In Sermon Illustrations: showing 3,401-3,420 of 52,433

The Umpire's Revenge  PRO

Contributed by Josh Hunt on Mar 6, 2013

THE UMPIRE'S REVENGE Forgiveness begins when we give up the quest to get even. This is difficult, because getting even is the natural obsession of the wounded soul. Stories about getting even always capture our attention. It wouldn’t surprise me if revenge is the theme of as many as half the ...read more

Scripture: Ephesians 4:32

Tags: Forgiveness General

Denomination: Baptist

Fans Of Jesus

Contributed by Kevin Karhoff on Mar 5, 2013

FANS OF JESUS Fans of Jesus sooner or later find themselves exhausted. Fans grow tired or trying to maintain an outer appearance that doesn’t match an inner passion. They find themselves weary of trying to keep all the ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 23:13-36

Tags: Jesus Christ

Denomination: Presbyterian/Reformed

Relationships Inside And Out

Contributed by Kevin Karhoff on Mar 5, 2013

RELATIONSHIPS INSIDE AND OUT If I saw our relationship (with his wife) as a bunch of rules I had to keep, I would quickly become bitter and miserable. I would likely rebel and break the rules when she wasn’t paying attention. But I am passionately in love with my wife and that translates into a ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 23:13-36

Tags: Jesus Christ

Denomination: Presbyterian/Reformed

Confession  PRO

Contributed by Joel Sumagaysay on Mar 5, 2013

CONFESSION A dying man said to his wife, "I am about to die but before I die I would like to confess to you that I am not faithful to you as a husband. I have lots of women in my life. Please forgive me." The ...read more

Tags: Adultery

Denomination: Baptist

One Way Fans Try To Follow Jesus Without Denying ...  PRO

Contributed by Kevin Karhoff on Mar 4, 2013

One way fans try to follow Jesus without denying themselves is by compartmentalizing the areas of their lives they don’t want him to have access to. They try to negotiate the terms of the deal. I’ll follow Jesus, but I’m not going to sell my possessions. Don’t ask me to forgive the people who ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 19:16-22

Tags: Jesus Christ

Denomination: Presbyterian/Reformed

Nasa, Britons And The Chicken

Contributed by Ed Vasicek on Mar 4, 2013

Sometimes it DOES take a rocket scientist. 
 Scientists at NASA have developed a gun built specifically to launch dead chickens at the windshields of airliners, military jets and the space shuttle, all traveling at maximum velocity. The idea is to simulate the frequent incidents of ...read more

Tags: Wisdom

Denomination: Independent/Bible

Why Did Jesus Need To Be Baptized?  PRO

Contributed by Jeff Strite on Mar 3, 2013

Why would Jesus need to be baptized by John? Well... Jesus' baptism by John was the beginning of Jesus' ministry. Mark 1:1 starts out: "The BEGINNING of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God" and then Mark starts telling us about Jesus' baptism by John. In Luke 3:23 ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 3:13-15

Tags: Ministry, High Priest, Water Baptism, Jesus' Ministry, Baptism  (view more)  (view less)

Denomination: Christian/Church Of Christ

That's All I Want

Contributed by Suresh Manoharan on Mar 2, 2013

THAT'S ALL I WANT Here, I am prompted to share a humorous yet insightful Church story involving a Sunday school girl. Given the task of reciting the first verse of Psalm 23 before a huge Church crowd (including her anxious parents), this girl is said to have uttered unwittingly out of nervousness ...read more

Tags: Trust

Denomination: *other

Christ Is The Wind, Christianity Is The Sail  PRO

Contributed by Ken Pell on Mar 2, 2013

CHRIST IS THE WIND, CHRISTIANITY IS THE SAIL Does the practice of our religion reflect the God we serve? In Shane Hipps' book, "Selling Water by the River: A Book about the Life Jesus Promised and the Religion that Gets in the Way," he uses an analogy from sailing to express what has happened in ...read more

Scripture: James 1:26-27

Tags: Religion

Denomination: Nazarene

Billy Graham: Choices  PRO

Contributed by Lalachan Abraham on Mar 2, 2013

BILLY GRAHAM: CHOICES Billy Graham said, "The strongest principle of life and blessings lies in our choice. Our life is the sum result of all the choices we make, both consciously and unconsciously. If we can control the process of choosing, we can take control of all aspects of our life. We can ...read more

Scripture: Joshua 24:15

Tags: Wisdom, Payment For Sin

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

Waiting For Kingdom Benefits

Contributed by Jeff Van Wyk on Mar 2, 2013

WAITING FOR KINGDOM BENEFITS My wife and I live in a suburban neighborhood and moved in eleven years ago. I did not spend much time in my garden because there were no trees against the fence and my neighbors could look right into the property. I went to the nursery and bought some trees. They ...read more

Tags: Endurance

Denomination: Charismatic

Where God Is  PRO

Contributed by Davon Huss on Feb 26, 2013

WHERE GOD IS A man offered a little boy, who was returning from a Bible class, a dollar if he would show him where God is. The little boy responded, "Mister, I’ll ...read more

Scripture: Psalm 139:7-10

Tags: God's Omniscience, God's Omnipresence

Denomination: Christian/Church Of Christ

Who Am I?  PRO

Contributed by Lalachan Abraham on Feb 26, 2013

WHO AM I? The German philosopher, Immanuel Kant, used to love to take long walks of a summer evening, meditating and thinking. On one occasion he was seated in a park when a suspicious policeman noticed that he had been there for several hours. The policeman came up to him and said, "What are you ...read more

Scripture: Psalm 8:1-9

Tags: Apologetics General

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

The Lamp Under The Bed  PRO

Contributed by Perry Greene on Feb 25, 2013

THE LAMP UNDER THE BED I heard about a couple who received a set of two horrible bedside table lamps as a wedding present from a distant aunt. Since the lamps were so ugly, this couple didn't want to actually use them, so they put them in storage and bought a nicer set themselves. That worked for ...read more

Tags: Lies

Denomination: Christian/Church Of Christ

Rocky Balboa: Don't Give Up

Contributed by Ted Robinson on Feb 25, 2013

ROCKY BALBOA: DON'T GIVE UP These are the words Rocky Balboa said to his son when he was ready to give up and lead a life of mediocrity: "Let me tell you something you already know. The world ain't all sunshine and rainbows. It is a very mean and nasty place and it will beat you to your knees and ...read more

Tags: Apostasy

Denomination: Pentecostal

My Son's A Sports Repairman  PRO

Contributed by Lance Hostetter on Feb 24, 2013

MY SON'S A SPORTS REPAIRMAN Three ladies were sitting around and bragging about their children. The first one says, "You know my son, he graduated first in his class from Stanford, he’s now a doctor making $250,000 a year in Chicago." The second woman says, "You know my son, he graduated first in ...read more

Scripture: Proverbs 23:25, Proverbs 10:1

Tags: Boasting

Denomination: Christian/Church Of Christ

What Will Your Legacy Be?  PRO

Contributed by Jeff Van Wyk on Feb 24, 2013

WHAT WILL YOUR LEGACY BE? I visited the home of Elvis in Graceland, Tennessee. After so many years after his death, I was amazed at the crowds of people that take the tour and listen to his life’s story. The sad thing is, the story will never change, because he has lived his life and what he has ...read more

Tags: Opportunity

Denomination: Charismatic

The Hummingbird And The Vulture  PRO

Contributed by Gordon Curley on Feb 23, 2013

THE HUMMINGBIRD AND THE VULTURE Both the hummingbird and the vulture fly over the desert. All vultures see is rotting meat, because that is what they look for. They thrive on that diet. But hummingbirds ignore the smelly flesh of dead animals. Instead, they look for the colourful blossoms of ...read more

Scripture: Titus 1:15, Philippians 4:8, Acts 11:23-24, Acts 12:1-25

Tags: Desire

Denomination: Brethren

Story: Some Years Ago, I Attended Called A ...

Contributed by Revd. Martin Dale on Feb 23, 2013

Story: Some years ago, I attended called a conference called “Spring Harvest at Work” in Sheffield (in November 1998). And what was memorable for me was that the conference organisers sprang a surprise interviewee on us – Jim Bakker- a pariah in the Evangelical community. Indeed he was such an ...read more

Tags: Character

Denomination: Anglican

Good News, Bad News

Contributed by Ken Miller on Feb 22, 2013

GOOD NEWS, BAD NEWS A gallery owner tells one of his artists that heÍs got some good new and bad news. The artist asks for the good news first. "Well," he replies, "the good news is that a man came in here today asking if the price of your paintings would go up after you died. When I told him they ...read more

Tags: Disappointment

Denomination: Bible Church