In Sermon Illustrations: showing 61-80 of 52,512

Deconstruction, Deconstruction, Deconstruct, Decon....

Contributed by Martin Spoelstra on Sep 20, 2024

One cannot insist that all truth claims are power plays, that all truth claims destroy freedom. C. S. Lewis writes in The Abolition of Man: “But you cannot go on ‘explaining away’ forever: you will find that you have explained explanation itself away. You cannot go on ‘seeing through’ things ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 28:16, John 18:38, Acts 26:25

Tags: Doubt, Truth, Objective Truth, Deconstructing Faith

Denomination: Presbyterian/Reformed

You Cannot Swim To Hawaii

Contributed by Martin Spoelstra on Sep 20, 2024

If you put three swimmers on the coast of California and ask them to swim to Hawaii, the Olympic swimmer might swim 500 miles before she dies. The second swimmer might be a good swimmer and swim 25 miles before he dies. The last swimmer does not know how to swim very well and swims only one mile ...read more

Scripture: Deuteronomy 29:29, John 8:58, Matthew 25:31-33

Tags: Jesus Is The Way, Other Religions

Denomination: Presbyterian/Reformed

A Superior Love

Contributed by David Tack on Sep 18, 2024

“The strenuous Christian mandate of extending unconditional love towards those that hate you is a fatiguing duty for the soldiers of the cross of Christ! In the heat of a damning spiritual warfare, when the spiritual defensive battlefronts are diminishing, the fleshly armaments derived from the ...read more

Scripture: John 3:16, Romans 5:7-8, Ephesians 2:4-7

Tags: Love, Unconditional, Soldier

Denomination: Baptist

Revival

Contributed by David Tack on Sep 18, 2024

“Revival is the working of God. Faithfulness to the ordinary with expectations to the extraordinary should be considered when dealing with the astounding workings of our miraculous God. By ordinary I mean bible preaching, prayer, and evangelism! These are fundamental essentials. If one is ...read more

Scripture: 2 Chronicles 7:14

Tags: Revival, Extraordinary

Denomination: Baptist

Unconditional Love In Marriage-Tertullian

Contributed by Martin Spoelstra on Sep 15, 2024

If the marriage is healthy, unconditional love moves the spouses to forgive each other and help one another overcome ingrained habits and difficult behavioural patterns. Church Father Tertullian wrote of this sort of marriage, “How beautiful, then, the marriage of two Christians, two who are one ...read more

Scripture: Romans 8:38, 1 Corinthians 13:4-8

Tags: Love, Marriage, One Flesh, Unconditional Love

Denomination: Presbyterian/Reformed

How Wide And Long And High And Deep Is The Love Of Christ?

Contributed by Martin Spoelstra on Sep 14, 2024

In the last century, Napoleon's armies opened a prison that the Spanish Inquisition had used. They found the remains of a prisoner who had been incarcerated for his faith. The dungeon was underground. The body had long since decayed. Only a chain fastened around an ankle bone cried out his ...read more

Scripture: Ephesians 3:14-19, Romans 8:38-39

Tags: Hope, Suffering, Unconditional Love, Christ's Love

Denomination: Presbyterian/Reformed

Knowing Scripture

Contributed by Andrew Moffatt on Sep 11, 2024

A bit of an aside, when we were in Sri Lanka, I had the opportunity to attend the opening of one of the well projects in the east. Rochelle went to all of them because she ran the projects. The reason these wells were being placed in villages was because many people in the East didn’t have a good ...read more

Scripture: Psalm 10:17

Tags: Scripture, Belief, Support, Encouragement, Life Change, Opportunity, Disease, Drought, Projects, Good Water, Bad Water, The Afflicted, Eternal Change  (view more)  (view less)

Denomination: Salvation Army

Unsung Heroes: Nebuzaradan Of Babylon

Contributed by Jonathan Spurlock on Sep 7, 2024

Introduction: Many unsung heroes in the Bible were Hebrews or Israelites. That wasn’t always the case, though. There were some people who were not even Jewish or from Israel, but they did some very noble things indeed. Here’s the story of one such unsung hero: 1 His kindness towards the people of ...read more

Scripture: Jeremiah 39:8-14, Jeremiah 40:1-6

Tags: Jeremiah, Unsung Heroes, Nebuzaradan

Denomination: Baptist

What Happened To My Little Piggy Bank

Contributed by James Snyder on Sep 7, 2024

This week, I had to do something I hadn't done before: go to the bank and deal with fraud in my checking account. Someone tried to write a check for $1800 from my account. Fortunately, I didn't have that much money in my account, and I was a little provoked by this incident. How dare ...read more

Scripture: 1 Timothy 6:10

Tags: Money, Banks, Savings

Denomination: Christian Missionary Alliance

Pray The Book Of Psalms

Contributed by Davon Huss on Sep 4, 2024

Wesley and Stacey Campbell describe in their book Praying the Bible: The Pathway to Spirituality: A few years ago, we were ministering in the mountains of Puebla, which is about a 4 hour drive from Mexico City. The situation was most desperate. The Indians of the area lived in villages built ...read more

Scripture: Psalm 119:164

Tags: Bible, Psalms, Prayer

Denomination: Christian/Church Of Christ

Unsung Heroes At The 'battle Of The Ditches'!

Contributed by Jonathan Spurlock on Aug 30, 2024

Introduction: Ask any veteran or anyone who served in the military for the strangest duty they ever performed and you may get some interesting replies! The soldiers in this story were asked (!) to put down their swords and take up some shovels in order to dig a lot of ditches! This story also has ...read more

Tags: Jehoshaphat, Elisha, Unsung Heroes, Ditches

Denomination: Baptist

Please Be My Guest

Contributed by Martin Spoelstra on Aug 29, 2024

My son and I visited Honduras several years ago, just before the pandemic. Compassion Canada workers escorted us to the home of a family that was receiving some of the funds we had raised for our sponsored children. The idea was to see how those gifts had been able to change dramatically the ...read more

Scripture: Luke 10:7, Matthew 25:38, Romans 12:13, 1 Corinthians 10:27

Tags: Guest, Hospitality, Receiving

Denomination: Presbyterian/Reformed

Simeon The Pillar Hermit

Contributed by Martin Spoelstra on Aug 28, 2024

Simeon was probably like most boys his age in A.D. 403. The 13-year-old spent much of his time caring for his father's flocks on the hillside of Cilicia. But one day, while listening to a sermon on the beatitudes, stirred and changed he left his home and family and began a lifelong pursuit of ...read more

Scripture: Revelation 3:20

Tags: Separation, Holiness, Finding God, Monks, Intimacy With God  (view more)  (view less)

Denomination: Presbyterian/Reformed

The Price Has Been Paid For You

Contributed by Martin Spoelstra on Aug 28, 2024

The story is told of a young man who left the old country and sailed to America to make a new life in the new world. Before he left, his father pressed some money in his hand. It wasn't much, but it was all he had. He hoped it would tide the boy over until he found a job. His mother handed him ...read more

Scripture: Ephesians 2:13-14

Tags: Good News, Barriers, Intimacy With God, Missing Out

Denomination: Presbyterian/Reformed

Cheering For Clothes

Contributed by Davon Huss on Aug 28, 2024

I love sports. Lately, I have been unable to watch sports so instead I go to ESPN and look at the stats for my favorite teams. Chicago Cubs (this year they are pathetic), North Carolina Tarheels basketball, Indiana Pacers NBA and now the Indiana Fever (Love Caitlin Clark). Been to several of the ...read more

Scripture: 1 Chronicles 29:11

Tags: Worship, Sports

Denomination: Christian/Church Of Christ

Paul And Silas Prison - Chains Of Praise

Contributed by Edward Hardee on Aug 26, 2024

Paul and Silas in Prison I wonder what it was like in the prison cell. Chained up hands and feet. Behind bars. Waiting on God. Maybe for a moment there was silence. Processing. Maybe wondering whether or not they were going to be the next martyrs. Then Silas shuffles and the chains rattle. Paul ...read more

Scripture: Acts 16:16-24

Tags: Praise, Chains

Denomination: Church Of God

Why Isn't The Book Of Enoch In Our Bible?

Contributed by Dr. Larry Petton on Aug 24, 2024

This question illuminates one of those painful intersections between theology and church history: the canonization of Scripture. Throughout church history, many books have been scrutinized by theologians, and before those theologians, other theologians, and before such, were the members of the ...read more

Tags: Scripture, Holy Spirit, Inspiration, Enoch, Inerrancy, Church History, Canon, Book Of Enoch  (view more)  (view less)

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

President George Washinton's Prayer

Contributed by Dr. Larry Petton on Aug 24, 2024

PRESIDENT GEORGE WASHINGTON'S PRAYER FOR THE UNITED STATES: I now make it my earnest prayer, that God would have the United States in his holy protection, that he would incline the hearts of the Citizens to cultivate a spirit of subordination and obedience to Government, to entertain a ...read more

Scripture: Jeremiah 33:3

Tags: Prayer, Intercession, Revival, Nation, United States, Presidents  (view more)  (view less)

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

Was The Church Chosen To Replace The Fallen Angels?

Contributed by Dr. Larry Petton on Aug 24, 2024

Augustine believed that God created the order of angels to exist in a perfect harmonic balance with one another which was subsequently lost due to the fall of Satan (and those who followed Satan in his rebellion). This showed the tragedy which developed as a result of Satan’s rebellion. Not only ...read more

Scripture: Revelation 12:1-4

Tags: Church, Worship, Heaven, Satan, Angels, Demons, Rebellion, Spirits, Sovereignty Of God, Devils  (view more)  (view less)

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

I Didn’t Lose My Marbles They Just Retired

Contributed by James Snyder on Aug 24, 2024

For some people, getting old is a real challenge. And it probably is for many people, but it hasn't been too much of an issue for me. Don't let this get out, but getting old has been more of a blessing than a curse for me. I thought it would be terrible and didn't know what I would do ...read more

Scripture: Psalm 143:5

Tags: Age, Memory

Denomination: Christian Missionary Alliance