In Sermon Illustrations: "Absent From The Body"

Radio Personality Paul Harvey Tells The Story Of ...

Contributed by Ajai Prakash on Feb 25, 2009

Radio personality Paul Harvey tells the story of how an Eskimo kills a wolf. The account is grisly, yet it offers fresh insight into the consuming, self-destructive nature of sin. "First, the Eskimo coats his knife blade with animal blood and allows it to freeze. Then he adds another layer of ...read more

Tags: Sin Wages Of

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

Dancing With God

Contributed by Anne Benefield on Mar 5, 2009

DANCING WITH GOD One of my very favorite stories is told by Gertrud Mueller Nelson in To Dance with God: Family Ritual and Community Celebration. It’s the first thing she says at the beginning of Chapter 1: "Some years ago, I spent an afternoon caught up in a piece of sewing I was doing. The ...read more

Tags: Discovery

Denomination: Presbyterian/Reformed

The Hotel ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Mar 13, 2009

THE HOTEL TEST A Jewish lady named Mrs. Rosenberg many years ago was stranded late one night at a fashionable resort - one that did not admit Jews. The desk clerk looked down at his book and said, "Sorry, no room. The hotel is full." The Jewish lady said, "But your sign says that you have ...read more

Scripture: John 15:18

Tags: Persecution

Everyone Dies…all Flesh Is Grass…what Did You ...

Contributed by Clark Tanner on Mar 16, 2009

“Everyone dies…all flesh is grass…what did you expect? Did you really think that Christ would blunt the spear-points, deflect the lash, cause the chains to melt away when they touched your skin? Did you expect to walk in sunlight and not feel the heat, or to go without water and not grow thirsty? ...read more

Tags: Suffering Joy In

Denomination: Orthodox

Strange Inside And Out

Contributed by Sermon Central on Mar 17, 2009

STRANGE INSIDE AND OUT In May 2008, scientists finally completed analyzing the DNA of the platypus, a creature native to Australia that defies categorization under bird, reptile or mammal. The platypus is so odd that when the first specimens were sent to Europe in the 19th century, scientists ...read more

Scripture: 2 Corinthians 2:1-16, 1 Peter 2:11

Tags: God's Sovereign Will

What's Up With Jesus?  PRO

Contributed by Sermon Central on Mar 17, 2009

WHAT’S UP WITH JESUS? Renowned theologian Karl Barth was lecturing to a group of students at Princeton when a student asked him, "Sir, don’t you think that God has revealed himself in other religions and not only in Christianity?" With a modest thunder he stunned the crowd, replying, "No, God has ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 16:13-20

Tags: Jesus Christ

Moses And The Bush Joke  PRO

Contributed by K. Edward Skidmore on Mar 30, 2009

MOSES AND THE BUSH JOKE We all know that our past President from TX is now a private citizen, back in his home state. I heard that recently George W. Bush was waiting in an airport lobby when he noticed a man in a long flowing white robe with a long flowing white beard and flowing white hair. The ...read more

Tags: Anxiety

Denomination: Christian/Church Of Christ

Don't Wait On The ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Apr 8, 2009

DON’T WAIT ON THE DECISION I recently heard a terrible story about a young man who made a bad decision. The church of a pastor friend of mine had a drama about hell, and a mother brought her 26-year-old son who had been in rehab. When the pastor gave the invitation, the mother got up to go to the ...read more

Scripture: Acts 26:26-29

Tags: Salvation

Seven Deadly ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Apr 9, 2009

SEVEN DEADLY SINS In the Roman Catholic Church there is a list of the seven deadly sins: Pride, Envy, Gluttony, Greed, Lust, Wrath, and Sloth. In 1995 a film titled Se7en focused on the seven deadly sins, a character that thinks of himself as the Sword of God, chooses victims whom he believes to ...read more

Scripture: Galatians 5:19-21

Tags: Sin General

What Are You Supposed To Do?  PRO

Contributed by Sermon Central on Apr 27, 2009

WHAT ARE YOU SUPPOSED TO DO? Frank Sosienski was a postman in Louisville, Kentucky, who didn’t want to deliver some of his mail. Perhaps he was tired of being chased by dogs. Perhaps it was the cold weather he disliked or the hot summertimes. Maybe the mail was heavy; maybe he wanted to quit his ...read more

Scripture: Romans 8:28

Tags: Church Purpose Of

Radical Solutions

Contributed by Sermon Central on Apr 28, 2009

RADICAL SOLUTIONS A pastor was walking along a river one day, when he came across some boys who were fishing. But this was no ordinary way of fishing, because to the surprise of the onlooker, they were casting a tire into the water. The result? They were hauling the fish in by the bucketload! As ...read more

Scripture: Mark 2:1-12

Tags: Evangelism How To

One Mother's Day I Was Preaching In Another State ...

Contributed by Jim Blevins on May 16, 2009

One Mother’s Day I was preaching in another state and during the Sunday School class I told about one of the two times that I sassed my mother. Now my mother is about 4 foot 11 inches tall and I was approaching 6 foot so I towered over her. She had told me to do something and I told her she wasn’t ...read more

Tags: Mother's Day

Denomination: Independent/Bible

Father's Day Is Almost Upon Us And It Reminded Me ...  PRO

Contributed by Bruce Howell on Jun 13, 2009

FATHER’S DAY IS ALMOST UPON US and it reminded me of a story I read about a dad who really understood his role. Some years ago, in a military academy, the students mutinied, probably a reaction to the hard demands of such an environment. The students had struck in everything: lessons, study ...read more

Scripture: Ephesians 6:4

Tags: Father's Day

Denomination: Wesleyan

Graham: I Would Read The Bible More

Contributed by Sermon Central on Jul 13, 2009

GRAHAM: I WOULD READ THE BIBLE MORE In an interview with Newsweek on 14 Aug 2006, Billy Graham, then aged 88, was asked what would he do if he could live his life over again. The article writes: If he had his life to live over again, Graham says he would spend more time immersed in Scripture and ...read more

Scripture: Proverbs 4:3-13

Tags: Bible Study

He Keeps Me ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Jul 13, 2009

HE KEEPS ME SINGING A Methodist preacher by the name of Luther Bridges, was born in 1884, he married Sarah Veatch and three lovely sons were born. Pastor Bridges accepted an invitation to minister at a conference in Kentucky in the year 1910, so he left his family in the care of his father-in-law ...read more

Scripture: Psalm 46:10

Tags: Trials And Difficulties

I Am His!

Contributed by Sermon Central on Jul 13, 2009

"I AM HIS!" President Theodore Roosevelt, was a charismatic figure who made quite an impression on people. One journalist, William Allen White, wrote of his first meeting with Roosevelt in 1897: "He sounded in my heart the first trumpet call of the new time that was to be... I had never known ...read more

Scripture: Revelation 3:20

Tags: Discipleship

What Is Your Money Doing To ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Jul 14, 2009

WHAT IS YOUR MONEY DOING TO YOU? On their way to church on Sunday, a mother gave her child a one-dollar bill and a quarter. "Sweetheart," the mother said, "you can place either one in the offering plate. It’s entirely up to you." As they were driving home, the mother asked the daughter what she ...read more

Scripture: 1 Timothy 6:10

Tags: Money

Kokomo Tribune Writer Scott Smith Wrote An ...

Contributed by Ed Vasicek on Aug 3, 2009

Kokomo Tribune writer Scott Smith wrote an article for the Kokomo Tribune headlined, "Dam destruction part of Wildcat Creek’s revival." It reads: "The water upstream from the old Continental Steel dam looks almost stagnant. The streambed is deep, and the surface untroubled. But the lack of rills ...read more

Tags: Purity, Trials And Difficulties

Denomination: Independent/Bible

The Rich Man And The Poor Carpenter

Contributed by John Williams Iii on Aug 24, 2009

THE RICH MAN AND THE POOR CARPENTER One day a good, rich man noticed the miserable conditions in which a certain poor carpenter lived. He decided to help the poor man and commissioned him to build a beautiful house. He told the carpenter, "I want this house to be ideal. Use only the best ...read more

Tags: Character

Denomination: United Methodist

Love Is Never Inconsiderate

Contributed by Mark Eberly on Sep 21, 2009

LOVE IS NEVER INCONSIDERATE Gary and Mary Jane Chauncey were totally devoted to their eleven-year-old daughter Andrea. Andrea was confined to a wheelchair because of cerebral palsy. Andrea was pretty insignificant to practically everyone except her parents. The Chauncey family were passengers on ...read more

Tags: Christian Love

Denomination: Church Of God