Sermon Illustrations for Epiphany 2 | Ordinary Time 2 (2014)
Illustration
Object:
Isaiah 49:1-7
Does God go back before we are born to make us his servant? My mother prayed that I would be a pastor and a missionary before I was born! I didn't get the message until I was about thirty! When I was ordained, my mom said to the lady next to her, "This is what I have prayed for all my life!" They were killed in an accident on the way home from my ordination! Was that the Lord's timing? It took over forty more years before the second part of her prayer was answered and I became a missionary. The Lord's timing is beyond our understanding! Had God planned that for me before my mother prayed for me to become God's servant?
How many times have I said and heard other pastors say, "All my efforts are for nothing! My church is not growing like I hoped! Even if my words were powerful!" We need to realize that our reward is in the Lord's hands. Why is it so hard for any of us to leave things in God's hands? I keep praying that all my children will come to know the Lord, and there are still some who have not turned their lives over to him. I look for those powerful, sword-edged words to win them! Why don't they work for me when I want them to work? Even my folks died before all their prayers for me were answered, so why do I expect God to do the job while I am still alive? His timing is not our timing.
Who knows what the work of our lives will do. I have read about the lives of some missionaries who never saw the result of their ministry. The ones who were killed by that tribe in South America they were trying to save never saw what a powerful message they left behind. Not only did their family complete the work, but the story of their sacrifice inspired many other young people to become missionaries.
God knew that Jesus would be despised and also that many of his followers from that day to this would suffer for their message of him. When Jesus died, it looked like his whole life was a failure! Even his disciples thought so! Isaiah is telling us not to give up! Don't sit around looking for an earthly reward! Just do your job -- the calling he has given you -- and leave the rest up to him.
Bob O.
1 Corinthians 1:1-9
With the dawn of the Second Industrial Revolution in the late 1800s public education was made available for all young boys. This may seem like a noble venture, until the motive is revealed. Education was not vested in the learning of math and reading, but its primary focus was on obedience to authority and punctuality. Education was to prepare boys to serve in the military and live by the time clock in the factory.
Application: We must realize that some people may be lacking in spiritual gifts if they are denied the opportunity for growth and self-fulfillment.
Ron L.
1 Corinthians 1:1-9
There is a marked decline in human faithfulness in contemporary America. This is evidenced in the divorce rates in America and Europe (between 40% and 50% of marriages ending in divorce). And federal labor statistics also reveal that the days of forty-year careers at one job are times of the past. Ancient Roman philosopher Cicero nicely explained how we crave faithfulness: "Nothing is more notable, nothing more venerable than fidelity. Faithfulness and truth are the most sacred excellences..."
Our text proclaims God's faithfulness (v. 9). And this gives us hope for the future, because it is like Christian author Joyce Meyer once wrote: "Faithfulness... is doing something right over and over again." John Calvin well summarizes the joy and confidence of an awareness that God illustrates this kind of faithfulness:
When scripture speaks of God as faithful the meaning in many cases is, that in God there is steadfastness and evenness of tenor, so that what he begins he prosecutes to the end -- For God's past benefits we ought always to hope well as to the future.
(Calvin's Commentaries, Vol. XX/1, p. 59)
Mark E.
1 Corinthians 1:1-9
Ever wonder what God looks like? Chuck Swindoll told about a kindergarten teacher who told everyone to draw a picture of what was important to them. Sitting in the back of the class, Johnny began feverishly to draw. He labored long after everyone else was finished. Finally his teacher walked back and knelt beside him and asked what he was drawing. "God" was his reply. "But Johnny, no one knows what God looks like." Johnny replied confidently, "They will when I'm through!"
Paul draws a confident picture of God in his epistle to the Corinthians and colors it faithful. God will faithfully be with us forever, he will give us fellowship, he will give us his Son if we ask, and he will give us his grace. Well, you get the picture!
Derl K.
John 1:29-42
A lamb was a slaughtered in remembrance of the escape from Egypt. It was also an emblem of patience, meekness, and suffering. It symbolized a willingness to die for others. It was a fitting symbol for Christ. He was sacrificed for us and our sin.
When John says "before" him, he meant long before and not just birth order. He hadn't seen Jesus since they were each born, though he must have heard his folks mention Mary's visit. He didn't recognize him until that dove sat on Jesus head. Then he was very humbled because it was his job to prepare for his coming! That is what his baptizing was all about.
The symbol in the past of being owned by God was circumcision. Aren't we glad that John and Jesus changed all that? John baptized with water, but Jesus baptized with the Spirit! Yes, there is more than one baptism! There are just different kinds. The New Testament only mentions one: water baptism. We talk about a baptism of suffering but that is different, as is Spirit baptism.
Spirit baptism does not mean you only have it if you speak in tongues. Nothing wrong with that, but it is not a universal symbol. I had the Spirit baptism long before I received the gift of tongues.
This scripture proves that Jesus and John were not working together to make the people accept Jesus. There was no collusion, though John's sole purpose was to proclaim the Messiah.
Some of John's disciples went to follow Jesus after that day but some stayed with John, and this is a mystery. Why didn't they all go to Jesus, and why didn't John send them there? We will never know. It seems like Andrew and maybe the other John had followed John before Jesus invited them to join him. Sometimes Christians may follow a leader who continues to keep them for himself. A pastor in Los Angeles led a whole group from his church down to South America where they all committed suicide. Some are not that bad, but they are proud leaders who worry if some of their people go "over their head" for approval. Sometimes even synod worries.
Peter was called the rock, though he had a few cracks as when he denied Jesus before the crucifixion. Our Roman brothers assumed Peter was appointed to lead his church from that day on. He sure made a lot of mistakes if that were the case.
Andrew amazes me. He knew the Messiah before Peter and invited Peter to join the group, but Andrew is the one left out when Jesus appointed his private group, John and James and Peter. Andrew is the only brother left out. But he still remained with the group. Even if his feelings were hurt, he is still faithful. There is a message here of humble acceptance for all of us.
Bob O.
Does God go back before we are born to make us his servant? My mother prayed that I would be a pastor and a missionary before I was born! I didn't get the message until I was about thirty! When I was ordained, my mom said to the lady next to her, "This is what I have prayed for all my life!" They were killed in an accident on the way home from my ordination! Was that the Lord's timing? It took over forty more years before the second part of her prayer was answered and I became a missionary. The Lord's timing is beyond our understanding! Had God planned that for me before my mother prayed for me to become God's servant?
How many times have I said and heard other pastors say, "All my efforts are for nothing! My church is not growing like I hoped! Even if my words were powerful!" We need to realize that our reward is in the Lord's hands. Why is it so hard for any of us to leave things in God's hands? I keep praying that all my children will come to know the Lord, and there are still some who have not turned their lives over to him. I look for those powerful, sword-edged words to win them! Why don't they work for me when I want them to work? Even my folks died before all their prayers for me were answered, so why do I expect God to do the job while I am still alive? His timing is not our timing.
Who knows what the work of our lives will do. I have read about the lives of some missionaries who never saw the result of their ministry. The ones who were killed by that tribe in South America they were trying to save never saw what a powerful message they left behind. Not only did their family complete the work, but the story of their sacrifice inspired many other young people to become missionaries.
God knew that Jesus would be despised and also that many of his followers from that day to this would suffer for their message of him. When Jesus died, it looked like his whole life was a failure! Even his disciples thought so! Isaiah is telling us not to give up! Don't sit around looking for an earthly reward! Just do your job -- the calling he has given you -- and leave the rest up to him.
Bob O.
1 Corinthians 1:1-9
With the dawn of the Second Industrial Revolution in the late 1800s public education was made available for all young boys. This may seem like a noble venture, until the motive is revealed. Education was not vested in the learning of math and reading, but its primary focus was on obedience to authority and punctuality. Education was to prepare boys to serve in the military and live by the time clock in the factory.
Application: We must realize that some people may be lacking in spiritual gifts if they are denied the opportunity for growth and self-fulfillment.
Ron L.
1 Corinthians 1:1-9
There is a marked decline in human faithfulness in contemporary America. This is evidenced in the divorce rates in America and Europe (between 40% and 50% of marriages ending in divorce). And federal labor statistics also reveal that the days of forty-year careers at one job are times of the past. Ancient Roman philosopher Cicero nicely explained how we crave faithfulness: "Nothing is more notable, nothing more venerable than fidelity. Faithfulness and truth are the most sacred excellences..."
Our text proclaims God's faithfulness (v. 9). And this gives us hope for the future, because it is like Christian author Joyce Meyer once wrote: "Faithfulness... is doing something right over and over again." John Calvin well summarizes the joy and confidence of an awareness that God illustrates this kind of faithfulness:
When scripture speaks of God as faithful the meaning in many cases is, that in God there is steadfastness and evenness of tenor, so that what he begins he prosecutes to the end -- For God's past benefits we ought always to hope well as to the future.
(Calvin's Commentaries, Vol. XX/1, p. 59)
Mark E.
1 Corinthians 1:1-9
Ever wonder what God looks like? Chuck Swindoll told about a kindergarten teacher who told everyone to draw a picture of what was important to them. Sitting in the back of the class, Johnny began feverishly to draw. He labored long after everyone else was finished. Finally his teacher walked back and knelt beside him and asked what he was drawing. "God" was his reply. "But Johnny, no one knows what God looks like." Johnny replied confidently, "They will when I'm through!"
Paul draws a confident picture of God in his epistle to the Corinthians and colors it faithful. God will faithfully be with us forever, he will give us fellowship, he will give us his Son if we ask, and he will give us his grace. Well, you get the picture!
Derl K.
John 1:29-42
A lamb was a slaughtered in remembrance of the escape from Egypt. It was also an emblem of patience, meekness, and suffering. It symbolized a willingness to die for others. It was a fitting symbol for Christ. He was sacrificed for us and our sin.
When John says "before" him, he meant long before and not just birth order. He hadn't seen Jesus since they were each born, though he must have heard his folks mention Mary's visit. He didn't recognize him until that dove sat on Jesus head. Then he was very humbled because it was his job to prepare for his coming! That is what his baptizing was all about.
The symbol in the past of being owned by God was circumcision. Aren't we glad that John and Jesus changed all that? John baptized with water, but Jesus baptized with the Spirit! Yes, there is more than one baptism! There are just different kinds. The New Testament only mentions one: water baptism. We talk about a baptism of suffering but that is different, as is Spirit baptism.
Spirit baptism does not mean you only have it if you speak in tongues. Nothing wrong with that, but it is not a universal symbol. I had the Spirit baptism long before I received the gift of tongues.
This scripture proves that Jesus and John were not working together to make the people accept Jesus. There was no collusion, though John's sole purpose was to proclaim the Messiah.
Some of John's disciples went to follow Jesus after that day but some stayed with John, and this is a mystery. Why didn't they all go to Jesus, and why didn't John send them there? We will never know. It seems like Andrew and maybe the other John had followed John before Jesus invited them to join him. Sometimes Christians may follow a leader who continues to keep them for himself. A pastor in Los Angeles led a whole group from his church down to South America where they all committed suicide. Some are not that bad, but they are proud leaders who worry if some of their people go "over their head" for approval. Sometimes even synod worries.
Peter was called the rock, though he had a few cracks as when he denied Jesus before the crucifixion. Our Roman brothers assumed Peter was appointed to lead his church from that day on. He sure made a lot of mistakes if that were the case.
Andrew amazes me. He knew the Messiah before Peter and invited Peter to join the group, but Andrew is the one left out when Jesus appointed his private group, John and James and Peter. Andrew is the only brother left out. But he still remained with the group. Even if his feelings were hurt, he is still faithful. There is a message here of humble acceptance for all of us.
Bob O.
