In Sermon Illustrations: showing 1,641-1,660 of 52,414

Only The Original Builder Can Restore It

Contributed by Sermon Central on Dec 30, 2010

ONLY THE ORIGINAL BUILDER CAN RESTORE IT In a remote Swiss village stands a beautiful church - Mountain Valley Cathedral. It has high pillars and magnificent stained glass windows, but what makes it special is the most beautiful pipe organ in the whole region. People would come from far off lands ...read more

Scripture: John 1:1-5

Tags: Atonement

Be Different

Contributed by Rodelio Mallari on Dec 31, 2010

BE DIFFERENT "The hardest struggle of all is to be something different from what the average man is." - Charles M. Schwab "If you do things well, do them better. Be ...read more

Tags: Miscellaneous

Denomination: *other

They Who Are Conscious Of Their Own Sins Have ...

Contributed by Brian La Croix on Jan 12, 2011

“They who are conscious of their own sins have no eyes for the sins of their neighbors.” (Abbot Moses, "1001 ...read more

Scripture: Romans 14:1-12

Tags: Judgment

Denomination: Wesleyan

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

Not All Good Deeds Are Good

Contributed by Tony Salisbury on Feb 12, 2011

NOT ALL GOOD DEEDS ARE GOOD For Valentine's Day several years ago I bought chocolates for everyone in my family. To help everyone remember which chocolates belonged to whom I bought different ones. One got rich dark Belgian chocolate. Another one received smooth creamy milk chocolate. All went ...read more

Tags: Christian Values

Denomination: Assembly Of God

Better Influence

Contributed by Gordon Curley on Feb 19, 2011

BETTER INFLUENCE A Peanuts cartoon showed Peppermint Patty talking to Charlie Brown in which she said, "Guess what, Chuck? The first day of school, and I got sent to the principal’s office. It was your fault, Chuck." Charlie Brown responds, "My fault? How could it be my fault? Why do you say ...read more

Tags: Friendship General

Denomination: Brethren

Dirty Laundry

Contributed by Jason Bonnicksen on Mar 15, 2011

DIRTY LAUNDRY I have to admit, I dislike washing the laundry, but I detest wearing filthy clothes even more. Okay, truth be told, I don’t usually have to wash the clothes. My wife does most of it, and she does it well. I’m thankful, though, she doesn’t toil in the same manner as our ...read more

Scripture: 1 Corinthians 6:1-11

Tags: Atonement

Denomination: Lutheran

Peace In The Storm

Contributed by Tim Smith on Mar 17, 2011

PEACE IN THE STORM Adam Hamilton tells the story of leading a team down to Bay St. Louis to help gut houses after Katrina. They were assigned to a woman who brick house was completely inundated and they were asked to gut a two-story garage. In the room above the garage were literally hundreds and ...read more

Tags: Faith

Denomination: Methodist

Buy Less, Love More

Contributed by Tim Smith on Mar 17, 2011

BUY LESS, LOVE MORE Shane Claiborne writes: I am incredibly hopeful this Advent, because there are so many signs of Christians who are longing for new ways to celebrate our Savior that are not cluttered with the noise of shopping and infected with the myth that happiness must be purchased. On the ...read more

Tags: Christmas

Denomination: Methodist

How Martin Luther Overcame The Devil

Contributed by Sermon Central on Mar 22, 2011

HOW MARTIN LUTHER OVERCAME THE DEVIL Martin Luther was often very graphic in his description of the activities of the Devil. Asked one time how he overcame the Devil, he replied, "Well, when he comes knocking upon the door of my heart, and asks 'Who lives here?' the dear Lord Jesus goes to the ...read more

Scripture: James 4:7

Tags: Satan

D.l. Moody And The Shoes  PRO

Contributed by Sermon Central on Mar 25, 2011

D.L. MOODY AND THE SHOES A large group of European pastors came to one of D. L. Moody’s Northfield Bible Conferences in Massachusetts in the late 1800s. Following the European custom of the time, each guest put his shoes outside his room to be cleaned by the hall servants overnight. But of course ...read more

Scripture: John 13:1-17

Tags: Servanthood

The Destiny Of Materialism

Contributed by Sermon Central on Mar 26, 2011

THE DESTINY OF MATERIALISM The lure of wealth, or what we might call the magnetism of materialism. “Finns [people from Finland] who can’t get enough of winter swarmed to the northern town of Kemi for the opening of a sprawling ice castle that features a theatre, a playground, an art gallery, and ...read more

Scripture: 1 John 2:15-17

Tags: Materialism

God: "I Have Time For You"

Contributed by Sermon Central on Mar 28, 2011

GOD: "I HAVE TIME FOR YOU" There’s a great story about a California lady named Francis Green. She was 83 years old. She lived on Social Security. She had little money, but for eight years she’d been sending one dollar a year to the Republican National Convention. Then one day Frances got an RNC ...read more

Scripture: 1 Corinthians 12:14-26

Tags: Gratitude

Sitting Down

Contributed by Sermon Central on Apr 5, 2011

SITTING DOWN It’s said that when Henry Ward Beecher was a boy, he had a teacher at school who asked one of the boys in class a question which the boy answered. The teacher became angry and told the boy he was wrong and commanded him to: "Sit down!" The boy was obviously confused because he’d ...read more

Scripture: Romans 10:9-13

Tags: Believe, Confess, Confidence, Saved

C.s. Lewis Defends The Faith

Contributed by Mark Haines on Apr 5, 2011

C.S. LEWIS DEFENDS THE FAITH C. S. Lewis is probably best known today as the author of The Chronicles of Narnia because that series of children's books have been made into movies. Lewis wrote many other books, including one entitled, Mere Christianity. In that book he tries to explain and ...read more

Tags: Atonement

Denomination: Wesleyan

Blankets Or No Blankets  PRO

Contributed by Sermon Central on Apr 10, 2011

BLANKETS OR NO BLANKETS A good Presbyterian minister of Old Scotland, of the staid and orthodox type, had a poor old woman in his congregation who was in the habit of saying, "Praise the Lord," "Amen," when anything particularly helpful was said. This practice greatly disturbed the minister and ...read more

Scripture: Psalm 92:1-5

Tags: Worship General

Wesley Responds To Criticism  PRO

Contributed by Sermon Central on Apr 19, 2011

WESLEY RESPONDS TO CRITICISM John Wesley was a great English preacher of the 1700s. He was considered a rather spiffy dresser. One Sunday morning he wore a bow tie that had long ribbons that hung downward. After the sermon was over a lady walked up to him and said, "Brother Wesley, are you open to ...read more

Scripture: James 3:1-12

Tags: Tongue

High On Their Huddles

Contributed by John Hamby on Apr 25, 2011

HIGH ON THEIR HUDDLES One of my favorite preachers is Dr. Tony Evans in Dallas. Some years ago I heard him give the following description of the purpose of the church service. He said, "In football they have a huddle, the goal of the huddle is to give you thirty seconds to call the play; that is ...read more

Tags: Church Practices

Denomination: Baptist

Hope Is

Contributed by Jason Bonnicksen on Apr 25, 2011

HOPE IS Hope is faith in the immutable promise that miracles prevail when the darkness tries to win-out with cries of despair. Hope is a gift from God that helps us yearn, and live a life that believes and moves with the pledge of a better tomorrow. And what’s more, hope springs-forth ...read more

Tags: Easter Resurrection

Denomination: Lutheran

Armor That Holds Up

Contributed by Sermon Central on Apr 27, 2011

ARMOR THAT HOLDS UP I came across what I thought was a rather interesting story this week as I was preparing for this message. It was a story detailing a class action law suit aimed at a company called Second Chance Body Armor. Second Chance manufactures bullet proof vests for police officers and ...read more

Scripture: Ephesians 6:10-20

Tags: Security