365 Sermon Illustrations on Love

Infantile love follows the principle:

"I love because I am loved."

Mature love follows the principle:

"I am loved because I love."

Immature love says:

"I love you because I need you."

Mature love says:

"I need you because I love you."

- Erich Fromm

During the season of Super Bowl I, the great quarterback Bart Starr

had a little incentive scheme going with his oldest son. For every

perfect paper Bart Jr. brought home from school, Starr gave him ten

cents. After a particularly rough game against St. Louis, in which

Starr felt he had performed poorly, he returned home weary and

battered, late at night after a long plane ride. But he couldn't help

feeling better when he reached his bedroom. Ther attached to his

pillow was a note: "Dear Dad, I thought you played a great game.

Love, Bart." Taped to the note were two dimes.

It's silence when your words would hurt. It's patience when your

neighbor's curt. It's deafness when the scandal flows. It's

thoughtfulness for another's woes. It's promptness when stern duty

calls. It's courage when misfortune falls.

In a boiler room, it is impossible to look into the boiler to see

how much water it contains. But running up beside it is a tiny glass

tube, that serves as a gauge. As the water stands in the little tube,

so it stands in the great boiler. When the tube is half full, the

boiler is half full; if empty, so is the boiler. How do you know you

love God? You believe you love him, but you want to know. Look at

the gauge. Your love for your brother is the measure of your love for

God.

Some years ago a pastor visited a railroad man who was called the

toughest man in town. As he attempted to speak to him of God, he

cursed the church, the Bible, and the preacher. He threatened to

throw the preacher out bodily if he ever returned again. As the

minister made his watchful retreat, he said quietly, "Mr. Baldwin, God

loves you, and I love you, too."

He was not prepared for what happened. Almost instantly the man

melted. He fell to his knees and wept uncontrollably as he emptied

his heart of hatred and sin. It was God's love that overwhelmed him.

That rough railroader was beautifully changed.

One day, I woke early in the morning to watch the sunrise. Ah the

beauty of God's creation is beyond description. As I watched, I

praised God for His beautiful work. As I sat there, I felt the Lord's

presence with me. He asked me, "Do you love me?" I answered,"Of

course, God! You are my Lord and Saviour!"

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Then He asked, "If you were physically handicapped, would you still

love me?" I was perplexed. I looked down upon my arms, legs and the

rest of my body and wondered how many things I wouldn't be able to do,

the things that I took for granted. And I answered, "It would be

tough Lord, but I would still love You."

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Then the Lord said, "If you were blind, would you still love my

creation?"

How could I love something without being able to see it? Then I

thought of all the blind people in the world and how many of them

still loved God and His creation.

So I answered, "It's hard to think of it, but I would still love you."

*******************************************

The Lord then asked me, "If you were deaf, would you still listen to

my word?"

How could I listen to anything being deaf? Then I understood.

Listening to God's Word is not merely using our ears, but our hearts.

I answered, "It would be tough, but I would still listen to Your

word."

*******************************************

The Lord then asked, "If you were mute, would you still praise My

Name?"

How could I praise without a voice? Then it occurred to me: God wants

us to sing from our very heart and soul. It never matters what we

sound like. And praising God is not always with a song, but when we

are persecuted, we give God praise with our words of thanks.

So I answered, "Though I could not physically sing, I would still

praise Your Name."

*******************************************

And the Lord asked, "Do you really love Me?"

With courage and a strong conviction, I answered boldly, "Yes Lord! I

love You because You are the one and true God!"

I thought I had answered well, but God asked, "THEN WHY DO YOU SIN?"

I answered, "Because I am only human. I am not perfect."

"THEN WHY IN TIMES OF PEACE DO YOU STRAY THE FURTHEST? WHY ONLY IN

TIMES OF TROUBLE DO YOU PRAY THE EARNEST?"

No answers. Only tears.

The Lord continued: "Why only sing at fellowships and retreats? Why

seek Me only in times of worship? Why ask things so selfishly? Why ask

things so unfaithfully?"

The tears continued to roll down my cheeks.

"Why are you ashamed of Me? Why are you not spreading the good news?

Why in times of persecution, you cry to others when I offer My

shoulder to cry on? Why make excuses when I give you opportunities to

serve in My Name?"

I tried to answer, but there was no answer to give.

"You are blessed with life. I made you not to throw this gift away. I

have blessed you with talents to serve Me, but you continue to turn

away. I have revealed My Word to you, but you do not gain in

knowledge. I have spoken to you but your ears were closed. I have

shown My blessings to you, but your eyes were turned away. I have sent

you servants, but you sat idly by as they were pushed away. I have

heard your prayers and I have answered them all." "DO YOU TRULY LOVE

ME?"

I could not answer. How could I? I was embarrassed beyond belief. I

had no excuse. What could I say to this? When I my heart had cried out

and the tears had flowed, I said, "Please forgive me Lord. I am

unworthy to be Your child." The Lord answered, "That is My Grace, My

child."

I asked, "Then why do you continue to forgive me? Why do You love me

so?"

The Lord answered, " Because you are My creation. You are my child. I

will never abandon you. When you cry, I will have compassion and cry

with you. When you shout with joy, I will laugh with you. When you are

down, I will encourage you. When you fall, I will raise you up. When

you are tired, I will carry you. I will be with you till the end of

days, and I will love you forever."

Never had I cried so hard before. How could I have been so cold? How

could

I have hurt God as I had done? I asked God, "How much do You love

me?"

The Lord stretched out His arms, and I saw His nail-pierced hands. I

bowed down at the feet of Christ, my Saviour. And for the first time,

I truly prayed.

The following is a sketch, full of touching interest, of a little,

ragged newsboy who had lost his mother. In the tenderness of his

affection for her, he was determined that he would raise a stone to

her memory. His mother and he had kept house together, and they had

been all to each other, but now she was taken, and the little fellow's

loss was irreparable. Getting a stone was no easy task, for his

earnings were small; but love is strong. Going to a cutter's yard, and

finding that even the cheaper cross of stones was far too expensive

for him, he at length fixed upon a broken shaft of marble, part of the

remains of an accident in the yard, and which the proprietor kindly

named at such a low figure that it came within his means. There was

much yet to be done, but the brave little chap was equal to it. The

next day he conveyed the stone away on a little four-wheeled cart, and

managed to have it put in position. The narrator, curious to know the

last of the stone, visited the cemetery one afternoon, and he thus

describes what he saw and learned:

"Here it is," said the man in charge, and, sure enough, there was

our monument, at the head of one of the newer graves. I knew it at

once. Just as it was when it left our yard, I was going to say, until

I got a little nearer to it and saw what the little chap had done. I

tell you, boys, when I saw it there was something blurred my eyes,

so's I couldn't read it at first. The little man had tried to keep the

lines straight, and evidently thought that capitals would make it look

better and bigger, for nearly every letter was a capital. I copied it,

and here it is; but you want to see it on the stone to appreciate it:

One spring morning I was walking along a path in the woods near my home. Suddenly a rabbit bound across the path. This rabbit looked a bit roughed up; its fur was sparse and uneven. As I stepped closer, the rabbit casually hopped to a grove of small trees a few yards away. As I resumed my walk, a slight movement in the grass caught my eye. Stooping down, I saw four tiny creatures in a clump of grass. They were rabbit kits. Only two and a half inches long, hairless, and blind, they were totally helpless. Their nest had been dug down into the earth. Leaves and grass had been arranged to form a camouflaged home. But the most striking feature was that the inside of the nest had been completely lined with fur -- rabbit fur. Then it hit me. That scraggy-furred rabbit I had just seen was the mother of this precious litter. Not only had she carried her young through pregnancy, endured labor and delivery pains, prepared a nest, and patiently nursed and protected them to this point, she had also given of herself. Painfully, she had pulled out great clumps of fur to line the nest, thus providing a soft, warm environment for her fragile kits. -- author unknown

Maybe you heard about the guy who fell in love with an opera

singer. He hardly knew her, since his only view of the singer

was through binoculars -- from the third balcony. But he was

convinced he could live "happily ever after" married to a voice

like that. He scarcely noticed she was considerably older than

he. Nor did he care that she walked with a limp. Her mezzo soprano

voice would take them through whatever might come. After a whirlwind

romance and a hurry-up ceremony, they were off for their honeymoon

together. She began to prepare for their first night together. As he

watched, his chin dropped to his chest. She plucked out her glass eye

and plopped it into a container on the nightstand. She pulled off her

wig, ripped off her false eyelashes, yanked out her dentures,

unstrapped her artificial leg, and smiled at him as she slipped off

her glasses that hid her hearing aid. Stunned and horrified, he

gasped, "For goodness sake, woman, sing, sing, SING!

Martin Luther's father was very strict, strict to the point

of cruelty. One interesting note: He never had assurance of

his standing with the Lord. Luther used to say: "Spare the rod

and spoil the child" -- that is true; but beside the rod keep an

apple, to give him when he has done well."

Someone once asked Susanna Wesley which one of her 11 children she loved the most. She wisely replied, "I love the one who's sick until he's well, and the one who's away until he comes home."

Charles Spurgeon tells of visiting a woman whose faith, once

bright, had gone under a cloud and suffered total eclipse." She said

to Spurgeon one day as he visited her, "My faith is gone. I don't have

any true love for Christ." Spurgeon was wise. He did not argue, but

took a piece of paper and walked to the window, writing the words, "I

do not love the Lord Jesus Christ." Bringing it back, he handed her

the pencil and said, "Sign this." She read it and cried, "It's not

true. I'd tear it to pieces before I'd sign it!" Spurgeon said, "You

said you didn't love Him." "Yes, but I could not sign that." Well

then," countered Spurgeon, "I suspect you do love Him after all."

"Yes, yes," she cried, I see it now! I do love Him. Christ knows I

love Him!"

One of the most heart-moving conversions that I have ever

known, I witnessed in my city, during the holiday period in

mid-winter. There reached me the message that a little Sunday

school boy in one of our mission Sunday schools had been

accidentally shot by his little neighbor friend. I hurried to

the humble home as fast as I could go. I found the unconscious

little fellow in the hands of two skillful doctors. Said they,

"He will not live. The shot is unto death." I went back the

next day and the boy's father was in the stupor of a terrible

drunk. I went back the next day, and the father was sobering up.

He would walk the floor as tears fell from his face, while he

looked on that little suffering boy, nine or ten years of age.

Bending over his boy, he would say, "My little man is better,

and he will soon be well!" The little face was clouded as he

feebly whispered, saying, "No, papa; I will not get well." And

then the father protested, as he said, "You will get well, and I

will be a good man and change my ways!"

The little fellow's face was clouded, and he kept trying to say

something, and I reached for the man to bend over to catch it, and

this is what we did catch, after awhile: "When I am gone, papa, I want

you to remember that I loved you, even if you did get drunk!" That

sentence broke the father's heart. He left that room, unable to

tarry any longer. A few minutes later, I found him lying prone upon

his face, there upon the ground, behind the little cottage, sobbing

with brokenness of heart.

Said he, "Sir, after my child loves me like that, oughtn't I to

straighten up and be the right kind of man?" I said, "I have a story

ten thousand times sweeter than that to tell you. God's' only begotten

Son loved you well enough to come down from heaven and die for you,

Himself the just, for the unjust, that He might bring you to God.

Won't you yield your wasting, sinful life to Him, and let Him save

you?"

Then and there he made the great surrender. You should slip into

one of our prayer meetings, when the men and women talk about what

Christ has done for them, and one of the most appealing and powerful

testimonies you would hear' is the testimony of this harness workman,

as he stands up, with tears on his face, to tell you that love brought

him home when everything else had failed. They criticized him; they

scolded him; they railed at him; they pelted him with harsh words

because he drank. Then a little boy said, "Papa, I love you, even if

you do get drunk," and love won the day when everything else failed!

--George W. Truett

Sometimes Christ's love for us is veiled behind what can seem to be

pitiless and unduly harsh: Years ago, in the days before stage

coaches had been superseded by railways, a mother and her infant were

the only passengers in a coach in western Montana during a bitter

winter. The woman had not provided against such intense cold, and

although she could protect her baby, her own life became endangered.

The driver quickened the pace of his team, hoping to reach warmth and

refuge before her condition became serious, but the fatal drowsiness

stole over her, and when no answers to his inquiries were returned, he

stopped and got down from his box. The woman's head was swaying from

side to side. He took the baby from her and bestowed it as comfortably

as he could in a furry bundle

under the shelter of the seat; then, seizing the mother roughly

by the arm, he dragged her upon the frozen ground.

His violence partly awakened her; but when he banged the door and

sprang on his box and drove on, leaving her in the road, she came

fully to her senses and began to scream as she ran madly after him,

calling, "My baby, oh, my baby." The horror of her loss and the

violence of the exercise to which she was forced saved her. When her

blood was in healthy circulation, the driver pulled up his horses, and

allowed her to resume her place with her unharmed child. --Methodist

Recorder

Dolly Madison, wife of the fourth president of the United

States, was one of the most popular women in American history.

Wherever she went, she charmed and captivated everyone obscure

and well-known, rich and poor, men and women alike. She was

once asked to explain the secret of her power over others.

Surprised by the question Mrs. Madison exclaimed, "Power over

people. I have none. I desire none. I merely love everyone."

And those who love are richly rewarded by love returned.

A police officer brought a 13-year-old girl into the police station

in the wee morning hours. She had been physically abused by her

stepfather. The police chaplain talked with her while the officers

processed her case and waited for Human Services to come take custody

of her. The girl related how her stepfather hated her, favoring his

own daughters. She was either neglected or beaten for minor

disagreements. Her mother hadn't shown her love for several years.

Finally, she sobbed, "Nobody loves me!" In an effort to comfort her

and offer some ray of hope and worth, the chaplain replied, "But don't

you know that God loves you?" Holding out her battered, bruised arms,

she retorted, "Show me!" --A. D. McDowell

"Humanly speaking, I might never have been saved if someone hadn't

'said it with love' to me," says Dr. Howard Hendricks. "I was nine

years old, a little terror," he recalls. "I was out playing marbles

one day, when a man named Walt came along and invited me to Sunday

School. There was nothing appealing to me about anything with

'school' in it, so he made me another proposition--one I liked

better: 'Wanna play a game of marbles with me?'

"After he'd wiped me out in marbles, he inquired, 'Wanna learn how

to play this game better?'

"By the time he'd taught me how to play marbles over the next few

days, he'd built such a relationship with me that I'd have gone

anywhere he suggested. Of the 13 boys in that class--11 ended up in

vocational Christian work."

Bible teacher E. Schuyler English told of a visit to the Orient by

Eugene Ormandy and the Philadelphia Orchestra. In one city, the local

orchestra performed Beethoven's Fifth Symphony for the visiting

musicians. According to reports, it was not done very well.

At the end of the first movement, the host conductor passed the

baton to Eugene Ormandy. What a transformation! You would have

thought he had been conducting the local orchestra for years. As the

members of the Philadelphia Orchestra listened, they were impressed in

a new way with Ormandy's talent and genius. They realized they had

begun to take him for granted and had lost sight of his greatness.

As believers in Christ, we often fall into a similar pattern in our

relationship to God. We take Him and His marvelous attributes for

granted.

A STORY ABOUT CHICKENS OBSERVATION Many good lessons can be learned from simple things. Here's one from chickens. A STORY ABOUT CHICKENS Randy was spending the summer on the farm with his Grandfather. One day, he and his Grandfather went into the chicken coop, and Randy scattered a handful of grain over the floor. The chickens scrambled madly for it, but one chicken was having trouble. Every time it tried to eat, it was pecked by the others. Randy saw a red spot on the chicken's neck. "Look, Grandpa!" he exclaimed, "That chicken is hurt!" Just then a big rooster jabbed the sore on the neck of the chicken, making it even larger. Grandpa picked up the chicken and carried the squawking bird out of the pen. "Come on, old girl. We'll put you in a separate place until your neck heals," he said. Randy watched as Grandpa rubbed medicine into the sore. "Why do the other chickens peck this one?" he asked. "Well, Randy, I can't tell you exactly why," answered Grandpa, "but this is the way chickens act. They always pick on those who are different from the rest, and on those who are hurt." "That seems stupid," said Randy. "Right you are, Randy," said Grandpa, "but do you know that people often do the same thing?" "They do?" asked Randy, surprised, "How?" "When others have skin that is a different color, or perhaps their eyes or noses look a little different, some people make fun of them," explained Grandpa. Randy immediately thought of a boy named Darrin. Some of the other boys teased Darrin about his bright, red-orange hair. Randy was glad now that he had not joined in the teasing -- but felt bad that he had not tried to stop it either. "It's too bad when people act like chickens," continued Grandpa. Randy looked up at his Grandfather with admiration. "Grandpa," he said, "what the chickens were doing to this one was cruel. I'm proud of you for helping her!" HOW DOES THIS APPLY TO OUR LIVES? Randy learned that some people act like chickens. If a person looks differently from themselves, they pick on that person. The "picking" may take different forms, but it still hurts -- and is wrong. Randy also learned that something positive can be done as his Grandfather intervened to stop the abuse from continuing. Don't act like those chickens. \reference{Genesis 1:26-27}{Genesis 1:26-27} says God created humans in his own "image" and "likeness." So respect people no matter how they look. Refuse to show favoritism or prejudice because of someone's physical characteristics. And to help stop wrongful actions from continuing, do what you can to promote positive attitudes between different racial grouPs. That's good citizenship, and good theology. "Honor one another above yourselves." \reference{Romans 12:10}{Romans 12:10}

A story is told of a farm girl who spoke of sparrows that sang like meadow larks and of rainbows that formed in the soap bubbles when the dishwater was thrown on the road. Then in bated breath she gave the reason for such fantasy: "My lover kissed my eyes last night."

Heathen people who observe brotherly love of Christians toward one another marveled at what they saw and cried out, “Behold, how they love one another!” The renowned Roman lawyer Marcus Minucius Felix, who lived in the second century, became a true Christian, and he testified of the early Christians: “They loved one another, even before knowing one another (personally).” Of course, many heathen people remained what they were and scoffed at Christianity. For example, Lucian, who also lived in the second century, and sneeringly wrote of them: “Their Master (Jesus Christ) has made them believe that they are all brethren.”

A heart full of love Is a happy heart. It is kind to others; It is a

sharing heart; It is a forgiving heart. Do you have a heart full of

love?

One night a two-month-old baby kept his mother and father awake

with his fussing and crying. The father was at wit's end and had lost

all patience. The mother, though, in her deep maternal love, picked

up her son and, cuddling him, said, "That's all right. I'm sorry you

don't feel better!" What an object lesson in self-giving love.

Years ago, Hollywood made a movie called "Cipher in the Snow." A "cipher" is a “nothing,” or a zero. This movie told a true story about a little boy who got off a school bus and fell dead in the snow. The remainder of the movie was an investigation into the cause of his death. Investigators soon learned the boy's favorite teacher didn't even know his name. They later learned his parents really didn't love him. In fact, when the boy's parents were told about his death, the father simply commented, “Well, he's probably better off dead, anyway.” Other students at the boy's school didn't really like him and made fun of him all the time. When the autopsy report revealed no physical reason for the boy's death, the medical examiner concluded that he literally died from a lack of love.

________

Randy Brantley, “Speaking to Youth,”{ Proclaim} (Nashville: Sunday School Board, Oct-Dec, 1996) 18-19

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| My Source:

| BULLETIN BRIEFS

| Volume 2, #4, April 1999

|------------------------------

| Author: Donny Weimar

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LOVING SINNERS

by Donny Weimar

I was in a good mood until I watched the news. A young girl raped, the president had an affair, a drunk driver smashed into a car killing an expectant mother; it went on and on. For a brief moment I considered vigilantism, but I quickly remembered God's command to await His vengeance (Romans 12:19-20). When does the madness stop?!? Can it be true that God forgives the most vile persons who repent? It is true (Ezekiel 18). And for that reason, I must be willing to forgive as He forgives; act as He acts; be patient as He is patient; love as He loves, unconditionally.

I'm glad that God loves sinners; I was one. Thanks to the living God, although I once walked in the darkness of iniquity, I was washed, sanctified, and justified in the name of the Lord Jesus (1 Corinthians 6:11).

I must learn not to think the way the world thinks. It says I may do anything as long as I do not infringe on the "freedom" of others. Permissiveness is the key to happiness, so they say. But the Bible says, "do not use your liberty as a cloak for iniquity" (Galatians 5:13). It teaches self-control is a virtue (2 Peter 1:6). I must learn to abhor evil (Romans 12:9), but I must also learn to appreciate the value of every soul walking in such (Romans 3:23-24). God detests iniquity because it separates precious souls from Him. See Isaiah 59:2. The correct way to love sinners is to show them how to regain their relationship with God (Acts 3:19ff). Loving sinners demands that I be intolerant of sin, and gracious to the penitent. The aim of the gospel is to put people right with God. Loving sinners is sometimes difficult, but I must love them if I am truly a child of God (1 John 4:8). "Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good" (Romans 12:21). Love is the more excellent way (1 Corinthians 12:31).

--1329 Tanglewood Lane, Odessa, TX 79761