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 66 results

1. Bitter-Sweet Recollections

Isaiah 50:1-11

Sermon

Barbara Brokhoff

... act was carried an ugly step further when they crucified him. Gone, then, was his own robe. The soldiers gambled for it at the foot of his cross. Gone, too, was the purple robe, and then his blessed, God-in-the-flesh body was laid bare to the shameful ignominy of the gaze of all who would witness the spectacle of his nakedness. How it must have shocked his pure and holy heart to be so ignobly exposed to all who passed by! He was deprived of all of the respectability of covering for his human form. In our ...

2. A Dead Man in a Witch’s Cave

1 Samuel 28:1-25

Sermon

R. Blaine Detrick

... God’s protection in the present ... and hope because of God’s promise for the future. For personal reading: 1 Samuel 1--46; 25:1; 28 For public reading: 1 Samuel 28:3-19 Outline The Power of Prayer (1 Samuel 1) The Reality of Revelation (1 Samuel 3) The Ignominy of "Ichabod" (1 Samuel 4) The Eternity of "Ebenezer" (1 Samuel 7) Q-SHEET Samuel - A Dead Man in a Witch’s Cave 1 Samuel 1--16 QUIZ: (True or False? Try first without a Bible; then use the verses to verify each answer.) 1. ____ Samuel was born ...

3. Abimelech

Judges 9:1-57

Understanding Series

Cheryl A. Brown

... in this story—could have singlehandedly brought him down implies God’s miraculous intervention, as it does in the story of Jael and Sisera. This illustrious warrior, like Sisera, did not want to be remembered by the epithet, A woman killed him (v. 54). Such an ignominious ending was more than he could bear, so he ordered his armor-bearer to draw his sword and kill him. Thus Abimelech died in some ways like Sisera, in some ways like Saul would later die (1 Sam. 31:4). The analogy to both is appropriate ...

4. A Prophecy Against Jerusalem

Isaiah 22:1-25

Understanding Series

John Goldingay

... title the Lord, the LORD Almighty and the repeated reference to that day (vv. 12–13) link with verses 5–8a and 8b–11, but the content of verses 12–13 takes us back to verses 1–4. There ought to have been grief at their losses and their ignominy, at the fate that still awaits them and at their failure to turn to Yahweh, but there is only revelry. They would not have actually said let us eat and drink for tomorrow we die. The prophet puts on their lips the implications of their behavior (cf. 28:15 ...

5. Which Way To Jesus?

John 12:20-36

Sermon

Harry N. Huxhold

... following our Lord Jesus Christ. How You Die We, of course, know how Jesus died. In these Lenten days we meditate upon the Passion and death of our Lord, who was crucified as a common criminal. Accused both by religious and civil communities, he died an ignominious death as an insurrectionist and blasphemer. Both crimes were the highest offense against either the state or the church. We know that Jesus was guilty of neither. Yet that is not what the law said. Under the law he died as accused. We know that ...

6. Shameless Passion

Isaiah 50:1-11

Sermon

Paul W. Kummer

... That stings, but its not humiliating like the plucking of the beard Jesus went through out of hardened anger against him or the degradation of the spittle that ran down his face after one of the soldiers cleared his throat and let it fly. Utter contempt. Ignominy to the highest degree. Yet, Jesus wasn't disgraced. The only shame for Jesus would have been resisting this and many other embarrassing indecencies that were done to him. He was not shamed, because he bore the weight of our sin all the way and was ...

7. Holy Week

Sermon

Richard Gribble

... through our baptismal commitment. This life will be filled with challenges; it will not always be easy to accept the call. The model we have is Jesus. He knew that his message would not be accepted. He knew that his mission would lead to an agonizing death of ignominy on the cross. Yet he fulfilled his mission to the fullest. We as those who follow in his footsteps have become the benefactors of his great act of love. Let us make a greater effort to live the vocation we have been given. In this holiest of ...

8. Prayers for Memorial Day, Election, Thanksgiving

Bulletin Aid

Rolland R. Reece

... for their husbands and wives, and for their children. We pray for their parents, their brothers and sisters, their friends. We pray for our allies. Even though it is sometimes difficult for us, we pray for our enemies. They too will twist in pain and die ignominiously upon the earth's crust. How we yearn for peace, the reunion of families, and the resumption of tasks that are designed to meet human needs in the ways of compassion and gentleness. Take our words, as faulty as they may be, and transform them ...

9. Epiphany 3

Mt 4:12-23 · 1 Cor 1:10-18 · Is 9:1-4 · Amos 3:1-8 · Ps 27 · Ps 139

Sermon Aid

Russell F. Anderson

... : Isaiah 9:1-4 Living in the latter time. Isaiah distinguishes the former time of gloom and sadness from the latter time of light and gladness. There is no evidence that anything has changed politically in his homeland. Yet, in the midst of ignominy and darkness, the prophet envisions through faith a luminous future. We cannot always change where we are physically but we can live wherever we want to be emotionally and spiritually. Isaiah existed in a bleak political landscape, yet he was bathed in the ...

10. Epiphany 4

1 Corinthians 1:18--2:5, Micah 6:1-8, Matthew 5:1-12

Sermon Aid

Russell F. Anderson

... Greek word translated "stumbling block" could just as well be rendered scandal. We wear crosses around our necks as objects of jewelry which belies it original offensiveness. It was an odious blasphemy according to Jewish thinking that the Messiah should meet such an ignominious end. The gospel, as we have often presented it, is pabulum; it has been stripped of its scandalous and offensive character in our attempt to be all things to all people. Not that the church is free of scandal. There is sometimes the ...

11. Lent 2

John 3:1-21, Genesis 12:1-8, Romans 4:1-25

Sermon Aid

Russell F. Anderson

... course, this point would have been lost on Nicodemus, for he had not yet witnessed the Christ crucified, but it makes perfect sense to those of us who look to Christ for salvation. Note John's theology of the cross. The cross is not the symbol of ignominy and shame but of glory and power. The cross is, in effect, Jesus' throne. "For God so loved the world ..." Personal salvation is not the goal of Christianity. God desires to save the whole world. Much the same point was made in the first lesson, the call ...

12. A Seeking Savior

Luke 10:1-24

Sermon

W. Robert McClelland

... not just any human form. It was the form of a servant; a servant who was willing to be obedient even unto death. And not just any death! Certainly not the peaceful death of old age after a full life surrounded by admirers. Death on a cross; the ignominious death of a common criminal, deserted and alone. Paul's conclusion is clear: Jesus had no intention of pulling rank. He took off his clerical collar and risked getting decked in the brawl. He risked taking his lumps with the rest of us and in so doing tore ...

13. The Same New Jesus

Acts 1:1-11

Sermon

Carl Hoefler

... Pharisees, discouraging the elaborate ritual of the priests and the liturgical extravagancies of the temple. We picture our Lord as the "Gentle Jesus," the humble "Servant-Savior" with a bowl and a towel, who sits washing the feet of his disciples and silently submitting to the ignominious death of a criminal on a cross. This is a true picture of our Lord, but, it is only a one-dimensional view. It is only a partial picture of our Lord, particularly when we fail to project our vision above time and space in ...

14. Independence Day - The Mission of the Mighty

John 8:31-41

Sermon

... never be truly or safely free until all people on earth enjoy that same freedom. Ironically, again and again, as democracies in the world have failed and fallen in South America, in Central America, in Asia and in Africa, we have found ourselves ignominiously supporting military juntas that represent everything that the founders of our nation utterly abhorred. Is THIS our mission in the world? A few years ago on the 4th of July an enterprising news reporter in Madison, Wisconsin, handed a slip of paper to ...

15. Prayer

Matthew 21:1-11

Bulletin Aid

... their lights on Accompanying a last journey. Is Palm Sunday a PARADE Or a procession? A celebration Or a mourning Or - Somehow - Both? Lord, forgive me for seeing only the surface The palms and psalms The "Hosannas" And help me to remember that Jesus entered in triumph To leave in ignominy - To rise in glory! And help me to walk my own "parade" In his steps And for his sake. Amen

16. Death: Commonality Explored

Deuteronomy 34:1-12

Sermon

... dull to hear only Baptists speak to Baptists, Methodists to Methodists, Lutherans to Lutherans, about this matter. Death is a grand opportunity! It provides a spiritually enriching experience which can lift us in our walk with Christ and not defeat us with ignominy. This opportunity is for all Christians and it especially grants us a means to reach out to those parts of traditions different from our own. In helping another pilgrim accept himself/herself before the death angel, we prepare ourselves to do the ...

17. The Post Launch Slump

2 Cor 8:10-11

Sermon

Robert Noblett

... aspiration; his campaign is covered closely by the press; there is much hoopla surrounding his inauguration; promises are painted in reds and yellows and oranges and after a time in office indications of improprieties emerge and and what began in promise ends in ignominy. It happens religiously. She has a very moving conversion experience and for a while there is much excitement over the change; but after the passing of time there is only a worshiping of that conversion’s forms and what began as a gush ...

18. Embalmed With Cardiac Arrest

Luke 24:13-35

Sermon

Louis H. Valbracht

... Kingdom of the Messiah was riding the crest of a wave of popularity. Jesus was acclaimed with enthusiasm wherever he went. And now, the Master was dead; the collapse of the Kingdom was complete. Instead of the long hoped for triumph, there was nothing except this ignominious defeat. And so these two men groveled along in utter despair. But let’s not be too hard on them; let’s not be too critical. They were too close to the horror of Calvary, too close to the cross and the debris of their own shattered ...

19. What On Earth Is God Doing? - 1940

Psalm 76:1-12

Sermon

Kent Moorehead

... noblest, gentlest Man the world has ever known. Jesus stood before Pilate and admitted that the latter had enormous power to do evil. And Pilate cravenly used that power and allowed the Master to be crucified. But God took that cross, symbol as it was of ignominious defeat, and made it the medium of the mightiest moral victories conceivable. Whereas once it suggested a hiss, now it elicits a song, and men praise God by singing, "In the Cross of Christ I Glory." What on earth is God doing? Well, at least, he ...

20. Is The Social Gospel Out Of Date?

Matthew 6:25-34

Sermon

Kent Moorehead

... whole economy depends, would be positively suicidal. The madness of militarism is driving us to a veritable pentecost of calamity. But everybody knows it would be unpatriotic, not to say downright subversive, to anything but acquiesce piously, impotently, ignominiously - and hide what little light there might be under the bushel of silence. So we tacitly agree to ignore these controversial matters and put exclusive emphasis on personal evangelism - an evangelism so personal that it dies aborning, because ...

21. The Outcome of Easter Faith

Isaiah 25:1-12

Sermon

Donald Macleod

... once said, "Because I live you will live also," (John 14:19 RSV) do we presume that this is automatically going to happen? If so, we are overlooking the fact that Christ’s aliveness was secured by the bloody sweat of Gethsemane and a ghastly and ignominious death upon Calvary. Indeed, no one of us has any right to celebrate or share in the victory of Easter Day who has not been through a Good Friday experience in which we have broken down all our worldly priorities and thrown ourselves upon the mercy ...

22. So Many Pieces to Play With

Illustration

Paul Tournier

... . In this way the ego is enlarged to include all its pawns in order to increase its chances. It is not enough, of course, to have pawns. One must also know how to use them. And the more one has, the more difficult this is - and the more ignominious it would be to fail with so many pieces to play with! So it is that many people deny their talents, both to escape the responsibility that goes with them, and to insure against possible failure. The reason why so many people take pleasure in thinking and talking ...

23. The Final Farewell

Luke 24:50-53, Luke 24:36-49

Sermon

George Bass

... trumpet will sound to usher in the fullness of his kingdom. For us, the Ascension of the Lord ought to mean that the resurrection of Jesus is now complete. His God-given mission, which ended so suddenly and, in the eyes of the world, so ignominiously, is closed out in triumph. He had to return to his Father, simply because he could not go on, century after century, manifesting his resurrected person to doubters and believers alike. That would have mislocated belief in Christ in the realm of sight, rather ...

24. On the Singing of Hymns

Mark 14:12-26

Sermon

Donald B. Strobe

... Jesus and His friends left the Upper Room on their way to Calvary, they needed a fresh start. And they found refreshment in singing a hymn together. Jesus knew, if they did not, that ahead of him lay the Garden of Gethsemane, Calvary, and an ignominious death. But with the words of the hymn still ringing in Jesus’ ears he found the strength for the struggle ahead. During the First World War a cynical English colonel delighted in badgering an old village priest, where the colonel’s regiment was billeted ...

25. Cross Connections

John 18:1-11

Sermon

Robert Noblett

... the seemingly inexplicable shifts that occur in the wake of Jesus' death? What is heinous becomes hopeful; what is deadly becomes salvific; what is seemingly an ending becomes instead a beginning; what is raised in hate issues in health; what is designed to be ignominious becomes something in which the community of faith glories; humankind's worst is met with God's best. We remember this gruesome, ugly event and it so dramatizes God's deadly determination to get our attention and win our hearts that we can ...

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