《Sermon Illustrations by Topic (Co~Em)》(A Compilation)

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Coercion / Cold / College
Come / Comeback / Commentaries
Commitment / Committee / Common Sense
Communication / Communion / Communism
Community / Commute / Compassion
Compensation / Competition / Complacency
Complaining / Compliments / Composure
Comprehensive / Conceited / Concentration
Concern / Concise / Conclusion
Conduct / Confession / Confidence
Confidential / Conformity / Confrontation, Confronting
Confusion / Conquerors / Conscience
Conscience, guilty / Consecration / Consequences
Conservative / Consideration / Consistency
Contentment / Controversy / Convenience
Conversion / Conviction / Cooperation
Coping / Correction / Cosby, Bill
Counsel / Counseling / Counterfeit, (cf fake)
Courage / Covenant / Covetousness
Coward / Craftiness / Creation
Creativity / Credibility / Creeds
Crime / Crisis / Criticism
Crying / C's / Cults
Culture / Cunning / Cure (worse than the disease)
Curiosity / Daily / Danger
Day / Day Care / Deadline
Death / Decadence / Decay, decomposition, trash
Deceit / Decisions / Defeat
Defecit / Defense / Delay
Delayed Gratification / Delegation / Delinquency
Deliverance / Deliverance, demonic / Democracy
Despotism / Destination / Details
Deterrence / Detour / Devil, cf. Satan
Different / Difficulty / Dilemma
Diligence / Diplomacy / Disappointment
Disaster, finding good in / Discipleship / Discipline
Discovered / Discretion / Discussion, questions
Disgrace / Disguise / Dishonest
Dishonor / Disillusion / Disobedience
Dispensationalism / Disproportionate Value / Disputatious Spirit
Dispute / Dissonance / Distinction
Distraction / Doctor / Dog
Dostoevsky, Fyodor / Double Standard / Doubt
Doubtful Things / Dream / Drinking
Driving / Drought / Dumb
Duplicity / Dysfunctional / Easter
Ebenezer / Economics / Ecumenicism
Edificiation / Education / Effective
Effort / Election, cf. predestination / Embarrassment
Emotion / Empathy / Employee, Employer
Emptiness

Coercion Sermon Illustrations

First to Stop Applauding
Winning the New Civil War, Robert P. Dugan, Jr., pp. 25-27
We Americans do not adequately appreciate the political process in our nation. During the campaign, I often recounted a nightmarish 1938 incident from Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn's The Gulag Archipelago, by way of contrast:

A district party conference was under way in Moscow Province. It was presided over by a new secretary of the District Party Committee, replacing one recently arrested. At the conclusion of the conference, a tribute to Comrade Stalin was called for. Of course, everyone stood up (just as everyone had leaped to his feet during the conference with every mention of his name). The hall echoed with "stormy applause, raising to an ovation." For three minutes, four minutes, five minutes, the "stormy applause, rising to an ovation," continued. But palms were getting sore and raised arms were already aching. And the older people were panting from exhaustion. It was becoming insufferably silly even to those who adored Stalin.

However, who would dare to be the first to stop? The secretary of the District Party could have done it. He was standing on the platform, and it was he who had just called for the ovation. But he was a newcomer. He had taken the place of a man who'd been arrested. He was afraid! After all, NKVD men were standing in the hall applauding and watching to see who would quit first!

And in the obscure, small hall, unknown to the leader, the applause went on&md;six, seven, eight minutes! They were done for! Their goose was cooked! They couldn't stop now till they collapsed with heart attacks! At the rear of the hall, which was crowded, they could of course cheat a bit, clap less frequently, less vigorously, not so eagerly&md;but up there with the presidium where everyone could see them?

The director of the local paper factor, an independent and strong-minded man, stood with the presidium. Aware of all the falsity and all the impossibility of the situation, he still kept on applauding! Nine minutes! Ten! In anguish he watched the secretary of the District Party Committee, but the latter dared not stop. Insanity! To the last man! With make-believe enthusiasm on their faces, looking at each other with faint hope, the district leaders were just going to go on and on applauding till they fell where they stood, till they were carried out of the hall on stretchers! And even then those who were left would not falter.

Then, after eleven minutes, the director of the paper factory assumed a businesslike expression and sat down in his seat. And, oh, a miracle took place! Where had the universal, uninhibited, indescribable enthusiasm gone? To a man, everyone else stopped dead and sat down. They had been saved! The squirrel had been smart enough to jump off his revolving wheel.

That, however, was how they discovered who the independent people were. And that was how they went about eliminating them. That same night the factory director was arrested. They easily pasted ten years on him on the pretext of something quite different. But after he had signed Form 206, the final document of the interrogation, his interrogator reminded him: "Don't ever be the first to stop applauding!"

Cold Sermon Illustrations

How Cold?
Source unknown
The South Pole could be called the healthiest place on earth because there's no pollution, no dust, and very few people. The air is as fresh and clean as it must have been everywhere before man began pouring industrial wastes into the atmosphere.

Furthermore, it's one of few locations where man is not bombarded by germs. Not only is it too cold for them to be active, but there's nothing for them to live on. And since winds start at the South Pole and move northward, they tend to keep away any contaminants from that region. Now you'd think people would be eager to live in such a germ-free environment but they're not. With temperatures that drop to 100 degrees below zero, it's just too cold.

"It was so cold where we were," said the Arctic explorer, "that the candle froze and we couldn't blow it out."

"That's nothing," said his rival. "Where we were, the words came out of our mouths in pieces of ice and we had to fry them to hear what we were talking about."

College Sermon Illustrations

And It Came to Pass
Source unknown
And it came to pass,Early in the morning toward the last day of the semesterThere arose a great multitude smiting the books and wailing,And there was much weeping and gnashing of teeth

For the day of judgment was at hand.And they were sore afraid for they had left undoneThose things which they ought to have done.

And they had done those things which they ought not to have doneAnd there was no help for it.And there were many abiding in the dormWho had kept watch over their books by night,

But it availed them naught.But some were who rose peacefully,For they had prepared themselves the wayAnd made straight paths of knowledge.

And these were known as wise burners of the midnight oil.And to others they were known as "curve-raisers."And the multitude arose and ate a hearty breakfast.And they came unto the appointed place

And their hearts were heavy within them.And they had come to pass, but some to pass out.And some of them repented of their riotous livingAnd bemoaned their fate.

But they had not a prayer.And at the last hour there came among themOne known as the instructor;And they feared exceedingly.

He passed papers among them and went his way.And many and varied were the answers that were given,For some of his teachings had fallen among fertile minds,While other had fallen flat.

And some they were who wrote for one hour, Others for two;But some turned away sorrowfully, and many of theseOffered up a little bull in hope of pacifying the instructor.

Inheritance
Source unknown
What you have inherited from your fathers, earn over again for yourselves, or it will not be yours. - Goethe

Leading Causes of Death
Parade Magazine, Oct. 23, 1983
Among U.S. college students, the two leading causes of death are auto accidents and suicide, in that order. Dr. Vincent D' Andrea&md;a Stanford University psychiatrist who has organized suicide hotlines, peer counselors and dormitory advisers to prevent suicides&md;says 15 out of every 100,000 students do away with themselves each year. About one in 10 suicide attempts succeeds. Though 90% of all attempts are made by women aged 20-30, those who succeed are usually men.

Murphy's Law
Source unknown
If the class you want has room for &ls;n' students, you will be the &ls;n+1' to apply. Class schedules are designed so that every student will waste the maximum time between classes. When you are occasionally able to schedule 2 classes in a row, they will be at opposite ends of the campus. A prerequisite for a desired course will be offered only during the semester following the desired course. The one course you must take to graduate will not be offered your last semester. If you're confident after you've finished an exam, it's because you don't know enough to know better.

Survey of Religious Beliefs
A. Astin, Psychology Today, quoted in His, Dec, 1977
Entering freshmen showed no distinct religious trends over the last decade, but follow-up surveys of seniors show substantial declines in religious belief and behavior during college. The number of students identifying themselves as Protestant, Catholic, or Jewish declined by about 20 percent each, while the "no preference" category increased by more than 50 percent. Declines in religious interest occur more often among men than women, and most often among the brighter students. Those who lived on campus showed greater declines than those living at home. And those who stay in college show greater declines than those who drop out.

The Test
Source unknown
Now I lay my down to rest, Tomorrow I have another test;If I should die before I wake, That's one less test I'll have to take.

Come Sermon Illustrations

The Invitations of Christ
HMM, Days of Praise, April 10
"He saith unto them, Come and see. They came and saw where He dwelt, and abode with Him that day: for it was about the tenth hour" (John 1:39).

This is the first of the gracious invitations of the Lord Jesus to "Come" to Him. On this occasion, right after His baptism by John, He invited two potential disciples to come with Him to His dwelling place. Very likely this was an outdoor mat somewhere, for He soon afterwards acknowledged that "the Son of Man hath no where to lay His head" (Matthew 8:20). Nevertheless, one night of abiding with Jesus changed their lives. Soon afterwards He issued another invitation to them. "Come ye after me, and I will make you to become fishers of men" (Mark 1:17), and they never went home again.

First He invites us to come to see and know Him, then to come with Him to win others. There is also the wonderful invitation to come to Him for relief from our burdens and cares. "Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest" (Matthew 11:28). And note His promise to those who do accept His invitation: "Him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out" (John 6:37).

There were personal invitations. To Zacchaeus, the seeking sinner glimpsing Jesus from a sycamore tree, He said: "Come down: for today I must abide at thy house" (Luke 19:5). To his friend Lazarus, dead and bound in a tomb, He cried: "Lazarus, come forth" (John 11:43), and not even the grave could prevent his accepting such a call.

There are other invitations from the Lord, with gracious promises to those who come, but note especially the final invitation of the Bible, "And the Spirit and the bride say, Come. And let him that heareth say, Come. And let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely" (Revelation 22:17).

Comeback Sermon Illustrations

Try Me
John F. Parker in Washington Roll Call, Reader's Digest, May, 1981
William Jennings Bryan, Secretary of State in Woodrow Wilson's Cabinet, was interviewing a man who was seeking a diplomatic post in China. Bryan warned the applicant that it was necessary to qualify as a linguist. "Can you speak the Chinese language?" he asked.

The man was equal to the occasion. Looking Bryan squarely in the eye, he replied, "Try me. Ask me something in Chinese."

Commentaries Sermon Illustrations

A Little From God
Source unknown
Although you may have no commentaries at hand, continue to read the Word and pray; for a little from God is better than a great deal received from man. Too many are content to listen to what comes from men's mouths, without searching and kneeling before God to know the real truth. That which we receive directly from the Lord through the study of His Word is from the "minting house" itself. Even old truths are new if they come to us with the smell of heaven upon them. - John Bunyan

Commitment Sermon Illustrations

A Good Road
April, 1985 Good News Broadcaster, p. 12
A missionary society wrote to David Livingstone and asked, "Have you found a good road to where you are? If so, we want to know how to send other men to join you." Livingstone wrote back, "If you have men who will come only if they know there is a good road, I don't want them. I want men who will come if there is no road at all."

Against the Odds
Heaven Bound Living, Knofel Stanton, Standard, 1989, pp. 43-44
Johnny Fulton was run over by a car at the age of three. He suffered crushed hips, broken ribs, a fractured skull, and compound fractures in his legs. It did not look as if he would live. But he would not give up. In fact, he later ran the half-mile in less than two minutes. Walt Davis was totally paralyzed by polio when he was nine years old, but he did not give up. He became the Olympic high jump champion in 1952. Shelly Mann was paralyzed by polio when she was five years old, but she would not give up. She eventually claimed eight different swimming records for the U.S. and won a gold medal at the 1956 Olympics in Melbourne, Australia. In 1938, Karoly Takacs, a member of Hungary's world-champion pistol shooting team and sergeant in the army, lost his right hand when a grenade he was holding exploded. But Takacs did not give. up. He learned to shoot left-handed and won gold medals in the 1948 and 1952 Olympics. Lou Gehrig was such a clumsy ball player that the boys in his neighborhood would not let him play on their team. But he was committed. He did not give up. Eventually, his name was entered into baseball's Hall of Fame. Woodrow Wilson could not read until he was ten years old. But he was a committed person. He became the twenty-eighth President of the United States. At the age of seven, he had to go to work to help support his family. At nine, his mother died. At twenty-two, he lost his job as a store clerk. At twenty-three, he went into debt and became a partner in a small store. At twenty-six, his partner died leaving him a huge debt. By the age of thirty-five, he had been defeated twice when running for a seat in Congress. At the age of thirty-seven, he won the election. At thirty-nine, he lost his reelection bid. At forty-one, his four-year-old son died. At forty-two, he was rejected for a land officer role. At forty-five, he ran for the Senate and lost. At forty-seven, he was defeated for the nomination for Vice President. At forty-nine, he ran for Senate again and lost again. At the age of fifty-one, he was elected President of the United States. During his second term of office, he was assassinated. But his name lives on among the greats in U.S. history&md;Abraham Lincoln.

Commitment to a Cause
Focus on the Family Newsletter, March, 1994
We have all seen John Wayne movies that made combat look like a romantic romp in the park. Men who have been through it tell a different story. The most graphic descriptions of battle I've read came from Bruce Catton's excellent books on the American Civil War, including The Army of the Potomac. They provide a striking understanding of the toughness of both Yankee and Rebel soldiers. Their lives were filled with deprivation and danger that is hardly imaginable today. It was not unusual for the troops to make a two-week forced march during which commanders would threaten the stragglers at sword-point.

The men were often thrown into the heat of a terrible battle just moments after reaching the front. They would engage in exhausting combat for days, interspersed by sleepless nights on the ground&md;sometimes in freezing rain or snow. During the battle itself, they ate a dry, hard biscuit called hardtack, and very little else. In less combative times, they could add a little salt pork and coffee to their diet. That was it! As might be expected, their intestinal tracks were regularly shredded by diarrhea, dysentery and related diseases that decimated their ranks. The Union Army reported upwards of 200,000 casualties from disease, often disabling up to 50 percent of the soldiers. The Confederates suffered a similar fate.