Sermon Illustrations

COURAGE: BREAKING THE BARRIER

Seek courage and strength to move out of your comfort zone.

You will need it. Even the smallest of changes even if they are for the best disrupts our relational systems. Without courage, without trusted companions, and with strength, growth and maturity will never happen.

It was 1947 and nobody had broken the sound barrier. Some thought that it couldn’t be done. Some thought that it literally was a wall. 760 mph. Some thought that no matter how well a plane was built, it would literally be smashed to pieces.

Chuck Yeager was invited to be a test pilot that broke the sound barrier. Colonel Body, his superior, said, "Nobody knows for sure what happens until somebody gets there. Chuck, you’ll be flying into the unknown."

After nine attempts on October 14, 1947, Yeager finally broke the sound barrier. He later wrote, "I was thunderstruck. After all the anxiety, breaking the sound barrier turned out to be a perfectly paved speedway.. After all the anticipation it was really a let down. The 'unknown' was a poke through Jell-O."

Your life like Chuck’s airplane will shake in the process of maturing into the person God wants you to be. The stuff of your life is unaccustomed to this type of pressure. But God is with you and behind you. His grace is sufficient. I think that you find freedom on the other side. Like a friend of mine has said, "I don’t know why I waited so long do it."

Augustine prayed, "Grant, Lord, that I may know myself that I may know thee." Perhaps you can make that your prayer today.

(From a sermon by Mark Eberly, Jesus Reveals Our Temptations, 10/19/2009)

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