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 3726 to 3750 of 5000 results
3726. The Magna Carta of the Human Soul
Romans 12:9-21
Illustration
Leonard Sweet
In 1215 the English barons, fed up with the wimpy, weak‑willed rule of King John, forced their way into London. They brought with them a new document for the king to sign. Wisely, the King signed and sealed it at Runnymede, a water-meadow about twenty miles southwest of London. We know this document today as the "Magna Carta," the "Great Charter," or literally, the "Great Paper." This ground‑breaking document forced the King to acknowledge limitations on his ruling rights, forced him to accept the ...
3727. A Day to Day Activity
Matthew 16: 21-28
Illustration
Keith Miller puts it this way: It has never ceased to amaze me that we Christians have developed a kind of selective vision which allows us to be deeply and sincerely involved in worship and church activities and yet almost totally pagan in the day in, day out guts of our business lives and never realize it. Jesus did not say "Take up your cross and follow me to church on Sunday morning, then you can do whatever you like the rest of the week." Cross-bearing is a day-to-day activity for those who would ...
3728. Disharmony in Worship
Matthew 18:15-20
Illustration
King Duncan
There was a church where the pastor and the minister of music were not getting along. As time went by, this began to spill over into the worship service. The first week the pastor preached on commitment and how we all should dedicate ourselves to the service of God. The music director led the song, "I Shall Not Be Moved." The second week the pastor preached on tithing and how we all should gladly give to the work of the Lord. The director led the song, "Jesus Paid it All." The third week the pastor ...
3729. True Freedom in Forgiveness
Matthew 18:21-35
Illustration
King Duncan
When Bill Clinton met Nelson Mandela for the first time, he had a question on his mind: "When you were released from prison, Mr. Mandela," the former President said, "I woke my daughter at three o'clock in the morning. I wanted her to see this historic event." Then President Clinton zeroed in on his question: "As you marched from the cellblock across the yard to the gate of the prison, the camera focused in on your face. I have never seen such anger, and even hatred, in any man as was expressed on your ...
3730. Loving Confrontation
Matthew 18: 15-20
Illustration
Johnny Dean
Several years ago, a good friend and colleague in ministry came to visit me at the church I was serving in Memphis. After we exchanged greetings, he put his arm around my shoulders and said, "Johnny, you know I love you. That's why I have to tell you this." And he proceeded to gently, lovingly scold me for the way I had been handling a particular situation in the church. And he was absolutely right. I knew that the way I had been dealing with that situation was not the right way to handle it. My motivation ...
3731. Work
Matthew 18:15-20
Illustration
David E. Leininger
God planned for us to work: work was a part of God's good creation. Martin Luther said, "God gives every bird its food, but he does not throw it into the nest." Kennan Wilson, the founder of the Holiday Inn chain said, "I believe to be successful, that you have to work at least half a day - it doesn't make any difference which half, the first twelve hours or the last twelve hours!" As someone has wisely noted, the only place success comes before work is the dictionary.
3732. Apologies
Matthew 18:15-20
Illustration
King Duncan
In the comic strip, Andy Capp, the principal character is a chronically unemployed cockney ne'er-do-well who spends most of his days playing soccer and most of his nights at the corner pub, both of which drive his long-suffering wife, Flo, up the wall. In one episode, Andy is pacing the floor while Flo stands with her arms crossed. Finally, she breaks the silence: "Three whole days without speaking. This is ridiculous." In the next frame she says to Andy, "I'm sorry I acted the way I did . . . you were ...
3733. Holding a Grudge
Matthew 18:21-35
Illustration
King Duncan
Years ago, a man in Hardeeville, South Carolina went down to the Jasper County Courthouse. There he filed a deed restriction. The restriction barred the sale of any part of his 1,688 acre plantation to anyone north of the Mason-Dixon Line and anyone named Sherman. It seems that more than a century before, General William T. Sherman's troops burned every building on this man's property and Mr. Ingram vowed never to let his plantation fall into Yankee hands again. Now there's a man who knows how to hold a ...
3734. An 800 Year Grudge
Matthew 18:21-35
Illustration
King Duncan
Many years ago, Colonel Jeff O'Leary served as part of the UN peacekeeping forces in the Sinai Peninsula region. While there, he encountered a number of Bedouin people, a nomadic people who travel this desert region. One afternoon, Colonel O'Leary had tea with a group of Bedouin men. Colonel O'Leary couldn't help but notice that his host kept staring at a man who was tending his camels. The host pointed out the man and hissed at Colonel O'Leary, "Do you see that man? He is a camel thief." Colonel O'Leary ...
3735. Healing in Your Heart
Matthew 18:21-35
Illustration
King Duncan
Penelope J. Stokes tells about her reaction to a scene in the motion picture, Waiting to Exhale. A woman, victimized by her husband's infidelity, gathers up his clothes, his shoes, his personal belongings, and stuffs them into his expensive Mercedes. When the closets and drawers are empty, she returns to the car, sets a torch to the contents, and stands there with tears streaming down her cheeks as the evidence of her marriage goes up in flames. "Most people in the audience cheered," says Penelope Stokes ...
3736. Three Strikes?
Matthew 18: 15-20
Illustration
Johnny Dean
What do you do when the Word of God you encounter at church on Sunday morning is not comforting but confusing and even down right confrontational? The lectionary text from the Gospel of Matthew certainly fits in that category, doesn't it? Well, at first glance it may not be all that confusing. Forgiveness is good, but there are limits. If someone sins against you, confront that person face to face, one on one, and try to clear the air. If reconciliation doesn't result from the one on one encounter, ...
3737. Saved by Forgiveness
Matthew 18:21-35
Illustration
David Augsburger
Since nothing we intend is ever faultless, and nothing we attempt ever without error, and nothing we achieve without some measure of finitude and fallibility we call humanness, we are saved by forgiveness.
3738. Forgiveness Is Not Innate
Matthew 18:21-35
Illustration
Will Willimon
William Willimon writes: "The human animal is not supposed to be good at forgiveness. Forgiveness is not some innate, natural human emotion. Vengeance, retribution, violence, these are natural human qualities. It is natural for the human animal to defend itself, to snarl and crouch into a defensive position when attacked, to howl when wronged, to bite back when bitten. Forgiveness is not natural. It is not a universal human virtue."
3739. What God Can Do with Forgiveness
Mt 18:15-35
Illustration
King Duncan
By the grace of God we can use forgiveness as a positive, creative force bringing light into a darkened world. Nobody does that kind of thing better, of course, than God. Who could imagine 2,000 years ago that the symbol of the Christian church would be a hangman's noose, an electric chair, a guillotine? Those analogies may be necessary for us to keep from being too sentimental about "the old, rugged cross." A cross is a terrible thing. It was indeed a symbol of suffering and shame. Humanity nailed God's ...
3740. Forgiven: Too Poor to Pay
Matthew 18:21-35
Illustration
When the books of a certain Scottish doctor were examined after his death, it was found that a number of accounts were crossed through with a note: "Forgiven too poor to pay." But the physician's wife later decided that these accounts must be paid in full and she proceeded to sue for money. When the case came to court the judge asked but one question. Is this your husband's handwriting? When she replied that it was he responded: "There is no court in the land that can obtain a debt once the word forgiven ...
3741. Extending Mercy
Matthew 18:21-35
Illustration
Brett Blair
In Victor Hugo's novel Les Miserables, Jean Valjean served a 19 year sentence for stealing a loaf of bread in order to feed his sister's family. Finally, he is set free. A Bishop is the only one who will befriend the embittered man. Valjean rewards him by stealing some of his silver. He is caught red-handed by the police. The Bishop, you will recall, is called to the police station to prefer charges. Instead of doing that, he brings Valjean his silver candlestick holders in an effort to fool the police ...
3742. Forgiveness Is a Chance for Rebirth
Matthew 18:21-35
Illustration
Mark Trotter
At the Coventry Cathedral in England there is probably the most dramatic symbol of forgiveness. The old cathedral, you remember, was destroyed in the blitzkrieg, in the constant bombings in England. Only a shell of the old cathedral was left. They left it, and built the new cathedral right next to it, so that the entrance into the new is through the ruins of the old. You enter new life through forgiving the past. So in the courtyard of Coventry Cathedral, where the altar was in the old church, there is a ...
3743. Be Yourself
Matthew 20:1-16
Illustration
King Duncan
A sparrow complained to Mother Nature, "You gave beautiful colors to the peacock and a lovely song to the nightingale, but I am plain and unnoticed. Why was I made to suffer?" "You were not made to suffer," stated Mother Nature. "You suffer because you make the same foolish mistake as human beings. You compare yourself with others. Be yourself, for in that there is no comparison and no pain."
3744. Grace Chooses Love
Matthew 18:21-35
Illustration
Billy D. Strayhorn
Storyteller Bill Harley tells a simple story about a children's T-ball game he witnessed a few years ago. On one of the T-ball teams was a young girl named Tracy. Tracy ran with a limp. She couldn't hit the ball to save her life. But everyone cheered for her anyway. Finally, in her team's last game, Tracy did the unthinkable. She hit the ball. Tracy's coach began hollering for her to run the bases. She landed on first base, only to be told to keep on running. She rounded second base, and the fans stood to ...
3745. Twice Blessed
Matthew 18:21-35
Illustration
Billy D. Strayhorn
Though centuries old, Portia's words to Shylock still speak with the eloquence of God, "The quality of mercy is not strained, it droppeth as the gentle rain from heaven upon the place beneath. It is twice blessed: it blesseth him that gives, and him that takes." Being "Twice Blessed" means not only embracing God's forgiveness, but it means becoming a forgiving child of God, too.
3746. Sacred Pleasures
Romans 14:1-12
Illustration
Leonard Sweet
There is an old Hasidic tradition. You may have heard of it before. A large drop of honey is placed on the first page of the Torah the first time a Jewish child opens the Bible to read and study it. The child is instructed to lick the honey from the page, forever imprinting the young scholar with the memory-paste of pleasure, the conviction that the study of God's "Word" is sweet. It is what we are calling a "sacred pleasure."
3747. It Isn't Fair! - Sermon Starter
Matthew 20:1-16
Illustration
Brett Blair
One day a rich young ruler came enthusiastically running up to Jesus and asked: "What must I do to be saved?" Jesus answered: Keep the law. "This I have done from my youth up," came the reply. Yet one thing do you lack said Jesus. Go and sell all that you have and give it to the poor. Then come follow me. We are told that the young man walked away sorrowfully, for he had great wealth. Concluded the Master: It will be hard for a rich man to enter the Kingdom of God. The disciples had been watching the ...
3748. Monkey Business
Matthew 20:1-16
Illustration
Brett Blair
It seems that even monkeys, if they could read, would get indignant about this parable. In the Australian newspaper "The Melbourne Age," there was an intriguing report from the University of Atlanta called: "Monkeys want to see justice done." At the University of Atlanta, researchers have been testing capuchin monkeys. They gave them the task of picking up a small granite stone and bringing it to the researcher within one minute. If they were successful, they were rewarded with the wage of a slice of ...
3749. Fairness
Matthew 20:1-16
Illustration
This parable goes against the business mentality that dominates our lives. We have always been taught: You get out of something directly in proportion to that which you put in it. Yet, that is not what happened in Jesus' story. In our way of thinking, the laborers who came to the field late got something for nothing. This parable challenges us not to look upon the Kingdom of God, or the church, as a business community. Yet, that is difficult for us to do, because that is our point of reference. What do you ...
3750. Jesus Was Just Wrong
Matthew 20:1-16
Illustration
Johnny Dean
One Sunday several years ago when I preached on this text, a church member came to me after the service and said, "You know, preacher, there are parts of the Bible that are difficult to abide, and other parts that aren't. The story you preached on today is one that I find totally offensive! It's just not fair to pay everyone the same wage when some have worked hard and some have hardly worked. Jesus was just wrong about that. I think you should have preached on something less offensive." The following ...
Showing results