Sermon Illustrations

There is an old fable from Aesop about a man who called his sons to his sick bed. "I am about to die," he said. "In my vineyard lies a treasure. Dig and you will find it." Not long after that, the man dies. The sons busily went to work digging in the vineyard. After they finished their repeated digging, they concluded there was...

The late Steve Allen told about a lady named Liz who had been hurt in an automobile accident. A lawyer came to visit her and said, "I've come to assist you in getting damages." Liz replied, "I got all the damages I want. What I need is repairs." This is true of many hurting people we come...

According to Ripley's Believe it or Not, the oldest known bird was called the Archaeopteryx. According to scientists, this ancient bird was so clumsy it could not control its own flight. It simply flew into the air and went wherever the wind blew it. Many Christians are that way. They have no sense of...

Peggy Noonan, former presidential speech writer, in her book Simply Speaking tells of an insight she learned from novelist Edith Wharton. Wharton said that "no matter what the gift of the writer, whether genius or dunce, the language of love is always the same: 'I love you, I love you, my darling, you are so wonderful ....'"

If it isn't a record it surely must be close. According to the Book of Lists #3, movie stars Rudolph Valentino and Jean Acker were married on November 5, 1919. Valentino, the heartthrob, was locked out of the house on his wedding night by the bride. Although the legalities took a little longer, the marriage lasted less ...

It's a story that was once immortalized in a movie. It is the story of a unique friend named Greyfriars Bobby. Bobby was a stray dog adopted by a policeman in Edinburgh, Scotland. When his master died, Bobby stayed continually by his graveside. Occasionally he would go to a pub where he had eaten with his master. There...

Many Christians wear a WWJD band on their arms. This stands for the question, "What Would Jesus Do?" This question goes all the way back to a book written by Charles Sheldon entitled, In His Steps. The book mused on what would happen if people in everyday life asked "What Would Jesus Do?" What is not widely...

The ancient Greek mathematician once used his ingenuity to help defend his home against foreign invaders. When Roman forces prepared to attack Syracuse about 214 BC, Archimedes installed mirrors on shore and trained them on the Roman vessels. The sun's magnified rays were trained on the Roman ships and ignited them....

The Guinness Book of World Records keeps track of some very unusual records. One is, "The longest time living in a tree." A man named Bungkas went up a tree in Benkes, Idonesia in 1970 and has been there ever since. He lives in a nest he made from the braches and leaves of the trees. People have repeatedly tried to get...

Leo Cummins once wrote up a list of "Murphy's Laws" for ministers. They include the following: 1) The amount of flack received on any one subject is inversely proportionate to that subject's real value. 2) For every action there is an equal and opposite criticism. 3) If weather is extremely bad, church attendance will be...