Illustration: Pumping up balloon - watch what happens when pride is in control of ones life.
Kapteyn helps us see what happens with pride along with some of my observations: Pride is what hurts us in our relationships - in church, in families, (at work, at school), with friends. Pride makes us
                    
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                    Evangelical/Non-Denominational
                
             
        
            
            
                
                
                    Contributed by Mark Mccool on Apr 21, 2003
                
                
                
                    During the Bosnian Conflict, NATO forces were sent to assist matters in protecting the Croats from Serbian aggression.
	During this conflict and while in faithful service, 29 year old United States Air Force pilot, Captain Scott O’Grady, was shot down on June 2, 1995, while flying his F-16 Falcon
                    
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                    Pentecostal
                
             
        
        
            
                
                
                    Contributed by Sermon Central on Dec 22, 2005
                
                
                    
            
            
            
            
            
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                    A 16-year-old named William left home to seek his fortune. His earthly possessions were tied in a bundle carried in his hand. One day he met an elderly canal-boat captain who listened to his story that his family was too poor to keep him, and the only skill he had was making candles and soap.
The
                    
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                    God is also like an obsessed lover. Let me tell you what I mean by that. I have known people so captivated by romance that they have had the name of their beloved tattooed on their body. I knew one man who did that, and the woman he loved eventually broke it off with him. Her name was Marie, and --
                    
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                    Denomination: 
                    Presbyterian/Reformed
                
             
        
        
            
                
                
                    Contributed by Sermon Central on Feb 26, 2007
                
                
                
                    George Sweeting, in his book The No-Guilt Guide for Witnessing, tells of a man by the name of John Currier who in 1949 was found guilty of murder and sentenced to life in prison. Later he was transferred and paroled to work on a farm near Nashville, Tennessee. In 1968, Currier’s sentence was
                    
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                    Contributed by Nathan Parker on Mar 10, 2007
                
                
                    
            
            
            
            
            
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                    Life Examples: Elijah: Responding to Stress (1 Kings 19:3) 
Stressful situations can drive us to inappropriate responses. The prophet Elijah illustrates the importance of viewing circumstances from God’s perspective. 
God sent the prophet to rescue Israel from its moral and spiritual decline.
                    
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                    Denomination: 
                    Baptist
                
             
        
            
            
                
                
                
                
                    Years ago at John Hopkins University in Baltimore, a young sociology profess assigned his class to a city slum to interview 200 boys.  "On the basis of your findings predict their future” he instructed the class.  Shocked at what they had seen in the slums the students estimated that 90% of the
                    
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                    Contributed by Sermon Central on Jun 18, 2007
                
                
                    
            
            
            
            
            
        based on  1 rating
                    
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                    Billy Graham wrote in "The Key To Personal Peace"
“One of the powerful, enduring images that my wife, Ruth, and I have of our early years together is of the ticker-tape parades in New York City celebrating the end of WWII. The war was finally over And those who were spared from death by the enemy
                    
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                    Contributed by Sermon Central on Jun 18, 2007
                
                
                    
            
            
            
            
            
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                    It is said that on the evening of June 18, 1815 a man stood in the tower of England’s Winchester Cathedral gazing anxiously out to sea. At last he found what he was looking for - a ship sending a signal by use of lights. He strained to see the message. All of England held its breath with him,
                    
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                    Contributed by Gene Gregory on Jul 24, 2007
                
                
                    
            
            
            
            
            
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                    The word translated as “vision” in the KJV and “revelation” in the NIV and HCS means, a God-inspired sight.  It’s not talking about a vision for the future, nor a picture of things coming later.  It refers to godly insight.  Godly insight about what?  According to the second part of the verse, it
                    
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                    Denomination: 
                    Baptist
                
             
        
        
            
                
                
                    Contributed by Johnny Creasong on Aug 22, 2007
                
                
                
                    A 24-year-old man literally dreamed of the phone number of his future wife one night and then, driven by his instinct, sent her a text message. Random recipient Michelle Kitson first appeared confused when she saw a message on her phone from an unknown number that read, "Did I meet you last night?"
                    
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                    Church Of God
                
             
        
            
            
                
                
                    Contributed by Lonnie  Erwin on Oct 26, 2007
                
                
                
                    Seizing opportunities: -- A lady once writing to a young man in the navy, who was almost a stranger, thought, "Shall I close this as anybody would, or shall I say a word for my Master?" and lifting up her heart for a moment, she wrote, telling him that his constant change of scene and place was an
                    
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                    Baptist
                
             
        
        
            
                
                
                    Contributed by Tim Smith on Dec 10, 2008
                
                
                
                    So what is a vision? George Barna defines it as, "Vision for ministry is a clear mental image of a preferable future imparted by God to His chosen servants and is based upon an accurate understanding of God, self and circumstances." Vision is more than simply what could be. It’s something that must
                    
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                    Denomination: 
                    Methodist
                
             
        
        
            
        
        
            
        
        
            
                
                
                    Contributed by Johnny Creasong on Apr 15, 2004
                
                
                    
            
            
            
            
            
        based on  3 ratings
                    
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                    Karl loved to follow his dad around.    From an early age, Hirschel always found young Karl at his heels.  The shelves of books in Hirschel’s Law study fascinated young Karl and the lad quizzed His dad to annoyance.  The book Hirschel seemed to love the most was the Torah, the Hebrew Book of Law. 
                    
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                    Rex Johnson relates the following story in his book, With a Palm and a Willow:  One icy day in December, the Nazi’s sent hundreds of Jews to shower.  Before they could dry the water off or clothe themselves, the German officers called them all outside for roll call.  Hundreds of Jews stood naked
                    
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                    Contributed by Chris Surber on May 24, 2007
                
                
                    
            
            
            
            
            
        based on  2 ratings
                    
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                    Jay Fondren is a recent hero.  When my wife Christina was an auditor for the Department of Veterans she met Jay in a Veteran’s Regional Office in Waco, Texas.  She was conducting interviews to determine the timeliness of transition between the Department of Defense and the Department of Veterans
                    
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                    Christian Church
                
             
        
        
            
                
                
                    Contributed by Rodney Buchanan on Dec 16, 2007
                
                
                    
            
            
            
            
            
        based on  4 ratings
                    
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                    	Last year, a particularly dark film came out entitled Children of Men.  It is about the world in the year 2027 where no children have been born for 18 years.  Imagine a world like that.  A world with no need for toys.  Churches with no children or youth.  The doors of Kenyon College closing
                    
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                    Denomination: 
                    Methodist