[Propertalk] 1 Thessalonian 1:1-10 illustrations for Oct. 18 from LectionAid

[Joe Parrish]

A woman owned a canary which she greatly valued and to which she was       affecctionately devoted because it sang so beautifully. Mellow and trilling       were the cheery notes with which the lovely little creature bright-ened       her day.
    
A neighbor boy had caught a sparrow and placed it in a cage, hoping       to keep it as a pet. The woman and the boy thought it would be a good idea       to try to teach the sparrow to sing like the canary. So they placed the       cages side by side, hoping that the glorious songs of the canary would be       a "good example" to the sparrow whose musical repertoire was more       limited.
    
Well, it just didn't work out that way. After three weeks, not only       did the sparrow fail to sing like the canary, but our yellow-feathered friend       was capable of only a mild "cheep, cheep."
    
The "good" is not always necessarily a stronger example than       the "bad." Only by imitating Christ can one's life out-influence       the down-pulling forces.
    
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Along a similar vein is the man who tried to enter his mule in the Kentucky       Derby. He knew the animal had no chance to win, but he loved the animal       and felt the association would do him good.
    
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Reinhold Niebuhr, son of a German immigrant, was born in 1892 in Wright       City, Missouri. His father, an Evangelical pastor, was a remarkable man       who read the Bible in Greek and Hebrew every morn-ing and who reflected       brilliance, piety, and human warmth within the family circle. Once asked       why he had entered the ministry Niebuhr replied, "I was thrilled by       my father's sermons and regarded has as the most interesting man in our       town. So what should I do but be a minister, in his image? (taken from Wilderness       Voices, by Bishop Armstrong, Abingdon, p. 65).



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