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 3376 to 3400 of 4997 results
Sermon
... Second Coming, and throughout the book Will struggles to "nail down" God. He finds it impossible to live with a God who is a mystery, a God who may speak or remain silent, a God who may appear obvious on one occasion and completely hidden on another. This kind of God, who is beyond his control and slightly out of his reach, is not acceptable to him. This God is too unpredictable. Will Barrett decides to put God to the test. He plans to force a showdown by going to a cave and giving God one last opportunity ...
3377. Parable of Cutting Tile
1 Corinthians 15:35-58
Illustration
... in life. The drinking habits of Gideon's army determined which ones were chosen for battle. Our habits of regular worship, of daily cleanliness and friendly enthusiams, of genuine kindness may provide many seemingly unimportant experiences, but they lead along the pathway to true greatness. The development of the human soul in sincere faith and loving kindness is important all through life and the Heavenly Father knows our times of sorrow and our times of joy and rejoices in the growth of each human soul.
Sermon
... expense of the poor, the unfortunate, the oppressed, and the dispossessed, the lonely and the exiled. What has contributed in part to the kind of public debauch at the expense of the poor in Amos’ day and in ours is that relation to God is often felt ... be a passion. We are to be burned up with the desire and will that good will reign. We are to be consumed by the same kind of passion that consumed our Lord. The purpose of the text and of this sermon is not the development of a new program in niceness. It ...
Sermon
... of gold and silver is used to persuade the doubters of the fullness of his love and presence. "All of the gold and silver from the ends of the earth are mine and I’m giving them to you. And you shall have prosperity. You shall have prosperity of a kind you have not known." "To be with you ..." What good news to hear in these days of loneliness and exile and alienation. The One who made and kept the Egyptian release pledge to Haggai, continues to make it to us and to keep it. Emmanuel, "God with us," not ...
Sermon
Kendall McCabe
... dignity of individuals, regardless of race, sex, age, or class, is an ideal and not a reality. It's enough to make one question the wisdom of getting baptized. It certainly doesn't sound as though this kind of baptism can only be described as "the feeling of being right with God." Transfiguration seems pretty good, of course, a kind of spiritual Rinso White experience. But transfiguration is just a rest stop on the way to the cross. It reminds us of what our baptism is calling us to do and be for God in the ...
Sermon
Kendall K. McCabe
... That word ought to have a slightly familiar ring to people who eat in Italian restaurants. It is the same word as antipasto. It is the first course of the meal, if you will. In other words, we know the banquet has already begun. It may be a kind of progressive dinner, such as the youth fellowship delights in holding, but the dinner has begun. Eternal life has started now! In Holy Communion the One who is the Resurrection and the Life assures us we are participating in it. Do not be deceived by those who try ...
Sermon
... in the Gospels. The purpose of Jesus' three-year ministry was proclamation of the coming divine kingdom, a "living water" kind of gift. Yet, it was the practical gift of his physical miracles - multiplying bread and fish for the hungry, healing ... inspired by forgiveness or joy or hope, is not better able to use the resources God has given him? Often the best way to find one kind of help is to look for the other. God best helps those people with a problem of the spirit, such as depression or loneliness, by ...
Sermon
... the time we can't even remember of what we're being judged! We've just passed through the time of year when we assess ourselves. Work evaluations, 1040 forms, the mimeoed Christmas letter telling what we've done the past twelve months - there's a kind of sameness to the statements we make on each. What promotion and/or raise in salary did we get; which great projects did we tackle; where did we vacation; any gain or loss in number of dependents; any major purchases? Such are the categories by which society ...
Sermon
... the meals. They roll up their sleeves, grab some aprons, and jump in, never realizing they have become the world's first church council. But St. Paul realized it. About twenty years later he writes of their work and says: "There are different kinds of service, but the same Lord. . . different kinds of working, but the same God who works in all. . . The Body is a unit, though it is made up of many parts. . . (and) you are the body of Christ and each one of you a part of it. . . apostles, teachers, healers ...
Sermon
... I can do for you." There’s no medicine, no treatment, no hope. You and I would try another doctor. But what if the answer was the same from that one and yet another? Some of you can empathize with the person or the family that receives that kind of news. A few of you have been there yourselves, and have experienced it first hand. One man who was diagnosed as having a terminal illness, and was fortunate enough to recover, later said, "When you hear it, your heart drops through the floor. You think it can ...
Sermon
... an intriguing experience. He was impressed with the atmosphere, the choir and the sound of the organ. His uncle stepped into the pulpit and began to preach. The boy listened intently. The pastor told a strange story, of a man who was the holiest, most kind and wonderful man who ever lived. Sick people sought him out and were made well. People with great sadness were made happy again. Some whose lives had been all wrong were forgiven and taught how to forgive others. People afraid of dying were promised they ...
3387. Parable of the Lapel Pin
Matthew 10:1-42
Illustration
... has a locket and I don't have anything." "Well, those things just say that they belong to something. You'll have one some day." "But I want a lapel pin. Any thing now. I want a lapel pin. Any kind of a pin." "You have to do something to earn the scout pin or the Sunday School pin or most any kind of pin. The pin stands for what you belong to or what you believe in," counseled the mother. Billy was expressing a basic need of wanting to belong, of being identified with something of which he might be proud ...
3388. Parable of Granting Your Wishes
Proverbs 18:1-24
Illustration
... then your one-hundred percent rating this week might turn to failure next week, But, Janet, finding true friendship is the world's need for all people and you will best have your wish by being a true friend to everyone. The world's greatest treasure is still friendship. The kind of friendship that expresses love in word and in action and makes for joyous companionship and kindly understanding. If you would be a part of the world's greatest treasure, be a real friend to someone today."
Sermon
Dean Lueking
... great difference between his question and ours. When we ask why, we address the question to life or fate or the universe, almost as though we believed life were some kind of calculating machine that should invariably ring up happiness for the good and misery for the bad. In our thinking and believing, so often we make God a kind of impersonal third party, somewhere outside of our living. Thus we ask, "Why did God forsake me?" But Jesus, when drinking the bitterest dregs of his passion, did not question ...
Sermon
... imagine; nothing would I rather have done than follow the response that I made to his call. Many of you understand that. Some of you believe you are where you are, doing what you are doing, being what you are; because, at some point in your life, you felt some kind of inner claim upon your life to be, to do, or to go. Whether at the time you identified that as a call from God or not, if you are fulfilled, happy, and finding your experience of life meaningful; it was a call from God as he confirms our lives ...
Sermon
... continued their journey toward the promised land. They found their answer. Jesus gave a new expression to this idea when he encountered the Samaritan woman at Jacob’s well. He explained to her that there are two kinds of water. There is the water that quenches our physical thirst, but there is also another kind of water. Referring to the water from the well, he said to her, "Whoever drinks of this water will thirst again, but whoever drinks of the water I shall give him will never thirst; it will become ...
Sermon
... "the neck bone connected to the head bone and we hear the Word of the Lord." God said he could do it and he did, so we sing the Word of the Lord. Some folks say the song is too jazzy but I question whether any other kind of music could adequately express the kind of movement in this story about dry, dead bones coming to life again, moving and dancing by the power of God. It is something we need to feel, to see, and to hear. Ezekiel was a prophet of the Lord with more imagination than most. He was ...
Sermon
... is not for God; God has not sinned. Repentance is for us. It satisfies God because God intends that we return to him that we might live and know salvation and peace. In the Old Testament repentance is largely associated with the whole nation of Israel. It is a kind of national response to a prophetic demand to repent and to return to the Lord lest they die. The fear was that they might no longer exist as a peopie on the earth. In the New Testament the emphasis is on the individual. Repentance is a personal ...
Sermon
... to destroy the movement, fell. We live in a time when it is difficult to be Christian. There are not so many people who are actively and aggressively trying to destroy us as a way of getting rid of the Christian movement. There is, however, a kind of passive indifference which asks, "What difference does it make? Why bother?" Is it possible then that this understanding of what it means to be the people of God, claiming it for ourselves and being willing to be that for others, has something to commend itself ...
Sermon
... expected to see in Athens. What would a modern-day Paul see, which could help him understand what our needs are? What kind of message ought he to bring which would speak to our needs? What would he see that would help him understand the ... of sleet, snow or rain, to get to a certain social event? There they might be seen, see the right people and make the right kind of connections, but will use almost any excuse for not being in worship. Let your own perceptions be your response. The evangelist might say, as ...
3396. Parable at the Candy Store
Proverbs 16:16
Illustration
Staff
Three children were taken into the candy store by their father who said, "Now each of you can have a candy bar -- whatever kind you'd like." The first child said, "I'll take that giant-sized bar." The youngest said, "I'd like several kinds, but I can't have chocolate. I am allergic to it, so what can I have?" Then she made her choice shortly. The third child was dismayed at the great number of choices. She wavered back and forth and finally started to cry. "I can't make up my mind," ...
Children's Sermon
... different, and it always gets a head start on the new year. This is the second Sunday in Advent, the first season of every Church year. This is a season of waiting and watching. Do you know what we are waiting for at this time of the year? [See what kind of answers you get.] Those who said Christmas or Christ's birthday are pretty close. We are waiting for Jesus to return to earth. Won't that be some great day when Jesus returns to earth? I wonder what it will be like? Jesus said that there would be all ...
Children's Sermon
... to know the wonderful thing about being a follower of Jesus? You can make a mistake and he doesn't make you leave his band of followers. No, not Jesus! He forgives your mistakes and invites you to keep right on trying to play the game right. That's the kind of a game that I like, because that's the kind of a follower I am. I make mistakes, but Jesus always forgives them and forgets them.
Children's Sermon
... the box. [By now you have taken the paper off so all can see it is a shoe box.] New shoes! I hope they are the kind I want with that big brass buckle. [Open the box very slowly.] Oh, no! There isn't anything in the box! It's empty! I wonder ... what happened to the shoes? An empty shoe box. What a gift! [With disappointment.] Who ever would want an empty box of any kind? Now, wait a minute. That's no way to think. I should be glad. When the shoes were in the box they were nothing. They were almost ...
3400. God's Warning
Luke 16:19-31
Children's Sermon
... health." This week we celebrate Memorial Day. While Memorial Day is a holiday for people like you and me, it is also kind of a warning. Memorial Day tells us about all of the men who died as soldiers fighting for their country. It is ... are warned not to, but there are other even more important warnings which many people don't heed. For instance, God tells us how to live, to be kind and share what we have with others. God says don't be angry or hate each other. Don't steal or lie or kill because if you do ...
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