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 502 results

1. Familiarity Breeds Contempt

Exodus 19:1-25

Sermon

... about to see what others are doing during the prayer, we pay little attention to the reading of the Word of God, we ignore the message of the hymns we sing, we let our thoughts wander during the preaching of the sermon. We let familiarity breed contempt for the holy. C. S. Lewis said, "A good way to worship is to be unaware of time, light, and those about us, but center our attention solely upon God." Ideal Worship is the Blending of Transcendence and Immanence Ideally, we experience both the Transcendence ...

2. Familiarity Breeds Contempt

Luke 15:11-32

Illustration

... were changes in the day." It is difficult for us to see something new in the parable of the Prodigal son. We have heard the story so many times we believe that we have squeezed it dry of meaning. Not only that, but, as the saying goes, familiarity breeds contempt. When we hear the opening words of the parable once again, "And there was a Father who had two sons," we greet the words with ho-hum. Heard it. Heard it. Heard it. Yet, I would suggest that just as Henri Nouwen saw a half dozen different facets to ...

3. Blemished Sacrifices and Admonition for the Priests

Malachi 1:6-14, Malachi 2:1-9

Understanding Series

Pamela J. Scalise

... 5; 21:5). They were to bless the Israelites by reciting the blessing preserved in Numbers 6:24–26. In this way they were to “put [sim] my name on the Israelites, and I will bless them” (Num. 6:27). The priests in Malachi’s audience, however, had shown contempt for and profaned the Lord’s name, and they had not set (sim) their hearts to honor it (so v. 2, here; see also 1:6, 12). When they uttered blessings in a name they did not reverence or esteem, they mediated no benefit to the people. The Lord ...

4. The End Times

Daniel 12:1-13

Understanding Series

William Nelson

... of future events as God has predetermined them (Dan. 10:21). Following the deliverance of Daniel’s people will be a resurrection of the dead: Multitudes who sleep in the dust of the earth will awake: some to everlasting life, others to shame and everlasting contempt (12:2). This verse is remarkable in the light of other passages in the Hebrew Bible. Ancient Israelite religion taught that when humans die, they go to Sheol, the grave—a dark place where there is no praise of God (Pss. 6:5; 88:10–11 ...

5. Are You Still Frightened of the Dark?

Genesis 1:1-5 · John 1:4-5 · Psalm 139:11-12

Sermon

Robert Noblett

... we will then learn to be more accepting and loving of other people. Maybe the contempt we have for others is often a reflection of the contempt we have for ourselves. In our contempt for the success of other people, can we not find a contempt for our own failures? In our contempt for another’s strength, can we not see disdain for our own weakness? In our contempt for the advantages of our neighbor, can we not find a contempt for our own disadvantages? In our criticalness of other people, can we not find ...

6. Jesus Radical Prescription

Matthew 5:21-26

Sermon

Mike Ripski

... -calling it’s being thrown into Gehenna, the smoldering garbage dump in the Hinnon Valley outside the Jerusalem city walls. Do you see what Jesus is doing here? He’s saying deal with your anger before you become its slave. Before it leads to violence, to contempt, to degradation. Once you degrade someone, so that they are less than human, you will find killing them an easy next step. Gordon Peerman admits that dealing with his anger is his greatest growing edge. As he puts it: how to be with his anger ...

7. Jerusalem’s Deliverance Foretold

Isaiah 37:1-13

Understanding Series

John Goldingay

... that it deconstructs. If there is no hope for Judah and its allies, why is Sennacherib having to give such urgent attention to Judah’s chief ally? His minister’s claim in 36:6 now reads somewhat ironically. More seriously, his words succinctly restate the contempt for Yahweh in 36:18–20 and embody the self-confidence of 10:8–15. Even with the Cushites mustering, there is dramatic time for some subtlety. Unlike his minister, Sennacherib goes straight to the point and straight to the king, but he too ...

8. What Money Can't Buy

2 Kings 5:1-27

Sermon

Carlyle Fielding Stewart

... could have conceived of such a mundane cure because it was revealed only to the prophet and man of God. It was a unique method of healing that could easily have been taken for granted. The apparent frivolity of the method is evident in Naaman's contempt at the suggestion to dip himself into the Jordan seven times. This method of being cleansed and healed was not a standard prescription for leprosy. But it was a method of healing that money couldn't buy! In a world where money buys virtually everything, even ...

9. A New Kind of Teaching

Mark 1:21-28

Sermon

Maurice A. Fetty

... stake his life on what he was saying. He was not just a spectator-commentator observing the news. He was committed to making the news. His was a new kind of teaching. II. Note further, Jesus' teaching had authority because he regarded his hearers with concern, not with contempt. Once in a while when I am out of the city someone will suggest I record my sermon in advance to be played on Sunday. Imagine that! I never do, because I always am reminded of a cartoon I once saw. The first panel of the cartoon ...

10. Trash Cans or Treasure Chests

1 Corinthians 1:18--2:5

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... called. Few of you are people of wisdom, by any human standard. Few are powerful or highly born. Yet to shame the wise God had chosen what is foolish in the world. God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong. God has chosen things low and contemptible. Things that are not, to overthrow existing order. And so there's no place for human pride in the presence of God for you are in Christ Jesus by God's act. For God has made Him our wisdom. He is our righteousness, in Him we are consecrated and set ...

11. No Room for Gloom

Isaiah 9:1-4

Sermon

Tony Everett

... ," said the Lord, "those who speak like this will have no dawn ... but will see only distress and darkness, the gloom of anguish; and they will be thrust into thick darkness" (Isaiah 8:20, 22). In today's text, Isaiah states: "In the former times he brought into contempt the Land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali" (Isaiah 9:1). On the one hand, this was a bitterly humiliated and devastated group. Their sin had brought the wrath of God upon them. For God's people, it was the worst of times. On the one hand ...

12. God Can Turn Your Trash Cans into Treasure Chests

Psalm 51:1-19

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... s act. He is our righteousness, and in Him we are consecrated and set free. And so, in the words of scripture, if you must boast, boast of the Lord." The gospel is about the way in which what is most weak, what is most despised, what is most contemptible in your life and mine, what is most detested in this world, can become, through the power of the Holy Spirit, what is most beautiful, what is most radiant, and what can be most a blessing. You see, we have a topsy-turvey upside down, inside out gospel. Like ...

13. “Your Sin Will Find You Out”: The Lord Confronts His Sinful Servant

2 Samuel 12:1-31

Teach the Text

Robert B. Chisholm Jr.

... Lord’s enduring love for both David and Israel (cf. 2 Sam. 7:22–24). Teaching the Text 1. The Lord disciplines his sinful servants, sometimes severely, because he is a just God and must punish wrongdoing appropriately. David treated the Lord with contempt by blatantly violating four of the Ten Commandments. The Lord is not about to let him go unpunished. The Lord’s disciplinary judgment is appropriate and fair, mirroring David’s sin in several respects. David’s sons will perpetuate his crimes of ...

14. Disrespect Can Be Deadly

1 Sam 2:12-36

Teach the Text

Robert B. Chisholm Jr.

... , this is not an adequate response. After all, apparently Eli is content to benefit from their misbehavior. Though he is old and weak, he has the authority to remove them from office, but he fails to do so. The Lord punishes Eli because he tolerates his sons’ contempt, even though he does not approve of it or directly participate in it. In this case there is no middle ground. To participate in and tolerate the sons’ sins in any way is to align oneself against the Lord. Eli serves as a reminder that God ...

15. Resurrection and Accountability

Daniel 12:1-13, Daniel 11:36-45

Teach the Text

Ronald W. Pierce

... Old Testament world as being in “Sheol.” Only a few other passages in the Hebrew Bible allude to a hope of the righteous being raised up or awakened from death (1 Sam. 2:6; Isa. 26:19).7The distinction between “everlasting life” and “everlasting contempt” is unparalleled in Scripture until the New Testament (cf. Matt. 25:46; John 5:29; Acts 24:15). The reward for “those who are wise” and “lead many to righteousness” brings the light of “sun” and “stars” (cf. 8:10) to an otherwise ...

16. The Honor of God

Malachi 1:6-14

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

... God by presenting offerings and sacrifices and in teaching the law of God. They may not have been aware of their attitudes and hidden motives. This section is a warning for Christians, particularly ministers of the Word, to be careful not to “despise” or “show contempt for” the name of God by slovenly attitudes and shoddy service. Malachi charges the priests with profaning the glorious name of the Lord (1:6–10). Since God is the Father of his people and the master of the universe, it is only fair ...

17. The Sign of Jonah

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... God's act. He is our righteousness, and in Him we are consecrated and set free. And so, in the words of scripture, if you must boast, boast of the Lord." The gospel is about the way in which what is most weak, what is most despised, what is most contemptible in your life, in this world, can become, through the power of the Holy Spirit, what is most beautiful, what is most radiant, and what can be most a blessing. You see, we have a topsy-turvey upside down, inside out gospel. Like you do to a sock, you turn ...

18. The Kings of the South and the North

Daniel 11:2-35

Teach the Text

Ronald W. Pierce

... 175 BC), will send out his tax collector Heliodorus to Jerusalem to maintain the royal splendor. In a few years, however, Seleucus will be destroyed, yet not in anger or in battle. [21] Seleucus will be succeeded by Antiochus IV Epiphanes (175–164 BC), a contemptible person, who had not been given the honor of royalty. He will invade Seleucus’s kingdom when its people feel secure, and he will seize it through intrigue. [22] Then an overwhelming army will be swept away before him; both it and a prince of ...

19. That Carpenter Is God

Mark 6:1-6

Sermon

Ron Lavin

... get his point across. The heart of the story is the hard-heartedness and stubbornness of the townsfolk. They even go so far as to ridicule Jesus; "Is not this the carpenter, Mary’s son...?" (stated); "Who does he think he is?" (implied). Familiarity breeds contempt. Contempt comes in a highly dramatic moment. Jesus returns home and no one will listen to him. The last line of the dramatic little story is: "He was amazed at their lack of faith" (Mark 6:7). In stark contrast to the triumphant Lordship of the ...

20. Let Familiarity Breed Contentment

Hebrews 13:1-25

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... t there as it is to live in one where what you don't see is" (119). There is no better description of the terminal illness of the soul. We even have a trite truism to describe and excuse our blindness and deafness: familiarity breeds contempt. This phrase holds water for what surrounds us physically, and is a valid summation of the spiritual heritage and history that surrounds us. Is there anyone among us who can claim complete innocence from having… · Complained about having to squeeze a midnight candle ...

21. Thanks, But No Thanks

Luke 18:9-14

Sermon

Billy D. Strayhorn

... child for the Pharisee in today's passage from Luke. Let's look at that passage and you'll see what I mean. Luke 18:9-14 (NRSV) [9] He also told this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous and regarded others with contempt: [10] "Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. [11] The Pharisee, standing by himself, was praying thus, 'God, I thank you that I am not like other people: thieves, rogues, adulterers, or even like this tax collector ...

22. Who Is Right

Luke 18:9-14

Sermon

James Merritt

... are a lot of us in this room, and a lot of us watching by television, or listening via the Internet that Jesus is directly talking to today. “He also told this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and treated others with contempt.” (Luke 18:9, ESV) Jeff Foxworthy has become famous for identifying rednecks. To go into Foxworthy mode, you just might be in this parable if any of the following things are true about you. Do you ever look at people who don’t go to church and ...

23. Judges

Deuteronomy 17:8-13

Understanding Series

Christopher J. H. Wright

... that Jeremiah faces directly when accused of false prophecy about the destruction of Jerusalem and the temple (Jer. 26). The authority of this court is final, and its decisions are to be meticulously carried out (vv. 10f.) under threat of death for contempt of court, which is really contempt for Yahweh himself (v. 12). The high duty of judges (16:18–20) is to be matched by a high respect by the people for their words. Anything less will bring evil and wrath on Israel. Hence the strong deterrent policy of ...

24. Miscellaneous Oracles of Judgment

Ezekiel 21:1-32, Ezekiel 22:1-31

Understanding Series

Steven Tuell

... (v. 7)—the very opposite of the injunction in the Decalogue to honor one’s parents (Exod. 20:12//Deut. 5:16). In priestly tradition, showing contempt for one’s parents is an act deserving death (Exod. 21:17; Lev. 20:9; see also Prov. 20:20; 30:11). Also contemptible is the mistreatment of society’s most vulnerable persons by Jerusalem’s royalty. They have oppressed the alien and mistreated the fatherless and the widow (v. 7). Justice for the alien, the widow, and the orphan—those without ...

25. Egypt

Ezekiel 29:1-21, Ezekiel 30:1-26, Ezekiel 31:1-18, Ezekiel 32:1-32

Understanding Series

Steven Tuell

... of which use Egypt’s border as a boundary marker and likely derive from the book’s final editing). All of the rest are negative. Already, in his allegories of the eagles and the vine (17:15) and the trapped lions (19:4), Ezekiel has made plain his contempt for Egypt, and for those who put their trust in Egypt. Ezekiel claims that Israel’s idolatry began when Israel was still in Egypt (20:5–10, 36; 23:3, 8). He condemns alliance with Egypt as adultery, which he describes in the crudest of terms (16 ...

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