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Sermon Illustrations: Witness

Salt is no good in a salt shaker.

Salt is a minority in anything it occupies.

I'd rather see a sermon Than hear one any day; I'd rather one should walk with me Than merely tell the way. The eye's a better pupil More willing than the ear; Fine counsel is confusing, But example's always clear. And the best of all the preachers are the men who live their creeds; For to see good put in action Is what everybody needs. Edgar A. Guest.

When a man stands in front of you and says he's got pneumonia, but has measles, you'll catch what he's got no matter what he tells you he's got. Chris Crooks

A young girl is walking home from church on Sunday and says to her mother, "Mummy, didn't you tell me that God was so big that the world can't contain, that the earth is like His footstool, and that you can't see the end of Him." "That's right." "Well today we learned that God lives inside of me." "That's right too honey." "I'm confused. If God is so big that He can't even fit in the world, and He also lives inside of me, shouldn't people see Him coming out of me?"

His name is Bill. He has wild hair, wears a T-shirt with holes in it, jeans and no shoes. This was literally his wardrobe for his entire four years of college. He is brilliant, kind of esoteric and very, very bright. He became a Christian while attending college. Across the street from the campus is a well dressed, very conservative church. They want to develop a ministry to the students, but are not sure how to go about it. One day Bill decides to go there. He walks in with no shoes, jeans, his T-shirt, and wild hair. The service has already started and so Bill starts down the aisle looking for a seat. The church is completely packed and he can't find a seat. By now people are really looking a bit uncomfortable, but no one says anything. Bill gets closer and closer and closer to the pulpit and, when he realises there are no seats, he just squats down right on the carpet. (Although perfectly acceptable behaviour at a college fellowship, trust me, this had never happened in this church before!) By now the people are really uptight, and the tension in the air is thick. About this time, the minister realises that from way at the back of the church, a deacon is slowly making his way toward Bill. Now the deacon is in his eighties, has silver-grey hair, and a three-piece suit. He is a godly man, very elegant, very dignified, very courtly. He walks with a cane and, as he starts walking toward this boy, everyone is saying to themselves that you can't blame him for what he's going to do. How can you expect a man of his age and of his background to understand some college kid on the floor? It takes a long time for the man to reach the boy. The church is utterly silent except for the clicking of the man's cane. All eyes are focused on him. You can't even hear anyone breathing. The minister can't even preach the sermon until the deacon does what he has to do. And now they see this elderly man drop his cane on the floor. With great difficulty he lowers himself and sits down next to Bill and worships with him so he won't be alone. Everyone chokes up with emotion. When the minister gains control, he says, "What I'm about to preach, you will never remember. What you have just seen, you will never forget. Be careful how you live. You may be the only Bible some people will ever read."

When the chicken-hearted disciples were filled with the Holy Spirit, they became bold witnesses of Jesus.

When we maintain a vital relationship with God, we become living epistles. Joe the derelict was saved, delivered from alcoholism, and so thankful that he'd do anything for the Lord, even menial tasks like cleaning, washing dishes, and mowing the lawn. Then he met another derelict, took him home, cleaned him up, cleaned his vomit, nursed him through the bad times. "I just want to be like Joe," he said to a church worker. "You mean you want to be like Jesus." replied the worker. "Is He like Joe?" asked the derelict.

A businessman gave his heart to Jesus as a result of a Billy Graham evangelistic event. When he told his co-workers, his Christian business partner was elated. But the new believer hadn't known about his faith, and said, "You know, you're one reason I resisted becoming a Christian for several years. I figured that if someone like you could live a good life and not be a Christian, there was no need for me to become one." Our Daily Bread 22-11-04

I might have entered the ministry if certain clergymen I knew had not looked and acted so much like undertakers. Oliver Wendell Holmes

Robert Louis Stevenson wrote in his diary, "I have been to church today, and am not depressed."

"A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden." In ancient Palestine, the cities were made of white limestone and glistened in the sun. At night, even if it were overcast, and otherwise pitch black, a city 100 miles away would give you enough light for visibility.

"Nor do they light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house." Back in Jesus' day, houses were pretty dark, with only one small round windows about 18" across. Because they didn't have matches, if your lamp went out, it wasn't that easy to light it again. So they kept them burning. If they went out, they made sure that the house didn't burn down by putting the lamp under an earthenware bushel measure.¹

Live in such a way that you would not be ashamed to sell your parrot to the town gossip.²

When I was a young Christian, I worked as a groundsman at an old people's home. I can't remember what it was that I said, but I somehow had offended the very stern Scottish cook. As I went about my work, I knew that the Lord wanted me to put it right. So I went to her room (she lived in), knocked on the door, and waited for her to answer. She came to the door and demanded, "What do you want?" I said, "I wanted to say sorry for offending you. Will you forgive me please?" She slammed the door in my face as she said emphatically, "No!" Sometimes you have to be prepared to say sorry regardless of the results.

A stressed out woman was tailgating a man as they drove along. As he slowed to stop at an amber light, she gestured angrily, swore and screamed, and blasted her horn. While she was thus engaged, she heard a tap on the window where a policeman stood. He ordered her out of the car and she was promptly arrested, taken to the police station, and put in a holding cell. Some time later, the policeman returned saying, "I'm sorry, Ma'am. When I pulled up behind you, I saw your "What Would Jesus Do?" and "Follow Me To Church" bumper stickers, and I figured your car must have been stolen.

Open Doors newsletter (2nd February, 2009). Najee just couldn't keep his conversion a secret any longer. With his decision to turn from Islam to follow Jesus, he had found what he had been looking for all his life. And his heart was full beyond anything he had ever felt. His life had been so dramatically transformed he had to tell someone! So one night, Najee told his wife he had become a follower of Jesus. Little did he know it would cost him his life. Najee's wife was a devout Muslim. And she felt a duty to tell her father about Najee's conversion… who in turn shared the news with the local imam. A few days later, Najee's body was found in a sleeping bag … a Bible taped to his body with a single gunshot through the Bible.

1 Barclay, William Daily Study Bible: Vol 1 - Matt 1-10 p 123
2 Sirotnak, Tom and Walker, Ken Warrior p 114 quoting Will Rogers