More Hot Illustrations for Youth Talks

by Rice, Wayne

• ISBN13: 9780310207689
• ISBN10: 0310207681
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 1996-02-01
• Publisher: Zondervan

Summary

Hot Illustrations for Youth Talks -- Wayne Rice's original collection of stories, parables, and anecdotes -- was an instant bestseller. Youth workers clamored for more. And here they are! Wayne has assembled another 100 illustrations from his own files and from the files of youth ministry's best speakers -- Tony Campolo - Doug Fields - Laurie Polich - Miles McPherson Brennan Manning - Les Christie - Bill McNabb - Joel Lusz -- and many more! Here are all kinds of stories for all kinds of youth talks -- devotionals, Bible lessons, openers, humorous anecdotes, poignant narratives, fables, real-life stories. They're all indexed by topic, and they all work with teenagers. They're just the thing to give your youth talks that extra spark you're looking for. If you've used Hot Illustrations for Youth Talks (or used it up!), welcome to this all new collection. If this is your introduction to Hot Illustrations, you're in for a treat -- and your kids will love you for it!

Table of Contents

Introduction	p. 7
How to choose and use illustrations	p. 9
A Candle in the Darkness	p. 17
A Case of Mistaken Identity	p. 19
A Diet for Losers	p. 21
A Million Frogs	p. 23
A Picture of God	p. 24
A Stranger at the Door	p. 25
A Vision of Jesus	p. 27
A Visit from Space	p. 28
All-Points Bulletin	p. 30
Alligators in Your Pond	p. 31
The Animal School	p. 33
The Antique Vase	p. 35
Are You God?	p. 36
Bad Luck, Good Luck	p. 38
The Balloon Man	p. 39
The Beggar's Rags	p. 42
Blackout!	p. 44
The Bridge Operator	p. 46
The Burning Hut	p. 47
But Is He Safe?	p. 48
The Call of the Barnyard	p. 49
Chippie's Bad Day	p. 51
The Dead Cat	p. 52
Desert Pete	p. 54
The Devil's Triangle	p. 56
The Emperor's Seeds	p. 58
The Empty Chair	p. 61
The Evangelist and the Post Office	p. 63
"Excuse Me" or "Forgive Me"?	p. 64
The Face on the Puzzle	p. 66
Fake Christians	p. 68
Fishing Eagles	p. 69
G.I. Life Insurance	p. 70
Get Off My Back	p. 72
Good Grief!	p. 73
Grab a What?	p. 74
Grandma's Gift	p. 75
Great Answers but No Help	p. 78
Great Babies	p. 79
The Great Dane and the Alligator	p. 80
Haven't I Smelled You Somewhere Before?	p. 82
Help Is on the Way	p. 84
The Horse Trader	p. 86
How Embarrassing!	p. 88
I Ain't Lost	p. 90
Inside the Fence	p. 91
Jesus' Family Tree	p. 92
Jimmy and the Genie	p. 95
Jump!	p. 97
Just a Hyphen	p. 98
The Keeper of the Spring	p. 99
The King's Driver	p. 101
The Lantern	p. 103
Life Inside the Womb	p. 104
Armed for Salvation	p. 106
The Logic Exam	p. 107
Lost and Found	p. 108
Love and the Cabbie	p. 109
Make Me like Joe	p. 112
Medical Terms You Need to Know	p. 114
Melody in F	p. 116
The Mice in the Piano	p. 117
The Milkman's Gift	p. 118
The Mud Flats	p. 119
The Native American and the Cricket	p. 121
The Native American and the Rattlesnake	p. 123
The New Gorilla	p. 125
Nobel's Legacy	p. 127
Not-So-Identical Twins	p. 129
One More Year	p. 131
The Orphan Girl	p. 132
The Painting in the Warehouse	p. 134
Palm Monday	p. 136
Table of Contents	p. 6
Phamous Phobias	p. 137
The President and the Little Boy	p. 138
The Puppy Nobody Wanted	p. 140
The Quaker and the Atheist	p. 142
Rats in the Tub	p. 143
The Reasonable Hunter	p. 144
The Roadkill Grill	p. 145
The Roar of the Crowd	p. 146
Sarge	p. 147
Save the Starfish	p. 149
The Seagull	p. 151
Pinhole Glasses	p. 153
Squirt Squirt	p. 154
Smart Hopis	p. 156
Stephen's Egg	p. 157
Tear it Down	p. 158
Too Helpful	p. 159
Too Much Prayer?	p. 161
True or False?	p. 162
Two Scoops of Anti-Freeze, Lice-Killer with Chocolate Sauce!	p. 164
Unbaptized Arms	p. 166
What Will My Reward Be?	p. 168
When Nothing Goes Right	p. 170
Who, Me?	p. 171
Wolves o' Plenty	p. 173
You Know the Psalm	p. 174
The Zurka Bird	p. 176
Index to topics	p. 178
Index of contributors	p. 184
Table of Contents provided by Publisher. All Rights Reserved.

Excerpts

More Hot Illustrations for Youth Talks: 100 more attention-getting stories, parables, and anecdotes.
Copyright 1995 by Youth Specialties
Youth Specialties products, 300 S. Pierce St., El Cajon, CA 92020, are published by
Zondervan, 5300 Patterson Ave. S.E., Grand Rapids, MI 49503.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Rice, Wayne.
More Hot illustrations for youth talks: 100 more attention-getting stories,
parables, and anecdotes / [compiled by] Wayne Rice.
p. cm.
“Youth Specialties”
Includes index.
ISBN-10: 0-310-20768-1
ISBN-13: 978-0-310-20768-9
1. Youth sermons—Outlines, syllabi, etc. 2. Homiletical illustrations.
I. Rice, Wayne.
BV4310.M67 1995
251.08—dc20 95-35691
CIP
Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture references are taken from the Holy Bible: New
International Version (North American Edition), copyright 1973, 1978, 1984 by the
International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan.
“The Bridge Operator” is adapted with permission from “To Sacrifi ce a Son” by Dennis
Hensley.
Some stories in this book may contain fi ctionalized characters, events, or details. The
illustrations are intended to communicate biblical, faith-related concepts as opposed to
factual or historical accounts. Please use the stories with this in mind.
The material in this book may be photocopied for local use in churches, youth groups, and
other Christian-education activities. Special permission is not necessary. However, the
contents of this book may not be reproduced in any other form without written permission
from the publisher. All rights reserved.
Edited by Noel Becchetti and Lorraine Triggs
Typography and Design by J. Steven Hunt and PAZ Design Group
Printed in the United States of America
01 02 03 04 05 06 07 • 20 19 18 17 16 15 14 13 12 11 10 9

A Candle in the Darkness
Several years ago in Timisoara, Romania, Laszlo Tokes became pastor of
Timisoara’s small Hungarian Reformed Church. Tokes preached the Gospel
boldly, and within two years membership had swelled to fi ve thousand.
But success can be dangerous in a Communist country. Authorities stationed
police offi cers in front of the church on Sundays, cradling machine
guns. They hired thugs to attack Pastor Tokes. They confi scated his ration
book so he couldn’t buy food or fuel. Finally, in December 1989, they decided
to send him into exile.
But when police arrived to hustle Pastor Tokes away, they were stopped
cold. Around the entrance of the church stood a wall of humanity. Members
of other churches—Baptist, Adventist, Pentecostal, Orthodox, Catholic—had
joined together to protest.
Though police tried to disperse the crowd, the people held their post all
day and into the night. Then, just after midnight, a 19-year-old Baptist student
named Daniel Gavra pulled out a packet of candles. He lit one and passed it to
his neighbor.
When Tokes peered out the window, he was struck by the warm glow
refl ecting off hundreds of faces. That moment, he said later, was the “turning
point in my life.” His religious prejudices evaporated. Here were members of
the body of Christ, completely disregarding denominational divisions, joining
hands in his defense.
It was a moving testimony to Christian unity.
The crowd stayed all through the night—and the next night. Finally
police broke through. They bashed in the church door, bloodied Pastor Tokes’
face, then paraded him and his wife through the crowd and out into the night.
But that was not the end.
No, the religious protest led—as it always does—to political protest.
The people streamed to the city square and began a full-scale demonstration
against the Communist government. Again Daniel passed out his candles.
First they had burned for Christian unity; now they burned for freedom.
This was more than the government could tolerate. They brought in
troops and ordered them to open fi re on the crowd. Hundreds were shot.
Young Daniel felt a searing pain as his leg was blown off. But the people of
Timisoara stood bravely against the barrage of bullets.
And by their example they inspired the entire population of Romania.
Within days the nation had risen up and the bloody dictator Ceausescu was
gone.
For the fi rst time in half a century, Romanians celebrated Christmas in
freedom.
Daniel celebrated in the hospital, where he was learning to walk with
crutches. His pastor came to offer sympathy, but Daniel wasn’t looking for
sympathy.
“Pastor, I don’t mind so much the loss of a leg,” he said. “After all, it
was I who lit the fi rst candle.”
The candle that lit up an entire country.
With a candle, a nineteen-year-old boy sparked a revolution that is still being felt
today. Romania is a free country thanks to the efforts of people like Daniel Gavra who were
willing to put their lives on the line for the sake of the Gospel and for basic human rights.
You can make a difference wherever you are if you are willing to take a stand. Don’t
wait for everyone else to do it. Be the fi rst to light your candle.
A Case of Mistaken Identity
Little River Community Church was located just down the street from
First Memorial Church. Since they were located on the same street in the same
town, the two youth groups from the two churches were often competing with
each other. They participated in the same softball league, the same basketball
league, and had become intense rivals. Little River Community was always
trying to outdo First Memorial and vice versa.
One Sunday, following a Bible study on serving others, the youth group
at Little River Community Church decided to go out into their community
and put their faith into action. The youth pastor organized the kids into
“ministry teams” and challenged them go out and to serve others. They could
do anything—but they needed to remember: “Do what Jesus would do.”
So the youth group from Little River Community Church fanned out
into the neighborhood and starting serving. One group washed cars for
people up and down the street. Another group pumped gas for free at a selfservice
gas station. Another group went to a convalescent home and sang
songs to the shut-ins who lived there.
After the time was up, all the ministry teams returned to the church and
reported what they had done. Each group had stories to tell, as they shared
what they learned and how it made them feel.
One of the groups told of how they had gone to serve a woman who
lived close to First Memorial Church. When First Memorial, their rival, was
mentioned, everyone groaned. “We mowed grass, raked leaves and did
yardwork for her,” said one of the students. “She was real nice. And after we
were through, she invited us in and prayed for us. And then she said, ‘You
young people from First Memorial Church are always doing such nice things
for us old folks.’”
“Oh no!” said the youth pastor. “She thought you were from First
Memorial? Well, I hope you set her straight. Did you tell her that you weren’t

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Excerpted from More Hot Illustrations for Youth Talks by Wayne Rice, Zondervan Publishing Staff
All rights reserved by the original copyright owners. Excerpts are provided for display purposes only and may not be reproduced, reprinted or distributed without the written permission of the publisher.