Plan for: Thanksgiving | Advent | Christmas

Sermon Illustrations

Terry Bowland in his book Make Disciples – Reaching The Postmodern World for Christ writes this: “Many today balk at the teaching of the church. ‘Do you mean to say,” they ask, ‘that all those outside the church have no hope whatsoever? What about all the sincere folks who never come to Christ? What of the billions in the worlds of Islam, Buddism and Hinduism? What of those who have never heard? What of my neighbors and friends who are good-hearted people, but who have never made Christ their Lord and Savior? Are you saying that they are lost? Why, if that’s true, then this ‘gospel’ has made you Christians the most narrow-minded, bigoted people on the face of the earth.”

He continues, “Perhaps, we should reply by saying, that far from being narrow-minded and bigoted, Christian are, in fact, the most loving people in the world.”

“Suppose you are a doctor and an individual comes to you one day and describes his symptoms. After taking a blood test you realize that this fellow has acute diabetes. You prescribe insulin injections. ‘Insulin!’ he cries. ‘I don’t want to take insulin.’ You assure him that he must take insulin.

‘But, I don’t want to take insulin,’ he complains. ‘Can’t I take some other drug. How about penicillin? How about a double dose of Tylenol? Won’t those do?’ Again you reaffirm that without the insulin, he will die.

Then he exclaims, ‘Why doctor, I believe you are the most narrow, closed-minded, bigoted physician I have ever met.’ Now, here’s the question: Is the doctor narrow and bigoted or is the doctor loving, because he is telling the man the truth – the only truth which will give him life!”

Related Sermon Illustrations

Related Sermons