Illustrations

A fisherman was at sea with his godless companions when a storm came up and threatened to sink their ship. His friends begged him to pray; but he said, “It’s been a long time since I’ve done that or even entered a church.” At their insistence, however, he finally cried out, “O Lord, I haven’t asked anything of You in 15 years, and if You help us now and bring us safely to land, I promise I won’t bother You again for another 15!”

Unfortunately, many people view prayer as an escape mechanism rather than a constant line of communication with God.

A young woman named Anne Steele had encountered one trial and disappointment after another. Her mother died when she was three, and when she was nineteen she suffered a severe hip injury that left her an invalid. Eventually she fell in love and was engaged to be married, but the day before the wedding her fiancé drowned.

Later Anne Steele penned the following song:

Speaking to a large audience, D.L. Moody held up a glass and asked, “How can I get the air out of this glass?” One man shouted, “Suck it out with a pump!” Moody replied, “That would create a vacuum and shatter the glass.” After numerous other suggestions Moody smiled, picked up a pitcher of water, and filled the glass. “There,” he said, “all the air is now removed.” He then went on to explain that victory in the Christian life is not accomplished by “sucking out a sin here and there,” but by being filled with the Holy Spirit.

“By profession, I am a soldier, and take pride in that fact, but I am prouder, infinitely prouder, to be a father. A soldier destroys in order to build; a father only builds, never destroys.  The one has the potentialities of death; the other embodies creation of life; and while the hordes of death are mighty, the battalions of life are mightier still. It is my hope that my son, when I am gone, will remember me, not from the battle, but in the home repeating with him our simple, daily prayer, our Father Who art in Heaven.”—General Douglas MacArthur

Above the entrance to the concentration camp in Auschwitz, Germany were the words Arbeit Macht Frei. The words mean “Work makes free.” It was a boldfaced lie suggesting that if the prisoners worked hard, they would be given liberty. The promised freedom was a horrifying death.

Many people believe that if they do their best good works they will earn Heaven. This, however, is false. They will learn too late that good works do not earn freedom.

It is Christ’s blood that liberates. He died to give us freedom from the penalty of our sin.

Not in unbelief, Voltaire was an infidel of the most pronounced type. He wrote: “I wish I had never been born.”

Not in pleasure, Lord Byron lived a life of pleasure if anyone did. He wrote: “The worm, the canker, and grief are mine alone.”

Not in money, Jay Gould, the American millionaire, had plenty of that. When dying, he said: “I suppose I am the most miserable man on earth.”

Not in position and fame, Lord Beaconsfield enjoyed more than his share of both. He wrote: “Youth is a mistake; manhood a struggle; old age a regret.”

Dr. Walter Wilson, ever on the alert to speak to men about their souls and need of the Saviour, asked an attendant at a service station who had filled his car with gas: “How did sin get in Sinclair?” pointing to the lighted sign atop the gas pump. “I do not know, sir, how sin got into Sinclair; but, sir, I have wished many times that I knew how to get sin out of my life!”

A little boy walked into the kitchen and told his mother that he discovered he was six feet tall. When she asked how he had determined this, he told her he had used his shoe to measure and that he was six shoes tall. With a loving smile she told him that his shoe was not a foot long. He insisted, “But, Mom, it’s got to be ’cause my foot’s in it!”

Many people believe they are pretty good because they are using a faulty standard.

Source: Unknown

Submitted by the homiletics class of West Coast Baptist College

Children go through four stages.  First they call you DaDa. Then they call you Daddy. As they mature they call you Dad. Finally they call you collect.

Source: Unknown

Three young fathers were in the waiting room. The first was told that his wife gave birth to twins. He was amazed and said, “I play ball for the Minnesota Twins.”

Later, the nurse came out and told the second man, “Congratulations, you are the father of triplets.” He said, “That is amazing! I work for 3M.”

The man next to him fainted. When he woke up they asked, “What’s wrong.” He said, “I work for 7Up.”

Source: Unknown