Sermon Illustrations

Kierkegaard told a parable about a prince who fell in love with a peasant maid. He had noticed her passing by on the street and was instantly infatuated. He knew that if he went to her as the prince and told of his love, she would certainly accept. That would be the loyal thing to do. But he wanted her to have a genuine...

In the Peanuts comic strip, one of the little girls says that Christmas is a time for kindness and joy, and a time when we forgive one another. Charlie Brown responds by saying, "Why just at Christmas? Why can't we be kind and forgiving all through the year?" She looks at Charlie Brown and says, "What are you...

In C. S. Lewis' book, The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe, he takes us to the land of Narnia. When Narnia is living under the authority of the witch, it is "always winter, but never Christmas." Can you imagine how discouraging that would be to a child? Still, there are people today who are living in a winter, and Christmas...

The town of Greeneville, TN, is characterized for the spelling of Greene after the revolutionary war hero Nathaniel Greene. Local citizens are very careful to include the "E" in his honor. Greene was one of Washington's noblest and most effective generals. What is not widely known, according to the Ripley people, is that...

A lady was visiting an art museum when she turned to a curator and pointed at the wall. "I suppose you call this hideous looking thing modern art." "No," he replied. "We call it a mirror." What do we see when we look at ourselves. Do we think too highly of ourselves or too lowly? With God's help we can see ourselves as we are...

It happened at the battle of Mill Springs in South Central Kentucky. It seems the battle was raging in early morning on a fog-shrouded ridge. The two armies were involved in hand-to-hand combat and the battle lines had broken in several places. Two generals met each other on the fog-shrouded hill. They talked for several...

Little by little, Centralia, Pennsylvania, is dying. According to an AP report, population is down to 21. Centralia used to be home to over 4,000. What is the problem? It is an underground fire that has burned continuously beneath the city since 1962! The fire is burning a particularly slow burning type of coal in the mine that runs...

A popular restaurant has a slogan "No Rules. Just Right." No doubt the restaurant is trying to enhance its image as a place where you can have fun and eat in an informal atmosphere. The slogan, if taken seriously, reveals an interesting tendency in our society. We rebel against rules. Rules are important, however. Aren't we...

USA Today recently ran an article about a study done by the National Marriage Project by Rutgers. This study may motivate churches to do more to uphold the honor of marriage. In a survey of men and women in their twenties: 62% thought living together before marriage is a good way to avoid divorce. This runs counter to...

One of the most ardent patriots in the American Revolution was John Adams, our second president. One of the events that helped spark the revolution was an event called The Boston Massacre. It involved a riot between American patriots and British soldiers. The defense attorney for the soldiers was one John Adams. His...