Sermon Illustrations

One socialite said to another, "My ancestry goes back all the way to Alexander the Great. How far back does your family go?" "I don't know," replied the other. "All of our records were lost in the flood."

One Sunday during the evening service someone noticed their child entering zestfully into the singing of the chorus, "Soon and very soon / we are going to see the King"

A man has reached middle age when he is cautioned to slow down by his doctor instead of by the police. Middle age is having a choice of two temptations and choosing the one that will get you home earlier.

A number of years ago, Newsweek magazine carried the story of the memorial service held for Hubert Humphrey, former vice-president of the United States. Hundreds of people came from all over the world to say good-bye to their old friend and colleague.

A pastor visited his church members one Saturday. At one house it was obvious that someone was home, but nobody came to the door, even though the pastor knocked several times.

When Barbara Schwartz was about 29-years-old, she visited her parents one weekend. They questioned her about her current boyfriend. Her mother asked, 'Just what kind of man are you interested in?' Barbara pointed to her father and said, 'I want one like him, but with a few minor modifications.'

On her golden wedding anniversary, a grandmother revealed the secret of her long and happy marriage. "On my wedding day, I decided to choose ten of my husband's faults which, for the sake of our marriage, I would overlook," she explained. A guest asked her to name some of the faults.

He is an active member of a congregation in Queensland, Australia, and his name is Pax Young. We often encounter the surname Young, but his first name is not one you hear every day. How did he get the name Pax? The answer is that he was born on the very day World War I ended.

When David Livingstone volunteered as a missionary with the London Missionary Society, they asked him where he wanted to go. He replied, "Anywhere, so long as it is forward." After he had reached Africa he recorded his impressions, saying that he was haunted by the smoke of a thousand villages stretching off into the distance. David Livingstone had the heart of a missionary.

Grover Cleveland served two terms as President of the United States - 1885-89 and 1893-97. He had high ideals for America. He called it "the land that lives in us." Among the patriotic speeches he wrote and gave, one addressed that theme. He said, in part: