In Sermon Illustrations: "Bible Reading"

Cut To Fit!  PRO

Contributed by Mark Brunner on Aug 25, 2005

Cut To Fit! (08.29.05--Sickness!--Hebrews 12:6) Arthritis is a real drag. As active as you would like to be this day or any, if you are weighted down with joints that are sometimes swollen and often stiff, the day always seems sometime a bit longer, somehow harder to bear. I’ve been an arthritis ...read more

Scripture: Hebrews 12:6

Tags: God In The Hardships, Hardship Of Life

Denomination: Lutheran

It's Better Higher Up! (08.31.05--Sickness!--John ...

Contributed by Mark Brunner on Aug 30, 2005

It’s Better Higher Up! (08.31.05--Sickness!--John 16:32) Webley our oldest dachshund has a thing about long walks. Simply, he doesn’t like them very much. Webley is eight and getting up there in years. Anything over a mile or so can be grueling for him. And, because of this the pads of his paws ...read more

Scripture: John 16:32

Tags: Hardship Of Life

Denomination: Lutheran

Penguins And Eagles! (09.02.05--Sickness!--Psalm ...  PRO

Contributed by Mark Brunner on Aug 31, 2005

Penguins and Eagles! (09.02.05--Sickness!--Psalm 4:3) Soaring like eagles may sound good, but flopping around like a penguin can be a whole lot easier. Keeping our feet firmly planted on the ground may not always be the most glamorous of occupations, but it sure is safer and more accommodating ...read more

Scripture: Psalm 4:3

Tags: Growth In Christ

Denomination: Lutheran

Got My Life, Got My Jesus! (09.07.05--The ...  PRO

Contributed by Mark Brunner on Sep 5, 2005

Got My Life, Got My Jesus! (09.07.05--The Temporal Things!--Matthew 5:3) In order to have all things, you must forsake all things. Tell that to those struggling with forsakeness in flood-ravaged New Orleans or storm-crushed Gulfport this morning! My guess is that few if any would understand the ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 5:3

Tags: Basics Of Christianity

Denomination: Lutheran

Late Bloomers! (09.22.05--Grace Walks!--Psalm ...  PRO

Contributed by Mark Brunner on Sep 20, 2005

Late Bloomers! (09.22.05--Grace Walks!--Psalm 93:5) Fairness is a doctrine that we have gone hog-wild with. We seem as a people possessed by a sense of “all things being equal.” Unfortunately, we are so captivated by a sense of justice at all costs, we often lose sight of the fact that a doctrine ...read more

Scripture: Psalm 93:5

Tags: Beauty, Holiness, God's Omniscience, Walk, Righteousness  (view more)  (view less)

Denomination: Lutheran

On Top Of Our Game! (09.27.05--Teach Me To ...  PRO

Contributed by Mark Brunner on Sep 25, 2005

On Top of Our Game! (09.27.05--Teach Me to Pray!--Psalm 122:6-7) How many things are you passionate about in life? I remember many years ago during the Lombardi days and the good fortune of the Green Bay Packers. I was passionate about them. Between 1961 and 1969 I can honestly say that I ...read more

Scripture: Psalm 122:6-7

Tags: Prayer Persistence, Prayer Supplication

Denomination: Lutheran

It's The Fruit And Not The Tree! ...  PRO

Contributed by Mark Brunner on Oct 20, 2005

It’s The Fruit and Not The Tree! (10.24.05--Making It!--Psalm 1:3) Each year as the seasons change, so does the selection of fruit that is available at my local Piggly Wiggly. In early summer there are the tangy apricots and sweet plums along with nutty peaches and nectarines. As summer passes, ...read more

Scripture: Psalm 1:3

Tags: Leadership General

Denomination: Lutheran

Excellent Congregations: Excellent Protestant ...  PRO

Contributed by Sermon Central on Jan 16, 2006

Excellent Congregations: Excellent Protestant Congregations, by Paul Wilkes and published by Westminster John Knox Press identified the following 26 common traits among the "excellent" protestant congregations. 1. A vibrancy about living a Christian life...living on the creative and holy edge of ...read more

Tags: Church General

Recently, I Was Listening To A Teacher By The ...  PRO

Contributed by Jess Bousa on Feb 14, 2006

Recently, I was listening to a teacher by the name of Rob Bell and he spoke on the selecting process that Rabbis would use to choose their disciples. At the Age of 6, children would begin to learn the Torah, this training was called Bat cipher, from 8 to 10 they would have the torah by heart, ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 4:18-22, Matthew 13:51-52, Matthew 28:16-20

Tags: Discipleship

Denomination: Pentecostal

The Book "Holy Blood, Holy Grail" Speaks Of The ...  PRO

Contributed by Scott Weber on Mar 14, 2006

The Book "Holy Blood, Holy Grail" speaks of the destruction of early Christian texts during the persecutions of the emperor Diocletion of 303 A.D., after which it continues: “As a result Christian documents—especially in Rome—all but vanished. When Constantine commissioned new versions of these ...read more

Tags: False Teaching

Denomination: Christian/Church Of Christ

There Were Two Churches Of Christ In The Small ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Jun 18, 2007

There were two Churches of Christ in the small north Texas town. The church where I ministered had split from the older church years before over some petty differences. I was beginning a sermon series on the "One-another" passages of the Bible, when Gabe, a former elder, got up and walked up to ...read more

Tags: Faith

There Is Nothing More Poignant Than Considering ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Jun 18, 2007

There is nothing more poignant than considering the end of things. Whenever we experience the end of things it helps us consider what is really important. I was struck this week by John Piper’s journal entry: He recounted as he sat beside the bed of his father keeping a vigil. He monitored his ...read more

Tags: Second Coming, Hopeless

Division In The Church

Contributed by Michael Mccartney on May 20, 2008

DIVISION IN THE CHURCH We might sum up the divisions in this church this way according to Parsons: i. "I follow Paul" -- This group may have taken the attitude that Paul started this church and he will always be the leader. These are the traditionalists. 1. They always live in the past and never ...read more

Tags: Divisions

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

Everybody's Doing ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Oct 9, 2008

“Everybody’s doing it.” This is a common phrase used today to excuse our behavior, but it is no excuse. We were shocked a decade ago when youth ministries guru Josh McDowell did an extensive survey of Bible-believing church teens that showed that more than half of them were sexually active, even ...read more

Scripture: Exodus 20:14

Tags: Purity

In 1993 The Unthinkable Happened. Superman Died. ...

Contributed by Scott Bayles on Jun 5, 2009

In 1993 the unthinkable happened. Superman died. Now, this certainly wasn’t the first time a comic book killed off its main character and then figured out a clever way of bringing him back later, but when news of Superman’s impending death hit mainstream media it was publicized as the end of the ...read more

Tags: Passion Of Christ

Denomination: Christian Church

High Diver Training For Olympics ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Oct 27, 2009

High Diver Training For Olympics Saved 2 Peter 3:9-10 The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish , but everyone to come to repentance. 10 But the day of the Lord will come like a thief. The heavens will disappear ...read more

Scripture: 2 Peter 3:9-10

Tags: Salvation

Arturo Toscanini Demanded Excellence From The ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Aug 2, 2010

Arturo Toscanini Demanded Excellence From the Symphony Orchestra One of history’s greatest musical conductors was Arturo Toscanini. Born in Parma, Italy, in 1867, Toscanini died in his sleep in New York City in 1957. For years he conducted the National Broadcasting Company’s Symphony Orchestra in ...read more

Scripture: 1 Corinthians 15:58

Tags: Music

Cheering For The Other Team

Contributed by Sermon Central on May 9, 2011

CHEERING FOR THE OTHER TEAM I heard about an unusual high school football game played in Grapevine, Texas recently between Grapevine Faith Academy and the Gainesville State School. Faith Academy is a Christian school and Gainesville is located within a high-security youth correctional facility. ...read more

Scripture: Proverbs 3:27

Tags: Christian Witness

Object Lesson: Egg Osmosis

Contributed by Antonio Silveira on Jun 4, 2011

OBJECT LESSON: EGG OSMOSIS Osmosis is the process by which water enters our tissues. All of our cells are surrounded by a membrane that selectively allows in anything the cell needs but prevents unwanted molecules from entering. Weigh a couple of uncooked eggs and carefully place them into a ...read more

Tags: Basics Of Christianity

Denomination: Baptist

Wesley: God's Will For Marriage

Contributed by Sermon Central on Aug 6, 2011

WESLEY: GOD'S WILL FOR MARRIAGE When John Wesley was thirty-two years old, he was a bachelor missionary in the colony of Georgia. While he was serving a church in Savannah, he met a young woman named Sophia Christian Hopkey. She was pretty and intelligent, and Wesley fell head over heels in love ...read more

Scripture: Proverbs 3:5-6

Tags: Knowing God's Will