In Sermon Illustrations: "Beginning"

Trojan Horse! It Appears Innocent Enough, But It ...

Contributed by Ross Cochrane on Aug 14, 2010

TROJAN HORSE! It appears innocent enough, but it is a harmful piece of software that looks legitimate. It tricks people into loading the wrong things into their systems. It gives a hacker access to cause damage. Unless you have a good ANTIVIRUS PROGRAMME, you will get infected and your whole ...read more

Tags: Temptation, Lies

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

Thoughts On Discipleship By Willard, Stott, And ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Oct 23, 2010

THOUGHTS ON DISCIPLESHIP by Willard, Stott, and Warren Dallas Willard in his book "Divine Conspiracy" states: "....discipleship is real-life apprenticeship to Jesus." If we are students of Jesus then we must be with him. If I am an apprentice, a disciple, that means I must be with him to learn ...read more

Scripture: Luke 14:25-35

Tags: Discipleship

Kissing Promotes A Positive Attitude

Contributed by Rodelio Mallari on Dec 12, 2010

KISSING PROMOTES A POSITIVE ATTITUDE If you want to be happy, healthy, successful, and live longer, give your spouse a kiss before you go to work each day. That’s the conclusion of a study conducted by a group of German physicians and psychologists, in cooperation with insurance companies. ...read more

Tags: Romantic Love

Denomination: *other

Walgreen: A Second-Mile Man

Contributed by Sermon Central on Mar 21, 2011

WALGREEN: A SECOND-MILE MAN Second-mile people always excel. Around 1920 a pharmacist bought a drug store on the south side of Chicago. Soon, he was bored with his job and began to dream how he could make it more exciting. It was during a time when people were just beginning to call in their ...read more

Scripture: Ephesians 6:5-9

Tags: Workplace Success

Wahlstrom's Wonder  PRO

Contributed by Sermon Central on Apr 17, 2011

WAHLSTROM'S WONDER I once read about a certain Mr. Wahlstrom who purchased an old bombsight and took it apart to see what made it work. As he began to put it back together, he decided to add to it some spare parts he had from other projects. Over time, friends and neighbors took an interest in the ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 28:18-20, John 1:14-18, Jonah 3:1-10

Tags: Church Purpose Of

The Stress-Free Life Of The Bedouins

Contributed by Sermon Central on May 4, 2011

THE STRESS-FREE LIFE OF THE BEDOUINS The Bedouin shepherd lives in shabby box tents that dot the hillsides throughout Israel. When compared to our lives saturated with modern conveniences it seems as though they live a very difficult life. However, an interesting fact is that their average life ...read more

Scripture: 2 Timothy 3:1-5

Tags: Stress

Deceiver  PRO

Contributed by Michael Walther on May 25, 2011

DECEIVER Ephesians 6.10-12 Especially, "schemes of the devil..." Here Paul explains the realities of evil in this world. How different this is from popular ideas about evil. There is a comical view of evil -- the character who wears a red suit and carries a pitch fork. Then there is the ...read more

Scripture: Ephesians 6:10-12

Tags: Satan

Denomination: Lutheran

Firm Foundation  PRO

Contributed by Sermon Central on Aug 5, 2011

FIRM FOUNDATION Ravi Zacharias told about doing a lectureship several years ago at the Ohio State University. As he was being driven to the lecture, they passed what was then the "new" Wexner Art Center. The driver commented, "This is a new art building for the university. It is a fascinating ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 7:24-27

Tags: Foundation

Bad News, Then Good News  PRO

Contributed by Sermon Central on Aug 15, 2011

BAD NEWS, THEN GOOD NEWS Nearly 20 years ago at the height of Operation Desert Storm, Ruth Dillow received a very sad message from the Pentagon. The message stated that her son, Clayton had stepped on a landmine in Kuwait and was killed. Ruth later wrote these words, "I can't begin to describe my ...read more

Scripture: John 20:1-20, Matthew 28:8

Tags: Emmaus Road, Post Easter, Easter Resurrection

Return To The Right Path

Contributed by Sermon Central on May 8, 2012

RETURN TO THE RIGHT PATH In one section of John Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress, Christian and Hopeful are walking the King's Highway to the Celestial City. The path, once smooth and easy, becomes rough and hard. Then they come to an attractive place called Bypath Meadow. They climb over a fence into ...read more

Scripture: Proverbs 4:20-28

Tags: Doubt

The Umpire's Revenge  PRO

Contributed by Josh Hunt on Mar 6, 2013

THE UMPIRE'S REVENGE Forgiveness begins when we give up the quest to get even. This is difficult, because getting even is the natural obsession of the wounded soul. Stories about getting even always capture our attention. It wouldn’t surprise me if revenge is the theme of as many as half the ...read more

Scripture: Ephesians 4:32

Tags: Forgiveness General

Denomination: Baptist

No Tents In Heaven!

Contributed by Dr. David Hallum on Jun 24, 2016

I am not a camper. I spent one miserable weekend as a kid in an old, smelly canvas tent. It was designed to sleep 10, but 2 adults and 2 kids kicked, punched and threw sand all over one another all night. And that was while we were asleep. As I said, it was a miserable weekend. When I became ...read more

Scripture: Hebrews 9:1-7

Tags: Camp, Tabernacle

Denomination: Baptist

The Influence Of A Pastor's Wife

Contributed by Dr. Larry Petton on Aug 12, 2019

When William Booth, the founder of The Salvation Army, felt the call of the Lord to go into the streets of London and begin ministering to street people, he stood in a Methodist Conference meeting and requested permission from the presiding bishop to be released from his church to go into the ...read more

Scripture: Exodus 17:1-16

Tags: Pastor's Wives, Listening To God, Encouraging Others

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

President Leslie Lynch King????

Contributed by Dr. Larry Petton on Aug 12, 2019

Leslie Lynch King, Jr. was born on Monday, July 14, 1913 in Omaha, Nebraska. His parents separated sixteen days after his birth and were divorced the following December. His father was abusive and had a drinking problem. His mother took her baby and moved back to her parents’ home in Grand Rapids, ...read more

Scripture: 2 Corinthians 5:17-21

Tags: Salvation, New Life, Adoption Into God's Family

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

Be Ready, Have A Plan.

Contributed by Wade Martin Hughes, Sr on Apr 17, 2021

PEOPLE NEVER PLAN TO FAIL, THEY FAIL TO PLAN AND BECOME TRAPPED TO BE DOOMED. WHAT IS FAILURE? WHAT IS SUCCESS? LIFE OFTEN HAS MANY TEMPORARY SET BACKS? We must be ready! ALBERT EINSTEIN did not beginning talking until he was 4 years. Many of Einstein’s family and friends thought he was mentally ...read more

Scripture: Revelation 19:7, Matthew 25:10

Tags: Plan, Ready

Denomination: Assembly Of God

Pauline Just Returned To The States After Being ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Jun 18, 2007

Pauline just returned to the States after being in Portugal for 4 months. She told my wife the other day that while she was there she felt like God wanted her to teach a ladies’ bible study on Wednesday mornings. So she did but after a while she felt God was telling her that on Wednesday mornings ...read more

Tags: Servanthood

Barry Cameron Tells About An Airplane Flight That ...

Contributed by Davon Huss on Aug 13, 2007

Barry Cameron tells about an airplane flight that he took. "On the flight there were 4 servicemen. Before the door on the plane was closed, the pilot announced we had a number of special guests on our flight (the servicemen in uniform) and asked us to show our appreciation to them. The plane ...read more

Denomination: Christian/Church Of Christ

Dr. Norman Shawchuck Has Pastored United ...

Contributed by R. David Reynolds on Sep 1, 2007

Dr. Norman Shawchuck has pastored United Methodist congregations in North Dakota and Indiana and is a prolific author and retreat leader in the area of spiritual formation. His contemporary prayer of repentance is so personally powerful: “O God, I surrender to you the habits and sins that, like ...read more

Denomination: Methodist

There's A Movie Called "The Guardian" About ...

Contributed by Sherm Nichols on Jan 2, 2008

There’s a movie called “The Guardian” about training in the Coast Guard Academy. There’s one guy in the story who’s trying again after failing the program 2X before. There was a phase of the training that stopped him every time – practicing saving a drowning victim who’s panicked. The instructor ...read more

Denomination: Christian/Church Of Christ

Almost Every Culture Has A New Year's ...

Contributed by Jay Winters on Jan 10, 2008

Almost every culture has a New Year’s celebration. The ancient Romans celebrated the new year with the birth of Janus, the two faced god who could look back into the past and forward into the future. They exchanged gifts, not because they were overjoyed with each other, but as a method of bribery ...read more

Scripture: Genesis 28:10-22, Genesis 28:19-22

Denomination: Lutheran