Plan for: Thanksgiving | Advent | Christmas

Sermon Illustrations

The cover story of Time magazine once featured actor Peter Sellers (Mar 3, 1980). Appearing on The Muppet Show, he was told by Kermit the Frog that it was all right to "just relax and be yourself.’ To which Sellers replied, "I could never be myself. You see, there is no me. I do not exist."

Acknowledging that it was a good joke, Time saw a deeper significance: "The real Peter Sellers, at 54, is virtually a cipher (zero, nobody)." The magazine quoted a longtime friend as saying, "Peter is the accumulation of all the roles he’s played and all the people he’s met. He’s directing traffic inside all that."

Sellers died less than six months later. We don’t know if he ever found himself. Nor do we know if, indeed, he ever searched for himself, although he may have.

Related Sermon Illustrations

Related Sermons

  • Broken: How God Uses Defective People

    Contributed by John Beukema on May 1, 2013
    based on 4 ratings
     | 26,382 views

    The Bible is filled with stories of fractured lives and messy situations. From these we can learn truths about how God works.

  • Into The Wilderness Series

    Contributed by Chris Kelly on Jul 5, 2012
    based on 4 ratings
     | 20,481 views

    What I at first thought was a dry and boring book with no relevance to my life, turned out to be one of the most profound and exciting books in the bible, with full of application to my life! Learn how to make it through the "wilderness" of this life suc

  • Great Expectations Series

    Contributed by Tim Smith on Feb 26, 2012
    based on 1 rating
     | 17,316 views

    ?” People with a great life purpose reach forward with great expectations. Here’s the good news: God is able to abundantly exceed all that we ask or think. Said another way: your expectations will never be so great that God is not able to more than meet

  • Saved For A Purpose

    Contributed by Daren Mitchell on Dec 10, 2013
    based on 1 rating
     | 11,549 views

    You don't have to be a theological scholar to figure out what God expects of those who follow Jesus. He made it really clear. Take care of those who are in need in Jesus Name because you love God and you love people.

  • What Is Man? Series

    Contributed by Perry Greene on Feb 7, 2012
    based on 1 rating
     | 9,398 views

    Psalm 8 asks a probing question and indirectly answers some basic ones -- Who Am I?; Why Am I Here?; Who Is God?