In Sermon Illustrations: "Beauty"

Love Is Not Self-Seeking

Contributed by Sermon Central on Apr 28, 2009

LOVE IS NOT SELF-SEEKING I read a beautiful story that illustrates this truth. In December of 1971 the Daily News of Maryville, Tennessee, ran a brief story about a nine-year-old boy who did an inspiring and self-giving act. He loved his mother, who had been widowed, and wanted to buy her a ...read more

Scripture: 1 Corinthians 13:5

Tags: Christian Love

A Vow To Cherish

Contributed by Dale Pilgrim on Jun 20, 2009

A VOW TO CHERISH In the movie A Vow to Cherish a husband struggles with his wife’s Alzheimer's. The most difficult thing is the fact that she doesn’t know him and he is a complete stranger to her. He kneels in front of her and pledges he will love her till the day they die. He recites the vows ...read more

Tags: Commitment To Christ

Denomination: Salvation Army

Looks Can Be ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Jul 14, 2009

LOOKS CAN BE DECEIVING Girolamo Savonarola was one of the great preachers of the fifteenth century. He preached in the great cathedral of Florence, Italy, which contained a magnificent marble statue of Mary. One day he noticed an elderly woman praying before this statue and then realized it was ...read more

Scripture: John 4:23-24

Tags: Worship, Worship Definition

Shock In Heaven

Contributed by Davon Huss on Oct 3, 2009

SHOCK IN HEAVEN I was shocked, confused, bewildered as I entered Heaven’s door, Not by the beauty of it all, by the lights or its décor. But it was the folks in heaven who made me sputter and gasp; the thieves, the liars, the sinners, the alcoholics, the trash. There stood the kid from 7th ...read more

Tags: Judgment

Denomination: Christian/Church Of Christ

I Once Heard A Story Of A Man Who Was Walking ...

Contributed by Scott Bounds on Dec 20, 2009

I once heard a story of a man who was walking along a beach. The sun was shining and it was a beautiful day. Off in the distance he could see a person going back and forth between the surf’s edge and the beach. Back and forth this person went. As the man approached he could see that there were ...read more

Tags: Workplace

Denomination: Church Of God

Clinker Bricks  PRO

Contributed by Sermon Central on Apr 28, 2010

CLINKER BRICKS Although at times it seems as though the church is in ruin and rubble, God sees it as a beautiful building. Clinker bricks are bricks that did not quite make it. For some reason or another, they come out of the kiln misshapen or deformed. I read about a Presbyterian Church in New ...read more

Scripture: Ephesians 2:19-21

Tags: Atonement, Redemption, New Life, Born Again, Church Body Of Christ  (view more)  (view less)

Love In The Home

Contributed by Bobby Scobey on May 3, 2010

LOVE IN THE HOME If I live in a house of spotless beauty with everything in its place, but have not love, I am a housekeeper--not a homemaker. If I have time for waxing, polishing, and decorative achievements, but have not love, my children learn cleanliness--not godliness. Love leaves the ...read more

Tags: Salvation, Mother's Day

Denomination: Pentecostal

He's My Dad.

Contributed by Gordon Curley on Nov 24, 2010

"HE'S MY DAD." A group of scientists and botanists were exploring remote regions of the Alps, looking for new species of flowers. One day they noticed through binoculars a flower of such rarity and beauty, that its value to science was incalculable. But it lay deep in a ravine with cliffs on both ...read more

Tags: God The Father

Denomination: Brethren

Math Tests Through The Decades

Contributed by Sermon Central on Mar 29, 2011

MATH TESTS THROUGH THE DECADES * 1960s test: "A logger cuts and sells a truckload of lumber for $100. His cost of production is four-fifths of that amount. What is his profit?" * 1970s new-math test: "A logger exchanges a set (L) of lumber for a set (M) of money. The cardinality of Set M is 100. ...read more

Scripture: Daniel 1:3-4

Tags: Wisdom, Walk, Fire

More Than A Golf Ball

Contributed by Sermon Central on Apr 27, 2011

MORE THAN A GOLF BALL Curtis Strange, one of the golfers in the Master’s Tournament, teed up on the 12th hole and hit a beautiful shot. It rolled right up and dropped in the cup for a hole-in-one. The crowd went crazy with applause and cheering. Then Curtis Strange did an interesting thing. He ...read more

Scripture: Proverbs 13:22

Tags: Character

The Wedding Problem

Contributed by Guy Mcgraw on Jun 22, 2011

THE WEDDING PROBLEM Mary Campbell of Elgin, Illinois that had to say "I do" three times at three different weddings before she finally became Mrs. Randy Peterson. The couple took out their wedding license in Kane County and made all the arrangements for their wedding at a church in Ontarioville. ...read more

Tags: Weddings

Lessons From A Banana Tree

Contributed by Michael Walther on Aug 8, 2011

LESSONS FROM A BANANA TREE I once learned an interesting lessons from a retired pastor who grew banana trees in his backyard. Bananas will grow in our hot and humid Southern Illinois summers. But the season isn't long enough for them to produce much fruit. Some people tried to overcome this by ...read more

Tags: Trials And Difficulties

Denomination: Lutheran

How Christians Are Different

Contributed by Sermon Central on Aug 12, 2011

HOW CHRISTIANS ARE DIFFERENT A Second Century believer, in a letter to his friend, Diognetus, described how Christians are alike and different from others. He wrote, "Though they are residents at home in their own countries, their behavior there is more like transients...Though destiny has placed ...read more

Scripture: 1 Peter 2:18-25

Tags: Christian Witness

Jewish Blessings

Contributed by Perry Greene on Dec 19, 2011

JEWISH BLESSINGS David Stern relates in hid Jewish NT Commentary, pp.115-116 that there are many blessings given by the Hebrew people. There are blessings for wine (Matthew 26.27-29); for bread (14.19); The Talmud (circa 5th century CE) had specific formulas for dozens of blessings that the people ...read more

Tags: Blessing

Denomination: Independent/Bible

What Are You Holding Onto?

Contributed by Edward Hardee on Mar 18, 2016

Props: trophies, on large nice trophy for the main story. These are some nice trophies. This one was earned by my daughter through playing softball. She was so proud as they called her name up to receive this trophy. This is from a contest that one of them had worked hard for. This large ...read more

Scripture: Joshua 7:1-20

Tags: Sin, Treasure, Materialism

Denomination: Church Of God

Your Two Dirty Pennies Are An Insult

Contributed by David Goering on Aug 14, 2018

Suppose somebody befriended you in your town and offered to buy you a big beautiful house, and told you that you could choose the house you wanted. Then when he was handing you the title deed you reached in your pocket and pulled out two pennys, and when you did they accidentally fell out of your ...read more

Scripture: Ephesians 2:8-9

Tags: Free Gift, It Is Finished, Salvation, Righteousness, Good Works  (view more)  (view less)

There Was A Man Walking With His Son Down A ...

Contributed by Fred Sigle on Apr 23, 2007

There was a man walking with his son down a country road. On the left was a beautiful country ESTATE. A big black LIMOUSINE pulled onto the circular DRIVEWAY. Out of the automobile stepped a FINELY DRESSED and WELL-GROOMED gentleman, who NODDED to the man and the boy and then went into his ...read more

Denomination: Christian/Church Of Christ

The Rose Beyond The Wall-A. L. Frink

Contributed by Sermon Central on Jun 18, 2007

THE ROSE BEYOND THE WALL-A. L. Frink Near a shady wall a rose once grew, Budded and blossomed in God’s free light, Watered and fed by morning dew, Shedding its sweetness day and night. As it grew and blossomed fair and tall, Slowly rising to loftier height, I came to a crevice in the ...read more

Tags: Easter Resurrection

Our Christian Lives Is Summed Up In This Old ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Jun 18, 2007

Our Christian lives is summed up in this old English hymn. This is the message of Romans 3:20-31 Lord I was blind - 1856 Lord, I was blind: I could not see In Thy marred visage any grace; But now the beauty of Thy face In radiant vision dawns on me. Lord, I was deaf: I could not hear The ...read more

Tags: Salvation

A Group Of Botanists Went On An Expedition Into A ...

Contributed by Donnie Martin on Jun 19, 2007

A group of botanists went on an expedition into a hard-to-reach location in the Alps, searching for new varieties of flowers. One day as a scientist looked through his binoculars, he saw a beautiful, rare species growing at the bottom of a deep ravine. To reach it, someone would have to be lowered ...read more

Denomination: Baptist