Illustrations

The African impala can jump to a height of over 10 feet and cover a distance of greater than 30 feet. Yet these magnificent creatures can be kept in an enclosure in any zoo with a 3-foot wall. The animals will not jump if they cannot see where their feet will fall. Faith is the ability to trust what we cannot see, and with faith we are freed from the flimsy enclosures of life that only fear allows to entrap us.

Source: Unknown

Submitted by the homiletics class of West Coast Baptist College

If our greatest need had been information,
God would have sent us an educator;
If our greatest need had been technology,
God would have sent us a scientist;
If our greatest need had been money,
God would have sent us an economist;
If our greatest need had been pleasure,
God would have sent us an entertainer;
But our greatest need was forgiveness,
so God sent us a Saviour.

Source: Unknown

Submitted by the homiletics class of West Coast Baptist College

Archibald Rutledge tells about a man who worked in one of the great forests of the South. His faithful dog burned to death in a great fire that had swept through the forest. Rutledge said the little dog had been left under a tree to guard his master’s dinner pail and wouldn’t leave it even when the flames roared around him. The worker was brokenhearted when he found the charred remains of his little friend.

A federal judge ordered New Orleans to open its public school to African-American children. The white parents decided that, if they had to let black children in, they would keep their children out. They let it be known that any black children who came to school would be in for trouble. So the black children stayed home, too—except six-year-old Ruby Bridges. Her parents sent her to school all by herself.

A young salesman was disappointed about losing a big sale, and as he talked with his sales manager he lamented, “I guess it just proves you can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make him drink.” The manager replied, “Your job is not to make him drink. Your job is to make him thirsty.” So it is with evangelism. Our lives should be so filled with Christ that they create a thirst for the Gospel.

Source: Unknown

Submitted by the homiletics class of West Coast Baptist College

The story is told about a group called themselves fishermen. There were many fish in the water all around this group. In fact, the whole area was surrounded by streams and lakes filled with fish. And the fish were hungry.

General Booth told of a man leaving Australia who had been working in the gold fields, and had acquired a fortune. He was on a ship, when a leak was sprung. The life-boats were lost, and the people were without hope. This strong man thought he could fight through the waves to the island, and he was about to spring into the water when a little girl, whose mother had been lost in the storm, asked him, “Sir, can you save me?” He looked at his belt of gold, and then at the child, and then at the belt, and then at the child again.

A boy went down to the river for a little swim. As he left the house his father said, “Be careful, Herbert; the river looks fair and sparkling, but there is an ugly eddy beneath that may prove too much for you. I have tried it and know it is dangerous. It nearly overcame me. Be careful, Son; there is danger.” Herbert went on and was careful for a time, but the river looked so smooth and peaceful he ventured out farther. His companions admonished him to be careful. But he called back and said, “I can swim; there is no danger.” So he ventured out still farther.

A marshal in Napoleon’s army who was devotedly and enthusiastically attached to him was mortally wounded in battle. As the last struggle drew near and he lay dying in his tent he sent for his chief. Napoleon came. The poor man thought his emperor could do anything. He earnestly pleaded with his leader to save his life. The emperor sadly shook his head and turned away. But as the dying man felt the cold, merciless hand of death drawing him irresistibly behind the curtain of the unseen world, he was still heard to shriek out, “Save me, Napoleon!

Just before the death of actor W. C. Fields, a friend visited Fields’ hospital room and was surprised to find him thumbing through a Bible. When he asked what he was doing with a Bible, Fields replied, "I’m looking for loopholes."

There are no loopholes in the Bible; either you accept Christ or spend an eternity in Hell.

Source: Unknown

Submitted by the homiletics class of West Coast Baptist College