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 547 results

1. Scandal!

1 Corinthians 1:18--2:5

Sermon

... easily forget that Paul calls us to be "fools for Christ." And we don’t even want to hear Christ’s words "Woe to you when all men speak well of you." But we don’t have to be so respectable. We do have some modern models for living scandalously in faith. There’s Jack Shea, for one. In 1962 Jack Shea was Senior Vice-President of Fina Oil Co. in Dallas, a man moderate in his politics and quiet in his religion. Then came only a few blocks from his office the assassination of President Kennedy. In the ...

2. Are You Part of the Scandal?

Luke 15:11-32

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... the world, or plaster over the cracks in people and history. Forgiveness looks square in the face of wrong, and chooses healing and reconciliation rather than hatred and revenge. It may be the hardest thing in the world to do offer true forgiveness. Scandalously hard. There were three great holocausts of the 20th century: Russia, China, and Germany. Two were done by atheists — Stalin in Russia, Mao in China. One by someone who created a deviant religious cult in Germany. Adolph Hitler was his name. Just ...

3. Scandal

Matthew 16:21-28, Matthew 17:14-23, Matthew 20:17-19, Matthew 26:1-5

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... rock that he would build his church upon. And only in his post-resurrection appearance with Peter, would all be resolved, and Peter restored. Jesus’ prophetic warnings would not be hindered. For Jesus, you are either with him or against him. There is no in between. Ultimately, the “scandal” of Jesus is his foil of the ways of man. Or rather, God’s foil! Would we be his saints or his trip- ups? The Son of Man, human as he was on this earth needed to focus only on the face of God. He would need his ...

4. Scandalous News

Luke 4:16-30

Sermon

Mark Trotter

... wants to make. Jesus stands in the line of the prophets, all of whom were rejected by their people, but everyone of them chosen by God. That's who this man is. Luke wants you to see this. His ministry began the way it ended, with rejection. They were scandalized by what he was saying. From beginning to end, for three years, then rejected him. John says in his gospel, "He came to his own people, and his own people received him not." So what are we supposed to do with this, this strange story of Jesus' first ...

5. The Story Of The Scandalized Neighbors

Luke 15:11-32

Sermon

John M. Braaten

... came back looking like death warmed over and what are they doing? They're throwing a party for him. From what I've heard they are going to spend a bundle on it. Sounds like the affair will be bigger than a wedding bash. If you ask me it's scandalous, celebrating as though he was a wonderful, long lost loved one returned. It is tough raising kids these days and they are setting a poor example for the rest of us. But let me tell the story from the beginning. My name is Aaron. I live on a farm across ...

6. The Scandal Of Redeeming Love

Hosea 2:2-23

Sermon

Frederick C. Edwards

... Jesus teaching by the sea, and then as he passed by the place where Levi the son of Alphaeus was sitting and collecting taxes, Jesus said to him, "Follow me," and Levi rose and followed him. That Jesus would call such a man to follow him was scandalous in itself, for Levi was a renegade Jew. That is, he was one who deliberately chose to separate himself from the Jewish community and become a collaborator with the Roman occupation forces, serving as a tax collector. It was a way of getting rich, and we are ...

7. "The Scandal Of Disloyalty"

Psalm 62:1-12, Mark 14:66-72

Sermon

R. Sheldon MacKenzie

... for it other than Jesus Christ her Lord. It makes no difference where we are, or who we are, we must confess our faith in Jesus as Lord whenever the opportunity presents itself or the situation demands it.-- Amen. Prayer: Mighty God, we have listened to the scandal of a disciple denying his Lord. We have heard him protest his ignorance of what it means to be with Jesus. We have heard him deny any association with the One in whose steps he followed. We have heard his frightful curse as he denied the Man ...

8. THE SCANDALOUS GOSPEL

Illustration

John H. Krahn

... people, and encourage us to do the smart thing rather than the right thing. Jesus was a lousy politician and they crucified him. God does not call any one of us to be popular, but he calls all of us to be righteous. Our lives might well be the most scandalous when they are the most faithful.

9. Scandals Fly

Illustration

Michael P. Green

John Dryden, a seventeenth-century British dramatist and poet, commented on man’s propensity to gossip: There is a lust in man no charm can tame, Of loudly publishing his neighbor’s shame. Hence, on eagles’ wings immortal scandals fly, While virtuous actions are but born and die.

10. Election Scandal

Illustration

King Duncan

I heard about a farmer who was detained for questioning about an election scandal. The attorney asked him, “Did you sell your vote?” The farmer said, “No sir, not me. I voted for that there fella ‘cause I liked him.” The attorney said, “Come, now, I have evidence that he gave you fifty dollars for a vote.” The farmer said, “Well, now, it’s plain common sense that when a fella gives you fifty dollars you like him.”

11. The Scandal of the Cross

Illustration

A. Leonard Griffith

On the evening of April 25, 1958, a young Korean exchange student, a leader in student Christian affairs in the University of Pennsylvania, left his flat and went to the corner to post a letter to his parents in Pusan. Turning from the mailbox he stepped into the path of eleven leather-jacketed teenage boys. Without a word they attacked him, beating him with a blackjack, a lead pipe and with their shoes and fists. Later, when the police found him in the gutter, he was dead. All Philadelphia cried out for ...

12. Scandal

Luke 22:14-23:56

Sermon

Wayne Brouwer

While Don Richardson was a student at Prairie Bible Institute in the 1950s, his heart burned in anticipation of bringing the good news about Jesus to an unreached tribe. He and Carol found their prayers answered in 1962 as they sailed out of Vancouver harbor toward Netherlands New Guinea. Before long, they were deposited by a missionary plane among the Sawi people, a group of tribes living in the trees of the interior rain forest. The jungle floor was too damp for permanent dwellings, so the Sawi helped ...

13. Proper 17

Exodus 3:1-22, Jeremiah 15:15-21; 20:7-18, Matthew 16:21-28, Romans 12:1-8

Sermon Aid

Russell F. Anderson

... the purposes of God. The Greek word is skandalon, which can mean snare trap or stumbling block. Thus, it refers to a cause of offense. How often our attitudes and behavior are a stumbling block to those outside the fold of Christ. Many times Christians are a scandal to the non-believing world. Last week I was listening to an interview of an author on National Public Radio. This woman had been an agnostic, as well as a drug addict. However, she found acceptance at a little church in California and was now a ...

14. Epiphany 4

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

Sermon Aid

Russell F. Anderson

... We look up to those who walk tall and proud (like Pusser) 2. God accepts those who walk small those who do justice those who love kindness those who walk humble with God Epistle: 1 Corinthians 1:18-31 1. Sermon Title: The Scandal Of The Gospel. Sermon Angle: Paul gloried in the scandal of the gospel; it was utter foolishness to the Gentiles and a stumbling block to the Jews. He realized the crucified Christ was both the wisdom of God and the power of God. In our society we try to package the gospel Madison ...

15. Harmony and Humor: The Ties That Bind Christianity’s Many Christianities

Luke 4:14-30

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... Christ when it sounds its most complex tones. When only one line is sung, that’s when we come the closest to losing our pitch. Hear the Crusades. Hear the Inquisition. Hear the Salem witch trials. Hear the Ku Klux Klan. Hear the Nazis. The cross isn’t the only scandal that marks our faith. Christians are scandalous in so many ways. Long before Jesus was convicted as a criminal of the state, as a heretic of faith, and was executed in the most public, excruciating, and humiliating way, he was advocating ...

16. Advent 3

James 5:7-12, Isaiah 35:1-10, Matthew 11:1-19

Sermon Aid

Russell F. Anderson

... needed. The nearness of the Lord can still inspire us to hang in there. Regardless of the date of the parousia, Christ is near to strengthen us in suffering and give us the victory. Gospel: Matthew 11:2-11 Does Christ offend you? Apparently, Jesus offended and scandalized many people in his days in the flesh. He offended his family. At one point, they thought he was a little crazy and sought to spirit him away. He offended the rich young ruler by requesting that he sell all his goods and give the proceeds ...

17. You Have a Story to Tell

John 9:1-41

Sermon

King Duncan

... no actual athletic experience. Some parents even photoshopped their kids’ faces over the bodies of professional athletes to make it look like their kids had real athletic experience. (1) Comedian Trevor Noah from The Daily Show had one of the best jokes about this scandal: “Some of these parents allegedly paid up to $6.5 million,” he said. “Which is insane. Honestly, for that amount of money, just buy a smarter kid!” (2) It’s easy to make fun of people who seem to have many privileges. Did they ...

18. Know What Time It Is!

Luke 16:1-15

Sermon

W. Robert McClelland

... . The miracle of faith is that we call this misfit, "The Son of God." Look at how we as believers have come to regard his crucifixion. We call his cross a symbol of "life," not "death." We speak of it as a symbol of "glory," not "scandal." A sign of "hope," not "dead end." "New beginnings," not failure. It is a remarkable feat of faith that we dare to call the Friday of crucifixion, "Good Friday." Jesus' cross is not eradicated, but in the resurrection God gives us permission to rename it. Consequently ...

19. Freedom Can Be Frightening

Leviticus 25:8-55

Sermon

Louis H. Valbracht

... by customers and employees, cutting so deeply into the profits of our supermarkets, reported to be adding at least 15% to the cost of food. You wonder why your food costs are going up? Here is it - by theft! All of these, and many similar scandals, justify our current concern about our so-called national ethic. We look around in bewilderment and ask: "Where did our morals go?" This is just one of the dangers of liberty - the fact that it rests upon the precarious foundation of national ethics and morality ...

20. The Impending Departure I

John 14:1-4, John 14:5-14, John 14:15-31

Understanding Series

J. Ramsey Michaels

... in me, and I am in you (v. 20; cf. 10:38). Paradoxically, it is in departing that he returns, for in his reunion with the Father he unites himself (and his Father) with the disciples as well (cf. 20:19–23). Here most decisively the scandal of Jesus absence is overcome. At the beginning (13:33) the disciples seemed to have no advantage over the world, for they could not follow where Jesus went. In answer to Peter’s question, this was qualified: They would follow, but only later, when Jesus had prepared ...

21. Jesus Promises the Holy Spirit

John 14:15-31, John 14:1-4, John 14:5-14

Understanding Series

J. Ramsey Michaels

22. A Seeking Savior

Luke 10:1-24

Sermon

W. Robert McClelland

... Emmanuel - God with us - and Emmanuel is a God who knows what it means to be vulnerable, weak, defenseless. Emmanuel is a God who has joined the troops as a foot soldier slugging it out in the trenches; born in a barn as a helpless babe with the hint of scandal about him and died on the cross a sinner's punishment. If the God of grace be for us, who or what indeed! can be against us. We may be crushed, but we are not destroyed. We may be discouraged, but we are not left in despair. Bereaved, but not ...

23. Tears, Perfume and Forgiveness

Luke 7:36-50

Sermon

Billy D. Strayhorn

... . But of course this wasn't a decent woman. She was a sinner with a bad reputation. And it was totally scandalous for this unclean woman to enter the house of a righteous Pharisee named Simon. It was even more scandalous that she knelt by the feet of the guest of honor and wet his feet with her tears. It was scandalous that she poured her perfume over the feet of Jesus. And it was scandalous that she dried his feet with her hair. Everyone was offended; everyone that is, except Jesus. You see, everyone else ...

24. The Golden Calf

Exodus 32:1-33:6

Understanding Series

James K. Bruckner

... Aaron’s actions in the kindest way, suggesting that he was forced to act as the people wanted. Others have suggested that the death of his two sons at their ordination somehow atoned for Aaron’s sin. None of this is in the biblical text. The scandal is the scandal of God’s grace. God’s decision to live among people the Lord knew to be rebellious extended to Aaron. It revealed the reality that the most devout are prone to the greatest sins. No one is exempt from turning away from the Lord, and no ...

25. Jesus Predicts Peter's Denial

John 13:31-38

Understanding Series

J. Ramsey Michaels

... disciples’ separation from Jesus will be only temporary. Jesus’ response is directed first to Peter personally; he will follow later, presumably in death (cf. 21:18–19). Embedded within this part of Jesus’ response to the scandal of his departure is a reference to Peter’s own personal “scandal” (using the word in a somewhat different sense). Peter professes his willingness to follow Jesus even to death (and he will), but in the more immediate future he will deny his Lord three times (vv. 37 ...

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