In Sermon Illustrations: "2 Samuel 1:1-40:1"

Warning Systems

Contributed by Sermon Central on Oct 19, 2009

WARNING SYSTEMS I love to watch air crash investigations and other technology programmes; I heard about this: To avoid air disasters, GPS was used; this alerted the pilot to some terrain, but the satellite system alone wasn’t enough. GPWS introduced: A major drop in crash incidents occurred when ...read more

Scripture: 1 Corinthians 10:6-13

Tags: God's Judgment

Here Be Dragons. Here Is God.

Contributed by Sermon Central on Oct 27, 2009

"HERE BE DRAGONS. HERE IS GOD." 2 Timothy 3:1-7 Matt. 8:23-26; 16:24-26 John 16:33 Psalm 107:23-30 We all remember Hurricane Katrina and the damage it inflicted on New Orleans and the Gulf Coast. It’s only a memory now, but it left terrible devastation and painful memories that still remain. The ...read more

Scripture: Psalm 107:23-30

Tags: Fear And Worry

Flight Simulator And ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Nov 5, 2009

Flight Simulator and Grace Grace. A word used in a variety of ways. It is a word that has been used as an alternative term for prayer. It has been used to describe the way a person moves. It has also been used by many parents to name their daughters. Still, none of these uses seem to catch the ...read more

Scripture: Ephesians 2:8

Tags: Grace

Horror Stories From ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Feb 6, 2010

Horror Stories from Refugees Hushidah Bagam is 20. For two years now, she has lived in a squalid bamboo and corrugated iron hut in a Bangladesh refugee camp. But what she left behind in neighbouring Myanmar (formerly called Burma) was worse. “The soldiers came to our village In the middle of the ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 2:13-18

Tags: Hardship Of Life

Roy Riegels: Don't Give Up

Contributed by Jim Kane on Mar 21, 2010

ROY RIEGELS: DON'T GIVE UP On New Year’s Day, 1929, Georgia Tech played the University of California in the Rose Bowl. A UC player named Roy Riegels, who was their center, recovered a fumble for California and in the confusion of evading some of the Georgia Tech tacklers, started running ...read more

Tags: Trials And Difficulties

Denomination: Church Of God

Cliff Barrows' Honeymoon ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Mar 21, 2010

Cliff Barrows’ Honeymoon Service Dr. James Dobson wrote a book entitled When God Doesn’t Make Sense, and in his book he shared an illustration that is very applicable to the point being drawn from this particular verse. Take a moment and reflect upon the following story: In 1945, a young ...read more

Scripture: Ecclesiastes 11:6

Tags: Servanthood, God's Sovereignty

Burmese Parable About A Banyan Tree ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Apr 28, 2010

Burmese Parable About a Banyan Tree Seed Don’t pitch your tents near sin or soon you will be living in it. I have heard stories of people who have been hooked by a variety of addictions. They almost always start by just an ‘innocent’ act that did not seem like much at the time. Gamblers who started ...read more

Scripture: James 1:13-15

Tags: Sin Deceptive

Last Week, I Was At Moody Pastor's Conference In ...

Contributed by C. Philip Green on May 27, 2010

Last week, I was at Moody Pastor’s Conference in Chicago; and there, I won a drawing for a brand new Garmin GPS. It’s a nifty little device! Sandy and I had to make several stops in Milwaukee this last weekend – the airport, a Best Western Motel, Office Depot, a GNC store, and other places – so ...read more

Tags: Trust God, Faith Vs. Works

Denomination: Evangelical Free

If I Loved Him Better, I Would Paint Him ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on May 27, 2010

"If I loved him better, I would paint him better!”--Paul Gustave Doré Paul Gustave Doré was born in Strasburg, January 10, 1833. He was well-known for illustrating many works, including a version of the Bible. (You can download the set of pen and ink drawing from Project Gutenberg.) The story is ...read more

Scripture: Jeremiah 31:2-3

Tags: Jesus, Love For God

A Good Example Of A Bad Example  PRO

Contributed by Sermon Central on Jun 6, 2010

A GOOD EXAMPLE OF A BAD EXAMPLE In 1989 the unthinkable happened. After seventy years of communism and forty years of the Cold War, the Iron Curtain fell and the brutal, sadistic power of the U.S.S.R. began to disintegrate. Russia for seven decades had been repressed, murdered, and brutalized by ...read more

Scripture: Psalm 50:1-23

Tags: America

How To Miss The Treasure Of Pilgrim's Progress ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Jun 7, 2010

How to Miss the Treasure of Pilgrim’s Progress Through Ignorance Ravi Zacharias tells this story: Some years ago, I was visiting the town of Bedford in England. The reason most tourists go to Bedford is because it was the home of the famed 17th Century writer John Bunyan who penned his immortal ...read more

Scripture: 1 Peter 1:13-16

Tags: Ignorance

Who Says So?

Contributed by Curry Pikkaart on Jun 29, 2010

WHO SAYS SO? A previous church I served had a lot of acreage and had turned part of it into 3 softball diamonds. Monday - Thursday nights, all summer long, various church leagues played their slow-pitch games there. Three of the leagues ran everything for their evening but one league was run ...read more

Tags: Authority

Denomination: Presbyterian/Reformed

Walking In A Rut

Contributed by Martin Wiles on Aug 23, 2010

WALKING IN A RUT Have you ever felt as if you were in a rut? Some years ago, me, my brother and daughter went hiking on the Appalachian Trail on the North Carolina, Tennessee border. It is an area called the Bald Mountains because you actually walk over the tops of the mountains. It is grasslands ...read more

Tags: Church Purpose Of

Denomination: Baptist

Life With Eternal Value

Contributed by Ross Cochrane on Aug 30, 2010

LIFE WITH ETERNAL VALUE I was talking with a Jewish friend at work the other day. She said "I don't like evangelicals!" I said that it was unfortunate because I was one, and that she was working for an evangelical organisation. She said "I don't like people trying to convert me!" I said that as I ...read more

Tags: Christian Witness

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

How Many Of You Remember, On August The 5th, The ...

Contributed by Michael Bolin on Sep 10, 2010

How many of you remember, on August the 5th, the bus crash that killed two people and injured band students on both buses? The news reported the 2 buses, with high school band students, were going to an amusement park when they slammed into a freeway wreck that happened right in front of them, ...read more

Tags: Workplace

Denomination: United Methodist

The Day You Enlisted

Contributed by Andy Grossman on Jun 7, 2011

THE DAY YOU ENLISTED I remember when I enlisted in the U.S. Army. It was at the height of the Viet Nam War. The year was 1967. I had a draft number and was probably going to be drafted – so I went down to the army recruiter and enlisted for three years. I signed on the dotted line, and before ...read more

Tags: Discipleship

Denomination: Holiness

Running The Race God's Way

Contributed by Sermon Central on Aug 16, 2011

RUNNING THE RACE GOD'S WAY Joni Eareckson Tada recently told a story commenting on Romans 15:1-2: "We who are strong ought to bear with the failings of the weak and not to please ourselves. Each of us should please his neighbor for his good, to build him up." She writes, "My husband, Ken, serves ...read more

Scripture: Romans 15:1-2

Tags: Compassion

Never Give Up  PRO

Contributed by Mark Stepherson on Oct 27, 2011

NEVER GIVE UP Have you seen that cartoon with the pelican having a frog for dinner? His dinner is not agreeing with him. The frog’s head, shoulders, and most of his body are in the pelican’s beak. His back legs are outside, kicking for all they’re worth. His front legs stick out from both sides ...read more

Scripture: Luke 18:1-8, 1 Peter 1:6-7, Luke 11:5-13

Tags: Perseverance, Prayer, Prayer Persistence

Denomination: Baptist

Repentance Is Not A One-Time Event

Contributed by Tim Smith on Feb 19, 2012

REPENTANCE IS NOT A ONE-TIME EVENT Doug Tegner tells the story of attending a one-day leadership retreat called to deal with his church's current crisis. Redwood Chapel was founded in 1962 and has since hosted the Bay Area Sunday School convention (BASS), had strong music programs, planted vibrant ...read more

Tags: Repentance

Denomination: Methodist

The Unending Wish

Contributed by Tim White on Mar 5, 2012

THE UNENDING WISH When I was a boy, my dad asked me if I could have one wish be granted, what would it be? We played that game as a family, and every time my brother or one of my sisters thought of a better wish than I thought about, I would change my wish. Then my dad unplugged all the fun by ...read more

Tags: Wisdom

Denomination: Baptist