Sermon Illustrations

No Dragons--Just God! (07.14.05--Tomorrow--2 Timothy 2:11-13)

There’s an old adage that a little knowledge can be a very dangerous thing. Often what we think we know, based only on a scattering of a tidbit of knowledge here and there, can prove to be our undoing when we base our actions largely on the unknown as opposed to the known.

The sad thing about this is that, over time, we come to believe as the whole the mere smattering of knowledge that we possess. We may even be given to basing future actions upon the spurious knowledge that we hold as truth when, all along, the truth has evaded our attention and our walk into tomorrow is based on speculation, not real knowledge.

An interesting map is on display in the British Museum in London. It’s an old mariner’s chart, drawn in 1525, outlining the North American coastline and adjacent waters. At that time most of the new continent’s interior had not as yet been explored with but a few hundred miles of coastline being the only evidence of what lie beyond.

The handful of explorers who had visited the Americas had relied upon the scattered Indian tribes for information about the land. In many cases, since the natives had no wish that these strange visitors from the sea should venture forth over their land, they had created fanciful tales and legends as being an accurate description of what the new land held in store for anyone adventurous or foolhardy enough to take the risk.

With these tales in mind, the cartographer made some intriguing notations on areas of the map that represented regions not yet explored. He wrote: “Here be giants,” “Here be fiery scorpions,” and “Here be dragons.” Eventually, the map came into the possession of Sir John Franklin, a British explorer in the early 1800s. Musing over these fanciful, even mythical inscriptions, he scratched them out one by one and in their stead he wrote these words across the map: “Here is God.”

What lies in store for us along the “coastlines” of our lives is known only to God. But, He has not been so unkind as to give us no hope for tomorrow, no foundation of knowledge upon which we can search out the...

Continue reading this sermon illustration (Free with PRO)

Related Sermon Illustrations

  • A Speaker In Colorado Was About To Address A ...

    Contributed by Bruce Howell on Jan 3, 2005
    based on 1 rating
     | 10,511 views

    A speaker in Colorado was about to address a gathering of businessmen and women. Sitting a the head table, he turned to the real estate salesman on his left and said, "So, how are things going for you?" "Terrible," he answered. "Haven¡¯t you heard about the strikes? 80% of the people in this ...read more

  • Dreary Statistics  PRO

    Contributed by Pb Stetser on Jul 6, 2004
    based on 6 ratings
     | 3,363 views

    Dreary Statistics • 63% of youth suicides are from fatherless homes --U.S. D.H.H.S., Bureau of the Census • 85% of all children that exhibit behavioral disorders come from fatherless homes --Center for Disease Control • 80% of rapists motivated with displaced anger come from fatherless homes ...read more

  • Poem: More Than A Mother  PRO

    Contributed by Michael Mccartney on May 14, 2004
    based on 3 ratings
     | 2,359 views

    B. Poem: MORE THAN A MOTHER When God set the world in place, when He hung the stars up in space, when He made the land and the sea, then He made you and me. He sat back and saw all that was good, He saw things to be as they should. Just one more blessing He had in store; He created a ...read more

  • A Woman Went To Her Doctor With A Whole Catalog ...  PRO

    Contributed by Bruce Howell on Jan 3, 2005
    based on 6 ratings
     | 5,006 views

    A woman went to her doctor with a whole catalog of complaints about her health. He examined her thoroughly and came to the conclusion that there was absolutely nothing wrong with her physically. He was convinced that her problem was due to her negative attitude toward life. She had become filled ...read more

  • Dwight L. Moody Once Told The Fable Of An Eagle ...  PRO

    Contributed by Lou Nicholes on Nov 10, 2004
    based on 3 ratings
     | 3,839 views

    Dwight L. Moody once told the fable of an eagle who was envious of another that could fly better than he could. One day the bird saw a sportsman with a bow and arrow and said to him, “I wish you would bring down that eagle up there.” The man said he would if he had some feathers for his arrow. So ...read more

Related Sermons