High Cost of Discipleship

A bed sheet with text and/or artwork used as a visual aid to a preacher's sermon. On this particular sermon chart, the large cross functions to focus the audience upon the preacher's central theme of discipleship, i.e. taking up one's cross. Such discipleship is costly, as the preacher emphasizes in both left and right columns. Citing Biblical examples (a total of 51) of sacrifice, cost and devotion, the preacher climaxes the sermon by inviting hearers to embrace a life of Christian discipleship through faith, repentance, confession and baptism. It closes with an exhortation about the costs of and an invitation to the rewards of committed discipleship.
Date: [1900..1960]
Creator: Villines, Frank (1899-1979)
System: The Portal to Texas History

Anything in a Name?

A bed sheet with text and/or artwork used as a visual aid to a preacher's sermon. In this particular sermon chart, the preacher's chief concern is the name by which a local group of Christians is known. A fundamental point underlying this sermon is the conviction that "Bible names unite -- human [names] divide." A name is not a small matter for the church, just as it was significant for Israel. The call, therefore, to hearers is to utilize only 'Bible' or 'Biblical' names for congregations.
Date: [1900..1960]
Creator: unknown
System: The Portal to Texas History

Baptism--its Action and Purpose

A bed sheet with text and/or artwork used as a visual aid to a preacher's sermon. In this particular sermon chart, using Acts 19:1-5 as a key text, the sermon begins with the matter of definitions; first transliterated Greek words, then Webster and finally an array of Bible citations to arrive at a definition of baptism as "burial, planting, washing" (as highlighted in red in the left column). This point is further stressed from Romans 6:17-18 and 1 Corinthians 15:1-4: that the "D.B.R." (death, burial and resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth) is foundational Christian doctrine expressed in the life of a believer in immersion in water. The right column explores the purposes of baptism. For this preacher apparently the fundamental purpose of baptism is to (in red letters) "obey God."
Date: [1900..1960]
Creator: unknown
System: The Portal to Texas History

What Must I Do To Be Saved

A bed sheet with text and/or artwork used as a visual aid to a preacher's sermon. This particular sermon chart presents the fullness of what among Churches of Christ has been called the "Plan of Salvation." He cites three texts from the gospels (prior to the Day of Pentecost in Acts 2) in the first portion; in the second and larger portion he quotes a series of examples of conversion all from the book of Acts. His methodology is to discover in these cases of conversion the presence or absence of certain elements, compile them into a chart, and from the aggregate reason to the "Plan of Salvation." The performance of this plan answers the question "What must I do to be saved?" The constituent parts of the plan as outlined in the chart are: (T)eaching or (H)earing; (B)elief; (R)epentance; (C)onfession and (B)aptism followed by (R)emission of sins or (S)alvation. It is unclear how the mathematical chart functions for the preacher.
Date: [1900..1960]
Creator: unknown
System: The Portal to Texas History

All Blessings in Christ

A bed sheet with text and/or artwork used as a visual aid to a preacher's sermon. On this particular sermon chart, the sermon presents (in purple) the blessings of being "in Christ" with accompanying Biblical references (in black). The emphatic red-letter invitation in the bottom right corner is designed to move the hearer to action.
Date: [1900..1960]
Creator: unknown
System: The Portal to Texas History

Chain of Salvation

A bed sheet with text and/or artwork used as a visual aid to a preacher's sermon. Organized in four distinct sections, this particular sermon chart pursues a golden chain through thirty-nine Bible references. The red-lettered one-word themes progress from the Trinity (Father, Son, Sprit) through the grace and the death of Jesus to the proclamation of the gospel. The chain is complete upon the reception of the "Plan of Salvation" in the life of the believer. It is unclear what "D.B.," "D.M.," "H.B.," and "H.M." represent.
Date: [1900..1960]
Creator: Villines, Frank (1899-1979)
System: The Portal to Texas History

God in the Affairs of Men

A bed sheet with text and/or artwork used as a visual aid to a preacher's sermon. In this particular sermon chart, using green textual references and red summaries, the preacher utilizes Biblical examples of divine-human interaction to motivate his hearers to place themselves where God can "use [them]." The theological bottom line is the chart's closing line: his sermon addresses that which "mold[s] destiny and reward." The question for the hearers is whether they will avail themselves of the preacher's message.
Date: [1900..1960]
Creator: Villines, Frank (1899-1979)
System: The Portal to Texas History

Christ's Coming-How?-What Will Occur?

A bed sheet with text and/or artwork used as a visual aid to a preacher's sermon. In this particular sermon chart, the rationale for the green and blue lettering is unclear: in some cases a subject is highlighted, in others a textual reference. The red-lettered words seem to function to grab the hearers attention. The sermon's plan is clear: present biblical data about the return of Christ, from its nature and character to its timing and results. In what appears to be the climactic illustration of the sudden and dramatic nature of the return of Christ, the preacher refers to "children looking for parents---Johnstown Flood." The Johnstown Flood occurred 31 May 1889 in Johnstown, Pennsylvania; one of the most severe floods of its kind, it claimed the lives of over 2,000 persons.
Date: [1900..1960]
Creator: unknown
System: The Portal to Texas History

Our Duty to Young Folk

A bed sheet with text and/or artwork used as a visual aid to a preacher's sermon. This particular sermon chart begins with God's instruction to Abraham to teach his children. The preacher then elaborates upon the Biblical imperative to instruct and indoctrinate children in the way of God. He spends considerable time in Deuteronomy and Proverbs and cites disastrous examples from the Bible when such instruction went unheeded. He concludes the sermon by citing similar passages from the epistles. He refers to [Robert G.] Ingersoll, noted 19th century agnostic as a counter-example of the influence parents have on children. His emphatic conclusion, lettered large and in red, asks, "Who will be Leaders of Tomorrow?"
Date: [1900..1960]
Creator: unknown
System: The Portal to Texas History

Salvation of Noah-Type

A bed sheet with text and/or artwork used as a visual aid to a preacher's sermon. This particular sermon chart employs typology, an interpretive strategy by which a single concept (in this case salvation) is explained by way of noting similarities between two persons (in this case Noah and the hearers of the sermon). Assuming unity and consistency of the Biblical message, typological interpretation one example serves as a pattern by which or lens through which another is interpreted. For this preacher, the key Biblical text is 1 Peter 3:19-20. It appears considerable time is spent in developing the plan of salvation, particularly baptism.
Date: [1900..1960]
Creator: unknown
System: The Portal to Texas History

Can Folk Be Saved Out of Church?

A bed sheet with text and/or artwork used as a visual aid to a preacher's sermon. Using this particular sermon chart, as the preacher reads down the pages, first the left, then the right page, he traces the meaning of identity in the people of God. He moves quickly to the church, citing Ephesians 1 and Colossians 1. This sermon explores, if only in a basic way, a common understanding of ecclesiology, or the doctrine of the church, among Churches of Christ. By employing imagery of the large book, presumably a Bible, as the backdrop for the chart contents, the preacher reinforces a notion that he speaks only from the Bible. In this way the chart reflects both a doctrinal commitments, but also a persuasive rhetorical strategy.
Date: [1900..1960]
Creator: Villines, Frank (1899-1979)
System: The Portal to Texas History

Can All Understand Bible Alike

A bed sheet with text and/or artwork used as a visual aid to a preacher's sermon. In this particular sermon chart, affirming first that a "guide [is] needed" the preacher stresses the Bible is intended for "plain" or "common folk." Confident of humanity's capacity to "understand" and given the simple nature of the Bible, he stresses therefore that "God demands" humans to be "of one mind" as was the "early church." If his hearers will reject "prejudice," "creeds" and their "lack of study' they too can be "one."
Date: [1900..1960]
Creator: Villines, Frank (1899-1979)
System: The Portal to Texas History

Compromise--Types

A bed sheet with text and/or artwork used as a visual aid to a preacher's sermon. An eight-point sermon with forty-seven citations of Bible texts, this particular sermon chart develops several aspects of "compromise." The root issue for the preacher is the distinctive identity of the Church of Christ: separate from the "world," "human machinery," "union meetings [with other religious groups, specifically "Jews, Catholics, Mormons"]" and "pleasures." The sermon is addressed to church members and therefore is hortatory: do not "compromise." Yet the sermon ends with an evangelistic thrust in points VII and VIII. The preacher appeals to men who say "let women & children go." He appeals to any hearer to "take your stand" before it is "too late."
Date: [1900..1960]
Creator: Villines, Frank (1899-1979)
System: The Portal to Texas History

Resurrection of Christ

A bed sheet with text and/or artwork used as a visual aid to a preacher's sermon. This particular sermon chart illustrates a sermon in four points. The main thrusts of each are: Jesus was "really dead," the tomb was empty, if the resurrection was a "vision or hallucination," and the many witnesses of the life and ministry of Jesus. The final point transitions into an appeal based on the evidence presented. Affirming from the four points that Jesus' "right to authority" is unquestionable, the preacher finally "declares our faith" urging hearers to "...obey him...live for Him and be Ready."
Date: [1900..1960]
Creator: unknown
System: The Portal to Texas History

Love For The Truth of God

A bed sheet with text and/or artwork used as a visual aid to a preacher's sermon. In this particular sermon chart, the story of Ahab (King of Israel) and the prophet Micaiah in 1 Kings 22 form the introduction to this sermon. In it Micaiah speaks truth to power, inciting the king's hatred. Citing numerous examples from the Bible wherein, like Ahab, truth was despised by some character in the story, the preacher affirms "truth is important." He relishes from the Psalms the beauty of truth, working ultimately to the conclusion that the Bible "all the truth" as given to the apostles. It remains then to "obey it to be saved." The chart's backdrop, presumably an open Bible, adds strength to the sermon's persuasive power further conveying that the Bible is truth and that the sermon is derived solely from the Bible.
Date: [1900..1960]
Creator: Villines, Frank (1899-1979)
System: The Portal to Texas History

Little Red String

A bed sheet with text and/or artwork used as a visual aid to a preacher's sermon. This particular sermon chart is very likely designed to attract attention and pique interest, and the "little red string" becomes a metaphor for the importance of precision obedience. The central motif "marks of identity" is especially important to the preacher; his wish is that his hearers "hang up blood line in our life, Eph. 1:7." Just as Rahab (see Joshua 6:18) obeyed using "not white [or] yellow [but] red string," so modern believers must likewise precisely obey God in the matters detailed on the chart's right column.
Date: [1900..1960]
Creator: unknown
System: The Portal to Texas History

Heaven

A bed sheet with text and/or artwork used as a visual aid to a preacher's sermon. This particular sermon chart is one of the simpler charts in the collection, titled only "Heaven." It presents fifty-nine citations of Bible texts with short descriptions or phrases from each. In this sermon the preacher rarely moves outside of these citations. He brings two questions before the audience: "[Will we] Know each other There?" and "When [will] We Go There?" Recognition among humans in heaven is at least "different" from earthly knowledge. More specifically "no apostles ever talked about family reunions." The answer to his second question is "not until the 'Resurrection [and] Judgment.' The conclusion is evangelistic and hortatory: "Get ready before too late!"
Date: [1900..1960]
Creator: unknown
System: The Portal to Texas History

Supreme, Universal, Final Authority of Christ

A bed sheet with text and/or artwork used as a visual aid to a preacher's sermon. On this particular sermon chart, the stylized hands flanking the cross, with fingers pointing to it, emphasize the sermon's main point. The colored lettering emphasizes, strikingly, the same point. Setting up a contrast against the three branches of the US Federal Government (Legislative-Judicial-Executive), the preacher declares Christ is "LORD of ALL" and "HEAD in ALL."
Date: [1900..1960]
Creator: unknown
System: The Portal to Texas History

The Gospel Paul Preached

A bed sheet with text and/or artwork used as a visual aid to a preacher's sermon. Using bold black letters with red Bible citations and gold highlighting, this particular sermon chart outlines the essential characteristics and contours and content of Paul's preaching. The sermon moves from the divine origin of Paul's message with its cross-centered focus to delineate its several aspects and implications. The right column transitions to a presentation of the 'plan of salvation.' Grounding it first in the "blood of Christ" and in the proclamation of the gospel (rather than any "direct work" of the Holy Spirit), the preacher "persuade[s] all to be Christians." Marked by gold flourishes, the preacher emphasizes the plan of salvation, especially so concerning baptism. He concludes by inviting introspection, asking "Is this what YOU did?"
Date: [1900..1960]
Creator: unknown
System: The Portal to Texas History

What Think Ye of Christ?

A bed sheet with text and/or artwork used as a visual aid to a preacher's sermon. In this particular sermon chart, the preacher marshals nine types of evidence to build a case for faith in and obedience to Christ. The evidence he uses is first the testimony of a series of Jesus' enemies, followed by that of his friends and himself. Following this are prophecy, miracles, additional friendly testimony and angelic testimony. Approaching the climax the preacher recites divine testimony and even nature itself. You have "all to gain; nothing to lose" as he exhorts his audience. You are either "for him or against him..."
Date: [1900..1960]
Creator: unknown
System: The Portal to Texas History

Saved by Grace-Eph 2:8

A bed sheet with text and/or artwork used as a visual aid to a preacher's sermon. In this particular sermon chart, the preacher understands grace to be the organizing principle undergirding the seven means of salvation cited in the upper left column. Each appears to emerge from grace. Next the preacher presents the plan of salvation ([H]ear, [B]elieve, [R]epent, [C]onfess, [B]aptism) as it was also practiced by the Ephesians. Further, Paul was also "saved by grace" in this manner. It appears the second set of abbreviations stand for faith, repentance, baptism and obedience in the grace and blood of Christ. The final appeal, "Why should his great love -- grace -- blood be in vain?" draws the hearers to the point of decision and closes the sermon on an evangelistic note.
Date: [1900..1960]
Creator: Villines, Frank (1899-1979)
System: The Portal to Texas History

What Kind of Hearers Are You?

A bed sheet with text and/or artwork used as a visual aid to a preacher's sermon. In this particular sermon chart, using green-lettered descriptors or phrases set off against purple Bible citations, the preacher organizes a series of examples from across the Biblical canon. Beginning with Adam, Cain and the Flood, he proceeds to Jesus' parables with additional examples from the Hebrew Bible (Balaam and Naaman). The right column is shaded in a hortatory tone, moving through numerous examples to an emphatic conclusion. The preacher having stated the facts clearly and citing James 4:17 (To one who knows the right thing to do and does not do it, to him it is sin), asks "Do You Know Your Duty?"
Date: [1900..1960]
Creator: unknown
System: The Portal to Texas History

General, Future, Final Judgment

A bed sheet with text and/or artwork used as a visual aid to a preacher's sermon. A sermon in ten points, this particular sermon chart straightforwardly lists various aspects of judgment. There appears to be no unifying theme running through the ten categories that demands of them their particular sequence. The preacher cites seventy-two total Bible passages.
Date: [1900..1960]
Creator: Villines, Frank (1899-1979)
System: The Portal to Texas History

Divine and Human Sides of Salvation

A bed sheet with text and/or artwork used as a visual aid to a preacher's sermon. On this particular sermon chart, the left column develops the initiative taken by God for human salvation. Drawing from several texts, the center of gravity in the preacher's thought appears to be 'grace.' The human side, in a word, is subsumed under 'faith.' Two ideas recur in both columns: one, a question: "Does grace forbid or demand obedience?" while the other states God "is dependent/depends" on humans. In his "grace" God offers a "plan" by which in "faith" persons acquire salvation. In the sermon's inner logic humans depends on God for grace, and God depends on persons for obedience to his plan. Together, grace, blood, faith and obedience secure salvation. The conclusion ties these concepts together.
Date: [1900..1960]
Creator: Villines, Frank (1899-1979)
System: The Portal to Texas History