Sermon Illustrations

ILLUSTRATION: I was working in a hospital in the Facility Safety Department as the night supervisor. I received a call from the E.R. nurse that they needed someone to watch a patient in one of the rooms. The man wanted to leave because, as he said, "I just have a scratch." The man couldn’t see what we could see. He had a very serious cut on his head. When no one was in the room but the man and myself he started to weep and ask God to forgive him and he began to confess his unworthiness. I knew it was time for me to allow the Holy Spirit to minister to this man, so I went over to him and quitely, gently and compassionately told the man God knew who and where he was and what he was going though. The man stopped wimpering and started thanking God. Several days later the man was back in the E.R. and when I helped him into a wheelchair, he started cursing because of the pain. I thought, "This man didn’t change." I realized then that God blessed even though he knows the man would revert to his prior ways. Jesus healed all that came to Him in faith, knowing some of them would probably revert to their sinful ways. In the E.R. my obligation had been clear, "Be ready to give a reason for the hope that burns within us."