In Sermon Illustrations:

Promoted

Contributed by Ed Vasicek on Feb 4, 2020

The boss called one of his employees into the office. "Rob," he said, "you've been with the company for a year. You started off in the mail room, one week later you were promoted to a sales position, and one month after that you were promoted to district manager of the sales ...read more

Tags: Family, Leadership, Success, Influence, Promotion, Moving Up, Nepotism  (view more)  (view less)

Denomination: Independent/Bible

Mercy In A World War 2 Battle

Contributed by Garris Hudson on Feb 1, 2020

Here is a unique, moving story about "MERCY" from the Second World War: The American pilot glanced outside his cockpit and froze. He blinked hard and looked again, hoping it was just a mirage. But his co-pilot stared at the same horrible vision. “Dear God, this is a nightmare,” the ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 5:1-12

Tags: Mercy, Beatitudes, War, Hate, Ww2  (view more)  (view less)

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

In Praise Of Crazy

Contributed by James Snyder on Feb 1, 2020

I made a mistake the other night of complaining out loud. It is one thing to complain under your breath so that nobody hears you or knows what you are complaining about. But when you complain out loud, then you run the chance of somebody hearing you. The somebody I was most concerned about was the ...read more

Scripture: Proverbs 3:7-8

Tags: Praise, Crazy

Denomination: Christian Missionary Alliance

The V-Formation (Geese)

Contributed by Wade Martin Hughes, Sr on Jan 31, 2020

V-SHAPED FORMATION… GEESE ARE STRONG AS A SKEIN. The V-formation is called a skein. Do we understand how wonderful God’s creation is? Study has revealed that GEESE fly in a V-shaped formation when they are migrating. This serves several purposes. The V-formation improves the ...read more

Scripture: Amos 3:3, 1 Samuel 30:8

Tags: Unity, Geese

Denomination: Assembly Of God

Rock Soup

Contributed by Wade Martin Hughes, Sr on Jan 31, 2020

CONCLUSION: DO YOU EVER FEEL SO ALONE AND EMPTY? We often say the words “I CAN’T.” Maybe the real truth is “I WON’T.” I read a story about a poor little village and the village was so poor and because there was a terrible drought. There was a very old man in the village. He was old and feeble. He ...read more

Scripture: Isaiah 35:3-4, Amos 3:3

Tags: Victory, Encouragement, Share

Denomination: Assembly Of God

Corrie Ten Boom Had To Forgive

Contributed by Garris Hudson on Jan 30, 2020

Corrie Ten Boom's example of forgiveness (from The Hiding Place) in which she describes an unexpected encounter with one of the Nazi guards who had mistreated her at Ravensbruck concentration camp, where her sister had Betsie died and she herself had been subjected to horrible indignities. ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 5:1-12

Tags: Mercy, Forgiveness, Beatitudes, Holocaust

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

Why Did You Throw The Old Man Out???

Contributed by Garris Hudson on Jan 30, 2020

Mercy is giving them a piece of your heart, not a "piece of your mind". There's a legend about a rabbi who welcomed a weary traveler into his home for a night of rest. After learning that his guest was almost a hundred years old, the rabbi asked about his religious beliefs. The man ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 5:1-12

Tags: Mercy, Endurance, Beatitudes, Patience

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

Never Sin!!!

Contributed by Garris Hudson on Jan 30, 2020

john Wesley visited General Oglethorpe when he was governor of the colony of Georgia. The general mentioned an incident involving a man who had angered him and remarked, "I shall never forgive ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 5:1-12

Tags: Mercy, Forgiveness, Sin, Judgment, Beatitudes  (view more)  (view less)

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

You Need Mercy!!

Contributed by Garris Hudson on Jan 30, 2020

One day, a woman who occasionally walked through the park after work, stopped to have her picture taken by a photographer. She was very excited to see the photo, but when she looked at it, her face dropped. She turned to the photographer and stated rather sharply, “This is not right! This is not ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 5:1-12

Tags: Mercy, Humor, Judgment, Justice

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

You Need Revival When.....

Contributed by Garris Hudson on Jan 30, 2020

1. You are entertained by things that once grieved you. 2. You are silent where you once spoke. 3. Your prayer closet has cobwebs and your Bible is dusty. 4. You have ceased to grieve over your own sin. 5. You have stopped sharing your faith. 6. You are more excited about your personal agenda ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 5:1-12

Tags: Revival, Beatitudes, Thirsting For God, Hungering For God

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

Spiritual Health Test

Contributed by Garris Hudson 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: Revival, Beatitudes, Spiritual Maturity, Spiritual Health

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

How Deer Become Thirsty

Contributed by Garris Hudson on Jan 30, 2020

There are 2 times when a deer develops tremendous thirst - one is when he is running from danger, the other is when he is facing an opponent in combat. When he is hunted, he will take to the river and stay submerged as long as he can hold his breath. He will then swim downstream in the middle so ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 5:1-12, Psalm 42:2

Tags: Psalms, Worship, Deer, Hungry For God, Longing For God, Thirsting For God  (view more)  (view less)

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

Beatitudes For Marriage

Contributed by Garris Hudson on Jan 30, 2020

We all know and love the Beatitudes for what they mean to our own personal lives, but recently I sensed the Lord leading me to write down how these guidelines for Kingdom citizens affected the lives of married couples. The results were received very powerfully by our amazing church family: Poor ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 5:1-12

Tags: Marriage, Prayer, Beatitudes, Couples

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

The First Thing Bartimaeus Saw

Contributed by Garris Hudson on Jan 30, 2020

Think of what Bartimaeus saw when he received his sight! Think of the wonders of seeing for the first time a crowd of human beings just like himself, the walls and palm-tree groves of Jericho, the sky, so blue above him, and the hills of Moab in the distance. But that was not the first thing that ...read more

Scripture: Revelation 21:1-7

Tags: Death, Heaven, Miracles

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

Why Did Jesus Really Weep?

Contributed by Garris Hudson on Jan 30, 2020

When Jesus went to call Lazarus back from the grave......HE WEPT. Some have wondered why he wept. The Jews must have thought it was from sorrow, because they said, "Behold how He loved him" (John 11:36). Yet we wonder why he wept, if he was going to call him back to life? Maybe ...read more

Scripture: John 11:35, John 14:1-6

Tags: Death, Heaven, Lazarus, Weeping, Funerals  (view more)  (view less)

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

Meeting William Shatner

Contributed by Ed Vasicek on Jan 27, 2020

“When I was a kid, my dad and I were driving somewhere on a nice, sunny afternoon…. My window was rolled down. The town we live in isn’t known to be a destination for celebs of any kind. We pull up to a light; we’re the second car from the front. A polished limo pulls up next to us, and the window ...read more

Tags: Famous, Ordinary, Fame, Human, Celebrity  (view more)  (view less)

Denomination: Independent/Bible

Friends And Acquaintances?

Contributed by Jonathan Spurlock on Jan 26, 2020

Junior high/middle school basketball is always fun to play, and more fun to watch. These youngsters have acquired some skill—more or less—and it’s still more for fun than for competition. Oh, sure, we wanted to win, and few athletes that don’t want to win will ever get very far in any kind of ...read more

Scripture: Philippians 4:3

Tags: Youth, Book Of Life, Athletics, Friends, Relationship  (view more)  (view less)

Denomination: Baptist

What Did We Know Before Facebook?

Contributed by James Snyder on Jan 25, 2020

To paraphrase one of my favorite humorist, Will Rogers, “All I know is what I read on Facebook.” I must admit that I also get information from Facebook. I can keep up with my family and friends, know what they are doing, and know what they are saying. The information there, whether true or not, is ...read more

Scripture: Psalm 25:14

Tags: Gossip, Secrets

Denomination: Christian Missionary Alliance

Starving For God

Contributed by Garris Hudson on Jan 23, 2020

BEATITUDE #4 - "Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be filled." “What Jesus is talking about is no mere reference to hunger which could be satisfied by a mid-morning snack. The thought is that of STARVATION. Are you longing for God like that? ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 5:1-12

Tags: Beatitudes, Hungry For God, Thirsting For God

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

Hold That Thought!

Contributed by Jonathan Spurlock on Jan 23, 2020

One church where I served as pastor has a ping-pong table in the fellowship hall, and sometimes a younger member or two asked me to join them in a game. Now, I was old enough to be their grandfather but that doesn’t stop them from asking! I did appreciate the fact that these youngsters, aged around ...read more

Scripture: Philippians 4:8

Tags: Children, Thoughts, Fun And Games

Denomination: Baptist