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 230 results

1. Poem: Adonais

Eulogy

Percy Bysshe Shelley

... envy, hate, and wrong, But what was howling in one breast alone, Silent with expectation of the song, Whose master’s hand is cold, whose silver lyre unstrung. XXXVII. Live thou, whose infamy is not thy fame! Live! fear no heavier chastisement from me, Thou noteless blot on a remembered name! But be thyself, and know thyself to be! And ever at thy season be thou free To spill the venom when thy fangs o’erflow: Remorse and Self-contempt shall cling to thee; Hot Shame shall burn upon thy secret brow, And ...

2. The Witch of Endor

1 Samuel 28:1-25

Sermon

Warren Thomas Smith

... America, swift and rigid retribution pursued witches: burnings, crushings, hangings, and especially drownings. The thumb screw and rack exacted confessions; testimonies of demented folk and mischievous children were used as evidence. Salem’s infamous witch trials remain a shameful blot on American history; on August 19, 1692 a minister and five women were executed for witchcraft. As late as 1860, in Camargo, Mexico, a witch and her son were burned. ENDOR Saul had put mediums and wizards out of the ...

3. Onesimus

Isaiah 43:1-13

Sermon

Warren Thomas Smith

... was not until three hundred years after Paul’s time that the great Roman jurist Ulpian made it well-defined, "By the law of Nature all men are equal." Will Durant summed it up, "... the legal subjection of slaves is the worst blot on Roman law."3 It is a blot on any civilization or people. The Christian answer has been, "... neither Jew nor Greek ... neither slave nor free ... all one in Christ Jesus." (Galatians 3:28) The letter to Philemon is one of the later writings by Paul. We have a similar letter ...

4. Miracle On Main Street by Dr. George A. Buttrick

John 1:1-18

Sermon

Leonard Mann

... toys!" Then you will be at odds with your world, but at peace with God. You will be in the foreguard of God’s new world. We’ve asked about the bias toward evil. What when we adopt the bias? What of our responsible sins? They are worse than blots on a manuscript, for a manuscript can be retyped, but life cannot be relived. There’s nothing we can do to change our record. I’ve read of a medical student who lost a valuable textbook. He was conscripted for medical service in World War II, and assigned to ...

5. The Competitor

Genesis 25:19-34

Sermon

King Duncan

... , "First give me your birthright." "Look, I am about to die," Esau says. But Jacob says, "Swear to me first." So Esau swore an oath, selling his birthright to Jacob for a bowl of stew. It was one of the best-known trades ever transacted. And it left a terrible blot on Esau's name. Esau was not the first or the last on the earth to make such a trade. How often all of us trade what really matters for something of far lesser value. When you see someone driving a $40,000 car, but they tell you they don't ...

6. The Other Woman

Genesis 21:8-21

Sermon

King Duncan

... they would have a child. Last week we dealt with the delight with which they received this good news. They named the child Isaac--or "laughter." I would like to say they lived happily ever after. But the story does not end here. There is one more dark blot on Abraham and Sarah's record. Isaac was not Abraham's first son. When God first called Abraham, he promised him that he would father a great nation. But Abraham and Sarah were getting up in years and still Sarah was barren. So Abraham and Sarah decide to ...

7. Proper 16

Romans 11:33-36

Bulletin Aid

... of your great wisdom and unlimited love. Thus may we witness to our redemption through your Son Jesus, our Lord, in whose name we pray. Amen. Prayer of Confession Heavenly Father, in humility and in penitence we bow before you. Our lives are nothing but a blot on the beauty of your wonderful acts, in history. You have made us in your image; yet we have marred your likeness so that there is little resemblance. Forgive us, Father, for crawling in sin, when you would raise us in glory. Unleash your mighty love ...

The whole westward expansion myth is seen as romantic. But it's a joke, a blot on American history.

Frank Waters

9. “Create in Me a Pure Heart, O God, and Renew a Steadfast Spirit within Me”

Psalm 51:1-19

Teach the Text

C. Hassell Bullock

Big Idea: God delights in the spiritual transaction of repentance that begins in the human heart. Understanding the Text Bernhard W. Anderson calls Psalm 51 “one of the pearls of the Psalter.”1Among the seven penitential psalms,2this one, in Weiser’s estimation, is the most important because it “demonstrates the essence of true penitence.”3This psalm falls generally under the classification of the individual lament, and more specifically, to use Kraus’s subcategory, “Songs of the Sick and Anguished.”4As a ...

10. When We No Longer Recognize Ourselves

Psalm 51:1-19

Sermon

King Duncan

Andras Tamas is the name officials gave a certain man decades ago in a Russian psychiatric hospital. He’d been drafted into the army, but the authorities had mistaken his native Hungarian language for the gibberish of a lunatic and had him committed. Then they forgot about him. For 53 years. A few years ago a psychiatrist at the hospital began to realize what had happened and helped Tamas recover the memories of who he was and where he came from. He recently returned home to Budapest as a war hero, “the ...

11. Times Of Refreshing

Acts 3:11-26

Sermon

E. Carver McGriff

Our text is part of a sermon preached by Peter following the healing of a crippled man. The witnesses assumed Peter himself had accomplished the healing. Peter, though, was quick to attribute it to Jesus whom God had raised from death. There are a number of ways to explain the ill man's recovery but what's important here is Peter's commentary to the gathered crowd. He first reprimanded them for taking part in the death of Jesus, but hurriedly, he acknowledged that they probably didn't realize the gravity ...

12. Epiphany 7

2 Corinthians 1:12--2:4, Isaiah 43:14-28, Mark 2:1-12

Sermon Aid

Russell F. Anderson

Theme: Forgiveness of sins. In the First Lesson God identifies himself as the one who "blots out your transgressions." In the Gospel Jesus heals the paralytic by pronouncing the forgiveness of his sins. COMMENTARY Old Testament: Isaiah 43:18-25 The prophet announces that the Lord is about to accomplish a new thing: he will free Israel from captivity and restore them to a more idyllic existence. The image here is that of a new Exodus, as God provides for his people, as he leads and guides them back home (vv ...

13. And Now For Something Completely Different

Isaiah 43:14-28

Sermon

Frederick C. Edwards

At the end of a week-long retreat in a mountain camp setting a somewhat different kind of worship service was taking place. It was at the end of a day that had been set aside for introspection and talking about feelings of self-worth. There had been some discussion about how to deal with feelings of guilt and the need to feel forgiven, and how it is often easier to forgive someone else than to forgive oneself. Since this was a retreat of church people there was frequent reference to the forgiving nature of ...

14. “The Lord . . . Rules the World in Righteousness”

Psalm 10:1-18, Psalm 9:1-20

Teach the Text

C. Hassell Bullock

Big Idea: Acknowledging our humanity is prerequisite to a faith that allows and even expects God to act on our behalf as he has acted for the saints of history. Understanding the Text Psalm 7 closes with a vow of thanksgiving (7:17), and Psalm 8 is in effect the fulfillment of that vow. Then follows Psalm 9 with a continuation of thanksgiving, followed by the lament of Psalm 10. This order is a reversal of the usual order of lament and thanksgiving. There are certainly psalms that contain mixed types,[1] ...

15. “Zeal for Your House Consumes Me”

Psalm 69:1-36

Teach the Text

C. Hassell Bullock

Big Idea: Our passion for worship and for God may evoke misunderstanding from others. Understanding the Text Psalm 69 is an individual lament that has grown out of the worshiper’s persecution and assaults by those who hate him. The psalmist is ill (69:29) and falsely accused (69:4). Often these two conditions are combined, as with Job, to create an intolerable situation for the psalmists. Psalm 69 belongs to a subcategory of psalms sometimes called imprecatory psalms, because they contain “curses” against ...

16. The Penitential Psalm

Psalm 51:1-19

Understanding Series

Craig C. Broyles

Every psalm is special, but with this one we feel that we enter upon holy ground. While it is a confession of sin, it reflects an intimacy with God few psalms can rival. In most psalms, blame for a lamentable condition is attached to enemies or to sickness, but this psalm is uniquely introspective before God. In the traditions of the early church, there are the seven penitential psalms (Pss. 6, 32, 38, 51, 102, 130, and 143). Upon closer inspection, however, we discover that only Psalms 32, 51, and 130 ...

17. God Gives the Pharisees the Finger!

John 7:25-44, John 7:45--8:11

Sermon

Lori Wagner

Prop (Animation): Scale or coins (three types) and blackboard with the words: mene, mene, tekel, upharsin; clay pot Judging. It’s something we do almost without thinking. Judging. And justifying. And we’re so GOOD at it! We love to sit on our holy thrones (or in the case of football, cause it’s the season now –lounge in our armchairs) and cast judgments upon those people who are on tv, in the spotlight, on trial, or in any way aren’t in our circle of friends. Many of us judge our friends too! All you have ...

18. The King's Wedding Feast

Matthew 22:1-14

Sermon Aid

William E. Keeney

Context of the Lectionary The First Lesson. (Exodus 32:1-14) The passage recounts the experience of the people of Israel in the wilderness when Moses had gone up the mountain of Sinai. They assumed that he was not returning. They appealed to Aaron for a god to lead them. He got from the people all the gold of their jewelry and from that produced the golden calf. The people proceeded with an orgy of worship. Moses came down and discovered what was happening. In his anger he shattered the tablets which ...

19. Prayers for Ash Wednesday

Matthew 6:1-4, Matthew 6:16-18, Psalm 51:1-19

Bulletin Aid

B. David Hostetter

Call to Worship Take joy in your salvation and be willing to obey God as the Spirit prompts you. Prayer of Confession God above all, you have created us from the ground up and in Christ came to our turf, to show us again that the earth is yours and you have made all things to be good. Your own Spirit infused life into the lifeless so that the human race should be distinct not in its physical properties but in its ability to control behavior individually and socially. Forgive our lack of self-control and ...

20. Proper 19

Matthew 18:21-35

Sermon Aid

Russell F. Anderson

COMMENTARY Old Testament: Exodus 14:19-31 The presence of the Lord in the pillar of fire, that normally went ahead of the people to lead them, moved to the rear of the community as an obscuring cloud, a kind of buffer between them and the army of the Pharaoh. The Lord caused a strong wind to dry up a pathway through the sea so that the Hebrews passed to the other side. The pursuing Egyptians became mired in the mud and the waters closed in upon them. Thus, the Lord delivered his people from their enemies. ...

21. Ash Wednesday

Joel 2:1-11, Matthew 6:1-4, Psalm 51:1-19, 2 Corinthians 5:11--6:2, 2 Corinthians 6:3-13, Matthew 6:16-18, Matthew 6:19-24

Bulletin Aid

B. David Hostetter

CALL TO WORSHIP Take joy in your salvation and be willing to obey God as the Spirit prompts you. PRAYER OF CONFESSION God above all, you have created us from the ground up and in Christ came to our turf, to show us again that the earth is yours and you have made all things to be good. Your own Spirit infused life into the lifeless so that the human race should be distinct not in its physical properties but in its ability to control behavior individually and socially. Forgive our lack of self-control and ...

22. Lent 5

John 12:20-36, Psalm 51:1-19, Psalm 119:1-176

Bulletin Aid

B. David Hostetter

Call to Worship Come to see Jesus, even though his glory is a cross and to follow him may mean a cross of your own. Prayer of Confession Renewer of covenants, divine-human Pledge of the new covenant, Spirit of the covenant, forgive our wrongdoing and remember our sins against us no more. Though you are known by the high and the lowly, yet we have not reached the time when it will not be necessary to teach one another to know you. Or is it that knowing you we decline to obey you? As you were patient with ...

23. Proper 13

John 6:25-59, Psalm 51:1-19

Bulletin Aid

B. David Hostetter

CALL TO WORSHIP Come into God's presence with a clean heart, with a new and right spirit, indeed in the discipline of the Holy Spirit from me. PRAYER OF CONFESSION Giver of manna, Breaker of bread, Creator of the new, it is true that we still do what we have not learned from Christ. We can be hardhearted when we should be forgiving. We can be selfish when we should be willing to share. We can be greedy and complaining when we have enough to get by. We can be as unscrupulous in our dealing as if we did not ...

24. Enter God

Mark 9:33-37

Sermon

Thomas Peterson

When Jesus put the child on his knee, he acted out a parable. “Whoever receives one such child in my name receives me.” At first this incident appears simple, easy to understand. Don’t we all know how to receive a little child? Assuming we know all about it, we slide over “in my name” and “receives me.” We assume we know how to be gentle, caring, attentive and careful. Our voices even change, “Well, and how are we today?” Such treatment comes without thought and is filled with good will. Expansive and ...

25. 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

Jesus was giving his famous Sermon on the Mount. In the middle of it he looked at the disciples from his sitting position (as was customary for Jewish rabbis of the first century when they were teaching). And Jesus said: "Beware of practicing your piety before men in order to be seen by them; for then you will have no reward from your Father who is in heaven (Matthew 6:1)." To whom was Jesus referring with these words? He was probably talking here and at other points in the sermon about the Pharisees. ...

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