Sermon Illustrations

Two divers found a strange treasure in the River Wear near Durham Cathedral. They found a stash of coins, medals and religious objects. To whom did this treasure belong? They were the possessions of the late Michael Ramsey, former archbishop of Canterbury. This spot in the river was very near where Ramsay served and later retired in 1974.

In northern New Jersey, police picked up three suspected burglars who were believed to have left a crime scene with only $2 in change. How did the police find them? They left behind keys to their car. Police believe the suspects only got away with the money in a piggy bank.

Alan Loy McGinnis tells a story about a man who stood on the bank of Lake Michigan in despair. He was 32 years old, a college dropout and financially bankrupt. On the verge of throwing himself into the lake, he looked to the sky and a thought came to him: "You have no right to eliminate yourself. You do not belong to you. You belong to the universe."

According to news sources, there is an 88-year-old woman in Colorado Springs who walks laps around her nursing home property every day. She has reached 10,000 miles. Why does she do it?

A dying man who was living in great fear of death asked his minister if he knew exactly what heaven was like. The minister replied that he did not know exactly what heaven's like. The sick man replied, "Then what good are you, and what kind of minister are you?"

Satchel Paige was a baseball legend. His promotion to the major leagues was delayed because of the infamous color barrier. He came to the majors at the age of 42 and pitched in a game when he was 59. Here were his rules for staying young:

Do you remember the old story about a soldier undergoing basic training? He was consigned to KP duty and given the task of sorting potatoes. There was a mountain of them, and the mess sergeant told him to put all the bad potatoes in one container and all the good ones in the other. The sergeant came back after about two hours and saw the soldier staring at one potato. There was nothing in either container.

Far too often, Christians are like the man who met an old friend and asked, "How's everything with you?" The other man said, "Terrible. You know my wife just died." The first man said, "Well, it could have been worse." We cannot be that indifferent. The Spirit of Christ demands that we genuinely feel the hurts of our brothers and sisters and work to alleviate them.

It has been reported that the Emperor Caligula would write out his decrees in very small letters and post them so high that no one could read them. Still, he enjoyed punishing offenders for breaking those laws.

The oldest surviving Irish manuscript is a fragmentary copy of the Book of Psalms. Before they went into battle, Celtic armies carried it around their troops three times to ensure victory. While we would not endorse such a magical view of the Bible, surely reading it does make us ready for spiritual warfare and eventual victory.