In Sermon Illustrations: "Spiritual Strength" showing 81-100 of 3,098

The Spiritual Odd Couple  PRO

Contributed by Joel Pankow on May 1, 2002

THE SPIRITUAL ODD COUPLE Often times we stand in awe of the fact that our Savior Jesus Christ was born into this sinful world and took on human flesh - born in a cattle stall! What a filthy place for God to be born! In the same way, then, shouldn’t we stand in awe at what the Holy Spirit ...read more

Tags: Holiness, Holy Spirit In Believers

Denomination: Lutheran

Soil And Spiritual Seasons  PRO

Contributed by Mark Eberly on May 19, 2009

SOIL AND SPIRITUAL SEASONS Jesus says these people resemble the soil next to the path which in Palestine could look like decent soil but only an inch deep. Because the soil has settled there maybe blown by the wind or pushed there by the run off from the rain, it can be very fertile. People are ...read more

Tags: Parable Sower And Seed

Denomination: Church Of God

Cicadas: Spiritually Dead

Contributed by Richard Tow on Sep 16, 2009

CICADAS: SPIRITUALLY DEAD I grew up in West Texas and there were a lot of Cicada insects. They’re not technically locusts but we called them that. During the hot summer days the loud, shrill sound that the males made would fill the air. You would usually see them in the trees. At times you would ...read more

Scripture: 2 Timothy 3:5

Tags: Church Practices

Denomination: Charismatic

Battle Dress For Spiritual ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Oct 26, 2009

Battle Dress for Spiritual Warfare Marine recruits were each issued a service bag filled with clothing, in addition to a rifle, a cartridge belt, a bayonet, and a heavy steel helmet. Since those just arriving on base did not know how to care for themselves, recruits were also issued basic supplies ...read more

Scripture: Ephesians 6:13-18

Tags: Spiritual Warfare, War

How Spiritual Are You

Contributed by Hugh Laing on Jan 19, 2010

HOW SPIRITUAL ARE YOU Tell me how much time you spend alone with God...I will tell you how spiritual you are..and I mean really alone. Not how many meetings you go to...not how many gifts or talents you have...not how many sermons you preach...not how many records you’ve recorded or produced...not ...read more

Tags: Disciplines General

Denomination: Baptist

Spiritual Near-Sightedness  PRO

Contributed by Ed Vasicek on Jan 25, 2010

Spiritual Near-Sightedness One of my favorite riddles is this one Q: What did the near-sighted porcupine say when it backed into a cactus? A: Pardon me, honey! If you are near-sighted, you see objects that are near, but distant objects are blurry or unclear. To put is simply, you are equipped to ...read more

Tags: Future

Denomination: Independent/Bible

When Their Lives Are Spiritually ...

Contributed by Donnie Martin on May 24, 2010

When Their Lives Are Spiritually Frigid As a musician was tuning his instrument prior to a concert, he held it for a few seconds before a flaming fireplace. Asked why he did this, he replied, “I can’t seem to get any music out of it when it’s cold.” In a similar way, God’s children cannot produce ...read more

Tags: Musicians, Lukewarm

Denomination: Baptist

What Is Spiritual Maturity?

Contributed by K. Edward Skidmore on Dec 29, 2010

WHAT IS SPIRITUAL MATURITY? In our Pueblo group we asked how we could define spiritual maturity? Someone said, "Being spiritually mature probably means you don't try to figure out whether the people around you are spiritually mature or not." Someone else said, "It's all I can do to figure ...read more

Tags: Growth In Christ

Denomination: Christian/Church Of Christ

The Danger Of Spiritual Procrastination  PRO

Contributed by Sermon Central on Jan 24, 2011

THE DANGER OF SPIRITUAL PROCRASTINATION There is a fable which tells of three apprentice devils who were coming to this earth to finish their apprenticeship. They were talking to Satan, the chief of the devils, about their plans to tempt and to ruin men. The first said, "I will tell them that ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 25:1-13, Romans 13:11-14, Romans 13:12

Tags: Second Coming, Coming, Second

The Key To The Spiritual Life

Contributed by Sermon Central on Apr 17, 2011

THE KEY TO THE SPIRITUAL LIFE At age 16, Madame Jeanne Guyon (1648-1717) was forced into an arranged marriage with an invalid 22 years older. She found her marriage to be one of utter humiliation. Her husband was often angry and melancholy. Her mother-in-law was a merciless critic. Even the maid ...read more

Scripture: 2 Corinthians 1:3-11

Tags: Trials And Difficulties

Afghan Spiritual Harvest

Contributed by Sermon Central on Jun 16, 2011

AFGHAN SPIRITUAL HARVEST In his book What Good Is God?, Philip Yancey writes: "This is a true story from Afghanistan that took place in the early 1970s, before the Russian occupation or the Taliban regime. At the time, the government allowed a small Christian church to service internationals who ...read more

Scripture: Mark 13:9-11, Mark 19:1-20

Tags: Evangelism Fear Of

Servanthood And Spiritual Growth  PRO

Contributed by Sermon Central on Jun 16, 2011

SERVANTHOOD AND SPIRITUAL GROWTH I surveyed my church to see if people saw a relationship between ministering to others and spiritual growth. When asked, "To what extent has your ministry or service to others affected your spiritual growth?," 92 percent answered positively. None responded that ...read more

Scripture: Romans 12:3-8

Tags: Servanthood

America's Spiritual Bankruptcy

Contributed by Sermon Central on Sep 8, 2011

AMERICA'S SPIRITUAL BANKRUPTCY America is incrementally and systematically rejecting God. America’s moral bankruptcy is symptomatic of its spiritual bankruptcy. For example: • In 1962 the Supreme Court ruled against prayer in our schools. In 1963, they outlawed Bible Readings. • In Alaska public ...read more

Scripture: Proverbs 14:34

Tags: America

Spiritual "Glory Hole"

Contributed by Dennis Davidson on Dec 8, 2011

SPIRITUAL "GLORY HOLE" On a wall in our home hangs a picture of the GHOST-TOWN of Bodie, Nevada. While out west visiting family my wife stopped by and became intrigued with the place. It became an abandoned town after the gold rush gave out. In its hey-day, it was all anyone could have ...read more

Tags: Fulfillment

Denomination: Baptist

Spiritual River Rafting  PRO

Contributed by Michael Mccartney on Jan 5, 2012

SPIRITUAL RIVER RAFTING The necessary safety equipment for river rafting and spiritual river rafting: i. The Helmet – Helmets protect the most vital and vulnerable part on a person their head – their thinking! 1. Spiritually: We need to be wearing the helmet of salvation as we ride the wave of ...read more

Tags: Holy Spirit, Salt, Indwelling, Faith General

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

4 Spiritual Crises

Contributed by Dr. Larry Petton on Jan 19, 2014

FOUR SPIRITUAL CRISES The spiritual experience of Abraham was marked by four great crises, each of which involved a surrender of something dear. These were: (1) LEAVE YOUR COUNTRY AND FAMILY (Gen 12:1 Mt 10:34-39 2Cor 6:14-18) - Is God asking you to go somewhere away from home, family and ...read more

Scripture: Genesis 22:1-14

Tags: Faith, Abraham, Trial, Crisis

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

Spiritual Formation And Exhaustion

Contributed by Tim Smith on May 11, 2014

James Bryan Smith writes, "The number one enemy of spiritual formation today is exhaustion. We are living beyond our means ... physically. And as a result, one of the primary activities of human life is being neglected: sleep." In the 1850's, the average American slept 9.5 hours. By 1950, that ...read more

Scripture: 1 Kings 19:1-12

Tags: Sleep, Rest

Denomination: Methodist

The Laws Of Spiritual Motion!!!

Contributed by Suresh Manoharan on Aug 14, 2017

THE LAWS OF SPIRITUAL MOTION!!! The Fundamental Laws of motion designed by the all-wise God (discovered and revealed to us by Sir Issac Newton) says that we move forward whilst walking or running not just by exerting the force on earth with our feet by ourselves but by the propulsive force which ...read more

Scripture: James 1:2

Tags: Persecution, Action Reaction

Denomination: *other

Prayer-Spiritual Defiance

Contributed by Martin Spoelstra on Apr 19, 2018

Richard Foster in his book "Prayer: Finding the Hearts True Home" describes an aspect of radical prayer as spiritual defiance. He states, "We are subversives in a world of injustice, oppression, and violence. Like Amos of old, we demand that "Justice roll down like waters, and righteousness like an ...read more

Tags: Prayer, Radical Prayer

Denomination: Presbyterian/Reformed

Spiritual Health Test

Contributed by Dr. Larry Petton on Jan 30, 2020

There are seven questions for self discovery that the great theologian A.W. Tozer encourages us to consider. These questions, if answered honestly, speak volumes about our spiritual health. They are: What do I want most? What do I think about most? How do I use the money that God has given ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 5:1-12

Tags: Beatitudes, Spiritual Health, Spiritual Maturity, Revival

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational