CHARITY Without charity, the outward work provideth nothing; but whatever is done out of charity, be it ever so little and contemptible, it is all made fruitful, inasmuch as God regardeth more out of how…
Sermon Illustrations
HISTORY . . . The past is what you remember, imagine you remember, convince yourself you remember, or pretend to remember. Harold Pinter
DO GOOD The greatest pleasure I know is to do good by stealth and have it found out by accident. Charles Lamb, Bits & Pieces, Vol. 21, No. 11.
DIRGE WITHOUT MUSIC Following is a poem by Edna St. Vincent Millay that was quoted by Dallas Willard (author of The Spirit of the Disciplines) at the memorial service for my wife, Avis. [JSH, ed.]…
LAMENT Listen, children, Your father is dead./From his old coats I'll make you little jackets; I'll make you little trousers From his old pants. There'll be in his pockets Things he used to put there.…
THE COURAGE TO GRIEVE A helpful book on grief is Judy Tatelbaum's The Courage To Grieve. It opens: The death of a loved one is the most profound of all sorrows. The grief that comes…
HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE Speak of the Moderns without contempt, and of the Ancients without idolatry. Lord Chesterfield
AND GOD SAID NO I asked God to take away my pride, And God said, "No." He said it was not for Him to take away, but for me to give up. I asked God…
IF WE COULD SEE BEYOND TODAY If we could see beyond today As God can see, If all the clouds should roll away, The shadows flee; O'er present griefs we would not fret, Each sorrow…
MY GLORY "I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith." 2 Timothy 4:7. Philippians 4:5-9. "I want a glory, Lord, give me a glory in my soul.…
MOST HOLY ONE If our hearts are troubled, let your everlasting mercy bring us quietness and rest. If our minds are torn by doubt, Stay beside us until we see. If our souls are timid…
MOODY DEAD? "Some day you will read in the papers that D. L. Moody of East Northfield is dead. Don't you believe a word of it. At that moment I shall be more alive than…
RECEIVING ONE'S SELF IN THE FIRES OF SORROW "What shall I say? Father, save me, from this hour? But for this cause came I unto this hour. Father, glorify Thy name." John 12:27-29 R.V. My…
FOR THE ANGRY Every human being that ever was and ever will be experiences anger. Anger is a behavioral, emotional and physiological reaction to stress or provocation. The Apostle Paul using the Greek Imperative tense…
NOT ALONE My Lord God, I have no idea where I am going I do not see the road ahead of me. I cannot know for certain where it will end Therefore will I trust…
HONEST FAITH has many wounds, fractures through which one advances and retreats. It cannot be possessed like courage. To hesitate, to change one's mind, to make mistakes, these are proofs of honesty. Context, January 15,…
WHEN I CAN'T SLEEP When I couldn't sleep I used to count sheep, As I tossed on my restless bed, But since I've known Him I quietly lie And talk to the Shepherd instead. And…
LOOKING AHEAD "Now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then I know even as also I am known." I Corinthians 13:12 I live in…
FAITHFUL IS HE WHO PROMISED Are you passing through a testing, Is your pillow wet with tears? Do you wonder what the reason, Why it seems God never hears?/Why it is you have no answer…
RISK No one can ever swim well who does not dare to throw away the life preserver. Erasmus
