In Sermon Illustrations: "Ephesians 4:17-5:1" showing 41-60 of 74

Anger Vs. Annoyance  PRO

Contributed by Sermon Central on May 3, 2012

ANGER VS. ANNOYANCE A young girl who was writing a paper for school came to her father and asked, "Dad, what is the difference between anger and annoyance?" The father replied, "It is mostly a matter of degree. Let me show you what I mean." With that the father went to the telephone and dialed a ...read more

Scripture: James 1:19-20, Ephesians 4:26

Tags: Anger

Critics

Contributed by David Simpson on Jan 18, 2013

If there is one glaring fault in my ministry, it has been to allow others to blur my vision and that of the church. To take away any enthusiasm and joy. No matter what you do in life, you are going to have critics. The only people who don’t hear criticism are the ones not doing anything. Paul ...read more

Scripture: Ephesians 4:29

Tags: Discouragement, Complaining

Denomination: Christian Church

Sins Are Habits  PRO

Contributed by John Sattler on Feb 18, 2013

SINS ARE HABITS I’m reading a book right now called "The Power of Habit" (http://charlesduhigg.com/the-power-of-habit/) about how so much of our daily life is lived by habit. We have to. Our brain needs habits in order for us to be able to function. Just about everything we do is habitual. How ...read more

Scripture: Ephesians 4:28, Romans 12:2

Tags: Temptation General

Denomination: Lutheran

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

The Power Of Forgiveness  PRO

Contributed by Dr. Larry Petton on Jan 20, 2014

THE POWER OF FORGIVENESS An African woman gave her heart to Christ. Her husband was the chief of a Zulu tribe. When she told him what she had done, the chief beat her brutally. As she was lying in the floor bleeding, the man mocked her and said, “Now, what can your Jesus do for ...read more

Scripture: Ephesians 4:31-32, Luke 23:34

Tags: Forgiveness, Enemy, New Birth, Forgiving Others

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

Gossip: Opie's Newspaper

Contributed by Davon Huss on May 7, 2014

"Opie's Newspaper" is an episode on the Andy Griffith Show. Opie's friend, Howie, received a small printing press as a gift, and the boys decide to go into the newspaper business. They work hard and produce an initial issue of what they call the Mayberry Sun. The boys soon find that business is ...read more

Scripture: Ephesians 4:31-32

Tags: Gossip, Slander, Sins Of Tongue, Control Tongue

Denomination: Christian/Church Of Christ

Bitter And Resentful

Contributed by Glynda Lomax on Dec 27, 2014

"Bitterness is like taking poison, and waiting for the other person to die." - Malachy McCourt I once knew a woman whose heart had been broken by disappointing relationships. She became very sarcastic towards the opposite sex and could often be overheard making disparaging remarks about ...read more

Scripture: Ephesians 4:31

Tags: Resentment, Bitterness, Bitter Root

Denomination: Charismatic

Compassion

Contributed by Glynda Lomax on Dec 27, 2014

“You cannot do a kindness too soon, for you never know how soon it will be too late.” - Ralph Waldo Emerson She was a nurse employed at a residential care home in Western Oklahoma. It was a muggy summer night and many of the residents seemed more restless than usual. One of the patients, an ...read more

Scripture: Ephesians 5:1

Tags: Compassion, Acts Of Kindness, Kind To The Unkind, Showing God's Love

Denomination: Charismatic

Busted Knuckles

Contributed by Jack Kale on May 10, 2016

Busted Knuckles The blades needed replacement on the old red Murray riding mower we use at the camp. I purchased two 21” blades from Lowes and got around to replacing them this past weekend for the first mow of the year. I hoisted the front end of that insanely heavy grass cutter and secured ...read more

Scripture: Ephesians 4:28

Tags: Work, Scars, Pain And Suffering, Hurting

Denomination: *other

In His Book, "Leadership Pain: God’s Classroo...

Contributed by Tim Smith on Sep 25, 2016

In his book, “Leadership Pain: God’s Classroom for Growth,” Sam Chand writes, “Pain isn’t the enemy. The inability or unwillingness to face pain is a far greater danger.” He then tells the story of Dr. Paul Brand who was treating a four year old named Tanya at the national leprosy hospital in ...read more

Scripture: Ephesians 4:25-32

Tags: Pain, Thankful For Pain

Denomination: Methodist

The Conversion Account Of St. Augustine

Contributed by Matthew Redder on Sep 21, 2018

The story of Augustine's conversion is an inspiring and amazing one. In my opinion it is a miraculous account of God grabbing the attention of Augustine and speaking directly into his heart through the power of a perfectly timed scripture. This could be a great illustration about the power of the ...read more

Scripture: Romans 13:13-14, Revelation 12:11, Acts 8:26-40, Psalm 119:9, Romans 3:23, Galatians 5:24, Ephesians 4:22-24  (view more)  (view less)

Tags: Put On Christ, Miraculous, Power Of The Word, Conversion Of Augustine, Bible, Romans, Conversion, Testimony, Indulgence  (view more)  (view less)

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

The Sound Of Silence

Contributed by Matt Neace on Sep 23, 2018

In their song The Sound of Silence, Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel sing the words, "The words of the prophets are written on the subway walls and the tenement halls and whispered in the sounds of silence." But their friendship has come to replicate the sound of silence. Paul Simon gave his final ...read more

Scripture: Ephesians 4:26-27, Ephesians 4:32, Proverbs 24:17, Hebrews 12:14

Tags: Resentment, Bitterness, Unforgiveness, Grudges

Denomination: Baptist

Old Nature

Contributed by Steve Kinnard on Feb 15, 2019

OLD MAN Some time ago, a person I worked with came up to me and said, “if I didn’t know you, I would be terrified to meet you on the street”. If my coworker only knew half of what I’d been, He would never even talk to me. God took the most vile, evil, misguided person in the world and ...read more

Scripture: Ephesians 4:22-32

Tags: New Man, Old Man

Denomination: Pentecostal

Three Types Of Forgiveness

Contributed by Dr. Larry Petton on Oct 15, 2019

EXONERATION – complete restoration, offender accepts full responsibility & turns from that wrong & your relationship is healed (DAVID). FORBEARANCE – only a partial apology, not a full confession; offender is still blaming you partially & not accepting full responsibility. The ...read more

Scripture: Ephesians 4:28-32

Tags: Forgiveness, Forgiving One Another

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

What Would Jesus Do?

Contributed by Ed Vasicek on Dec 15, 2020

One woman writes: Our fourth grader celebrated his birthday on crutches, so he couldn’t carry the cupcakes into school without help. I asked our sixth-grader, Noah, to help his brother carry them in. I could,” he said, but I’d prefer not to. ”Spotting a teaching moment, my husband asked Noah, What ...read more

Scripture: Malachi 4:2, Ephesians 4:31, Ephesians 3:17, Galatians 5:23

Tags: Kindness, Helpful, Christlike

Denomination: Independent/Bible

Language Deficit

Contributed by Ed Vasicek on Mar 9, 2022

. As families become more dysfunctional, social skills decline. A number of school counselors are noting a rise in “language deficit.” Some parents rarely converse with their children but use the television as a nanny. The result: children recognize but do not grasp the meaning of COMMON words. ...read more

Scripture: Ephesians 4:29-32

Tags: Communication, Speech, Talking, Social Skills, Language Skills  (view more)  (view less)

Denomination: Independent/Bible

The Agitator

Contributed by Sermon Central on Apr 26, 2022

Does anyone know what that piece in the middle of the washer is called? The part in the middle that moves back and forth and shakes the clothes back and forth? What is that called? I’m going to call it an Agitator. What is the purpose of the Agitator? As far as I can tell, its sole purpose is to ...read more

Scripture: Ephesians 4:17-24

Tags: Holy Spirit, Sanctification

Lesson On Kindness

Contributed by Wade Martin Hughes, Sr on May 11, 2022

WHAT LESSONS ARE WE TEACHING ON KINDNESS? I love the story of a women’s softball game between CENTRAL OREGON and WESTERN OREGON. Central Oregon had the lead and Western Oregon had scored and made the game much closer. A freshman player girl from Western Oregon stepped to the plate. Her name ...read more

Scripture: Ephesians 4:32, John 15:13

Tags: Help, Kindness

Denomination: Assembly Of God

Appetite Killers

Contributed by Richard Tow on Mar 27, 2023

If we want our appetite for righteousness to grow, we must avoid appetite killers. This is true in the natural. Every parent knows that kids who eat too much candy will not have an appetite for the healthy food at dinner time. The same is true with our spiritual appetite. If we snack on the things ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 5:6, Colossians 3:2, Ephesians 4:24, Psalm 81:10, Psalm 42:1-2, Luke 6:21  (view more)  (view less)

Tags: Worldliness, Entertainment, Seek, Hunger, Desire, Righteousness  (view more)  (view less)

Denomination: Charismatic

Power Of An Encouraging Word

Contributed by Richard Tow on Apr 4, 2023

Mark Eklund was a student in Sister Helen’s nineth grade math class at St. Mary’s School in Morris, Minnesota. He was much less talkative than he had been years earlier in her third-grade class. One Friday Sister Helen sensed the class’s frustration with trying to learn “ne math.” So, she asked ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 5:7, Ephesians 4:32, Luke 10:25-37, Micah 6:8, Matthew 9:13  (view more)  (view less)

Tags: Hope, Encouragement, Friendship, Kindness, Esteem, Love, Mercy  (view more)  (view less)

Denomination: Charismatic