CONFESSION It is the confession, not the priest, that gives absolution. Oscar Wilde
Sermon Illustrations
DEATH BED REPENTANCE There is one case of death bed repentance recorded -- that of the penitent thief, that none should despair; and only one that none should presume. Augustine
REPENTANCE True repentance is to cease from sin. Ambrose of Milan
THE SIN OR THE PENALTY True repentance hates the sin, and not merely the penalty; and it hates the sin most of all because it has dicovered and felt God's love. W. M. Taylor
TRUE REPENTANCE has a double aspect; it looks upon things past with a weeping eyes, and upon the future with a watchful eye. Robert South
THE NIGHT OF SORROW Blessed to us is the night, for it reveals the stars. Anonymous
DUBIOUS CONFESSION A newspaper story told of a man who returned to his car in a parking lot and found a note under the windshield wiper. It read as follows: "I have just smashed into…
APPOINTMENT IN SAMARRA Along the same line a contrast with Jesus' self-chosen and fully-conscious appointment in Jerusalem is the classic story as retold by Alan Crandall: Legend says that it happened in the streets of…
SELF-INVENTORY The story is told of a farmer who had lived on the same farm all his life. It was a good farm, but with the passing years, the farmer began to tire of it.…
SELF-SACRIFICE Once upon a time there was a loyal servant of a great lord. The lord's castle overlooked a stormy channel, separating his domain from the homeland of a lovely lady. The servant, in charge…
FORGIVENESS IS FREEDOM My six-year-old son used one of those super adhesive glues on an airplane he was building. In less than 3 minutes, his right index finger was bonded to a shiny blue wing…
THE TEST Keith Miller tells the story about a bishop somewhere in Europe and a young nun who claimed to have had a vision of Jesus. As was the custom when someone claimed such a…
ACTIVE FORGIVENESS A small boy at a summer camp received a large package of cookies in the mail from his mother. He ate a few, then placed the remainder under his bed. The next day,…
FORGIVEN -- AND GONE! Corrie Ten Boom, in her book, Tramp For The Lord, had these words to say regarding forgiveness: It was 1947 . . . I had come from Holland to defeated Germany…
THE STORY OF THE CHRISTMAS CHILD First heard above a lonely hillBy humble shepherd men --Repeated down the centuries Again -- and yet again -- The story of the Christmas Child Remains as near, as…
THE SPIRIT OF CHRISTMAS There is something about the Christmas time, Something in the spirit of it That sweeps it clean of the dust of other days And hallows it./Something that proves the depths of…
A WINTER RIDE Who shall declare the joy of running! Who shall tell of the pleasures of flight! Springing and spurning the tufts of wild heather, Swooping, wide- winged, through the blue dome of light.…
A BROTHER LIKE THAT A college friend of mine named Paul received a new automobile from his brother as a pre-Christmas present. On Christmas Eve, when Paul came out of his office, a street urchin…
SPONTANEOUS BROTHERHOOD Amid the horrors of World War I, there occurred a unique truce when, for a few hours, enemies behaved like brothers. Christmas Eve in 1914 was all quiet on France's Western Front, from…
WHOSE BIRTHDAY? There was once a family that celebrated Christmas every year with a birthday party for Jesus. An extra chair of honor at the table became the family's reminder of Jesus' presence. A cake…
