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 1413 results

1. A Favored One

Sermon

James Bjorge

... of Joseph’s family. And as the family grew Joseph must have died, for we find no reference to him when Jesus began his public ministry. Mary must have been proud of her oldest Son. Scripture said, "And Jesus increased in wisdom and in stature, and in favor with God and man" (Luke 2:52). Those were good days. Humble people loved him. But as he began his public ministry the powerful ones regarded him with increasing hatred. People were beginning to line up either for him or against him. Even in his hometown ...

2. Losing Favor Or Losing Flavor?

Mark 9:42-50

Sermon

King Duncan

... and persecute you and say all manner of evil against you falsely for my sake." I doubt that many of us are very offensive to other folks because of our religion. Indeed, it is the norm to be a "Christian" in our society today. We have gained the favor of men, but in gaining favor, have we lost our flavor? That is in our text for the day. Jesus said, "Salt is good but if salt has lost its saltness wherewith will ye season it," or if salt has lost its flavor what good is it? Jesus was talking to his disciples ...

3. Mary's Complaint

Luke 1:26-38, Luke 1:39-45, Luke 1:46-56

Sermon

David E. Leininger

... folks whose stories we see on the evening news...but we do it anyway. Shame on us. If anyone had cause for complaint it was Mary. Listen and learn from her: "My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, for he has looked with favor on the lowliness of his servant. Surely, from now on all generations will call me blessed; for the Mighty One has done great things for me, and holy is his name." Mary's remarkable complaint. Let us pray. O God, we confess that we are far too quick to ...

4. Mary's Complaint

Luke 1:26-38

Sermon

David E. Leininger

... story we know. No, Mary knew how to complain. She was normal; she was a human being like anyone else with all the natural tendencies to gripe and moan like any of us. But something kept her from it. She had heard from the angel that she was “favored,” and she believed it. She knew enough about what being chosen meant simply by looking at her nation’s history. The Jews were God’s chosen people... but chosen for what? A life of ease? A life without pain? A life with no problems? Hardly. This “chosen ...

5. Who is That Crouching at Your Door?

Genesis 4:1-26

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... mere portion of his crops as Cain did out of duty. But he gives to God his best gift from the love of his heart –the best sheep of his pasture, and the best cuts and fat from it. His regard is for pleasing God, not for receiving God’s favor. And it is upon this beautiful and humble heart that God gives divine gaze. And you can almost hear the words, can’t you? As Jesus did at his baptism? “With you I am well pleased.” Or best yet, “You bring me such great pleasure.” Cain was about as jealous ...

6. Surprise

Luke 1:26-38

Sermon

J. Howard Olds

... by God, people are just standing in line wanting to help you in every way that they possibly can. Now I want to be generous to my colleagues in ministry around the world, but I want to tell you that's heresy! Listen to what it was to be highly favored if you were Mary: She birthed a child out of wedlock. She endured the stares of the Nazarenes. She could find no room in the inn. She never quite understood the mission of Jesus. She endured the misery of the cross, weeping over the death of her son. At the ...

7. Quenching St. Anthony's Fire

Mark 8:27-38

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... To be a disciple means you understand what it must have been like to be Mary, the mother of Jesus. Mary is absolutely central disciples of Jesus must come to grips with her. You have heard the carpenter's call, you have been chosen to receive God's favor. You, the least, the last, the lost have been called, like Mary, to give birth to the Christ child, to bring Christ to this earth, to make Christ come alive among men and women. There is a popular religious mentality abominating the air today. It says that ...

8. Mary and Joseph: His Obedient Servants

Luke 2:1-7

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

... more binding. In fact, in a sense, it was as demanding and as binding as a marriage. It lasted a year and could be dissolved only by divorce. Pregnant, but not by her husband. What could this mean? Mary could have heard mocking words. “Highly favored of the Lord” – how could it be when before her Mary saw nothing but open shame, even an outcast death. So there she is – a Jewish girl of humble background, designating herself as a person of “low estate” – not rich or famous, not sophisticated or ...

9. Mary, Did You Know?

Luke 1:26-38

Sermon

King Duncan

... Mary’s ordeal earned her a record 424 points. (3) This, of course, does not even include the flight to Egypt. Or even more importantly, the experience of watching her beloved son die as a common criminal on a cross. Is this what it means to be favored of God? Evidently being favored of God does not protect you from life’s bumps and bruises. This is an important truth. It is so easy for us to say when things are going our way, “The Lord sure is blessing us.” That sounds so pious, doesn’t it? We are ...

10. The House Of Our Dreams

Luke 2:21-40

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

... , and what was his reward? -- 40 years of leadership of a people who were continually complaining and grumbling and wondering whether they wouldn't have been better off as slaves in the mud pits of Egypt. Or, Jeremiah the Prophet -- he was another of God's favored. He was also hated and rejected by his own people until finally they tossed him into a well just to get him out of their sight! Or perhaps Mary considered the history of Israel itself, the whole of God's favorite people, enjoying a few years of ...

11. Trouble in the Vineyard

Matthew 20:1-16

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... Cain and Abel story all over again. It’s the Jonah story all over again. It’s the Joseph story all over again. Again and again in the scriptures, we see stories of jealousy, envy, anger, and shouts of unfairness in regard to the way God grants love, favor, and mercy upon those we feel should not deserve it. And we all know how these stories end. It’s never well. Jesus in his vineyard story is trying to help his disciples and colleagues understand that God sees all people as equally worth God’s love ...

12. The Promise of a Son

Genesis 15:1-18

Sermon

Carlyle Fielding Stewart

... life. For Abram, the son and his seed would continue for eternity. For Christians, the son Jesus and his seed give us eternal life. It is the promise that God makes to give that son that secures our hope, solidifies our faith, and tells us of God’s continuing favor. We sinners are imperfect and flawed, like Abram, but the promise of the son and the gift of God’s son is a sign of redemption and hope. That God would love us so much that he would give his only son is continuation of that covenant promise ...

13. An Announcement from Our Lord

Isaiah 61:1-11

Sermon

King Duncan

... Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to set the oppressed free, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor and the day of vengeance of our God . . .” Did you catch that? Jesus left off the part about “the day of vengeance of our God . . .” Do you suppose that was an accident or could this be part of his mission to correct how humanity sees God? Could this have ...

14. Veiled Glimpses of God's Glory

Exodus 33:12-23

Sermon

Robert S. Crilley

... orphans would be as futile as climbing stairs of sand! Everyone in the audience moves to the edges of their seats. "If your presence will not go," Moses insists, pressing the point, "do not carry us up from here. For how shall it be known that I have found favor in your sight, I and your people, unless you go with us? In this way, we shall be distinct, I and your people, from every people on the face of the earth" (Exodus 33:15-16). For someone who once complained of being "slow of tongue," Moses evidently ...

15. Do It For the Joy of It!

Matthew 22:34-40

Sermon

... where we happen to be at any given time. We keep a mental checklist. God had better keep one too, because the more good things we do - because we love the way he taught us to - the more God "owes" us. We’re accumulating IOU’s by doing favors - loving favors, mind you, but favors, nonetheless. Not only do WE keep a list and not only should God keep one, but those whom we show love to ought to do the same. It’s tradin’ day: We do good things for others so that they will do good things for us. It’s ...

16. Blessed among Women

Luke 1:39-45, 1 Samuel 2:1-11

Sermon

Erskine White

... ways to the world. Yet we can say all of this about Mary and still not reveal what is most important about her. What matters most about Mary is that she was a regular, ordinary person. She declares as much in our text. "God has looked with favor upon the lowliness of His servant," she says. She is a simple peasant girl, engaged to a carpenter and living in a dusty little village in a dusty little nation. She never calls herself anything unique or special, never claims to be more educated, refined or worthy ...

17. A Streak of Common Sense

Deuteronomy 18:14-22

Sermon

Thomas D. Peterson

... them a prophet like Moses and put his words in his mouth. By paying heed to the prophet, they will be able to obtain the favor of the Lord. The prophet God sends will be a true prophet, speaking the word of God. The people therefore must be ready not only to ... us, and then to go and do what the new covenant relationship required. How often we cry out for a special instance of God’s favor, a miracle, a sign. If only we could see or hear God, what heroic disciples we would be? Sad to say, we do not receive ...

18. The Fruit of Forgiveness

Genesis 45:1-28

Sermon

Harry N. Huxhold

... to share this kind of stuff with him and Joseph’s brothers. He remonstrated with Joseph about that. At the same time, Jacob did keep the matter in his mind. The brothers could not forget the matter either. The Rough Years Joseph paid a price for the favored position he enjoyed in his father’s household. On one occasion Jacob sent Joseph to visit his brothers to see how they were doing as they were grazing their herds. On the spot, the brothers hatched a plot to kill the young man, but thought better of ...

19. When Your Lips Are One Place But Your Heart . . .

Mark 7:1-23

Sermon

King Duncan

... and provide them with a good example? Although Ollie was secretly dealing with her own despair and lack of faith, she agreed to the favor. Not long afterwards, Ollie's resolve was put to the test. She was offered a job at a local school, if she would pay ... 4. Richards, Lawrence O. THE 365-DAY DEVOTIONAL COMMENTARY (Colorado Springs, Colo.: ChariotVictor Publishing, 1990), p. 645. 5. "A Favor for Anne" by Ollie A. Trolinger, MORE STORIES FROM GUIDEPOSTS: FRIENDSHIP AT ITS BEST (Wheaton, Ill.: Tyndale House ...

20. How Can This Be?

Luke 1:26-38

Sermon

J. Howard Olds

... to this older man who would provide her a home and a family. Who was Mary? She is an ordinary teenager, for whom God has an extraordinary mission, namely to give birth to the Son of God. Behold the mystery of Christmas. Greetings Jim, Janice, Ben, Barbara. You are highly favored; the Lord is with you. What kind of a miracle would it take for you to believe that today? God has a message for you, a place for you in the midst of life, a particular mission for you to fulfill. That is what I want to suggest for ...

21. Show Me What’s Real

Exodus 33:12-23

Sermon

Timothy J. Smith

... by name." God would be present once again with the people as they continued their journey to the promised land. One might have thought that this victory would be enough for Moses, but it was not. He appealed to God's gracious side and God responded favorably. Moses made one more request of God, "Show me your glory." What more does Moses want? You could argue that God had already shown Moses glory — what else did anyone need? Perhaps Moses wanted to make sure that the breach opened up by the idolatry of ...

22. Praise God! Selah!

Luke 1:67-80, Luke 1:57-66, Luke 1:46-56, Luke 1:39-45, Luke 1:26-38, Luke 1:5-25, Luke 1:1-4

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... motioning to them and remained unable to speak. When his time of service was ended, he went to his home. After those days his wife Elizabeth conceived, and for five months she remained in seclusion. She said, “This is what the Lord has done for me when he looked favorably on me and took away the disgrace I have endured among my people.” In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a town in Galilee called Nazareth, to a virgin engaged to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. The ...

23. Calling All Wide Receivers!

Luke 2:8-20

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... grace…..and to run with it? Can you allow yourself to be fully and truly loved? For that’s what it means to live in God’s favor! Based on the Story Lectionary Major Text The Birth of Jesus (Luke 2:6-20) Minor Text The Birth of Sons and the Favor of Abel (Genesis 4) Joseph and His Multi-Colored Coat (Genesis 36 and 38) Moses and the Pleasure of the Lord (Exodus 33) The Favor of the Lord Upon Hannah and Samuel (1 Samuel 2:18-26) Psalm 84: Blessed are Those Who Dwell in Your House Psalm 106: The Lord ...

24. Anointed Ministry

Isaiah 61:1-11

Sermon

Ron Lavin

... neighbors - turned gang - and then he walked through the midst of them. That's authority. He was truly the anointed one, the author with rights based on origin. A Jubilee For You And Me? This is a dangerous text because Jesus made it his own. Favor, comfort, gladness, building, repair - these are Jesus' ways of ministry, a ministry he expects all who follow him to use as a pattern. In other words, all the baptized are anointed and called to minister by: proclaiming good news to the afflicted, freeing people ...

25. Being Wealthy, Religious and Powerful

Micah 2:1-5

Sermon

... by the powerful. Has it changed much in our time? The women and the children, the special ones with whom God is concerned because he knows if their condition is favorable, the condition of all people is favorable. If their condition is not favorable, the condition of others may be ever-so-favorable, but in his eyes it is not favorable. The women and children are outraged by being driven out of their homes (such as they are), and driven into exile. Even their poor excuses for homes are seized by those ...

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