《Sermon Illustrations (D~F)》(a compilation) table of contents
Download 1.31 Mb.
|
- Navigate this page:
- Statistics and Research
- Poetry
- FRIVOLITY
- FRUIT OF THE SPIRIT
Commentary1. When you are with people, be aware of their likes and dislikes. 2. Remember friend's birthdays and anniversaries. 3. Take interest in and cultivate relationships with your friend's children. 4. Become need sensitive 5. Keep in touch by phone. 6. Express what you like about your relationship with another person. 7. Serve your friends in thoughtful, unexpected ways. Common Ground, January, 1990. 
Oh, the comfort, the inexpressible comfort of feeling safe with a person, having neither to weigh thoughts, nor measure words, but to pour them all out just as they are, chaff and grain together knowing that a faithful hand will take and sift them, keep what is worth keeping, and then, with the breath of kindness blow the rest away. George Eliot, quoted in Today in the Word, July, 1989, p. 28.
In our dealings with those caught in sexual lust, mercy is incomplete unless we do as Jesus did; call it sin. We have winked, giggled, made alibis, or ignored sin all too long. A friend in deed is one who says quietly, but firmly, "What you're doing friend is sin. It is harmful to you and to others. It is destructive to God's dream for you. Unknown.
Statistics and ResearchLeonard Syme, a professor of epidemiology at the University of California at Berkeley, indicates the importance of social ties and social support systems in relationship to mortality and disease rates. He points to Japan as being number one in the world with respect to health and then discusses the close social, cultural, and traditional ties in that country as the reason. He believes that the more social ties, the better the health and the lower the death rate. Conversely, he indicates that the more isolated the person, the poorer the health and the higher the death rate. Social ties are good preventative medicine for physical problems and for mental-emotional-behavior problems. Martin & Diedre Bobgan, How To Counsel From Scripture, Moody Press, 1985, p. 18.
In a survey of more than 40,000 Americans said these qualities were most valued in a friend: 1. The ability to keep confidences 2. Loyalty 3. Warmth and affection. Psychology Today, quoted in Homemade, June, 1982.
PoetryAround the corner I have a friend, In this great city that has no end. Yet days go by and weeks rush on, And before I know it a year is gone, And I never see my old friend's face; For life is a swift and terrible race. He knows I like him just as well As in the days when I rang his bell And he rang mine. We were younger then-- And now we are busy, tired men-- Tired with playing a foolish game; Tired with trying to make a name. "Tomorrow," I say, "I will call on Jim, Just to show that I'm thinking of him." But tomorrow comes--and tomorrow goes; And the distance between us grows and grows. Around the corner!--yet miles away... "Here's a telegram, sir." "Jim died today." And that's what we get--and deserve in the end-- Around the corner, a vanished friend. Around The Corner, by Henson Towne.
HumorTwo men were out hunting in the northern U.S. Suddenly one yelled and the other looked up to see a grizzly charging them. The first started to frantically put on his tennis shoes and his friend anxiously asked, "What are you doing? Don't you know you can't outrun a grizzly bear?" "I don't have to outrun a grizzly. I just have to outrun you!" Unknown.
Once I told my old man, 'Nobody likes me.' He said, 'Don't say that--everybody hasn't met you yet.' Rodney Dangerfield, I Don't Get No Respect. FRIVOLITYDon't refuse to go on an occasional wild goose chase. That is what wild geese are made for. Henry Haskins, Meditations in Wall Street. FRUGALITYOne of America's most miserly millionaires was John G. Wendel, who died in 1915 at his home in New York City. Seeking to keep their inherited fortune in the family, Wendel and five of his six sisters remained unmarried. He instilled such frugality in his sisters that when the last one died in 1931, it was found that although her estate amounted to more than $100 million. She never had a telephone, electricity, or an automobile. Her only dress was one she had made herself and worn for nearly 25 years. Today in the Word, December 17, 1992.
HumorMrs. Willencot was very frugal. When her husband died, she asked the newspaper how much it would cost for a death notice. "Two dollars for five words." "Can I pay for just two words?" she asked. "Willenecot dead." "No, two dollars is the minimum. You still have three words." Mrs. Willencot thought a moment. "Cadillac for sale." Patricia Schultz, in Reader's Digest. FRUIT OF THE SPIRITEvery Christian will bear spiritual fruit. Somewhere, sometime, somehow. Otherwise that person is not a believer. Every born-again individual will be fruitful. Not to be fruitful is to be faithless, without faith, and therefore without salvation. Having said that, some caveats are in order. ONE, this does not mean that a believer will always be fruitful. Certainly we can admit that if there can be hours and days when a believer can be unfruitful, then why may there not also be months and even years when he can be in that same condition? Paul exhorted believers to engage in good works so they would not be unfruitful (Titus 3:14). Peter also exhorted believers to add the qualities of Christian character to their faith lest they be unfruitful (2 Peter 1:8). Obviously, both of those passages indicate that a true believer might be unfruitful. And the simple fact that both Paul and Peter exhort believers to be fruitful shows that believers are not always fruitful. TWO, this does not mean that a certain person's fruit will necessarily be outwardly evident. Even if I know the person and have some regular contact with him, I still may not see his fruit. Indeed, I might even have legitimate grounds for wondering if he is a believer because I have not seen fruit. His fruit may be very private or erratic, but the fact that I do not see it does not mean it is not there. THREE, my understanding of what fruit is and therefore what I expect others to bear may be faulty and/or incomplete. It is all too easy to have a mental list of spiritual fruits and to conclude if someone does not produce what is on my list that he or she is not a believer. But the reality is that most lists that we humans devise are too short, too selective, too prejudiced, and often extra-biblical. God likely has a much more accurate and longer list than most of us do. Nevertheless, every Christian will bear fruit; otherwise he or she is not a true believer. In speaking about the Judgment Seat of Christ, Paul says unequivocally that every believer will have praise come to him from God (1 Corinthians 4:5). Charles Ryrie, So Great Salvation, Victor Books, 1989, pp. 45-46.
What is fruit? Actually the question ought to be phrased in the plural: What are fruits which a Christian can bear? The N.T. gives several answers to the question. ONE, a developing Christian character is fruit. If the goal of the Christian life may be stated as Christlikeness, then surely every trait developed in us that reflects His character must be fruit that is very pleasing to Him. Paul describes the fruit of the Spirit in nine terms in Galatians 5:22-23, and Peter urges the development of seven accompaniments to faith in order that we might be fruitful (2 Peter 1:5-8). Two of these terms are common to both lists: love and self-control. The others are joy, peace, long-suffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, meekness, virtue, knowledge, endurance, piety, and brotherly love. To show these character traits is to bear fruit in one's life. TWO, right character will result in right conduct, and as we live a life of good works we produce fruit (Colossians 1:10). This goes hand in hand with increasing in the knowledge of God, for as we learn what pleases Him, our fruitful works become more and more conformed to that knowledge. When Paul expressed how torn he was between the two possibilities of either dying and being with Christ or living on in this life, he said that living on would mean fruitful labor or work (Philippians 1:22). This phrase could mean that (1) his work itself was fruit, or (2) fruit would result from his work. In either case, his life and work were fruit. So may ours be. THREE, those who come to Christ through our witness are fruit. Paul longed to go to Rome to have some fruit from his ministry there (Romans 1:13), and he characterized the conversion of the household of Stephanas as the first fruits of Achaia (I Corinthians 16:15). FOUR, we may also bear fruit with our lips by giving praise to God and thankfully confessing His name (Hebrews 13:15). In other words, our lips bear fruit when we offer thankful acknowledgement to the name of God. And this is something we should do continually. FIVE, we bear fruit when we give money. Paul designated the collection of money for the poorer saints in Jerusalem as fruit (Romans 15:28). Too, when he thanked the Philippians for their financial support of his ministry, he said that their act of giving brought fruit to their account (Philippians 4:17, KJV). Charles Ryrie, So Great Salvation, Victor Books, 1989, pp. 49-50.
At the Sudan Interior Mission Kijabe Medical Center, SIM medical missionaries Bob and Marion Bowers recently treated a young man with a paralyzing snake bite and saw him live long enough to accept Christ as his Savior. In many Third World countries, snake bites are common--and fatal. For four days, the young man remained unconscious. Under normal circumstances he would have died the day of the snake bite. But on the fifth day he miraculously woke up. That afternoon a group of students from Moffat Bible College came to the hospital to share the gospel with the patients. After hearing the words of truth, the man accepted Christ as his savior. At midnight, he had cardiac arrest and died. Harvest, Summer, 1991, Vol 1, #1. Directory: Topics Topics -> ES18 topics intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (ipcc) Working Group I Topics -> Non-Governmental Organizations And Their Relation to Transboundary Water Resources Topics -> United Nations Peacekeeping Operations and Mandatory hiv testing August 1996 Topics -> Policy Options for Connecting and Enabling the Next Billion Download 1.31 Mb. Share with your friends:
|