• Russell Herman's Last Will And Testament

  Contributed by Sermon Central on Aug 22, 2011 (message contributor)

    (rate this sermon illustration)

   | 7,096 views

  Scripture:  Joshua 21:45

  Tags:  Promises Of God

RUSSELL HERMAN'S LAST WILL AND TESTAMENT

In 1994, a 67-year-old carpenter named Russell Herman died in Marion, Illinois. In his last will and testament he bequeathed the following:

• $2.4 billion to the town of Cave-In-Rock

• $2.4 billion to the city of East St. Louis

• $1.5 billion for projects in southeastern Illinois

And in a final act of unprecedented generosity, he left $6 trillion to the Federal Reserve to pay off the national debt (it would take a lot more today because the debt is now over $14 trillion). There was only one problem: at the time of his death, the only thing Mr. Herman actually owned was a 1983 Olds Toronado.

Russell Herman may not have left behind anything of monetary value, but he did leave us all with a good reminder: you can’t give away what you don’t possess.

The bottom line is that he did not have the resources to make any of this a reality. Not so with God. He has all the means to make good on all His promises. Our big idea today is this: In a world of broken promises, God can be counted on.

(From a sermon by Brian Bill, Standing on the Promises of God, 6/26/2011)