CLOTHES MAKE MAN AND DETERMINE THE CHURCH A Methodist Church tried to get a man to attend, but he never did. "Why don't you come?" the minister asked, and the man finally admitted it was…
Sermon Illustrations
COLSON'S CHANGE In July, 1984 Charles Colson was speaking at a Baptist gathering. He told of his change from being an Episcopalian to becoming a Baptist. He had considered a change dictated by his study…
OPPOSITION A certain amount of opposition is a great help to a man. Kites rise against, not with the wind." From John Neal quote from Reader's Digest, January, 1981
THE ENGAGEMENT I have sought to know the one I love, That knowledge would grant peace; And from the emptiness within, Grant me sweet release. I sought Him in the highest place, In churches far…
THE BEATITUDES IN REVERSE Unfortunate are the self-satisfied, for their kingdom is small indeed. Unfortunate are those who do not care enough to morn, for they shall miss the companionship of shared suffering. Unfortunate are…
LOSS OF PURPOSE Lewis Thomas' autobiography, The Youngest Science: Notes of a Medicine Watcher (Viking, 1983), provides a poignant example of such an isolation of information. One day in the late 1930's, while working as…
LOSS OF ALL BUT STEADY BUSINESS A farmer who had experienced several bad years went to see the manager of his bank. "I've got some good news and some bad news to tell you. Which…
LOSS OF POSSIBILITY An Arab Chief tells the story of a spy who had been captured and sentenced to death by a general of the Persian army. The general had fallen upon a strange custom.…
LOSS OF FELLOWSHIP I am told that farmers practice a procedure that is designed to teach a dog who kills chickens to stop the practice. He ties a chicken the dog has killed around the…
LOSS OF TRUTH The issue of truth-telling is a two-sided problem. Not many people want to tell the truth when it's painful, and not a lot of people want to hear the truth if it's…
THE LOSS OF HIS PRAYER I cannot say OUR, if my religion has no room for others and their needs. I cannot say FATHER, if I do not demonstrate this relationship in my daily living.…
THE SENSELESS LOSS OF LOVED ONES It was clear and hot, as only July in west Texas can be. I sat on an uncomfortable metal folding chair beneath a green awning, my feet resting on…
LOSS OF PRIORITY Many sad lives would be happy, Many dull lives full of zest, If My love became their motive, If they chose to love Me best. By Mary Gemma Brunke, Seton Manor, Newark,…
LOSS OF SPIRITUAL VISION - THE PARABLE OF THE PRIEST Once there was a priest who was very righteous, who followed all the guidelines and rules of the Law and was absolutely correct in every…
LOSS OF PARENTAL CONTROL When my children burst into their teenage years, I became very scared. "Will they make it through the many temptations they will undoubtedly face?" I worried. "What if they lose their…
"ASK HIM!" A young trial lawyer had developed a reputation for himself within a very short time as being an accomplished and shrewd attorney. His court room techniques had been polished to the finest detail.…
THE RIGHT SONG PREACHER TO ORGANIST - "When I finish my sermon, I'll ask for all those in the congregation who want to contribute four hundred dollars toward the church's mortgage to stand up. In…
THE "BULLFIGHTER'S" RESOLVE In Costa Rica the traditional Spanish bullfight has undergone some specific changes that distinguish it from what a tourist would see in Spain. The Costa Ricans no longer allow the toreador to…
BAPTIZED GORBACHEVS When Soviet leader Mikhail Gorachev and his wife, Raisa, were in Paris this past summer, newsmen inquired if they had ever been baptized Christians. It was a surprise-and-shock question that they had never…
REVENGE: Nobody ever got ahead by trying to get even.
