“Good Sermon Illustrations” Sep 20, 2024

He said therefore, “What is the kingdom of God like? And to what shall I compare it?…”

One of the hardest things about writing sermons is coming up with good illustrations. Illustrations are important tools for communicating because they help the truth to stick in our minds. I’m always hunting for a compelling story, an article or testimony that correlates with Scripture. When I find such treasures I bookmark them for later.

But I’ve got to be careful. A good illustration is supposed to function as a window to help others see the truth more clearly. Sometimes teachers and preachers labor over them so much that they have to stretch the Scriptures to apply their story. Or they emphasize the story so much that it actually obscures the biblical text. I’ll never forget when a visiting preacher came and opened with a prolonged account, with many hilarious embellishments, of how his kids found what they thought was a human leg floating in a creek. They later found out that it was a very life-like prosthetic and had some fun scaring others with it. After about 15 minutes of this admittedly entertaining story, the preacher transitioned from a legless person to the headless horseman of European folklore. This led him to Ichabod Crane and the loose connection to 1 Samuel 4:21, “And she named the child Ichabod, saying, “The glory has departed from Israel!”” I still have no idea what the sermon was about.

Jesus was a master teacher and used illustrations all the time. He explained the kingdom of God with everyday images from farming, fishing and building. His illustrations always had a profound impact. “Now a man had two sons…” Who could forget such a story?

Jesus’ preaching ministry was supported by his healing ministry. He encountered people suffering from disease, demonic possession and even death. After healing them, casting out the demons or raising them from the dead, his ‘sermon illustration’ was right there for everyone to see. He also exhibited his power over nature. After illustrating his authority and identity by calming a dreadful storm his disciples were filled with great fear and said to one another, “Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?” (Mk. 4:41)

Every person Jesus encountered was changed by the experience. He left many living, breathing sermon illustrations in his wake that could attest to him. These transformed people then went on to persuade others about the truth of the gospel. “Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were uneducated, common men, they were astonished. And they recognized that they had been with Jesus.” (Acts 4:13)

The world needs more good sermon illustrations. That is, people need to see in us the difference Christ makes. Someone said, “The world isn’t mad at the church because we’re different. They’re mad at us because we aren’t different enough.” Do our lives illustrate the uniqueness of the kingdom? Before people will investigate Christ, they often look to his followers. What will they see?

Scripture frequently confronts us with this challenge. In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus calls us to a deeper righteousness (Mt. 5:20) and a perfect love (Mt. 5:48). Peter exhorts us, “as he who called you is holy, you also must be holy in all your conduct” (1 Pet. 1:15) so that “by doing good you should put to silence the ignorance of foolish people.” (1 Pet. 2:15) Unbelievers look for fault. They read us more than they read their Bibles. Peter’s admonition is to take those accusations out of their mouths by living lives above reproach.

Our hymns for worship also remind us of this sober responsibility. “We are the only Bible the careless world will read… We are the Lord’s last message, given in deed and word; What if the type is crooked? What if the print is blurred?” The world needs good sermon illustrations. Are you one?

I, Pastor Scott, did not write this, but found this unattributed on the internet. I suspect the writer posted it on his church’s website and then it got copied and re-posted..

Priorities – 09.13.2024

When I get caught up in delivering a message (or the details of a picnic), I often leave out written illustrations or quotes I had intended to share during the message. These two are so poignant I thought they were worth printing here.

On Sunday, I made mention of the casualness with which the people of Judah were approaching Temple worship. It was so bad that God called their offering worthless and their mere presence in the Temple a “trampling of My courts” (Is 1:12). It was in light of this irreverence that God showed His prophet WHO He was (Is 6).

The two quotations below, which may be familiar to some readers; are both calls to be less casual about God and our relationship with Him! ~Blessings, Pastor Scott

“Christianity, if false, is of no importance, and if true, of infinite importance, the only thing it cannot be is moderately important.”

― C.S. Lewis

“What comes into our minds when we think about God is the most important thing about us…..Worship is pure or base as the worshiper entertains high or low thoughts of God. For this reason the gravest question before the Church is always God Himself, and the most portentous fact about any man is not what he at a given time may say or do, but what he in his deep heart conceives God to be like. We tend by a secret law of the soul to move toward our mental image of God. This is true not only of the individual Christian, but of the company of Christians that composes the Church. Always the most revealing thing about the Church is her idea of God, just as her most significant message is what she says about Him or leaves unsaid, for her silence is often more eloquent than her speech. …”

― A.W. Tozer (The Knowledge of the Holy)

Oh My Soul, Hush! – July 26, 2024

The English word “disciple” is from Latin discipulus; “pupil, student, follower.” Because the Greek manuscripts were translated into Latin long before English was ever a language and Romans came to the British isles. The Latin-based word “disciple” translates the NT Greek word mathéteuó and most literally means “learner” (compare Matthew 28:19 in KJV and NASB – Teach and Disciple translate the same Greek word).

So a disciple is a student. In the first century a Rabbi’s student typically followed him around. Jesus’ students (disciples) were given lots of instructions as they followed Him for those three years and then they changed the world!

Because of that model, we often see discipleship as one and done… and, it would be if:

a) our retention was perfect

b) our soul/heart didn’t play us falsely

Psalm 119 deals with retention. We need to be reviewing, meditating, and studying God’s Word daily. Pride and/or boredom creep in and tell us that we got it or that we are overly familiar. Before long we are skipping days, then weeks, and next thing we know the knowledge we once held dear is buried beneath spreadsheet macros and sports scores (or quilting patterns and recipes). In Colossians 3, Paul writes: “Let the word of Christ richly dwell within you, with all wisdom teaching and admonishing one another with psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with thankfulness in your hearts to God.” Think for a minute about that word “let”. Imagine you have a cup of water. How do you “let” the water be in the cup? First you don’t dump it out. Secondly, you don’t try to put something else in there that pushes out the water. 🙂

Psalm 42 deals with our cantankerous souls. Before we turn there let’s examine the first human sin. Adam and Eve knew their Creator personally. They had a total of one commandment to remember. They were living idyllic lives. It wasn’t a lack of knowledge that brought them to sin. Satan was able to convince them (her) that she had an unmet need in her life that she hadn’t even known about before and her rebellious heart/soul responded. He still works that way! We have more revelation than Eve had and we also have more temptations than Eve had. We have to develop the habit from very early of not listening to our own hearts! For the last several generations the world’s best advice has been “follow your heart” or “be true to yourself” and that advice is straight from the father of lies! The Bible says we need to talk to our souls (ourselves) and remind our souls that our hope is in God! – Pastor Scott

42 As the deer pants for the water brooks,
So my soul pants for You, O God.

2 My soul thirsts for God, for the living God;
When shall I come and appear before God?

3 My tears have been my food day and night,
While they say to me all day long, “Where is your God?”

4 These things I remember and I pour out my soul within me.
For I used to go along with the throng and lead them in procession to the house of God, With the voice of joy and thanksgiving, a multitude keeping festival.

5 Why are you in despair, O my soul?
And why have you become disturbed within me?
Hope in God, for I shall again praise Him
For the help of His presence.

6 O my God, my soul is in despair within me;
Therefore I remember You from the land of the Jordan
And the peaks of Hermon, from Mount Mizar.

7 Deep calls to deep at the sound of Your waterfalls;
All Your breakers and Your waves have rolled over me.

8 The Lord will command His lovingkindness in the daytime;
And His song will be with me in the night,
A prayer to the God of my life.

9 I will say to God my rock, “Why have You forgotten me?
Why do I go mourning because of the oppression of the enemy?”

10 As a shattering of my bones, my adversaries revile me,
While they say to me all day long, “Where is your God?”

11 Why are you in despair, O my soul?
And why have you become disturbed within me?
Hope in God, for I shall yet praise Him,
The help of my countenance and my God.

Timeless and Timely – 07.12.24

I, Pastor Scott, received this Blog from GES just this morning, I think it’s a great read in these divisive times!

Emphasizing the Important Things

July 11, 2024 by Kenneth Yates in Blog – Acts 10:15, Acts 15:5, Circumcision, Eph 2:14-16, Judaizers

Luz Long and Jesse Owens were polar opposites. Long was a German Nazi and looked the part. He was blond, white, and an educated lawyer. Owens was a black American who grew up in poverty under segregation. In the 1936 Olympics, held in Berlin, Luz and Owens competed against each other in the long jump. Hitler wanted to show the superiority of the Aryan race. Long was a poster child for Hitler’s vision. In the Führer’s eyes, Owens was a despised, inferior human being.

Owens won the event, and Long came in second. But the two men walked arm in arm in the stadium in front of Hitler. Long and Owens developed a strong friendship and even exchanged letters after the Games were over. Their respect for each other’s athletic skills overrode any animosity their respective countries expected them to have.

When WWII broke out, Long served in the German army. His last letter to Owens asked him to come to Germany after the war and talk to his son about their friendship. Long died in combat in Italy, fighting for Germany against the United States. Owens would fulfill his close friend’s request. He would later fly to Germany and tell Kai-Heinrich Long about his father and the friendship they had shared. They met at the stadium where the two athletes had met and competed against each other.

Luz Long and Jesse Owens lived in a world in which insignificant things, like the color of one’s skin, were the things that set men apart. A black American and a white German simply could not be friends. They were to hate one another.

But these men realized that such things were superficial. They were both human beings who shared the love of a sport. They were more alike than different.

The world has always emphasized people’s differences. In the NT, we see how the early Church had to deal with the mentality of the world. The Church began in Acts 2 with a group of Jews. Religious Jews saw themselves as superior to Gentiles. For example, these Jews would not eat with Gentiles. They saw Gentiles as being unclean in a religious sense.

When the Lord added Gentiles to the Church, these cultural differences presented problems. The animosity between Jews and Gentiles manifested itself in the Church. Believing Jews wanted Gentile believers to become Jewish. Those Gentiles needed to eat the right food, and the men needed to be circumcised. Until they did so, Jewish believers would see them as inferior (Acts 15:5).

But the Lord made it clear that such sentiments concentrated on insignificant things. The Lord had made believing Gentiles equal to Jewish believers in every way (Acts 10:15). Both groups were part of the same body, the Church. That should have taken away all animosity between them (Eph 2:14-16). The most important aspect of their lives was that they were brothers and sisters in Christ. In his letters, Paul encouraged his readers to be like Long and Owens were centuries later: Jewish and Gentile believers should walk arm and arm with each other before a watching world.

The same thing is true for us. We may not completely understand the animosity between Jews and Gentiles in the first century. But we meet people who have believed in Jesus for eternal life who are not like we are. They do things differently. They have different interests. Maybe the color of their skin does not match our own. It is all too easy to avoid any kind of close relationship with them.

As believers, however, what we share is much more important. Christ has placed us in His Body. This is an eternal reality. If Long and Owens could walk arm in arm in 1936 Berlin because of their love of a sport, surely we can today because of our love of the Lord.

Ask the Pastor from Sunday’s Sermon – 2 Samuel 12

It seems that David’s consequences were passed to innocent parties (Bathsheba – victim, losing her son, baby dying). How do we reconcile that with God’s “fairness” when explaining to children or perhaps to non-believers?

Great question. Personally, I would likely start with Job 38-41 where God asks Job questions like, “Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth?” and “Have you ever in your life commanded the morning, and caused the dawn to know its place?” In other words, He is God and He can do whatever He pleases and/or needs to do.

But that’s not a very satisfying answer from a human perspective. A better answer is to talk about the ripple effect of our actions. If a student is disruptive in class does he only affect his own learning? If a mechanic in a two-man shop is always an hour late to work, does he only affect his own paycheck? What about a guy driving the wrong way down a one-way road? In each of these cases others are impacted, harmed, or maybe even killed. In the same way David, a man and a King, chose to cross His God’s law and as a result both Uriah and the baby died and Bathsheba was twice grieved. David’s selfish act affected more than just David; it affected a whole nation! Great warning for us; as we wrestle with our own impulses!

Pastor Scott

This GotQuestions article makes a good argument that the baby was really rescued. Take a read: https://www.gotquestions.org/David-Bathsheba-child.html

Pray First – Jun 21, 2024

There is a great story in 2 Chronicles 20 of Moab’s raid on Judah when Jehoshaphat was king. Jehoshaphat wasn’t the general David was, but he knew Who God is. And he threw himself and his people on God’s mercy. I love the closing line of his prayer, after reminding God of His victory over Egypt, etc. Jehoshaphat says, “O our God, will You not judge them? For we are powerless before this great multitude who are coming against us; nor do we know what to do, but our eyes are on You” (v. 12 Emphasis added). It reminds me of Paul’s teaching in Romans 8 that The Holy Spirit intercedes for us because we don’t really know how to pray either!

So then why pray? Because it’s a necessary acknowledgment of our humble dependence on God. James says, we have not because we ask not. Peter says to cast all of our cares upon Him. Paul says to Timothy as he repairs the church at Ephesus, “First of all gather them and Pray!” And The Son Himself when He was walking this sod, would get up early just to get alone with the Father and pray. Pray draws us closer to God and He is the God of all flesh, there is nothing He can’t do! We have access now, though the blood of Christ (Hebrews 4:14-16); let’s not allow it to be our last resort.

A little boy was spending his Saturday morning playing in his sandbox. He had with him his box of cars and trucks, his plastic pail, and a shiny, red plastic shovel.

In the process of creating roads and tunnels in the soft sand, he discovered a large rock in the middle of the sandbox. The lad dug around the rock, managing to dislodge it from the dirt. With no little bit of struggle, he pushed and nudged the rock across the sandbox by using his feet. (He was a very small boy and the rock was very large.) When the boy got the rock to the edge of the sandbox, however, he found that he couldn’t roll it up and over the little wall.

Determined, the little boy shoved, pushed, and pried, but every time he thought, he had made some progress, the rock tipped and then fell back into the sandbox. The little boy grunted, struggled, pushed, shoved-but his only reward was to have the rock roll back, smashing his chubby fingers. Finally he burst into tears of frustration.

All this time the boy’s father watched from the living room window as the drama unfolded. At the moment the tears fell, a large shadow fell across the boy and the sandbox. It was the boy’s father. Gently but firmly he said, “Son, why didn’t you use all the strength that you had available?”

Defeated, the boy sobbed back, “But I did, Daddy, I did! I used all the strength that I had!”

“No, son,” corrected the father kindly. “You didn’t use all the strength you had. You didn’t ask me.” With that the father reached down, picked up the rock, and removed it from the sandbox.

After Jesus threw the money changers out of the temple he quoted Isaiah 56 “My House shall be a House of Prayer!” Let’s make sure this House – WOGF is a “House of Prayer!”

Pastor Scott

Loose Ends – June 14, 2024

#1 of 2

“No one who is born of God practices sin, because His seed abides in him; and he cannot sin, because he is born of God” ~ 1 John 3:9

Several weeks (more likely months ago) I answered a question here about the verse above by posting the amplified translation which aligned the first half (practices) with the second half of the verse that declares an absolute. A congregant pointed out a better resolution offered by the Bible Teacher Zane Hodges. In his commentary on 1 John, Dr. Hodges reminds us of Christ’s imputed righteousness, which means by definition we stand before God without sin; our new nature is without sin. Of course this new Holy Nature, should be affecting our flesh; or “walk” as it’s often called in Scripture, and therein lies the rub.

Our flesh is so very used to living in this world that putting it off and putting righteousness on is, for many of us, a major ordeal and/or a daily struggle. The temptations of the world aren’t something we deal with on an occasional basis, but are a constant assault on our senses. So while I’m aware of the principle that Hodges teaches, I’m fearful of anything that would cause any of us to ignore the important teaching of Colossians 3, or Ephesians 4-6, or Galatians 5, by causing us to think that we can’t sin anymore. I’ve watched that happen and it inevitably leads to more sin. So yes, it’s a good but VERY NUANCED resolution to the 1 Peter 3:9! 🙂

#2 of 2

Recently I was discussing the Roman Catholic origin of some communion practices in the Bible Study Hour class I teach as we are working our way through 1 Corinthians. As is my habit I was supporting my point with a relevant illustration which had me explaining the English word “repentance.” As it happens our English word comes down to us from the Latin poenitire “make sorry,” which comes from poena (penal; or punishment). I went on to make the point that in the New Testament the word is Meta (change) + Noia (mind). I was pointing out that only once in the NT sorrow and metanoia are linked (2 Cor 7:9-10), but most often it’s a call to change our orientation about who God is or about how to approach Him. And in other literature of the time “metanoia” was used the same way we might say “he ‘changed his mind’ and didn’t go to the store that night.” As you can imagine this led to a discussion that had nothing to do with communion and everything to do with how salvation was NOT dependent on how sorry we are for our sin.

During class I received a text asking: “So what about the Romans Road?” Great question! Paul spends most of the first three chapters of Romans making sure everyone understands that they are sinners who fall short of the glory of God. He then makes the point that none of us can boast because we are not saved by our works but we are saved by faith alone. There is no mention in the text of Romans of “sorrow for sin.” However, in the presentation instructions for the Romans road or the Wordless book, the script often says something like, “Now, ask them to pray and tell God how sorry they are about their sin.” Having a “contrite heart” is Biblical. David writes about it in Psalm 51 wherein he confesses his horrible sin. Isaiah writes of those who have done evil and are now “lowly and contrite.” Again, it’s not wrong, per se, to be sad that you lived a life of sin, but it’s not really part of a road in the Book of Romans.

Pastor Scott

The First Word Spoken to Adam & Eve – April 24, 2024

Imagine what Adam and Eve learned about God’s generosity from their first impression of him on their first day. Their first knowledge of God and the world God had made was that rest was not an afterthought — rest was of first importance….

Adam and Eve had accomplished nothing to earn this gratuitous day of rest. Sabbath is, in my estimation, the first image of the Gospel in the biblical story. God’s nature always gives rest first; work comes later. This is reflected in all of our lives. Before our lives in this world began, we got nine months of rest in the womb.

Before taking up a vocation, we get a few years to just play as children. And before our six days of labor, we receive the day of rest. Karl Barth famously pointed out that the only thing Adam and Eve had to celebrate on that first Sabbath was God and His creation:

“That God rested on the seventh day, and blessed and sanctified it, is the first divine action which man is privileged to witness ; and that he himself may keep the Sabbath with God, completely free from work, is the first Word spoken to him, the first obligation laid on him.” Subversive Sabbath: The Surprising Power of Rest in a Nonstop World, Baker Publishing Group, 2018, Kindle Location 311.

I stumbled across this “clipping” while in pursuit of another line of inquiry, but I thought it was worth publishing here because we don’t really have a “sabbath” anymore. We fully acknowledge that out of the 10 commandments it’s the only one not repeated in the New Testament and we, along with the vast majority of Christian churches, gather on Resurrection Sunday rather than Sabbath Saturday for our day of Worship. We don’t keep ceremonial laws, including those that count steps taken on Saturdays (shabbat) nor work done or fires lit. And we don’t, universally, treat our own day of worship as a day of rest either. I am adamantly NOT trying to introduce a new legalism, but I think every once in a while I need to be reminded that the sabbath wasn’t just part of the decalogue. It was part of creation. We function better if we rest. Amen?

So take His yoke; accept His peace and rest,

“I Can’t See God” – April 5, 2024

I’m reposting this both for its apologetic value and its devotional value. BOTH serve as good reminders, PLEASE take the time to read this C.S. Lewis piece. ~ Pastor Scott

In February 1963, C.S. Lewis published an essay exploring a number of topics related to space-travel, including the idea of finding God in space (A response to Nikita Khrushchev’s proclamation in 1961, that cosmonauts never saw God in space) He wrote:

The Russians, I am told, report that they have not found God in outer space… Looking for God—or Heaven—by exploring space is like reading or seeing all Shakespeare’s plays in the hope that you will find Shakespeare as one of the characters or Stratford as one of the places. Shakespeare is in one sense present at every moment in every play. But he is never present in the same way as Falstaff or Lady Macbeth. Nor is he diffused through the play like a gas…

Now of course this is only an analogy. I am not suggesting at all that the existence of God is as easily established as the existence of Shakespeare. My point is that, if God does exist, He is related to the universe more as an author is related to a play than as one object in the universe is related to another.

If God created the universe, He created space-time, which is to the universe as the metre is to a poem or the key is to music. To look for Him as one item within the framework which He Himself invented is nonsensical…

How, then, it may be asked, can we either reach or avoid Him?…in our own time and place, [avoiding God] is extremely easy. Avoid silence, avoid solitude, avoid any train of thought that leads off the beaten track. Concentrate on money, sex, status, health and (above all) on your own grievances. Keep the radio on. Live in a crowd. Use plenty of sedation. If you must read books, select them very carefully. But you’d be safer to stick to the papers. You’ll find the advertisements helpful; especially those with a sexy or a snobbish appeal.

About the reaching, I am a far less reliable guide. This is because I never had the experience of looking for God. It was the other way round; He was the hunter (or so it seemed to me) and I was the deer…

Space-travel really has nothing to do with the matter. To some, God is discoverable everywhere; to others, nowhere. Those who do not find Him on earth are unlikely to find Him in space. (Hang it all, we’re in space already; every year we do a huge circular tour in space.) But send a saint up in a spaceship and he’ll find God in space as he found God on earth. Much depends on the seeing eye.1

If we are Christians, we know and are known by the God who created the universe and have many reasons to give Him thanks. On a cautionary note, however, Lewis’s insight into how easy it is to avoid God has applicability to Christians as well as non-believers. Christians can avoid God by living their lives concentrating on money, sex, status and the like, and consequently remain spiritually immature and experience little of the transforming power of Christ. Let us keep our focus on Jesus as Lord and Savior, and pursue a life of holiness and righteousness.

“The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork.”

PSALM 19:1 (ESV)

1 C.S. Lewis, The Seeing Eye, from Christian Reflections, edited by Walter Hooper, Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1995, pp. 167-169, 171.

Garden Thoughts – Mar 29, 2024

Because all four Gospels tell the story of Jesus’s death and resurrection we get a number of vignettes, not all of which are covered from the pulpit each Easter weekend. One of my favorites is the story of Peter cutting off Malchus’ ear. It’s my favorite because in my flesh I admire Peter’s desire to do “something”! Even more than that I admire Jesus’ cool head. Despite the burden He was bearing He took no joy in vengeance; He stayed on mission. He also, according to John’s gospel, took a moment to heal Malchus’ ear. The other three Gospels protect both Peter’s and the guard’s identity but John, writing at a later date, names names and he is also the only one who mentions the restoration of the ear. I won’t read into the text, but I believe it’s safe to observe that Jesus’ act of kindness to the guard, Malchus, also wiped away all evidence of Peter’s offense. Had the authorities ever wanted to pursue Peter for striking a temple guard, they would have had to declare him righteous because there was nothing there to accuse him of. It was as if he had never acted. Hours before Jesus went to the cross to exchange our sin for His righteousness, He essentially did that for Peter, He wiped away Peter’s transgression.

So imagine Malchus trying to get “justice.”

Malchus: “Sir, one of those disciples cut off my ear.”

Judge: “Looks to me like you have two ears.”

In Revelation 12:10 Satan is called the accuser of the brethren. So imagine Satan bringing your name before the judge!

Satan: “Scott is weak in his faith, he forgets to pray first, he loses his temper, he loses his focus, he fails to complete his tasks…..”

God: “Looks to Me that he has been washed by the blood of My Son, I see no sin on him, he is absolutely clean!”

“He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.” ~2 Corinthians 5:21

Walk in the newness of life,

Pastor Scott