Sermon Illustrations

Dr. Herbert Jackson was a missionary to the Philippines. He tells a story about something that happened to him when he was just getting started on the mission field. He was given a car that wouldn't start without a push, so he quickly devised different ways of getting that car started without him having to push it. He would park the car on a hill; or leave it running. One-time he even went to a school near his home and got the children out of class to push the car to get it started. He did this kind of thing for two years. Then, when a new missionary came, Dr. Jackson was showing him the car, proudly explaining all the creative methods he used to get around the starting problem. While he was talking, the new man looked under the hood, saw that the problem was a loose cable, tightened it, turned on the ignition, and guess what … the car started! Can you imagine Dr. Jackson's embarrassment. He had spent two years without ever finding out what the problem was, and how easy it was to fix, because he had been satisfied to make do with a car that needed a push to get started.

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