Sermon and Worship Resources

Synonyms: humiliation, mortification, chagrin, ignominy, loss of face, shamefacedness, embarrassment, indignity, abashment, discomfort, discomfiture, discomposure, guilt, remorse, contrition, compunction, disgrace, dishonour, discredit, degradation, disrepute, ill-repute, infamy, scandal, odium, opprobrium, obloquy, condemnation, contempt, pity, misfortune, crying shame, cause for regret, source of regret, sad thing, unfortunate thing, discredit to, disgrace to, stain on, blemish on, blot on, blot on the escutcheon of, slur on, reproach to, bad reflection on, bring into disrepute, degrade, debase, defame, stigmatize, taint, sully, tarnish, besmirch, stain, blacken, drag through the mud/mire, give a bad name to, put in a bad light, humiliate, mortify, make someone feel ashamed, embarrass, abash, chasten, humble, put someone in their place, take down a peg or two, cut down to size, show up

Antonyms: honor, pride, respect, glory, praise, dignity, honor, esteem, glorification, laud, compliment, regard, credit, elevate, acclaim, pleasure, favor, kudos, recognition, flatter, admiration, greatness, happiness, self-confidence, reverence

Showing 1 to 25 of 114 results

1. Fulfilled, Or Just Full?

Sermon

Alex Gondola

... the professor. "That's easy," replies the student. "The man with fifteen children doesn't want any more!" If things don't do it for us, can we fill up that inner emptiness with fame and distinction? It seems to me that if public recognition and acclaim could ensure our happiness, then the British novelist and playwrite Somerset Maugham surely should have been a happy man. After all, at the time of his death in 1965, Maugham was described by Time as the most famous author in the world. He had sold eighty ...

2. Looking A Little Bit Crazy

Mark 3:20-30

Sermon

William G. Carter

... bright new star of the jazz music scene. He was a phenomenal bass player, with a keen ear for harmony and an unsurpassed technical ability on his 1962 Fender bass. He joined the well-known jazz group Weather Report and gained instant acclaim for his musicianship. With the fame, however, came free access to cocaine and alcohol. As Jaco fell into a routine of drug abuse, he began to exhibit increasingly bizarre behavior. His substance abuse aggravated an undiagnosed manic-depressive condition, which, in turn ...

3. Competition In The Kingdom?

Matthew 20:17-19

Sermon

Mark Ellingsen

... way it is with us? One moment we sing God's praises and seek with all our heart to walk in his ways. The next moment, or even as we think we are walking in faith, it is all marred by our egocentricity and our yearning for the acclaim of the crowd. At least this is what happened to two of Jesus' disciples and their mother. Here is the story: James and John, two sons of Zebedee, were among Jesus' 12 disciples. In fact, they were prominent among his disciples. According to Matthew, they were among the first ...

4. Palms By Day And Plots By Night

Sermon

Erskine White

... ...I hid not my face from shame and spitting ...Who will contend with me? Let us stand up together.Who are my adversaries? Let them confront me. Now, why might Jesus think of Isaiah on this, the day of His biggest triumph? When He is basking in more public acclaim than He's ever known before, why might He think of "adversaries" and "smiters" who wait to stab Him in the back? Because Jesus knows what is coming. He knows that there are plots being laid against Him in the midst of the palms. He is aware that ...

5. The Reins of Power

2 Samuel 5:1-5

Sermon

... confusion in our minds as that which animated the crowd that waved palm branches and scattered them along the way from Bethany to Jerusalem so long ago? There is incongruity here, even as there was on that day when Jesus took his famous donkey ride. What do we mean by acclaiming him in such terms as that of king? How many Americans are there who are willing to submit to the rule of a king of any kind? And how fitting was it ever to speak of the humble Jesus as a king? We who are inclined to celebrate the ...

6. Resurrection: From Slave to Child

Galatians 3:26--4:7

Sermon

Leonard H. Budd

... by many people as their savior. "Jesus," they said to one another, "is the special gift from God. Messiah!" Jesus’ disciples, having walked with him the whole way from Galilee, were caught up in the acclaim, sharing in the shouting and exuberance. This was their Master, their teacher. He was being ushered into the Great City even as would be a king! The journey that Jesus took that first Palm Sunday illustrates the biblical call to move from slavery to being sons and daughters of God. ...

7. O Holy Night

Philippians 2:5-11

Sermon

James Merritt

... to the glory of God the Father." The purpose of this universe, the purpose of all of history, the purpose of your life and mine is to bring glory to God the Father, and the way glory ultimately is going to be brought to God is when we acclaim that Jesus Christ is Lord. One day all creation shall bow to our Lord, Even now among angels His name is adored, May we at His coming with glorified throng, Stand singing His praises in Heaven's great song: Jesus, Jesus, Savior adored— Of all men and angels forever ...

8. Won't You Come Home, George Bailey?

Luke 2:1-7

Sermon

... night ... to any suggestion that the world (and we) could be different. Earlier this morning (along about 11:35), one of you came into my office to tell me about your psychiatrist ... your highly-credentialed and widely-acclaimed psychiatrist ... your highly-credentialed and widely-acclaimed Jewish psychiatrist. And you told me that in your most recent session, the subject of church had come up ... this church ... our church. To which your Jewish psychiatrist said: Ah yes, that church. I went to a funeral ...

9. Jesus' Baptism: Affirmed by God

Mark 1:9-13

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

... to it more convincingly than I. Here’s one. Parade magazine carried the story of Byron Janis, the world renowned pianist. He has played in some of the greatest music halls of the world, in Europe, in the United States, even in the Soviet Union. He has been acclaimed by many as the most accomplished pianist of our time. Few people know about another side of his life. In fact, it’s a side that only his wife, Maria, knew until just recently Byron Janis has severe bursitis in one of his shoulders and has a ...

10. Holy Love and Herod's Love

Matthew 2:13-18, Matthew 2:19-23

Sermon

Mark Radecke

... suggest a related reason: We have in the Christmas story and in the Herod story a study in contrasts in styles of loving. There are some striking similarities, to be sure. Herod is a king who wants his people to love him. Throughout the Old Testament, God is acclaimed as Israel's king. And he, too, wants his people to love him. Herod is jealous of his people's affection. "Jealous" is a word also used to describe God: "Behold, I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God"; a God who will not tolerate any rivals ...

11. Be Patient

James 5:7-12

Sermon

Frank Luchsinger

... . Establish your hearts...." Establish your hearts. James instructs us to allow God to do what God does -- to send the early and the late rain -- and to wait upon what God will do, expecting precious fruit. Steven Covey in his highly acclaimed Seven Habits of Highly Effective People discusses the productive practice of having a time of idea planting, growth and development, and harvesting. He recommends a focus on things which are "important," and resisting the dominance of the "urgent." Things which are ...

12. Hope Against Hope

Jeremiah 33:1-26

Sermon

Robert A. Hausman

... s own grieving made it possible for Israel to hope, so the good shepherd gives us life by dying. For the Christian, the "days that are surely coming" spoken of by the prophets are now here in Jesus. We find our salvation, our security, in Jesus, whom we acclaim as our shoot from the stump of Jesse. Just as Jerusalem was given, in hope, the name "The Lord is our righteousness" (v. 16), so we, in faith, appropriate that name also for ourselves. By that name we profess that we put our faith not in success, not ...

13. Jesus' Countercultural Sermon

Matthew 5:38-42, Matthew 5:43-48

Sermon

Mark Radecke

... 's Gospel reading. The themes of that sermon are highly countercultural. They ran counter to the beliefs and practices of first century Israel and Rome, and they run counter to the beliefs and practices of late twentieth century America. From an itinerant rabbi whom faith acclaims as God's only Son comes an astonishing reversal of human values and mortal ways of going about the business of life. But one glance at the morning news is all it takes to see that the great reversals Jesus proclaims are not very ...

14. Light From And For The East

Matthew 2:1-12

Sermon

Mark Radecke

... street vendor. You were puzzled by the inclusion of the likeness of Jesus on an obviously Hindu painting, and by the merchant's easy incorporation of Jesus into the pantheon of gods. You said he seemed genuinely pleased to acknowledge and acclaim Jesus as yet one more deity. We who are familiar only with the monotheistic religions of Judaism, Christianity and Islam find such polytheism shocking and confusing, almost like a kind of spiritual promiscuity. Meanwhile, they sometimes see our insistence on one ...

15. Death Shall Be No More

Isaiah 25:1-12

Sermon

E. Carver McGriff

... make sense to believe that we are in a state of process, becoming what we are to be but are not yet? Maybe it will be like Oscar Wilde's story of "The Portrait Of Dorian Gray," the man who lived a totally selfish life, yet was widely acclaimed for his dashing good looks and witty manner. He had a painting, a portrait, in the attic of his home. When first completed, he often went to admire his own attractiveness in the painting. But as the years went by, the painting became ugly, hateful. Then one day Dorian ...

16. Kindness In Action: Evangelism

Acts 8:26-40

Sermon

E. Carver McGriff

... people." Francis smiled. Then he said, "My friend, that's what we've been doing all day." That's evangelism at its most faithful. Ministry to people in their need. Not worrying about numerical growth, or adding to one's own conversion record, or winning acclaim within the denomination. Evangelism is sharing the love of God in concrete form among God's people. For the local church, this means finding a way to minister in practical ways to human need while at the same time respecting the individuals we serve ...

17. Pleased To Reconcile

Luke 23:26-43

Sermon

Larry R. Kalajainen

... gained some local notoriety as a wandering preacher and healer, and was executed by the Romans who were very touchy about any perceived threat to their imperial domination, there would not be a single nation in the world where this obscure peasant was not worshipped and acclaimed as a king, a king whose kingdom shall never end, and who by his power holds the universe together? Fantastic, isn't it! Where in this world can one go and not discover somewhere a group of people who confess Jesus as Lord and King ...

18. Come The Judgment Day

Jeremiah 16:1--17:18

Sermon

Erskine White

... world - in a sense, we must learn to see things upside down. We must know in our hearts how "the last shall be first and the first shall be last" (Matthew 20:16). It's easy to chase after what seems important in this life. It's easy to win acclaim by doing what is acceptable and popular in the eyes of the world. It is also easy to find out, as Jeremiah says, that in the end, you have been a fool. So, what are we left with, when all is said and done? Consider Solomon Blatt's story, or ...

19. Holy Diet

John 6:24-35

Sermon

Donald Macleod

... us, "He was a great way off, his father saw him ..." Ours is a generation with its own various kinds of hunger. We may deplore, but yet enjoy, what Wordsworth called "this unaimed prattle flying up and down." We may question the American dream, yet acclaim anyone who is "on the make" and aggressively acquiring more and more things. We may take overweening pride in the products of American science and know-how, but we dodge the arresting question: "What's it all for?" Jesus heard the people ask, "Give us ...

20. An Our Good Works And Generosity

Matthew 6:1-4, Matthew 6:5-15, Matthew 6:16-18, Matthew 6:19-24

Sermon

Mark Ellingsen

... some hints. It is evident in the life that Jesus lived. That is what the new life is like. The gospel lesson also describes the new life as a life totally dedicated to God and to serving him. A life whose deeds care nothing about human acclaim or reputation. A life of total freedom, freedom from anxieties about what people think of us. Total freedom, because good works just come spontaneously, not as a result of constraint or scheming for power, position and a good reputation. (John 8:36; Ephesians 2:8-10 ...

21. At The Name Of Jesus

John 12:12-19

Sermon

Theodore F. Schneider

... kingship. He accepts the title, but not the program. Ancient eastern kings rode horses when riding to war, and donkeys when they came in peace. It was not the humility of the donkey but the symbol of peace that Jesus sought, even as he accepted the acclaim and the title of "King" by fulfilling Zechariah's prophecy. Jesus intended to be the Prince of Peace and to bring the kingdom of God. The Two Kingdoms Meet The interface of these two kingdoms is the crisis of Holy Week and the challenge of every devout ...

22. Christ the King A King Worth Having

John 12:12-19

Sermon

... right. With nearly every other king, I’d be out-of-place. This one is worth having because he’s approachable. III He’s a king worth having for a third reason too: although he deserves our allegiance, he doesn’t force us to give it. He’d earned the acclaim he received on Palm Sunday and rightly should have had it all along but, up till then, he’d shied away from it. When he cleansed the lepers or gave the blind their sight or the lame full use of their limbs, he sternly told them not to tell ...

23. The Call of the Cross

Luke 9:18-27

Sermon

... Scholar, discusses the life of F. Scott Fitzgerald and points out that he went from early success to a second phase where he sold himself out to Hollywood, drank too much and spent too much, and died at forty-three. But after death, he received more acclaim - a kind of third phase for his career - than he did while have. Epstein writes: "F. Scott Fitzgerald was quite wrong about there being no second acts in American lives, as his own life proves. Fitzgerald’s first act was that of the booming American ...

24. The Gospel of the Little Man

Luke 19:1-10

Sermon

... give the proceeds to the poor. The price was too exorbitant. The man was sad, for he was rich. His way to life was blocked. When we measure stature by the stocks we own, or in terms of our impressive peers, or on the applause meter of public acclaim, when self becomes the center of existence, the cost of being tall in Christ is much too high. The treasure of the living word is worthless in our sight, and life pursues its bitter and relentless course to tragedy. It is simply fact that when our universe is ...

25. The Sermon on the Level

Luke 6:17-26

Sermon

... from a guilt conscience when he doesn’t pay." "If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? ... and if you do good to those who do good to you, what credit is that?" Another one of my acquaintances who thrives on acclaim numbers a host of friends, but in that number there is not one who questions, contradicts, or criticizes him. Backscratching is a lovely human pastime that pays off. Touching Tender Places As Jesus levels with us in this Word, his word is gently spoken, lovingly applied ...

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