PRUDENCE Diogenes was a renowned pagan thinker of Greece. One day he set up a tent in the market- place of Athens with a sign which read "Wisdom sold here." One of the citizens laughed…
Sermon Illustrations
THE DISCIPLINES OF GRIEF Find in the dark of grief, the sunlit spaces. Find in your sorrowed time a moment's smile. Find in the loneliness of your despairing One warm and kindred mind, one hand…
AN OPPORTUNITY FOR HUMILITY The Gospel of this Sunday touches a sensitive nerve in me. It speaks about the authority with which Jesus speaks, heals, and exorcises demons. People who saw Jesus said: "What is…
DO WHAT YOU CAN The story is told of two men who were talking. One of them was huge, the other quite small. The small man was admiring the size of the larger man. "Boy,…
COMMITMENT "What can you do?" The larger boys laughed when they watched little Ricky grab a broom and jump in line behind the parade of soldiers marching down the city street. "Not much." was his…
AN INFUSION OF COURAGE It was late in the evening. At the end of a long, busy day I felt almost too tired to make my last pastoral visit. An elderly lady answered the door.…
TWO ANSWERED PRAYERS -- OR LARCENY? Margaret Burke went to St. Jude's Church daily for nine days in February 1984 to ask St. Jude, the saint of desperate causes, to help her keep her home.…
HUMILITY For many years Sir Walter Scott was the leading literary figure in the British Empire. No one could write as well as he. Then the works of Lord Byron began to appear, and their…
SOLITUDE Moon shell, who named you? Some intuitive woman I like to think. I shall give you another name - - island shell. I cannot live forever on my island. But I can take you…
SERVICE/ACTS OF MERCY Dr. Kenneth E. Bailey has been a Presbyterian missionary and teacher in Beirut, Lebanon and in Jerusalem. One night, while living in Lebanon, he heard a bomb blast close by (an almost…
HAWAIIAN PRAYER In the book Walking On Water there is a quote by a Hawaiian Christian, Mother Alice Kaholusuna: "Before the missionaries came, my people used to sit outside their temples for a long time…
LIFE IN MOTION There is no such thing as perpetual tranquility of mind while we live; because life itself is but motion, and can never be without desire, nor without fear, no more than without…
THE DISCIPLINE OF TEACHING I teach children in the church school because I care -- care about them and care about sharing my faith. I would like to help all children feel good about themselves…
BUSINESSLIKE PRAYER The president of a major Twin City, Minnesota company was saying the evening prayer at dinner one evening at home. It became a fairly long prayer, and at the end he forgot where…
FORTITUDE In 1839, during one of the many persecutions that have plagued the Christians of China, a mother and her fifteen-year-old boy were cruelly tortured in order to make them give up their faith. But…
READING EVEN THE BEGATS A learned old missionary lady was teaching a Bible class. One day she explained to her class that she had a system that enabled her to read the entire Bible, Old…
THINK ABOUT IT A stumble may prevent a fall. Thomas Fuller
PRIORITIES To grow in this way may mean that we have to say "No" to some other things, including the delight of being current. It is hard to keep up with all the latest trends…
THE DISCIPLINE OF DEEDS THAT LAST The pyramids, which were built by human pride are being worn away by the silent friction of the centuries that drift over them, while the old wells dug by…
HOW DO YOU CARRY YOUR WORLD? Bruce Larson tells (in Believe and Belong) how he helped people struggling to surrender their lives to Christ: "For many years I worked in New York City and counseled…
