SEARCHER OF HEARTS Searcher of Hearts! -- from mine erase All thoughts that should not be, And in its deep recesses trace My gratitude to Thee! Hearer of Prayer! -- oh, guide aright Each word…
Sermon Illustrations
TEMPTATION A youngster was asked what he did when he was tempted. He replied, "Well, when I hear Satan come knocking at the door of my heart, I just say to the Lord Jesus, who…
INFLUENCE The most important part of the training of the Twelve was one which was perhaps at the time little noticed, though it was producing splendid results -- the silent and constant influence of His…
A MYSTERY OF PURPOSE This life were brutish did we not sometimes Have intimations clear of wider scope, Hints of occasion infinite, to keep The soul alert with noble discontent And onward yearnings of unstilled…
SIN AND FORGIVENESS Martin Luther's colleague, Philip Melanchthon, vexed his more ebullient friend by his quiet and virtuous ways. "For goodness' sake, why don't you go and sin a little?" cried Luther in exasperation, "doesn't…
HUMILITY A young American student visiting the Beethoven museum in Bonn was fascinated by the piano on which Beethoven had composed some of his greatest works. She asked the museum guard if she could play…
IN HIS STEPS He is a Christian who tries to be the kind of neighbor Christ would be, and the kind of citizen Christ would be, and who asks himself in all the alternatives of…
A PROGRAM OF IMPROVEMENT Soon after Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes retired he had his legal secretary, Dean Acheson, come to read to him. Holmes chose Plato's Symposium to be read to him. Acheson was not…
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
REPENTANCE Most people repent of their sins by thanking God they ain't so wicked as their neighbors. Josh Billings
SUFFERING No pain, no palm; no thorns, no throne; no gall, no glory; no cross, no crown. William Penn
INFLUENCE There is no power on earth that can neutralize the influence of a high, pure, simple, and useful life. Booker T. Washington
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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,…
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…
