In Sermon Illustrations: "A Caring Father"

Object Lesson: New Socks

Contributed by Mark Eberly on Apr 13, 2009

OBJECT LESSON: NEW SOCKS One of the things that our church does is that we give out new socks to some of the homeless men and women. You walk around and sleep here and there, and even if you take care of yourself and shower, your socks get dirty. When you’ve been wearing probably the same clothes ...read more

Tags: Born Again

Denomination: Church Of God

Punished For Helping

Contributed by Sermon Central on Jul 10, 2009

PUNISHED FOR HELPING Thu Feb 26, AP/ DENVER -- A good Samaritan who helped push three people out of the path of a pickup truck before being struck and injured has gotten a strange reward for his good deed: A jaywalking ticket. Family members said 58-year-old bus driver Jim Moffett and another man ...read more

Scripture: John 15:18-27

Tags: Fail, Good, Intention, Hardship Of Life

The Teddy Bear Lady

Contributed by Davon Huss on Aug 11, 2009

THE TEDDY BEAR LADY Most of the people at Chicago’s Children’s Hospital did not know her name. They just knew her as the sweet elderly lady in the red suit who wanted to make sure that every sick child had a teddy bear to hug and caress. She kept bringing the stuffed animals, purchased with her ...read more

Tags: Giving General

Denomination: Christian/Church Of Christ

Family Stages

Contributed by Michael Mccartney on Oct 22, 2009

FAMILY STAGES Now you know why I say, "The family takes a lot of work!" A healthy family will go through several stages that require perseverance and a good work ethic. Stage One -- The family begins at the, "I do"s and a couple is birthed. Now comes the dying to self. Stage Two -- The couple's ...read more

Tags: Family

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

A Pastor Told Of A Woman In His Church That Had ...

Contributed by Ed Sasnett on Jul 8, 2010

A pastor told of a woman in his church that had the spiritual gift of service and mercy. Over and over she was used in situations that brought great honor to the Lord. There was a woman in the community with eight children. The terrible news came to this mother that her husband had been killed ...read more

Tags: Servanthood

Denomination: Baptist

War On Poverty Fails

Contributed by T D on Dec 28, 2010

WAR ON POVERTY FAILS I don't think any of us would consider ourselves to be wealthy when it comes to the top level of money makers in the USA, and while we clearly are not as well off as we were a year ago, our level of wealth and possibilities of being able to make a living far surpasses most of ...read more

Tags: Giving General

Denomination: Evangelical Free

The Face Of God

Contributed by Sermon Central on Apr 26, 2011

THE FACE OF GOD I heard the story once of a great Cherokee wood carver. He took logs and sat them on a stump outside his back door and sat in front of that log sometimes for hours just staring at it. Finally, he would pick up his carving tools and start carving the most beautiful of things out of ...read more

Scripture: Luke 2:1-20

Tags: Birth Of Jesus

Beholden To Money

Contributed by Sermon Central on May 13, 2011

BEHOLDEN TO MONEY In his book How Much Is Enough? Hungering For God In An Affluent Culture author and Founder of Bread for the World: Arthur Simon writes about Bryce and Ellen, "a couple in their mid-thirties. They have two sons and a daughter, and on Sundays the family attends church more often ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 6:19-34

Tags: Money

Walking On Water In Los Angeles  PRO

Contributed by Sermon Central on Aug 9, 2011

WALKING ON WATER IN LOS ANGELES [James Bryan Smith, The Good and Beautiful Life (InterVarsity Press, 2010), pp. 131-132 | posted 7/05/2010] In the early 1990s, gang violence erupted in Boyle Heights, a section of East Los Angeles. Eight gangs were in conflict in the parish around the Dolores ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 5:9

Tags: Christian Witness

For The Life Of An Enemy  PRO

Contributed by Derrick Tuper on Feb 14, 2012

FOR THE LIFE OF AN ENEMY A Baptist pastor named Peter Miller was from a small town in Pennsylvania who lived during the American Revolution. And there was another man who lived there named Michael Wittmann, an evil-minded sort who did all that he could to oppose and humiliate the pastor. He made ...read more

Tags: Obedience

Denomination: Christian/Church Of Christ

Kyle Idleman: I Cheapened The Gospel  PRO

Contributed by Michael Mccartney on Apr 15, 2012

KYLE IDLEMAN: I CHEAPENED THE GOSPEL "Many of the fans turn to go home. I was struck by the fact that Jesus doesn't chase after them. He doesn't soften his message to make it more appealing. He doesn't send the disciples chasing after them with a creative handout inviting them to come back for a ...read more

Scripture: John 6:60-69

Tags: Easter Palm Sunday

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

Please Come Home.

Contributed by Ken Henson on Jul 5, 2012

"PLEASE COME HOME." There was a girl named Christina, who lived in a dusty village of Brazil. In her late teens she was upset with her parents because she thought she was restricted. She had this dream of going to Rio De Janeiro, but her mother knew that she will not be able to take care of ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 18:12-14

Tags: Forgiveness For Others

Denomination: *other

Ten Dollars Is Ten Dollars  PRO

Contributed by Sermon Central on Aug 6, 2012

TEN DOLLARS IS TEN DOLLARS A man named Stumpy and his wife Martha went to the state fair every year and every year when Stumpy saw the antique bi-plane he would say, "Martha, I'd like to ride in that airplane." Martha always replied, "I know Stumpy, but that airplane ride costs 10 dollars, and ...read more

Scripture: 1 Peter 3:1-7

Tags: Marriage Struggle

Abandoned At Seventeen

Contributed by Isaac Butterworth on Dec 8, 2014

One of the characters in Kent Haruf’s novel Plainsong, is Victoria, a seventeen-year-old girl who is four months pregnant. When her boyfriend finds out about her condition, he breaks up with her. And when her mother finds out, she kicks her out of the house and says to her, “You got yourself into ...read more

Scripture: Ruth 3:1-13

Tags: Support, Abandonment

Denomination: Presbyterian/Reformed

Stick With The Basics

Contributed by Richard Tow on Jul 25, 2017

When kids turn sixteen, they often take an in-car driving course to prepare them for their driver’s license test. I want you to imagine with me a driving instructor who meticulously teaches the student how to properly adjust the seat and put on the seat belt, how to adjust the mirrors so that the ...read more

Scripture: Romans 1:16

Tags: Gospel, Essentials Of Faith

Denomination: Charismatic

Who Needs Twitter!

Contributed by Dr. Fred W. Penney on Aug 20, 2019

We all want our lives to matter, and we believe they only matter if they are noticed by someone. I wonder if this desire for a witness isn't what fuels a lot of blogs, Facebook, and especially Twitter. We want someone, anyone, to take notice … to care about us … to watch us and by their ...read more

Scripture: Psalm 139:1-12

Tags: Communication, Self Esteem, Relationship

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

Eragon Vs. Galbatorix

Contributed by Joel Pankow on Sep 17, 2020

Years ago I read through a children’s series called Eragon. Eragon was going to face a strong and evil sorcerer named Galbatorix who had taken over the land through murder and violence. Finally, after battle upon battle to get to him, Eragon was able to confront Galbatorix deep within his lair. ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 18:15

Tags: Sin, Confrontation

Denomination: Lutheran

The Answer To My Prayers

Contributed by John Bright on Mar 5, 2021

I don’t see as many vending machines around as I used to see. The ones I see now, you can pay with your phone or your smart watch. In the old days, all the vending machines had the food on metal coils that would rotate and move the food forward when you make your selection. Sometimes, that item ...read more

Scripture: John 14:13, Luke 4:38-44

Tags: God, Prayer, Vending Machine

Denomination: Methodist

Great Funeral Illustration

Contributed by Garris Hudson on Jan 31, 2022

A certain nobleman had a garden which he left to the care of a faithful servant, whose delight it was to water the seeds, support the stalks of tender plants, and to do everything he could to make the estate a paradise of flowers. One morning the gardener rose expecting to find his favorite blooms ...read more

Tags: Dying, Funerals, Death, Heaven

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

"worst Day - Best Day - Begins And Ends With Me"

Contributed by Terry Miller on Mar 24, 2022

No note was written. There was no obvious clue to why I had reached the depths of a horrible pit of desperation. How could life for a forty-something get any worse than that? My Worst Day had brought me to contemplating suicide! A feeling of reaching life’s dead-end road had overpowered any ...read more

Scripture: Psalm 56:3

Tags: Motivational, Inspirational