In Sermon Illustrations: "Compassion Of God"

Six Thousand Years

Contributed by John Putty on Apr 14, 2011

SIX THOUSAND YEARS Early Christian writers held that at the end of 6,000 years of history, Christ would return and reign for 1,000 years (referred to as the Millennium). These included Barnabas (c. A.D. 100), Justin Martyr and Irenaeus (c. A.D. 150), Lactantius (c. A.D. 325), and Methodius, Bishop ...read more

Tags: Rapture

Denomination: Assembly Of God

You Come To Me

Contributed by Sermon Central on Apr 15, 2011

YOU COME TO ME Jimmy, and his son, Davey, were playing in the ocean down in Mexico, while his family -- his wife, daughters, parents, and a cousin -- were on the beach. Suddenly, a rogue riptide swept Davey out to the sea. Immediately Jimmy started to do whatever he could to help Davey get back to ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 11:28-30

Tags: Salvation

A Chicken Story

Contributed by Ovidiu Radulescu on Apr 25, 2011

A CHICKEN STORY The story is told of Joe the Butcher who had crafty ways of selling his chickens. He had one chicken left, and he didn’t want to keep it over the weekend. The priest of his church came into the store. He said, "My wife sent me to buy a good size chicken to roast for dinner. We’re ...read more

Tags: Lies

Denomination: Seventh-Day Adventist

Wash Your Hands

Contributed by Sermon Central on May 5, 2011

WASH YOUR HANDS In 1818, Ignaz Phillip Semmelweis was born into a world of dying women. The finest hospitals lost one out of six young mothers to the scourge of "childbed fever." A doctor's daily routine began in the dissecting room where he performed autopsies. From there he made his way to the ...read more

Scripture: Mark 5:25-34, Mark 5:21-43

Tags: Unbelief

Beholden To Money

Contributed by Sermon Central on May 13, 2011

BEHOLDEN TO MONEY In his book How Much Is Enough? Hungering For God In An Affluent Culture author and Founder of Bread for the World: Arthur Simon writes about Bryce and Ellen, "a couple in their mid-thirties. They have two sons and a daughter, and on Sundays the family attends church more often ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 6:19-34

Tags: Money

Wellington Defeated...

Contributed by Milo Velebir on Jul 14, 2011

WELLINGTON DEFEATED... It is a story about how the news of the victory at the battle at Waterloo arrived in England. There were no telegrams or telephones in those days, nobody could send an SMS or put it up on Facebook or Youtube, of course, but everyone knew that Wellington was facing Napoleon ...read more

Scripture: 1 Corinthians 15:54-57

Tags: Mistakes

Denomination: Lutheran

Mom's Church  PRO

Contributed by Sermon Central on Aug 6, 2011

MOM'S CHURCH Four scholars were arguing over Bible translations. One said he preferred the King James Version because of its beauty, eloquent old English. Another said he preferred the American Standard Bible for its literalism, the way it moves the reader from passage to passage with confident ...read more

Scripture: 2 Timothy 1:5

Tags: Mother's Day

What Occupies Your Heart?

Contributed by Sermon Central on Aug 12, 2011

WHAT OCCUPIES YOUR HEART? I squirmed a bit as I forced myself to listen to my friend cataloging her problems. After three hours, I interrupted her gently to ask, "If you were to draw a circle to represent your life, what would be in the center?" She thought a moment, then said, "My problems." My ...read more

Scripture: Isaiah 26:3

Tags: Death Nearness

Greater Treasure

Contributed by Brent Long on Sep 11, 2011

GREATER TREASURE In the first week of July, 2011 reports of a discovery in poverty-filled South India crossed the news wire. The vaults of the Padmanabhaswamy temple were opened after 130 years. Temple records mention the treasure, and its existence was known to locals. However, no one knew its ...read more

Tags: Blessing

Denomination: Apostolic

Yogi Berra: Determination And Direction

Contributed by Perry Greene on Sep 20, 2011

YOGI BERRA: DETERMINATION AND DIRECTION My favorite sports quotations, though, come from Yogi Berra: "Nobody goes to that restaurant any more -- it's too crowded." "If people don't want to come out to the ball park, nobody's going to stop them." Someone asked Yogi what time it was; he said, ...read more

Tags: Discipleship

Denomination: Christian/Church Of Christ

Kyle Idleman: I Cheapened The Gospel  PRO

Contributed by Michael Mccartney on Apr 15, 2012

KYLE IDLEMAN: I CHEAPENED THE GOSPEL "Many of the fans turn to go home. I was struck by the fact that Jesus doesn't chase after them. He doesn't soften his message to make it more appealing. He doesn't send the disciples chasing after them with a creative handout inviting them to come back for a ...read more

Scripture: John 6:60-69

Tags: Easter Palm Sunday

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

Who Do I Shoot?

Contributed by Perry Greene on Apr 19, 2012

WHO DO I SHOOT? A new soldier was on sentry duty at the main gate. His orders were clear. No car was to enter unless it had a special sticker on the windshield. A big Army car came up with a general seated in the back. The sentry said, "Halt, who goes there?" The chauffeur, a corporal, said, ...read more

Tags: Action

Denomination: Christian/Church Of Christ

If You Want To Walk On Water…  PRO

Contributed by Michael Mccartney on May 2, 2012

John Ortberg states: "The decision to grow always involves a choice between risk and comfort. This means that to be a follower of Jesus, you must renounce comfort as the ultimate value of your life. And that’s sobering news to most of us, because we’re into comfort...but water walkers master ...read more

Scripture: Romans 4:18-22, Romans 4:3

Tags: Faith

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

What Happens At Home

Contributed by Sermon Central on May 2, 2012

WHAT HAPPENS AT HOME Howard Hendricks used to say to us men in seminary preparing to lead churches, "If your Christianity isn't working at home, don't export it." It was his way of saying, "If you can't make your faith work in your own family, then please don't try to make it work in the family of ...read more

Scripture: 1 Timothy 3:4-5

Tags: Parenting

Ten Dollars Is Ten Dollars  PRO

Contributed by Sermon Central on Aug 6, 2012

TEN DOLLARS IS TEN DOLLARS A man named Stumpy and his wife Martha went to the state fair every year and every year when Stumpy saw the antique bi-plane he would say, "Martha, I'd like to ride in that airplane." Martha always replied, "I know Stumpy, but that airplane ride costs 10 dollars, and ...read more

Scripture: 1 Peter 3:1-7

Tags: Marriage Struggle

False Messiah—rev. Sun Myung Moon

Contributed by Sermon Central on Aug 10, 2012

FALSE MESSIAH—REV. SUN MYUNG MOON It amazes me how many religions are in stark opposition to Christianity; and they do not even have God as their leader. In fact, they are just empty philosophies being advanced by empty followers. While members of Congress looked on, Rev. Sun Myung Moon declared ...read more

Scripture: 1 John 2:18-29

Tags: Antichrist

What Kind Of Heart Do You Have?  PRO

Contributed by Ken Henson on Sep 23, 2012

WHAT KIND OF HEART DO YOU HAVE? I was reading this week an article by Bryan Doyle. It talks about hummingbirds. Hummingbirds have race car hearts that eat oxygen at an eye-popping rate. Their hearts are built of thinner, leaner fibers than ours. Their arteries are stiffer and more taut. Their ...read more

Tags: Heart

Denomination: *other

On Fasting  PRO

Contributed by Gordon Curley on Apr 20, 2013

ON FASTING The Didache, is a first or second century document that relates to us outside the New Testament the teaching of the early church. This document "prescribed two fast days a week: Wednesday and Friday." For early Christians; this was seen as a regular part of daily discipleship. John ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 6:16, Matthew 9:14-15

Tags: Fast

Denomination: Brethren

Spurgeon On Experiencing Fullness In Heaven

Contributed by Sermon Central on May 8, 2013

SPURGEON ON EXPERIENCING FULLNESS IN HEAVEN The renowned 19th-century English preacher C. H. Spurgeon told this story about King Cyrus, the man who conquered Babylon and freed the Jews from captivity: A visitor who was admiring Cyrus' gardens said it gave him much pleasure. "Ah," said Cyrus, ...read more

Scripture: John 4:34-38

Tags: Evangelism Urgency, Husbands Love

Severe Trial Of Affliction

Contributed by Davon Huss on Oct 18, 2014

In his novel The Source, James Michener described a period in Jewish history around 170 BC when the Jews in Palestine faced severe persecution. Greek officials came to Jerusalem and read an edict that forbade any Jew from worshipping Yahweh, and ordered them to lay their hands on an unclean pig ...read more

Scripture: Hebrews 11:35-38

Tags: Persecution, Great Commandment, Loyalty To Christ

Denomination: Christian/Church Of Christ