Sermon Illustrations

The Harris poll recently discovered that nearly half of Americans are not sure God exists.The survey records that 42 percent of adults in the United States are not "absolutely certain" there is a God. This compares with 34 percent who felt that way when surveyed three years ago. Who knows why the nu

Even mothers who try hard are sometimes disappointed.According to Irving Wallace, Alice Hamilton had two sons who were listed as "Public Enemy Number 1." Her older son, Floyd, was a part of Bonnie and Clyde's gang.He served time at both Leavenworth and Alcatraz. Another son, Raymon

There is a story told about a blind man who was frequently seen sitting on a corner with a lighted candle in his hand. Finally, someone asked him why he had the candle there, since he was blind and could not see. Daylight and dark were the same to him. The blind man said, "I have it so people

Have you seen these answers to test questions from teachers in Christian schools? • Adam and eve were created from an apple tree. Noah's wife was Joan of ark. Noah built an ark and the animals came on in pears.• Lot's wife was a pillar of salt during the day, but a ball of fire du

Harold Hoehner unfolds the nature of adoption in the Roman world: "Under Roman law the procedure of adoption had two steps. In the first step, the son had to be released from the control of his natural father. This was done by a procedure whereby the father sold him as a slave three times

Gary Thomas, in his book Sacred Marriage, writes: "One of the reasons the trees of the western slope of the Cascades survive so long is quite simple: The Washington forests are so wet that lightning strikes cause relatively few fires. Whereas the traditional forest, if left alone, migh

"The early church father Tertullian wrote of the connection of Christ's love to the marriage relationship: How beautiful, then, the marriage of two Christians, two who are one in home, one in desire, one in the way of life they follow, one in the religion they practice. . . . No

Once when my parents were visiting our home in Indiana, we took them to Lake Michigan. It was a real delight, especially for my eleven-year-old sister, who had never seen such a large body of water before. As we visited that day about how relaxing it was to be in nature and enjoy the sound

The early American Indians had a unique practice of training young braves. On the night of a boy's thirteenth birthday, after learning hunting, scouting, and fishing skills, he was put to one final test. He was placed in a dense forest to spend the entire night alone. Until then, he had nev

The Puritan John Owen said: "Our forgiving of others will not procure forgiveness for ourselves; but our not forgiving others proves that we ourselves are not forgiven." And Thomas Watson said: "A man may as well go to hell for not forgiving as for not believing." Qu