Sermon Illustrations
Gold Medal Winning Skater Fell, and Got Up, 41,600 Times
Former figure skater Scott Hamilton won the National and World Championships in 1981 before winning a gold medal at the 1984 Olympic. Hamilton and his wife Tracie have four children, including two children adopted form Haiti. He's also a committed follower of Christ. While he was pursuing his success as a skater, he once said he dropped out of church involvement and started what he jokingly called "The Church of Scott." But through the love of his wife and other Christians, he came to a sincere faith in Christ.
Rooted in his faith, Hamilton had an interesting take on dealing with personal sin and failure. In a 2018 New York Times interview Hamilton said: "I calculated once how many times I fell during my skating career—41,600 times. But here's the funny thing: I got up 41,600 times. That's the muscle you have to build in your psyche—the one that reminds you to just get up."