QUANTITY COSTS When Dwight W. Morrow was appointed Ambassador to Mexico many years ago, he decided to furnish his home in Cuernavaca with Mexican products, all of the furniture to be handmade by Indian carpenters.…
Sermon Illustrations
TOO HUMBLE Ted was a new student at seminary. Upon meeting his roommate, Ted observed that Jerry also owned a trumpet. "Do you play well?" Ted asked. "Not that great," Jerry replied. "How about you?"…
TOO MANY SPECTATORS There was once a king who was about to celebrate his birthday. The people of his kingdom decided that they would give him a gift -- they decided that at exactly 12…
IMPROVING YOUR SCORE After two lessons, Jake was out on the course for the first time. On the first hole, a 110- yard par-3, he stepped up to the tee, driver in hand. "That's the…
HOW MANY HEADACHES AWAY? An estimated 18 million Americans (two thirds of them women) regularly experience migraine headaches. (Symptoms include one-sided pain, visual disturbances and nausea.) And until now, there has been no effective drug…
THREE CHEERS! Three Lutheran pastors were invited by a Catholic priest to attend Mass one Sunday at his church. They arrived a bit late. All the pews were filled and they had to stand in…
A TIME FOR ACTION There is a time for silence and a time to cry out. In Elie Wiesel's novel, The Town Beyond the Wall, a Jewish mother and young son, trying to escape the…
BIBLE STUDY People spend too much time studying the Bible for their people. The mind of a preacher... has been trained for all these years to give monologues, and the thought of people interacting as…
WE'VE SHRUNK! Two sailors were castaway on a desert island during the war. For 13 years they lived a hermit's existence - never seeing a ship, an animal, or another human being. And then after…
MAKING BAD PEOPLE GOOD The only way to make bad people good is to expose them to the gospel. Even Charles Darwin, the man who contributed so much to evolutionistic thinking, admitted this. He wrote…
THE LEFT HAND OF GOD The story is told of a little girl and her mom discussing the morning Sunday School class. The little girl told her mom that they talked about Jesus going up…
CONTINUING EDUCATION IN MARRIAGE The most unusual response I've ever received after a wedding came after I'd preached a wedding sermon for a middle-aged couple, both of whom had been married and divorced. I talked…
STRONG FAMILIES In the mid 1970's, Dr. Nick Stinnett, then professor of family studies at Oklahoma State University, became interested in learning more about what makes for strong families. As he studied family conditions in…
"OUR" RECITAL A famous organist was giving a recital in an eastern church. The instrument was not supplied air electrically; it had to be pumped by hand. A young boy was engaged to do this…
MAKING MUSIC TOGETHER Someone recently shared with me a magazine article about two women who are residents of the Southeast Senior Center for Independent Living in Englewood, New Jersey. Their names are Margaret Patrick and…
PULL TOGETHER POWER Strength multiplies in unity. At a midwestern fair many spectators gathered for an old-fashioned HORSE-PULL (An event where various weights are put on a sled hitched to a horse and pulled along…
THE WINNING LOSER During the 1960 Olympics, defending gold medalist Al Oerter and teammate Rink Babka were expected to take the gold and silver medal in the discus throw. Although Babka was very ill the…
THE FATAL BLOW Weary of discord, Mark Twain said, "So I built a cage, and in it I put a dog and a cat. After a little training I got the dog and the cat…
NO NEED TO SHARE? Gordon Liddy, a Watergate conspirator, when he was released from prison declared, "I have found within myself all I need and all I ever shall need. I am a man of…
