In Sermon Illustrations: "Back Then"

God's Wood And God's Iron

Contributed by Larry Wilson on Jul 13, 2010

GOD'S WOOD AND GOD'S IRON Famed evangelist, Billy Kelly, received a donation of some Jack Daniel's aging barrels. He used them to make lemonade at his Greer Baptist Camp Meeting. He quipped that he didn't know if where from the Spirit or the spirits, but that they sure had enjoyed wonderful ...read more

Tags: God's Provision

Denomination: Baptist

Too Fast

Contributed by Bill Burress on Nov 1, 2010

TOO FAST There was football team who never won a game, so one day before practice the coach decided to have a talk with them. He told them, "Men, our offense is bad, our defense is horrible, and our special teams are the worst I have ever seen, so today we are going back to the basics and start ...read more

Tags: Sports

Denomination: Christian/Church Of Christ

Focus On Christ

Contributed by Larry Wilson on Aug 25, 2011

FOCUS ON CHRIST The healthiest people do not think about their health; the weak induce disease by morbid introspection. If you begin to count your heartbeats, you will disturb the rhythmic action of the heart. If you continually imagine a pain anywhere, you will produce it. And there are some ...read more

Tags: Self

Denomination: Baptist

Drinking Coffee And Talking

Contributed by Larry Wilson on Sep 2, 2011

DRINKING COFFEE AND TALKING One evening a man and his wife called another couple to see what they were doing. "Oh," said the other wife, "we're just drinking coffee and talking." As she hung up the phone, she demanded, "Why don't we ever do that? They're just drinking coffee and talking." Her ...read more

Tags: Marriage General

Denomination: Baptist

Better And Wiser Judge

Contributed by Clarence Clough on Sep 23, 2011

BETTER AND WISER JUDGE Supreme Court Justice Horace Gray once informed a man who had appeared before him in a lower court and had escaped conviction on a technicality: "I know that you are guilty and you know it, and I wish you to remember that one day you will stand before a better and wiser ...read more

Tags: Justice

Denomination: Church Of God

Our Solar System Is Special

Contributed by Jeff Strite on Nov 4, 2012

OUR SOLAR SYSTEM IS SPECIAL Back in 2005, five secular planetary scientists met at the American Museum of Natural History and agreed that our solar system appears special. One commented, (Fritz Benedict of the University of Texas) "The older I get, the less likely it seems to me there'd be a bunch ...read more

Tags: Creation, Solar System

Denomination: Christian/Church Of Christ

Pretty Good Preaching For A Dollar!

Contributed by Dr. Larry Petton on Nov 20, 2022

A man and his ten year-old son were on a fishing trip miles from home. At the boy’s insistence, they decided to attend the Sunday worship service at a small rural church. The father forgot to bring any cash, so he reached in his pocket and gave his son a dollar to drop into the offering plate as ...read more

Tags: Giving, Stewardship, Complaining, Tithing, Critical Spirit, Cheating God  (view more)  (view less)

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

Bad Attitude

Contributed by David Swanger on Jan 24, 2024

A mother and daughter, trying to make the most of the sales before Christmas, spent the day shopping. As they went from store to store in the mall, the mom complained about everything: the crowds, the poor quality of the merchandise, the prices, her sore feet. After the mother experienced a ...read more

Scripture: Psalm 118:24

Tags: Choice, Attitude

Count The Cost

Contributed by Glynda Lomax on Jul 24, 2025

I want to tell yall a true story about counting the cost. This happened to a friend, who shall remain nameless to protect her dignity. My friend had been going through a lot and needed something therapeutic to do and so took up gardening. Growing your own food is always a good idea, right? The ...read more

Scripture: Luke 14:28, Luke 14:29, Luke 14:30

Tags: High, Count The Cost, Building, Cost, Adversity  (view more)  (view less)

Denomination: Charismatic

Yuri Gagarin Did Not See God.

Contributed by Dr. Larry Petton on Feb 9, 2020

Do you know the name of Yuri Gagarin?? The year was 1961 and this Russian cosmonaut was the first human to travel into space. After circling the earth, the atheistic astronaut came back and declared that he looked outside his capsule and didn’t see God anywhere. To which Dr. W. A. Criswell ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 5:1-12

Tags: Faith, Beatitudes, Atheism, Spiritual Vision

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

Computers

Contributed by Roberta Karchner on Feb 21, 2020

Three ways our choice to follow God is like a computer (phone/electric device) 1. We need to stay plugged in to keep our batteries charged. (prayer, scripture, worship all charge our batteries) 2. We need to keep our Virus Protection up-to-date. (Sin is as prevalent as viruses on the internet. ...read more

Scripture: Deuteronomy 30:15-20, 2 Timothy 1:12

Tags: Computers, Virus, Connected, Phones, Charged, Virus Protection, In God's Hands  (view more)  (view less)

Denomination: Presbyterian/Reformed

Good News Bad News

Contributed by Ed Vasicek on Jun 9, 2020

A woman walks into a doctor’s office. She schedules an appointment and sits down it the waiting room. Whem it’s her turn to talk to the doctor, she describes all of her symptoms, and they’re unlike anything he’s heard before. The doctor runs a few tests and steps out of the room. He comes back ...read more

Scripture: Romans 8:18-27

Tags: Curse, Disease, Sickness, Illness, Redemption Of Body  (view more)  (view less)

Denomination: Independent/Bible

Funeral Illustration

Contributed by Dr. Larry Petton on Jan 4, 2021

I love that scene in The Pilgrim's Progress where Christian and Hopeful come to the final river of death. They are fearful that the water will be over their heads. But Hopeful goes first and calls back to Christian, “Be of good cheer, my brother; I feel the bottom, and it is good.” For every ...read more

Tags: Death, Heaven, Promises Of God, Valley Of The Shadow Of Death

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

Gandhi Wanted To Be A Christian...

Contributed by Dr. Larry Petton on Jan 31, 2021

Gandhi, wrote in his autobiography that in his student days he was truly interested in the Bible. Deeply touched by reading the Gospels, he seriously considered becoming a convert, since Christianity seemed to offer the real solution to the caste system that was dividing the people of India. One ...read more

Scripture: 2 Timothy 4:6-8

Tags: Lost, Last Words, Evangelism, Death, Church, Missions, Witnessing  (view more)  (view less)

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

Elf

Contributed by Charles Wilkerson on Dec 1, 2008

ELF In the Christmas movie Elf the title character discovers he was a human baby raised by elves. He travels back to New York City to find his bio-dad, in the process learns, and teaches others about caring. Will Ferrell describes his journey by saying, "I passed through the seven levels of the ...read more

Tags: Christmas Advent

Denomination: Presbyterian/Reformed

Perhaps The Economy Can Teach Us ...

Contributed by Charles Wallis on Dec 22, 2008

Perhaps the economy can teach us something… Tom Ehrich “Economy puts Christ back into Christmas” “so a lifestyle built on credit-funded excess doesn’t look like adult behavior. Large houses look different now. So do large wardrobes, large travel budgets, large parties. The question many are ...read more

Tags: Money

Denomination: Pentecostal

Two Older Gentleman Were Talking And One Said To ...

Contributed by Todd Catteau on Feb 11, 2009

Two older gentleman were talking and one said to the other, "You’re having an anniversary soon, right?" The other replied, "Yup, a big one... 25 years." "Wow," said the other, "what are you going to get your wife for your anniversary?" The other replied, "I’m giving her a trip to ...read more

Tags: Marriage Struggle

Denomination: Christian/Church Of Christ

Re: Heb ...

Contributed by Clark Tanner on Mar 3, 2009

Re: Heb 10:20 The word “new” in vs 20 is, in the original language, “freshly slain”. In other words, God sees the shed blood of His Son, the perfect sacrifice, as fresh always. It is as though JUST NOW, Jesus died for us. It is as though JUST NOW He bore the stripes on His back and the thorns on ...read more

Tags: Blood Of Christ

Denomination: Orthodox

Paul Harvey Told About A 3-Year-Old Boy Who Went ...  PRO

Contributed by Melvin Newland on Feb 20, 2001

Paul Harvey told about a 3-year-old boy who went to the grocery store with his mother. Before they entered the grocery store she said to him, "Now you’re not going to get any chocolate chip cookies, so don’t even ask." She put him up in the cart & he sat in the little child’s seat while she ...read more

Tags: Prayer Supplication, Prayer Of Faith, God's Provision

Denomination: Christian/Church Of Christ

The Story Is Told - Out Of Ww 2 & The Holocaust ...  PRO

Contributed by Melvin Newland on Apr 22, 2001

The story is told - out of WW 2 & the holocaust that took the lives of millions of people - of Solomon Rosenberg & his family. It is a true story. Solomon Rosenberg & his wife & their 2 sons & his mother & father were arrested & placed in a Nazi concentration camp. It was a labor camp, & the ...read more

Tags: Communication General

Denomination: Christian/Church Of Christ