In Sermon Illustrations: "24 Hours"

No Higher Duty  PRO

Contributed by Paul Fritz on Jun 26, 2002

No Higher Duty Henri Nouwen, the great spiritual writer was going to a monastery for a retreat. The monks observed vows of silence and the retreat was to be meditative and prayerful. Nouwen was delayed and was late getting to the monastery on that miserable, rainy night. He rang the bell, well ...read more

Tags: Christian Love

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

A Man Left Work One Friday Afternoon. But Instead ...  PRO

Contributed by Edwin Amundson on Jul 30, 2002

A man left work one Friday afternoon. But instead of going home, he stayed out the entire weekend fishing with the boys and spending his entire paycheck. When he finally appeared at home Sunday night, he was confronted by his very angry wife and was barraged for nearly 2 hours with a tirade of his ...read more

Tags: Divorce, Abuse, Not Funny, Ouch, Marriage General, Hitting  (view more)  (view less)

Denomination: Baptist

An Old Legend Has It That A Wealthy ...  PRO

Contributed by Melvin Newland on Aug 1, 2002

ILL. An old legend has it that a wealthy merchant of the 1st Century who wanted to meet the Apostle Paul encountered Timothy, who arranged a visit for him with Paul who, at that time, was a prisoner in Rome. Stepping inside the cell, the merchant was surprised to find a rather old man, ...read more

Tags: Love For God

Denomination: Christian/Church Of Christ

The Cure Of Comedy  PRO

Contributed by Paul Fritz on Oct 18, 2000

THE CURE OF COMEDY In The Anatomy of an Illness: As Perceived by the Patient, Norman Cousins tells of being hospitalized with a rare, crippling disease. When he was diagnosed as incurable, Cousins checked out of the hospital. Aware of the harmful effects that negative emotions can have on the ...read more

Tags: Emotions, Joy

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

A Persian King Was Lifted Out Of A Life Of ...  PRO

Contributed by Kenneth Squires on Dec 28, 2002

A Persian king was lifted out of a life of poverty and deposited into the luxury of the royal throne. After he became the king, he sent some servants to the old shack that he once lived in. The place of his birth and rearing. The servants were instructed to gather every relic of that part of his ...read more

Tags: Humility

Denomination: Pentecostal

Without Time For Prayer, Nothing Can Be ...  PRO

Contributed by Pat Cook on Jul 23, 2003

- Without time for prayer, nothing can be accomplished. - Scroggie - He who runs from God in the morning will scarcely find Him the rest of the day. - John Bunyan - When asked how much time he spent in prayer, George Mueller’s reply was, “Hours every day. But I live in the spirit of prayer. I ...read more

Tags: Prayer General

Denomination: Baptist

Barbara Brown Taylor – Being Exhausted

Contributed by Mary Lewis on Jun 7, 2004

Barbara Brown Taylor – being exhausted I do not mean to make an idol of health, but it does seem to me that at least some of us have made an idol of exhaustion. The only time we know we have done enough is when we are running on empty and when the ones we love most are the ones we see the least. ...read more

Tags: God's Provision

Denomination: Baptist

When Death Seemed So Close To Delos Miles In A ...  PRO

Contributed by Evie Megginson on Jul 9, 2004

When death seemed so close to Delos Miles in a bunker in North Korea, he began to pray. As he lay on the ground, a Chinese soldier put a rifle to his head. Miles prayed something like this: "Lord, if you are all-powerful like I’ve always heard you are, you can bring me out of here alive. If you ...read more

Tags: Evangelism, God In The Hardships

Denomination: Baptist

John Wesley  PRO

Contributed by Bruce Howell on Oct 7, 2004

. JOHN WELSEY Traveled over 250,000 miles on horseback over a period of 40 years preaching the Gospel Preached 40,000 sermons Wrote 400 books Knew 10 languages At 83 he was annoyed that he couldn’t write more than 15 hours a day without hurting his eyes. At 86 he was ashamed because he ...read more

Tags: Christian Disciplines, Faith

Denomination: Wesleyan

A Newly Appointed Young Preacher Was Contacted By ...

Contributed by Craig West on Dec 10, 2004

A newly appointed young preacher was contacted by the local funeral director to hold a graveside committal service at a small country cemetery in Iowa. There was to be no funeral, just the committal, because sadly, the deceased had no family or friends left in Iowa. The young pastor started ...read more

Scripture: James 3:1

Tags: Leadership General, Funerals Non-Christian

Denomination: Baptist

You Can't Get Out Of Here!  PRO

Contributed by Sermon Central on Jan 19, 2005

YOU CAN’T GET OUT OF HERE! A man often walked through a cemetery on his way home. One night, though, unaware that a new grave had been dug in his path, he tumbled in. For some time he struggled to get out of the 7 foot deep grave, but finally gave up and settled down for the night. An hour later, ...read more

Scripture: Mark 5:1-20

Tags: Supernatural

Fruitfulness As God's Work  PRO

Contributed by Sermon Central on Jul 24, 2009

FRUITFULNESS AS GOD’S WORK A few years ago, the Associated Press released a study done by an agricultural school in Iowa. It reported that production of 100 bushels of corn from one acre of land, in addition to the many hours of the farmer’s labor, required 4,000,000 pounds of water, 6,800 pounds ...read more

Scripture: John 15:5

Tags: Fruit Of The Spirit

The Holy Huddle

Contributed by Donny Granberry on Oct 16, 2009

THE HOLY HUDDLE The job of the church is not to impact the church, but our job is to impact the world. It’s like a huddle in a football game. 70,000 people don’t pay $75.00 a ticket to watch the Texans huddle. What if you went to a Texans game and for two and a half hours you watched 11 men ...read more

Tags: Church Purpose Of

Denomination: Assembly Of God

Pastor Prays Honestly After Loss Of ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Nov 30, 2009

Pastor Prays Honestly After Loss of Son O The Beauty of Honest prayer (I think God prefers angry honesty vs. flowery fakeness) Heard a story this week of a pastor who lost his precious little son in a tragic accident. Told how he drove the freeways of Los Angeles in the grief of that loss. Said… ...read more

Scripture: 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18

Tags: Death

The Healing Power Of Laughter

Contributed by Sermon Central on Mar 21, 2010

THE HEALING POWER OF LAUGHTER Norman Cousins tells of being hospitalized with a rare, crippling disease. When he was diagnosed as incurable, Cousins checked out of the hospital. Aware of the harmful effects that negative emotions can have on the body, Cousins reasoned the reverse was true. So he ...read more

Scripture: Proverbs 17:22

Tags: Joy

Out At The Fonterra Factory Where I’ve Been ...

Contributed by John Perry on Apr 17, 2010

Out at the Fonterra factory where I’ve been working some shifts they make yoghurt. The milk is pumped into huge stainless steel vats & they add culture, heat the mix & about 6 hours later the milk & culture is basically turned into yoghurt. But between every batch of yoghurt the vats are washed ...read more

Tags: Righteousness

Denomination: Pentecostal

You May Have Read The Story Of Tom Smitheringale ...

Contributed by John Perry on Apr 18, 2010

You may have read the story of Tom Smitheringale & how he revealed how close he came to perishing in an icy grave in the last few days. The explorer survived falling through ice into freezing water during his solo expedition to the North Pole, sustaining only mild hypothermia and frostbite on some ...read more

Tags: Humility

Denomination: Pentecostal

Sadly, Those Who Believe The False Teachers Will ...

Contributed by Ed Vasicek on May 25, 2010

Sadly, those who believe the false teachers will be judged with them. Believing the "experts" can kill you. On March 20, 1980, Mount St. Helens in Washington, a supposedly dormant volcano, began to quake and rumble. The local population was evacuated to a “safe” distance 8 miles away. Later, the ...read more

Tags: Arrogance, Authorities

Denomination: Independent/Bible

Seeing—and Believing

Contributed by Bill Butsko on Sep 10, 2010

SEEING--AND BELIEVING Two children were playing on a hillside, when they noticed that the hour was nearing sunset, and one said, wonderingly: "See how far the sun has gone! A little while ago it was right over that tree, and now it is low down in the sky." "Only it isn’t the sun that moves; it’s ...read more

Tags: Faith

Denomination: Christian Church

Know Where You Stand

Contributed by Curry Pikkaart on Jan 14, 2011

KNOW WHERE YOU STAND The Johnson and Johnson company once had in their mission statement that employees would “operate with honesty and integrity” Several weeks before a major incident involving Tylenol, the president of Johnson and Johnson sent a memo to all the presidents of divisions in the ...read more

Tags: Character

Denomination: Presbyterian/Reformed