Sermon and Worship Resources

Showing 576 to 600 of 5000 results

Matthew 13:1-23

Sermon

King Duncan

... the light shines through it. It is a beautiful amber.” Barnhouse broke into the conversation. They recognized him and laughed that he should have overheard them. “But,” he said, “don’t you see that the perfume was given to you for use? And what an illustration that is.” Barnhouse went on to say that so many Christians who have been given so much, keep it tightly sealed in themselves. No one passing near would know for a moment that they have the life of God in them. And the wonderful thing about ...

577. Jesus Will Lead Us Home

Isaiah 40:1-11

Sermon

Richard Gribble

... leads us home. Still, the Lord gives us free will and will never enter where he is not welcome. No, we must welcome the Lord into our hearts; we must open the door. A famous painting by Hans Holbein that hangs in the British National Gallery in London illustrates this reality. The painting depicts what the Lord says in the book of Revelation: "Listen! I am standing at the door, knocking; if you hear my voice and open the door, I will come into you and eat with you, and you with me" (Revelation 3:20). Yes ...

578. God Is the Hound of Heaven

Jeremiah 31:7-14

Sermon

Richard Gribble

... with your friend the Lord Jesus?" "Yes," she replied. "What is the answer to my question? What was my great sin before I became bishop?" The woman replied, "I asked the Lord Jesus that question directly, but his response to me was, ‘I don't remember.' " The story illustrates an important point. The Lord is ready and open to be present to us at any moment, to forgive our sins and allow us to join him in building the kingdom of God in our world. Yes, God is ever present to us and God does not remember our ...

579. Recognizing the Lord

Isaiah 60:1-6

Sermon

Richard Gribble

... , he was one who could do it all. Yet, he lived in obscurity until fortune allowed him to be discovered through his presence at Carlisle, and his association with the legendary coach, Pop Warner. Jim Thorpe's recognition as a star athlete presents a good illustration to the principal theme we celebrate in our churches today, the Epiphany of our Lord. Jesus was born in an obscure town in a stable and placed initially after his birth in a manger, a feeding trough for animals. He, like Jim Thorpe, was unknown ...

580. The Need for Transformation

Jonah 3:1-5, 10

Sermon

Richard Gribble

... , necessitates for almost all a sense of transformation. Too often today, we focus on our needs and desires; we are insufficiently concerned about others. At times, we perceive that our actions are appropriate, but even then, transformation is at times necessary. A little story illustrates this point quite well. One day, on his lunch hour, a businessman was strolling through a local park. As he walked, he enjoyed the beauty of the day as he ate a hot dog he had purchased at a local vendor. As he approached ...

581. Dial-A-Tale

Illustration

Don Baker

... a fairy tale. After several unsuccessful attempts to explain a wrong number to the small child, Tom felt he had only one alternative. He obtained a copy of Three Little Pigs, and set it by the phone. Now, whenever a child calls, he simply reads them the tale. A beautiful illustration of yielding personal rights. He didn't, as you might have thought, change his telephone number to avoid the "invasion of his privacy."

582. How to Reach the Masses

Illustration

Staff

... filled with spiritually hungry people, and the great evangelist preached the gospel to them. Then the convention delegates began to arrive. Moody stopped preaching and said, "Now we must close, as the brethren of the convention wish to come and discuss the topic, 'How to reach the masses.'" Moody graphically illustrated the difference between talking about doing something and going out and doing it.

583. Mental Strength

Illustration

A person's mental attitude has an almost unbelievable effect on his powers, both physical and psychological. The British psychiatrist, J.A. Hadfield, gives a striking illustration of this fact in his booklet, The Psychology of Power. "I asked three people," he wrote, "to submit themselves to test the effect of mental suggestion on their strength, which was measured by gripping a dynamometer." They were to grip the dynamometer with all their strength under three different sets ...

584. Laws of the Lighthouse

Romans 8:38-39

Illustration

Staff

In U.S. Navel Institute Proceedings, the magazine of the Naval Institute, Frank Koch illustrates the importance of obeying the Laws of the Lighthouse. Two battleships assigned to the training squadron had been at sea on maneuvers in heavy weather for several days. I was serving on the lead battleship and was on watch on the bridge as night fell. The visibility was poor with ...

585. Bishop Potter's Cabin Mate

Illustration

In his little book Illustrations of Bible Truth, H.A. Ironside pointed out the folly of judging others. He related an incident in the life of a man called Bishop Potter: "He was sailing for Europe on one of the great transatlantic ocean liners. When he went on board, he found that another passenger was ...

586. Lovejoy's Martyrdom

Illustration

Brett Blair & Paul Simon

... Movement (which was a public education movement) in Springfield, Illinois in 1838. The speaker was 28-years-old at the time. His name was Abraham Lincoln Lincoln was deeply moved by Lovejoy's martyrdom. And carried the memory of it, as a horrible illustration of the outcome of mob rule, into his presidency and into the emancipation of slavery that his presidency affected. Note: the brackets in the Lincoln quote are added to help the listeners understand what the proper antecedent is. A Source: Some of the ...

587. Keep the Pressure Out

Acts 2:38; Mt 28:19-20

Illustration

Brett Blair

There are two ways of handling pressure. One is illustrated by a bathysphere, the miniature submarine used to explore the ocean in places so deep that the water pressure would crush a conventional submarine like an aluminum can. Bathyspheres compensate with plate steel several inches thick, which keeps the water out but also makes them heavy and hard to maneuver. ...

588. Warning: Preaching Fake Stories

Illustration

Brett Blair

The following illustration, based on the "Children's Crusades," is a conflation of many different tales that have been embellished for centuries, for their oratory effect. We include this here as a reminder to be careful grabbing stories from the internet and using them without first doing some investigative work: In 1212 a ...

589. Circle the Bucket

Illustration

Physics professor at Adelaide University in Australia, Sir Kerr Grant, used to illustrate the time of descent of a free- falling body by allowing a heavy ball suspended from the lecture-theater roof trusses to fall some 30 feet and be caught in a sand bucket. Each year the bucket was lined up meticulously to catch the ball and each year students secretly ...

590. First Christian Church of Botswana

Illustration

Faith honors God and God honors faith! A story from the life of missionaries Robert and Mary Moffat illustrates this truth. For 10 years this couple labored faithfully in Bechuanaland (now called Botswana) without one ray of encouragement to brighten their way. They could not report a single convert. Finally the directors of their mission board began to question the wisdom of continuing the work. The thought of leaving ...

591. Dead Faith

Illustration

Staff

To illustrate dead faith, "It is that kind of faith which would lead a man to take a bottle of medicine from his medicine cabinet. Looking at the instructions on it, he says, 'I'm sure they're correct. I have all confidence in the source of the medicine. I know who ...

592. Who's the Real Enemy?

Illustration

A couple of navy stories help illustrate the sad result of internal strife and the positive result of unity. Two battleships met in the night and began to attack each other. In the conflict, a number of crewmen were severely wounded, and both vessels were damaged. As daylight broke, the sailors on the ships discovered to their ...

593. Remember the Duck

Illustration

Steven Cole

Richard Hoefler's book, Will Daylight Come?, includes A homey illustration of how sin enslaves and forgiveness frees. A little boy visiting his grandparents was given his first slingshot. He practiced in the woods, but he could never hit his target. As he came back to Grandma's back yard, he spied her pet duck. On an impulse he took aim ...

594. Floodlight Ministry

Illustration

James Packer

... the building on which the floodlights are trained. The intended effect is to make it visible when otherwise it would not be seen for the darkness, and to maximize its dignity by throwing all its details into relief so that you can see it properly. This perfectly illustrated the Spirit's new covenant role. He is, so to speak, the hidden floodlight shining on the Savior. Or think of it this way. It is as if the Spirit stands behind us, throwing light over our shoulder on to Jesus who stands facing us. The ...

595. Turtle On a Fencepost

Illustration

Sandy Reynolds

The door of life is a door of mystery. It becomes slightly shorter than the one who wishes to enter it. And thus only he who bows in humility can cross its threshold. The Handbook of Magazine Article Writing contains this illustration by Philip Barry Osborne: "Alex Haley, the author of Roots, has a picture in his office, showing a turtle sitting atop a fence. The picture is there to remind him of a lesson he learned long ago: 'If you see a turtle on a fence post, you know he had ...

596. Roots Like a Tree

Illustration

Staff

... giant sequoias. Family, friends, neighbors, the church body and other groups should be havens so that when the strong winds of life blow, these people can serve as reinforcement and can strive together to hold each other up. Here is a another version of the same illustration: The huge redwood trees of California amaze mankind. They are the largest living things on earth and the tallest trees in the world. Some of them are 300 feet high and over 2,500 years old. One would think that trees so large must have ...

597. Free From the Flames

Illustration

One of the first gospel illustrations that ever made a real impression upon H.A. Ironside's heart was a simple story which he heard a preacher tell when he was less than nine years old. It was of pioneers who were making their way across one of the central states to a distant place that ...

598. Do Not Spit Here

Illustration

Staff

... beautiful home, and they want to keep it clean. They do not need a sign to tell them so. I think that explains the law and grace business." As he sat down, a murmur of approval went round the room and the leader exclaimed, "I think that is the best illustration of law and grace I have ever heard."

599. With Privilege Comes Responsibility

Illustration

... loving in your lifestyle. Leadership is a privilege, and with privilege comes responsibility. God holds teachers of His truth doubly responsible because we who lead are in a position where we can either draw people toward Christ or drive them away from Him. This is illustrated in the life of the famous author Mark Twain. Church leaders were largely to blame for his becoming hostile to the Bible and the Christian faith. As he grew up, he knew elders and deacons who owned slaves and abused them. He heard men ...

600. The Whole World

Illustration

Richard A. Hasler

... street with me.' "On the other side of Fifth Avenue is Saint Patrick's Cathedral, and there behind the high altar is a little shrine of the boy Jesus, perhaps eight or nine years old, and with no effort he is holding the world in one hand. My point was illustrated graphically. "We have a choice. We can carry the world on our shoulders, or we can say, 'I give up, Lord; here's my life. I give you my world, the whole world."

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Antonyms: deficient, imperfect

Showing 576 to 600 of 5000 results

576. The Receptive Heart

Matthew 13:1-23

Sermon

King Duncan

577. Jesus Will Lead Us Home

Isaiah 40:1-11

Sermon

Richard Gribble

578. God Is the Hound of Heaven

Jeremiah 31:7-14

Sermon

Richard Gribble

579. Recognizing the Lord

Isaiah 60:1-6

Sermon

Richard Gribble

580. The Need for Transformation

Jonah 3:1-5, 10

Sermon

Richard Gribble

581. Dial-A-Tale

Illustration

Don Baker

582. How to Reach the Masses

Illustration

Staff

583. Mental Strength

Illustration

584. Laws of the Lighthouse

Romans 8:38-39

Illustration

Staff

585. Bishop Potter's Cabin Mate

Illustration

586. Lovejoy's Martyrdom

Illustration

Brett Blair & Paul Simon

587. Keep the Pressure Out

Acts 2:38; Mt 28:19-20

Illustration

Brett Blair

588. Warning: Preaching Fake Stories

Illustration

Brett Blair

589. Circle the Bucket

Illustration

590. First Christian Church of Botswana

Illustration

591. Dead Faith

Illustration

Staff

592. Who's the Real Enemy?

Illustration

593. Remember the Duck

Illustration

Steven Cole

594. Floodlight Ministry

Illustration

James Packer

595. Turtle On a Fencepost

Illustration

Sandy Reynolds

596. Roots Like a Tree

Illustration

Staff

597. Free From the Flames

Illustration

598. Do Not Spit Here

Illustration

Staff

599. With Privilege Comes Responsibility

Illustration

600. The Whole World

Illustration

Richard A. Hasler

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