BUILDING CHARACTER In the northeastern United States codfish are a big commercial business. Note the following facts: There is a market for eastern cod all over, especially in sections farthest removed from the northeast coastline.…
Sermon Illustrations
THE PLAGUE OF MEDIOCRITY Miss Jones, an elderly spinster, lived in a small midwestern community. She had the notoriety of being the oldest resident of the town. One day she died and the editor of…
THE POWER OF A SMILE One day as a woman was crossing a street at London station, an old man stopped her. He said to her, "Excuse me, Ma'am, but I want to thank you."…
WINNING/LOSING The following was
IT'S HARD TO HELP SOME PEOPLE Two Cub Scouts, whose younger brother had fallen into the lake, rushed home to mother with tears in their eyes. One of them sobbed, "We try to give him…
LIFE AND RISK A newspaperman, visiting the Raider's football camp a few years ago had just come from the Jack London Historic Monument. He read a sample of London's prose to quarterback Ken Stabler: "I…
FORM AND SUBSTANCE A devout Christian who had a cat used to spend several minutes each day at prayer and meditation in his bedroom. He read a portion of scripture and a devotional book, followed…
TOUGH TO HIDE YOUR TRUE FEELINGS An Easterner who walked into a Western saloon was amazed to see a dog sitting at a table playing poker with three men. He asked, "Can that dog really…
GIFTS Someone has imagined the Carpenter's tools holding a conference. Brother Hammer presided. Several suggested he leave the meeting because he was too noisy. Replied the Hammer, "If I have to leave this shop, Brother…
LISTENING President Franklin D. Roosevelt got tired of smiling that big smile and saying the usual things at all those White House receptions. So, one evening he decided to find out whether anybody was paying…
EVANGELISM METHODS One day a lady criticized D. L. Moody for his methods of Evangelism in attempting to win people to the Lord. Moody's reply was "I agree with you. I don't like the way…
DOES YOUR GIFT REPRESENT YOU? It happened one time after a pastor had made an appeal in church for a great and worthy cause, that a certain woman, a member of the church, came to…
SENDING IT ON AHEAD Sigmund Freud's favorite story was about the sailor shipwrecked on one of the South Sea Islands. He was seized by the natives, hoisted to their shoulders, carried to the village, and…
TITHING AND TRUSTING A church member was having trouble with the concept of tithing. One day he revealed his doubts to his minister: "Pastor, I just don't see how I can give 10% of my…
A NAIL FOR REMEMBERING At one time at the City Temple in London, there was in the congregation a restaurateur named Emil Mettler, who was a close friend of Albert Schweitzer and a kind of…
THE CHURCH OF ALL TITHERS Dr. Hugh McKean of Chiengmai, Thailand, tells of a church of 400 members where every member tithes. They receive a weekly wage of 40 stangs [less than twenty cents] and…
MOTIVATION FOR SELLING After his tour of duty overseas Corporal Jones was sent to a stateside induction center where he advised new recruits about their government benefits, especially GI insurance. Soon he had an almost…
IDENTITY CRISIS One day Charlie Brown was talking to his friend, Linus, about the pervasive sense of inadequacy he feels all the time. Charlie moaned, "You see, Linus, it goes all the way back to…
DIVINE INTERCESSION An elderly gentleman passed his grand-daughter's room one night and overheard her repeating the alphabet in an oddly reverent way. He asked her, "What on earth are you up to?" She explained, "I'm…
THE HUMAN SCENE Perhaps you picked up your newspaper one morning and read an editorial that went something like this: The world is too big for us. Too much going on, too many crimes, too…
