In Sermon Illustrations: "Boring Sermons"

What Does Revelation Mean?

Contributed by Sermon Central on Jan 14, 2011

WHAT DOES REVELATION MEAN? A group of kids were playing basketball in the high school gym. An elderly janitor was reading the Bible while waiting patiently for the game to end. After the game, one of the kids said “What are you reading?” The janitor said “I’m reading the book of Revelation.” ...read more

Scripture: Revelation 11:15-17

Tags: Revelation

Edison Burns All His Mistakes  PRO

Contributed by Sermon Central on Jan 19, 2011

EDISON BURNS ALL HIS MISTAKES Thomas A. Edison's plant was on fire. As he helplessly watched it burn, taking his costly experiments up in flames, he called his son Charles. "Come!" he said. "You'll never see anything like this again!" Then he called his wife. As the three stood gazing, Edison ...read more

Scripture: James 1:2-4, Psalm 31:1-24

Tags: Trust, Action, Need, Trials And Difficulties

The Multi-Tool  PRO

Contributed by Sermon Central on May 26, 2011

THE MULTI-TOOL In 1975 Tim Leatherman was touring Europe & Asia with a broken-down Fiat. Its hoses leaked and the wiring failed constantly. He used his pocketknife for everything, from slicing bread to adjusting screws. He wished his pocketknife had pliers attached to it. He came home to design ...read more

Scripture: Psalm 23:4

Tags: Comfort

Impersonal America

Contributed by Sermon Central on Jun 14, 2011

IMPERSONAL AMERICA Here is how Max Lucado rates us as a society: "Call us a fast society, an efficient society, but don’t call us a personal society. Our society is set up for isolation. We wear ear buds when we exercise. We communicate via e-mail and text messages. We enter and exit our house ...read more

Scripture: Ecclesiastes 4:7-12

Tags: Friendship General

Closed For Alterations  PRO

Contributed by Sermon Central on Jun 16, 2011

CLOSED FOR ALTERATIONS Billy Graham tells a story--a simple illustration--that I want to borrow. A preacher once passed a shop which was no longer open for business. A sign hung in the window that said, "Closed for Alterations." The owner had closed shop for a while in order to remodel the store. ...read more

Scripture: 1 Corinthians 15:35-58

Tags: Rapture

Too Much Like Hell

Contributed by Sermon Central on Aug 22, 2011

TOO MUCH LIKE HELL A young American lawyer boasted that he was going West to find some place where there were no churches, no Sunday schools, no Bibles. Before the year was over, he wrote to a classmate, a young minister, begging him to come out where he was and start a Sunday school and preach, ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 5:13-16

Tags: Christian Witness

A Desperate Situation

Contributed by Sermon Central on May 5, 2012

A DESPERATE SITUATION The old preacher Vance Havner used to say, "The tragedy of our time is that the situation is desperate but the saints are not." Three weeks before President John Kennedy was assassinated, he said, "Almost all presidents leave office feeling that their work is unfinished. I ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 9:35-38

Tags: Evangelism Urgency

What Grace Means

Contributed by Sermon Central on Jun 4, 2012

WHAT GRACE MEANS When a person works an eight-hour day and receives a fair day’s pay for his time, that is a wage. When a person competes with an opponent and receives a trophy for his performance, that is a prize. When a person receives appropriate recognition for his long service or high ...read more

Scripture: Ephesians 2:8-9

Tags: Grace

Three Ways Out

Contributed by Sermon Central on May 1, 2013

THREE WAYS OUT Sir Harry Lauder was a British entertainer who proved highly popular throughout the English speaking world both before, during and after World War One. During World War One Lauder worked tirelessly to organize and recruit performers for shows given to troops serving abroad. When ...read more

Scripture: 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18

Tags: Death, Despair, Struggles, Hardship Of Life, Trials And Difficulties  (view more)  (view less)

He Had A Hat

Contributed by Gaither Bailey on Oct 4, 2019

During a tornado a mother was crying for help. It seems that her son was taken up into the tornado and blown away. The mother turned to heaven and shouted a prayer: “Please, Lord, bring back my son! He’s all I have. I’ll do anything to get him back.”--- Suddenly, her son fell from the sky right at ...read more

Scripture: Luke 17:5-10

Tags: Faith, Duty, Desires, Prayers

Denomination: Presbyterian/Reformed

Super Bowl Sunday Joke!

Contributed by Dr. Larry Petton on Feb 5, 2023

Surprised to see an empty seat at the Super Bowl stadium, a diehard fan remarked about it to a woman sitting nearby. "It was my husband's," the woman explained, "But he died." "I'm very sorry," said the man. Then he continued. "Yet, I'm really ...read more

Scripture: Galatians 5:22-23

Tags: Death, Sports, Humor, Goodness, Kindness, Super Bowl, Football, Fruit Of The Spirit, Funerals, Widows  (view more)  (view less)

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

Passion For ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Oct 22, 2008

Passion for God A. W. Tozer said, “God dwells in a state of perpetual enthusiasm. He is delighted with all that is good and lovingly concerned about all that is wrong. He pursues His labors always in a fullness of holy zeal. No wonder the Spirit came at Pentecost as a sound of a rushing mighty ...read more

Tags: Zeal

Timothy J. Keller, Pastor Of Redeemer ...

Contributed by Todd Leupold on Nov 3, 2008

Timothy J. Keller, Pastor of Redeemer Presbyterian Church in NYC, remarks: "...when Jesus weeps, we see that he doesn't believe that the ministry of truth (telling people how they should believe and turn to God) or the ministry of fixing things is enough, does he? He also is a proponent of the ...read more

Tags: Hardship Of Life

Denomination: Baptist

Yancey Noted: "Today As I Read The Accounts Of ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Dec 28, 2008

Yancey noted: "Today as I read the accounts of Jesus’ birth I tremble to think of the fate of the world resting on the response of two rural teenagers. How many times did Mary review the angel’s words as she felt the Son of God kicking the walls of her uterus? How many times did Joseph ...read more

Tags: Mary Jesus Mother

Paine's Ego

Contributed by Sermon Central on Jan 7, 2009

PAINE’S EGO Thomas Paine was an influential writer at the birth of our nation. He wrote "The Age of Reason." In his book, he called the substitutionary death of Christ on the cross an "invention." He claimed his book would replace the reading of the Bible. Of course, you’ve all read his book, ...read more

Tags: Bible Influence

The Late Jerry Falwell Was Enthused With Shopping ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Jan 28, 2009

The late Jerry Falwell was enthused with shopping about as much as any man. In her recent book, Jerry Falwell, His Life and Legacy, Falwell’s wife explained how her husband handled their trips to the mall. Falwell would drive his wife to the store and then park the car. He would hang a sign in the ...read more

Tags: Marriage Struggle

Marriage ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Feb 16, 2009

MARRIAGE SAVERS A study published in the 6/08 Journal of Marriage and Family found that strong faith in God by itself won’t protect against marital infidelity. But a study by Fuller Seminary researchers David Atkins and Deborah Kessel found that regular church attendance does make a difference. ...read more

Tags: Marriage Struggle

Death

Contributed by Don Berry-Graham on Feb 29, 2016

IN LATE WINTER DURING THE FIFTY-NINTH YEAR of his life, John Donne braved the weather and rough roads of the English countryside to keep his final preaching engagement before the king in London. He had spent most of that winter, what would be his last, battling “consumption,” and on several ...read more

Scripture: 1 Thessalonians 4:13

Tags: Death, Dying

Denomination: Baptist

Stories & Stats On Alcohol

Contributed by Sermon Central on Jul 23, 2008

STORIES & STATS ON ALCOHOL A pastor was preaching on alcohol one Sunday, and to finish up his sermon with some passion he said, "If I had all the beer in the world, I would throw it into the river!" Then with a little more passion and fire he said, "And if I had all the wine in the world I would ...read more

Tags: Alcohol

[158]. A Message From A Poem – Gathered At The Great White Throne

Contributed by Ron Ferguson on Aug 9, 2025

[158]. A MESSAGE FROM A POEM – GATHERED AT THE GREAT WHITE THRONE This poem was written in conjunction with a series of articles I was doing on the Great White Throne and the Judgement Seat of Christ found on SermonCentral. We ought not be flippant about the judgements to come for both are very ...read more

Scripture: Hebrews 9:27, Revelation 20:12, Revelation 20:11

Tags: Christian Poems, Judged According To Deeds, All Will Be Judged, Judgment, Great White Throne, Judgment Seat Of Christ, Be Saved Now  (view more)  (view less)

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational