In Sermon Illustrations: "Academic Christianity"

Mr. Goodness And Mr. Mercy

Contributed by Davon Huss on Jan 31, 2011

MR. GOODNESS AND MR. MERCY A faithful Christian lady told the preacher on her death bed that she felt like two demons were always around her. She said that when she died she felt like those demons were going to escort her to hell. The preacher was disturbed and couldn't understand her terrors. ...read more

Tags: Death

Denomination: Christian/Church Of Christ

Love Is The Greatest

Contributed by Michael Mccartney on Mar 7, 2011

LOVE IS THE GREATEST George Sweeting – Love is the Greatest - page 122: "God’s love is not cheap or sentimental. It is priceless and incomparable. The way of love is God’s way, and His way is the only way to abundant and victorious living. It is the best way. Life apart from God's love is ...read more

Tags: Love For God

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

In Ad 753, Pope Stephen Was Driven From Rome By ...

Contributed by Jeff Strite on Mar 14, 2011

In AD 753, Pope Stephen was driven from Rome by Adolphus, King of the Lombards. He fled to Pipen. While he was there, he was asked by the monks of Cressy, in Brittany, if, in the case of necessity, baptism poured on the head would be lawful, in place of immersion. This was 723 years after the ...read more

Tags: Baptism

Denomination: Christian/Church Of Christ

Paul Billheimer: The Agent Of Destruction

Contributed by Sermon Central on Mar 21, 2011

PAUL BILLHEIMER: THE AGENT OF DESTRUCTION In his book, Don't Waste Your Sorrows, Paul Billheimer wrote: "Satan is the agent of destruction, not God. Who was it that destroyed Job's fortune, family, and health when God permitted it done? Satan. Satan brings about accidents, sickness, disease, and ...read more

Scripture: 1 Peter 5:8-9

Tags: Trials And Difficulties

Who Is John Three-Sixteen?

Contributed by Sermon Central on Apr 4, 2011

WHO IS JOHN THREE-SIXTEEN? A few years ago the principal of the English Mission College at Cairo, Egypt, received a letter from a Japanese Buddhist of the city whose children were attending his school. "Who is John three sixteen? My children are always talking about him?" The principal sent a ...read more

Scripture: John 8:12-30

Tags: Jesus Christ

Higher Ground

Contributed by John Putty on Apr 5, 2011

HIGHER GROUND The old hymn, “Higher Ground” is a spiritual declaration of one determined man Johnson Oatman, Jr. put to music! While some refuse to believe that our personal faith plays any real role in our spiritual growth and in experiencing Christian victory, in all my 20 years of preaching ...read more

Tags: Faith General

Denomination: Assembly Of God

Ministry: A Character Profession

Contributed by Rodelio Mallari on Apr 13, 2011

MINISTRY: A CHARACTER PROFESSION Ministry is a character profession. To put it bluntly, you can sleep around and still be a good brain surgeon. You can cheat on your mate and have little trouble continuing to practice law. Apparently, it is no problem to stay in politics and plagiarize. You can be ...read more

Tags: Character

Denomination: *other

Evading The "R" Word

Contributed by Sermon Central on Apr 17, 2011

EVADING THE "R" WORD Jimmy had trouble pronouncing the letter "R" so his teacher gave him a sentence to practice at home: "Robert gave Richard a rap in the rib for roasting the rabbit so rare." Some days later the teacher asked him to say the sentence for her. Jimmy rattled it off like this. "Bob ...read more

Tags: Repentance

Let Us Love Them

Contributed by Alison Bucklin on Jun 25, 2011

LET US LOVE THEM Tony Campolo tells about some homeless teenagers from the Philadelphia streets who beat to death a Korean honor student doing graduate work in medicine at the U of PA. His parents came to the U.S. for the trial, and sat silently through his murderers’ entire trial. At the end, ...read more

Tags: Forgiveness For Others

Denomination: Presbyterian/Reformed

Is That All?  PRO

Contributed by Thomas Cash on Jul 14, 2011

IS THAT ALL? Listen to the words of Francis Chan: "You go to a building, someone gives you a bulletin, you sit in a chair, you sing a few songs, a guy delivers maybe a polished message, maybe not, someone sings a solo, you go home. "Though Christians believe in an almighty and all powerful God ...read more

Tags: Zeal

Denomination: Christian/Church Of Christ

Men And Women's Roles

Contributed by Sermon Central on Aug 8, 2011

MEN AND WOMEN'S ROLES Wayne Grudem and John Piper identified and addressed a problem in leadership back in 1991 which is still relevant: "A controversy of major proportions has spread through the church. It began over 20 years ago in society at large. Since then an avalanche of feminist ...read more

Scripture: 1 Timothy 2:9-15

Tags: Men And Women

Winning In Losing  PRO

Contributed by Sermon Central on Aug 11, 2011

WINNING IN LOSING Both teams that play in the Super Bowl think they will win, so both teams have special t-shirts and hats designed that declare them the victors. It costs about $2 million to have the apparel made--which means for the losing team, $2 million goes to waste, right? Wrong. A recent ...read more

Scripture: 1 Corinthians 9:19-23

Tags: Giving General

Packer On God's Impassivity

Contributed by Ed Vasicek on Aug 22, 2011

PACKER ON GOD'S IMPASSIVITY J.I. Packer does an excellent job defining the doctrine of God's impassivity: "This means, not that God is...unfeeling..., but that no created beings can inflict pain, suffering and distress on him at their own will. In so far as God enters into suffering and ...read more

Tags: God In The Hardships

Denomination: Independent/Bible

Gluttony Pants

Contributed by Tim Smith on Oct 8, 2011

GLUTTONY PANTS Chef Chris Cosentino, Food Network star and executive chef at Incanto restaurant in San Francisco, has created the Gluttony Pants for those of us who occasionally indulge and engorge without the post-meal awkwardness. The pants have three buttons, allowing you to expand the pants' ...read more

Tags: Sin General

Denomination: Methodist

Allow The Word To Disturb You  PRO

Contributed by Curry Pikkaart on Nov 4, 2011

ALLOW THE WORD TO DISTURB YOU "We need to repent of the haughty way in which we sometimes stand in judgment upon Scripture and must learn to sit humbly under its judgment instead. If we come to Scripture with our minds made up, expecting to hear from it only an echo of our own thoughts and never ...read more

Tags: Bible Truth

Denomination: Presbyterian/Reformed

Dead People Everywhere

Contributed by Jeff Gauss on Jun 29, 2012

DEAD PEOPLE EVERYWHERE Sometimes the most basic truths of Christianity can be quite confusing. Take for instance the first time little Suzy attended a funeral service. The minister used the phrase, "Ashes to ashes, dust to dust." Suzy didn't understand so she asked her grandma, who was with her, ...read more

Tags: Death

Denomination: Baptist

Why Say No When Everybody Else Is Saying ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Oct 9, 2012

WHY SAY NO WHEN EVERYBODY ELSE IS SAYING YES? Writing in the aftermath of World War II, Elton Trueblood looked back to those few brave German Christians who had the courage to oppose Adolph Hitler. When so many others went along or simply kept silent, a few, a courageous handful, would not go along ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 22:36-38

Tags: Love For God

The Real Story Of Unequally Yoked.  PRO

Contributed by Davon Huss on Jan 31, 2015

David Slagle, a minister at a small church in Atlanta, tells the story of a woman in her late 20’s. The woman had befriended a man living in her apartment complex. Slagle and his wife asked whether the two were dating. The man in question was a known atheist. The young woman answered, “No, I’m ...read more

Scripture: 2 Corinthians 5:1-10

Tags: Marriage, Premarital, Unequally Yoked, Pre-Marital Counsel

Denomination: Christian/Church Of Christ

Conformity

Contributed by Don Berry-Graham on Feb 29, 2016

I first noticed this in leading people to Christ. They were beautiful before they were “church broke.” Great young converts often start out as radiant Christians and end up only as carbon-copy Baptists. Great young ministers start out as adorable mavericks, but after a business meeting or two and a ...read more

Scripture: Romans 12:1-2, Romans 12:2-5

Tags: Conformity, Accepting

Denomination: Baptist

If Billy Goes To Hell, Do You Care?

Contributed by Steve Kinnard on Feb 10, 2019

Billy was born in 1972 into a family of drug abusers. His mother died of an overdose when little Billy was three years old, His father was wanted in Tennessee for selling drugs. Little Billy was slipped into Tennessee to live with relatives. In all reality little Billy spent his life looking for ...read more

Scripture: Luke 16:19-31

Tags: Hell, Compassion

Denomination: Pentecostal