In Sermon Illustrations: "Golf Ball"

One Morning At A Local Elementary School, All The ...  PRO

Contributed by Bruce Ball on Jul 5, 2004

One morning at a local elementary school, all the teachers were called into the teacher’s lounge for an unscheduled meeting. This meant they all had to leave their classrooms unsupervised. Mrs. Miles had the most unruly class in school, and being worried about them, she turned on the intercom ...read more

Tags: Faith General

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A Man And His Wife Were Taking A Tour Through The ...  PRO

Contributed by Bruce Ball on Jul 5, 2004

A man and his wife were taking a tour through the smelting plant of the U.S. Mint. One of the workers told them that if they would dip their hand in cold water, he could then pour the liquid metal over their hands without hurting them. He asked the man if he wanted to try it and the man said he ...read more

Tags: Examples Of Faith

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There Is An Old Definition Of Faith That Has ...  PRO

Contributed by Bruce Ball on Jul 5, 2004

There is an old definition of faith that has helped me in my times of troubles. F = Forsaking A = ...read more

Tags: Faith General

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There Is The Story Of A Young Man Who Applied At ...  PRO

Contributed by Bruce Ball on Jul 23, 2004

There is the story of a young man who applied at a logging company and asked for a job. The foreman asked him if he could fell a tree with an ax. The young man walked over to a tree and felled it like an old pro. The foreman hired him. On Monday, the young man outdid everyone else on the crew. ...read more

Tags: Prayer General, Bible Study

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A Few Minutes Ago, I Told You We Were Chosen By ...  PRO

Contributed by Bruce Ball on Aug 21, 2004

A few minutes ago, I told you we were chosen by God. That is wonderful, but being chosen by itself does not help us much. That is only the first step. After God chooses us, there is something that we must do. We must accept it. Let me explain about being chosen and then accepting that choice. ...read more

Tags: Repentance, Faith General, Confession Of Sin

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Have You Ever Thought Any Deep Thoughts About ...  PRO

Contributed by Bruce Ball on Jan 16, 2005

Have you ever thought any deep thoughts about rubber bands? I have. In fact, I had one of those great big rubber bands that I was going to bring up here, but somewhere along the way, I either mislaid it or lost it. I was going to bring it up here and drape it over this corner right here, and I ...read more

Tags: Discipleship, Love Of The Disciples

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I Remember When I Was About 7 Or 8 Years Old. My ...

Contributed by Bruce Ball on Sep 17, 2007

I remember when I was about 7 or 8 years old. My dad would take my brothers and I swimming at the Air Force Base swimming pool. One of my older brothers talked me into jumping off the high-dive. I remember eagerly climbing the ladder and walking out to the end of the board. I also remember ...read more

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Col. Oliver North, "Col. Ollie" To Many Who Have ...

Contributed by Bruce Ball on May 19, 2008

Col. Oliver North, "Col. Ollie" to many who have served under him, tells of a situation when we first went into Iraq. There were enemies shooting at each other from across a large field. That was a no-man’s land. And in the middle of that field was a very injured Iraqi man. A corpsman crawled ...read more

Tags: War

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I Recently Had To Replace One Of The Strings On ...

Contributed by Bruce Ball on Jul 14, 2008

I recently had to replace one of the strings on my mandolin. I laid the new string on the table as I took off the broken string. When I had thrown it into the trash, I looked at the new string lying on the table and realized how much it resembles many Christians. That string has the ability to ...read more

Tags: Christian Disciplines

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A Young Woman In China Had Been Invited To A ...

Contributed by Bruce Ball on Jul 14, 2008

A young woman in China had been invited to a church and had gone just to please her friend. While she was there, she received Jesus Christ and began attending regularly. She did that because she found pure joy in her soul while she was at church. That was the one place in her life she could ...read more

Tags: Church General

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He Is Telling Us That We Must Continually Strive ...

Contributed by Bruce Ball on Jan 19, 2009

He is telling us that we must continually strive to please God in all we do and in how we live. Let me use another analogy to make this point clear. If you eat breakfast on Monday, you have energy that carries you to about noon. But if you do not eat lunch, you will be run down, tired, and ...read more

Tags: Salvation

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Today, I Would Like To Talk About, Not When We ...

Contributed by Bruce Ball on Jan 19, 2009

Today, I would like to talk about, not when we were saved, but how we continue to be saved. And I am going to do that using the analogy of a set of instructions. When I first bought my mandolin, I had never played one before. With that mandolin, I bought a couple of ‘how to play the mandolin’ ...read more

Tags: Salvation

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We Talk A Lot About Serving And Worshiping Jesus. ...

Contributed by Bruce Ball on Mar 6, 2009

We talk a lot about serving and worshiping Jesus. But to be able to serve Him, or worship Him, we must know exactly who He is and what He offers. Here is the Jesus I know: ···· Jesus is Christ. He is the living Son of the living God. ···· He is the First and Last, the Beginning and the ...read more

Tags: Jesus Christ

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James 5:13

Contributed by Bruce Ball on May 26, 2009

JAMES 5:13 says that if we are in trouble of any kind, we need to pray. But along with praying we need to pray while believing we will get God’s answers. Maybe not exactly when we want it or how we want it, but we will receive it in His way and in His time. Let me give you an example of praying ...read more

Tags: Prayer Answered

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In James 5:15, God Promises Us That A Prayer ...

Contributed by Bruce Ball on May 26, 2009

In JAMES 5:15, God promises us that a prayer offered in true faith will even make the sick person well. Let’s take that model of prayer and hold it up against the way we pray today. Most of us, being honest, pray something like this: ‘God I want you to make me well.’ And then in the back of our ...read more

Tags: Prayer Answered, God Answers Prayer

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Adoption Explained

Contributed by Bruce Ball on Jul 7, 2009

ADOPTION EXPLAINED During the time that the New Testament was written, when a family adopted a child, there was no immediate big celebration of that adoption. But, when that child reached the proper age, there was a celebration, and at that time, the child was given every single legal standing as ...read more

Tags: Adoption

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Let's Say That I Am At Home, Sitting In My ...

Contributed by Bruce Ball on Jul 7, 2009

Let’s say that I am at home, sitting in my favorite chair and Diana comes in and puts her hands out. In her hands, is a beautiful watch that she says she has purchased for me. Now, what would happen if I yelled at her in anger and said for her to get it away from me and to never do such a thing ...read more

Tags: Salvation

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Sealed By The Spirit

Contributed by Bruce Ball on Jul 7, 2009

SEALED BY THE SPIRIT How many of you have ever canned food? When I was a child, we lived on a farm in the Appalachia Mountains of Virginia, and my parents canned all kinds of food. If they just put it in the jar without sealing it, the outside air would get in it and ruin the food. By sealing it, ...read more

Tags: Holy Spirit General

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When I Was In High School, My Thoughts Were; To ...

Contributed by Bruce Ball on Aug 30, 2010

When I was in high school, my thoughts were; to graduate, get a really good job and make lots of money and then live happily ever after. So, you can imagine what ran through my mind when I saw my ideal job being advertised in the paper. The ad read something like this: I need one young man who is ...read more

Tags: Evangelism, Zeal

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An Understanding Of The Rapture Can Be Gained ...

Contributed by Bruce Ball on Oct 5, 2010

An understanding of the Rapture can be gained from understanding the Jewish Wedding Tradition. IN THE JEWISH WEDDING TRADITION, • As the young man becomes of age to marry, • He builds a room onto his father’s house, • So there will be a place • For him and his bride to live. WHEN THE YOUNG ...read more

Tags: Rapture

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