sermonillustrations

CommunityV O L U M E 1

Straining for Fruit

Works come natural to a healthy Christian

Use the illustration of a tree. Pull one up on stage and/or use some fruit. Notice how a

tree doesn’t strain to push out fruit, instead, fruit comes naturally to a healthy tree.

When we’re healthy in Christ, good works will naturally flow from our lives. That is why it

is important to focus on being connected to Christ, not simply outward behavior.

Hidden Imperfections

God sees all

Wear a black shirt with lightly covered lint on it. Turn off all of the lights in the room and hold up a black light to the shirt. All of the imperfections—which were nearly unno-ticeable before—are now easily seen. Use this as an illustration of the importance of sanctification. You can hide your sin from others, but God sees all. We must give our weaknesses to him.

“Hitch”

Using the past to fuel the future

In the movie Hitch, Will Smith’s character says, “You can’t really know where you’re going, until you know where you’ve been.”

Clip: https://youtu.be/r_zDeHhJox8

Application: In order to work through the process of sanctification, we need to under-stand where we came from. We are all sinners who need God’s help.

Change

Sanctification is a payment plan

“We think giving our all to the Lord is like taking $l,000 bill and laying it on the table—

‘Here’s my life, Lord. I’m giving it all.’ But the reality for most of us is that he sends us to

the bank and has us cash in the $l,000 for quarters. We go through life putting out 25

cents here and 50 cents there. Listen to the neighbor kid’s troubles instead of saying,

‘Get lost.’ Go to a committee meeting. Give a cup of water to a shaky old man in a

nursing home. Usually giving our life to Christ isn’t glorious. It’s done in all those little

acts of love, 25 cents at a time. It would be easy to go out in a flash of glory; it’s harder

to live the Christian life little by little over the long haul.” - Darryl Bell

Application: In our context, faithfulness often means sacrificing a little bit of our com-

fort everyday for God. If we’re not intentional, we can miss the little sacrifices because

we only think about the “big” ones.

Vivid

Jesus causes us to see the world differently

YOUTUBE VIDEO: Colorblind man sees color for the first time

Source: (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fTpCTDwjHZQ.)

Application: When we come to Christ, we see the entire world differently. The way we

interact with people changes. The way we view ourselves and the others is suddenly

different. Use this video as an illustration of sanctification.

MINISTRY