Sermon Illustrations for Epiphany 3 (2011)
Illustration
Jonah 3:1-5, 10
When it comes to modern-day society, political correctness is the word of the day. Any comments that are seen as intolerant or insensitive are deeply frowned upon. However, what if something truly needs to be said, something that isn't necessarily politically correct? When Jonah finally went to Nineveh, the message God had for him to give wasn't one that would be tolerant of the Ninevites and their lifestyle: "Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown!" (v. 4). Imagine God telling someone to give this kind of message in New York or Washington DC. Would we be able to do it if God asked that of us?
C. Kelly
Jonah 3:1-5, 10
"...Forty days more, and Nineveh shall be overthrown!" (Jonah 3:4).
Eugene Peterson uses his imagination in examining the word "forty." He contends that Jonah did not denounce Nineveh's sin and wickedness but rather called into question the city's future.
Peterson explains what he means: " 'Forty' is a stock biblical word that has hope at its core. Forty days is a period for testing the reality of one's life -- examining it for truth, for authenticity. 'Is this a real life, or just some cheap imitation passed off on me by a sleight-of-hand culture? Is what I am doing and saying my own or just borrowed from people who know less than I do about who I am and what I am for? Is God skillfully shaping and wisely guiding my life or have I let my untutored whims and infantile sins reduce me to the lowest common denominator? Is this the way I want to spend the rest of my life?' "
Forty days was a time of testing for Elijah and for Jesus in the wilderness; even so it was a time of testing for Nineveh.
R. Hasler
1 Corinthians 7:29-31
In the Roman Catholic church the altar has inspiring symbolic meaning. The altar represents the table on which Jesus celebrated the Last Supper. The cross on the altar represents his sacrifice on our behalf. The table is made of natural stone, for scripture reads that Jesus "is the living stone, rejected by men but in God's sight chosen and precious." On the altar are engraved five crosses, representing his five wounds on Calvary Hill.
Paul wrote, "The present form of this world is passing away." Every time we look to the altar, we know that Jesus is transforming the world and one day will return and set in place a new heaven and a new earth.
R. Love
Mark 1:14-20
"...Jesus said to them, 'Follow me and I will make you fish for people.' And immediately they left their nets and followed him" (Mark 1:17).
Lloyd Ogilvie, Pastor of the Hollywood Presbyterian Church, wanted to improve his ability in reaching men and women for Christ. He talked with his friend Dr. Robert Munger, who made the following suggestion: "It is more effective to spend time talking to Christ about a person than talking to a person about Christ, because if you are talking to Christ about a person seriously, earnestly, trustingly, in the course of time you cannot help talking to the person effectively about Christ."
Ogilvie came to understand that the missing element in his evangelism strategy was prayer. Later he would say: "Prayer without sharing is ineffective but sharing without prayer is futile."
R. Hasler
Mark 1:14-20
In his commentary on this passage, Matthew Henry wrote "Christ will have followers. If he set up a school, he will have scholars; if he set up his standard, he will have soldiers; if he preach, he will have hearers" (public domain). In one of the first acts of his ministry, Jesus goes out not to the seats of power or learning or wealth. Instead, he goes to an unassuming, poor seaside neighborhood to call his first disciples -- uneducated fishermen with no connections to the movers and shakers of society.
Today many of us know about Jesus. We may even agree with him on an intellectual or philosophical level. But Jesus isn't looking for casual friends or passive admirers. He is, even today, looking for followers: "And Jesus said to them, 'Follow me' " (v. 17a).
C. Kelly
When it comes to modern-day society, political correctness is the word of the day. Any comments that are seen as intolerant or insensitive are deeply frowned upon. However, what if something truly needs to be said, something that isn't necessarily politically correct? When Jonah finally went to Nineveh, the message God had for him to give wasn't one that would be tolerant of the Ninevites and their lifestyle: "Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown!" (v. 4). Imagine God telling someone to give this kind of message in New York or Washington DC. Would we be able to do it if God asked that of us?
C. Kelly
Jonah 3:1-5, 10
"...Forty days more, and Nineveh shall be overthrown!" (Jonah 3:4).
Eugene Peterson uses his imagination in examining the word "forty." He contends that Jonah did not denounce Nineveh's sin and wickedness but rather called into question the city's future.
Peterson explains what he means: " 'Forty' is a stock biblical word that has hope at its core. Forty days is a period for testing the reality of one's life -- examining it for truth, for authenticity. 'Is this a real life, or just some cheap imitation passed off on me by a sleight-of-hand culture? Is what I am doing and saying my own or just borrowed from people who know less than I do about who I am and what I am for? Is God skillfully shaping and wisely guiding my life or have I let my untutored whims and infantile sins reduce me to the lowest common denominator? Is this the way I want to spend the rest of my life?' "
Forty days was a time of testing for Elijah and for Jesus in the wilderness; even so it was a time of testing for Nineveh.
R. Hasler
1 Corinthians 7:29-31
In the Roman Catholic church the altar has inspiring symbolic meaning. The altar represents the table on which Jesus celebrated the Last Supper. The cross on the altar represents his sacrifice on our behalf. The table is made of natural stone, for scripture reads that Jesus "is the living stone, rejected by men but in God's sight chosen and precious." On the altar are engraved five crosses, representing his five wounds on Calvary Hill.
Paul wrote, "The present form of this world is passing away." Every time we look to the altar, we know that Jesus is transforming the world and one day will return and set in place a new heaven and a new earth.
R. Love
Mark 1:14-20
"...Jesus said to them, 'Follow me and I will make you fish for people.' And immediately they left their nets and followed him" (Mark 1:17).
Lloyd Ogilvie, Pastor of the Hollywood Presbyterian Church, wanted to improve his ability in reaching men and women for Christ. He talked with his friend Dr. Robert Munger, who made the following suggestion: "It is more effective to spend time talking to Christ about a person than talking to a person about Christ, because if you are talking to Christ about a person seriously, earnestly, trustingly, in the course of time you cannot help talking to the person effectively about Christ."
Ogilvie came to understand that the missing element in his evangelism strategy was prayer. Later he would say: "Prayer without sharing is ineffective but sharing without prayer is futile."
R. Hasler
Mark 1:14-20
In his commentary on this passage, Matthew Henry wrote "Christ will have followers. If he set up a school, he will have scholars; if he set up his standard, he will have soldiers; if he preach, he will have hearers" (public domain). In one of the first acts of his ministry, Jesus goes out not to the seats of power or learning or wealth. Instead, he goes to an unassuming, poor seaside neighborhood to call his first disciples -- uneducated fishermen with no connections to the movers and shakers of society.
Today many of us know about Jesus. We may even agree with him on an intellectual or philosophical level. But Jesus isn't looking for casual friends or passive admirers. He is, even today, looking for followers: "And Jesus said to them, 'Follow me' " (v. 17a).
C. Kelly
