Sermon Illustrations

Nell Mohney illustrates the importance of attitude in Beliefs Can Influence Attitudes with a story that is fascinating. In the San Francisco Bay area some educators decided to conduct an experiment. They called three teachers together and told them that they had been selected because they were the brightest and most...

The smallest Indian reservation in North America belongs to the Mattaponi tribe in eastern Virginia. The reservation consists of only 125 acres. The Mattaponi signed a treaty with the Virginians in 1646. The treaty provided for an annual visit by the tribe to the governor of Virginia to renew their pledge of loyalty. They have kept...

Writing in the October/November 1998 issue of Carolina Mountain Living Timothy M. Smith remarked on the strange fact that towns put up signs "No Loitering!" He says "The problem is ... that we're already moving too fast." Some cities have put up signs on entrance ramps that command "Keep Moving." But those who grew up...

Visitors to Milan, Italy, are often disappointed when they see DaVinci's famous painting "The Last Supper." It was painted on the wall of a monastery dining room and by now the colors are so faint you can barely see the painting. Restoration has been going on for years with little success. If you knew the history of the world's...

In his book The Man Who Was Thursday G. K. Chesterton put these words in the mouth of one of his characters: "We have only known the back of the world." It must certainly be remembered that our knowledge of the world is partial. Paul said we see through a glass darkly. Looking at the world -- or life -- is like looking at the...

Habitat for Humanity is the well-known group that organizes volunteers to build houses for the homeless. On one job site a worker was awakened at 2:00 a.m. by a noise. He went over to the almost finished house. He found one of the volunteers on his knees under the sink, laying floor tiles. The worker explained that the...

Recent newspaper accounts of the ruler of Iraq are truly fascinating. Though a man of great power and wealth, Saddam Hussein lives in constant fear. He seldom sleeps in the same bed two nights in a row. Sometimes he sleeps in a van on a remote roadside. He has three "doubles." They look like him and they are used to...

Before you make too many excuses based on your having gotten a poor start in life consider the study made by Victor and Mildred Goertzel. They studied the backgrounds of hundreds of highly successful people. Three out of four had a troubled childhood! One fourth of them had some physical handicap. The fact is that...

We are always impressed with the fervor of the apostle Paul. Nothing could keep him from winning souls to the Lord Jesus Christ. When they put him in jail he converted the jailer. What is less well known is that Christians in many lands have that same zeal today. In Vietnam Christians in prison write Bible verse on little...

Life is filled with apparent contradictions. Upon entering a U.S. Airbase one sees a large sign: Peace is our Profession. Well, actually war is their profession, but one could argue that being prepared for war promotes peace. The greatest of these seeming contradictions is the cross. Geoffrey R. King described it well. "Here is a...