In Sermon Illustrations:

Running While Weighed Down

Contributed by Davon Huss on Sep 5, 2011

RUNNING WHILE WEIGHED DOWN David Posman was arrested in Providence, Rhode Island, after allegedly knocking out an armored car driver and stealing the closest 4 bags of money. It turned out they contained $800 in pennies, weighing 30 pounds each, and slowed him to a stagger during his getaway so ...read more

Tags: Sin Bondage To

Denomination: Christian/Church Of Christ

Remission

Contributed by Lou Butterfield on Sep 5, 2011

REMISSION While a graduate student at Indiana University and also serving as youth minister at the North Central church in Bloomington, I had an experience I will never forget. I woke up early on this particular Sunday morning to get to the building in time to drive one of the church buses to ...read more

Tags: Born Again

Denomination: Christian/Church Of Christ

Capitalism Without Christianity  PRO

Contributed by Jeff Strite on Sep 5, 2011

CAPITALISM WITHOUT CHRISTIANITY Pure Capitalism--that exists without a Christian influence--can become an empty shell. When Christianity is taken out of the picture of Capitalism...greed and selfishness take over. Capitalism without Christianity can result in all kinds or evils. You can end up ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 5:13-16

Tags: Workplace

Denomination: Christian/Church Of Christ

Making Service A Joy

Contributed by David Parks on Sep 2, 2011

MAKING SERVICE A JOY An amusing story was told to me by the manager of a New York hotel. The great Paderewski occupied a suite there a number of years ago during one of his seasons at Carnegie Hall. It was the master’s custom to practice for a couple of hours every morning on the magnificent ...read more

Scripture: 1 Peter 4:9-11

Tags: Servanthood

Denomination: Christian/Church Of Christ

A Story Of Revenge

Contributed by K. Edward Skidmore on Aug 29, 2011

A STORY OF REVENGE The other day, a soldier was in my office. He had been exposed to radiation poisoning while deployed in Afghanistan and was brought home to prepare for death. But he told me his story and said he wasn't prepared to die and meet God on Judgment Day. This soldier said that his ...read more

Tags: Bitterness

Denomination: Christian/Church Of Christ

The Lukewarm Sheep  PRO

Contributed by Jeff Strite on Aug 29, 2011

THE LUKEWARM SHEEP Now, for the sake of my illustration, I want to break a flock of sheep down into 3 groups. 1. The first group of sheep had DECIDED to look to Shepherd & follow Him wherever He leads. These are the "Good sheep" who follow the "Good Shepherd. Jesus said: "My sheep hear my voice, ...read more

Scripture: Revelation 3:14-22, John 10:4, John 15:1-11

Tags: Parable Lost Sheep

Denomination: Christian/Church Of Christ

David Seamands, A Counselor, Says This:

Contributed by Davon Huss on Aug 29, 2011

David Seamands, a counselor, says this: "Many years ago I was driven to the conclusion that the two major causes of most emotional problems among Christians are these: the failure to understand, receive, and live out God’s grace and forgiveness; and the failure to give out that love, ...read more

Tags: Grace

Denomination: Christian/Church Of Christ

Meet Me At The Men's Store

Contributed by Davon Huss on Aug 29, 2011

MEET ME AT THE MEN'S STORE Paying my way through Ohio State University was demanding, but the benefit was worth the struggle. My father had died during my senior year in high school, and my mother had become blind. With her encouragement, however, I enrolled in the University on the eve of the ...read more

Tags: Grace

Denomination: Christian/Church Of Christ

The Definition Of Grace

Contributed by Davon Huss on Aug 29, 2011

THE DEFINITION OF GRACE George Stansberry to a group of Bible college students: "If you leave this service today and see a needy person on the street and give him a dollar, that is unmerited favor. He did nothing to deserve it. But if you leave here and go to your car and find a man breaking ...read more

Tags: Grace

Denomination: Christian/Church Of Christ

The Lord's Fire

Contributed by Davon Huss on Aug 22, 2011

THE LORD'S FIRE The Lord’s fire will either consume us from the inside out or ...read more

Tags: Hell

Denomination: Christian/Church Of Christ

Heaven Without You

Contributed by Davon Huss on Aug 22, 2011

George Whitefield: "Believe me, I am willing to go to prison and to death for you. But I am not ...read more

Tags: Evangelism Urgency

Denomination: Christian/Church Of Christ

Identity Crisis

Contributed by Derrick Tuper on Aug 19, 2011

IDENTITY CRISIS Theorist Erik Erikson coined the term "identity crisis" and believed that it was one of the most important conflicts people face in development. According to Erikson, an identity crisis is a time of intensive analysis and exploration of different ways of looking at oneself. Those ...read more

Tags: Adoption

Denomination: Christian/Church Of Christ

The Guilt Of Their Deaths

Contributed by Troy Borst on Aug 17, 2011

THE GUILT OF THEIR DEATHS The movie "Saving Private Ryan" (1998) is a movie that many of us have seen and is quite a memorable movie because of its portrayal of the D Day invasion of Normandy in World War II. The movie begins and ends with an elderly man visiting the Normandy memorial. The ...read more

Tags: Guilt

Denomination: Christian/Church Of Christ

Judging Food Stamps

Contributed by Derrick Tuper on Aug 15, 2011

JUDGING FOOD STAMPS A grocery store check-out clerk once wrote to advice-columnist Ann Landers to complain that she had seen people buy "luxury" food items--like birthday cakes and bags of shrimp--with their food stamps. The writer went on to say that she thought all those people on welfare who ...read more

Tags: Judgment

Denomination: Christian/Church Of Christ

Kill Us, Torture Us, Condemn Us...

Contributed by Thomas Cash on Aug 15, 2011

KILL US, TORTURE US, CONDEMN US... An early Christian leader named Tertullian (164-200AD) declared: “Kill us, torture us, condemn us, grind us to dust. The more you mow us down, the more we grow, for the seed of the church is the blood of the Christians. Every single drop of our blood springs up, ...read more

Tags: Persecution

Denomination: Christian/Church Of Christ

A Friend Inside Me

Contributed by Thomas Cash on Aug 15, 2011

A FRIEND INSIDE ME When Abraham Lincoln was running the country, he had lots of chances to make shady deals and enhance himself financially. But this is what he said about his Presidency: "I desire so to conduct the affairs of this administration that if at the end, when I come to lay down the ...read more

Tags: Character

Denomination: Christian/Church Of Christ

Cut-Off Forgiveness

Contributed by Davon Huss on Aug 15, 2011

CUT-OFF FORGIVENESS John MacArthur: "I'll never forget one time when I cut off a guy in a Porsche. I was driving a Volkswagen bus. He had a convertible with a hat and the whole routine- Sunglasses, leather jacket, everything. So he pulled up beside me. He started to curse. He just cursed and ...read more

Tags: Peace

Denomination: Christian/Church Of Christ

Deficiencies

Contributed by Mark Adams on Aug 13, 2011

DEFICIENCIES I want to tell you about a weird thing that used to happen a lot to sailors during the 1600s. Vessels were getting more sea worthy, and adventures were taking people farther and farther from home. You might be on the same ship with the same people, with the same person cooking for ...read more

Tags: Disciplines General

Denomination: Christian/Church Of Christ

Believing In Anything  PRO

Contributed by Jeff Strite on Aug 8, 2011

BELIEVING IN ANYTHING G.K. Chesterton once said, "It is often supposed that when people stop believing in God, they believe in nothing. Alas, it is worse than that. When they stop believing in God, they believe in anything." Without God the only standard of TRUST - of right and wrong - is what ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 11:2-11

Tags: Trust

Denomination: Christian/Church Of Christ

Greater Things

Contributed by Jeff Strite on Aug 2, 2011

GREATER THINGS You know, for me, one of the most intriguing promises Jesus ever made was this: "I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing. He will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father." John 14:12 Jesus said I will be able to do ...read more

Tags: Salvation

Denomination: Christian/Church Of Christ