Synonyms: replica, copy, representation, mock-up, dummy, imitation, double, duplicate, lookalike, reproduction, prototype, stereotype, archetype, type, version, style, ideal, paragon, perfect example, specimen, perfect specimen, fashion model, supermodel, mannequin, sitter, poser, subject, artist's model, photographic model, design, mark, configuration, variety, kind, sort, original, original design, exclusive, toy, miniature, facsimile, prototypical, prototypal, archetypal, illustrative, perfect, exemplary, classic, flawless, faultless, consummate, impeccable
Antonyms: deficient, imperfect
Showing 1 to 25 of 655 results
Teach the Text
Grant R. Osborne
Big Idea: Every detail—mocking, hitting, scourging, death—fulfills messianic prophecy (the righteous martyr of Pss. 22 and 69; the Suffering Servant of Isa. 52–53). Jesus completes God’s plan of salvation via his vicarious sacrifice on the cross. Understanding the Text In fulfillment of Old Testament prophecy regarding the vicarious sacrifice of the Servant of Yahweh (Isa. 52–53; cf. Pss. 22; 69), Jesus has given himself up to be crucified. His mockery and his death here are an essential part of his ...
Children's Sermon
Wesley T. Runk
Object: Some reeds Jesus has been found guilty by Pilate because of the crowd of hate. If was an awful scene and one that a lot of us will want to forget. It will be a little hard to get over the words that we shouted, "Crucify Him, Crucify Him." But we must begin today to think like another crowd. I want you to be soldiers today and to act like soldiers. Soldiers are different kinds of people at different times. They are supposed to do what they are told and to follow the orders that are given to them. ...
Sermon
Thomas Long
Searching the aisles of the hardware store the other day for a tube of "Super Glue," I couldn't find it, so I went up to the customer service desk to ask for help from the young man standing at the cash register. He was on the telephone and, when he saw me coming his direction, he turned his back toward me. I could tell he was making a personal call, but I just waited. The call went on and on ... "So did you like the movie ... really? ... Oh you're kidding! ... What did Susan say? ..." Finally I cleared my ...
Sermon
King Duncan
It's not easy to get ready for Christmas. For one thing there is so much to do. For many of us this is the busiest time of the year. It is also the most nerve-wracking, particularly if you are a person who does not enjoy shopping. I read a statistic with which many men in our congregation will relate. The Mall of America published a poll recently that states that 31 percent of men believe they have a better chance of winning the Heisman trophy than finding the right holiday gifts for their wives. Only 18 ...
Sermon
Barbara Brokhoff
Then Paul stood in the midst of the Areopagus and said, "Men of Athens, I perceive that in all things you are very religious; for as I was passing through and considering the objects of your worship, I even found an altar with this inscription: TO THE UNKNOWN GOD. Therefore the One whom you worship without knowing, Him I proclaim to you: God who made the world and everything in it, since He is Lord of heaven and earth, does not dwell in temples made with hands. Nor is He worshiped with men’s hands, as ...
6. Faces at a Funeral
John 18:1-19:42
Sermon
Wayne Brouwer
During the nineteenth century, all Oxford graduates were required to translate a portion of the Greek New Testament aloud. Oscar Wilde was assigned this passage from the passion story of Jesus. His translation was fluent and accurate. Satisfied with his skill, the examiners told him he could stop. But he ignored them and continued to translate. Several times more they tried to call a halt to his reading. Finally he looked up and said, “Oh, do let me go on! I want to see how it ends!” We need to read this ...
Teach the Text
Daniel J. Estes
Big Idea: Eliphaz insists that Job is a sinner who deserves God’s punishment. Understanding the Text Job 15 contains Eliphaz’s second speech to Job, and it is evident that civil discussion between them has broken down considerably. In fact, in the second cycle (Job 15–21) the dialogue between Job and his friends becomes more strained, abusive, and insulting as the friends focus almost completely on the divine punishment due to wicked people like Job. In chapter 15, Eliphaz is not as courteous as when he ...
Teach the Text
Daniel J. Estes
Big Idea: When Job considers God’s greatness, he realizes how little he himself knows. Understanding the Text When Bildad says in Job 25:6 that humans are mere maggots and worms before the transcendent God, Job apparently interrupts him. Although Job agrees with much of Bildad’s lofty view of God, he draws different implications from their shared theology. Bildad claims that God’s greatness means nothing can thwart his justice, so life in God’s world is thoroughly predictable, but Job declares that God’s ...
Understanding Series
Gerald H. Wilson
Sarcastic Introduction Job’s response to Bildad’s third speech is extended (six chapters long)—even for the usually loquacious Job! Many commentators divide up the chapters attributed to Job to supply an extension to Bildad’s brief speech, as well as to wholly reconstruct a missing third speech for Zophar. Such reconstruction, however, can only proceed on a presumptive assumption of what each speaker would have said—and is thus controlled ultimately by the reconstructor’s theory rather than challenged and ...
10. Pilate and the Condemnation of Jesus
John 18:28-40, John 19:1-16
Understanding Series
J. Ramsey Michaels
The sentencing of Jesus to death takes place within the framework of a series of exchanges between the Roman governor Pilate and the Jewish religious authorities. The time is from early morning (18:28) to noon (19:14) of the day after Jesus’ arrest. The structure of the narrative is determined by the fact that the Jewish authorities, for reasons of ritual purity, would not go inside the palace that served as Pilate’s headquarters (v. 28). Contact with the dwelling of a Gentile—even a temporary dwelling, ...
11. Jesus Sentenced to be Crucified
John 19:1-16, John 18:28-40
Understanding Series
J. Ramsey Michaels
The sentencing of Jesus to death takes place within the framework of a series of exchanges between the Roman governor Pilate and the Jewish religious authorities. The time is from early morning (18:28) to noon (19:14) of the day after Jesus’ arrest. The structure of the narrative is determined by the fact that the Jewish authorities, for reasons of ritual purity, would not go inside the palace that served as Pilate’s headquarters (v. 28). Contact with the dwelling of a Gentile—even a temporary dwelling, ...
Sermon
Billy D. Strayhorn
A. It was weird. It was really weird. The sky that afternoon had taken on a ghastly, ghostly, almost haunted hue. Ever since the midday bells had rung it had been like the edge of night. The darkness of the day seemed to reflect the way the apostle felt. It seemed to reflect the darkness of his soul and the darkness of the event taking place. John; one of the chosen twelve; one of the inner circle of leadership; the one who always seemed closest to Jesus, stood shrouded in his own sorrow. The lump in his ...
Sermon
Billy D. Strayhorn
It was weird. It was really weird. The sky that afternoon had taken on a ghastly, ghostly, almost haunted hue. Ever since the mid-day bells had rung it had been like the edge of night. The darkness of the day seemed to reflect the way the apostle felt. It seemed to reflect the darkness of his soul and the darkness of the event taking place. John; one of the chosen twelve; one of the inner circle of leadership; the one who always seemed closest to Jesus, stood shrouded in his own sorrow. The lump in his ...
Sermon Aid
John R. Brokhoff
COMMENTARY This pericope constitutes the third of the four servant songs in Isaiah. Yehweh's servant hears his voice and is therefore fortified with determination to suffer mental agony in terms of ridicule, false accusations, humiliation and shame. He suffers confidently because he believes Yahweh will vindicate, help and pronounce him innocent. Epistle: Philippians 2:5-11 Paul is pleading for unity in the Philippian congregation. He uses Jesus as an example of humility. In this pericope, Paul shows the ...
Sermon
James Merritt
I heard a story one time about a young doctor just getting started in his first practice out in the country. This was back in the days when doctors made house calls. Late one night he got a call from a farmer who said, "Doctor, come quickly, my wife is seriously ill." Well, grabbing his little black bag he hurried out to the farm. The farmer met him on the steps, rushed him into the house, and upstairs into the bedroom where his wife lay sick. The doctor took a look at her, told the farmer to step outside ...
One Volume
Tremper Longman III
Man of Affliction: Chapter 3 constitutes a new and complete poem. Like the two chapters that precede it, it is marked by a complete acrostic. Unlike the previous chapters where each verse started with a successive letter of the alphabet, in chapter 3 each letter repeats at the start of three verses before going on to the next letter. Thus, there are sixty-six verses, not twenty-two verses. However, since the verses are shorter in chapter 3, the overall length of the chapters is approximately the same. The ...
Sermon
Leonard Sweet
A group of men celebrated on and on in a sports bar. "Here's to 94," one of them toasted. "Hip-94-Hooray," another of them cheered. "Ninety-four, Ninety-four," "Ninety-four," they chanted in unison. The waitress could take the mystery no longer. When one of them left for the men's room, she intercepted him and asked, "Why the big deal about 94?" "It only took us 94 days to finish this puzzle we've been working on." "What's so special about that?" He replied, "Hey, the box reads 5-7 years." Puzzles are not ...
Sermon
James Merritt
There's is an old fable about an Emperor who many years ago gathered together the wisest people in his kingdom and said, "I want you to assemble all of the great knowledge of our civilizations so that it will be available for future generations." They worked many years before returning with ten bound volumes. The Emperor glanced at the stack of books frowned and said, "Too long." The sages scurried back to work and did not return until they had edited the ten volumes down to one. However, when they handed ...
19. Focus on the Finish
Galatians 6:7-10
Sermon
James Merritt
You will be far down the road to success in life if you will look at life as a race. The Apostle Paul compared his life to a race. As he came to the end of his journey on earth, he said, "I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith." (2 Tim. 4:7) Every morning when you get up you have several choices concerning your race. First of all, you can choose not to run. But if you don't run you can't win. Secondly, you can choose to run, but not run your best. If you don't run ...
Understanding Series
Gerald H. Wilson
How Can a Mortal Be Righteous before God?: Job’s response to Bildad’s speech moves the discussion in a new direction. Up to this point in the book Job has largely been addressing the extremity of his suffering and raising the agonizing question as to how a righteous person can be allowed to suffer so horrendously. Now, however, in response to Bildad’s suggestion that the resolution of Job’s suffering lies in his willingness to “look to God and plead with the Almighty” (8:5), Job begins to consider the ...
Sermon
Mary Austin
If you were out at work this morning, or running errands, you know that most of the world is having a typical day today. People are going to the bank, to exercise, to shop for groceries. People are going to work and coming home. They are getting coffee, standing in line for a bagel, and chopping food for dinner. They’re typing away, writing emails, developing code, designing buildings. Other people are giving or receiving medical tests, taking chemo and radiation, sitting through the hours of dialysis. All ...
Sermon
Leonard Sweet
Theme: On this Christ the King Sunday, we remember how Jesus, “the King of the Jews,” wants to be Jesus, “the King of hearts” in each of our lives. The Word-Made-Flesh . .. Exegesis of Luke 23:33-43 Today is “Christ the King Sunday.” The Sunday before Advent begins its four week count-down to the crib of the infant Jesus. In the church’s liturgical calendar this is the Sunday we celebrate Christ’s divine kingship, his ruling authority over all of creation. Then we try not to get whiplash as we turn the ...
Sermon
King Duncan
WWJD remember when those letters were the rage? There for a while, they were everywhere: bracelets, key rings, and just about anything that can be marked with the logo, WWJD: “What Would Jesus Do?” Later, when the WWJD bracelet rage really started to catch on, people came up with some alternative bracelets: WWPMD for quarterbacks: “What Would Peyton Manning do?” Or WWMSD for homemakers, What would Martha Stewart do? Or DYWFWT for Liberal Arts graduates: “Do You Want Fries with That?” For teens, there was a ...
24. Suffering
John 19:28-37
Sermon
Burton F. Blair
After this, when Jesus knew that all was now finished, he said (in order to fulfill the scripture), "I am thirsty." A jar of sour wine was standing there. So they put a sponge full of the wine on a branch of hyssop and held it to his mouth. John 19:28-29 Late Thursday evening, after sharing the Passover meal together, Jesus took several of the disciples with him to the Mount of Olives, commonly called "Gethsemane." Jesus said to the disciples with him, "I am deeply grieved, even to death; remain here and ...
25. Scandal
Matthew 16:21-28, Matthew 17:14-23, Matthew 20:17-19, Matthew 26:1-5
Sermon
Lori Wagner
Prop (Animation): large mouse trap with “prop” piece; stone or rock; basket of river rocks People I know are hooked to two tv shows right now. One they admit right away: “Empire.” The other is more a “guilty pleasure” they admit to only when pressed: “Scandal.” Back for its fifth season, “Scandal” is the story of a president’s mistress. A married US President, Fitzgerald Grant, has fallen in love and is having an affair with crisis management professional, Olivia Pope. While her job is usually to “handle” ...
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