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 167 results

1. Thanksgiving

Lk 17:11-19 · 1 Tim 2:1-4 · Phil 4:6-20 · 2 Cor 9:6-15 · Deut 8:1-18 · Ps 65

Sermon Aid

Russell F. Anderson

... around to pat himself on the back. Recall that God rejected the prayer of the Pharisee who prayed: "God, I thank you that I am not like other people ... I fast twice a week, I give a tenth of all my income" (Luke 18:11-12). A thankless heart is discrediting to God and a sign of a soul out of touch with God's Spirit. Lesson 2: 2 Corinthians 9:6-15 The law of farming. "The one who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly and the one who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully" (v. 6). Sowing and reaping ...

2. The Scandal Of Redeeming Love

Hosea 2:2-23

Sermon

Frederick C. Edwards

... moguls appear in lurid headlines on papers and magazines that are more interested in sensation than news. Photographers stalk the rich or famous to catch an image of an unguarded moment. Fact blended with fiction becomes the means to enhance or discredit; to glorify or defame. The popularity of this material in tabloid papers, magazines and talk shows indicates that the public seems to have an insatiable appetite for it. Probably most of the subjects of the scandal and gossip, half-truth and innuendo ...

3. "Hands Off!"

Exodus 20:1-21, Luke 19:11-27

Sermon

Bill Bouknight

... name. As Shakespeare wrote in "Othello," "He that filches from me my good name robs me of that which not enriches him, and makes me poor indeed." One of the surest signs of original sin is our delight in hearing and repeating what is discreditable to others. Before repeating anything negative about another person, we should ask three questions: Is it true? Is it kind? Is it necessary? In the Eighth Commandment, God is calling us to a strict and scrupulous honesty. If with God's help we embrace this standard ...

4. God's Workmanship

Ephesians 2:1-10

Sermon

King Duncan

... . To the living a memory . . . To posterity an inspiration . . . The story of her life and of her tragic death is recorded in the Archives of Oliver County . . . Stranger, read it.” (7) There is much in this world that is inferior and shabby. Many people are a discredit to the God in whose image we were created. And then we come across a story of amazing courage, sacrifice and love like the story of Hazel Miner and it reminds us of who we are and why we were created. We are God’s workmanship. We were ...

5. Clean Hearts And Dirty Hands

Mark 7:1-23

Sermon

King Duncan

It's a phrase we still use today: he has dirty hands. We could be referring to hands that are soiled from doing good honest labor. The mechanic who works on our car may have dirty hands but it is no discredit to him. It comes with the territory. The farmer may have dirt all over his body from working all day in the fields. And we honor him because he or she helps feed our world. There is no disgrace in having dirty hands. Unless, of course, we mean it in a ...

6. Have You Ever Tried to Discredit Someone?

Mark 3:20-5

Illustration

Maxie Dunnam

Isn't there a tendency on our part to try to discredit the experience of others when we are intimidated by their experience? Think about it for a moment. Haven't you ever felt threatened by a close friend, or even a family member, who moved to a new level of Christian commitment, and began to take his or her Christian discipleship more seriously? Maybe she began to talk more - to witness. You've not heard this sort of language before, not from a person like her, President of the Junior League or the Garden ...

7. Is Anything Unforgivable?

Mark 3:20-30

Sermon

David G. Rogne

One morning I was roused from sleep around 3 a.m. by the ringing of the telephone. The person on the other end of the line was distraught because, she said, she had committed the unforgivable sin. It is interesting to me that such calls often occur at such an hour, after the bars have closed. The woman went on to say that at some point in her life she had really been angry about something, and had said, "Damn the Holy Spirit." Now she was remorseful, but she knew that Jesus had said that blasphemy against ...

8. "Gotcha" Questions from Mean-Spirited People

Sermon

R. Robert Cueni

It is that fateful final week of the earthly ministry of Jesus. On Sunday the people of Jerusalem welcome the Lord and his entourage with a parade. A crowd lines the main street. They cheer and spread their cloaks on the dusty road. Jesus rides a borrowed donkey. He comes down the Mount of Olives, across the Kidron Valley, through an ancient gate, and into the city. The crowd chants as he rides passed, "Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord! Peace in heaven, and glory in the highest heaven ...

9. Who?

Acts 5:27-32

Sermon

Frank Ramirez

My guess is that unless you're a fan of Elizabethan theater you've never heard of Robert Greene (1560?-1592). In his day, however, he was a well-known and respected poet and essayist. His best-known play, "Friar Bacon and Friar Bungay," remained popular for decades. Yet, for the most part, he is remembered solely for one phrase in a pamphlet written on his deathbed, in which he lashed out at everybody and everything. In that one passage he characterized the young William Shakespeare as "an upstart crow" ...

10. Speak From Personal Experience

Matthew 6:25-34

Sermon

Robert V. Dodd

They can't refute it! Fatigue is one of the products of modern society: We tend to either get excited about the wrong things, or we don't get excited about anything. Perhaps an appropriate contemporary paraphrase of Matthew 6:25-34 would be, "Don't get excited about food and drink to keep you alive or clothes to cover your body. Surely there is more to life than this. Those who are without God get excited about such things, but you should not, because your heavenly Father already knows your needs and will ...

11. His Teachings

Luke 20:27-40

Sermon

Brett Blair

This morning we are continuing our Lenten series on the Passion of the Christ, the last week of the life of Jesus. Previously we looked at the events of Sunday when he enters Jerusalem on the donkey fulfilling the Messianic prophecy of Zechariah. It was a day of celebration. On Monday Jesus weeps over Jerusalem, curses the fig tree, and clears the Temple of the moneychangers. It is a day of emotions. Today we focus on Tuesday, the day of teachings. It is a day questions. Someone has figured that if we put ...

12. The Political Controversies Of Jesus

Luke 20:27-47

Sermon

Brett Blair

Someone has figured that if we put all of the materials in the Gospels that tell us about the life of Jesus together that it would equal about 80 pages. Yet, most of that would represent duplication, for we know that some of the Gospel writers copied from others. If, therefore you eliminate the duplication, you would have only 20 pages that tell us about Jesus life and teachings. Of those 20 pages, 13 of them deal specifically with the last week of his life. And if you separate it still further, you will ...

13. In The Beginning And The End...God

Genesis 1:1-2:3

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

"A fire mist and a planet –a crystal and a cell a jellyfish and a saurian,and caves where the cave men dwell; Then a sense of law and beauty and a face turned from the clod Some call it Evolution,And others call it God. A haze on the far horizon,The infinite tender sky.The ripe, rich tint of the cornfields, and the wild geese sailing high;. And all over upland and lowland, the charm of the goldenrod,Some call it Autumn,And others call it God. Like tides on a crescent sea beach When the moon is new and thin ...

14. Epiphany:The Joy of Fulfillment

Luke 4:14-30

Sermon

J. Ellsworth Kalas

I've read some books where it seemed the author had no purpose in writing. When that's the case, I'm glad if I can discover it early, so I don't invest too much time in a meaningless search. In some instances, however, I've been slow to recognize the problem, perhaps because I've been looking so earnestly for the author's point that I didn't realize he was without one. No such charge can be made against Luke, the Greek physician who gave us the Gospel which bears his name. He knew why he was writing, and ...

15. Epiphany: The Tragedy of Rejection

Luke 4:14-30

Sermon

J. Ellsworth Kalas

In the church, most of us think of Epiphany simply as a season on the church calendar, and sometimes as a season we don't understand too well. We may recall that we are celebrating particularly the revealing of Christ to the Gentile world, via the Wise Men, but not much more. The dictionary, however, adds further dimension to the word, listen: "a sudden, intuitive perception ... into the reality or essential meaning of something, usually initiated by some simple, homely, or commonplace occurrence or ...

16. The Complexity of the Situation

Matthew 22:34-46

Illustration

The Constitution of the United States started off with only 7 articles and 21 sections that took up only four handwritten pages including signatures! 4 pages! But to that we added 27 amendments. Today, the United States Code, which is all of the laws in this country, fills up around 80 volumes of books, nearly 800,000 pages, and this doesn't even include the Federal Regulations. In 1942, the Virginia Code was a single book that had 2800 pages. Today, the Virginia Code is a 25-volume set of books with 15, ...

17. Acts 5:27-32

Acts 5:27-32

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

Today's text describes a head-on encounter the religious authorities have with Jesus' followers. The Sanhedrin's frustration is becoming acute. They have tried threats, orders and imprisonment but the apostles keep showing up and keep preaching. This last time, they have really pushed the limit. They not only escape from a well-guarded jail cell, but instead of fleeing for their safety, they immediately continue preaching their message right in the middle of the temple courtyard. Perhaps one of the most ...

18. The Unforgivable Sin

Mark 3:20-30

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

One of my favorite preachers, Clarence Forsberg, tells a story about a man who realized his life-long ambition by going on a safari in Africa. “He took along his wife, even though she was not the outdoors type. They set up camp in a jungle cleaning, and as he prepared to go out the first day he presented his wife with a little silver bell. He explained, ‘There is really nothing to worry about. I’m not going to be very far away. If you have any trouble at all, just ring this bell, and I’ll come right back.’ ...

19. In Whose Likeness?

Matthew 22:15-22

Sermon

Chris Ewing

Okay, teacher, you think you're so smart — is it lawful to pay taxes to the emperor? Talk about your loaded question! If we're talking about the law of Rome, the law of the imperial government, the law of this part of the world, of course it's legal to pay taxes to the emperor — it's illegal not to! And just in case Jesus was hoping to fudge a bit on the answer, there are among his questioners members of the Herodian party, supporters of the puppet king, toadies to the Roman government, here listening to ...

20. The Political Controversies of Jesus - Sermon Starter

Luke 20:27-47

Illustration

Brett Blair

21. Aha! An Epiphany!

Matthew 3:13-17

Sermon

King Duncan

There is a wonderful story about a young man who was dating a very attractive girl. One Sunday after church the two went for a picnic. The young man had made arrangements to rent a row boat. His plan was to row to a small island on their favorite lake and enjoy a lunch which he himself had prepared. Since he had been unaccustomed to making lunches, he had forgotten to pack a number of things. His attractive friend said, “It might be nice if we had some salt, ketchup and napkins.” Without hesitation the ...

22. Paul's Hardships

2 Corinthians 6:3-13

Understanding Series

James M. Scott

Having exhorted the Corinthians to recognize his God-given ministry of reconciliation (5:16–6:2), Paul continues the discussion of his ministry in 6:3–13 by declaring that he is completely innocent of any aspersions that have been cast on his ministry. Paul claims that, in word and deed, he commends himself as a genuine apostle who is motivated by sincere love. 6:3 The new section opens quite defensively. Paul knows that his ministry has come under fire because of his alleged inconsistency and double- ...

23. Further Opposition to the Rebuilding

Nehemiah 6:1-14

Understanding Series

Leslie C. Allen

Success in Spite of Intimidation: The keyword of this chapter is intimidation. Of the major English versions, only the NJPS is consistent in its fivefold rendering of the same Hebrew verb for intimidation. It occurs regularly at the conclusion of paragraphs, in verses 9, 13–14, 16, and 19. The first main section, consisting of verses 1–14, is divided into two parallel subsections describing different attempts to intimidate, in verses 1–9 and 10–14. Then verses 15–16 record a great reversal of the ...

24. Yahweh Speaks as the Master Teacher

Job 38:1--41:34

Teach the Text

Daniel J. Estes

Big Idea: Yahweh poses questions about the physical world to demonstrate that Job’s knowledge is too limited to explain how God works in his world. Understanding the Text Throughout the speeches in chapters 3–37, the various human speakers claim to know what Yahweh thinks about Job’s situation, but in chapter 38 Yahweh finally breaks his silence and speaks for himself. Yahweh addresses Job in 38:1–40:2, focusing on his design for the world (38:2), and then Job replies briefly in 40:3–5. Yahweh resumes ...

25. The Lord Speaks

Job 38:1--41:34

Understanding Series

Gerald H. Wilson

God’s Appearance and Examination of Job Excursus: It should be clear from the outset that the fact God that appears in response to Job’s plea for a meeting immediately puts the lie to any claims to the contrary that Elihu and the other friends have made. God does appear in response to Job. His very appearance, therefore, proves Elihu’s earlier claim false—that God will not respond to Job because he has already spoken his final word of judgment in Job’s suffering. Deciding how to characterize this divine ...

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