PARENTING -- Ten Things for Which You As A Parent Will Never Be Sorry. 1. For doing your level best even when discouraged. 2. For hearing before judging in family quarrels. 3. For thinking before…
Sermon Illustrations
CONVERSION STORY I never cease to be amazed at the marvelous variety of ways God used to bring men into faith in Christ. Even those who get into a rut of shallow churchianity can yet…
FATHER'S DAY Does anyone ever preach on the theme of Father's Day in June anymore? Perhaps not as many as those who preach on the theme of Motherhood in May. For those who are planning…
THE INTERNAL DIFFERENCE Dr. A. D. Beacham of the Pentecostal Holiness Church in Franklin Springs, GA sent us this item he found in Henri Nouwen's The Genesee Diary (Doubleday, Image, 1981, pp. 24-25) in which…
PRAISE AND SUFFERING I suppose most of you are also familiar with context a monthly "commentary on the interaction of religion and culture" written by Martin Marty. It's a great publication full of meaty quotes…
TIME TO BE NICE In case you're preaching on the familiar "A Time To . . ." theme of Ecclesiastes 3, you might tie in the story of the priest who saw Robert Schuller's TV…
PROVIDENTIAL CARE OR FLUKE? Two books that offer a number of excellent stories that can be used as illustrations are those by Paul Aurandt: Paul Harvey's the Rest of the Story (Bantam) and More of…
TEARS OF COMPASSION The late Toyohiko Kagawa was a Japanese Christian who is well remembered for his contributions to Christian education and the Japanese Labor Movement. He was imprisoned two times for his refusal to…
ALWAYS READ THE INSTRUCTIONS A man was at a banquet listening to an well-known and much-admired political leader making a speech. He was seated next to the speaker's wife. He had noticed that the speaker…
COMPUTERS Computer forecasts are no more reliable than the assumptions on which they are based. If, in 1895, we had put into a computer the number of horses expected to be needed for transportation in…
PARENTAL INFLUENCE The biography, Norma, is the story of well known singer for Lawrence Welk, Norma Zimmer. One of the more poignant aspects of her story is that of her teen years. Her parents were…
LOVE OR INFATUATION? Infatuation is instant desire. It is one set of glands calling to another. Love is friendship that has caught fire. It takes root and grows-one day at a time. Infatuation is marked…
THE MAGNETIC HEART If one should give me a dish of sand and tell me there were particles of iron in it, I might look for them with my eyes and search for them with…
COMMUNICATING IDEAS You may treat ideas as bullets - seeds! You may shoot ideas - or you may sow them! You may hit people in the head with them, or you may plant them in…
FAMILIES KEEP US HUMBLE As a pastor, some of my most candid and valid criticism comes from the members of my family. My teen-age daughter Marie is particularly sensitive about sermon titles. She hates dull,…
NO SCAR? Hast thou no scar? No hidden scar on foot, or side, or hand? I hear thee sung as mighty in the land./I hear them hail thy bright ascendant star. Has thou no scar?…
TRUST IN GOD We were taking a canoe trip down the Illinois River and in one of the canoes a Counselor from our 7th grade camp was discussing with Scott, a 12 year old from…
GOD WITH US Ian Burnett tells us in his book, Lord of All Life, that James the Fifth of Scotland on occasion would lay aside the royal robe of king and put on the simple…
THE FAMILY OUTING The kids were always asking their Dad to take them out for a treat such as an ice cream soda after Sunday School and Worship. But one Sunday he protested and asked:…
HONESTY A school teacher was trying to impress her students with the importance of honesty. She asked her class, "Suppose you found a briefcase with a half a million dollars in it. What would you…
