Youth ministry | Members

Illustration texts

On Dust Busters and Cats

Insurance Claim Form Statements

People don't take full responsibility for their actions. Instead, they blame others or blame extenuating circumstances. Take, for example, these descriptions of accidents as people put them on their insurance claim forms.

Coming home, I drove into the wrong house and collided with a tree I don't even have. 
The other car collided with mine without giving warning of its intentions. 
I pulled away from the side of the road, glanced at my mother-in-law and drove over the embankment. 
A pedestrian hit me and went under my car. 
The guy was all over the road. I had to swerve several times before I hit him. 
I had been driving my car for forty years when I fell asleep at the wheel and had an accident. 
As I approached the intersection, a stop sign suddenly appeared in a place where no stop sign had ever appeared before; I was unable to stop in time to avoid an accident. 
In my attempt to kill a fly, I drove into a telephone pole. 
I was sure the old fellow would never make it to the other side of the road when I struck him. 
My car was legally parked as I backed into the other vehicle. 
I told the police that I was not injured, but on removing my hat I found that I had a fractured skull. 
An invisible car came out of nowhere, struck my car and vanished. 
The power pole was approaching fast. I was attempting to swerve out of its path when it struck my front end. 
The pedestrian had no idea what direction to go, so I ran over him.

Don't Delay Dealing With Sin

A Prince, A Pauper and Positional Truth

In Mark Twain's delightful book, The Prince and the Pauper, the king's son became weary with his highly structured life. So, he switched clothes with a look-a-like pauper and scurried off to enjoy real life with the peasantry. Of course, life wasn't quite as he had expected, but he did give us a great illustration of positional truth.

Was the prince any less a prince when he dressed up as a pauper? Of course not! His position as son of the king was sealed at his birth. His condition in life didn?t change his position in life.  Yet, his descent into the peasantry did change the way he experienced his sonship. He could no longer enjoy many of the benefits of being the king's son.

Just as the prince had certain irrevocable privileges due to his physical birth, so Christians have certain irrevocable privileges due to their spiritual birth. This story helps us distinguish between positional truth and experiential truth. Concerning our Christian walk, it's very important that we distinguish the two.

A good example of this is Stan. His wife called her Christian friend Bob late one night, wearily explaining that Stan was drunk again.  Bob had tried everything he knew to help Stan spiritually. He'd explained the gospel over and over. Stan had even professed his personal faith in Jesus at church. But nothing seemed to change. As Bob walked down the dark street to Bob's house, he asked God to give him wisdom.  Yet, as he sat down with the pitiful drunk, he still didn't know what he could say that had not already been said.

During the conversation, with no premeditation, he found himself asking  a question he'd never asked before. "Stan, when you accepted Christ, which Jesus did you believe in?"  An unusual question, for sure. Yet, he needed to clarify exactly how Stan understood the Jesus he was accepting. He discovered that Stan's decision in the church had been to accept the human Jesus as his example for life, not to accept the divine Jesus as his Lord and Savior. After accepting the divine Jesus as his Savior, he became a new Creature and was freed from his addiction.  Understanding the positional truths regarding Jesus and salvation set him free. (Written by Steve Miller, copyright April, 2003. Source: Classic Christianity, by Bob George, Harvest House Publishers, Eugene, Oregon, 1989, pp. 41-44.

Businessman Can't Believe He's a Sinner

"A businessman came to a popular pastor pastor to explain that he didn't really understand his need to get forgiveness from Jesus. Problem was he didn't see himself as a sinner. The conversation went something like this:
 
Pastor: "Your a businessman. Do you ever get reimbursed for "expenses" you didn't actually spend?" 
Businessman: "Sure. It's the industry standard."
 
Pastor: "Are you 100% honest concerning your income taxes."
Businessman: "Well...the government takes so much, you've got to cut corners some way."
 
Pastor: "Can you tell me that you've always been faithful to your wife when you're away from home."
Businessman: "I'm a traveling businessman - on the road a lot. I'm sure you understand."
 
Pastor: "Do you realize that you just told me that your a thief, a liar and an adulterer?"
 
The businessman was shocked and probably offended to hear those words in reference to himself. But isn't it true? Have you ever looked at your own life and gotten really honest about your sin? 
 
You and I are sinners. You and I are so bad that we deserve an eternity separated from God. Have you ever faced that? You and I nailed Jesus to the cross. Do we really realize that? Only to the extent that we realize our own sinfulness can we fully appreciate Jesus' sacrifice for us.

<< <

1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 |

Legacy Youth Ministry Resources

Illustration texts