Sermon Illustrations

In I Ching, the Chinese book of changes, the first hexagram is called "the creative." It is an image of a dragon hidden in the deep which awakens, leaps into flight, then returns to its hiding place. Most pastors can relate. Changes aren't literal dragons, but they may as well be. The dragons stay hidden until they see a point of...

Many regard the Taj Mahal as the most beautiful building ever constructed. Most visitors to India want to see it above all other sights. It was built by Shah Jehan as both a mausoleum and also a monument to his beloved wife. There is a legend about this famous building. The legend says that during the long process of...

A. D. Correll is the CEO of Georgia-Pacific, the leading forest-products company in the country. Recently Sky magazine quoted Correll on the value of trees. He said that a growing tree is "the most wonderful pollution control device ever devised. It takes carbon dioxide out of the air and converts it to oxygen and stores the...

In November 1993 Esquire magazine carried an article entitled "How to Live Forever." The article said that if all gerontogenes are deactivated, if cancer and heart disease are conquered, if genes can be tricked into regenerating organ tissue, and if all causes of senescence are eliminated, the median life span will increase to...

A man said he was an army sergeant stationed in Europe and his job was to help get the chapel ready for services on Sunday. He himself never attended, but he got everything ready for the chaplain. One day he opened a box. It was full of books called Good News for Modern Man. He said to himself, "I'm a modern man. I'll read...

ETHICS - Quotations"It's discouraging how many people are shocked by honesty and how few by deceit." (Bruce Babbitt)"There is only one way to achieve happiness on this terrestrial ball / And that is to have eit... Continue Reading...

ANGER - Destructiveness ofFrederick Buechner points out that "Of all the Seven Deadly Sins, anger is possibly the most fun. To lick your wounds, to smack your lips over grievances long past, to roll over your t... Continue Reading...

BETRAYALRobert Kopp reminds us of Bronco Nagerski, the tough running back for the Chicago Bears in the 1930's. During one especially brutal game, Bronco broke four tackles on the way to the goal line, hit the g... Continue Reading...

BAPTISM - Means deathWill Campbell tells the story of the day he was baptized in the East Fork River in Amite County, Mississippi. They baptized outdoors, and his parents had ordered some baptismal clothes from... Continue Reading...

MEANING - People seekAverage weekly attendance at worship services in our nation has risen to 43% of the population. A recent Gallup poll reported this to be a 20-year high. The Princeton Religious Research Cen... Continue Reading...