Illustrations

The British minister, W. E. Sangster, began to lose his voice and mobility in the mid-1950s. He had a disease that caused progressive muscular atrophy. He recognized the end was near, so he threw himself into writing and praying. In the midst of his suffering he pleaded, “Let me stay in the struggle, Lord. I don’t mind if I can no longer be a general, but give me just a regiment to lead.”

A story is told of an African Muslim who became a Christian. His friends asked, “Why have you become a Christian?”

He answered, “Well, it’s like this. Suppose you were going down the road and suddenly the road forked in two directions, and you didn’t know which way to go. There at the fork were two men, one dead and one alive—who would you ask which way to go?”

Source: Experiencing the Resurrection, Henry and Mel Blackaby
Submitted by the homiletics class of West Coast Baptist College

The resurrection of Jesus is central to the celebration of Easter, but less than half of adult Americans link the two. The Barna Group found that only 42% of adults tied Easter to the Resurrection. Adults between the ages of 18 and 25 did the worst. David Kinnaman, president of the Barna Group, said, “The Easter holiday in particular still has a distinctly religious connection for people, but the specifics of it are really fading in a lot of people’s minds.”

Source: The Houston Chronicle, March 18, 2010

Early in his life, Benjamin Franklin penned his own epitaph:

The Body
of
BENJAMIN FRANKLIN,
Printer,

(Like the cover of an old book its contents torn out
And stript of its lettering and gilding)
Lies here food for worms;
Yet the work itself shall not be lost,
For it will (as he believed) appear once more
In a new and more beautiful edition,
Corrected and amended by
The Author.

When Sir Michael Faraday (a great scientist from the 1800s), was dying, some journalists questioned him about his speculations for a life after death. “Speculations!” he said, “I know nothing about speculations. I’m resting on certainties. I know that my Redeemer liveth, and because He lives, I shall live also.”

Source: The Speaker’s Quote Book, Roy B. Zuck

A little boy was sick on Palm Sunday and stayed home from church with his mother. His father returned from church holding a palm branch. The little boy was curious and asked, “Why do you have that palm branch, Dad?”

“You see, when Jesus came into town, everyone waved palm branches to honor Him, so we got palm branches today.”

The little boy replied, “The only Sunday I miss is the Sunday that Jesus shows up!”

Source: Unknown

On March 5, 1994, off-duty Deputy Sheriff Lloyd Prescott was at the Salt Lake City Library teaching a class for police officers. He was in a hallway, when he saw a gunman corralling 18 people into a room. Prescott entered the room behind them and shut the door. He identified himself as a deputy and eventually shot the gunman when it became clear that he would kill the hostages.

Jesus became a man just as the deputy became a hostage and defeated Satan to set us free from the power of sin.

Source: Los Angeles Times, March 6, 1994

As a man was driving his children to church on Easter Sunday, he was trying to explain that Easter was when we celebrate Jesus raising from the dead. From the back seat his three-year-old piped up, "Will He be in church today?"

Source: Unknown

Barbara Reed tried to get her 4-year-old granddaughter to eat lunch but she didn’t like any of the foods offered. Every time she encouraged her to try a different kind of food, Sabrina would reply, “No, thank you.” Barbara persisted until the little girl said, “Nana, my mama says, ‘No means no!’”

It would be good if many Christians realized that when God says, “No,” He means “No.”

Source: Unknown

At the end of a revival service the evangelist invited people to come forward if they wanted someone to pray for them. About midway through the line of people stood an imposing, intimidating looking man. When the minister asked about his prayer request, the burly guy said, “Reverend, I need you to pray for my hearing.” The evangelist quickly placed his hands over the man’s ears and prayed fervently for restored hearing.