In Sermon Illustrations: showing 21-40 of 72

Seven Stanzas At Easter

Contributed by Alison Bucklin on Mar 19, 2023

John Updike put it in his wonderful poem : Make no mistake: if he rose at all it was as his body; If the cells dissolution did not reverse, the molecules reknit, the amino acids rekindle, the church will fall. Let us not mock God with metaphor, Analogy, sidestepping transcendence; Making ...read more

Scripture: 1 Corinthians 15:14, Matthew 28:1-10

Tags: Resurrection, Tomb, John Updike

Denomination: Presbyterian/Reformed

Order From Chaos

Contributed by Alison Bucklin on Mar 17, 2023

The late Harvard mathematician and philosopher, Alfred North Whitehead, maintained that the whole scientific enterprise of the western world rested upon the belief that at the bottom of things science would find order rather than chaos. Where animists were afraid to probe a world enchanted with ...read more

Scripture: Colossians 1:17, John 1:1

Tags: Alfred North Whitehead, Science, Logos, Reason

Denomination: Presbyterian/Reformed

A Tale Of Two Artists

Contributed by Alison Bucklin on Mar 4, 2023

The great Danish theologian Soren Kierkegaard told a parable of 2 artists: One bragged, “I have travelled much and seen much in the world, but I have sought in vain to find anyone worth painting. In every face I have seen one or another fault. Therefore I seek in vain.” The second one, on the other ...read more

Scripture: Genesis 1:26-31, Matthew 25:40-46

Tags: Art, Creativity, Attitude, Kierkegaard

Denomination: Presbyterian/Reformed

Faith In The Colombian Jungle

Contributed by Alison Bucklin on Aug 10, 2011

FAITH IN THE COLOMBIAN JUNGLE A man named Bruce Olson went to Colombia many years ago as a missionary to the headhunters in the far southern jungle, near the border with Brazil. The book that tells his story is Bruchko, the name the Indians called him since they couldn't wrap their tongues around ...read more

Tags: Faith

Denomination: Presbyterian/Reformed

Roman Historian Livy: "Wealth Has Made Us ...

Contributed by Alison Bucklin on Aug 10, 2011

Roman historian Livy: "Wealth has made us greedy, and self-indulgence has brought us, through every form of sensual excess, to be, if I may so put it, ...read more

Tags: Death

Denomination: Presbyterian/Reformed

Dorothy Sayers In The Mind Of The Maker: "The ...

Contributed by Alison Bucklin on Aug 7, 2011

Dorothy Sayers in The Mind of the Maker: "The characteristic common to God and mankind is apparently... ...read more

Tags: Creation

Denomination: Presbyterian/Reformed

The World Ruled By Satan Is...

Contributed by Alison Bucklin on Jul 28, 2011

THE WORLD RULED BY SATAN IS... C. S. Lewis, in "Paradise Lost" (on Milton’s classic about Satan’s fall) describes the world ruled by Satan as one "not only of misery, but also ... of lies, ...read more

Scripture: Ephesians 6:10

Tags: Satan

Denomination: Presbyterian/Reformed

Monogamy Trade-Offs?

Contributed by Alison Bucklin on Jul 28, 2011

MONOGAMY TRADE-OFFS? The Utah Chapter of the National Organization for Women (NOW) is promoting polygamy as a solution to the problems of working mothers. Elizabeth Joseph said, "I've maximized my ...read more

Tags: Marriage General

Denomination: Presbyterian/Reformed

After The Decision

Contributed by Alison Bucklin on Jul 11, 2011

AFTER THE DECISION John Wesley, talking of the conversion process, said that the new believer will often rest for days or months in the peace which follows the initial decision, but after a while they begin to become aware of "the ground of their heart, which God before would not disclose unto ...read more

Tags: Sin General

Denomination: Presbyterian/Reformed

By A Lie A Man Throws Away, And As It Were, ...

Contributed by Alison Bucklin on Jul 11, 2011

"By a lie a man throws away, and as it were, annihilates his dignity as a man." ...read more

Tags: Truth

Denomination: Presbyterian/Reformed

Porn Statistics

Contributed by Alison Bucklin on Jul 11, 2011

PORN STATISTICS • A 2003 survey from Internet Filter Review reported that 47 percent of Christians admit pornography is a major problem in their homes. • An internet survey conducted by Rick Warren of Saddleback Church in 2002 found 30 percent of 6,000 pastors had viewed internet porn in the last ...read more

Tags: Pornography

Denomination: Presbyterian/Reformed

W. H. Auden Said: "Our Bodies Cannot Love. But ...

Contributed by Alison Bucklin on Jul 9, 2011

W. H. Auden said: "Our bodies cannot love. But without them, what ...read more

Tags: Faith Vs. Works

Denomination: Presbyterian/Reformed

Whatever Gets Your Goat

Contributed by Alison Bucklin on Jul 5, 2011

WHATEVER GETS YOUR GOAT "Whatever gets your goat gets your attention. Whatever gets your attention gets your time. Whatever gets your time gets you. Whatever gets you becomes your master. Take care, lest a little thing horn in and ...read more

Tags: Anger

Denomination: Presbyterian/Reformed

Shakespeare On Opportunity

Contributed by Alison Bucklin on Jul 4, 2011

SHAKESPEARE ON OPPORTUNITY "There is a tide in the affairs of men which, taken at the flood, leads on to fortune; omitted, all the voyage of their life is bound in ...read more

Scripture: Numbers 13:1-33

Tags: Opportunity

Denomination: Presbyterian/Reformed

C.s. Lewis: "The Point Is Not That God Will ...

Contributed by Alison Bucklin on Jul 3, 2011

C.S. Lewis: "The point is not that God will refuse you admission to his eternal world if you have not got certain qualities of character; the point is that if people have not got at least the beginnings of those qualities ...read more

Tags: Character

Denomination: Presbyterian/Reformed

C. S. Lewis In The Problem Of Pain: "Our Father ...

Contributed by Alison Bucklin on Jul 3, 2011

C. S. Lewis in The Problem of Pain: "Our Father refreshes us on the journey with some pleasant inns, but will not ...read more

Scripture: Philippians 3:20-30

Tags: Heaven

Denomination: Presbyterian/Reformed

The Millennium Proves That Humans Cannot Blame ...

Contributed by Alison Bucklin on Jul 3, 2011

"The millennium proves that humans cannot blame their sinfulness on their environment or ...read more

Tags: Apocalypse

Denomination: Presbyterian/Reformed

Set Free

Contributed by Alison Bucklin on Jul 2, 2011

SET FREE Ray Bakke, the Executive Director of International Urban Associates, tells a great story from World War II. An airman named MacDonald and a Scottish chaplain bailed out behind German lines, were captured and put into a prison camp, with MacDonald in the American barracks and the chaplain ...read more

Tags: Restoration

Denomination: Presbyterian/Reformed

King Rat

Contributed by Alison Bucklin on Jul 2, 2011

KING RAT James Clavell, King Rat: about a Japanese POW camp in which one prisoner, a pathetic loser before the war, who became the most powerful man in the camp by trading with the enemy and exploiting the misery of his fellows. He used to try to pressure the other prisoners to join him, calling ...read more

Scripture: Revelation 18:9-15

Tags: Apocalypse

Denomination: Presbyterian/Reformed

Child Slaves

Contributed by Alison Bucklin on Jul 2, 2011

CHILD SLAVES Over two hundred million children around the world, some as young as four and five years old, are slaves. A majority of the children work in Asia, especially in India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Indonesia--slaving away to make goods for us to buy in K-Mart and Wal-Mart... "Child slave ...read more

Scripture: Revelation 18:9-13

Tags: Greed

Denomination: Presbyterian/Reformed