In Sermon Illustrations: "Assisting Others"

Dealing With Divisive People  PRO

Contributed by Sermon Central on Aug 29, 2011

DEALING WITH DIVISIVE PEOPLE Ray Stedman said, "Some people for the sake of their point of view would destroy the unity of your church. How do you deal with them? Avoid them. We must keep our eye on them and turn away from them. In other words, we don’t listen to them. We’re never obligated to ...read more

Scripture: Romans 16:17-19

Tags: Unity, Courtesy

Come To Jesus "Messy"

Contributed by Brad Henry on Aug 30, 2011

COME TO JESUS "MESSY" My autistic son Chase has this ritual where he has to look at every clock in the house at :50 on the hour. It starts at 6:50, 7:50 till 8:50 at night. I once got tired at night when Julie was at a bible study and tried to get Chase to bed early. I changed the upstairs clock ...read more

Tags: Prayer How To

Giving Back

Contributed by Ed Vasicek on Sep 19, 2011

GIVING BACK Yesterday Marylu and I went to the Ko-ko-mah encampment as we do every year. We love the smell of campfires cooking food, crafts and arts done in an 1800's style, the music, the costumes, the re-enactments. When parking car, I thanked the attendant and said, "This must be a pretty ...read more

Tags: Giving Yourself

Denomination: Independent/Bible

Married People Need Friends

Contributed by Jeff Strite on Sep 26, 2011

MARRIED PEOPLE NEED FRIENDS The University of Chicago conducted a study where they found that couples that stayed together through adversity had friends who wanted them to stay together and who had a low opinion of divorce. By contrast, married people who spend time with divorced and bitter people ...read more

Tags: Marriage Struggle

Denomination: Christian/Church Of Christ

The Definition Of A Saint  PRO

Contributed by Derrick Tuper on Oct 20, 2011

THE DEFINITION OF A SAINT A young boy went with his parents touring around Europe one summer. Part of their tour included visits to the great old cathedrals of the past. As he visited cathedral after cathedral, he was impressed by the massive stained glass portraits of the disciples and other ...read more

Tags: Christian Witness

Denomination: Christian/Church Of Christ

The Cost Of Christmas

Contributed by Jeff Strite on Dec 4, 2011

THE COST OF CHRISTMAS One person observed that the message of Christmas was not one of convenience but "cost": * It cost Mary and Joseph the comforts of home to take a long journey to Bethlehem while she was "very" pregnant with her new child. * It cost the shepherds their comfort by the campfire ...read more

Tags: Christmas, Overcoming Fear

Denomination: Christian/Church Of Christ

Know Why You Worship As You Do  PRO

Contributed by Tim White on Dec 5, 2011

KNOW WHY YOU WORSHIP AS YOU DO Why would some people buy a cat and tie it to the bedpost to show their reverence to God? Many years ago, a very poor holy man lived in a remote part of China. Every day before his time of meditation, in order to show his devotion, he put a dish of butter up on the ...read more

Tags: Worship General

Denomination: Baptist

Garlands Of Heaven

Contributed by K. Edward Skidmore on Dec 29, 2011

GARLANDS OF HEAVEN In India, whenever I preached I would get a garland made of carnations or roses or some other kind of flower. (This was done as a gesture of honor.) They smelled nice at first, but they were bulky and awkward (most of them would hang down almost to your knees), and after your ...read more

Tags: Servanthood

Denomination: Christian/Church Of Christ

On Suffering  PRO

Contributed by David Tack on Jan 11, 2012

ON SUFFERING "It is a very difficult matter to understand when God permits affliction or loss to come into our lives. Our humanity wants to cry out, "Why me God? I love you and faithfully serve you. Why did you permit this sorrow to happen to me?" . . . one reason for affliction is to make us into ...read more

Scripture: 2 Corinthians 4:17

Tags: Suffering Joy In

Denomination: Baptist

I Know Where You Are, Just Tell Me What You Need  PRO

Contributed by H.b. Charles Jr. on Jan 16, 2012

I KNOW WHERE YOU ARE, JUST TELL ME WHAT YOU NEED DR. C.C. MCCUTCHIN of Oklahoma was on the highway, traveling from Tulsa to Oklahoma City, to visit a member who was in the hospital. But on the way, he got a flat tire. Thankfully, he made it to a "Call Box" on the side of the road. But he had never ...read more

Scripture: John 3:1-17

Tags: Communion, Communing, Prayer Answered

Denomination: Baptist

The Power Of Delayed Gratification

Contributed by Ken Pell on Feb 5, 2012

THE POWER OF DELAYED GRATIFICATION Years ago, psychologist Walter Mischel conducted an experiment on a group of four-year olds. Each child was offered a marshmallow, and was told that they could have it now, or if they could wait several minutes, they could have two. Some children grabbed the ...read more

Tags: Disciplines General

Denomination: Nazarene

Home, Sweet Home

Contributed by Sermon Central on May 14, 2012

HOME, SWEET HOME There was a time during the American Civil War, when the rival armies were encamped on the opposite banks of the Potomac River, the Union's band played one of its patriotic tunes, and the Confederate musicians quickly struck up a melody dear to any Southerner's heart. Then one of ...read more

Scripture: Ephesians 2:11-22

Tags: War

Pure White

Contributed by Joe Bertone on Jul 23, 2012

PURE WHITE A little girl went to the countryside on holiday. The cabin where she stayed was next to a grassy hillside on which sheep grazed. She had never seen sheep before. The girl could look from the front door of the cottage and see the sheep milling around on the slope of green. She exclaimed ...read more

Tags: Condition, Compare, God's Standard, Sin General

Denomination: Christian/Church Of Christ

My Son's A Sports Repairman  PRO

Contributed by Lance Hostetter on Feb 24, 2013

MY SON'S A SPORTS REPAIRMAN Three ladies were sitting around and bragging about their children. The first one says, "You know my son, he graduated first in his class from Stanford, he’s now a doctor making $250,000 a year in Chicago." The second woman says, "You know my son, he graduated first in ...read more

Scripture: Proverbs 23:25, Proverbs 10:1

Tags: Boasting

Denomination: Christian/Church Of Christ

Richard Eye On Divorce

Contributed by Davon Huss on Apr 16, 2013

RICHARD EYRE ON DIVORCE "We now have over 40 years worth of very conclusive statistics that show that children from two parent homes (a mother and a father) are at substantially less risk for drug abuse, teen pregnancy, school dropout, suicide, and a whole host of other problems. Statistically ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 19:6

Tags: Children

Denomination: Christian/Church Of Christ

The Power Of Snowflakes  PRO

Contributed by Sermon Central on Feb 20, 2014

THE POWER OF SNOWFLAKES We can learn great lessons of unity and its power simply by observing the nature. For example a single snow flake that looks beautiful and innocent. If it remains on its own it can easily fly away or quickly melt away. On it's own it does no harm and poses no threat to any ...read more

Scripture: Genesis 11:1-9, Luke 10:38-42, Ephesians 4:13-14

Tags: Power, Unity, Power Of Unity

Chapter 11

Contributed by Dr. Larry Petton on Mar 4, 2014

Two old friends met one day after many years. One graduated from a prestigious college and was very successful. The other had not attended college and was very poor. The poor friend said, "How has everything been going with you?" The successful friend said, "Well, one day I opened the Bible at ...read more

Scripture: James 4:1-11

Tags: Wealth, Riches, Success

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

Sacrificial Love

Contributed by Davon Huss on Sep 13, 2014

Watchman Nee, a Chinese evangelist, tells of a Christian he once knew in China. He was a rice farmer, and his fields lay high on a mountain. Every day he pumped water into the paddies of new rice. And every morning he returned to find that an unbelieving neighbor who lived down the hill had ...read more

Scripture: Romans 12:21

Tags: Evil, Overcome, Good, Unbeliever

Denomination: Christian/Church Of Christ

C.s. Lewis On Church And Worship

Contributed by Davon Huss on Nov 16, 2014

C.S. Lewis said that when he first became a Christian, he had trouble with church gatherings. “I thought that I could do it on my own by retiring to my rooms and reading theology, and I wouldn’t go to churches anymore.” He found the sermons often dull, and he disliked organ music, which he ...read more

Scripture: Proverbs 21:24

Tags: Pride, Ego, The Organ, Hymns

Denomination: Christian/Church Of Christ

The Body Of Christ Is Not Divided  PRO

Contributed by Silas Eke on Feb 26, 2015

A Baptist Pastor had a dream and found himself fully dressed with a Bible in hand at the gate of heaven. As he was about to enter, he heard so many people crying and wailing in hell. He went to the gate and met the gate-keeper. He asked the gate-keeper “Who are those crying? Is there a Baptist ...read more

Tags: Denominationalism, Unity In Christ

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational