MODERATION IN ALL THINGS Once, as an experiment, the great scientist Isaac Newton stared at the image of the sun reflected in a mirror. The brightness burned into his retina, and he suffered temporary blindness.…
Sermon Illustrations
LISTENING TO WORSHIP Robert E. Webber, in his book, Worship Old and New, has said that the mistake of the medieval period was that the congregations watched worship. In our day, he says, the mistake…
SOUNDS TOO MUCH LIKE WORSHIP A few years ago Newsweek ran an ad for a CD player. Unfortunately, if someone did not know that the ad was for a CD player they may have thought…
YOU DON'T WATCH WORSHIP Worship is not the playing of a game by the clergy on a baseball diamond to impress thousands of church members gathered in the grandstand to watch. No, it is the…
ANOTHER SIDE OF WORSHIP Garrison Keillor spins another tale: "Larry the Sad Boy... was saved twelve times in the Lutheran church, an all-time record. Between 1953 and 1961 he threw himself weeping and contrite on…
MYSTERY OF WORSHIP True worship always involves an element of mystery God reveals Himself but rarely explains Himself. Christians do not live on explanations but on promises, and on deepening relationships. God deliberately keeps some…
NO CHRISTIAN VARIETY SHOW We need to let go of our intellectual idea of worship and realize there is more to worship than a sermon; we have to let go of our evangelistic notion of…
REMEMBRANCE OF CHRIST Remembrance contained for the Hebrew mind a dynamic aspect and was not simply a mental exercise. The case of the widow of Zarephath as presented in the Old Testament passage: 1 Kings…
HIGH PLACES AND WORSHIP High places frequently had an evil meaning for worshippers. The high places were the locations for the exotic temples for idols, with the sensual forms of worship and activities that made…
I AM NOT THOU A father was reading the Ten Commandments to his son. As he read, he was explaining what each one meant: "Thou shalt not ... Thou shalt not..." When they came to…
SUSPENSION STANDS UP A ten-year-old girl had heard about some students getting expelled or suspended from school and did not understand what this meant. She went to her father and asked, "Dad, what does it…
WHO'S HARD OF HEARING? A man was perplexed by his wife's refusal to admit her hearing problem. Speaking with his doctor one day, he exclaimed, "How can I get my wife to admit that she…
KINDNESS BETTER THAN INTELLIGENCE The Jewish thinker and theologian Abraham Heschel noted near the end of his life: "I used to admire intelligent people. As I grow older, I admire kind people."
GET IT RIGHT THIS TIME Lisa was in a hurry. She had been shopping, and it was time to get home. But she still needed to get some gas for her car. She pulled into…
CELLULAR LINK TO GOD A pastor was on his way to church with his three-year-old daughter. On the way the pastor remembered an urgent message he was supposed to give his wife. He reached for…
PRAISE OVERCOMES FEAR Try praising your wife even if it does frighten her at first. By Billy Sunday, from the Christian Reader, May, 1994
AN FORCELESS SALES FORCE A manufacturer was ready to expand. His product was developed, manufactured, tested, and was considered by all as an excellent product. He hired a sales force of fifty people and trained…
DEEPEST LOVE FOR NEAREST NEIGHBOR The Christian is supposed to love his neighbor, and since his wife is his nearest neighbor, she should be his deepest love. By Martin Luther, from the Christian Reader, May,…
I LIKE CHARLES Charles Stanley recalls only two people during his entire childhood, other than from his mother, from whom he received words of affirmation and affection. One person who praised him was his teacher…
WORDS OF MEANING Did is a word of achievement, Won't is a word of retreat, Might is a word of bereavement, Can't is a word of defeat, Ought is a word of duty, Try is…
