In Sermon Illustrations: "Wedding Banquet"

Teddy Stallard Story

Contributed by Vera Hughes on Feb 20, 2008

Story: Teddy Stallard Story Teddy Stallard certainly qualified as "one of the least": disinterested in school; musty, wrinkled clothes; hair never combed; one of those kids in school with a deadpan face; an expressionless, glassy, unfocused stare. When Miss Thompson spoke to Teddy he always ...read more

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

Just An Old Shoe Box

Contributed by Sermon Central on Mar 11, 2008

JUST AN OLD SHOE BOX It was just an old shoe box with a pink faded ribbon wrapped around. The old house was sad and sat strangely quiet… Ever since momma was called to go home. It’s like she had just turned loose of living… Dutifully to follow dad on. My Brother and I had moved things for ...read more

The Impact Of Divorce

Contributed by Sermon Central on Oct 23, 2010

THE IMPACT OF DIVORCE Today, there is a generation of children of divorce that has grown up. Elizabeth Marquardt is author of Between Two Worlds: The Inner Lives of Children of Divorce. This scholar, a child of divorce herself, drew from her own experiences and also surveyed 1500 adult children ...read more

Scripture: 1 Corinthians 7:10-16

Tags: Divorce

George Floyd

Contributed by C. Philip Green on Jun 11, 2020

God can use you to make a difference in our broken world no matter your past. Just commit your way to the Lord like Jephthah did and depend on His Holy Spirit. When I think about Jephthah, I think about George Floyd, who was recently murdered in Minneapolis. George was a towering 6-foot by 6-inch ...read more

Scripture: Judges 11:1-3, Judges 11:29, 1 Corinthians 1:26-29

Tags: Transformation, Grace Of God, George Floyd

Denomination: Evangelical Free

Worthy To Suffer For ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Apr 9, 2009

WORTHY TO SUFFER FOR HIM John Balca was one of the early pioneer missionaries in Eastern Europe. He was particularly focused on the country of Yugoslavia in the 1930-1950’s. In his autobiography, he writes of the many difficulties that God helped him to overcome in the establishing of an Apostolic ...read more

Scripture: Luke 22:52

Tags: Persecution

John Mentions Three Areas Of Sin Here. I Want To ...

Contributed by Jasper Rains on Oct 18, 2009

John mentions three areas of sin here. I want to take a moment and dig a bit further to see what each of these sins really mean. I wan to try and help you see what John is telling us is of the world and will lead to death. • Lust of the flesh: Putting our desires first. – Sex, pleasures • Lust of ...read more

Tags: Wages Of Sin, Sin Wages Of

Denomination: Baptist

I Don't Believe In Hell

Contributed by Raymond Petzholt on Jul 5, 2023

Illustration: “I don’t believe in Hell.” The fact that a lot of people have a tough time believing in a literal Hell was brought home to me in a very meaningful way. When I pastored in Chino, CA we lived in a parsonage right next to the Church. I soon noticed that a certain man was walking up ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 10:28, Mark 9:43-45, Luke 16:23

Tags: Hell, Salvation, Facing Death

Denomination: Baptist

Just An Old Shoebox

Contributed by Loyd C. Taylor on May 23, 2024

Just an Old Shoebox It was just an old shoebox, With a pink faded ribbon wrapped around. The old house was sad and sat strangely quiet, Ever since Momma graced Heaven’s dawn. It’s like she had just turned loose of living, To dutifully follow Dad on. Brother and I had moved things for ...read more

Scripture: Luke 2:19, John 14:1-3, Lamentations 3:21

Tags: Mother's Day, Memories, Junk, Secrets, Treasures, Shoebox, Precious Memories  (view more)  (view less)

Denomination: Baptist

The Village That Lives By The Bible  PRO

Contributed by Rick Stacy on Mar 9, 2003

The Village that lives by the Bible by Clarence W. Hall It was early in 1945 when, as a war correspondent on Okinawa, I first came upon Shimabuku, the strangest and most inspiring community I ever saw. Huddled beneath its groves of banyan and twisted pine trees, this remote village of some 1000 ...read more

Tags: Bible Influence

Denomination: Christian/Church Of Christ

Tiger Breath!" Matthew 6:9-13 Key Verse(S): ...  PRO

Contributed by Mark Brunner on Feb 6, 2005

“Tiger Breath!” Matthew 6:9-13 Key verse(s): 13:“And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.” It has been foreordained that life is a temptation! Now that is a depressing thought if I ever heard one. Foreordained? That means that no matter what I do or how I do it, ultimately I ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 6:9-13, Matthew 4:1-11

Tags: Sin Exposed, Risk Of Sin, Release, Sin Separates From God

Denomination: Lutheran

I Sure Do Miss St. Sanity

Contributed by James Snyder on Aug 17, 2019

The Gracious Mistress of the Parsonage and me recently celebrated our 48th wedding anniversary. It sure does not seem we have been married that long. I guess, as you get older, according to my grandmother, time goes faster. If that is true, I must be getting older. We met in September, became ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 5:6

Tags: Politics, Humor, Sanity

Denomination: Christian Missionary Alliance

I Just Kissed Yesterday Goodbye

Contributed by James Snyder on Jan 15, 2022

Focus is an essential part of getting something done. Sometimes my focus is more on yesterday than it is today. I waste a lot of time looking backward. The Gracious Mistress of the Parsonage often rebukes me because I look in the past. I talk more about yesterday than I do today. On the other ...read more

Scripture: Psalm 118:24

Tags: Blessing, Focus

Denomination: Christian Missionary Alliance

I Love The Picture Of Sweet Baby Jesus, But We ...

Contributed by Ross Cochrane on Dec 15, 2009

I Love the Picture of Sweet Baby Jesus, but we don’t seem to like to think of God destroying mankind like He did in Genesis 6. We prefer the tamed version of God. The sanitized, warm, cuddly kind of God who does everything for us but tuck us in at night. The sweet baby Jesus rather than the Jesus ...read more

Tags: Judgment

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

The Gift Of The Heart

Contributed by Glynda Lomax on Dec 27, 2014

“Life is one of those precious fleeting gifts, and everything can change in a heartbeat." - Author Unknown His name was Justin Timion. He was only nineteen years old the day it happened. A good looking, fun loving kid, he loved doing auto mechanics with his Dad and often used his skills to ...read more

Scripture: Proverbs 4:23, Proverbs 13:20

Tags: Life, Giving Generous, Big Heart

Denomination: Charismatic

Time Alone Is Time Invested

Contributed by James Snyder on Mar 28, 2020

During the past week, the Gracious Mistress of the Parsonage and Yours Truly have been spending quite a bit of time together. I cannot recall any time that we have spent this much time together. The exception would be when we first got married. Even then, both of us worked during the day and were ...read more

Scripture: 1 Corinthians 10:31

Tags: Humor, Relationships

Denomination: Christian Missionary Alliance

Ants, Ants, Ants, Where's The Uncles

Contributed by James Snyder on Mar 27, 2021

I have learned in my life that the small things are the ones that get you down. You would think the big things are the ones to steal most of your time. But those big things call attention to themselves from the very beginning. You know they're there, you know you have to do something about it, ...read more

Scripture: Proverbs 30:25

Tags: Humor, Ants, Small Problems, Uncles

Denomination: Christian Missionary Alliance

I May Be A Knucklehead, But I'm Not Insane

Contributed by James Snyder on May 15, 2021

Nobody is perfect except maybe the Gracious Mistress of the Parsonage comes close. I've never caught her in some imperfection, or if I had, nobody would know it from me. There is such an obsession today for people to be perfect. And, of course, their definition of perfect is what they are. ...read more

Scripture: Amos 3:3

Tags: Humor, Family, Agreement

Denomination: Christian Missionary Alliance

Hallelujah… She’s Baaaaack

Contributed by James Snyder on Sep 4, 2021

I have learned that you don't miss something until it is gone. Unfortunately, sometimes, it's too late. Over six weeks ago, or was it nine months, I took my truck in for a regular checkup. I was going away for the week, so I thought I would drop the truck off and let them work on it when ...read more

Scripture: 2 John 1:8

Tags: Stress, Humor

Denomination: Christian Missionary Alliance

Ugly Isn’t For Sissies

Contributed by James Snyder on Feb 4, 2023

Over the years of marital bliss, we’ve not had many disagreements. She likes broccoli. I like Apple Fritters. We’ve never been able to come to any agreement with that. But, outside of that, everything has been rather smooth. There’s one controversy that has plagued our house for the last few ...read more

Scripture: 1 Samuel 16:7

Tags: Appearance, Mirror

Denomination: Christian Missionary Alliance

Why Do Some Cute Babies Grow Up Ugly

Contributed by James Snyder on Sep 9, 2023

Our second great grand baby was born at the end of last year. Since then, it has been a delight to watch her grow. I will not say she is the cutest baby in the world, but I haven't met any cuter. She was born cute, and I'm not sure what part of the family she got that. Sometimes, when ...read more

Scripture: Isaiah 46:4

Tags: Age, Cute, Ugly

Denomination: Christian Missionary Alliance