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

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1. The Assumption Of Discipline

Matthew 6:1-4, Matthew 6:5-15, Matthew 6:16-18, Matthew 6:19-24

Sermon

John N. Brittain

... landscape is dotted not with shrines of Baal nor temples of Aphrodite but by Golden Arches, fasting certainly seems out of place. Jesus says that fasting is not to be a show, and we have to remember not to confuse it with the excessive and masochistic mortification of the Middle Ages. Nor is it dieting, which has a physical motivation, nor a hunger strike which has a political or public relations focus, nor even a planned famine to raise money for the hungry, all of which are good things, but not fasting ...

2. He Who Has Ears to Hear, Let Him Hear

Luke 8:1-15

Sermon

Larry Powell

... garbage cans." There is every evidence that we are a well-bathed, well-fed country. Food and cleanliness are not always viewed in the same perspective. The Church in medieval times disdained personal hygiene, maintaining that the unkept body was "proper mortification of the flesh." Today, of course, cleanliness is extolled. Likewise, ardent believers fasted as a spiritual purge. More recently, the fast has been used as a vehicle of protest by social activists. In a word, meanings are largely determined by ...

3. Time and Stewardship

Sermon

Larry Powell

... it tends to resemble someone staging a house-burning to say that arson is an alternative to fire. I dunno. Identifying oneself with the cause of Christ has often been understood to involve certain bizarre, sensational tactics, ranging from self-mortification, mutiliation, and deprivation, to painful piety. For some reason, the pain and suffering syndrome has greater appeal to certain personalities than does the prospect, out of our Lord's own mouth, of having "life, and life more abundantly," accompanied by ...

4. Tears in Raniah

Jeremiah 30:1--31:40

Sermon

... personal seal, a black cross in a red heart, set in a white rose. That white rose blossoms in a blue sky, circled by a golden ring. Luther wrote that although God’s cross hurts us, it never destroys. The black of the cross was to represent mortification. The rose symbolizes faith, keeping our hearts alive in joy. The blue stands for the joy of heaven as we walk through Christ’s cross to the golden ring of blessedness without end. Luther’s seal has helped me when I have felt exile, loss, or exclusion ...

5. An Old Plan For New People

Genesis 17:1-27

Sermon

Larry Powell

... be admired, but the method of self-flagellation is utterly unnecessary. God has a better plan: For Christ also died for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God. (1 Peter 3:18) We are a covenant people. Crucifixions, mortification, and brutality need never be repeated again. That has been done. It is God’s plan that we become a new people. God can use you where you are, whatever your age, occupation, or station in life. He can do a new and wonderful thing through ...

6. When Ten Equals Two

Exodus 20:1-21

Sermon

Larry Powell

... as to our relationship to the Almighty and to our fellows. What does God expect of us and how are we to conduct our affairs among our own kind? From earliest times, human sacrifices, the slaughter of animals, food offerings, and self-mortification were practiced by those generations whose primitive notions caused them to confuse brutality with devotion to gods of various names. Morality, more often than not, was an unwritten code revered as a matter of social preservation, usually differing from tribe to ...

7. The Next Step

Colossians 3:1-17

Sermon

Harold Warlick

... put out ... put out.” To a people obsessed with nature worship, astrological speculation, and wisdom teaching drawn from Hellenistic mystery cults, Paul was adamant: “Put out your old religious clothing. Get rid of the old. Don’t live with excessive food, drink, sex, and mortification of the human body.” The first half of the letter is a clear list of taboos. The old ways are dead. He talks constantly about the need for a “make-over.” And if you are going to get a new image you’ve certainly ...

8. A Man Who Walked the Talk

Acts 7:55-60

Sermon

King Duncan

... . Gottfried started to turn and slip out, but the headmaster saw him and called out, “Gottfried come here, there’s a chair for you.” The headmaster presented him a chair to sit in. It was the headmaster’s own chair. Gottfried says, “To my utter mortification the headmaster sat on the floor.” Those two simple acts of Christian love--bothering to know his name and sitting on the floor so Gottfried could have a chair--impressed Osei-Mensah so much that he was led to Christ. Years later he saw the ...

9. Healing the Pain from the Past

Ezekiel 34:11-16, 20-24

Sermon

Charles L. Aaron

... of the dance -- in front of everyone -- her mother staggered in, barely able to stand, reeking of liquor. In the mother's hands was a pair of the daughter's shoes. She had no place to hide, no hole opened up to swallow her. Her mortification was on display for everyone to see. Decades later, she could not recount the story without choking up. We don't like to talk about it, but, too often, parents are guilty of downright abuse. Parents betray their children verbally, emotionally, physically, and sexually ...

10. Just a Little Faith Will Do

Luke 17:1-10

Sermon

King Duncan

... in a certain house of his Order for three years, he did not know a single friar by sight. (4) That poor man. How could he have missed so completely the abundant life that Christ has promised? How could he have read the teachings of Jesus and concluded that mortification of the flesh would draw him closer to God? Jesus was a man who loved life, and he loved people. He did not call people to withdraw from the world, but to go out and win the world. There is a chapter in Professor Thomas Jessop’s book, Law ...

11. Sandbox First, Soapbox Second

Mark 1:29-34, Mark 1:35-39

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... together. We all have stories of strange relatives in our family trees. Can I get a witness this morning? The church family is no exception. St. Simeon Stylites was a one such unusual branch of the Christian tree. When fasting and self-mortification didn’t bring him the spiritual peace he sought, Simeon “invented” what became known as “pillar asceticism.” Around 420 CE Simeon constructed and climbed up a pillar outside of Aleeppo. Eventually his pillar refuge from the world grew to be about twelve ...

12. The Path of Joy

Psalm 118:1-29

Sermon

King Duncan

... the most infallible sign of the presence of God.” A 15th century mystic named Julian of Norwich settled the matter long ago when he said, “The greatest honor that you can give to Almighty God, greater than all your penances and sacrifices and mortifications, is to live joyfully because of the knowledge of his love.” Please understand that joy is not the same thing as happiness. As someone once said, “Happiness is a feeling. Joy is a reality based on a relationship. Happiness can be taken away from ...

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