Sermon Central
-
What We Can Learn From The "Lesser Knowns"
Contributed by Tom Mccrossan on Jan 21, 2004 (message contributor)
What We Can Learn From the "Lesser Knowns"
The media makes note of the well-known celebrities who die, and this year there is quite a long, sad list: John Ritter. Fred Rogers. Johnny Cash. June Carter Cash. Bob Hope. David Brinkley. Gregory Peck. Katharine Hepburn. Buddy Hackett. Buddy Ebsen. But we also lost a lot of lesser or little knowns-- people who never the less contributed their many gifts to the betterment of us all. It is always interesting what you find out about a person at a funeral or memorial service.
My husband and I walked into a funeral home recently for the wake of my co-worker’s father, Earl D. Greaser. He was a long time member of an a cappella quartet and was a great lover of music, so at his memorial service it was natural to celebrate his life with much music of the church. He seemed young at 76, but had lived long enough to see his personal dream fulfilled: overseeing the completion of an entire beautiful retirement village here in Virginia with state-of-the-art and quality care for persons of all income levels and stages of ability.
Earl spent most of his career working with elderly persons in one
facility or another, born out of a desire to help care for those who
couldn’t care for themselves. At his memorial service I learned about
another side to this renaissance man: not only was he a church leader,
musician and retirement village visionary, but the kind of man who would
drop what he was doing to go and help someone else whether it was
installing a switch for a well pump, "Uh, I’ve never done that before,
but let’s see what we can figure out" or loaning the use of his carpenter
shop and tools to a young father who wanted to build a crib for his
baby-to-be. There were many other stories along these lines.
I wish some of his spirit would rub off on more of us, too: always ready
to take the time to help someone else. If you haven’t written your New
Year’s resolutions yet, here are two maybe different ones to consider:
Take time to be more childlike, or just enjoy being with a child; and
take time to help other people. - Contributed by Melodie Davis
Related Sermon Illustrations
-
I Read About A Man Dreaming About The ...
Contributed by Melvin Shelton on Jul 17, 2004
I read about a man dreaming about the crucifixion of Jesus. He was telling in detail how that Jesus was beaten, and the people shouting crucify him. He saw the back of the soldier as he was driving ...read more
-
Psa 91 – Engineer Unit (1943-45)their Chaplain ... PRO
Contributed by Michael Dugal on Jul 20, 2003
Psa 91 – engineer unit (1943-45)Their chaplain encouraged them to carry a copy of this Psalm with them as they went into battle. During two years and over 20 intense battles, the unit expereinced no deaths. During Operation ...read more
-
In The West During The Torrential Spring Rains, ...
Contributed by Tim Zingale on Oct 10, 2005
"In the west during the torrential spring rains, the rivers frequently rise and flood the lowlands. There was a little girl who lived In the valley of one of these mighty rivers and one weekend "he was going with her parents to visit friends. As she was packing, she placed her dearest possession in ...read more
-
Alta Vail Of Emporia, Kansas, Tells In Sunshine ...
Contributed by Evie Megginson on Mar 14, 2005
Alta Vail of Emporia, Kansas, tells in Sunshine magazine how she found a new way to pray while ironing. One day she was thinking about the different kinds of lines—bus lines, clothes lines, fishing lines, telephone lines. Why not a prayer line? she asked herself. So she strung a short rope across ...read more
-
J.r.r Tolkein, Famous Writer Leaves Us With This ...
Contributed by Charles Bruner on Jul 19, 2005
J.R.R Tolkein, famous writer leaves us with this profound thought. “It is not our part to master all the tides of the world, but to do what is in us for the succor of those years wherein we are set, uprooting the evil in the fields that we know, so that those who live after may have clean earth to ...read more
Related Sermons
-
Enfrentando La Muerte
Contributed by John Cuentas on Aug 13, 2011
Un mensaje que afirma nustra seguridad de que El que muere en Cristo pasa a estar con Cristo
-
-
Forgive Or Not To Forgive
Contributed by Anthony Zibolski on Feb 28, 2012
Forgiveness is the way the Lord releases us from guilt and sets us free to continue loving God and others.
-
Diagnosing The Check Engine Light Series
Contributed by John Sears on Feb 4, 2014
Mutual accountability is important to the life and health of the individual and to the life and health of the church. How do we handle the difficult task of mutual accountability? And how can it help us grow as followers of Jesus?
-
Called To Be Different
Contributed by Derrick Thompson, Sr. on May 26, 2012
Let's not try to be like everbody else, we are different, and God knew exactly what He was doing when He made us. We are all uniquely made by God, and it is time to accept ourselevs as different, and stop being insecure about who we are.
