MORE ILLUSTRATIONS (By Topic):
Atheism
Romans 1 tells us that "men
surpress the truth about God by their wickedness." Aldous Huxley
was more honest than most when he admitted the reason he was drawn to a
philosophy of meaningless, setting aside the knowledge of God: "I
had motives for not wanting the world to have meaning, consequently I assumed
that it had none, and was able to find satisfactory reasons for this assumption--for
myself, as no doubt for most of my contemporaries. The philosophy
of meaninglessness was essentially an instrument of liberation. The
liberation we desired was...from a certain system of morality. We
objected to morality because it interefered with our sexual freedom."
Ironically the freedom he desired was in reality a slavery to sin.
Awe / Reverence
From The Lion, the Witch,
and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis. Aren't we missing
some of the awe and reverence of God in our worship today?
"Is -- he a man?" asked Lucy.
"Aslan
a man!" said Mr. Beaver sternly. "Certainly not. I tell you he is the King
of the wood and the son of the great Emporor-Beyond-the-Sea. Don't
you know who is the King of the Beasts? Aslan is a lion -- the
lion, the great Lion."
"Ooh!" said Susan. "I'd thought he was a man. Is he --
quite safe? I shall feel rather nervous about meeting a lion."
"That you will, dearie, and no mistake," said Mrs. Beaver. "If there's
anyone who can appear before Aslan without their knees knocking, they're
either braver than most or else just silly."
"Then he isn't safe?" said Lucy.
"Safe?" said Mr. Beaver. "don't you hear what Mrs. Beaver tells you?
Who said anything about safe? "Course he isn't safe. But he's
good. He's the King, I tell you."
Church Attendance
"A friend was in front me coming
out of church one day, and the preacher was standing at the door as he
always is to shake hands. he grabbed my friend by the hand and pulled him
aside. Pastor said, "You need to join the Army of the Lord!" My friend
said, "I'm already in the Army of the Lord, Pastor." Pastor questioned,
"How come I don't see you except at Christmas and Easter? He whispered
back, "I'm in the secret service."
Evangelism
"The little fellow was playing
among his mother's special rose bushes, which had just started to produce
buds. He took a scissors and cut each bud from the top, down into
the blossom. When his mother discovered what he had done, she was
furious! As she scolded him, big tears welled up in his eyes.
He said, 'Mummy, I'm sorry! I was just trying to help God make His
roses bloom.'
How often in our evangelism
efforts do we try to "help God out" instead of waiting for his timing?
(Illustration from Knocking
on Doors, Opening Hearts by Ralph Neighbour)
For me To live is...
For me to live is money...and
to die is to leave it all behind.
For me to live is fame...and
to die is to be quickly forgotten.
For me to live is power
and influence...and to die is to lose both.
For me to live is possessions...
and to die is to depart with nothing in my hands.
How different are these
philosophies of life compared to the Apostle Paul's words:
"For me to live is
Christ, to die is gain."
Source: Chuck Swindoll
GRACE (We don't deserve
it)
"One afternoon many years ago,
when I was teaching in a small Christian college, A young man named Alex
appeared in my office doorway. Alex a good student, prided himself on his
classwork, but he had failed to turn in his final paper, Now, three days
later, he awaited judgement.
"Well Alex," I said as I look over the paper he handed
me. "do you want grace or justice?"
"Better give me justice,"
he mumbled sheepishly, staring at his shoes. "I don't deserve grace."
At the time I chucked inwardly
at Alex's ironic statement, but in the intevening years I've come to realize
that many Christians resist grace for precisely the same reason--because
they feel they don't deserve it."
(Dr. Penelope Stokes, Grace
Under Pressure, 14 Navpress, 1990)
Heroes
Jenny's second grade class
was asked to write about their personal hero. Her father was flattered
when he found out that she had chosen him as her personal hero. "Why
did you pick me?" he asked.
Jenny responded:
"Because I couldn't spell
Arnold Schwarzenegger."
Hypocrisy
We were seated in church
and had sung through the first set of songs, the Pastor prayed and the
ushers came forward to take the Morning Offering. The organ played
softly as we went through the normal ritual of Sunday Morning. Suddenly
just behind me someone stood up placed a trumpet to his mouth and played
a fanfare. Then he reached in his back pocket and pulled out his
wallet and making quite a show of it, made sure that we all knew that he
was giving a generous donation. The trumpet blast and living illustration
not only woke us up on a sleepy Sunday Morning, but also set us up for
a powerful semon on Matt. 6 in which we were forced to examine our
motives for even our good deeds; Am I doing this to glorify God or to glorify
me?
Personal Illustration by Jeffrey R. Syverson
Maturity
"The old victorian house I live
in is surrounded by trees--some of them massive oaks, as old as the house
itself, others more recently planted birches and maples. As spring
comes, the younger trees bud first, bring out their fresh green leaves
as visible signs of life. But the hundred-year-old oaks, are slower;
their gnarled branches remain bare when everything else has turned green.
Maturity is not always confirmed merely by the outward signs.
Perhaps
real spiritual maturity could be defined in terms of deepening, growing
into a close, intimate relationship with God--and ultimately with others.
A tree with shallow roots may look good from the outside, but it does not
have the stability to withstand the storms and winds that ocme. When
our roots go down deep into the bedrock of faith, we not only produce good
fruit, but we have the strength to endure times of drought and stormy weather."
Penelope Stokes, Grace
Under Pressure, 68-69.
Obedience
"A man shook hands with
the pastor after the service and thanked him for his sermon on the Ten
Commandments: 'Reverend, you sure preached a good sermon. In
fact, I've made up my mind that for the next ten weeks I'm gonna keep one
of them Ten Commandments each week until I get through all ten of 'em'"
Many Christians view obedience
to God's commands the same way, we view obedience as optional, I'll pick
the ones I like, I'll do them when I feel like it. But obedience
is not an option -- not an opportunity to pick and choose.
Omnipotence of God
"A young boy was waiting after
church for his family. The pastor saw the boy standing there and
thought he would strike up a conversation. He asked the boy, "Young
man, if you can tell me something that God can do, I'll give you a big
shiny apple." The little boy thought and replied: "Pastor, if you
can think of anything God can't do, I'll give you a whole box of apples."
Persistence in
Prayer
George Mueller began to
pray for five friends who had not yet become Christians. He prayed
every day for five years before the first one came to Christ. After
ten more years of prayer, two more were converted. After 35 years
of praying for these friends, he gave this testimony: "I have prayed for
two men by name every day for thirty-five years; on land or sea, sick or
well. I remembered them before God by name.... I shall continue to
pray for them daily, by name, until they are saved, or die." That
year another was saved. Mueller continued to pray 52 years for the
other friend--he persisted--he persevered. Shortly after Mueller
died that year, the final man came to Christ. Listen to George Mueller's
statement concerning prayer: "It is not enough to begin to pray,
nor to pray aright; nor is it enough to continue for a time to pray;
but we must patiently, believing, continue in prayer until we obtain an
answer."
Purity
A few years ago I was preaching
at a camp to a group of teenagers. During the day I had been out
having fun with the teens during the afternoon activities. That evening
as we came to the Dining Hall, I was incredibly thirsty from the hot day
and from all the activity. So I grabbed a glass and filled it with
red kool-aid and began to guzzle it down. Something was wrong...I expected
sweetness and It was incredibly salty. My reaction was to spit it
out as quickly as I could...of course all over everything. Somehow
the water in the kool-aid had gotten salt in it. It was contaminated
by salt. Similarly, Impurity is caused by contamination with sin.
We who are God's holy people get contaminated by things that just don't
belong in our lives. The Lukewarmness caused by that contamination
puts a funny taste in God's mouth...and what is his reaction? (See Rev.
3:15-16)
-- A Personal Illustration --
Questions: The importance
of asking the right ones
One of my favorite teachers
had the annoying practice of having a different type of test everytime
he gave one. One time it was all essay, another time fill in the
blank, another time True and False questions. Once he even had a
true and false test where all the answers were false (more than a little
frustrating). The best one though was the time he passed out blank
pieces of paper and gave these instructions: "Write your own questions
and answer them. The harder the question the more points it will
be worth." That may have been the most difficult test he ever gave.
Only one thing is more difficult than knowing the answers: knowing what
questions to ask to find the answers!
Personal Illustration by Jeffrey R. Syverson.
SALVATION (Jesus in Your
Heart)
"A grandmother took her four
year old grandaughter, Amanda to the doctor's office. The Doctor, who was
good with children and liked to have fun with his patients, looked in Amanda's
ears and said, "Who's in there? Donald Duck?" With enthusiasm she replied:
"No!" Looking in her nose he said, "Who's in there? Mickey Mouse?" Again
Amanda said, "No!" Then he put the stethoscope on her heart and said, "Who's
in there? Barney?" Amanda blurted out, "No, Jesus is in my heart. Barney
is on my underwear."
Sanctification
When I was a kid I had a
cousin who would come over to our house every so often that was a more
than a little hard on toys. If I knew he was coming I would be sure to
"sanctify" my fragile toys by taking them out of a place where they might
easily be damaged and instead putting them in a place solely for my use.
In a similar way, God's intention is for us to be sanctified, separated
from the sin of the world that surrounds us and set apart for his special
plans and purposes for us. His intention is that we might not be damaged
by the evil and sin of the world and that we might be his holy, chosen,
dearly loved children; his workmanship created in Christ Jesus to do good
works.
A personal illustration,
Jeffrey R. Syverson
Solitude In a Noisy World
C.S. Lewis in the Screwtape Letters
helps us understand some of the tactics of the enemy as Screwtape writes
to his young apprencitice Wormwood. Here is an excerpt from one of
his letters:
My dear Wormwood:
Music and silence--how I detest them both! How thankful we should
be that ever since our Father entered Hell...no square inch of infernal
space and no moment of infernal time has been surrendered to either of
those abominable forces, but all has been occupied by Noise— Noise, the
grand dynamism, the audible expression of all that is exultant, ruthless
and virile--Noise which alone defends us from silly qualms, despairing
scruples, and impossible desires. We will make the whole universe
a noise in the end. We have already made great strides in this direction
as regards the Earth. The melodies and silences of heaven will be
shouted down in the end. But I admit we are not yet loud enough,
or anything like it. Research is in progress.
Spiritual Gifts: Using yours?
Henry was a regular customer
at the small town convenience store. A part of his daily pilgrimage
included a visit to the store to converse with both employees and customers.
He had been particularly close to a young man named Eddie, who didn't seem
to accomplish much, but was friendly and loved to talk....for as long as
you would stay. One day Henry noticed that Eddie wasn't there.
He asked the
store owner: "Where's Eddie? Is He sick today or something?"
The Store
Owner Replied: "Nah! Eddie, he doesn't work here anymore."
Henry
then asked, "Do you have anyone in mind to fill the vacancy?
The Store
Owner replied: "No, Eddie didn't leave no vacancy!"
TEMPTATION
A little boy scraped a chair
across the kitchen floor and climbed on it to reach the cookie jar on the
top shelf. His mother hearing the familiar noise called out: "What are
you doing in there?" With one hand in the cookie jar, the child replied,
"I'm fighting temptation."
Temptation
When I was a kid we had an unusual
cat named "Bitesy". She had a fascination with water. She could
sit next to a dripping faucet and be fascinated for hours.
She liked to "paw" at the drips and catch them. She also loved to
watch water running into the bathtub. One day while she was watching
the bathtub fill up, she reached down to "paw" at the water's surface.
Bitesy lost her balance and found herself in the bathtub soaking wet.
Like Bitesy we may be fascinated by and play with sin, but eventually we
lose our balance and suffer the consequences of our behavior.
Source: The Life
of Jeff Syverson vol 34 (actually it is a true personal story).
Thankfulness
We attended the wedding
of an acquaintance's son. Because we did not know the young man or
his bride, we decided to send them a practical household gift, a fire extinguisher.
Apparently, the couple mass-produced their thank-you notes because we received
a card saying: "Thank you very much for the nice wedding gift. We
look forward to using it soon." (Toni Moore in Reader's Digest,
Apr. 1993, p.10)
At this thanksgiving time,
it might be appropriate to ask the question: Do we really think before
we thank? Do we really really take the time to remember all of the
Lord's blessings in this past year before we pray to Thank the Lord for
our Thanksgiving Turkey?
Trials (The Valleys are
where you grow)
Dave Dravecky was a pitcher
for the Padres and Giants. In 1988 he underwent surgery to remove
a malignant tumor from his left arm. He was told he would never pitch
again...but he persevered and Aug. 10, 1989 he pitched eight innings for
a victory against the Reds. In his next start, against Montreal,
the bone snapped. After two years of complications, his arm was amputated.
Through all the ups and downs Dave Dravecky grew in his faith. He
gave this testimony in a USA Today Article (Feb. 28, 1992):
"My faith is everything.
I've come to understand that God is really shaping and molding my character.
I've come to realize that real growth of character takes place in the valleys
of life."
"Walk Your Talk"
"According to a recent news
story, George Musgrave, the inventor of the Yellow Line has been fined
for parking on a yellow no-parking line 50 years after Great Britain adopted
his idea. After nearly being killed as a child when crossing the road,
he won a safety competition in 1947 when he suggested that yellow lines
be painted on the road where cars should not park. He received a two-pound
prize. After paying his fine, he said: "I received the magnificent sum
of two pounds then which I have now returned to the community with my 20-pound
parking fine."
Worship: Why
are you here?
Henry Ward Beecher was an extremely
popular preacher in the latter part of the 19th century. People would
travel from all over the country just to hear him preach. Many times
he would have more than 3000 people in attendance on Sunday Morning.
One Sunday, during the height
of his popularity, while he was away, he asked his brother Tom to preach
for him. When Thomas Beecher got up to preach many of the "sightseers"
got up and headed for the door.
Quick to his feet, Thomas
Beecher called out: "May I have your attention please. All who came
here this morning to worship Henry Ward Beecher may now leave. All
who came to worship God may stay."
Why have you come to worship
this morning?
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Do you have a favorite illustration
you would like to share? Send them to me at JeffSyv@concentric.net.
Subject line: Favorite Illustration.
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