Sermon and Worship Resources

Showing 651 to 675 of 5000 results

651. The Empress of Ireland

Illustration

Michael P. Green

This incident illustrates how the child of God can face the last enemy with confidence and courage: Many years ago, the ship known as the Empress of Ireland went down with 130 Salvation Army officers on board, along with many other passengers. Only 21 of those Christian workers’ lives were spared—an unusually ...

652. Break A Leg

Illustration

Michael P. Green

Please see the note below this illustration. A woman visiting in Switzerland came to a sheepfold on one of her daily walks. Venturing in, she saw the shepherd seated on the ground with his flock around him. Nearby, on a pile of straw lay a single sheep, which seemed to be suffering. Looking closely, the woman saw ...

653. Grace Knows No Conditions

Illustration

Michael P. Green

... moment Queen Elizabeth had no more faithful, devoted servant than that woman who had intended to take her life. That is exactly the way the grace of God works in the life of an individual—he or she becomes a faithful servant of God. Note: Perhaps this is a fanciful illustration on the part of Dr. Ironside. We were not able to substantiate any parts of this story.

654. Compelle Intrare

Illustration

Michael P. Green

Two passages by C. S. Lewis illustrate the author’s esxperience with God’s grace: You must picture me alone in that room in Magdalen, night after night, feeling, whenever my mind lifted even for a second from my work, the steady, unrelented approach of Him whom I so earnestly desired not to meet. That which I ...

655. This Too Shall Pass

1 John 2:17

Illustration

Michael P. Green

In an address to the Wisconsin State Agriculture Society in 1859, Abraham Lincoln illustrated the profound and tempering effect that change can have on us. He told of an Eastern monarch who gave his counselors an assignment to come up with a truth that would apply to all times and situations. After careful consideration, they returned with this sentence: “And this too shall pass ...

656. Taxing Conscience

Humor Illustration

Michael P. Green

The Internal Revenue Service received the following letter from a conscience-stricken taxpayer: “Dear Sir: My conscience bothered me. Here is $175.00, which I owe in back taxes.” There was a P.S. at the bottom that read: “If my conscience still bothers me, I’ll send in the rest.” This taxpayer’s response to a red warning light is not only humorous but also illustrates an important truth: one’s conscience can become insensitive.

657. Poisoned Melons

Illustration

Michael P. Green

... , the farmer noticed that his sign had been altered. Someone had scratched out the word “one” and replaced it with another word so that the sign now read: “two of these melons are poisoned.” Thinking to save his whole crop through deception, he lost it all, which just goes to illustrate Sir Walter Scott’s observation: Oh, what a tangled web we weave, When first we practice to deceive!

658. Don't Rush Me

Luke 12:13-21

Humor Illustration

Michael P. Green

An old Jack Benny skit illustrates how money can become more important to us than anything else. Jack was walking along, when suddenly an armed robber approached him and ordered, “Your money or your life!” There was a long pause, and Jack did nothing. The robber impatiently queried, “Well?” Jack replied, “Don’t rush me, I’m thinking about it.” (Incidentally, in real life, Jack Benny was known as a very generous man!)

659. Learning To Walk In The Fields

Mt 11:29-30

Illustration

Michael P. Green

The “yoke” Jesus refers to in Matthew 11 is well illustrated by the process of training a young bullock to plow. In some parts of the world, the farmer will have the young bullock harnessed to the same yoke as a mature ox. The bullock, dwarfed by the other animal, will not even be pulling any of the weight. It is ...

660. Faster Each Lap

Illustration

Michael P. Green

Faithful progress in the Christian life is a necessity. We should get “better” as time goes on. This is illustrated by what many consider to be the greatest horse race ever run. When Secretariat won the Kentucky Derby, each successive quarter-mile in the race was run faster than the one before. The longer the race went, the faster the horse ran.

661. The Bases of Worth

Illustration

Michael P. Green

If you'll permit me something of a silly illustration: Suppose that during the past week a young wife gave birth to her first baby. Now suppose that as she held her new baby in her arms and was enjoying the pleasure of motherhood, someone came up to her and said, “How much do you want for the child?” Of ...

662. The "Potential" Monarch

2 Timothy 2:12

Illustration

Michael P. Green

... a silver spoon in his mouth and a kingdom for his playground. But it makes more sense to realize that an heir has to be groomed for the task ahead of him. We, too, are destined to reign—with Christ. Now we are being groomed for the task. Note: This illustrations is from 1982. No one could have anticipated that Charles would still not be king into the 2020s. It's a lesson on how uncertain is the future.

663. The Most Important Occupation

Illustration

Michael P. Green

... the making of human beings is a far more important vocation than the making of anything else, and that in the formative years of a child’s life, the mother is best equipped to provide those firm foundations upon which one can subsequently build.” Note: This is a very old illustration but we have decided to include it. It is worth revisiting what were foundational ideas from the past to measure where we are today. Also, there are many who still believe these to be foundational for their lives today.

664. Abijah King of Judah

2 Chron 13:1–14:1

Understanding Series

Louis C. Jonker

... meantime, they cried out to the LORD (13:14). Therefore, God routed Jeroboam and all Israel before Abijah and Judah, with God himself being the subject of the routing/striking (Hebrew nagaph, repeated in 13:20). The difference between Judah and Israel, as illustrated by this battle, is that the men of Israel were subdued (kana?) on that occasion, and the men of Judah were victorious because they relied (sha'an) on the LORD, the God of their fathers (13:18). Whereas Jeroboam never recovered from this battle ...

665. The Fall of Jerusalem

2 Chronicles 36:15-23

Understanding Series

Louis C. Jonker

... existence as an empire in the Chronicler’s time) are portrayed positively. That the climax of the book is reached when a Persian emperor, Cyrus, announces the liberation and restoration of All-Israel in fulfillment of a Yahwistic prophet’s words illustrates the Chronicler’s attitude toward his own context. He sees Cyrus the Persian as the one who is fulfilling Yahweh’s gracious restoration (as a neo-Solomonic figure). The Chronicler accepts the Persian imperial presence as the context within which ...

666. Peter Heals the Crippled Beggar

Acts 3:1-10

Understanding Series

David J. Williams

... 3:7–8 As Peter took him by the hand and helped him to his feet, his feet and ankles became strong, he jumped to his feet, and began to walk (v. 8). The change from the aorist, “he stood,” to the imperfect, “he started walking around,” illustrates the vivid detail of this narrative, which may well have come from Peter himself. Such vividness is also a characteristic of Mark’s Gospel, with which Peter is traditionally linked (see disc. on 10:14; 10:34–43; 12:1–5). The picture is completed with ...

667. Unity in the Body of Christ

Ephesians 4:1-16

Understanding Series

Arthur G. Patzia

... p. 310) and disregard for the original meaning of the OT text, or they accept this as “a true testimony of the Spirit of Prophecy” (Moule, p. 107). Stott reconciles the problem by stressing that “receiving” was for the purpose of “giving” and finds this principle illustrated in Peter’s sermon on the day of Pentecost (Acts 2:33), when he states: “He has been raised to the right side of God and received from him the Holy Spirit, as his Father had promised; and what you now see and hear is his ...

668. Living as Children of Light

Ephesians 4:17--5:21

Understanding Series

Arthur G. Patzia

... submit to one another. Fullness of the Spirit leads to mutual subordination and unity, not to individual pride and disunity (cf. 1 Cor. 14:26–33; Phil. 2:1–5). At the same time, 5:21 is a transitional verse from which the author proceeds to illustrate how that submission is to be observed in specific domestic relationships (5:22–6:9). If 5:21 is taken as an independent sentence then it serves as a heading for the specific relationships that follow. Some translations, namely, GNB and RSV, use it this ...

669. Overseers and Deacons

1 Timothy 3:1-16

Understanding Series

Gordon D. Fee

... lives of some of the church leaders (chap. 3). He now concludes this section of the letter with a further statement of its purpose. The church must give heed to what Paul has written because it alone has been entrusted with the truth (v. 15), truth that is illustrated by an early Christian hymn. 3:14–15 The grammar of the opening sentence is a little rough, but the meaning is clear. Here we learn that Paul had been intending all along to come to Timothy (and therefore the church) soon. In fact the NIV has ...

670. The Living Stone and a Chosen People

1 Peter 2:4-12

Understanding Series

Norman Hillyer

... . 2:4 The shift to stone from the figure of “milk” (v. 2) is unexpected and seemingly without reason. But for a Jewish reader there is a natural succession of ideas in this passage—not milk: stone, but the Hebraic one of babes: house. A helpful illustration is in Genesis 16:2. Sarai gives her maidservant Hagar to Abram in the hope that “I shall obtain children by her” (RSV). The Hebrew is literally “that I may be built through her.” To obtain children is to become a house (as in “house of ...

671. Laws of Justice and Mercy

Exodus 23:1-9

Understanding Series

James K. Bruckner

... . To say that the Lord is partial to the poor in general puts too much weight on the idea. If a poor person sues someone, the judge should examine the case simply on its merits. The two case laws between the first and last five commands illustrate the principle of impartiality. They also are surprising in two ways. They are not courtroom laws and they require helping one’s enemy. They drive home the Lord’s concern for justice. In these cases, the help was for animals that were in trouble. Animals could ...

672. The New Stone Tablets

Exodus 34:1-28

Understanding Series

James K. Bruckner

... splanchnizomai, to describe how Jesus was moved to “compassion” when healing the crowds (Mark 1:41). God is gracious (khannun). God’s grace means that the Lord often acts generously, giving gifts freely, without asking for anything in return (see comment on 33:12). God illustrated the meaning of the word in the law against taking collateral for a loan to a poor person: “If you take your neighbor’s cloak as a pledge, return it to him by sunset, because his cloak is the only covering he has for his ...

673. Rahab and the Spies

Joshua 2:1-24

Understanding Series

J. Gordon Harris

... points out that marginal, non-Israelite outsiders entered the people of God by demonstrating faithfulness (Hb. hesed) in helping the tribes conquer Canaan. In R. Polzin’s work he presents another way to interpret the incident: the sparing of Rahab illustrates the wickedness and faithfulness of Israel (Polzin, Moses and the Deuteronomist, pp. 888–91). He points out that the narrative reflects the point of view of dispossessed nations and people instead of that of the Deuteronomist. In this view, Rahab ...

674. Abimelech

Judges 9:1-57

Understanding Series

Cheryl A. Brown

... ’s story. Jotham’s parable was fulfilled: God repaid the wickedness that Abimelech had done to his father by murdering his seventy brothers . . . and made the men of Shechem pay for all their wickedness. The principle of sowing and reaping could not be better illustrated. Additional Notes 9:23 God sent an evil spirit: That God would send an evil spirit is not unique in biblical literature. For example, according to 1 Sam. 16:14–15; 18:10; 19:9, an evil spirit from God came upon Saul, where the ...

675. Naomi and Ruth

Ruth 1:1-22

Understanding Series

Michael S. Moore

... to the tribal-national deities of Transjordan. Instead she may mean the household gods or the icons representing the ancestral dead (the mysterious ’elohim). The majority of Hebrews, like their Canaanite neighbors, always revered such icons. The story of Micah clearly illustrates this (Judg. 18:24). 1:16 In short, neither mother’s house, nor native people, nor ancestral ’elohim can lure Ruth away from Naomi’s side. Even Naomi cannot. Ruth is amazingly ready to walk away from everything important and ...

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Antonyms: deficient, imperfect

Showing 651 to 675 of 5000 results

651. The Empress of Ireland

Illustration

Michael P. Green

652. Break A Leg

Illustration

Michael P. Green

653. Grace Knows No Conditions

Illustration

Michael P. Green

654. Compelle Intrare

Illustration

Michael P. Green

655. This Too Shall Pass

1 John 2:17

Illustration

Michael P. Green

656. Taxing Conscience

Humor Illustration

Michael P. Green

657. Poisoned Melons

Illustration

Michael P. Green

658. Don't Rush Me

Luke 12:13-21

Humor Illustration

Michael P. Green

659. Learning To Walk In The Fields

Mt 11:29-30

Illustration

Michael P. Green

660. Faster Each Lap

Illustration

Michael P. Green

661. The Bases of Worth

Illustration

Michael P. Green

662. The "Potential" Monarch

2 Timothy 2:12

Illustration

Michael P. Green

663. The Most Important Occupation

Illustration

Michael P. Green

664. Abijah King of Judah

2 Chron 13:1–14:1

Understanding Series

Louis C. Jonker

665. The Fall of Jerusalem

2 Chronicles 36:15-23

Understanding Series

Louis C. Jonker

666. Peter Heals the Crippled Beggar

Acts 3:1-10

Understanding Series

David J. Williams

667. Unity in the Body of Christ

Ephesians 4:1-16

Understanding Series

Arthur G. Patzia

668. Living as Children of Light

Ephesians 4:17--5:21

Understanding Series

Arthur G. Patzia

669. Overseers and Deacons

1 Timothy 3:1-16

Understanding Series

Gordon D. Fee

670. The Living Stone and a Chosen People

1 Peter 2:4-12

Understanding Series

Norman Hillyer

671. Laws of Justice and Mercy

Exodus 23:1-9

Understanding Series

James K. Bruckner

672. The New Stone Tablets

Exodus 34:1-28

Understanding Series

James K. Bruckner

673. Rahab and the Spies

Joshua 2:1-24

Understanding Series

J. Gordon Harris

674. Abimelech

Judges 9:1-57

Understanding Series

Cheryl A. Brown

675. Naomi and Ruth

Ruth 1:1-22

Understanding Series

Michael S. Moore

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