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 576 to 600 of 1182 results
Sermon
Mark Trotter
... experience. In the real world, the world that you and I live in, the promises of God will almost always appear ludicrous. Which is why some theologians point out that from a literary point of view, the Bible is really comedy. If you use the classical distinction between tragedy and comedy, the Bible is comedy. Tragedy implies inevitability. It is about fate moving toward a predictable end. That is what tragedy is about. You see a Greek or Shakespearian tragedy, you know by the first act what's going to ...
Sermon
Mark Trotter
... to your words, shake the dust off your feet and move on." The Tony Awards were on television this last week. Brian Dennehy won the best actor for his re-creation of the role of Willy Loman in Death of a Salesman, one of the great American classics. All this year, as they anticipated the opening of that play on Broadway, newspapers, magazines, and commentators have been talking about Death of a Salesman, by Arthur Miller. It is an amazing phenomenon. It's on Broadway again, sold out. You can't get tickets to ...
Sermon
Susan R. Andrews
... people, God has not given up on us or the world. And God is about to do a new thing with and for the world that we have desecrated. When those disciples come back to Jesus and ask him John's question, Jesus responds with classic prophetic energizing. Is he, Jesus, the Messiah, or should John - should we - look for another? Quoting Isaiah, Jesus presents his positive messianic vision, his description of the new social order that God is bringing about: The blind receive their sight, the lame walk, the lepers ...
Sermon
Richard Gribble
... the lives we lead, are part of God's master plan that necessitates, at times, that we negotiate hurdles that are trials of faith. The familiar story of Thomas' encounter with the resurrected Lord is, like the events in the life of Jean Marie Barette, a classic tale of a significant trial of faith. Thomas is not present when Jesus appears, breathing the Holy Spirit upon the apostles and commissioning them to go forward to complete his work in this world. Thomas seems to be a realist; if he doesn't see, he ...
Sermon
Richard Gribble
... the lives we lead, are part of God's master plan that necessitates, at times, that we negotiate hurdles that are trials of faith. The familiar story of Thomas' encounter with the resurrected Lord is, like the events in the life of Jean Marie Barette, a classic tale of a significant trial of faith. Thomas is not present when Jesus appears, breathing the Holy Spirit upon the apostles and commissioning them to go forward to complete his work in this world. Thomas seems to be a realist; if he doesn't see, he ...
Sermon
Richard Gribble
Classical music provides some significant examples of great musical compositions that were never finished by their creators. A perennial favorite with many, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, never completed his magnificent Requiem Mass. Franz Schubert, who like Mozart, lived only a short life but produced over 600 works of music, wrote only two ...
Sermon
Stephen M. Crotts
... Time magazine, and his sayings have been translated into more than 200 languages. Consider: Socrates taught for forty years, Plato for fifty, and Aristotle, forty. Jesus Christ only taught for three years. Yet which has influenced the world more? One hundred thirty years of classical thought or three years of Christ's? In the Library of Congress there are 1,172 reference books on William Shakespeare, 1,752 on George Washington, 2,319 on Abe Lincoln, and 5,152 on Jesus Christ. Perhaps H. G. Wells best summed ...
583. How to Love God
Matthew 22:34-46
Sermon
Stephen M. Crotts
... but death.) Yet Jesus said, "Love God with all your heart." And we would be unfaithful not to give God an expression of love from our heart. Whether it's tears, joyous music, hand clapping, or at times a loud shout, "Praise the Lord!" such pleases our Jesus. The classical composer, Joseph Haydn, was once criticized for the gaiety of his church music. To his critics he replied, "I cannot help it. I give forth what is in me. When I think of the Divine Being, my heart is so full of joy that the notes fly off ...
Sermon
Stephen M. Crotts
... church building a few Sundays ago. Here is what it said: Absolute knowledge I have none, But my aunt's washer woman's sister's son Heard a policeman on his beat Say to a laborer on the street That he had a letter just last week Written in finest classical Greek, From a Chinese coolie in Timbuktu Who said the Negroes in Cuba knew of a man in a Texas town Who got it straight from a circus clown, That a man in the Klondike heard the news From a gang of South American Jews, About somebody in Borneo Who ...
Sermon
King Duncan
... new life needed a new name. Oren Henry graciously agreed, but he made William Porter promise that he would take good care of that name. In 1901, after his release from prison, William Sydney Porter became a well-known writer; his short stories are considered classics of English literature. You may have heard of this reformed writer yourself. His pen name was O. Henry. Zacchaeus had a new name following his encounter with the Master. Now he could be called Christian. I have a feeling he took good care of the ...
586. Still in One Peace
Matthew 11:25-30
Sermon
Leonard Sweet
... stockpile of routines, rat-races, and regulations. But a vacation - whether luxuriously languid or jam-packed and jack-hammered - fills our heads with new dreams, our hands with new activities, and our hearts with renewed relationships. The New Testament offers the classic distinction between these two types of souls in the examples of Martha and Mary. Who could offer such different dimensions of discipleship as the images of the sitting Mary and the stirring Martha. For Martha fulfillment was found in a ...
587. I Like Brussels Sprouts, but...
Matthew 9:9-13, Matthew 9:18-26
Sermon
Leonard Sweet
We're a people in love with what Dr. Seuss called "thneeds." In his classic 1971 cry for environmental and consumer consciousness, Dr. Seuss' The Lorax denounced the clear-cutting, water-fouling, air-smudging practices by the greedy thneed - maker of the "Once-ler." The Once-ler chopped down all the beautiful Truffula trees to knit their brightly colored tufts into strange-looking, sweater-like ...
Sermon
Leonard Sweet
One of the classic images of the Old West is that of the gnarled, grubby gold miner trudging through the creek-beds, canyons, and mountain passes with his trusty, heavy-laden donkey by his side. Miners didn't use horses because they were not sure footed enough to traverse the rough terrain, the narrow, ...
589. Yellow Lights
2 Thessalonians 2:1-12
Sermon
Leonard Sweet
Am I the only one here this morning addicted to classic cartoons? Say Donald Duck? Sylvester the Cat? Alvin the Chipmunk? Remember how one of them, let's say Donald Duck, would sometimes find himself confronting a moral dilemma (steal Pluto's stuff, eat Tweety Bird, drive Daisy crazy)? While considering this dilemma in the cartoon scenario, two figures would appear ...
590. The Seven Deadly Fears
2 Timothy 1:1-2:13
Sermon
Leonard Sweet
... as if every report of break-ins, break-outs, break-downs, blackouts, brings us back to 9/11. So what are we doing with this fear three years later? Okay, I'm old. I actually know who Cat Stevens is. I actually listened to his music before it was classic rock. Still, it was startling to read that the 60's/70's pop-singer Cat Stevens was recently the reason an entire London-to-Dulles air flight was diverted to Bangor, Maine. Once there the 56-year old former rock star, now known as Yusaf Islam because he ...
591. Addiction Free
Psalm 30:1-12
Sermon
Leonard Sweet
... , Blue Genes and Polyester Plants: 365 More Surprising Facts, Breakthroughs, and Discoveries [New York: John Wiley & Slons, 1998], 139). And while 80 percent of smokers want to stop, fewer than 10 percent of smokers quit per year. The three classic signs of chemical addiction are all exhibited by smokers: 1. They can't quit 2. They need larger and larger doses to reap the same amount of pleasure 3. They withdrawal produces clear symptoms--headache, constipation, insomnia, depression, anxiety, inability ...
Sermon
Leonard Sweet
... it is miserably uncomfortable. As a statement it succeeds beautifully. As a chair it fails utterly. Most of medieval furniture follows that same basic guideline. Its function was to provide a statement, not a comfortable seat. Here is a picture of Albrecht Durer's classic etching of St. Jerome in his Study (1514). How comfortable does he look? Ask St. Jerome how comfortable he felt in that chair. He couldn't understand the concept. He wouldn't know how to answer you. The word comfortable did not originally ...
Sermon
Richard Gribble
... child only responded, "Years ago you allowed me to play in your garden. Today I will take you to my garden in paradise." That afternoon when the children came to play in the garden they found the Giant lying dead all covered with white blossoms. Oscar Wilde's classic tale, "The Selfish Giant," shows how Christ can convert the hearts of all, even those who appear to be oriented away from God and the betterment of God's people. As the Church year draws to a close and we look forward to a new season of grace ...
Sermon
Leonard Sweet
... . John would've picked a small sports car, less flashy than a Porsche. A young dreamer in his late teens would prefer a car of another era, which young, idealistic dreamers of that era would have loved. Hence the 1965 Mustang, a classic car, one known to all generations, a vehicle that transcends trends but makes a statement about the timeless yet timely dreams of what is good, true, and just. 5. Philip: Ford Taurus The quintessential business executive type, Philip was common-sensical, practical ...
Sermon
Leonard Sweet
... cited by Mr. Shawcross [William Shawcross, Deliver Us From Evil (NY: Simon & Schuster, 2000)]. The Rwandan population was primarily made up of two tribes. The Hutus, the toilers of the soil; and the Tutsis, the herdsmen (only 15% of Rwanda's population). In a classic Cain and Abel story (which also shows also the destructive power of Hamitic ideology), in 1994 about 100,000 Hutus rose up to slay their Tutsi neighbors - at least one million of them. By the early 1990s Rwanda had become the most Christian ...
596. Poison Control
Romans 7:7-25
Sermon
Leonard Sweet
... not yet the person I want to be, but I'm more that person God wants me to be than I've ever been before." Ending #2: One of the most powerful songs Amy Grant has ever written is found on her new CD, Legacy. Nestled in among all the classic hymns she sang as a child is a new song she recently wrote. It's my favorite song on this CD. It's called "What You Already Own." I want to read you the words first (if you use a screen, put the words up on the screen and keep ...
Sermon
Leonard Sweet
... to this dialog of the dying, you will hear the very same issues, even the very same words, being voiced throughout this postmodern culture. The same hungers and hopes, the same fears and infuriation that pervade our world today are vocalized by this community of the dying. It's the classic postmodern scenario. On one side of Jesus is a thief who gets it. On the other side of Jesus is a thief who doesn't get it. On one side of Jesus, even though he's a few feet away in his dying moments from the Son of God ...
598. The Shadow
Genesis 3:1-24
Sermon
Leonard Sweet
... the essence of the human self or the human soul. Like Jung, theologians admit we cannot deny or unmake this shadow-stain on ourselves or psyches. But we must be cautious about to whom we reveal it. In today's Old Testament text we have the classic tale of darkness exposed to the wrong party. The serpent lives up to his world-class reputation as the shrewdest, most cunning, and craftiest of all God's creatures. His quick insight into man's essential nature and his skillful dialoguing with the woman should ...
Sermon
Leonard Sweet
... do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others." --Nelson Mandela, 1994 inaugural speech, as reprinted in The African American Pulpit. One of the greatest living writers in the world today is Oscar Hijuelos. In his classic Mr. Ives' Christmas (New York: Harper Collins, 1995), Hijuelos writes of one of his characters: "Each day he awaited a slick of light to enter the darkness". There is a world out there looking for some light slicks. Will you let your light ...
Sermon
Leonard Sweet
... inevitability of status: "Status is inescapable. Even the hermit is posturing somewhere" (61). If every subculture has its status symbols, here are the supposed status symbols of certain subcultures. For Manhattan parents, status is a kid who curls up with the classics, a ten-year-old who takes George Orwell's 1984 on vacation and actually reads it. · For retirement-villagers, status is a still valid driver's license. · For long haul truckers, status is millions of miles without a scratch. · For frequent ...
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