In Sermon Illustrations: "Being Different"

Not Long Ago I Was Sent An Interesting And ...  PRO

Contributed by Jim Kane on Feb 15, 2004

Not long ago I was sent an interesting and thought provoking story that illustrates how God can use our experiences to help others come to Him and give our lives meaning and purpose even in the midst of pain, discouragement, and failure. It is called CARROT, EGG OR COFFEE and was originally sent ...read more

Tags: Peace, Endurance, Faith

Denomination: Church Of God

Canadian Thanksgiving  PRO

Contributed by Pat Cook on Oct 2, 2004

CANADIAN THANKSGIVING The first North American Thanksgiving is traced back to 1578 when the English navigator Martin Frobisher held a formal ceremony in what is now called Newfoundland. We don’t believe this is when the kissing-of-the-cod tradition began, but there was indeed a great party to give ...read more

Scripture: 1 Thessalonians 5:18

Tags: Thanksgiving Holiday

Denomination: Baptist

Built By Grace  PRO

Contributed by Sermon Central on Oct 19, 2004

BUILT BY GRACE Years ago, late on a stormy night in Philadelphia, an elderly couple walked wearily into a hotel. They approached the night clerk at the desk and practically begged him for a room. Apparently there were three conventions in town, and every hotel was filled to capacity. "Are there ...read more

Scripture: Luke 14:12-24, Luke 19:11-26

Tags: Parable Great Banquet, Grace

Batters Hustling To The Plate To Take Their ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Apr 10, 2005

Batters hustling to the plate to take their swings? Questionable calls going uncontested. Umpires being thanked after the game? Fans returning foul balls? This is Major League Baseball? It was. For a few weeks during the spring of ’95, professional baseball was a different game. The ...read more

Scripture: Genesis 28:1-40

Stanley Hauerwas And William Willimon Open Their ...

Contributed by Paul Wallace on Sep 19, 2006

Stanley Hauerwas and William Willimon open their book Resident Aliens with the following: Sometime between 1960 and 1980, an old, inadequately conceived world ended…and a new world began. When and how did we change? Although it may sound trivial, one of us is tempted to date the shift sometime on ...read more

Scripture: 1 Peter 2:1-10

Denomination: Wesleyan

Remember

Contributed by Daniel Devilder on Oct 19, 2006

“remember” Because of what Christ has done for me, and as his disciple, God’s own child, I am to let the peace of Christ RULE in my heart. I was CALLED to PEACE. YOU were CALLED to PEACE. And we find that in Pennsylvania, these people, that many in the world would describe at best ...read more

Denomination: Christian/Church Of Christ

We Must First Embrace Our Own Old Identity, As ...

Contributed by Bruce Willis on Dec 20, 2006

We must first embrace our own old identity, as Jesus said, “if any man will come after me, let him deny himself . . . “ We must embrace it and deny it, then by faith accept our spiritual identity in Jesus Christ. The analogy is given, for purposes of illustrating, of a fifteen year old, unmarried ...read more

Scripture: Luke 9:23

Denomination: Baptist

Clarion Call Of One  PRO

Contributed by Sermon Central on Apr 9, 2009

CLARION CALL OF ONE The actions of a few are often a clarion call to courage. It requires radical sacrifice and radical commitment to accomplish these things. All that it takes is for one man to refuse to surrender! Anyone who is familiar with Winston Churchill understands that he was such a man ...read more

Scripture: Philippians 3:12-14, Malachi 3:6

Tags: Endurance

A Brain Surgeon On Parenting ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Jul 10, 2009

A BRAIN SURGEON ON PARENTING INFLUENCE I read a book entitled Gifted Hands, the autobiography of Dr. Ben Carson, Chief of Pediatric Neurosurgery at Johns Hopkins hospital in Boston. This is what he writes: "My mother was a remarkable woman who was pregnant and then married at age 13. She worked ...read more

Scripture: Colossians 3:20-21

Tags: Parenting

Running The Race

Contributed by Sylvester Fergusson on Aug 22, 2009

James was excited as he turned the two hundred mark heading towards home. Two and three –quarter laps had gone and he was still in the lead. His one and only goal was to win this race and he was full of confidence that he could do it. His thoughts race ahead to the podium, the applause, the glory, ...read more

Scripture: Colossians 3:12, Philippians 2:3

Tags: Sacrifice, Glory, Help, Focus, Fool, Determination, Honour, Caring  (view more)  (view less)

Denomination: Adventist

Power Of The Word Of God-----A Friend Of Mine, ...

Contributed by Peter Loughman on Jan 16, 2010

POWER OF THE WORD OF GOD-----A friend of mine, Bill, was a bible translator for Wycliff Bible Translators in some very remote mountains in Bolivia. Bill was on the second Wycliff team. The first Wycliff team went into the most prominent village in the area and learned the local Bolivian language. ...read more

Tags: Bible Influence

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

Power Of The Translated Word Of God  PRO

Contributed by Sermon Central on Feb 6, 2010

POWER OF THE TRANSLATED WORD OF GOD This is a strategy still used today, because it works and this is how it is still used today: A friend of mine, Bill, was a bible translator for Wycliff Bible Translators in some very remote mountains in Bolivia. Bill was on the second Wycliff team. The first ...read more

Scripture: Acts 12:24, Acts 12:1-25

Tags: Bible Influence

James Von Moltke: For What A Mighty Task

Contributed by Sermon Central on Mar 22, 2011

JAMES VON MOLTKE: FOR WHAT A MIGHTY TASK James von Moltke came from a long line of German warriors and soldiers. For two centuries the name Moltke resounded proudly in the history of the Prussians and Germans. But James would serve a different fate. He was just as brave and just as devoted but his ...read more

Scripture: John 15:12-13

Tags: Heroism

Unsung Heroines

Contributed by Sermon Central on May 6, 2011

UNSUNG HEROINES In Tom Brokaw’s book "The Greatest Generation Speaks," Veronica Mackey Hulick tells of her service during World War II. Veronica was 20 when she joined the Navy WAVES [Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service]. She and about 1500 other bright young women worked for hours at ...read more

Scripture: Mark 9:35, Mark 9:33-35

Tags: Servanthood

Inoculations From The Great Physician

Contributed by Sam Higgs on Sep 27, 2011

INOCULATIONS FROM THE GREAT PHYSICIAN The summer of 1980 was a very different summer for many of us. Most had just graduated High School and were away from home for the first time. Up till this time we had chosen our own clothing and color schemes, but that was a distant memory to us now. ...read more

Scripture: 2 Thessalonians 3:6-18

Tags: War

Denomination: Baptist

The "Regard For Others" Ethic

Contributed by Don Berry-Graham on Jan 24, 2012

THE "REGARD FOR OTHERS" ETHIC John Sommerville currently teaches history at the University of Florida. He has been carrying out an exercise with his students for years. He challenges his students with the following thought experiment. Imagine that you see a little old lady coming down the ...read more

Scripture: Luke 10:25-37

Tags: Neighbor

Denomination: Baptist

Hush Puppies

Contributed by Ed Sasnett on Aug 27, 2014

Are you familiar with the brush-suede shoe called Hush Puppies? It was popular when I was a kid. The brand was all but dead until late 1994. Sales were down to 30,000 pairs a year, mostly sold in backwoods outlets and small-town family stores. Wolverine, the company that makes Hush Puppies, was ...read more

Scripture: Daniel 6:10

Tags: Prayer Power, Importance Of Prayer

Denomination: Baptist

The Power Of Daily Scripture Reading

Contributed by Tim Smith on Aug 13, 2017

ian Hardin tells the story of traveling a lot for work with his friend Bobby. As they travelled, he’d read the Bible aloud to him. But he wasn’t reading the Bible to gain deep insights… or to solve theological quandaries. He was just reading it… yet even then, it often said something that got stuck ...read more

Scripture: Philippians 4:1-9

Tags: Scripture, Scripture Reading

Denomination: Methodist

Trusting God Through Difficult Circumstances

Contributed by Matthew Redder on May 17, 2018

Some time ago I returned from a missions trip completely full of faith and ready to set the world on fire with the love of Christ. During my first church service back in the states I was asked to close our service in prayer. I joyfully obliged and went whole-heartedly into prayer full of faith and ...read more

Tags: Prayer, Trust In God, Faith, Healing

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

Biblical Principles Of Work

Contributed by Dr. Larry Petton on Oct 15, 2019

1) Work is ordained by God. It was His creative invention from the beginning. By working, we resemble God. Like God, you have the ability to work, make plans, implement them, and be creative. Additionally, God gave us the task of ruling over and taking care of His creation (Genesis ...read more

Scripture: Genesis 1:28

Tags: Work, Business

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational