Sermon and Worship Resources

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4976. What Time Is It, Precisely?

Matthew 24:36-51

Illustration

Staff

Time technicians at the National Institute of Standards & Technology (Formerly the National Bureau of Standards) set a new level of precision in 1949 by inventing the atomic clock. It counted the oscillations of the nitrogen atom in an ammonia molecule and was reliable to within one second in three years. More recently, NIST switched to an atomic clock based on the vibrations of cesium atoms. It will need 300,000 years to gain or lose a single second. But NIST scientists are working on a still-better model ...

4977. What Have You Done?

Illustration

Visiting a village school one day, King Oscar II of Sweden asked the pupils to name the greatest kings of Sweden. The answers were unanimous: Gustavus Vasa, Gustavus Adolphus, Charles X. Then the teacher leaned over to one little boy and whispered something in his ear. "And King Oscar," volunteered the child. "Really? And what has King Oscar done that's so remarkable?" asked the king. "I, I, I don't know," stammered the unhappy child. "That's all right," said the king. "Neither do I."

4978. A New Perspective

Illustration

Staff

Several years ago, I heard the story of Larry Walters, a 33-year-old man who decided he wanted to see his neighborhood from a new perspective. He went down to the local army surplus store one morning and bought forty-five used weather balloons. That afternoon he strapped himself into a lawn chair, to which several of his friends tied the now helium-filled balloons. He took along a six-pack of beer, a peanut-butter-and-jelly sandwich, and a BB gun, figuring he could shoot the balloons one at a time when he ...

4979. Two Kinds of Love

Illustration

Once there were two women who never knew each other. One you do not remember the other you call Mother. One became your guiding star, the other became your sun. The first gave you life and the second taught you to live in it. The first gave you a need for love and the second was there to give it. One gave you a nationality, the other gave you a name, One gave you the seed of a talent the other gave you an aim. One gave you emotions, the other calmed your fears. One saw your first sweet smile, the other ...

4980. Leveling the Playing Field

Illustration

Staff

One of the golfers on the pro tour some years ago was a pompous egomaniac with the emotional maturity of a six-year-old. He could do nothing wrong and always had a quick excuse for any loss: it was a lousy course, the other golfers were cheating, the weather was terrible, etc. As if these faults were not enough, he was also not above hustling a few extra dollars playing amateurs in cities on the tour for $50 a hole. One day he was approached by a man wearing dark glasses and carrying a white cane who ...

4981. The Victories in Business

Illustration

Source Unknown

Business is made up of ambiguous victories and nebulous defeats. Claim them all as victories. Keep track of what you do; someone is sure to ask. Be comfortable around senior managers, or learn to fake it. Never bring your boss a problem without some solution. You are getting paid to think, not to whine. Long hours don't mean anything; results count, not effort. Write down ideas; they get lost like good pens. Always arrive at work 30 minutes before your boss. Be sure to sit at the conference table-never by ...

4982. Life's Little Lessons

Illustration

Erma Bombeck

Some advice for life: Never have more children than you have car windows. Never loan your car to someone to whom you have given birth. Pick your friends carefully. A "friend" never goes on a diet when you are fat or tells you how lucky you are to have a husband who remembers Mother's Day when his gift is a smoke alarm. Seize the moment. Remember all those women on the Titanic who waved off the dessert cart. Know the difference between success and fame. Success is Mother Teresa. Fame is Madonna. Never be in ...

4983. Forget It

Illustration

Source Unknown

Forget each kindness that you do as soon as you have done it. Forget the praise that falls to you the moment you have won it. Forget the slander that you hear before you can repeat it. Forget each slight, each spite, each sneer, whenever you may meet. Remember every promise made and keep it to the letter. Remember those who lend you aid and be a grateful debtor. Remember all the happiness that comes your way in living. Forget each worry and distress; be hopeful and forgiving. Remember good, remember truth ...

4984. Seven Ages of Man

Illustration

Staff

Seven Ages of Man 6 weeks all systems go 6 years all systems "No!" 16 years all systems know 26 years all systems glow 36 years all systems owe 56 years all systems status quo 76 years all systems slow

4985. The Duration of Life

Heb 9:27

Illustration

Brett Blair

A little known segment of the Grimm's Fairy Tales is the called "The Duration of Life." It goes like this: God originally determined 30 years as the ideal span of life for all animals, including mankind. The donkey, the dog, and the monkey considered it much too long, however, and begged God to reduce their years by 18, 12, and 10. Being healthy, vigorous, and somewhat greedy, the man asked to be given those extra years. God agreed, so man's years totaled 70. The first 30 are his own and they pass quickly ...

4986. Chocolate Eggs and Jesus Risen

Illustration

C.S. Lewis

There is a stage in a child's life at which it cannot separate the religious from the merely festal character of Christmas or Easter. I have been told of a very small and very devout boy who was heard murmuring to himself on Easter morning a poem of his own composition which began 'Chocolate eggs and Jesus risen.' This seems to me, for his age, both admirable poetry and admirable piety. But of course the time will soon come when such a child can no longer effortlessly and spontaneously enjoy that unity. He ...

4987. The Humble Post Rider

Illustration

Thanks to the poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, everyone has heard of the "midnight ride of Paul Revere." But few have heard of Israel Bissel, a humble post rider on the Boston-New York route. After the Battle of Lexington and Concord on April 19, 1775, Bissel was ordered to raise the alarm in New Haven, Connecticut. He reached Worchester, Mass., normally a day's ride, in two hours. There, according to tradition, his horse promptly dropped dead. Pausing only to get another mount, Bissel pressed on and by ...

4988. A Water Toast

Illustration

Admiral Heihachiro Togo, whose brilliant tactics had destroyed the Russian fleet at the battle of the Sea of Japan in 1905, visited the United States shortly after the Russo-Japanese War. At a state dinner in Admiral Togo's honor, William Jennings Bryan was asked to propose a toast. Because Bryan was well known as a strict teetotaler, it was feared that an embarrassing breakdown of protocol was about to occur. But as Bryan stood to propose his toast, he held up his glass and said, "Admiral Togo has won a ...

4989. Why We Drank

Illustration

Staff

A member of Alcoholics Anonymous once sent columnist Ann Landers the following: We drank for happiness and became unhappy. We drank for joy and became miserable. We drank for sociability and became argumentative. We drank for sophistication and became obnoxious. We drank for friendship and made enemies. We drank for sleep and awakened without rest. We drank for strength and felt weak. We drank "medicinally" and acquired health problems. We drank for relaxation and got the shakes. We drank for bravery and ...

4990. The Wrong Prescription

Illustration

Source Unknown

Missionary John G. Paton was invited to dinner with a wealthy friend. Paton noticed that the servant poured a glass of whiskey for his host. Somewhat embarrassed, the man explained, "I take a little whiskey for my cough on my doctor's prescription." Paton asked "How long have you been doing this?" "Eight years," came the reply. "Is your cough getting any better?" asked Paton. "No," answered the man. "Well," said the missionary, "if I had a doctor who prescribed for me for 8 years and it didn't help me, I ...

4991. An Urgent Message

Illustration

During the Revolutionary War, a loyalist spy appeared at the headquarters of Hessian commander Colonel Johann Rall, carrying an urgent message. General George Washington and his Continental army had secretly crossed the Delaware River that morning and were advancing on Trenton, New Jersey where the Hessians were encamped. The spy was denied an audience with the commander and instead wrote his message on a piece of paper. A porter took the note to the Hessian colonel, but because Rall was involved in a ...

4992. The Twelfth Sponge

Illustration

Staff

In the operating room of a large hospital, a young nurse was completing her first full day of responsibilities. "You've only removed 11 sponges, doctor," she said to the surgeon. "We used 12." "I removed them all," the doctor declared. "We'll close the incision now." "No," the nurse objected. "We used 12 sponges." "I'll take full responsibility," the surgeon said grimly. "Suture!" "You can't do that!" blazed the nurse. "Think of the patient." The surgeon smiled, lifted his foot, and showed the nurse the ...

4993. Making Beautiful Music

Illustration

Brett Blair

Legend has it that Antonio was an Italian boy who loved music, but whenever he tried to sing the music that was in his heart, it came out so badly that all his friends laughed at him. Next to singing, the boy loved to hear the violin. He had a pocketknife he always carried with him and he would whittle all sorts of things with it. One day Antonio learned that the greatest violin maker in all Italy, the great Nicolo Amati, lived in his village. Antonio began to whittle a violin and worked for many hours on ...

4994. Moving Fences

Illustration

During World War I a Protestant chaplain with the American troops in Italy became a friend of a local Roman Catholic priest. In time, the chaplain who moved on with his unit was killed. The priest heard of his death and asked military authorities if the chaplain could be buried in the cemetery behind his church. Permission was granted. But the priest ran into a problem with his own Catholic Church authorities. They were sympathetic, but they said they could not approve the burial of a non-Catholic in a ...

4995. If-By-Whiskey Speech

Illustration

While pursuing a story about equivocation in high office, a NY Times journalist was told, "He gave an if-by-whiskey speech." When asked about this curious compound adjective, his source said he thought it was a Florida political expression possibly borrowed from a Minnesota Congressman. That triggered a call to Richard B. Stone, a former U.S. Senator from Florida familiar with that state's political patois. He immediately recognized the phrase, meaning "calculated ambivalence," and provided the following ...

4996. Amen: A Most Remarkable Word

2 Cor 1:20; Rev 22:21

Illustration

Staff

The word "amen" is a most remarkable word. It was transliterated directly from the Hebrew into the Koine Greek of the New Testament, then into Latin and into English and many other languages, so that it is practically a universal word. It has been called the best-known word in human speech. The word is directly related in fact, almost identical to the Hebrew word for "believe" (aman), or "faithful." Thus, it came to mean "sure" or truly," an expression of absolute trust and confidence. When one believes ...

4997. America: Fight For Your Country

Illustration

William J. Bennett

This is a snapshot and abbreviation of William J. Bennett's assessment of American culture in the 90's, looking back through the 20th century. Compare this "voice in the wilderness" to today's issues: Last year I compiled the Index of Leading Cultural Indicators, a statistical portrait of American behavioral trends of the past three decades. Among the findings: Since 1960, while the gross domestic product has nearly tripled, violent crime has increased at least 560%. Divorces have more than doubled. The ...

4998. Building Moral Communities

Illustration

Georgia Anne Geyer

I have come to the conclusion that it is impossible to have a moral community or nation without faith in God, because without it everything rapidly comes down to "me," and "me" alone is meaningless. Today Americans have stopped acting in terms of their own moral, ethical and religious beliefs and principles. They've stopped acting on what they knew was right and the "me" has become the measure of everything. However, moral societies are the only ones that work. If anyone thinks there is not a direct and ...

4999. Burn the First Letter

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Staff

Abraham Lincoln's secretary of war, Edwin Stanton, was angered by an army officer who accused him of favoritism. Stanton complained to Lincoln, who suggested that Stanton write the officer a sharp letter. Stanton did, and showed the strongly worded missive to the president. "What are you going to do with it?" Lincoln inquired. Surprised, Stanton replied, "Send it." Lincoln shook his head. "You don't want to send that letter," he said. "Put it in the stove. That's what I do when I have written a letter ...

5000. Directing Anger

Matthew 5:21-26

Illustration

Staff

The great Italian conductor Arturo Toscanini was legendary for his fits of rage. The librarian of one of Toscanini's orchestras was particularly vexed by the maestro's habit of throwing valuable musical scores at the musicians when angry. Watching closely, the librarian observed that Toscanini's first act when enraged was to take his baton in both hands and try to break it. If the baton snapped, Toscanini usually calmed down and rehearsal continued. If the baton did not break, he began hurling scores. The ...

Showing 4976 to 5000 of 5000all results

Antonyms: deficient, imperfect

Showing all results

4976. What Time Is It, Precisely?

Matthew 24:36-51

Illustration

Staff

4977. What Have You Done?

Illustration

4978. A New Perspective

Illustration

Staff

4979. Two Kinds of Love

Illustration

4980. Leveling the Playing Field

Illustration

Staff

4981. The Victories in Business

Illustration

Source Unknown

4982. Life's Little Lessons

Illustration

Erma Bombeck

4983. Forget It

Illustration

Source Unknown

4984. Seven Ages of Man

Illustration

Staff

4985. The Duration of Life

Heb 9:27

Illustration

Brett Blair

4986. Chocolate Eggs and Jesus Risen

Illustration

C.S. Lewis

4987. The Humble Post Rider

Illustration

4988. A Water Toast

Illustration

4989. Why We Drank

Illustration

Staff

4990. The Wrong Prescription

Illustration

Source Unknown

4991. An Urgent Message

Illustration

4992. The Twelfth Sponge

Illustration

Staff

4993. Making Beautiful Music

Illustration

Brett Blair

4994. Moving Fences

Illustration

4995. If-By-Whiskey Speech

Illustration

4996. Amen: A Most Remarkable Word

2 Cor 1:20; Rev 22:21

Illustration

Staff

4997. America: Fight For Your Country

Illustration

William J. Bennett

4998. Building Moral Communities

Illustration

Georgia Anne Geyer

4999. Burn the First Letter

Illustration

Staff

5000. Directing Anger

Matthew 5:21-26

Illustration

Staff

Showing 4976 to 5000 of 5000all results