PRAYER God of transforming love, we confess that we are a people quick to judge. We create boundaries which separate us from others and from you. We divide others into categories of good and bad,…
Sermon Illustrations
GRIEF Joseph Bayly, in his helpful book The View From A Hearse, shares an experience of comfort that he received when one of his children died. "I was sitting," he remembers, "torn by grief. Someone…
ONE TO ONE I wonder if ever amongst the One in Three One asked Another One, "How does it feel To walk with time and flesh our little earth; How does it feel, my Son?"…
Feb 88 SEND FORTH, O GOD, THY LIGHT AND TRUTH Send forth, O God, Thy light and truth, And let them lead me still, Undaunted, in the paths of right, Up to Thy holy hill:…
LINCOLN'S PROCLAMATION Abraham Lincoln wrote an address to the nation during the Civil War that was at least as important as the Gettysburg Address. It was his proclamation for a national fast-day, by which he…
PRAYER WHEN IT SEEMS TOO LATE Lord, I'm drowning in a sea of perplexity, Waves of confusion crash over me. I'm too weak to shout for help. Either quiet the waves or lift me above…
Feb 88 SURRENDER When J. Wilbur Chapman was in London, he had an opportunity to meet General Booth, who at that time was past eighty years of age. Dr. Chapman listened reverently as the old…
GOD'S DEALINGS WITH US God meets us on a family, rather than on a forensic basis. His dealings with us are not legal but parental. We are not under the law, but under grace. This…
THE SCARS REMAIN During early childhood I had a fiery temper which often caused me to say or do unkind things. One day, after an argument had sent one of my playmates home in tears,…
BLOCKING THE LIGHT It was the summer before I entered 6th grade when I joined several other boys at a friend's house one afternoon. It was a beautiful day -- bright and sunny, a gentle…
JUST PAY ATTENTION I heard about a factory in which the management conducted an experiment. They thought that improved lighting would boost production. To reduce the financial risk they decided to install the new lighting…
IN TOUGH TIMES While Prime Minister of Great Britain, David Lloyd George had many problems to contend with -- including World War I, the economic crisis and the Sinn Fein movement for Irish liberation, to…
AND WHAT ABOUT GOD? I overheard a little girl who, after a day at church, was in a particularly theological mood. She asked her mother, "Mommy, does God believe in us?" After a good laugh,…
FOLLOWING I read a magazine article about an interesting technology contest. Each competitor had to create a robotic mouse which would race through a maze trying to find the end. The mouse that completed the…
HYPOCRISY Sometimes I shut the door on all the world And go alone to that most secret place Where there is only God. Just God and I! Then Together we go over subtle acts, Mistakes…
RESPONSIBILITY In the harbor, where both great ships and small pleasure craft berth, there is a warning. Plain for all to see is a sign which reads, "Slow! You Are Responsible For Your Own Wake!"…
RENEWAL To keep God at the center of one's life requires frequent renewal of power through prayer. But such renewal is not measured by the amount of time it takes, rather by the degree to…
RENUNCIATION He might have built a palace at a word, Who sometimes had not where to lay His head; Time was when He has nourished crowds with bread; Would not one meal unto Himself afford.…
AN INAUSPICIOUS END Li Bo, considered one of China's greatest poets, led a wandering life, briefly enjoying spells of court employment. He was a lover of beauty and wine and met his death appropriately. According…
THE MYSTERIOUS The most beautiful thing we can experience is the mysterious. It is the source of all true art and science. He to whom this emotion is a stranger, who can no longer pause…
