Sermon Illustrations

  • Healing,  Worry

    Have No Anxiety

    One of the most appalling comments on our present way of life is that half of all the beds in our hospitals are reserved for patients with nervous and mental troubles, patients who have collapsed under the crushing burden of accumulated yesterdays and fearful tomorrows. Yet a vast majority of those people would be walking the streets today, leading happy, useful lives, if they had only heeded the words of Jesus: Have no anxiety about the morrow; or the words of Sir William Osler; Live in day-tight compartments.
    – Dale Carnegie

  • Happiness,  Hope,  Money

    Happiness Research

    More than 60 scientists have been given millions of dollars in funding to help humanity find happiness. A popular movement among psychologists called “positive psychology” is an attempt to elevate and focus its research on peoples’ strengths rather than only trying to deal with human weaknesses and problems.
    Although the U.S. standard of living has increased since W.W. II, there is no increase in the number of people who regard themselves as happy. A U.S. News & World Report on the subject says, “Once income provides basic needs, it doesn’t correlate to happiness. Nor does intelligence, prestige, or sunny weather. People grow used to new climates, higher salaries, and better cars.”
    Many years and millions of dollars studying and treating depression have succeeded in reducing most people’s levels of sadness, but they are not necessarily happier. Researchers have found that self-esteem, spirituality, family, and good marriages and friendships are key to a happy life. So are hope, meaning, and discovering and pursuing the right goals. Even helping others to be happy can “jump-start a process that will lead to stronger relationships, renewed hope, and a general upward spiraling of happiness.” Just seeing others do a good deed results in that “heartwarming” feeling and influences people to do the same.
    Gratitude is another key ingredient to a happy life. People who made a daily and/or frequent practice of being thankful were “not only more joyful; they were healthier, less stressed, more optimistic, and more likely to help others.”
    Hope and spirituality work together to provide an important basis to a happy life. “Hope fosters optimism, and faith is, by definition, hope for the future. And the churchgoing form of faith can be a built-in social support network. This is not to say that atheists can’t be happy, but it helps explain why so many do find happiness in faith, and why researchers continue to find connections between faith, optimism, and physical health.”
    Holly J. Morris, “Happiness Explained,” U.S. News & World Report (9-03-01), pp. 46-54; submitted by Jerry De Luca, Montreal West, Quebec

  • Habits

    Sayings

    Habits are first cobwebs, then cables. – Spanish proverb

    Habit is a cable; we weave a thread of it every day, and at last we cannot break it.
    Horace Mann

    Habit is habit and not to be flung out of the window by any man, but coaxed downstairs a step at a time.
    Mark Twain

    The chains of habit are generally too small to be felt until they are too strong to be broken.

    Sources Unknown

  • Habits

    Tougher As They Get Older

    An elderly teacher, with a pupil by his side, took a walk through a forest. Suddenly he stopped and pointed to four plants close at hand. The first was just beginning to peep above the ground, the second had rooted itself pretty well into the earth, the third was a small shrub, while the fourth was a full-sized tree. The tutor said to his young companion, ‘Pull up the first plant.’ The boy did so eagerly, using only his fingers.
    ‘Now pull up the second.’ The youth obeyed but found the task more difficult.
    ‘Do the same with the third,’ he urged. The boy had to use all his strength to uproot it.
    ‘Now,’ said the instructor, ‘try your hand with the fourth.’ The pupil put his arms around the trunk of the tall tree and couldn’t even shake its leaves. ‘This, my son, is just what happens with our bad habits. When they are young, we can remove them readily; but when they are old, it’s hard to uproot them, though we pray and struggle ever so sincerely.’”
    From the Heidelberg Herald.

  • Habits

    Nuns In A Fire

    Several Nuns were in their second floor convent one night when a fire broke out. The Nuns took their habits off and tied them together to make a rope to get out of the building via the window.
    After they were safely on the ground and out of the building, a news reporter came over to one of the Nuns and said to her, “Weren’t you afraid that the habits could have ripped or broke since they are old?
    The Nun Replied, “No, don’t you know old habits are hard to break”.

  • Guilt

    We Didn’t Do It!

    A couple had two little boys, ages 8 and 10, who were excessively mischievous. The two were always getting into trouble and their parents could be assured that if any mischief occurred in their town, their two young sons were in some way involved.
    The parents were at their wits’ end as to what to do about their sons’ behavior. The mother had heard that a clergyman in town had been successful in disciplining children in the past, so she asked her husband if he thought they should send the boys to speak with the clergyman. The husband said, “We might as well. We need to do something before I really lose my temper!”
    The clergyman agreed to speak with the boys, but asked to see them individually. The 8-year-old went to meet with him first. The clergyman sat the boy down and asked him sternly, “Where is God?” The boy made no response, so the clergyman repeated the question in an even sterner tone, “Where is God?” Again the boy made no attempt to answer, so the clergyman raised his voice even more and shook his finger in the boy’s face, “WHERE IS GOD?”
    At that the boy bolted from the room and ran directly home, slamming himself in his closet. His older brother followed him into the closet and said, “What happened?”
    The younger brother replied, “We are in BIG trouble this time. God is missing and they think we did it!”

  • Guilt

    What Are You Carrying In Your Sacks?

    There is an old legend about three men and their sacks. Each man had two sacks, one tied in front of his neck and the other tied on his back. When the first man was asked what was in his sacks, he said, “In the sack on my back are all the good things friends and family have done. That way they’re hidden from view. In the front sack are all the bad things that have happened to me. Every now and then I stop, open the front sack, take the things out, examine them, and think about them.” Because he stopped so much to concentrate on all the bad stuff, he really didn’t make much progress in life.
    The second man was asked about his sacks. He replied, “In the front sack are all the good things I’ve done. I like to see them, so quite often I take them out to show them off to people. The sack in the back? I keep all my mistakes in there and carry them all the time. Sure they’re heavy. They slow me down, but you know, for some reason I can’t put them down.”
    When the third man was asked about his sacks, he answered, “The sack in front is great. There I keep all the positive thoughts I have about people, all the blessings I’ve experienced, all the great things other people have done for me. The weight isn’t a problem. The sack is like sails of a ship. It keeps me going forward.
    “The sack on my back is empty. There’s nothing in it. I cut a big hole in its bottom. In there I put all the bad things that I can think about myself or hear about others. They go in one end and out the other, so I’m not carrying around any extra weight at all.”
    What are you carrying in your sacks?
    H. Norman Wright, The Perfect Catch (Bethany House, 2000)

  • Guidance

    G-U-I-dance

    When I meditated on the word “guidance,” I kept seeing “dance” at the end of the word.
    I remember reading that doing God’s will is a lot like dancing. When two people try to lead, nothing feels right. The movement doesn’t flow with the music, and everything is quite uncomfortable and jerky.
    When one person lets the other lead, both bodies begin to flow with the music. One gives gentle cues, perhaps with a nudge to the back or by pressing lightly in one direction or another. It’s as if two become one body, moving beautifully. The dance takes surrender, willingness, and attentiveness from one person and gentle guidance and skill from the other.
    My eyes drew back to the word guidance. When I saw “G”, I thought of God, followedby “u” and “i”. God, “u” and “i” dance”. God, you, and I dance. This statement is what guidance means to me.
    As I lowered my head, I became willing to trust that I would get guidance about my life. I became willing to let God lead.
    From The Sermon Fodder Email List