Sermon Illustrations

Face the ElementsNature wonderfully testifies that adverse conditions are often valuable in the development of some types of trees and plants. While fire is one of the forest's great enemies, it actually helps certain kinds of seeds to grow. The cones of some pines do not open until they are touc

Opportunities Missed (or The Curse of Permanent Potential) There was a very cautious man Who never laughed or played He never risked, he never tried He never sang or prayed And when he one day passed away His insurance was denied For since he never really lived They claimed he never died.

Formula for Spiritual Success If you want to be distressed - look within.If you want to be defeated - look back.If you want to be distracted - look around.If you want to be dismayed - look ahead.If you want to be delivered - look up!  

Haddon Robinson tells about the young musician's concert which was poorly received by the critics. The famous Finnish composer Jean Sibelius consoled him by patting him on the shoulder and saying, "Remember, son, there is no city in the world where they have a statue to a critic."  

I recently heard of four scholars who were arguing over Bible translations. One said he preferred the King James Version because of its beautiful, eloquent old English. Another said he preferred the American Standard Bible for its literalism, the way it moves the reader from passage to passage with

A Pumpkin Tree? Oppressed by the noonday heat, a tired farmer sat under a walnut tree to rest. Relaxing, he looked at his pumpkin vines and said to himself, "How strange it is that God puts such big heavy pumpkins on a frail vine that has so little strength it has to trail on the ground!" And then

Before introducing Charles Colson, the host of a popular news interview program played a taped telephone message by two Christians who had fallen into sin. It was an attempt to embarrass Colson and make ineffective anything he would say. Knowing this, Colson responded with fervor: "There have been s

The story is told of the Scottish minister who was serving communion to his congregation. He noticed a man reach for the elements and then draw his hand back. He could tell that he wanted to participate but was uncertain of his worthiness. The pastor smiled and gently said, "Take it, lad. It's f

Handling the Bumps I was driving down a bumpy country road when I saw a bag of cement beside the road. It appeared to have fallen off a delivery truck as it hit one of the bumps in the rough road. Being a person who does not like to see anything wasted, I stopped to pick up the lost bag of cemen

Dr. Arno Penzias is one of the two physicists who discovered the existence of cosmic background radiation. In his May 9 Breakpoint commentary, Chuck Colson points out that Penzias now says, "The creation of the universe is supported by all the observable data astronomy has produced so far. As a resu