In Sermon Illustrations: "Breaking Free"

Why Would God Go To All The Trouble To Endure Our ...  PRO

Contributed by David Simmons on Jan 18, 2001

Why would God go to all the trouble to endure our bad choices and our flagrant sinning in order to have relationship with us? Hear the story of the lost son from the modern setting as told by Philip Yancey in his book What’s so Amazing about Grace. Yancey tells the story of a prodigal daughter ...read more

Scripture: 2 Peter 3:18, Luke 5:17-26, 1 Samuel 23:1-25

Tags: Nobody, Parable Prodigal Son, God's Provision, Forgiveness In Jesus, Everybody, Anybody, Somebody  (view more)  (view less)

Denomination: Baptist

An Old Lady Spent Much Of Her Summer Setting And ...  PRO

Contributed by Wade Martin Hughes, Sr on Apr 27, 2002

An old lady spent much of her summer setting and swinging in the old swing hanging on her front porch. Her husband had been dead several years and she had withdrawn from all but the closest family. Her lonely time grew and grew?? One spring day, the old lady went out in the garage and dug the old ...read more

Scripture: John 11:1, John 11:1-44

Tags: Disappointment

Denomination: Assembly Of God

Bruce Wilkinson, The Author Of The Extremely ...  PRO

Contributed by Sermon Central on Nov 22, 2004

Bruce Wilkinson, the author of the extremely popular, Prayer of Jabez, tells about an experience of his that illustrates this truth. I was taking a coffee break during a family conference in Kentucky when Will walked up and stood beside my chair. He was about nine. He asked if I wanted to donate ...read more

Peace Child  PRO

Contributed by Sermon Central on Dec 9, 2002

PEACE CHILD In 1962, the Sawi people of New Guinea still lived in relative isolation. They were head-hunting cannibals. Their culture could not be more different from that of Don and Carol Richardson, and yet this missionary couple attempted to share Christ with them. In fact, two rival Sawi ...read more

Scripture: Isaiah 9:6

Tags: Christmas, Easter, Birth Of Jesus, Atonement, Gospel  (view more)  (view less)

Max Lucado, In No Wonder They Call Him The ...  PRO

Contributed by Sermon Central on Jun 18, 2007

Max Lucado, in No Wonder They Call Him the Savior, tells the story of Maria and her daughter Christina. Longing to leave her poor Brazilian neighborhood, Christina wanted to see the world. Discontent living at home having only a pallet on the floor, a washbasin, and a wood-burning stove, she ...read more

Scripture: Jeremiah 1:4-8

Tags: Commitment To Christ

Bad Judges Have Highlighted The News More Than ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Jun 18, 2007

Bad judges have highlighted the news more than ever the last few months as investigations into rulings doled out to child predators have revealed so many judges exercising extreme lenience that is not helping our kids safety. It’s one thing for a judge to be merciful, but quite another thing to ...read more

Tags: Parable Widow

Shouts Of Praise  PRO

Contributed by Terry Laughlin on Aug 11, 2008

Shouts of Praise There is a loud declaration of our Lord's purpose for coming to earth at the triumphal entry. "As Jesus approached Jerusalem and came to Bethphage and Bethany at the Mount of Olives... Many people spread their cloaks on the road, while others spread branches ...read more

Scripture: Mark 11:1-10

Tags: Easter Palm Sunday

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

Blessed Are The Poor In Spirit  PRO

Contributed by Terry Laughlin on Aug 11, 2008

Blessed Are the Poor In Spirit Seldom in history have so few words been spoken with so much meaning. The Beatitudes of our Lord are powerful, holding before believers and unbelievers alike a descriptive picture of the true disciple of Christ. The Beatitudes cover the glorious hope and are a ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 5:3

Tags: Character

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

Which Way, O Lord?  PRO

Contributed by Terry Laughlin on Aug 11, 2008

Which Way, O Lord? "This is what the Lord says; 'Stand at the crossroads and look... ask where the good way is, and walk in it, and you will find rest for your souls.'" Jeremiah 6:16 (NIV) The way many people attempt to determine the will of God would make a great new television ...read more

Scripture: Jeremiah 6:16

Tags: Character

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

Consistent Christians

Contributed by Paul Dietz on Sep 20, 2008

Consistent Christians I was getting ready to do some research for my weekly sermon so I entered my office and flipped the light switch to the "on" position. It seemed that as soon as I had touched the toggle there was an instantaneous burst of bright light from the light bulb for a millionth of a ...read more

Tags: Discipleship

Denomination: *other

Discernment—or Judgment?

Contributed by Sermon Central on Feb 10, 2009

DISCERNMENT--OR JUDGMENT? So how does a critical attitude come back to haunt you? Here’s one way. A man wanted to impress his friends with his eye for art as they went to an art gallery together. He forgot his glasses, was nearsighted, and couldn’t hardly see his hand in front of his face. But he ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 7:1-6

Tags: Gifts Discernment

Church Cake Cover-Up  PRO

Contributed by Sermon Central on Nov 19, 2009

CHURCH CAKE COVER-UP It was time for the annual cake sale at a Presbyterian church not much different than our own. Ms. Billings always made the most beautiful cakes...she was expected to make another one this year. However, Ms. Billings was a very busy woman with the time she spent with her ...read more

Scripture: 2 Samuel 11:1-15

Tags: Hypocrisy, Cake

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

The Bruised Reed

Contributed by Ross Cochrane on Sep 29, 2010

THE BRUISED REED As I talked with Nancy that day she said,"I pray to God every night and ask Him why He has been so unfair to me. Why did He leave me alive?" She is an elderly woman suffering the results of a stroke. She said "My Mother died of a stroke. Why didn't He take me too, instead of ...read more

Tags: God Brings Hope

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

The Crew Of Life-Savers

Contributed by Sermon Central on Jan 14, 2011

THE CREW OF LIFE-SAVERS Nantucket, Massachusetts is located next to important shipping lanes running along the East Coast. Toward the end of the 1800s sailing ships were in their heyday. Nantucket Island saw hundreds of vessels passing by each day—all navigating without the advantages of modern ...read more

Scripture: 1 Corinthians 9:19-23

Tags: Evangelism The Lost

Love Is A Process  PRO

Contributed by Sermon Central on Aug 10, 2011

LOVE IS A PROCESS When we obey the truth, whether we feel like it or not, we can "love one another deeply from the heart." That's what Bible College professor, Yohanna Katanacho, discovered. He pastors a small church in the Israeli city of Jerusalem. He is a Palestinian living in Israel, and a ...read more

Scripture: 1 Peter 1:22

Tags: Love Of The Disciples

Miss Bettye And The Power Of Prayer

Contributed by Michael Mccartney on Feb 2, 2012

MISS BETTYE AND THE POWER OF PRAYER A 2009 article in the Chicago Tribune told the story of Bettye Tucker, a Christian cook who works the night shift at Children's Memorial Hospital in Chicago, Illinois. She has been doing her job for 43 years--28 of them on the night shift. She sees a steady ...read more

Tags: Prayer General

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

Letter Home From A W Va Farm Kid Enduring Marine ...  PRO

Contributed by C. Scott Ghan on Aug 5, 2013

Letter home from a W VA farm kid enduring Marine Basic Training on Paris Island. Dear Ma and Pa, I am well. Hope you are. Tell Brother Walt and Brother Elmer the Marine Corps beats working for old man Minch by a mile. Tell them to join up quick before all of the places are filled. // I was ...read more

Scripture: Ezra 3:1-13, Hebrews 12:7-11

Tags: Restoration, Rebuild

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

We Will Tell Your God On You!

Contributed by Melvin Newland on Apr 13, 2015

by Amy Carson Phillips (Adapted by Melvin Newland) “Night is falling on the Congo, O’er the jungles far and near. Soon the blackness will be brooding - He who walks will walk in fear. Yet no black man seeks his hut, All are waiting on the shore, Gazing, peering through the ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 28:18-20

Tags: Poem, Mission Of Church, Evangelism, Hope, Africa, Despair  (view more)  (view less)

Denomination: Christian/Church Of Christ

A Big Party Is Waiting For You At Home! (The Modern Prodigal Daughter)

Contributed by Garris Hudson on Mar 15, 2022

I think you are all familiar with the parable that we call the “Story of the Prodigal Son.” Well, I want us to consider it again with a little different twist. Listen to the story in a modern setting as told by Philip Yancey in his book “What’s so Amazing about Grace?” Yancey tells of a prodigal ...read more

Tags: Prodigal Son, Luke 15, Grace, Mercy, Forgiveness, Parables, Lost  (view more)  (view less)

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational