Sermon Illustrations for Second Sunday of Easter (2012)
Illustration
Object:
Acts 4:32-35
It was a spirited Wednesday for the 55,528 fans gathered in Metrodome. They assembled to witness their home team, the Oakland Athletics break the longest consecutive winning streak in 67 years. This game, to be the twentieth win, is all that was needed.
The twentieth win seemed inevitable with the A's leading 11-0 against Kansas City in the third inning. Then Kansas came back with five runs in the fourth and five more in the eighth, then in the ninth one more run.
With two outs, the Oakland A's pinch-hitter Scott Hatteberg put one over the fence, and history was made on September 5, 2002.
Kansas City coach Tony Pena did not look upon the game as a history-making loss, for he admired the resilience of his team. Pena said, "Sometimes when you lose, you actually win out there, and this was one of those situations."
Pena realized that even in the loss, his team played with one heart and one soul.
Ron L.
1 John 1:1--2:2
Whether it's from the perspective of the prosecution, such as Law and Order, or from the defense, such as Matlock or Perry Mason, legal dramas have a way of capturing our attention and imagination. We all want to see justice prevail, whether it's seeing the guilty punished or the innocent exonerated.
In this passage, we witness another legal drama, this one taking place between God the Father and God the Son. Just as a defense attorney would make a passionate plea before the judge for the accused criminal, Jesus continuously pleads before God on behalf of the accused in this courtroom (1 Timothy 2:5-6). However, the one in the courtroom is us, and although we are rightly judged guilty, our punishment has already been administered: "[Jesus] is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world" (2:2).
Craig K.
1 John 1:1--2:2
One of the major heresies that threatened the early church was the heresy of Gnosticism which over-emphasized the world of the spirit at the expense of the flesh. The writer of this first letter of John sought to combat such heresy by showing that the disciples not only heard Jesus speak but that they saw him, touched him, and knew him intimately.
An example of the Gnostic heresy is seen in Irenaeus' book, Against Heresies, where he describes Cerinthus' teaching:
"A certain Cerinthus also in Asia taught that the world was not made by the first God but by a certain virtue far separated and removed from the principality, which is above all things, a virtue that knows not the God over all. He added that Jesus was not born of a virgin but was the son of Joseph and Mary, like other men... and that after his baptism, Christ descended upon him in the form of a dove; from that principality which is above all things and that then he revealed the unknown Father and performed deeds of virtue, but in the end Christ flew back, leaving Jesus, and Jesus suffered and rose again, but Christ remained impassible, being by nature spiritual."
Richard H.
John 20:19-31
Roger Bannister is the first man to run the four-minute mile. But the dramatic finish had a very simple beginning. Bannister's first experience of running was on a beach. As he ran he was captivated by the beauty and serenity that surrounded him. Reflecting on that first experience, Bannister said he "could not absorb so much beauty."
This began his ambition of running for the simple pleasure and joy of the experience. Running he said he was, "No longer conscious of my movement I discovered a unity with nature. I found a new source of power and beauty, a source I never dreamt existed." This became Bannister's moment of unity with God and creation.
Jesus said of those who will not have the opportunity of Thomas and the other disciples to see the wounds of the cross, "Blessed are those who have not seen and yet come to believe." Bannister, like all of us, has not seen Jesus standing before us in the upper room, but we have seen him strolling the beach and other avenues that offer the beauty of creation.
Ron L.
It was a spirited Wednesday for the 55,528 fans gathered in Metrodome. They assembled to witness their home team, the Oakland Athletics break the longest consecutive winning streak in 67 years. This game, to be the twentieth win, is all that was needed.
The twentieth win seemed inevitable with the A's leading 11-0 against Kansas City in the third inning. Then Kansas came back with five runs in the fourth and five more in the eighth, then in the ninth one more run.
With two outs, the Oakland A's pinch-hitter Scott Hatteberg put one over the fence, and history was made on September 5, 2002.
Kansas City coach Tony Pena did not look upon the game as a history-making loss, for he admired the resilience of his team. Pena said, "Sometimes when you lose, you actually win out there, and this was one of those situations."
Pena realized that even in the loss, his team played with one heart and one soul.
Ron L.
1 John 1:1--2:2
Whether it's from the perspective of the prosecution, such as Law and Order, or from the defense, such as Matlock or Perry Mason, legal dramas have a way of capturing our attention and imagination. We all want to see justice prevail, whether it's seeing the guilty punished or the innocent exonerated.
In this passage, we witness another legal drama, this one taking place between God the Father and God the Son. Just as a defense attorney would make a passionate plea before the judge for the accused criminal, Jesus continuously pleads before God on behalf of the accused in this courtroom (1 Timothy 2:5-6). However, the one in the courtroom is us, and although we are rightly judged guilty, our punishment has already been administered: "[Jesus] is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world" (2:2).
Craig K.
1 John 1:1--2:2
One of the major heresies that threatened the early church was the heresy of Gnosticism which over-emphasized the world of the spirit at the expense of the flesh. The writer of this first letter of John sought to combat such heresy by showing that the disciples not only heard Jesus speak but that they saw him, touched him, and knew him intimately.
An example of the Gnostic heresy is seen in Irenaeus' book, Against Heresies, where he describes Cerinthus' teaching:
"A certain Cerinthus also in Asia taught that the world was not made by the first God but by a certain virtue far separated and removed from the principality, which is above all things, a virtue that knows not the God over all. He added that Jesus was not born of a virgin but was the son of Joseph and Mary, like other men... and that after his baptism, Christ descended upon him in the form of a dove; from that principality which is above all things and that then he revealed the unknown Father and performed deeds of virtue, but in the end Christ flew back, leaving Jesus, and Jesus suffered and rose again, but Christ remained impassible, being by nature spiritual."
Richard H.
John 20:19-31
Roger Bannister is the first man to run the four-minute mile. But the dramatic finish had a very simple beginning. Bannister's first experience of running was on a beach. As he ran he was captivated by the beauty and serenity that surrounded him. Reflecting on that first experience, Bannister said he "could not absorb so much beauty."
This began his ambition of running for the simple pleasure and joy of the experience. Running he said he was, "No longer conscious of my movement I discovered a unity with nature. I found a new source of power and beauty, a source I never dreamt existed." This became Bannister's moment of unity with God and creation.
Jesus said of those who will not have the opportunity of Thomas and the other disciples to see the wounds of the cross, "Blessed are those who have not seen and yet come to believe." Bannister, like all of us, has not seen Jesus standing before us in the upper room, but we have seen him strolling the beach and other avenues that offer the beauty of creation.
Ron L.
