FIRST IT MUST DIE Have you ever stopped to notice the many parts of a flower? [Remove a flower from the wreath on the casket.] A flower has roots and a stem, leaves and petals.…
Sermon Illustrations
THE YOUNG FARMER The young farmer sat happily on the wagon seat as his spirited team trotted into town. He hitched the team to a rack near a corner of the main business block and…
WHAT YOU TAKE WITH YOU When we die, we leave behind us all we have and take with us all we are. Christian Communications Laboratory
BATTLES OF LIFE My sword I give to him that shall succeed me in my pilgrimage, and my courage and skill to him that can get it. My marks and scars I carry with me,…
DEATH AND DYING In his recent book Till Armageddon, Billy Graham tells the story of a widow and her son who lived in a miserable attic. Years before, she had married against her parents' wishes…
HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE Historian Arnold J. Toynbee at age eighty said: "To be mortal is not any means wholly disadvantageous. When I catch myself resenting not being immortal, I pull myself up short by asking whether…
THE END OF THE ROAD IS BUT A BEND IN THE ROAD When we feel we have nothing left to give and we are sure that the "song has ended" -- When our day seems…
WHO SENT YOUR INVITATION? When I enter that beautiful city, and the saints in heaven draw near, I want someone to meet me and greet me and say, "It was you who invited me here!"…
CHRISTIAN MOURNING About 125 AD, Aristides, the Greek scholar, on explaining the success of Christianity, said, "If any righteous man among the Christians passes from the world, they rejoice and offer thanks to God and…
THE POWER OF GRIEF Who we thought, or what we thought we would always have to hold onto -- that which we thought would always be our lifeline -- may be gone. As he aged,…
DEATH OF A LITTLE CHILD There is a story of sweetness and beauty which enlightens the heart of every parent who has lost a child. It concerns a custom among the shepherd folk of the…
IMPRISONING POWER In Charles Dickens' A Tale of Two Cities, a prisoner in the Bastille who had lived in a cell for many years and cobbled shoes became so used to the narrow walls, the…
NOT REALLY SUITABLE An old lady went to a tombstone-cutter's office to order a stone for her husband's grave. After explaining that all she wanted was a small one with no frills, she told him…
THE TURNING POINT A new book entitled Lord If I Ever Needed You It's Now by Creath Davis has this line: "The awesome truth is that at some point God's healing mercies for our bodies…
BETTER EQUIPPED TO DIE Many years ago the ship known as the Empress of Ireland sank. Among its many passengers were 130 Salvation Army officers. Only 21 of those Christian worker's lives were spared, an…
DEATH/KINDNESS OF ABE Despite his busy schedule during the Civil War, Abe Lincoln often visited the hospitals to cheer the wounded. On one occasion he saw a young fellow who was near death. "Is there…
INFLUENCE There is no power on earth that can neutralize the influence of a high, pure, simple, and useful life. Booker T. Washington
SUFFERING No pain, no palm; no thorns, no throne; no gall, no glory; no cross, no crown. William Penn
REPENTANCE Most people repent of their sins by thanking God they ain't so wicked as their neighbors. Josh Billings
SELF DENIAL Every step in our progress toward success is a sacrifice. We gain by losing; grow by dwindling; live by dying. R. D. Hitchcock
