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The Quiet Sermon
A member of a certain church, who previously had
been attending services regularly, stopped going.
After a few weeks, the pastor decided to visit
him.
It was a chilly evening. The pastor found the man
at home alone, sitting before a blazing fire.
Guessing the reason for his pastors visit, the man
welcomed him, led him to a comfortable chair near
the fireplace and waited.
The pastor made himself at home but said nothing.
In the grave silence, he contemplated the dance of
the flames around the burning logs. After some
minutes, the pastor took the fire tongs, carefully
picked up a brightly burning ember and placed it
to one side of the hearth all alone. Then he sat
back in his chair, still silent. The host watched
all this in quiet contemplation.
As the one lone ember's flame flickered and
diminished, there was a momentary
glow and then its fire was no more. Soon it was
cold and dead.
Not a word had been spoken since the initial
greeting. The Pastor glanced at his watch and
realized it was time to leave. He slowly stood
up, picked up the cold, dead ember and placed it
back in the middle of the fire. Immediately it
began to glow, once more with the light and warmth
of the burning coals around it.
As the pastor reached the door to leave, his host
said with a tear running down his cheek, "Thank
you so much for your visit and especially for the
fiery sermon. I shall be back in church next
Sunday."
We live in a world today, which tries to say too
much with too little. Consequently, few listen.
Sometimes the best sermons are the ones left
unspoken.
This is an amazing picture! The "longer" you look
at this picture, the "more" you see. Look at the
lines the artist used to draw this picture of
Christ.. It is one
of the scenes from Christ's life. |