PROOF OF DIVINITY William Willimon, United Methodist Chaplain at Duke University relates a story about walking across the Duke campus one fall afternoon during the "Oktoberfest" celebration with hundreds of students, some of them barely…
Sermon Illustrations
MERCY: God's Judgment reveals who we are. God's Mercy reveals who God is.
People want approval. God does not offer us approval. God offers us forgiveness.
DEPENDENCY: Co-dependency is another term for idolatry. God-dependency is another term for worship.
In God's Cosmic Drama, The Universe is the stage, God is playwright, God is director, God is actor, God is critic.
EXPLOSIVE SAVIOR When our family was young, we had a swimming pool in which I used to play a game with my boys. I would collect a handful of pennies and toss them into the…
TOO MUCH FAITH A rancher out west left an unusual request with the funeral director when he made arrangements for his interment: "I want to be buried in my trusty old pick-up truck." The undertaker…
CHASING SHADOWS Max was a handsome Irish Setter which my brother's family had agreed to "baby sit" for the weekend. I also was visiting them that weekend and was keeping an eye on Max while…
LOWER THE EGGS Five year old Kyle McKeever, showed us what Christian action is all about at our annual Easter egg hunt. Andrew Gay is only two, but he wanted to be out there with…
THE ONE WHO WOULD DIE In the ancient history of the Middle East, Cyrus was an important king. There is a beautiful and reportedly true story about Cyrus and a rebel chieftain named Caligula. Caligula…
THE REAL PROOFS People often seek to prove and support their faith using historic artifacts like the Shroud of Turin. In Jesus' day when a person was buried, he or she was wrapped in a…
WITHOUT A PENTECOST As long as pilgrims of this earth, Can turn from wars and things, To celebrate a baby's birth, And know the joy he brings; As long as through the halls of death,…
WE'VE SEEN HIS SUFFERING Have YOU ever seen the nail prints in Jesus hands and feet and the wound in His side? Have you ever seen the scars of the whip or the cruel crown…
THE OTHER SIDE In a recent Family Circus, it's night and Dolly and Billy are outside looking at the sky. Dolly points to the full moon and says, "Grandad can see the OTHER side of…
RESURRECTION A burning flame, A sacrifice, searing hands and feet, Blinding pain, sweat and tears Mingled in, Why? He chose to be here... For us He died. Now in coldness He lies, Wrapped in spices,…
RESURRECTION TODAY A single sentence in John Claypool's autobiography "Opening Blind Eyes" caught my attention. "I now have new reasons for believing in the Resurrection." This seems to me to be a key element in…
Prodigal/Forgiveness/Repentance/Compassion Love/Acceptance/God: THE PRODIGAL AS JESUS NEVER TOLD IT And he arose and set out for his home, and when at last he arrived at the door, he banged and there was no response. He…
THE LIVING GOD Dead gods (meaning ineffective ones) are a dime a dozen. The God I cannot finally evade, no matter how hard I try, refuses to sit on the sidelines but keeps turning up…
RUDE AWAKENINGS I ran across a story, carried by one of the newspapers, that told about a small town hospital that was the victim of a bomb threat. Officials there decided that they had to…
UNLAWFUL LOVE What tragedy of life it is to find, Oneself in such a state of mind, As loving one outside the Code; For any heart too great a load. It preys upon man's strongest…
