In Sermon Illustrations: "Decide" showing 701-720 of 2,148

Hope Changes Everything

Contributed by Bill Butsko on Jan 3, 2009

HOPE CHANGES EVERYTHING From Parade magazine comes the story of self-made millionaire Eugene Land, who greatly changed the lives of a sixth-grade class in East Harlem. Mr. Lang had been asked to speak to a class of 59 sixth-graders. What could he say to inspire these students, most of whom would ...read more

Tags: God Brings Hope

Denomination: Christian Church

Faithfulness In ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Oct 19, 2009

Faithfulness in Battle John Wesley once said: "Give me a hundred men who love nothing but God and hate nothing but sin, and I will shake the whole world for Christ." It doesn’t take many… but it does take someone who decides to be faithful. In December 1944, the German army launched an unexpected ...read more

Scripture: 1 Peter 5:12

Tags: War, Snow

Bride-To-Be Hosts A Banquet For ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Nov 10, 2009

Bride-to-Be Hosts a Banquet for Homeless Philip Yancey told the story of the woman who was getting married and planned a huge wedding banquet. It was going to held at the Hyatt Hotel and cost $13,000. After everything had been planned and paid for the groom dumped her. When she tried to cancel she ...read more

Scripture: 2 Corinthians 12:7-10

Tags: Compassion

Holding On

Contributed by Sean Harder on Mar 18, 2010

HOLDING ON Let me share a story from Chuck Swindoll. "Four guys decided to go mountain climbing one weekend. In the middle of the climb, one fella slipped over a cliff, dropped about 60 feet and landed with a thud on the ledge below. The other three hoping to rescue him yelled, 'Joe, are you ...read more

Tags: Faith

A Student Conquers The Temptation To ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Apr 9, 2010

A Student Conquers the Temptation to Cheat A Struggle with Temptation” At school Joe was good in arithmetic but poor in spelling. Mabel was a fine speller and sat opposite him. On examination day Joe forgot many words, and the tempter said, ‘Look on Mabel’s paper; she has them right!” So Joe ...read more

Scripture: 1 Corinthians 10:13

Tags: Temptation Resisting

Way Back In January Of 2002 We Taught William ...

Contributed by Bobby Scobey on May 3, 2010

Way back in January of 2002 we taught William Fay’s approach to sharing the gospel. It was called “Share Jesus Without Fear.” A part of those sessions dealt with handling objections. "There are many religions in the world. How can you know the right one?" Response: "All religions can be divided ...read more

Tags: Salvation

Denomination: Pentecostal

The Gas Prank

Contributed by Sermon Central on Jun 1, 2010

THE GAS PRANK According to a story in the Grand Rapids Press, the owner of a small foreign car had begun to irritate his friends by bragging incessantly about his gas mileage. So they decided on a way to get some humor out of his tireless boasting, as well as bring it to an end. Every day, one of ...read more

Scripture: Jeremiah 9:23-24

Tags: Boasting

Training In Godliness

Contributed by Isaac Butterworth on Sep 10, 2010

TRAINING IN GODLINESS Our daughter-in-law has participated at times in triathlon competitions. The triathlon is an endurance event in which you swim a certain distance, ride your bike a certain distance, and finally, and without resting, run a certain distance. It is a very demanding test of your ...read more

Tags: Disciplines General

Denomination: Presbyterian/Reformed

Better Deals

Contributed by Rodelio Mallari on Dec 12, 2010

BETTER DEALS Back in 1931, Irving Thalberg of MGM decided he wanted to buy the film rights to Tarzan, written by Edgar Rice Burroughs. So Thalberg sent Sam Marx to negotiate with Burroughs, telling Marx not to spend more than $100,000, an extraordinarily large sum in those days. Marx ...read more

Tags: Blessing

Denomination: *other

Don't Find Us Lacking!

Contributed by Sermon Central on Jan 24, 2011

DON'T FIND US LACKING! Mexican jails are not known for their tidiness or orderliness. Shortly after having taken office, the then President of Mexico, Luis Echeverria, decided to do something about this. Without giving any advance notice, he chose to visit the jails at midnight. He found guards ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 25:1-13

Tags: Second Coming

Doing Christmas Differently

Contributed by Tim Smith on Mar 17, 2011

DOING CHRISTMAS DIFFERENTLY Donald Miller, author of Blue Like Jazz, tells of his pastor in Portland Oregon at Imago Dei Community. He and some his friend decided they wanted to do Christmas differently. So he stood up in front of his congregation and challenged them not to go into debt that ...read more

Tags: Giving General

Denomination: Methodist

Pride And Peril: The Art Forger

Contributed by Sermon Central on Apr 6, 2011

PRIDE AND PERIL: THE ART FORGER Yesterday I was reading about a man called Han van Meegeren who was a Dutch artist and an extremely talented ART FORGER. He forged some of the world’s most famous paintings so well that the best art critics and art experts of his time thought his paintings were ...read more

Scripture: Proverbs 16:18

Tags: Art

Christian Caste System

Contributed by Sermon Central on Apr 26, 2011

CHRISTIAN CASTE SYSTEM Division is the opposite of unity. When we exclude or separate others based on race, socioeconomic status, age, appearance or personal hygiene we are dividing. In his autobiography, Mahatma Gandhi wrote that during his student days he read the Gospels seriously and ...read more

Scripture: Mark 11:17

Tags: Racism, Self Cleansing

The Two Adversaries

Contributed by Ed Vasicek on Apr 2, 2012

THE TWO ADVERSARIES Robert Biggs, 69, who often hikes in the Whisky Flats area, came across a mother bear and her cubs, which were about 40 feet from where he was standing. After watching the bear family for a few minutes he decided to leave them alone and turned to walk back up the trail. As he ...read more

Tags: Jesus Christ

Denomination: Independent/Bible

When Prayer Isn't All You Need

Contributed by Sermon Central on Aug 2, 2012

WHEN PRAYER ISN’T ALL YOU NEED Tim Hansel, Holy Sweat, 1987, Word Books Publisher, p. 63. In my late twenties, a bunch of my friends and I decided to sail around the world. I have to admit, though, at the time I was a bit worried. I hadn’t even sailed before. I was uneasy and anxious. So I spent a ...read more

Scripture: Philippians 4:6-7

Tags: Peace

A Brief Excerpt From The Biography* Of ...

Contributed by Suresh Manoharan on Sep 18, 2012

A brief excerpt from the Biography* of D.Livingstone that immortal missionary to Africa captures the essence of his ministry…on how he had modeled it on His master. ‘They (people to whom he ministered) had decided to go to Kolobeng, too, for they felt that they could not live without their white ...read more

Tags: Jesus' Ministry

Denomination: *other

Once There Was A Man

Contributed by Dr. Larry Petton on Feb 25, 2016

ONCE THERE WAS A MAN... Once there was a man who dared God to speak. Burn the bush like you did for Moses, God. And I will follow. Collapse the walls like you did for Joshua, God. And I will fight. Still the waves like you did on Galilee, God. And I will listen. And so the man sat by a bush, near ...read more

Scripture: John 10:1-28

Tags: Waiting On God, Hearing God's Voice

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

When God Speaks

Contributed by Dr. Larry Petton on Jul 7, 2016

WHEN GOD SPEAKS Did you hear about the old golfer who was standing in front of the first tee, a hazardous hole with a green surrounded by water, and wondering if he should use his new golf ball? Deciding that the hole was too dangerous, he chose an old ball that he could afford to lose and placed ...read more

Scripture: John 10:28-30

Tags: The Good Shepherd, Voice Of God, Will Of God, Hearing God

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

Helping People Help Themselves

Contributed by Ed Vasicek on Sep 24, 2019

From Parade magazine comes the story of self-made millionaire Eugene Land, who greatly changed the lives of a sixth-grade class in East Harlem. Mr. Lang had been asked to speak to a class of 59 sixth-graders. What could he say to inspire these students, most of whom would drop out of school? He ...read more

Scripture: Revelation 1:4-8, Revelation 1:17-18

Tags: Success, Wise Generosity, Benevolance, Help

Denomination: Independent/Bible

Don't Go Back

Contributed by Shawn Drake on Feb 20, 2021

Several years ago, Karen and I was up in the Ruidoso area; and I decided to try a short cut that I thought I knew about. The problem was, the road turned into a very rough dirt road; and the further we went, the worse the road became. We came upon a farmer’s house and land; and there was a ...read more

Scripture: Galatians 4:8-9

Tags: Freedom, Forward

Denomination: Baptist