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Sermon Illustrations: Witness
Anecdotes
R.T. Kendall relates the story of a time when he stayed in the home of missionary who had been a Muslim. He marvelled at the man’s transformation. The missionary told him how he had been led to Christ by British soldiers when he was living in Madagascar. Kendall asked, “What argument did you use? What line of reasoning persuaded you to turn from Islam to the Christian faith?” “It wasn’t what they said; it was who they were,” he replied.
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?"
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 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.
Quotes
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.
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."
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
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