In Sermon Illustrations: "All The Way"

Dr. R. G. Lee's Mother Told Of Happiest Day And Gave Taste Of Heaven

Contributed by Rick Crandall on Dec 23, 2012

*Dr. R.G. Lee was the much loved pastor of Bellevue Baptist Church in Memphis from 1927-1960. One day when R.G was a little boy, he asked his mother what was the happiest day of her life. Her name was Elizabeth. And she thought back to the time of the Civil War when she was a little ...read more

Scripture: Revelation 20:1-5, Hebrews 11:30-40

Tags: Heaven, Restoration, Reunion, Joy And Celebration

Denomination: Baptist

A Luge Ride Is Like Life

Contributed by Sermon Central on Jun 18, 2007

A Luge Ride is Like Life While we were away last weekend, we went on the luge at the top of the gondola ride in Queenstown. You go up on the gondola to the hill above Queenstown. The restaurant and café has a luge track running around it. For those who have not seen it or been on one, the luge is a ...read more

Tags: Commitment To Christ

A U.s. Volunteer Nurse Does What She Can In Haiti ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Feb 28, 2010

A U.S. Volunteer Nurse Does What She Can In Haiti After an Earthquake John Wesley had this for his rule of life: Do all the good you can, By all the means you can, In all the ways you can, In all the places you can, At all the times you can, To all the people you can, As long as ever you can. We ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 14:14

Tags: Compassion

One Thanksgiving Season A Family Was Seated ...

Contributed by Bobby Scobey on Oct 27, 2009

One Thanksgiving season a family was seated around their table, looking at the annual holiday bird. From the oldest to the youngest, they were to express their praise. When they came to the five-year-old in the family, he began by looking at the turkey and expressing his thanks to the turkey, ...read more

Tags: Thanksgiving Holiday

Denomination: Pentecostal

How To Get Kicked Out Of Church On Christmas Eve  PRO

Contributed by Peter Loughman on Dec 15, 2008

HOW TO GET KICKED OUT OF CHURCH ON CHRISTMAS EVE Christmas Eve 1990. I came this close to being physically thrown out of church. We were new to town and we heard that a certain church in town had a fantastic Christmas Eve service. So, we went with some friends, about ten of us total, to this ...read more

Tags: Christmas, Advent, Christmas Eve, Hymn, Hymnal, Hard To Believe, Way, Choir, New Jersey, Shut Up, Kicked Out, Go Away, Eject, Sing, Quiet, Song, Silent Night, Usher, Funny  (view more)  (view less)

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

This Man Was A Farmer, His Neighbors Were ...  PRO

Contributed by Warren Lamb on Aug 13, 2006

This man was a farmer, his neighbors were farmers, and everyone in the area considered him to be the biggest pessimist in the world. His closest neighbor did all he could to encourage him every time they spoke, leaning over a fence that divided their properties on one side. “Look’s like the sun’s ...read more

Tags: Doubt

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

Please Come Back  PRO

Contributed by Sermon Central on May 6, 2011

"PLEASE COME BACK" Max Lucado tells us about a girl named Christina. She lives in a small dusty village in Brazil. She’s bored. She feels like her strict parents have cheated her out of the joys of life. She longs for the excitement of the big city of Rio. One morning her mother Maria finds ...read more

Scripture: Luke 15:11-32, Mark 4:1-9

Tags: Parable Prodigal Son, Parable Sower And Seed

Billy Graham: Growing Old Has Been A Surprise  PRO

Contributed by Josh Hunt on Feb 7, 2012

BILLY GRAHAM: GROWING OLD HAS BEEN A SURPRISE Billy Graham, in his book "Nearing Home: Life, Faith, and Finishing Well" (pp. 1-2, Thomas Nelson), he writes: Growing old has been the greatest surprise of my life. The young live for the here and now. Thinking ahead seems to be in the form of dreams ...read more

Scripture: Proverbs 16:31

Tags: Aging

Denomination: Baptist

A Kiss That Changed A Prodigal Into A Preacher!

Contributed by Dr. Larry Petton on Mar 15, 2022

The late Joe Bayly was a gentle, godly Christian leader. I once heard him tell how one of his sons rebelled back in the days of the hippie movement. He grew his hair long and moved into a communal flophouse. Late one night, Bayly received a call informing him that his son was being held at one of ...read more

Tags: Prodigal Son, Fathers, Fathers And Sons, Luke 15, Parables, Lost, Father's Love, Unconditional Love  (view more)  (view less)

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

The Long Ride Home

Contributed by Jonathan Spurlock on Jan 19, 2020

(Note: I used this illustration as part of a funeral message in January 2017) Back when I was 11 years of age, I really discovered pro baseball! We lived about four hours away from Cincinnati, Ohio, at the time—which was no problem for me! Well, I must have really pestered Dad because he ...read more

Tags: Lazarus, Death Of Believers, Fathers And Sons, Assurance

Denomination: Baptist

I Have Never Forgotten You

Contributed by Rick Crandall on Feb 12, 2009

I HAVE NEVER FORGOTTEN YOU On Jan. 27, 2009 and I got to go to part of the state evangelism conference in Ruston, LA. Charles Thornton from Texas was one of the preachers. God is using his life in a fantastic way to help reach people in apartment complexes. Their ministry moves CARES Teams into ...read more

Scripture: Ephesians 4:25-32

Tags: Encouragement, Love Of God, Family Love

Denomination: Baptist

The Love Of Christ  PRO

Contributed by Melvin Newland on Sep 23, 2002

THE LOVE OF CHRIST I want to tell you of a modern day Damascus road experience that some of you may find hard to believe. It is reported in an article by Fred Markert in the current issue of Pray Magazine. Fred is the International Director of YWAM’s Strategic Frontiers, a group that focuses on ...read more

Scripture: Acts 9:5

Tags: God's Forgiveness, Mercy

Denomination: Christian/Church Of Christ

Pastor And Author Stuart Briscoe Writes: I Was In ...

Contributed by Bruce Ritter on Feb 2, 2008

Pastor and author Stuart Briscoe writes: I was in Edinburgh about a year ago speaking at Charlotte Chapel, and a delightful young lady gave her testimony. She had come back from Kabul, Afghanistan, where she was a missionary nurse. She said how she was really enjoying the work she was doing there, ...read more

Denomination: Assembly Of God

Freezing To Death Can Actually Make You Feel Warm...

Contributed by Dr. Larry Petton on Mar 22, 2024

The man huddled on the cabin floor was slowly freezing to death. It was high in the Rockies in southwestern Alberta, and outside a blizzard raged. John Elliott had logged miles that day through the deep snows of the mountain passes. As he checked for avalanches and as dusk and exhaustion overcame ...read more

Tags: Wake Up, Spiritual Death, Messengers, Dogs, Witnesses, Sin, Deception, Satan, Salvation, Rescue, Lost, Death  (view more)  (view less)

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

What Is The ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Dec 11, 2009

What is the Church? They tell me the story that long ago there was a small church, in a small town, in a small county, where a small congregation had tried for years to get the biggest “sinner” in town, Sam, to come to church. Sam the sinner would have nothing to do with the church. He wouldn’t ...read more

Scripture: Ephesians 1:22-23

Tags: Church Body Of Christ

Rene' Gets Lost

Contributed by Paul Kendall on Apr 23, 2010

RENE' GETS LOST In her freshman year of college, my daughter Rene’ agreed to take some friends to the Tampa airport as they returned home for Christmas break. They showed her the way there-—and to get back-—she would simply follow the same route backwards and then come on home to celebrate ...read more

Scripture: Psalm 32:8

Tags: God Brings Hope

Denomination: *other

Caterpillar And Butterfly

Contributed by Wade Martin Hughes, Sr on Feb 8, 2019

Robert J. Morgan in PREACHER’S SOURCEBOOK OF CREATIVE SERMON ILLUSTRATIONS tells of the story… Seems there was an enemy that had a beautiful princess trapped in his palace tower. The strong, handsome knight loved his princess so much and he wanted to do a surprise attack and free his princess ...read more

Scripture: Psalm 139:23-24

Tags: Better Vs Bitter, Attitudes

Denomination: Assembly Of God

The Devil Made Me Do It

Contributed by Russell Brownworth on Feb 19, 2010

THE DEVIL MADE ME DO IT When I served a church in Greenville, Florida, one of our men was Joe Ball Reams; about 6'4" and a man's man! He farmed tobacco, corn and cotton to pay the bills. One of his entrepreneurial ventures is a 600 acre hunting club on family land. He has entertained Southern ...read more

Tags: Temptation General

Denomination: United Methodist

Something For Nothing?

Contributed by Jonathan Spurlock on Jan 13, 2020

Several years ago, I had to make an urgent flight across the country. Because the only airport with those kinds of connections was a good ways away, I took advantage of a shuttle service. Considering the cost of fuel and parking alone, I figured I could get a ride from the northern terminal all ...read more

Scripture: John 6:25-27

Tags: Greed, Motive Or Motivation

Denomination: Baptist

Full Steam Ahead

Contributed by Paul Davidson on Jan 27, 2021

I used to work for a railroad. The engineer on a train has a huge responsibility to safely operate and move that train over sometimes difficult terrain and in all kinds of weather. When you have a train roughly a mile (or more) in length, hauling over 10,000 tons of freight, running in excess of ...read more

Scripture: Proverbs 3:5-6

Tags: Fear, Trust, Trains

Denomination: Baptist