Message Illustrations, For Free!

Okay you preaching studs. Two stories in the paper last week are RIPE for sermon illustrations and since I’m not preaching this year, you can just consider me your research assistant. I’ll give them to you for free:

#1: Trina Johnson-Finn is a Toni Braxton impersonator. She was booked to perform a Braxton impersonation at a private birthday party in Suriname (in South America). But she wasn’t told the truth. Actually it was a promoter who sold tickets ($53 each) for a Braxton concert, and tried to pass Johnson-Finn off as the real thing. The crowd of 3,000 quickly realized she wasn’t the real thing and threw things at her. She realized what the promoter had done, reported him to the police, but they arrested her, and she spent the last three months in jail for falsely impersonating Braxton.
– What does it illustrate? Well, you could use it for a number of things. One is that there are a lot of times when you can get by as a cheap substitute for Jesus, but there are certain situations where if you’re not truly like Him, you will be exposed…

#2: Orlando Magic reserve Marcin Gortat has a shoe contract with Reebok. The problem is that he has a Nike logo tattooed on his right leg. Reebok has asked him to cover it up, but Gortat refuses, claiming that it helped him get to the NBA.
– What does it illustrate? Well, duh.