In Sermon Illustrations: "1 Samuel 1:1-40:1"

On Predestination

Contributed by Sermon Central on Mar 17, 2009

ON PREDESTINATION During my basic training in the South African Air Force, we were out on a field trip for about a week. It was bitterly cold and raining during the entire period. Shortly after we arrived in the field, the corporal in charge had our unit line up outside. "You, you, and you," he ...read more

Tags: God's Judgment

The Nobel Story

Contributed by Sermon Central on Mar 17, 2009

THE NOBEL STORY In 1866, Alfred Nobel invented dynamite and built up companies and laboratories in more than 20 countries all over the world. In the process, he amassed a considerable fortune. When Nobel’s brother died, the newspaper made a mistake and ran an obituary for Alfred Nobel. In the ...read more

Tags: Character

In 1996 Reverend Christopher Gray A Vicar Was ...

Contributed by Nigel Heath on Mar 29, 2009

In 1996 Reverend Christopher Gray a vicar was knifed to death in the grounds of his vicarage by a man he had been helping who had recently been released from prison. Reverend Gray was apparently a great academic with a heart for the poor and disadvantaged. He turned down a good job in the ...read more

Tags: Sacrifices

Denomination: Baptist

Abundant Life  PRO

Contributed by Sermon Central on Apr 7, 2009

ABUNDANT LIFE In December 1990, the threat of war with Iraq was looming. Many reserves and National Guard troops were mobilized. There were some homes where father and mother were both deployed. Recognizing this situation (that both father and mother would be gone overseas), a civic organization ...read more

Scripture: John 10:10

Tags: Joy

What A Friend We Have In Jesus

Contributed by Sermon Central on Apr 7, 2009

WHAT A FRIEND WE HAVE IN JESUS I want to close this message by singing a great hymn of prayer and faith. "What a Friend We Have in Jesus." This hymn was written by Joseph Scriven who lived from 1819 to 1886. Joseph Scriven had wealth, education, a devoted family, and a pleasant life in his native ...read more

Tags: God In The Hardships

Back To Reality

Contributed by Sermon Central on Apr 7, 2009

BACK TO REALITY The story is told of three men who began talking one day about their wives. The first man said, "When we got married, I told my wife in no uncertain terms that from now on she would have to do all the cooking. Well, the first day after I told her, I saw nothing. The second day I ...read more

Tags: Dealing With Conflicts

Jesus' Words

Contributed by Sermon Central on Apr 8, 2009

JESUS’ WORDS There is a hopefulness in life as we hear and become empowered by Jesus’ words. A Sunday School teacher illustrated this concept of hopefulness in life by drawing on the blackboard two pathways. In the middle of one she placed a large rock, covering the entire path. At the end of ...read more

Tags: God Brings Hope

Stay Busy Until The Master's ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Apr 8, 2009

STAY BUSY UNTIL THE MASTER’S RETURN "The disciple is not called to eliminate his ignorance of the timing of the end, he is called to cope with it and respond to it appropriately." "How can a doorkeeper fulfill his duties if he spends his time calculating how long the delay will be?" In the ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 24:36-51

Tags: Second Coming

Guidance In ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Jul 14, 2009

GUIDANCE IN LIFE It makes a difference who your leader is! When we were kids going on summer vacation, I don’t ever remember my dad getting lost. -- But Eric Ritz writes: When I was a young boy, our family always vacationed together. It was my mother and father and five kids in an old Ford Falcon ...read more

Scripture: Proverbs 1:1-33

Tags: Wisdom

Living Poor To Give More: Excelling In Giving

Contributed by Sermon Central on Jul 14, 2009

LIVING POOR TO GIVE MORE: EXCELLING IN GIVING The richest people in the world give a huge amount of money, yet their generosity is really a very small proportion of their wealth. And apparently the vast majority of Christ’s followers are not exactly excelling their giving either. So what does ...read more

Scripture: 2 Corinthians 8:7

Tags: Giving General

When My Wife And I Lived In Florida I Had A ...

Contributed by Chris Surber on Aug 26, 2009

When my wife and I lived in Florida I had a little bitty lime tree which never produced good fruit. It was amazing. No matter what I did the tree never produced any fruit which I could use. The limes were always covered in black kind of mold or fungus or something. I would wash them off but it ...read more

Tags: Grace, Religion

Denomination: Christian Church

Joy And Phyllis Diller  PRO

Contributed by Sermon Central on Oct 21, 2009

JOY AND PHYLLIS DILLER A thirty-eight-year-old scrubwoman (cleaning lady) would go to the movies and sigh, "If only I had her looks." She would listen to a singer and moan, "If only I had her voice." Then one day someone gave her a copy of the book, The Magic of Believing. She stopped comparing ...read more

Scripture: Psalm 126:2

Tags: Joy

Loneliness And Suicide, Products Of ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Oct 26, 2009

Loneliness and Suicide, Products of Materialism Can you guess who said this? "I sit in my house in Buffalo and sometimes I get so lonely it’s unbelievable. Life has been so good to me. I’ve got a great wife, good kids, money, my own health--and I’m lonely and bored.... I often wondered why so many ...read more

Scripture: Revelation 18:1-8

Tags: Materialism

Just A Scrap Can Change A Life

Contributed by Sermon Central on Nov 1, 2009

JUST A SCRAP CAN CHANGE A LIFE Back in the 1500s, people didn't have a Bible they could read. The Catholic Church controlled the translating of Scripture and only offered it in Latin. But when Martin Luther rebelled against the abuses of the Church of his day he worked hard to make a translation ...read more

Scripture: John 3:16

Tags: Bible Influence

H.a. Ironside's Comment On H. D. Thoreau's

Contributed by Sermon Central on Nov 30, 2009

H.A. Ironside’s Comment on H. D. Thoreau’s "A Different Drummer" One of the most famous lines of the 19th century naturalist Henry David Thoreau was, "If a man does not keep pace with his companions, perhaps it is because he hears a different drummer." Commenting on Thoreau’s defense of his ...read more

Scripture: James 4:1-5

Tags: Worldliness

The Gentlemen's Guide On What Not To Get Your ...  PRO

Contributed by Bruce Rzengota on Dec 28, 2009

The Gentlemen’s Guide on What Not to Get Your Wife for Christmas #10: A Vacuum Cleaner The only possible way to make this a cool gift would be to give the hands-down coolest vacuum cleaner of all time... which I’m afraid hasn’t been invented yet and probably never will be, considering that there ...read more

Tags: Christmas

Denomination: Christian Missionary Alliance

A Rainbow Is A Beautiful Picture Of Christ. Jesus ...

Contributed by Ross Cochrane on Jan 14, 2010

A RAINBOW IS A BEAUTIFUL PICTURE OF CHRIST. Jesus is called the light of the world. A rainbow has 3 primary colours, red, green and purple. RED SPEAKS OF THE BLOOD OF CHRIST - His sacrifice on the cross for me. Genesis 8:21 says "The intent of man's heart is evil from his youth;" Jesus paid the ...read more

Tags: Noah

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

Wilma Rudolph, Stricken As A Child With Polio, ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Feb 6, 2010

Wilma Rudolph, Stricken as a Child with Polio, Achieves Olympic Gold Wilma didn’t get much of a head start in life. A bout with polio left her left leg crooked and her foot twisted inward so she had to wear leg braces. After seven years of painful therapy, she could walk without her braces. At age ...read more

Scripture: Hebrews 12:1-2

Tags: Endurance

Focus On Christ

Contributed by Sermon Central on Feb 6, 2010

FOCUS ON CHRIST This bit of strange news was released by the Associated Press this past week: RIVERTON, Wyo. -- Officials say a magnifying glass set on a stand in a sunny room started a small blaze in a Wyoming home. UPS worker Buddy Armstrong was delivering a package to 84-year-old Thomas ...read more

Scripture: 2 Peter 1:1-2

Tags: Growth In Christ

Leo Tolstoy Once Wrote A Story About A Successful ...

Contributed by Christian Cheong on Mar 9, 2010

Leo Tolstoy once wrote a story about a successful peasant farmer who was not satisfied with his lot. He wanted more of everything. One day he received a novel offer. For $1000, he could buy all the land he could walk around in a day. The only catch in the deal was that he had to be back at his ...read more

Tags: Greed, Parable Rich Fool

Denomination: Independent/Bible