Sermon Illustrations

So many stories have come out of the terrorist attack of September 11. One of the most poignant, carried by the Associated Press, was the discovery by rescue workers in the rubble of the World Trade Center of a large perfectly shaped cross, twenty feet tall. The cross was formed as a result of the destruction. It was...

Blaise Pascal was a theologian, mathematician, scientist and philosopher. At the time of his death, those who cared for him found a parchment sewn into his clothing. It was a testimony concerning his conversion. Part of it says this: "Year of grace 1654, Monday 23, November ... from about half past ten at night to about half an...

In Elysa Gardner's USA Today tribute to Richard Rogers, she tells a story that gives us a clue to his extraordinary success in musical theater. She relates comments made by Rogers' eldest daughter Mary. "He wouldn't read The New Yorker, unless he thought it would make a good musical. That's the mark of genius I think - being...

The Book of Kells is one of the most beautiful and revered illustrated manuscripts of the scriptures. A beautiful book with text by Ben MackworthPraud tells its remarkable story. The copyists displayed their love for the scriptures by their beautiful artwork and ornamentation. It is quite remarkable that the book has...

USA Today reported that a survey of a major Christian book retailing chain showed a remarkable increase of 22% in Bible sales as a result of the September 11 terrorist attacks in New York and Washington, DC. Many churches reported a full house the Sunday after the attacks. While there is certainly nothing wrong with...

The Ripley organization highlights the story of the unusual creature, the Nanomia Cara. It is a jellyfish, and it lives in a huge cluster with other jellyfish. Some in the colony catch the food, others digest the food for the rest, others provide propulsion and still others lay eggs. They are interdependent. So is the church. Everyone...

"To forgive is to set the prisoner free, and then discover the prisoner was you." (source unknown)  

In an early Peanuts comic strip, Charlie Brown and Lucy are having a conversation. Lucy asks, "What are you doing for your dad on Father's Day?" Charlie replies, "First, I'm going to get him to take me to the park to play on the swings. Then we'll go to the zoo and from there to the ball game. By the end of the day, he'll know...

William Howard Taft entered the White House with the approval of the retiring president, Theodore Roosevelt. They had a falling out, and Roosevelt ran against his former protegee in the next election. Three candidates competed for the vote: Woodrow Wilson, Theodore Roosevelt, and William Howard Taft. Wilson won with...

In the cartoon The Family Circus, the little boy in the family was sending a Christmas card to his grandmother. He said, "I know Grandmother likes only religious cards, so I'm sending her this one with St. Nick on it." Many of us laugh at that, but in a practical sense, we are the same as that little boy. For we take great pains...