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 201 to 225 of 1089 results
Sermon
Leonard Sweet
... world of art, from Rogier Van Der Weyden in the 15th century, Rembrandt in the 17th century, Chagal and Picasso in the 20th century, do not portray a cross with a ladder propped up against it. But a ladder is propped up against the cross only when the artists want to portray Christ's "Descent from the Cross." The ladder was used to take Christ down from the cross. And that is what the ladder symbol does to our churches today it removes Christ from the cross, and from our discipleship. The gospel shows us in ...
202. The New Age
Luke 1:26-38
Illustration
Thomas Long
... by the causal observer. What is strange here is that the stable, and the shepherds, and the cradle are set, not in the expected small town of Bethlehem, but among the ruins of mighty Roman columns. The fragile manger is surrounded by broken and decaying columns. The artists knew the meaning of this event: The gospel, the birth of God's new age, was also the death of the old world. Herods know in their souls what we perhaps have passed over too lightly: God's presence in the world means finally the end of ...
203. Known as the Sacrifice from the Beginning
Luke 2:22-40
Illustration
... as all babies do when held by weird strangers. His eyes are narrowed and fixed in frozen alarm on Simeon. He reaches desperately for his mother, every muscle arched away from the old man toward Mary. But looking carefully at the background, we see the artist's true genius. The child seems suspended above the temple altar, that place of sacrifice. As art historian John W. Dixon puts it, "This very human baby is known, from the very beginning, to be the eternal sacrifice for the redemption of the mankind."
204. Afraid No More
Romans 8:1-17
Sermon
King Duncan
... a huge canvas that has black with yellow blobs of paint splattered all over it. The next painting is a murky gray color that has drips of purple paint streaked across it. She walks over to the artist and says, “I don’t understand your paintings.” “I paint what I feel inside me,” explains the artist. She looks at the painting once more and asks, “Have you ever tried Alka-Seltzer?” (1) Some of us may not understand modern art. Some of us may not understand some kinds of music. Opera, for example ...
Sermon
James Merritt
... me tell you how this man can take you to heaven." From that moment on, the entire household had a motto nailed up over the door of their house, "In God We Trust." Perhaps the most famous trapeze artist in the entire world is a man by the name of Rodleigh Stevens. He is one of the few trapeze artists that has worked without any safety net whatsoever. He is so good at his trade that movie companies use him for consulting all over the world and he has become an expert on stunt coordination and aerial awareness ...
Sermon
King Duncan
... And my favorite: Dear Pastor, I liked your sermon on Sunday. Especially when it was finished. Ralph (age 11, Akron). The Sunday School teacher held up a portrait of Christ. She explained to the class that it was not an actual photograph of Christ but only an artist’s conception of what Christ might have looked like. “But,” said one little girl, “you’ve got to admit it looks a lot like him.” To a child the picture of Jesus is clear. If he has Nordic features, blonde hair and blue eyes rather than ...
207. Back to the Future
Luke 9:28-36 (37-43)
Sermon
Gary L. Carver
... when we're asleep. We have seen the future. We know. We've read the last page. We know where our world is going and we know in the end Jesus will be victorious." In Rome in 1520, a young artist was dying at 37 years of age. He had just a few days left. How would he express himself as an artist in the last few days of his life? His name was Raphael. He chose to spend his dying hours painting The Transfiguration. He never finished, but he got one part completely finished and that was Jesus. The critics say ...
208. Standing Tall in the Lord
Philippians 3:17-4:1
Sermon
Richard Gribble
... called out, "Behold my masterpiece!" He slowly withdrew the curtain to reveal his work; the crowd held its breath. The painting was an exact image of the ugly fool — not one hair or expression was out of place. The silence in the tavern was deafening. The rival artist cried out, "The ugly fool was too much of a challenge, even for the great Leonardo da Vinci." "Not so," responded Leonardo. Then pointing to the face of the fool he said, "This face was painted by the hand of God and only a fool would dare ...
209. Who Will Go?
Isaiah 6:1-8 (9-13)
Sermon
Mary S. Lautensleger
... has been transforming the lives of performers and audiences alike for over three decades. Brother Curry urges all people to celebrate their differences and to use their imaginations to change the world. "Artists," he explained, "have the gift of imagination, and imagination has no physical boundaries." Prophets are like artists, helping us to see what we had been looking at but had not noticed. Jesus did not call any rabbis or priests to be his disciples. He called laypersons exclusively. God calls ...
Sermon
Mary S. Lautensleger
... ." The Holy Spirit has been referred to as the "shy" member of the Trinity. Throughout the centuries, artists have portrayed all facets of the life of Christ: his birth, his travels and ministry, transfiguration, crucifixion, resurrection, and ascension. We have numerous ... paintings and sculptures of Moses and even artists' renditions of God, who is, by the way, created in our own image. But, there is not a museum or ...
Sermon
Maxie Dunnam
... that such simple seeing would hit her with such force. I tried to identify with Kerry and affirm her in her new eyes for seeing. Most of us don’t have such wakeful and sensitive eyes. But later, as I reflected, I knew it was more than her artist view of things that was taking place in that experience. I thought about Moses and the burning bush. More than that, I thought about Bethlehem and the Manger – Mary and Joseph and the entire cast of the Christmas drama. Then I knew that Kerry’s experience was ...
212. Fulfilling Others?
Luke 4:14-30
Illustration
J. Ellsworth Kalas
... the Holy Family, they usually painted them with typical German, Italian, or Flemish features. It was not imagination or prejudice which made them do so, but the instinctive feeling that Jesus belonged to them; he was one of their people. In our time, Christian artists in Africa and Asia paint the Holy Family with features and coloring appropriate to their world. Again, it is because they feel that Jesus belongs to them. The mountain church, where a duet twangs out country-western music on a guitar, may seem ...
213. When I Pause the Longest
John 12:1-11
Illustration
Robert Beringer
In the biography of Leonardo da Vinci, Antonio Vallenten tells of a time when the great artist was at work in Milan on his famous painting of the Last Supper. Da Vinci spent many hours meditating in the chapel of the monastery where he was working. The monks resented these "idle periods" and accused the artist of wasting time. But da Vinci defended these periods of reflection by saying, "When I pause the longest, I make the most telling strokes with my brush."
Sermon
J. Howard Olds
... brought all of our possessions and all the things that we have under the Lordship of Jesus Christ. Is that not our call? Our possessions are a blessing from God. II. OUR PROBLEMS ARE BLESSINGS FROM GOD Andrae Crouch is one of my favorite Christian artists. In addition to writing and singing award winning songs, Andrae is the pastor of Christ Memorial Church in Los Angeles. Andrae has survived four different forms of cancer. In a recent interview he said: “I wouldn't want to wake up in the morning without ...
215. Mentoring Matters
1 Thessalonians 2:9-13
Sermon
Mary S. Lautensleger
... have surely noticed that not a one of them ever cracks a smile for the camera. Saying "cheese" must be a contemporary innovation. Martin Luther's parents might well have posed for an early rendition of "German Gothic." Sixteenth-century artist, Lucas Cranach, portrays Luther's parents in a similar fashion as grim, austere, and demanding.2 Martin Luther confided to his friends about the harsh punishment his parents inflicted upon him for minor childhood transgressions. The manner in which they exercised ...
Sermon
King Duncan
... heart was in the right place. It’s a wonderful thing to help people find Jesus. The highly esteemed theologian Karl Barth had a painting of the crucifixion on the wall of his study that was painted by the artist Matthias Grunewald. In the painting there is an image of John the Baptist. The artist portrayed John the Baptist pointing his finger to the cross of Jesus in the center of the painting. It’s said that when Barth would talk with a visitor about his work, he would direct them to John the Baptist ...
217. Pointing to Christ
Jn 3:30
Illustration
King Duncan
The highly esteemed theologian Karl Barth had a painting of the crucifixion on the wall of his study that was painted by the artist Matthias Grunewald. In the painting there is an image of John the Baptist. The artist portrayed John the Baptist pointing his finger to the cross of Jesus in the center of the painting. It's said that when Barth would talk with a visitor about his work, he would direct them to John the Baptist in the painting, and he would say, “I want to ...
Sermon
King Duncan
... different. To a certain extent, that is the way God created us. It’s in our genetic code. Some of us are somewhat emotional; some of us are more intellectual. I am convinced God speaks to engineers differently than God speaks to artists. Engineers need all the nuts and bolts of faith. Artists sense a bigger canvas. The point is that God comes to us where we are. God speaks our language. God speaks to us according to our own needs. And God uses different means to speak to us according to those needs. In ...
219. Is God Fair?
Matthew 20:1-16
Sermon
Leonard Sweet
... is an imperative. God is just. God is merciful. Both qualities define the all powerful, the absolute, nature of God. There is the story of a woman who sat for a portrait painting of herself. When the artist finally completed his work and showed it to her, the woman was upset. She did not like what she saw. The artist defended the accuracy of his work by declaring to the woman that everyone he had showed the portrait to had said that it did her justice. The woman retorted, “I’m not looking for justice. I ...
220. Job Is for Real
Job 1:1, 2:1-10
Sermon
Donna Schaper
... our cultural despair.4 We have an old painting. It is a painting of the earth. I don't know how you see it. Maybe with the first shot from Apollo where the earth is suspended so terribly lonely, so far away, so unified. Or maybe it is with the artist who did Scarface. Do any of you know this painting? It is by Elizabeth Williams and I have only seen it once. But I will never forget it. She is asked to paint a woman who has been enormously disfigured by an abusive husband. Her face is cockeyed, one eye ...
221. Sketch Test
Illustration
The renowned artist Paul Gustave Dore (1821-1883) lost his passport while traveling in Europe. When he came to a border crossing, he explained his predicament to one of the guards. Giving his ... , "we'll give you a test, and if you pass it we'll allow you to go through." Handing him a pencil and a sheet of paper, he told the artist to sketch several peasants standing nearby. Dore did it so quickly and skillfully that the guard was convinced he was indeed who he claimed to be. His work confirmed his word!
222. Art from Ruins
Illustration
Charles Swindoll
... of our sins. J. Stuart Holden tells of an old Scottish mansion close to where he had his little summer home. The walls of one room were filled with sketches made by distinguished artists. The practice began after a pitcher of soda water was accidentally spilled on a freshly decorated wall and left an unsightly stain. At the time, a noted artist, Lord Landseer, was a guest in the house. One day when the family went out to the moors, he stayed behind. With a few masterful strokes of a piece of charcoal, that ...
223. The Painting Was Framed
Humor Illustration
Staff
... Sargent in an art gallery in New York City. He kept muttering to himself, "I've been given a place at last. I have a place at last." Artist Robert Henri was standing nearby. Henri was mystified at the man's words. "Are you in this sort of work?" he asked the man. "Oh, yes," said the man, "but this is the first time I've been displayed like this." Now Henri really was disturbed. "But I thought that ...
Sermon
Leonard Sweet
... summer holiday. Most people are away from church. So Pastor Pierre and some of his parishioners like author Chris Kamalski and artist Gerhard van Wyk put together some Advent take away kits cards to read every week in Advent and a little something to do. ... They connected a scent to each of the traditional Advent themes, and the artist Gerhard van Wyk illustrated the scent. For those who come to church on Sunday, the gathering space is filled with the scents. ...
225. Mixing Up the Old With the New
John 10:11-18
Illustration
Scott Hoezee
... an interesting way to contemporize ancient stories. But that mixing up of the old with the new and the past with the current must also have caused some eyebrows to be raised. Can you imagine what most conservative Christians today would say if some artist painted a portrait depicting Joseph in a pair of Gap jeans, Mary wearing Ralph Lauren blouse, and the magi in snappy suits from Armani?! There would almost surely be an outcry. You should not import the holy, sacred images of Scripture into a contemporary ...
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