sermon-illustrations
Curated Sermon Illustrations on Good Works
Explore powerful illustrations on good works. Discover stories, analogies, humor and more as you illustrate the timeless truths from scripture.
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My Part in my Salvation
The 19th and 20th century Canadian-American pastor Harry Ironside once told a story of a new Christian who gave his testimony during a church service. Beaming with joy, the man spoke of how God had rescued him from a life of sin. He gave all the credit to the Lord, saying nothing about his own efforts.
However, the meeting’s moderator—a legalistic man who didn’t grasp that salvation is entirely by God’s grace, not by human effort—interjected. “It sounds like you’re saying God did everything in saving you,” he said. “Didn’t you do your part first?”
The new Christian sprang to his feet and replied, “Absolutely! For over 30 years, I ran from God as fast as my sins could carry me. That was my part. But God chased me down—and that was His part.”
Ironside remarked, “That was well said—and it tells a story every redeemed sinner knows by heart.”
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When your Good Christian World Falls Apart
In her memoir, Confessions of a Good Christian Girl, Tammy describes the internal turmoil she experienced trying to be a good, rule-following Christian who had unexpectedly built an entire life arou... -
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My Part in my Salvation
The 19th and 20th century Canadian-American pastor Harry Ironside once told a story of a new Christian who gave his testimony during a church service. Beaming with joy, the man spoke of how God had re... -
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Every Self-Salvation Project
At the core of every project of self-salvation is the staunch unwillingness to believe that God’s love and forgiveness can be unmerited. Those who would try and save themselves prefer work to rest, ef... -
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Sailing & Spiritual Formation
John Ortberg likens the transformative path of Christ to sailing. Sailors can't make the wind show up; the wind has a mind of its own. But that doesn't mean there is nothing for them to do. Sa... -
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There’s Nothing He Can’t Ask Me
I asked her what was so scary about unmerited free grace? She replied something like this: “If I was saved by my good works — then there would be a limit to what God could ask of me or put me through.... -
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Temptation & Ethics: Partial Goods
But let me point out something we almost always fail to notice. We can only be tempted to something that is good on some level, partially good, or good for some, or just good for us and not for others... -
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She Didn’t Want to Go
There is an old cliché from the Boy Scout movement in which three Scouts report that they had helped an old lady across the road. “Why did it take three of you?” asks the Scoutmaster. “Because,” they ... -
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A Grand Gesture
A man appears before the pearly gates. “Have you ever done anything of particular merit?” St. Peter asks. “Well, I can think of one thing….” the man offers. “Once I came upon a gang of high-testoster... -
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An Illustration of Faith as Grace, Not a Good Work
In his book The Mystery of Christ , a series of fictionalized pastoral counseling sessions (based on actual events), the Episcopal priest Robert Farrar Capon shares a number of helpful ways of unde...
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