Sermon Illustrations

Northern Mississippi River freezes. A man decided to walk across the ice instead of going down to the bridge. He didn’t see anyone else out there. It looked so crusty and thick, He said, “I believe I can walk across. I won’t have to take the journey down to the bridge” and he began to walk across. After some distance he thought maybe I ought not to be out here, maybe this ice won’t hold me up, if I fall through, they’ll never know what happened to me. I’m a fool, what am I doing out here? He turned to go back. He said “ I better walk softly, no it would be better if I go down on all fours to spread my weight. That’s not enough, I better lie down and squirm across. I may go through the ice, what a fool am I. My wife will never know what happened to me.” He began to whimper and cry and then he heard it, a roaring, cracking sound. Oh, the ice is breaking, I’m a goner, he thought. He put his face down on the ice and began to pray. “God save me; help me Lord” The noise got closer and closer, rumbling and roaring, but the ice didn’t seem to be breaking. He looked up and there was a man with a team of horses pulling a wagon loaded with logs driving across that river. That was the noise he heard. He jumped up and brushed off the ice and finished his stroll across the river. What was the difference with these two men? The second man knew the ice. THE REALITY OF FAITH IS BASED ON THE KNOWLEDGE OF GOD.