ON PERSPECTIVE My troubles aren't so hard to bear As all around I see Rejoicing heart and smiling face Who lack what's given me. I've thankfulness down deep inside That sings a happy song; I…
Sermon Illustrations
A CHILD'S LOOK AT THANKSGIVING Thanksgiving comes on Thursday by the President's decree. But Friday, good old Friday is Thanksgiving Day for me. There's lots to eat on Thursday, just heaps and piles of stuff,…
REKINDLE THE FLAME OF THE SPIRIT The Holy Spirit is often compared to a flame or a fire. Paul told Timothy to stir up the gift of God. The Greek word for "stir up" means…
SAY IT OUT LOUD I am not a writer but I am taking some space in the newspaper to write something special about Kathy. We weren't so special, you know, I'm just a little insurance…
IN THE EYE OF THE BEHOLDER There are all kinds of things to be thankful for, because thankfulness is in the eye of the beholder. One evening I asked the members of a confirmation class…
IN PRAISE OF THANKSGIVING Would you know who is the greatest saint in the world! It is not he who prays most or fasts most; it is not he who gives most alms, or is…
A RIGHT PERSPECTIVE Matthew Henry, the famous Bible scholar was once accosted by thieves and robbed of his purse. He wrote these words in his diary: "Let me be thankful first because I was never…
TO ALL YE PILGRIMS The pilgrims sailing across the Atlantic Ocean on the Mayflower landed at Plymouth Rock in Dec, 1620. The pilgrims lived off of their provisions through the hard New England winter. They…
TEN CLEANSED LEPERS One crying, two crying, three crying lepers Four dying, five dying, six dying lepers Seven hoping, eight hoping, nine hoping lepers Ten lepers came to Jesus Ten cleansed lepers feeling just so…
BUDGETS A budget is a theological document. It indicates who or what we worship.
RARE THANKS One day the late W. L. Stidger told about a teacher he had while in school. She had gone out of her way to get him interested in the poet Tennyson. Since he…
SCIENCE AND THEOLOGY -- SHOW THE OPEN HORIZON "What is the relationship between Science and Theology? The relationship has never been closer, because it is mathematics and physics which now point beyond the natural world.…
LESSON FROM A LID Elizabeth O'Conner, in her book The Eighth Day of Creation points out that developing our gifts requires concentrating on certain ones and letting others go and that this requires commitment. It…
STUPID QUESTIONS DEPARTMENT Mountain residents were breathing a collective sigh of relief recently at the close of the tourist season. Not that the Vail, Colorado locals don't like tourists, No, they provide a good deal…
MAKING THIS TOWN TONIGHT I was touched by the following story I found in On the Upbeat: All day the elderly woman sat in the lobby of a commercial hotel in a small New England…
COMMUNICATION I started reading Uncle Cam by James and Marti Hefley this past week. It's the story of William Cameron Townsend, founder of Wycliffe Bible Translators and the Summer Institute of Linguistics. The first Indian…
THE LORD'S WILL An overweight business associate of mine decided it was time to shed some excess pounds. He took his new diet seriously, even changing his driving route to avoid his favorite bakery. One…
LOVE IS LONGSUFFERING As an illustration of what it means that "love is longsuffering," Sandy Brown offers the final paragraph of Frederick Buechner's novel, Lion Country, Antonio Parr, the protagonist and the one whose words…
THE INDIRECT APPROACH We had been keeping company for months, and I knew that Sam was very fond of me. But he was so shy it seemed that he would never get up the courage…
MISSIONARY DILEMMA From the Zwemer account, Tucker also illustrates the classic dilemma faced by missionaries with families: Zwemer's wife and two youngest children accompanied him back to the Gulf region, but not to remain long.…
