Sermons & Devotionals by Denis Lyle

She tried lying on her back. She tried lying on her front. She tried curling up on her side in a tight little ball, but still she felt it! Her host had piled mattress upon mattress to bear her tender frame, yet she tossed fitfully through the night and slept not a wink. "A nasty, painful lump afford... Read More

" What's the trouble, Dr. Brooks" That was the question once put to Dr. Philip Brooks, a famous American preacher. The inquirer had come upon him pacing his study like a caged lion. "The trouble I'm in a hurry, and God isn't. That's the trouble". Without doubt one of the lessons in God's school hard... Read More

One of the most baffling and yet blessed experiences in the school of God is the Discipline of Denial. Someone has suggested that God answers prayer in three ways: Sometimes the Lord says "Yes", (1 Sam 1:12) sometimes He says, "No", (2 Cor 12:9) and sometimes He says, "Wait". (Jn 11:3) I think the l... Read More

Frustration is a word often mispronounced. It is often mistakenly called " flustration", or "flusteration". Whatever one names it, frustration is a destructive emotion. What is it Most of us have a fairly accurate idea. It is the emotion of conflict which courses through our systems, making us miffe... Read More

Try and visualise the following scenes in your mind. Scene number 1: A young girl sits in a lonely room thinking of the circumstances that have recently come to pass. Plans had been formulated for a wedding with the boy of her dreams but seemingly out of nowhere, conflicts arose and there will be no... Read More

F.W. Robertson died at the age of thirty seven. In 1851, twelve years before his death, he was visiting Geneva, hoping to restore both his faith and his broken health. He visited the celebrated Swiss leader Henri Caesar Malan, who, looked at Robertson shook his head and declared, "You will have a sa... Read More

In 1892 after a year of intensive work in Great Britain, D.L.Moody sailed for home, eager to get back to his family and work. The ship left Southampton amid many farewells. About three days out into the ocean, the ship ground to a halt with a broken shaft and before long it began to take water. Need... Read More

Some years ago a Christian walking along a London street passed a Roman Catholic Chapel. Outside the Chapel was a billboard to which was pasted a poster intimating the title of a popular lecture to be given inside. The title took the form of a question and the question was this: "What is the Roman C... Read More

Reading: Daniel 12:1-13 THE GREAT TRIBULATION Thomas Carlyle the craggy Scots philosopher was once summoned to an audience by Queen Victoria. The Queen was worried about the way affairs were going in her realm, and very anxious to have the philosophers opinion as to how they were likely to work out.... Read More

2 Kings 5: 20-27 THE HELPER WHO GOT GREEDY There is a legend from India concerning a mouse, which was terrified of cats. A magician agreed to help him and transformed the mouse into a cat. That seemed to resolve his fears until he came face to face with a dog. He took his case to the magician who ch... Read More

Reading: John 16:1-14 3. THE HOLY SPIRIT... AND CHRIST On one occasion Dr. Campbell Morgan asked R.W. Dale, pastor of the great Congregational Church in Birmingham, England how he managed to preach such solid doctrine in his Sunday morning sermons. "How do your people react to such heavy teaching " ... Read More

Reading: 2 Peter 1:16-21 2. THE HOLY SPIRIT AND THE OLD TESTAMENT Some people don't there is a Holy Spirit because they cannot see the Holy Spirit. I heard about a cynic who was talking to a Christian one time about this. He said, " I don't believe there is a Holy Spirit. I can't see any Holy Spirit... Read More

2 Kings 9: 1-13 10: 28-31 THE IMPORTANCE OF DELEGATING RESPONSIBILITY. Most people who hold positions of responsibility find it difficult to delegate authority. Do you recall the epitaph on the tombstone of the business executive "This cemetery is full of people who thought they were indispensable".... Read More

2 Kings 8:7-15 THE PROBLEM OF DEPRAVITY A special edition of TIME MAGAZINE entitled "Beyond the Year 200: What to expect in the Next Millennium", recently gave us a glimpse into the near future. As Time's editors and sociologists projected into the future, the view was not a pretty one. What will US... Read More

2 Kings 4:38-41 THE PROBLEM OF RATIONALISM Long ago, one of England's greatest preachers, Joseph Parker, preached a mighty sermon on the stupidity of the specialists. His text was from (1 Pet 2) concerning the stone which the builders rejected... the builders of all people, mind you,... the experts,... Read More

Daniel 11:36-45 THE RISE OF ANTICHRIST AND ARMAGEDDON The following letter to the editor appeared in TIME magazine concerning a certain diplomatic figure of a few years ago. "A man who does not make value judgements could be dangerous. A man who does not ask who is right may operate with a blank and... Read More

Reading: 2 Kings 6:24... 7:2 16, THE SIEGE OF SAMARIA History is punctuated with the remarkable stories of the heroism of besieged communities, who performed acts of incredible bravery against tremendous odds. Indeed so inspiring are these stories that in the 20th century films have been made of som... Read More

Reading: 2 Kings 7:3-16 THE SIN OF SILENCE A woman in a mid-Western town in the USA some years ago took an unusual method of testifying to her faith in Christ. Her friends for the most part were lukewarm and indifferent. Nominal Christians one might call them. So one day when she knew they would be ... Read More

It was an American Dream kind of day: blue sky, warm autumnal sunshine, and thousands of New Yorkers making for their jobs in Manhattan's thriving financial district. Then, abruptly the American dream was shattered. At 8.45am, the silhouette of a Boeing 767 airliner grew alarmingly large over the is... Read More

Centuries ago there lived in Greece an eccentric philosopher named Diogenes. He lived in a tub and had other whimsical ways of protesting against the rampant materialism of his day. One day at high noon he was found wandering about the crowded streets of Athens, with a lighted lantern in his hand as... Read More