Sermon Illustrations

Rare Copy of Declaration of Independence Discovered at Garage Sale

As Stan Caffy and his fiancé prepared to get married, they cleaned out their respective garages and sold everything to Goodwill. Between the two of them, they sold an assortment of clothes, bicycles, tools, computer parts, and a tattered copy of the Declaration of Independence that had been hanging in Stan’s garage for 10 years.

Well, Stan’s trash turned out to be another man’s treasure.

That particular version of the Declaration of Independence was a rare copy made in 1823. A man named Michael Sparks spotted it, purchased the document for $2.48, and then later auctioned it off for $477,650. Not a bad profit.

Later, Caffy, the previous owner, commented, "I’m happy for the Sparks guy. If I still had it, it would still be hanging here in the garage, and I still wouldn’t know it was worth all that." (Associated Press, Sold! One Declaration of Independence Copy, MSNBC.com, 3-23-07; www.PreachingToday.com)

That describes some Christians. They like to have Jesus hanging around, but they don’t know what He’s worth. They don’t realize what they have in Jesus Christ. My dear friends, let’s not forget the supreme treasure we have that is Christ.

(From a sermon by C. Philip Green, The Blind See, 10/28/2009)

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