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90 illustrations for sermon preparation
A dear friend of mine recently undertook the challenge of restoring an old, weathered violin. Its wood was cracked, its strings broken, and it looked like it had been abandoned for years in a dusty corner. Yet, my friend saw...
Sarah had always dreamed of running a marathon. Each year, she would watch the race from the sidelines, cheering for the runners, feeling a spark of longing ignite within her. But fear and self-doubt held her back. “I could never...
Sarah was a single mother, a quiet presence in our community, often overlooked as she juggled her two young children while working long hours at a local diner. Life had been a relentless uphill climb for her, and it seemed...
On a quiet Sunday afternoon, I found myself sitting on a weathered bench in a local park, watching a young boy flying a bright red kite. It danced and twirled against the azure sky, a vibrant splash of color against...
There’s a woman named Sarah, a member of our community, whose story resonates deeply with the themes of redemption and transformation. Not long ago, Sarah found herself trapped in a cycle of addiction that had consumed her life for years....
Charles Spurgeon, one of history's greatest preachers, battled severe depression his entire ministry. He sometimes couldn't preach for weeks. Yet he returned—again and again. "I have learned to kiss the wave that throws me against the Rock of Ages," he wrote.
After Mother Teresa's death, her letters revealed something shocking: for nearly 50 years, she experienced spiritual darkness—feeling abandoned by God, unable to sense His presence. Yet she kept serving, kept praying, kept waiting. She called it a gift, a sharing...
Orthodox monks practice hesychasm—stillness, silence, waiting before God. They repeat the Jesus Prayer for hours: "Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me." This isn't productivity; it's presence. Seraphim of Sarov spent 1,000 days praying on a rock.
Enslaved African Americans sang "My Lord, What a Morning" and "Soon and Very Soon"—songs of waiting. They waited for freedom that didn't come in their lifetimes. But the waiting wasn't resignation; it was resistance. Each song renewed strength for another day.
After Jesus ascended, He told the disciples to WAIT in Jerusalem for the Spirit. They waited 10 days—praying, worshipping, expecting. Then Pentecost exploded. The waiting wasn't passive; it was pregnant with expectation. "Those who wait on the LORD shall renew...
In a quiet corner of a bustling park, there stood a young sapling, its fragile branches stretching toward the sky. It was surrounded by towering oak trees, their stately trunks a testament to decades of growth. Day after day, the...
The Amish practice "Gelassenheit"—a German word meaning surrender, yieldedness, letting go. It's waiting on God by releasing control. When technology offers faster solutions, they wait. When culture pushes individual achievement, they submit to community. When conflict arises, they wait for reconciliation rather than forcing resolution.
The Civil Rights Movement required decades of waiting—not passive waiting, but active, hopeful, persistent waiting. Martin Luther King Jr. spoke of "the fierce urgency of now," but also of trusting God's timing. Rosa Parks waited years after her famous bus arrest before seeing full integration.
George Herbert gave up a promising career at Cambridge to become a country parson in tiny Bemerton. Some saw it as a waste of his talents. For three years until his death at 39, he served an obscure flock, visited the sick, wrote poems.
Susanna Wesley had 19 children; nine died in infancy. Her husband was often absent, sometimes imprisoned for debt. Her home burned down twice. Through it all, she spent two hours daily in prayer and personally educated each child. She waited...
In a small town nestled among rolling hills, there lived a woman named Maria. Known for her endless kindness, she ran a modest bakery that filled the streets with the comforting aroma of freshly baked bread. Each morning, Maria would...
The Puritans often didn't see the fruit of their labors in their lifetime. They planted churches, wrote theology, shaped institutions—for future generations. Jonathan Edwards preached the sermons that sparked the Great Awakening, but revivals had been prayed for over decades.
In Gethsemane, Jesus waited on the Father. "Not my will but yours." He could have called angels; He waited. He could have escaped; He stayed. He could have forced a different outcome; He surrendered. This is what waiting on the LORD looks like incarnate.
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