Login Video Help for Logging In   E-mail Password
  Forgot password?    My Account 
illustrationssermon buildersmediapreaching skills
help & info
 search 
by: Topic or Word | Bible Reference



• Browse Illustrations 
• Lectionary 

ILLUSTRATION
New Year's Sunday: "Clean House"
Printer view
Topics: Christian life; Cleansing; Purification; Renewal; Repentance; Sanctification; Spiritual formation; Spiritual growth
Filters: Editor's Choice; Free; Pop Culture; Stories
References: 2 Chronicles 29, Psalm 139:23-24, 2 Timothy 2:20-21
Tone: Commend

Clean House is the name for a new show on the Style Channel where experts in cleaning, organizing, remodeling, and painting sweep into a cluttered home with the purpose of leaving it more comfortable, attractive, and livable. The experts face the challenges of clothes strewn across the floor, bulging cabinets, closets filled from top to bottom, filled counter tops, and overflowing kitchens, bedrooms, bathrooms, and living rooms—not a clean room in the house!

The experts' first step is to take an inventory of all the "stuff." Then, decisions are made about what to sell at a yard sale and what to keep. The home's inhabitants hesitate and hold on to favorite clothes from years gone by, childhood keepsakes, space-taking trivia, but then they yield. The sale is held, and money comes in to help with the makeover. Then the family leaves, and the work begins.

Rooms are cleaned out, redone for more efficiency and attractiveness, and repainted. Curtains are hung, cabinets set in, and walls decorated. A transformation takes place, and when the family returns, what a difference it makes! Any nervous anticipation quickly gives way to excitement and laughter when the family sees what's taken place. "Thank you, thank you," the family says often amid smiles and tears.

In the spiritual realm, there comes a time for each of us to "take inventory" of what's in our hearts, get rid of some things, and do some repairing and remodeling. And like the families on the show, we have an expert in remodeling and renovation—Jesus Christ—who can make our makeover an astounding success.

share this pageshare this page
 user ratings
Average Rating:  by 1 member. (Members, please login to rate this item.)


Sign up for a membership:

Monthly
Yearly




Free Newsletters
Preaching Connection
(weekly)  
Leadership Weekly  




RSS Feeds  
Illustrations
Sermon Builders
Media
Preaching Skills


Sunday, March 21, 2010
Fifth Sunday in Lent
Isaiah 43:16-21
Psalm 126 or Psalm 119:9-16
Philippians 3:4b-14
John 12:1-8





The Practical Journal for Church Leaders

Subscribe to Leadership journal