Sermon Illustrations
The Tennis Star Who Hated Tennis
When Andre Agassi's memoir came out, the key revelation of the book was this: Andre Agassi—a former number one ranked player in the world, winner of eight grand slams and millions of dollars—hated tennis. Listen to this:
I hate tennis. I hate it with a dark, secret passion and always have. … I hate tennis, hate it with all my heart, and still I keep playing, keep hitting all morning and all afternoon, because I have no choice. No matter how much I want to stop, I don't. I keep begging myself to stop, and still I keep playing, and this gap, this contradiction between what I want to do and what I actually do, feels like the core of my life.
Possible Preaching Angles: Sin, struggle against; Temptation—In many ways, Agassi's struggle with tennis is like our struggle with sin—we hate it, but we do it anyway.