Sermon and Worship Resources

Showing 301 to 325 of 538 results

301. Particles of United Light

Illustration

Michael P. Green

Have you ever wondered what makes the difference between a spotlight and a laser beam? How can a medium-power laser burn through steel in a matter of seconds, while the most powerful spotlight can only make it warm? Both may have the same electrical power requirements. The difference is unity. A laser can be simply described as a medium of excited molecules with mirrors at each end. Some of the e...

302. Passion Sells It

Illustration

Michael P. Green

This story is told of Harry Winston, who was one of the world’s greatest jewel merchants. One day he watched one of his salesmen show a beautiful diamond to a rich Dutch merchant. The customer listened thoughtfully to the expert description, but he eventually turned away, saying, “It’s a wonderful stone, but not exactly what I want.” Winston stopped the customer on his way out and asked, “Do you ...

303. Path of Least Resistance

Illustration

Michael P. Green

Have you ever seen a straight river? Canals are straight, but all rivers seem to be crooked. We call it “meandering.” Why are rivers crooked? Because the natural tendency of a river is to take the easiest way around any obstacle. So rivers are always crooked, and they always run downhill. Some people are like rivers. They are too lazy and immature to put forth much effort into walking with God. Th...

304. Paul & Nero

Acts 9:1-19a

Illustration

Michael P. Green

Scarcely a greater contrast can be drawn than that between Paul and Nero. Nero was the Roman emperor, seated on a throne. His name was known throughout the empire. Paul was an obscure Jew, totally unimpressive in his physical appearance—he says so himself in his letters. In a distant corner of the Roman Empire, Paul was a leader in a small, heretical sect that was known only as a group of troublem...

305. Paying For Slavery

Illustration

Michael P. Green

Henry Thoreau, that rugged New England individualist of the nineteenth century, once went to jail rather than pay his poll tax to a state that supported slavery. Thoreau’s good friend Ralph Waldo Emerson hurried to visit him in jail and, peering through the bars, exclaimed: “Why, Henry, what are you doing in there?” The uncowed Thoreau replied, “Nay, Ralph, the question is, what are you doing out...

306. Peace Below

Illustration

Michael P. Green

Picture a massive hurricane raging over the ocean. On the surface of the sea the violent winds whip the water into giant waves and create a scene of havoc and chaos. Yet, a mere twenty-five feet below the surface, the waters are clear and calm. The fish there go on living their lives totally unaware of the thunderous tumult just above them. When there is “depth,” there is peace. So it is in the C...

307. Persecution of Polycarp

Illustration

Michael P. Green

One of the most inspiring examples of courage in the history of the church was the martyrdom of Polycarp, who was burned at the stake for his faith. The aged Polycarp had been arrested by the Roman authorities and brought to the arena for execution in front of the cheering crowd. The proconsul pressed him hard and said, “Swear, and I will release you. Revile Christ.” Polycarp replied, “Eighty and ...

308. Planned Neglect

Illustration

Michael P. Green

Someone is reported to have asked a concert violinist in New York’s Carnegie Hall how she became so skilled. She said that it was by “planned neglect.” She planned to neglect everything that was not related to her goal.

309. Plowing The Other Field

Illustration

Michael P. Green

Returning from Sunday school, where the Ten Commandments had been the topic of the day, a young boy asked his father, “Daddy, what does it mean when it says, ‘Thou shalt not commit agriculture’?” There was hardly a beat between the question and the father’s reply: “Son, that just means that you’re not supposed to plow the other man’s field,” an answer satisfactory to both of them.

310. Plucked From The Burning

Illustration

Michael P. Green

An old Indian, after living many years in sin, was led to Christ by a missionary. Friends asked him to explain the change in his life. Reaching down, he picked up a little worm and placed it on a pile of leaves. Then, touching a match to the leaves, he watched them smolder and burst into flames. As the flames worked their way up to the center where the worm lay, the old chief suddenly plunged his ...

311. Pluto Patience

Illustration

Michael P. Green

Patience on the part of young Clyde Tombaugh, an assistant astronomer, is what led him finally to discover the dwarf "planet" Pluto. For over seven decades, Pluto was considered the ninth planet of our solar system. Astronomers had already calculated a probable orbit for this “suspected” heavenly body, which they had never seen. But Tombaugh took up the search in March 1929. He examined scores of ...

312. Poisoned Melons

Illustration

Michael P. Green

A melon farmer’s crop of melons was disappearing fast from his field. Thieves were continually stealing the melons under the cover of night’s darkness. The farmer finally became desperate and in an attempt to save his crop from the vandals he decided to put up a sign. The sign had on it a skull and crossbones, and it read: “one of these melons is poisoned”—only the farmer knew that it was not tru...

313. Polls Don't Count

Illustration

Michael P. Green

Harry Truman once commented on the importance of polls to leadership, with the following insight: “I wonder how far Moses would have gone if he’d taken a poll in Egypt? What would Jesus Christ have preached if he’d taken a poll in Israel? Where would the Reformation have gone if Martin Luther had taken a poll? It isn’t the polls or public opinion of the moment that counts. It is right and wrong an...

314. Porcupine Marriage

Humor Illustration

Michael P. Green

Someone has likened adjustment to marriage to two porcupines who lived in Alaska. When the deep and heavy snows came, they felt the cold and began to draw close together. However, when they drew close they began to stick one another with their quills. But when they drew apart they felt the cold once again. To keep warm they had to learn how to adjust to one another—very carefully.

315. Postmortem "Too Late" Tributes

Illustration

Michael P. Green

Thomas Carlyle paid many pathetic postmortem tributes to his deceased wife, whom he sometimes neglected in life. In his diary there is what has been called the saddest sentence in English literature. Carlyle wrote: “Oh, that I had you yet for five minutes by my side that I might tell you all.”

316. Pouring Me Into Me

Illustration

Michael P. Green

Self-righteousness is like a bottomless cup: though you pour and pour, you will never be able to fill it. Why? Because pouring yourself into yourself adds nothing to you. Nothing plus nothing always equals nothing. Instead, accept God’s righteousness rather than trying to accumulate your own. You will find that the righteousness he offers is real. And that is what fills the cup of sanctification.

317. Pouring The Infinite in a Hole

John 16:12-15

Illustration

Michael P. Green

Augustine, while puzzling over the doctrine of the Trinity, was walking along the beach one day when he observed a young boy with a bucket, running back and forth to pour water into a little hole. Augustine asked, “What are you doing?” The boy replied, “I’m trying to put the ocean into this hole.” Then Augustine realized that he had been trying to put an infinite God into his finite mind.

318. P-reach C-hrist

Humor Illustration

Michael P. Green

A middle-aged farmer who had been desiring for years to be an evangelist was out working in the field one day when he decided to rest under a tree. As he looked into the sky he saw that the clouds seemed to form into the letters P and C. Immediately he hopped up, sold his farm, and went out to P-reach C-hrist, which he felt was God’s leading. Unfortunately, he was a horrible preacher. After one of...

319. Predicting Defeat

Illustration

Michael P. Green

Evangelist Bill Glass asked a group of a thousand prison inmates, “How many of you had parents who told you that you would end up in prison one day?” Unexpectedly, almost every one of the inmates raised his hand.

320. Prepare for Death and Follow Me

Illustration

Michael P. Green

An Indiana cemetery has a tombstone over a hundred years old that bears this epitaph: Pause, Stranger, when you pass me by, As you are now, so once was I. As I am now, so you will be, So prepare for death and follow me. An unknown passerby had read those words and scratched this reply below them: To follow you I’m not content, Until I know which way you went. The passerby was right, the import...

321. Prime The Pump

Illustration

Michael P. Green

The story has been told of a man who was crossing a desert in the days of the pioneers. He ran into trouble and was dying of thirst when he spotted a pump near an abandoned shack. He had no water to prime the pump, but he noticed a jug of water near the pump with a note attached. It read: “There is just enough water in this jug to prime the pump, but not if you drink some first. This well has neve...

322. Proper Comfort

Illustration

Michael P. Green

The Joe Bayly family, in the course of several years, lost three of their children. In his book View from A Hearse, (Elgin, Ill.: Cook, 1973) Joe Bayly shared his honest feelings: “I was sitting there torn by grief. Someone came and talked of God’s dealings, of why it happened, of hope beyond the grave. He talked constantly. He said things I knew were true. I was unmoved, except to wish he’d go a...

323. Pursue A Good Name

Illustration

Michael P. Green

Rabbi Simon said, “There are three crowns: the crown of [the study of] the Law, the crown of priesthood, and the crown of royalty, but the crown of a good name surpasses them all” (Mishnah Avoth 4.13).

324. Put A Feather On Every Doorstep

Illustration

Michael P. Green

The story is told of a young man during the Middle Ages who went to a monk, saying, “I’ve sinned by telling slanderous statements about someone. What should I do now?” The monk replied, “Put a feather on every doorstep in town.” The young man did it. He then returned to the monk, wondering if there was anything else that he should do. The monk said, “Go back and pick up all the feathers.” The youn...

325. Putting Away Childish Things

Illustration

Michael P. Green

“You know,” said the father of five while busily cleaning up the toys in the yard, “since I’ve been married, I’ve learned the meaning of those words in the Bible, ‘When I became a man, I put away childish things.’ ”

Showing results

Showing 301 to 325 of 538 results

301. Particles of United Light

Illustration

Michael P. Green

302. Passion Sells It

Illustration

Michael P. Green

303. Path of Least Resistance

Illustration

Michael P. Green

304. Paul & Nero

Acts 9:1-19a

Illustration

Michael P. Green

305. Paying For Slavery

Illustration

Michael P. Green

306. Peace Below

Illustration

Michael P. Green

307. Persecution of Polycarp

Illustration

Michael P. Green

308. Planned Neglect

Illustration

Michael P. Green

309. Plowing The Other Field

Illustration

Michael P. Green

310. Plucked From The Burning

Illustration

Michael P. Green

311. Pluto Patience

Illustration

Michael P. Green

312. Poisoned Melons

Illustration

Michael P. Green

313. Polls Don't Count

Illustration

Michael P. Green

314. Porcupine Marriage

Humor Illustration

Michael P. Green

315. Postmortem "Too Late" Tributes

Illustration

Michael P. Green

316. Pouring Me Into Me

Illustration

Michael P. Green

317. Pouring The Infinite in a Hole

John 16:12-15

Illustration

Michael P. Green

318. P-reach C-hrist

Humor Illustration

Michael P. Green

319. Predicting Defeat

Illustration

Michael P. Green

320. Prepare for Death and Follow Me

Illustration

Michael P. Green

321. Prime The Pump

Illustration

Michael P. Green

322. Proper Comfort

Illustration

Michael P. Green

323. Pursue A Good Name

Illustration

Michael P. Green

324. Put A Feather On Every Doorstep

Illustration

Michael P. Green

325. Putting Away Childish Things

Illustration

Michael P. Green

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