CONTACT WITHOUT CONTAMINATION A church on the move must confront reality and meet people where they are. Separation is not isolation-it is contact without contamination. Jesus was the friend of publicans (tax collectors) and sinners.…
Sermon Illustrations
LEARN LOVE BY LOVING Knowledge is gained by learning; trust by doubt; skill by practice; and love by love. -- Thomas Szasz
PERMANENT & IMMEDIATE When I was a student in seminary, I was privileged to pastor a church on weekends. God blessed in many ways, and at one point I was tempted to leave school and…
WRESTLING WITH GOD Preparing to take religious vows, a young novice asked the oldest member of the order, "Father, do you still wrestle with the devil?" The elderly priest replied, "No, my son. I have…
HOW YOU SUCCEED It's how you deal with failure that determines how you achieve success. -- David Feherty
DISTURBING INFLUENCE The deviation of a ship's compass from the true magnetic meridian is caused by the near presence of iron. This disturbing influence must be neutralized or the compass becomes worthless. The deviation of…
TRYING TO DO & BE CHRISTIANS In our efforts to avoid the necessary pains of discipline we miss the easy yoke and light burden. We then fall into the rending frustration of trying to do…
MAKING DISCIPLES When Jesus gave us the Great Commission in Matthew 28:19 & 20, exactly what was he telling us to do? At first glance, "going," "baptizing," and "teaching" all look like verbs, and we…
DISCOVERING GOD We discover misery only when we make God's love remote, for love is there. We are just as frustrated when we seek to earn his love, for his love is free. We will…
CONFLICT IS OUR TRADITION During a service at an old synagogue in Eastern Europe, when the Shema prayer was said, half the congregants stood up and half remained sitting. The half that was seated started…
CHURCH & HEALTH Regular churchgoers live longer than nonchurchgoers, a new study shows. Researchers studied 21,000 adults for nine years, examining their religious behaviors and other factors, and published the results in the latest issue…
NAILING THE PAIN A construction worker from Lehighton, Pennsylvania recently cut off his hand with a power saw while working in a basement. The pain quickly became so great that he shot a dozen nails…
PROGRESSIVE REVELATION There was a seminary professor who was much admired by his students because he always managed to keep his spiritual vitality at a high peak. Clearly he was a man who had found…
FAILURE TO WORSHIP Eugene Peterson wrote on worship saying: "Failure to worship consigns us to a life of spasms and jerks, at the mercy of every advertisement, every seduction, every siren. Without worship we live…
TOLERANCE OR LOVE Tolerance says, "You must approve of what I do." Love responds, "I must do something harder; I will love you, even when your behavior offends me." Tolerance says, "you must agree with…
WORTH SACRIFICE As Allen Boesak of South Africa says: "We will go before God to be judged, and God will ask us: 'Where are your wounds?' And we will say, 'We have no wounds.' And…
NEW EMPLOYEE WANTED A businessman tells his friend that his company is looking for a new employee. His friend asks, "Didn't your company hire a new employee a few weeks ago?" The businessman replies, "That's…
ON A JOURNEY My wife and I are going to a conference . . . . . . without the children. Taking a trip like this there are just so many things to prepare, some…
FLAME OF REPUTATION Reputation is in itself only a farthing candle, of a wavering and uncertain flame, and easily blown out, but it is the light by which the world looks for and finds merit.…
BEES & BUSINESS One who is too wise an observer of the business of others, like one who is too curious in observing the labor of bees, will often be stung for his curiosity. By…
