In Sermon Illustrations: "Ashes"

Consecration To Career

Contributed by Aubrey Vaughan on Sep 18, 2006

Consecration to career The late English property developer John Redhead worked hard all his life, and made a lot of money. Upon his death recently, he stipulated that his ashes be made into two egg timers, and be presented to his bank manager and taxman. Why? Towards the end of his life, ...read more

Denomination: Baptist

Tombstone Or An Urn?

Contributed by Peter Loughman on Oct 28, 2006

Tombstone or an Urn? Question that has come up over the years. Should I be buried or cremated? Some insist on bodily burial – so they can be bodily resurrected. If you believe that, then take heed of my advice, Stay clear of cannibals. Believing you have to be buried to be resurrected is ...read more

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

What Dawn Of The Planet Of The Apes And Lilo And Stitch Tell Us

Contributed by Fr Mund Cargill Thompson on Apr 10, 2015

Two films. The 2014 film “Dawn of the Planet of the Apes” and the earlier “Lilo and stitch”. In the Dawn of the Planet of the apes, small groups of human beings and intelligent apes have both survived a deadly plague. A group of humans trying to restart a hydro electric generator stumble across ...read more

Scripture: 1 John 4:18

Tags: Fear, Overcoming Anxiety, Non-Anxious Presence, Ohana

Denomination: Anglican

I Read This Week Of A House Fire In The Middle ...  PRO

Contributed by Tom Lovorn on Jul 21, 2003

I read this week of a house fire in the middle east where a man ran back into his burning house to get his valuables, but he didn’t make it out. He was found in the ashes clutching an ivory idol. The headlines read, "Man dies trying to save his god." Two thousand years ago on a hill called ...read more

Tags: God The Father, Forgiveness In Jesus

Denomination: Baptist

I Sold Life Insurance For Many Years, And Since ...

Contributed by W Pat Cunningham on Feb 7, 2010

I sold life insurance for many years, and since that time I have presided at many funerals. Few of those souls knew when they were going to die. The elderly grandmother didn’t know that her grandson was going to kill her for some drug money. The three boys I gave diplomas to didn’t know that ...read more

Tags: Repentance

Denomination: Catholic

Need Or Greed

Contributed by Dennis Davidson on Jun 2, 2011

NEED OR GREED Clovis Chappel in his book "Feminine Faces," wrote that when the Roman city of Pompeii was being excavated, the body of a woman was found mummified by the volcanic ashes of Mount Vesuvius. Her position told a tragic story. Her feet pointed toward the city gate, but her out ...read more

Tags: Greed

Denomination: Baptist

How The Chicago Fire Started  PRO

Contributed by Ted Sutherland on Feb 11, 2001

How Chicago Fire Started On October 8, 1871, at about eight-thirty in the evening, a lantern in Mrs. O’Leary’s barn, presumably kicked over by her cow, ignited the great Chicago fire. The woman was milking her cow; and there was a little lamp of oil, a little flickering flame. The cow kicked over ...read more

Tags: Christian Love

Denomination: Baptist

About 1930, The Communist Leader Bukharin ...  PRO

Contributed by Robert Galasso on Mar 16, 2002

About 1930, the Communist leader Bukharin journeyed from Moscow to Kiev. His mission was to address a huge assembly. His subject, atheism. For a solid hour, he aimed his heavy artillery at Christianity, hurling arguement and ridicule. At last he was finished and viewed what seemed to be the ...read more

Tags: Apologetics General

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

Here's An Example From Nature Shared By Another ...

Contributed by Michael Mccartney on Jan 25, 2006

Here’s an example from nature shared by another fellow Preacher. When Mt. St. Helens erupted in May 1980, hundreds of square kilometers were obliterated under a sea of mud and ash. Every living thing was destroyed, buried, or burned. But within four months, the first flowers were blooming, within a ...read more

Tags: God In The Hardships

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

I Visited My Brother In Manhattan Two Months ...  PRO

Contributed by Troy Mason on Nov 26, 2001

I visited my brother in Manhattan two months after the World Trade Centers were destroyed on Sept 11. We visited the site and the devasation and destruction were breathtaking. Words cannot possibly describe the damage that was done there. The giant hole in the ground where the WTC used to be was ...read more

Tags: Promises Of God, Emotions, Compassion

Denomination: Baptist

A Famous Violinist Once Ordered A Manufacturer To ...  PRO

Contributed by Douglas Batchelor on Nov 27, 2003

A famous violinist once ordered a manufacturer to make for him the very best instrument his skilled fingers could produce. But when the violin was delivered, its tone did not please the sensitive artist. In indignation he smashed it. The disheartened dealer tried to atone for his failure. ...read more

Tags: Confession Of Sin, Becoming A Christian

Denomination: Adventist

Near Cripple Creek, Colorado, Gold And Tellurium ...  PRO

Contributed by Bobby Mcdaniel on Dec 27, 2003

Near Cripple Creek, Colorado, gold and tellurium occur mixed as tellurite ore. The refining methods of the early mining camps could not separate the two elements, so the ore was thrown into a scrap heap. One day a miner mistook a lump of ore for coal and tossed it into his stove. Later, while ...read more

Tags: Character

In 1665 The Residents Of London Were Dying By ...  PRO

Contributed by C Jordan on Jan 27, 2006

In 1665 the residents of London were dying by the thousands each day. The bubonic plague was spreading from house to house because of the unsanitary conditions. Rats and fleas spread the germs throughout the city. Almost 30,000 people died, almost a third of London’s population at the time. This ...read more

Tags: Dead To Sin

Denomination: *other

We Shall All Be Changed  PRO

Contributed by Mark Hensley on Mar 28, 2002

WE SHALL ALL BE CHANGED The first Law of Thermodynamics says that no mass or energy is ever destroyed, that it merely changes form. When a piece of wood is burned, it is not gone. Some of it becomes heat; some deteriorates into the ashes. But it is not destroyed - it just changes. When a lake ...read more

Tags: Easter Resurrection

Denomination: Baptist

After A Forest Fire In Yellowstone National Park, ...  PRO

Contributed by James Botts on Sep 10, 2002

After a forest fire in Yellowstone National Park, forest rangers began their trek up a mountain to assess the damage. One ranger found a bird literally petrified in ashes, perched statuesquely on the ground at the base of a tree. Startled by the eerie sight, he knocked over the bird with a stick. ...read more

Scripture: Psalm 17:8, Isaiah 53:1, Psalm 91:4

Tags: God's Provision, Christian Disciplines

Denomination: Baptist

The May 1984 National Geographic Showed, Through ...  PRO

Contributed by Tony Searles on Nov 24, 2006

The May 1984 National Geographic showed, through color photos and drawings, the swift and terrible destruction that wiped out the Roman Cities of Pompeii and Herculaneum in A.D. 79. The explosion of Mount Vesuvius was so sudden, the residents were killed while in their normal routines of life: men ...read more

Denomination: Other

Origins Of Carnival  PRO

Contributed by Vonnie E James on Aug 27, 2008

Origins of Carnival The origins of carnival date back to the ancient Greek spring festival in honor of Dionysus, the god of wine. The Romans adopted the celebration with Bacchanalia (feasts in honor of Bacchus, the Roman equivalent to Dionysus), and Saturnalia, where slaves and their masters would ...read more

Tags: Holiness

Denomination: Baptist

The Fire Has Finally Died. It's Been Snuffed Out: ...

Contributed by Paul Dietz on Mar 19, 2008

The fire has finally died. It’s been snuffed out: Dampened by the coldness of betrayal, denial and doubt. No more glowing embers: Just a few dusty cinders remain laying in one clump. No more smoldering flares: Instead, just a few whiffs of smoke here and there. No more crackles, hisses or snaps of ...read more

Denomination: *other

Pompeii's Sentinel

Contributed by Matthew Kratz on Feb 26, 2007

Pompeii’s Sentinel When Pompeii was destroyed by the eruption of Mt. Vesuvius there were many persons buried in the ruins who were afterwards found in very different positions. There were some found in deep vaults, as if they had gone there for security. There were some found in lofty chambers. ...read more

Denomination: Other

When Pompeii Was Destroyed By The Eruption Of ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Jun 18, 2007

When Pompeii was destroyed by the eruption of Mt. Vesuvius there were many persons buried in the ruins who were afterwards found in very different positions. There were some found in deep vaults, as if they had gone there for security. There were some found in lofty chambers. But where did they ...read more

Tags: Faith