Sermon and Worship Resources

Showing 26 to 50 of 58 results

26. A New Way of Life

Illustration

Charles Swindoll

One Newsweek magazine reported on what it called the new wave of mountain men. It's estimated that there are some sixty thousand serious mountain climbers in the U.S. But in the upper echelon of serious climbers is a small elite group known as "hard men." For them climbing mountains and scaling sheer rock faces is a way of life. In many cases, climbing is a part of their whole commitment to life. ...

27. A Striking Encounter with Wildlife

Illustration

Charles Swindoll

While hunting deer in the Tehema Wildlife Area near Red Bluff in northern California, Jay Rathman climbed to a ledge on the slope of a rocky gorge. As he raised his head to look over the ledge above, he sensed movement to the right of his face. A coiled rattler struck with lightning speed, just missing Rathman's right ear. The four-foot snake's fangs got snagged in the neck of Rathman's wool turtl...

28. A Yes Face

Illustration

Charles Swindoll

During his days as president, Thomas Jefferson and a group of companions were traveling across the country on horseback. They came to a river which had left its banks because of a recent downpour. The swollen river had washed the bridge away. Each rider was forced to ford the river on horseback, fighting for his life against the rapid currents. The very real possibility of death threatened each ri...

29. Abortion: When Are We "Alive"?

Illustration

Charles Swindoll

Medical authorities determine a person to be "alive" if there is either a detectable heartbeat or brain-wave activity. With that in mind, it is eye-opening for some to realize that unborn children have detectable heartbeats at eighteen days (two and one-half weeks) after conception and detectable brain-wave activity forty days (a little over five and one-half weeks) after conception. What is so sh...

30. All the Flies Are Doing It

Illustration

Charles Swindoll

Once a spider built a beautiful web in an old house. He kept it clean and shiny so that flies would patronize it. The minute he got a "customer," he would clean up on him, so the other flies would not get suspicious. Then one day this fairly intelligent fly came buzzing by the clean spider web. Old man spider called out, "Come in and sit." But the fairly intelligent fly said, "No, sir. I don't see...

31. Art from Ruins

Illustration

Charles Swindoll

Years ago, an angry man rushed through the Rijks Museum in Amsterdam until he reached Rembrandt's famous painting "Nightwatch." Then he took out a knife and slashed it repeatedly before he could be stopped. A short time later, a distraught, hostile man slipped into St. Peter's Cathedral in Rome with a hammer and began to smash Michelangelo's beautiful sculpture The Pieta. Two cherished works of ar...

32. Breaking the Rules

Mark 1:40-45

Illustration

Charles Swindoll

Charles Swindoll, in his book "The Grace Awakening," tells about one of his youth workers many years ago who was a member of an ethnic church. It was Scandinavian. Being a rather forward-looking and creative young man, he decided he would show the youth group a missionary film. We're talking about a simple, safe, black-and-white religious-oriented movie documentary. That film projector hadn't been...

33. Broken Heart Study

Illustration

Charles Swindoll

In an article in New York magazine, Douglas Colligan writes about another study known to many people as the “Broken Heart” study. This study researched the mortality rate of 4,500 widowers within six months of their wives’ deaths. The findings of the study showed that the widowers had a mortality rate 40 percent higher than other men the same age.

34. Building Character

Illustration

Charles Swindoll

In the northeastern United States codfish are a big commercial business. Note the following facts: There is a market for eastern cod all over, especially in sections farthest removed from the northeast coastline. But the public demand posed a problem to the shippers. At first they froze the cod, then shipped them elsewhere, but the freeze took away much of the flavor. So they experimented with shi...

35. Caught Up in the Spirit

Illustration

Charles Swindoll

When Ralph Houk was manager of the New York Yankees, baseball schedules were even more exacting than they are now, with double-headers almost every week. Occasionally a player would get sick of the grind and approach Houk, asking for permission to sit out a game. "I know how you feel," the manager would say genially. "Sure, take the day off, But do me a favor. You're in the starting lineup. Just p...

36. Do You Need an Air Conditioner?

Luke 11:1-13

Illustration

Charles Swindoll

When my wife and I were at Dallas Seminary back in the early 1960s, we lived in a little apartment that was part of a small group of apartments that have since then been destroyed, I am happy to say. Hot and cold running rats—all the joys of home were there. In the summer the weather came inside, and it was hot. Hot? Hotter than you can imagine. Like a desert. That hot fall we began to pray for a...

37. Fake: An Honest Cheater

Illustration

Charles Swindoll

Several years ago, in Long Beach, California, a fellow went into a fried chicken place and bought a couple of chicken dinners for himself and his date late one afternoon. The young woman at the counter inadvertently gave him the proceeds from the day-a whole bag of money (much of it cash) instead of fried chicken. After driving to their picnic site, the two of them sat down to open the meal and en...

38. Gifts That Keep Giving

Illustration

Charles Swindoll

Some gifts you can give this Christmas are beyond monetary value: Mend a quarrel, dismiss suspicion, tell someone, "I love you." Give something away anonymously. Forgive someone who has treated you wrong. Turn away wrath with a soft answer. Visit someone in a nursing home. Apologize if you were wrong. Be especially kind to someone with whom you work. Give as God gave to you in Christ, without obl...

39. Hard to Catch

Luke 12:13-21

Illustration

Charles Swindoll

Men who trap animals in Africa for zoos in America say that one of the hardest animals to catch is the ringtailed monkey. For the Zulus of that continent, however, it's simple. They've been catching this agile little animal with ease for years. The method the Zulus use is based on knowledge of the animal. Their trap is nothing more than a melon growing on a vine. The seeds of this melon are a favo...

40. Hold It Loosely

Illustration

Charles Swindoll

Charles Swindoll remembers a conversation he had with the late Corrie ten Boom. She said to him, in her broken English, "Chuck, I've learned that we must hold everything loosely, because when I grip it tightly, it hurts when the Father pries my fingers loose and takes it from me!"

41. In the President's Pockets

Illustration

Charles Swindoll

About halfway through a PBS program on the Library of Congress, Dr. Daniel Boorstin, the Librarian of Congress, brought out a little blue box from a small closet that once held the library's rarities. The label on the box read: "Contents of the president's pockets on the night of April 14, 1865. Since that was the fateful night Abraham Lincoln was assassinated, every viewer's attention was seized....

42. Letters of Instruction

Illustration

Charles Swindoll

Imagine, if you will, that you work for a company whose president found it necessary to travel out of the country and spend an extended period of time abroad. So he says to you and the other trusted employees, "Look, I'm going to leave. And while I'm gone, I want you to pay close attention to the business. You manage things while I'm away. I will write you regularly. When I do, I will instruct you...

43. Like Birds of a Feather

Illustration

Charles Swindoll

Stately geese are quite impressive. Winging their way to a warmer climate, they often cover thousands of miles before reaching their destination. Have you ever studied why they fly as they do? It is fascinating to read what has been discovered about their flight pattern as well as their in-flight habits. Four come to mind. 1. Those in front rotate their leadership. When one lead goose gets tired,...

44. My Childhood Promise

Matt 6:25-34; Luke 17:11-19; Eph 5:4

Illustration

Charles Swindoll

I recall, as a little barefoot boy with a cowlick of snow-white hair on my forehead, standing erect in my classroom and repeating the "Pledge of Allegiance" one Thanksgiving season. Our nation was at war and times were hard. My teacher had lost her husband on the blood washed shores of Normandy. As we later bowed our heads for prayer she wept aloud. I did too. All the class joined in. She stumbled...

45. Never Too Young Or Too Old

Illustration

Charles Swindoll

IT'S WHAT YOU DO NOT WHEN YOU DO IT Ted Williams, at age 42, slammed a home run in his last official time at bat. Mickey Mantle, age 20, hit 23 home runs his first full year in the major leagues. Golda Meir was 71 when she became Prime Minister of Israel. William Pitt II was 24 when he became Prime minister of Great Britain. George Bernard Shaw was 94 when one of his plays was first produced. M...

46. No Stranger to Hard Times

Illustration

Charles Swindoll

By the age of 5, Beethoven was playing the violin under the tutelage of his father also an accomplished musician. By the time he was 13, Beethoven was a concert organist. In his 20s he was already studying under the very watchful eyes of Haydn and Mozart. In fact, Mozart spoke prophetic words when he declared that Beethoven would give the world something worth listening to by the time his life end...

47. Pay the Band

Illustration

Charles Swindoll

George Bernard Shaw once said: "Liberty means responsibility. That is why most men dread it." In a day of passing the buck with merely a shrug, those words bite and sting. It's one thing to sing and dance to liberty's tunes, but it's something else entirely to bear the responsibility for paying the band. There are numerous examples of this. Being in leadership carries with it a few privileges and...

48. Penthouse or Outhouse

Illustration

Charles Swindoll

In typical fashion, when George Allen moved to Washington, D.C., as head coach of the Redskins, he promised the nation's capital the moon. He told them it would be just a few seasons before he would develop the Redskins into a championship football team. He promised them the Super Bowl by the second season. The team had a brilliant preseason that first year. Then, early in the regular season, they...

49. Playoff Tickets

Illustration

Charles Swindoll

A basketball fan was discovered at the Portland airport awaiting the arrival of the Trailblazers following a victory over the Lakers. He was attempting to scalp a couple of tickets to the next game--for a hundred and fifty bucks each. As he wormed through the crowd, he located a well-dressed man who listened to his offer. “How much?” asked the gentleman. “One hundred fifty,” he replied under his...

50. Skunk Run

Humor Illustration

Charles Swindoll

A funny thing happened in Darlington, Maryland, many years ago. Edith, a mother of eight, was coming home from a neighbor's house one Saturday afternoon. Things seemed too quiet as she walked across her front yard. Curious, she peered through the screen door and saw five of her youngest children huddled together, concentrating on something. As she crept closer to them, trying to discover the cente...

Showing results

Showing 26 to 50 of 58 results

26. A New Way of Life

Illustration

Charles Swindoll

27. A Striking Encounter with Wildlife

Illustration

Charles Swindoll

28. A Yes Face

Illustration

Charles Swindoll

29. Abortion: When Are We "Alive"?

Illustration

Charles Swindoll

30. All the Flies Are Doing It

Illustration

Charles Swindoll

31. Art from Ruins

Illustration

Charles Swindoll

32. Breaking the Rules

Mark 1:40-45

Illustration

Charles Swindoll

33. Broken Heart Study

Illustration

Charles Swindoll

34. Building Character

Illustration

Charles Swindoll

35. Caught Up in the Spirit

Illustration

Charles Swindoll

36. Do You Need an Air Conditioner?

Luke 11:1-13

Illustration

Charles Swindoll

37. Fake: An Honest Cheater

Illustration

Charles Swindoll

38. Gifts That Keep Giving

Illustration

Charles Swindoll

39. Hard to Catch

Luke 12:13-21

Illustration

Charles Swindoll

40. Hold It Loosely

Illustration

Charles Swindoll

41. In the President's Pockets

Illustration

Charles Swindoll

42. Letters of Instruction

Illustration

Charles Swindoll

43. Like Birds of a Feather

Illustration

Charles Swindoll

44. My Childhood Promise

Matt 6:25-34; Luke 17:11-19; Eph 5:4

Illustration

Charles Swindoll

45. Never Too Young Or Too Old

Illustration

Charles Swindoll

46. No Stranger to Hard Times

Illustration

Charles Swindoll

47. Pay the Band

Illustration

Charles Swindoll

48. Penthouse or Outhouse

Illustration

Charles Swindoll

49. Playoff Tickets

Illustration

Charles Swindoll

50. Skunk Run

Humor Illustration

Charles Swindoll

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