places it into the right hand of the pastor who, in turn, places it in the right hand of the groom. The vows are given, and the groom, having taken the right hand of the bride, says, “I, John, take thee, Mary, to be my wedded wife.” Dropping hands, the bride offers her right hand to the groom and ...
Sermon
Chris Ewing
This parable has to be one of the least liked in the whole Bible. It speaks stern words to those who are not ready for the moment of truth — and it leaves uncomfortably vague just what "being ready" might entail. To understand what Matthew interprets Jesus to mean by readiness for the final judgment, we have to read his whole gospel, and in particular the final third of this chapter, that famous scene of the sheep and the goats, which we'll be reading in another two weeks. But already today there is an ...
Sermon
James Garrett
A wife gave her husband two ties for Christmas. He, being an obedient and peace-loving man, went immediately and put on one of the ties. He returned to the kitchen where his wife was preparing breakfast. Seeing he had one of the ties on she asked: “What’s the matter, don’t you like the other tie?” Through the Advent season we read Luke’s story of the coming of the Lord and of his birth. These weeks leading up to today, Christmas, we have made preparations. We have anticipated with great expectancy the ...
Sermon
Harold Warlick
I harbor few illusions that people take to heart sermons like I'm about to preach. Yet later on in life we just might look back and remember. W. T. Leitze taught me that very early in life. W. T. Leitze was one of the kindest, most trusting individuals who ever lived. Mr. Leitze, a 60-year-old bachelor who weighed at least 300 pounds, was my ninth grade algebra teacher. Mr. Leitze's whole life was centered around his students. His lectures always interwove basic algebraic principles with basic Christian ...
Understanding Series
Timothy S. Laniak
The Jewish Response II: Esther’s Plan for Haman: As we have seen, banquets (feasting/drinking) occur at pivotal moments in the book of Esther and they regularly mask deeper realities. Vashti was deposed as a result of her insubordination during the public banquets of chapter 1. Esther is crowned as Vashti’s replacement during a banquet in chapter 2, but her identity is kept secret throughout (2:18–20). Haman dined with the king in a sinister, private banquet after making the king an (unknowing) accomplice ...
Understanding Series
Timothy S. Laniak
The Jewish Response II: Esther’s Plan for Haman: As we have seen, banquets (feasting/drinking) occur at pivotal moments in the book of Esther and they regularly mask deeper realities. Vashti was deposed as a result of her insubordination during the public banquets of chapter 1. Esther is crowned as Vashti’s replacement during a banquet in chapter 2, but her identity is kept secret throughout (2:18–20). Haman dined with the king in a sinister, private banquet after making the king an (unknowing) accomplice ...
Sermon
Robert Allen
Universities in the Northeast take great delight in staging Elizabethan dramas. This is one of the cultural aspects which universities in the Northeast emphasize. It is a way of giving aspiring young actors and actresses some practical experience on the stage and it is a way of taking classical literature out of the boredom of the classroom and making it come alive in the minds of students as they watch it performed on the stage. Perhaps, one of the greatest of the Elizabethan dramas is Christopher Marlowe ...
Sermon
Carl Hoefler
Rejoice! It's Lent. Sounds strange doesn't it? Joy and Lent just do not seem to go together. Lent is the somber season. In popular practice Lent possesses all the marks of a six-week funeral. The paraments are the deep purple of a dowager's dress. Hallelujahs are silenced within the service of the liturgy. Social celebrations are cancelled - or at least curtailed. Our attention is focused exclusively on the crucified body of a young man dying in agony on a criminal's cross. Our emotions are moved to tears ...
Drama
Nancy Steltz
Staging: Mary, Joseph, and the baby in a manger are in center stage. The Speech Choir stands to one side. Narrator 1: Thus it is in the small town of Bethlehem that Jesus is born to fulfill the prophet's words. (Isaiah sits forward and listens intently.) Reader (Holding Bible): "But you, 0 Bethlehem Ephrathah, who are little to be among the clans of Judah, from you shall come forth for me one who is to be ruler in Israel." Isaiah (Standing, thinking): I don't recall saying - uh, reading- those words from ...
Sermon
Robert S. Crilley
For all of his charisma as a leader, his skills as a diplomat, his savvy as a politician, Moses was not the sort for whom making speeches ever came easily. Rhetoric simply wasn't included on his resume, public speaking never being one of his fortes. And of course, back at Sinai before this improbable pilgrimage began, he had admitted as much to Yahweh: "O my Lord, I have never been eloquent, neither in the past nor now that you have spoken to your servant; but I am slow of speech and slow of tongue" ( ...
Sermon
Leonard H. Budd
Even in the room's darkness Rachel's face was seen streaked with tears. She wiped her cheeks with the back of her hand. Rachel had been an un-named disciple since Jesus had first visited her village. They had already celebrated two passovers. It had been that long ago. She was not important in the way that Simon and his brothers were important. She could not speak eloquently, nor command evil spirits to disappear. Nor could she carry her side of debate about the religious law. Also, she was a woman. But ...
Sermon
Robert Beringer
Charles Swindoll in his popular book, Improving Your Serve, tells of how he was at first haunted and then convicted by the Bible's insistence that Jesus came not to be served, but to serve and to give his life a ransom for many (Mark 10:45)." The more he studied what the Bible says about servanthood, the more convinced Swindoll became that our task in this world, like that of Jesus, is not to be served, not to grab the spotlight, and not to become successful or famous or powerful or idolized. Our calling ...
Sermon
Robert Beringer
The Feast of Christmas celebrates God's wondrous gift of Jesus Christ to be the Savior of the world. The Feast of Epiphany celebrates our human gifts to God, symbolized by those gifts given by the wise men to the Christ Child. More than any other characters in the Christmas story, the three wise men have been the subject of much good humor. Perhaps you recall the story of the little boy who was setting up a manger scene in the corner of his schoolroom. Puzzled for a moment, he called out to his teacher, " ...
Sermon
Chris Ewing
(Note: At the time of reading this passage to the congregation, explain that a single talent was worth more than fifteen years' wages of a laborer [per NRSV footnote to Matthew 25:14] — in other words, easily a cool quarter of a million dollars in today's terms!) "I was afraid," quavered the third servant, "because I knew that you were a ruthless businessman, expecting profit even when it is impossible. I was so afraid of losing your money that I put it in a box and buried it. Here is your money, exactly ...
Drama
Edward Long
Production Notes Simple props are used. A flashlight may suffice for illuminating the scenes as the Rag Dolls appear. The Rag Dolls' costumes may be made by tacking small squares of cloth over blue jeans, etc. Blush or rouge may be used on cheeks to give the appearance of a simple, rag doll. Cast of Characters NARRATOR MR. McKENZIE: A shopkeeper in his late 60s. Beginning to be a little stoop-shouldered. Wears glasses. MRS. McKENZIE: Helps in the shop and makes the dolls. GERALD: Young man about sixteen. ...
24. Mother's Day
Proverbs 1:1-7
Sermon
Eric Ritz
I think everyone knows today--that this Sunday is the day we celebrate and honor motherhood. It is the day we descend on Mom to show her our love. It is always inspiring as we leaf through the pages of history to see the great influence that mothers have had on their sons and daughters. Our own founder and spiritual mentor, John Wesley, was deeply influenced by the godly character of his mother, Suzanna. There is much debate and controversy today among Christian leaders and pastors over the Biblical role ...
Eulogy
John M. Braaten
Except We Become Like Children Preached at the funeral of a twelve-year-old boy who died of a congenital heart defect. With the knowledge of death stalking him, he endured many open heart surgeries but at each turn his faith was a powerful witness to all around him. As his mother said, "Spiritually he was eighty years old." We have gathered as members of the Body of Christ, and as a community of friends, to share the heartache, the faith, and the hope of the S_ family. The pain of grief is always heavy; so ...
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