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 1348 results

1. A Gift to Admire

Illustration

... fourteen-karat gold cross with the express intention of giving it away to the first person who admired it. Two days later in a bookstore a gentleman admired the cross. She took it from her neck and offered it to him. "Oh, I couldn’t take it. Why, it’s very expensive." "I insist. Anyway, you won’t have it long. There’s a catch to my gift." "What’s that?" "You must give it to the first person who admires it." Under that condition, the man took the cross. The woman later said she had no idea ...

2. An Admirer of Jesus

Mark 6:14-29

Illustration

Brett Blair

... help with a reminder that he was a Christian. The lawyer responded, "I will follow Jesus to his cross, but it is his cross. I have no need to be crucified." To this his brother replied, "Then you are an admirer of Jesus, but not his disciple." King Herod is like this attorney. He greatly admired this prophet from God, John the Baptist, but not enough to become his disciple, not enough to risk his own honor and prestige to protect him. Another similarity occurs in the first part of our text. The people had ...

3. Admire Their Uniqueness

Illustration

John Powell

... glass and study the delicate veins in the leaves, and notice the nuances and shades of color. Turn the leaves slowly and observe their symmetry. And remember that this flower might have gone unnoticed and unappreciated if you had not found and admired it." After the class returned, the teacher observed, "People are like that. Each one is different, carefully crafted, uniquely endowed. But you have to spend time with them to know this. So many people go unnoticed and unappreciated because no one has ...

4. The Art of Following

Matthew 4:12-17, Matthew 4:18-22

Sermon

Dean Feldmeyer

... and on it goes until we realize that we don’t really want to play like Tiger at all. What we want to do is admire the way he played the game and go on playing the way we do. We idealize him. That’s Tiger Woods, the ideal in ... thing that Jesus asks us to do most often, the commandment that he utters more than any other, twenty times in the four gospels is not “admire me,” not “believe in me,” not “worship me,” or “sing about me,” or even “love me,” but “follow me.” Follow me. Do ...

5. Where Has Your Lover Gone

Song of Songs 6:1-13

Understanding Series

Elizabeth Huwiler

... a sexual allusion. The same expression occurred in 2:16 after the mutual possession formula and in a wa?f describing the woman’s breasts in 4:5. Both principal words are also used in 6:2, although not together. 6:4–13 The section begins with the man admiring the woman in the beginning of another descriptive motif (6:4–9) that does not go below the neck. This description is followed by another “who is this?” verse (6:10; see 3:6; 8:5). The following verse (6:11) does not answer the question: rather ...

6. People Who Inspire Us

2 Thessalonians 1:1-12

Sermon

King Duncan

... she heard God say. Kathy Troccoli points to this moment as the turning point in her faith and in her life. As she says, “. . . I remember just weeping, because I couldn't throw away what I had known Jesus to be." (3) We admire people who are overcomers. We admire people who have been dealt a difficult hand, but through faith and perseverence have lived victorious lives. So did St. Paul. In his letter to the church at Thessalonica, he praised them for their patience and complete faith in God, in spite of ...

7. Wonderful Story

Genesis 17:1-27

Sermon

E. Carver McGriff

... and I'm ordering you to change your course." Back came the reply: "Sir, I am a radioman third class and I'm asking you to change your course." Drawing himself to his full height, the admiral again sent the message: "We are a battleship." Back came the reply: "Sir, we are a lighthouse." The admiral's sudden new perception of reality is currently called a "paradigm shift." Abraham had a paradigm shift. If we take this story at face value for a bit, we must sympathize with this hundred-year-old man, no doubt ...

8. A Royal Lament

2 Samuel 1:1-16

Sermon

Roger Prescott

... church needs to be involved directly with the events of the day. Both respected each other, so that when Armstrong knew he was going to be having some words about Vietnam he would alert his friend. Thus would come the silent yet respectful "protest." Only admiration of his pastor (as well as unusual courage) made it possible for such a happening as this. 2. Vulnerability David’s elegy to Saul and Jonathan reveals the vulnerability of our human condition also. In an outburst of hurt David reminds us all of ...

9. You Are Not Yourself!

Colossians 3:1-17

Sermon

King Duncan

... dock. Her crew was a joke and she held the record for the worst firing ever seen by this particular aide on a training exercise report. Additionally, her crew were brawlers, and 6 of them were currently in the brig for breaking up two bars in Honolulu. Admiral Halsey laughed, ordered the 6 men released from the brig, and sent the England out. Twenty-four hours later the England had chased down and sunk her first sub, and something else happened, too. The men on the England changed. Over the next 11 days the ...

10. Let Him Kiss Me

Song of Songs 1:1-17

Understanding Series

Elizabeth Huwiler

... a woman to have more than one husband, the latter is more likely. The Lovers Together (1:7-17): As this section opens, the two lovers are clearly together: they become partners in dialogue. The woman and the man first exchange playful banter, then admiring comments. The admiration closes with the woman speaking to or about the man. She then speaks for the first time a verse which will recur. This verse is clear in imagery although not in time (2:6). Then there follows the first instance of another recurring ...

11. Stooping Is a Divine Posture

Isaiah 23:1-18

Sermon

John R. Brokhoff

... manage it.” The frog got a long stalk of grass and asked each goose to hold it at opposite ends so that he could cling to it by his mouth in the middle. As the three were flying south, a man below noticed this extraordinary arrangement. With great admiration he shouted up, “Who thought of your unusual mode of transportation?” The frog was so puffed up by the compliment that he opened his mouth to say, “I did!” With that he lost his hold and plummeted to his death. The moral is that when you have a ...

12. Did You Do Your Best?

Illustration

Gordon McDonald

... in fear, anger, or total intimidation. Among them was ex-President Jimmy Carter who, years ago, applied for service under Rickover. This is his account of a Rickover interview: I had applied for the nuclear submarine program, and Admiral Rickover was interviewing me for the job. It was the first time I met Admiral Rickover, and we sat in a large room by ourselves for more than two hours, and he let me choose any subjects I wished to discuss. Very carefully, I chose those about which I knew most at the ...

13. Dabar Adonai

Jeremiah 1:1-19

Sermon

Tony Everett

... the Lord, he found renewal and strength. The word of the Lord did not desert him. Jeremiah was never on his own. Neither are we. The word of the Lord is also with us. Relying only upon our own insights and initiative, we are bound to experience confusion and helplessness. Admiral William T. "Bull" Halsey was an Allied commander in the Pacific during the Second World War. He had a reputation for devising ingenious battle plans, often waking from a sound sleep to dictate them to his aide ...

14. Competition In The Kingdom?

Matthew 20:17-19

Sermon

Mark Ellingsen

... :12; Romans 6:3ff).3 Jesus says in our gospel lesson that such a lifestyle is the true mark of greatness (Matthew 20:26). Do you not see the point? We are great already. Baptism has given us all that we will ever need; nothing could be more estimable or admirable. We are God's people! And that makes us servants of Christ and our neighbor. Of course, the role of a servant is not all that appealing to the crowd caught up in worldly things. We in the church are drawn to the idea at first. We want a "hassle ...

15. The Road To The Wilderness

Mark 1:9-13

Sermon

Thomas A. Pilgrim

... asked him how he had done at the Naval Academy. Jimmy Carter was proud to say he was 59th in a class of 220. But then the admiral asked if he had done his best. And Jimmy Carter answered: "No sir, I didn't always do my best." And the admiral said, "Why not?"1 Why not be true to all you are - a child of God. Jesus made that decision and so can you. Then look at one other thing about Jesus on the road to the wilderness. III It was a time when Jesus made the commitment to see ...

16. Christ Has Set Us Free

John 8:31-41

Sermon

... cross if we want to follow him. But why strain yourself? Maybe slavery to sin is better, if the alternative is slavery to Christ. Before throwing that out, let’s first look at how it is in the world of music and the world of sport. I admire the piano player who can sit down and have the freedom to play the most difficult music almost at sight. It looks easy. I admire jazz artists who have the freedom to tootle their horns and tickle the keys all over the musical map, making up new melodies on the spot. I ...

17. Overcoming Life's Obstacles

Matthew 14:22-36

Sermon

... s see that the answer to our dreams and goals is never going to rest in a neurotic focusing on the obstacles, but rather will always be a matter of what I like to call the courage of faith. This venturing out, this taking action. Peter is to be admired for taking action here, for going out toward Christ (who, by the way, never once discouraged Peter from his goal!). In the process of our venturing, let us keep our eyes on Jesus. Go forth! Keep your eyes on Christ. You know very well it is worth keeping your ...

18. Is Someone Knocking?

Luke 2:1-7

Sermon

Bill Bouknight

... Then the boy turned and said, "Grandpa, I didn't like that lady." Grandpa said, "Me neither." "I'll tell you why I didn't like her," said the boy. "She stepped on my foot and didn't apologize, so I pinched her." If you can identify with the Admiral, you can appreciate the anonymous innkeeper of Bethlehem. No one has gotten more bad press than the owner of the village inn which had no room for Mary and Joseph. How many preachers have lambasted the poor old inn- keeper for putting the Holy Family out with the ...

19. An Easter Dividend: The Courage To Be and To Do

Acts 4:1-22

Sermon

Donald Macleod

... is courage. However, there are many kinds and levels of human courage, and it may be necessary for all of us to probe more deeply into its nature if we are to discover what creates the type most to be fostered and admired. Once in a sermon in New York, the Reverend Charles E. Jefferson of the Broadway Tabernacle said: The world is inexpressibly rich in courage. And at the same time the world is inexpressibly poor in courage. We are richly supplied with military courage, but we are deficient in civic ...

20. Take a Close Look (At the Widow)!

Mark 12:41-44

Sermon

James W. Robinson

... because she was grateful to a God who stood by when others turned away. She not only had his promises, she had his Presence. Her gift was a gift of gratitude. Her gratitude was the spring from which her generosity flowed. III. The widow is to be admired for the measure of her generosity. She held nothing back. She gave everything she had. What makes that all the more astounding is that she was living on a shoestring, a bare-bones budget, and had practically nothing to give in the first place. We are told ...

21. Stranglers Or Wranglers?

Acts 2:42-47

Sermon

King Duncan

... him to safety. He knew that he would freeze to death if he didn’t find the shelter of his hut quickly. He also knew that if he struck out blindly, without a central reference point for a sense of direction, he would become hopelessly lost. Refusing to panic, the admiral assessed the situation. In his hand was a 10-foot pole that he carried with him to probe for holes in the ice as he walked. He struck the pole in the snow and tied his bright-colored scarf to it. Then he began looking for the hut, keeping ...

22. The Eternal Question

Matthew 27:11-26

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

... drenched him through and through. The crowds went home and left the streets without a soul to see, and Jesus crouched against the wall and cried for Calvary. Where are you this morning? Where are you in relation to Christ? Know this – know this. Whether you just admire or ignore – or whether you look at him seriously and completely reject him – you can’t get rid of him. That’s right. You can’t get rid of him. He comes again, in the quietness of the night, in the privacy of our hearts, in the ...

23. Will the Real Christian Please Stand Up?

Acts 11:26

Sermon

James Merritt

... , a smirk, his sword dangling by his side. As he walked onto the deck of that British ship, he put out his hand toward Lord Nelson to shake his hand in an act of friendship. But Lord Nelson did not put out his hand toward the French Admiral, but standing erect and at attention, he said, "First, your sword Sir." The Lord Jesus is asking for your sword. Jesus Christ is asking you to take your clock, how you spend your time; your calendar, where you spend your priorities; and your checkbook, what you do with ...

24. A Water Toast

Illustration

... Russian fleet at the battle of the Sea of Japan in 1905, visited the United States shortly after the Russo-Japanese War. At a state dinner in Admiral Togo's honor, William Jennings Bryan was asked to propose a toast. Because Bryan was well known as a strict teetotaler, it was feared that an embarrassing breakdown of protocol was about to occur. But as Bryan stood to propose his toast, he held up his glass and said, "Admiral Togo has won a great victory on water, and I will therefore toast him in water. When ...

25. Serving the King of Kings

John 18:28-40

Sermon

King Duncan

... place our hands over our hearts and say, “I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America . . .” Where do you pledge your ultimate allegiance? If you say, your country, that’s noble. You are a loyal citizen of the United States of America, and I admire you. But it does not make you a citizen of Christ’s Kingdom. Nations, any nation, are made up of people. People can as easily be stirred up to evil as well as to good. There may come a time when you might have to make a choice between ...

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