Sermon Illustrations

  • Commitment - cost of,  Cross,  God's Love,  Sacrifice

    The Railroad Drawbridge

    One summer day in 1937 John Griffith, controller of a railroad drawbridge across the Mississippi, took Greg, his eight-year-old son with him to work. About noon, John raised the bridge to let some ships pass while he and Greg ate their lunch on the observation deck. At 1.07 p.m. John heard the distant whistle of the Memphis Express. He had just reached for the master lever to lower the bridge for the train, when he looked around for his son Greg. What he saw made his heart freeze. Greg had left the observation tower, slipped and fallen into the massive gears that operated the bridge. His left leg was caught in the cogs of the two main gears.
    With the Memphis Express steaming closer, fear and anxiety gripped John as his mind searched for options, but there were only two. He must either sacrifice his son and spare the passengers on the Memphis Express, or sacrifice them to spare his son.
    Burying his face in his left arm, John, with an anguished cry, pulled the master switch with his right hand to lower the bridge into place.
    Lord knows what anguish John Griffith had to go through, whichever decision he made. But I know this: God values us enough to sacrifice his Son that we too might live.
    ‘For God so loved the world that He gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.’

    (Taken from a sermon by Pastor Ian Sweeny which won The Times Preacher of the Year Award 1998.)

  • Commitment - cost of,  Making a difference,  Mustard Seed Principle,  Sketches

    The Last Known Gladiatorial Contest

    Telemachus was a monk who lived in the 4th century. He felt God saying to him, “Go to Rome.” He was in a cloistered monastery. He put his possessions in a sack and set out for Rome. When he arrived in the city, people were thronging in the streets. He asked why all the excitement and was told that this was the day that the gladiators would be fighting and killing each other in the coliseum, the day of the games, the circus. He thought to himself, “Four centuries after Christ and they are still killing each other, for enjoyment?” He ran to the coliseum and heard the gladiators saying, “Hail to Caesar, we die for Caesar” and he thought, “this isn’t right.” He jumped over the railing and went out into the middle of the field, got between two gladiators, held up his hands and said, “In the name of Christ, forbear.” The crowd protested and began to shout, “Run him through, Run him through.” A gladiator came over and hit him in the stomach with the back of his sword. It sent him sprawling in the sand. He got up and ran back and again said, “In the name of Christ, forbear.” The crowd continued to chant, “Run him through.” One gladiator came over and plunged his sword through the little monk’s stomach and he fell into the sand, which began to turn crimson with his blood. One last time he gasped out, “In the name of Christ forbear.” A hush came over the 80,000 people in the coliseum. Soon a man stood and left, then another and more, and within minutes all 80,000 had emptied out of the arena. It was the last known gladiatorial contest in the history of Rome.

    Source Unknown.

  • Clerical collar

    The Origins Of The Clerical Collar

    When did Anglican ministers start to wear “dog collars” on a regular basis?
    In 1976 the Church of England’s Enquiry Centre produced an A4 sheet concerning the use of the “dog collar” among the clergy. Apparently, it had been invented, they said, quoting the Glasgow Herald of December 6,1894, by the Rev Dr Donald McLeod. Something similar, the Roman collarino, dated, perhaps, from the 17th century. The Oxford Movement of the 19th century led to the adoption by many Anglican clergy of a clerical collar, certainly by the time of the First World War. A reaction began in the late 1960s, especially among evangelical Anglicans, who returned to lay neckwear, as had been the normal practice among clergy before the mid-l9th century. This was probably due to their rejection of the Roman Catholic doctrine of priesthood. Very few evangelical clergy today wear the “dog collar” except on formal occasions. There is, incidentally, no requirement in canon law for the “dog collar” to be worn. A “middle-of-the-road” clergyman speaking in the late 1950s said that, in wearing a white shirt and white tie, he was being a loyal and traditional Anglican.

    The Times, 14th March 2002

  • Church growth

    Acts 2

    A theologian at a well known seminary was teaching a class on church growth. Recognizing his responsibility to the budding young pastors in his charge, he decided to write to several dozen pastors of the fastest growing churches in the country. He asked them to provide him with some suggestions and examples of what they were doing, so he could pick out the best ideas and pass them along in the class. There were many great suggestions, but the best came as a surprise. The pastor had simply photocopied ACTS Chapter 2 and sent it in.

    Brad Henson, Lead Pastor Four Rivers Church, Paducah, KY.
    Quoted from SermonFodder email list

  • Church,  Mission

    God Church and Mission

    ‘The Church of God does not have a mission in the world’ . . . it is more accurate to say that ‘The God of mission has a church in the world’.

    Tim Dearborn