In Sermon Illustrations: "2 Kings 23:18-24:31"

Switching Off The Message  PRO

Contributed by Sermon Central on Apr 9, 2010

SWITCHING OFF THE MESSAGE The Word will protect us. No soldier is going to go to battle without his armor and his weapons. Yet many Christians today rarely even pick up their bible. A former park ranger at Yellowstone National Park tells the story of a ranger leading a group of hikers to a fire ...read more

Scripture: Ephesians 6:17

Tags: Bible Influence

Crooked On The Lot  PRO

Contributed by Sermon Central on Apr 28, 2010

CROOKED ON THE LOT The Jewish leaders had rejected salvation. The builders had rejected the very cornerstone of the temple, and stumbled over the rock. Growing up, there was a vacant lot next to our house. One day, a bunch of equipment and workers from Philyaw Construction showed up—and built a ...read more

Scripture: Acts 8:4-12

Tags: Jesus Christ

Commitment And Loyalty To Christ Likened To A ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Jun 7, 2010

Commitment and Loyalty to Christ Likened to a Trapeze Artist John Ortberg (Faith & Doubt, p. 169-170) says the word trapeze describes the bar between the ropes of a trapeze artist in the circus. It’s a Greek word, meaning table. It’s used in the New Testament when Jesus gathers his friends around ...read more

Scripture: Luke 14:26-27

Tags: Discipleship

Priorities In Life And ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Jun 9, 2010

Priorities in Life and Church Several years ago, because of all the tornados in the area, a developer in Tulsa, Oklahoma, offered an optional tornado-safe room in the new homes he was selling. Nine of the first ten buyers opted to pay the extra $2,500 for the room, which can also be used as a ...read more

Scripture: Colossians 1:15-20

Tags: Church Purpose Of

Not Raising Grass But Kids

Contributed by Sermon Central on Aug 6, 2010

NOT RAISING GRASS BUT KIDS Dr. Tony Evans talks about a major league baseball superstar's recollection of his boyhood home. He, his friends, and his father played baseball quite often in their backyard. As a result, the grass had really taken a beating. It didn't look good anymore, unless you were ...read more

Scripture: Ephesians 6:1-4

Tags: Father's Day

Religion A Vs. Religion B

Contributed by Rodelio Mallari on Dec 31, 2010

RELIGION A VS. RELIGION B The 19th-century Danish theologian Soren Kierkegaard identified two kinds of religion--Religion A and Religion B. The first is "faith" in name only (2 Tim. 3:5). It's the practice of attending church without genuine faith in the living Lord. Religion B, on the ...read more

Tags: Religion

Denomination: *other

Fortified Within

Contributed by Sermon Central on Mar 23, 2011

FORTIFIED WITHIN There are two ways of handling pressure. One is illustrated by a bathysphere, the miniature submarine used to explore the ocean in places so deep that the water pressure would crush a conventional submarine like an aluminum can. Bathyspheres compensate with plate steel several ...read more

Scripture: Colossians 1:9-14

Tags: Stress

Cast The First Stone  PRO

Contributed by Sermon Central on May 11, 2011

CAST THE FIRST STONE A woman named Marilyn Helleberg told about being a teenager at church camp. She said an ugly rumor got started there about two of the counselors and it quickly became the talk of the camp. The next day, at Morning Prayer, the minister read the story of the adulterous woman. ...read more

Scripture: James 3:1-12

Tags: Tongue

Are You Seaworthy?  PRO

Contributed by Sermon Central on Aug 3, 2011

ARE YOU SEAWORTHY? In his book, Life before Death, Ian Leitch, a Scottish preacher, talks about three luxury ocean liners, the Queen Mary, the Queen Elizabeth, and the QE2. He says, "When they built [these ocean liners], they did not test them in dry dock. They didn’t leave them in dry dock and ...read more

Scripture: James 1:1-15, James 1:2-4

Tags: Faith

The Unexpected Christmas

Contributed by Tim Smith on Feb 19, 2012

THE UNEXPECTED CHRISTMAS When I was in seventh grade, like so many youth at that age, music became a huge part of my life. I was awakened to the sounds of music of Elton John’s Greatest Hits, SuperTramp's Breakfast in America and Led Zeppelin 2. So my hope and dream was to build a stereo system ...read more

Tags: Christmas

Denomination: Methodist

Almost Giving

Contributed by Sermon Central on May 21, 2012

ALMOST GIVING One of the Ad Council's most effective public service commercials is the "Don't Almost Give" campaign. One ad shows a man with crutches struggling to go up a flight of steps. The narrator says, "This man almost learned to walk at a rehab center that almost got built by people who ...read more

Scripture: Luke 6:38, James 2:16

Tags: Giving General

Orphans

Contributed by Davon Huss on Oct 24, 2014

Rubel Shelly tells of his friends Rich and Patty White, who traveled to a 3rd world country to adopt a little girl named Olona. After 2 years of effort and paperwork, the Whites stood before a judge who read words from an official document: “Inasmuch as Olona Morgan is orphaned and unwanted by ...read more

Scripture: John 14:18

Tags: Chosen By God, Orphan, Unwanted

Denomination: Christian/Church Of Christ

Five Facts About Valleys

Contributed by Garris Hudson on Apr 17, 2017

God designs valleys for His sheep to grow and sometimes He has to "make us lie down" there to teach us how to trust Him. Here are 5 facts about valleys we need to remember: 1. Valleys are INEVITABLE. Jesus promised valleys would come in this world (John 16:33). 2. Valleys are UNPREDICTABLE. ...read more

Scripture: Psalm 23:1-4

Tags: Character, Tests, Trials, Valleys Of Life

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

People Are Special!

Contributed by Ed Vasicek on Aug 17, 2020

Aug. 13, 2020 (UPI) -- A 95-year-old California man known to neighbors as "Bicycle Bob" was treated to a celebration after he logged his 100,000th mile of cycling… he took up cycling when he retired in the 1990s and has been logging his miles ever since. Mettauer logged his 100,000th ...read more

Scripture: Psalm 8:1-9

Tags: Man, Ability, Mankind, Human, Dignity Of Man  (view more)  (view less)

Denomination: Independent/Bible

Don't Let The Devil Hang A Nail On Your Door!

Contributed by Garris Hudson on Mar 8, 2022

A Haitian pastor illustrated to his congregation the need for total commitment to Christ by sharing this parable: A certain man wanted to sell his house for $2,000. Another man wanted very badly to buy it, but because he was poor, he couldn't afford the full price. After much bargaining, ...read more

Tags: Spiritual Warfare, Prayer, Commitment To Christ, Strongholds, Satah  (view more)  (view less)

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

Seven Life Lessons From Samson

Contributed by Garris Hudson on Nov 13, 2022

Certainly the story of Samson and the prostitute of Gaza stands as a cautionary tale to all of us. Here are some of the obvious lessons: 1) Just because we think we have conquered a certain sin doesn’t mean it will stay conquered forever. 2) The price of long-term spiritual victory is continued ...read more

Tags: Sin, Temptation, Judgment, Samson, Brokenness, Backslidden  (view more)  (view less)

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

Responsiblity To All Living Creatures

Contributed by Paul Clemente on Nov 18, 2022

Genesis 9:1-7 Devotional From Gen. 9:1-3 we note God blessed Noah and his sons. What was the command? – same as for the first man and woman – populate the earth (somewhat of a new beginning) What were given to man in v2? – man was given the responsibility to rule over all other creatures on ...read more

Scripture: Genesis 9:1-7

Tags: People, Nature, God's Love, Responsibilty On Earth

Denomination: Independent/Bible

Overwhelming Forgiveness

Contributed by Sermon Central on Dec 31, 2022

A wonderful example of how to practice the lifestyle of grace comes from an incident in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, on October 2, 2006, when a man entered an Amish schoolhouse and murdered 5 girls while wounding 5 others before killing himself. As horrific as this was, the greater story was the ...read more

Scripture: Psalm 65:3

Tags: Grace, Forgiveness

We Can't Know The Day - But We Can Know The Season When Christ Returns.

Contributed by Garris Hudson on Apr 6, 2024

Jesus specifically told us that there would be signs in the sky in the sun and moon and stars (Luke 21:25), and he told us to “look up”, as our redemption draws near. Believers need to look up when the "season" of His return arrives.   The apostle Paul had this to say about the ...read more

Tags: Day Of The Lord, Return Of Christ, Seasons, Times, Rapture  (view more)  (view less)

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

What Are The Five Solas Of The Reformation?

Contributed by Garris Hudson on Nov 11, 2024

What are the 5 Solas of the Reformation? The 5 “Solas” of the Reformation (“solas,” meaning, “alones”) are five principles that are foundational to the doctrine of salvation that were the focus of the Protestant Reformation. These five "solas" led to the rejection of the false teachings ...read more

Scripture: Ephesians 2:8-9, Titus 3:5, Romans 5:1-8

Tags: Faith, Grace, Scripture, Sin, Salvation, Theology, Glory Of God, Reformation  (view more)  (view less)

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational