In Sermon Illustrations: "1 Thessalonians 1:1-14"

With My Last ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Mar 17, 2009

WITH MY LAST SONG Louis Albert Banks tells of an elderly Christian man, a fine singer, who learned that he had cancer of the tongue and that surgery was required. In the hospital, after everything was ready for the operation, the man said to the doctor, "Are you sure I will never sing again?" The ...read more

Scripture: Psalm 150:1-6

Tags: Worship General

What Must I ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Mar 24, 2009

WHAT MUST I DO? Harvey Penick’s Little Red Book on golf has sold more than a million copies. It is one of the biggest things in the history of sports books. In the 1920s, Penick bought a red spiral notebook and began jotting down observations about golf. He never showed the book to anyone except ...read more

Scripture: Acts 16:29-31

Tags: Salvation

One Would Think That Selling One's Soul, As ...

Contributed by Ajai Prakash on Jun 3, 2009

One would think that selling one’s soul, as Faust offered his to the devil in Goethe’s Dr. Faustus, is only a figment of literary fiction. Medieval as it seems, however, several cases of soul-selling have occurred. Wired magazine reported that a 29-year-old university instructor succeeded in ...read more

Tags: Soul

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

Three Types Of Arrows Used By The Roman ...

Contributed by Rev Dr Randall M Deal Sr on Jun 7, 2009

Three types of arrows used by the Roman military: 1. plain arrows – like arrows you’d shoot from a bow today. 2. Arrows that were dipped into tar, set on fire, and then shot through the air… with brush all around…soldiers intentionally try to catch the arrows into their shields…so they’d stick and ...read more

Tags: War

Denomination: Baptist

The Practice Of ...

Contributed by Bobby Scobey on Aug 6, 2009

The Practice of Restitution. Do those lofty ideals ever get put into practice? Yes, by specific individuals. Years ago we had in this church a man who had been saved after beginning to attend here. He was serious about Christ and had a strong desire to witness for Christ. The apostle Peter gave a ...read more

Tags: Repentance

Denomination: Pentecostal

The Noahide Commands

Contributed by Ed Vasicek on Aug 31, 2009

THE NOAHIDE COMMANDS A Pagan could become > An Alien Believer > A God-fearer > A Jew (proselyte) A pagan would be an idolater or worship many gods, or one not serving the true God. An alien believer would be a gentile who wanted to be saved, repented from his sins and turned to the God of ...read more

Tags: Israel

Denomination: Independent/Bible

Effects Of Divorce

Contributed by Michael Mccartney on Oct 22, 2009

EFFECTS OF DIVORCE Focus on the Family states: With more than 30 years of research, we now know divorce seldom leads to a better life. Consider that: 1. Life expectancies for divorced men and women are significantly lower than for married people (who have the longest life expectancies).3 2. A ...read more

Tags: Divorce

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

Community Stores Refuse Kind Acts Of ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Nov 9, 2009

Community Stores Refuse Kind Acts of Service The story is told of a minister who was organizing opportunities for people in his church to do small acts of kindness as a demonstration of Christ’s love in the community. 1. He phoned several neighborhood grocery stores and Laundromats and asked for ...read more

Scripture: Galatians 5:13-14

Tags: Servanthood

Elizabeth Elliot On His Sufficient Grace For ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Nov 22, 2009

Elizabeth Elliot on His Sufficient Grace for Discipleship It’s the anticipation of that “glory of victory” that helps us to persevere in the hard times. It’s the assurance of that coming crown that helps us bear our cross today. Just one year after her husband was slain in Ecuador, along with ...read more

Scripture: Luke 14:26-27

Tags: Discipleship, Count The Cost

Synergistic Effect Of Draft Horses Pulling In ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Dec 1, 2009

Synergistic Effect of Draft Horses Pulling in Pairs Compared to Corporate Prayer My friend, if you are negligent about prayer in this way you are letting your church down. I read this week about a horse-pull in Canada where they hitched this one draft horse and he pulled 9,000 pounds. They hitched ...read more

Scripture: Acts 1:12-14

Tags: Prayer General

A Father Insures The Safety Of His Son In A ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Feb 6, 2010

A Father Insures the Safety of His Son in a Blizzard A little boy was eagerly looking forward to the birthday party of a friend who lived only a few blocks away. When the day finally arrived, a blizzard made the sidewalks and roads nearly impassable. The lad’s father, sensing the danger, hesitated ...read more

Scripture: 2 Timothy 4:18

Tags: Servanthood

A Pow's Will To Live--French Surgeon Removes His ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Feb 6, 2010

A POW’s Will to Live--French Surgeon Removes His Own Appendix When the French surrendered to General Giap and the Vietnamese at Dien Phen Phu, the long line of survivors were led on foot toward Hanoi. A French army surgeon among the prisoners realized that his appendix was in trouble. What would he ...read more

Scripture: Hebrews 12:1-2

Tags: Endurance

Anthropology And Jesus' Appearance

Contributed by Jim Kane on Feb 27, 2010

ANTHROPOLOGY AND JESUS' APPEARANCE This past week I attended a series of lectures at Anderson University in which the presenter, Dr Rodney Sadler, Jr from Union Seminary in Charlotte, North Carolina showed this picture. (Slide 2) Source: ...read more

Tags: Jesus Christ

Denomination: Church Of God

N. T. Wright Is The Bishop Of Durham And A New ...

Contributed by Isaac Butterworth on Mar 6, 2010

N. T. Wright is the bishop of Durham and a New Testament scholar without equal in my judgment. Bishop Wright describes the kingdom as God’s “ultimate future and urgent present.” What does he mean? He means what so many others mean when they say the kingdom is both now and not yet. There is a ...read more

Tags: Kingdom Of God

Denomination: Presbyterian/Reformed

As A Young Boy, Theologian Alister Mcgrath ...

Contributed by Bobby Mcdaniel on Apr 17, 2010

As a young boy, theologian Alister McGrath enjoyed experimenting with chemicals in his school's laboratory. He liked to drop a tarnished coin into a beaker of diluted nitric acid. He often used an old British penny bearing the image of Queen Victoria. Because of the accumulated grime, Her Majesty's ...read more

Tags: Change

Emergency Locator On Raft Compared To Not Being ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on May 10, 2010

Emergency Locator on Raft Compared to Not Being Able to Hide Sin A big part of his prayer is confession. Nehemiah confessed his sin. He owned the problem. They were sins not simply of commission but of omission. Trying to hide our sins from God is impossible. He knows all about them. Numbers 32:23 ...read more

Scripture: Numbers 32:23

Tags: Sin Exposed

Amazing!

Contributed by Ross Cochrane on Dec 25, 2010

AMAZING! When dementia had taken its course, Bess (not her real name) was left with just a couple of words, but one word which she used to respond to almost any situation was the word "AMAZING!" After a lifetime of words, what a great word to have on your lips at the end of your life. Matthew ...read more

Tags: Examples Of Faith

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

Surprise Gift

Contributed by Sermon Central on Apr 15, 2011

SURPRISE GIFT When Gabriel Hurles turned six a couple of years ago (January 2009), he was so focused on eating his birthday cake, that he hardly noticed the giant package in the corner of the room. When another child pointed out the large gift, Gabriel ran over and began to tear off the wrapping. ...read more

Scripture: John 1:14

Tags: Christmas

The Key To The Spiritual Life

Contributed by Sermon Central on Apr 17, 2011

THE KEY TO THE SPIRITUAL LIFE At age 16, Madame Jeanne Guyon (1648-1717) was forced into an arranged marriage with an invalid 22 years older. She found her marriage to be one of utter humiliation. Her husband was often angry and melancholy. Her mother-in-law was a merciless critic. Even the maid ...read more

Scripture: 2 Corinthians 1:3-11

Tags: Trials And Difficulties

God's Only 'forgotten' Son

Contributed by Sermon Central on Apr 24, 2011

GOD'S ONLY 'FORGOTTEN' SON There's a true story told about a revival that was held in a small town. The crowd had dispersed, when a woman came down front and asked to speak with the preacher. She cried uncontrollably as she explained to the minister that she wanted to become a Christian, but she ...read more

Scripture: John 3:16

Tags: God's Love