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Sermon Illustrations: Faith Perspective
Anecdotes
A man wanted to be a salesman, but he stuttered very badly. Then he saw an ad for a job as a Bible salesman for the Bible Society, and he decided to apply for it because he believed God would help him to do it. At the interview, they heard him stutter and said, "We're sorry, but there's no way you could do this job with that kind of stutter." "Please", he said. "Just give me a chance." They asked him to leave the room so they could discuss it. When he had gone, one of them said, "I have an idea. Let's just give him fifty Bibles and leave him to it. It'll take him years to sell them." So that's what they did. A week later, the man returned. "I've sold them. Can I have some more." Just at that moment the Executive was in session, so they asked him to come in and explain how he'd done it. "Easy", he said. "I just ask them, 'Would you like to buy a Bible, or would you like me to read it to you?'"
There is a huge storm and a father remembers his little girl is upstairs alone. Thinking that she might be frightened by the thunder and lightning, he races up to her room and finds her with her face pressed against the window. "I think God's trying to take my picture," she says.
Each morning, a woman walked to her front gate and shouted, "Praise the Lord!" And each time the atheist next door would yell back, "There is no Lord!" One day she prayed, "Lord, I'm hungry. Please send me some food." The following morning, she discovered a big bag of groceries on her front porch. "Praise the Lord," she shouted. Suddenly, her neighbour jumped from behind a bush. "I told you there was no Lord," he said. "I bought those groceries for you." "Praise the Lord!" the woman said. "He not only sent me groceries, He made the devil pay for them."
A woman was dying in a poor-house. When the doctor visited her, he found her very bright and cheerful. "How can you be so happy in these circumstances?" he asked. "That's easy," she replied. "I just keep thinking about the move into my heavenly mansion."
If your problems are looking big, and your God is looking small, then you're looking at God through the wrong end of the binoculars.
Your whole anatomy reaches forward. Your eyes, ears, mouth, nose, hands and feet all look forward. In fact, only one part of your body faces the past - an indication that there really is some stuff you ought to leave behind.
Two frogs fell into a can of cream,
Or so I've heard it told;
The sides of the can were shiny and steep,
The cream was deep and cold.
"O, what's the use?" croaked No. 1.
"'Tis fate; no help's around.
Goodbye, my friends! Goodbye, sad world!"
And weeping still, he drowned.
But Number 2, of sterner stuff,
Dog-paddled in surprise,
The while he wiped his creamy face
And dried his creamy eyes.
"I'll swim awhile, at least," he said -
Or so I've heard he said;
"It really wouldn't help the world
If one more frog were dead."
An hour or two he kicked and swam,
Not once he stopped to mutter,
But kicked and kicked and swam and kicked,
Then hopped out, via butter! T.C. Hamlet
When I was a kid, I used to like studying ants through a magnifying glass. Well, actually, I was trying to focus the sunlight and fry the ants. But using a magnifying glass sure makes things look bigger. But it doesn't really change the size of what you look at, it just changes your perception. Faith is like using a magnifying glass to look at life. It's not that life changes, but your perception changes. You look at it through a different lens. And that faith perception is what brings you through.
You may remember the incident in 2 Kings 6:8-18. Every time the king of Syria parked his army in a particular place against Israel, Elisha the prophet told the king of Israel. After a while the Syrian king got frustrated and wanted to know who the informer was. When he learned about Elisha he sent an army to get him and they surrounded the city by night. When Elisha's servant got up in the morning, he saw the army and panicked, "Alas, my master! What shall we do?" He looked at the circumstances and saw with eyes of fear. But Elisha answered, "Do not fear, for those who are with us are more than those who are with them." Then he prayed that the Lord would open his servant's eyes, and suddenly he saw that the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha. Same place, same set of circumstances, but Elisha saw with eyes of faith.
One day, a boy was alone in his back yard playing baseball. Having a great imagination, he proclaimed, "I'm the greatest hitter in the world." He threw the ball into the air, swung as hard as he could, and missed. "Strike one!" he announced. He picked up the ball, dusted it off, and said again, "I'm the greatest hitter in the world!" Up went the ball again. He swung and missed for the second time. "Strike two!" he yelled. He inspected his bat, examined the ball, spat on his hands, rubbed them together, and repeated, "I'm the greatest hitter in the world!" For the third time, he threw the ball into the air, swung and missed. "Strike three!" "Wow!" said the boy. "I'm the greatest pitcher in the world!"
Everything that can be invented has been invented. Charles H. Duell, Commissioner, US Office of Patents, 1899
A scientist was once asked, "What's the result of massive hurricanes on the east coast?" He replied, "New beaches."
Once upon a time there was a woman who woke up one morning, looked in the mirror, and saw that she had only three hairs on her head. "Well," she said, "I think that today I might braid my hair." And she did, and she had a great day. The next morning she woke up, checked herself in the mirror, and discovered that she only had two hairs on her head. "Hmm," she said, "Maybe I'll part my hair down the middle today." So she did, and she had a fantastic day. The next morning she woke up, looked in the mirror, and found that she had only one hair left on her head. "Well," she said, "Not to worry. Today I'll wear my hair in a pony tail." So she did, and she had the best day. The next day she woke up, looked in the mirror, and noticed that there wasn't one single hair left on her head. "Hooray!" she exclaimed. "I don't have to do my hair today!"
Two shoe salesmen arrived on an island. The first one looked around and saw that the natives wore no shoes, and thought, "Why'd they send me here? There's no market for shoes here!" The second one looked around and saw that the natives wore no shoes, and thought, "Wow! Everybody needs shoes - and the whole market is mine."
Two people can go to the same church. One can say, "There's no evangelism here. I'm going to a different church." The other says, "There's no evangelism here. And I'm just the one to get it going."
Quotes
David the anointed non-professional looked at Goliath and saw the God of Israel as a giant and Goliath as a dwarf. He said, "Thank God he's so big. My stones can't miss him." Whereas Eliab, the unanointed professional saw Goliath as a giant and himself as a dwarf. Reinhard Bonnke
Some people have such a big devil and such a little Jesus. Peter Youngren
When you use a magnifying glass, it doesn't change the size of what you look at. It changes your perception. Dwayne Vanderklok talking about magnifying the Lord