Sermon Illustrations for the Sixth Sunday of Easter (2012)
Illustration
Object:
Acts 10:44-48
Sid Cook, 59, is a fourth generation Wisconsin cheese maker. Carr Valley Cheese Company has its line of staple products that assure a proper cash flow and profit. Yet, Cook knows, to keep the company alive and invigorated and to continue to foster consumer interest, he needs to be continually introducing a new brand of cheese. He always needs a cheese with a new flavor and a new name that will keep people coming back to his stores.
Cook develops the recipe for a new cheese in his head. He says he is able to do this by "putting my mind in neutral." This is accomplished at the end of the work day when he plays classical music on his piano for an hour.
We are told that while Peter was speaking, "the Holy Spirit fell upon all who heard the word." Perhaps this is because of the soothing and pastoral words of Peter were able to put the minds of his listeners in neutral, much like listening to classical music, and they were able to absorb his message.
Ron L.
1 John 5:1-6
The late Peter Gomes once commented on Eastern Orthodox baptism and said: "... when a child is baptized -- and by 'child' I mean an infant, not a squalling seven year old but a real infant, literally still damp -- after the baptism has been performed the minister or priest or bishop takes his very large pectoral cross -- twice the size of mine -- and forcefully strikes the little child on its breast, so hard that it leaves a mark, and so hard that it hurts the child and the child screams. In the West, we give the child roses. What is the difference here?
The symbolism of the Eastern baptism is clear, indicating that the child who has been baptized into Christ must bear the cross, and that the cross is a sign not of ease... or of prosperity or of success, but of sorrow, suffering, pain, and death; and by it those things are overcome."
Richard H.
1 John 5:1-6
Whenever immigrants to the United States become naturalized citizens, they are required to take an oath of allegiance to their new home. Part of the oath is as follows: "I will support and defend the Constitution and laws of the United States of America against all enemies, foreign and domestic, [and] I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same." An individual is not allowed to become a citizen unless he or she swears to uphold, obey, and defend the laws of that nation.
Similarly, part of what sets us apart as Christians is that we live our lives in accordance with the commandments of Jesus. It is the code that guides our actions: "For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments" (v. 3).
Craig K.
John 15:9-17
John spoke to his followers as "friends" because of the love he had for them. It was a love that is to extend beyond the church to encompass the entire world.
John Wesley, the founder of Methodism, understood this when he related this as his mantra, "I want the whole Christ for my Savior, the whole Bible for my book, the whole church for my fellowship, and the whole world for my mission field."
Ron L.
Sid Cook, 59, is a fourth generation Wisconsin cheese maker. Carr Valley Cheese Company has its line of staple products that assure a proper cash flow and profit. Yet, Cook knows, to keep the company alive and invigorated and to continue to foster consumer interest, he needs to be continually introducing a new brand of cheese. He always needs a cheese with a new flavor and a new name that will keep people coming back to his stores.
Cook develops the recipe for a new cheese in his head. He says he is able to do this by "putting my mind in neutral." This is accomplished at the end of the work day when he plays classical music on his piano for an hour.
We are told that while Peter was speaking, "the Holy Spirit fell upon all who heard the word." Perhaps this is because of the soothing and pastoral words of Peter were able to put the minds of his listeners in neutral, much like listening to classical music, and they were able to absorb his message.
Ron L.
1 John 5:1-6
The late Peter Gomes once commented on Eastern Orthodox baptism and said: "... when a child is baptized -- and by 'child' I mean an infant, not a squalling seven year old but a real infant, literally still damp -- after the baptism has been performed the minister or priest or bishop takes his very large pectoral cross -- twice the size of mine -- and forcefully strikes the little child on its breast, so hard that it leaves a mark, and so hard that it hurts the child and the child screams. In the West, we give the child roses. What is the difference here?
The symbolism of the Eastern baptism is clear, indicating that the child who has been baptized into Christ must bear the cross, and that the cross is a sign not of ease... or of prosperity or of success, but of sorrow, suffering, pain, and death; and by it those things are overcome."
Richard H.
1 John 5:1-6
Whenever immigrants to the United States become naturalized citizens, they are required to take an oath of allegiance to their new home. Part of the oath is as follows: "I will support and defend the Constitution and laws of the United States of America against all enemies, foreign and domestic, [and] I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same." An individual is not allowed to become a citizen unless he or she swears to uphold, obey, and defend the laws of that nation.
Similarly, part of what sets us apart as Christians is that we live our lives in accordance with the commandments of Jesus. It is the code that guides our actions: "For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments" (v. 3).
Craig K.
John 15:9-17
John spoke to his followers as "friends" because of the love he had for them. It was a love that is to extend beyond the church to encompass the entire world.
John Wesley, the founder of Methodism, understood this when he related this as his mantra, "I want the whole Christ for my Savior, the whole Bible for my book, the whole church for my fellowship, and the whole world for my mission field."
Ron L.
