In Sermon Illustrations: "Business And Marketplace"

Roll-Up-Your-Shirt-Sleeves Christianity  PRO

Contributed by Sermon Central on Oct 26, 2009

ROLL-UP-YOUR-SHIRT-SLEEVES CHRISTIANITY When DAVE THOMAS died in early 2002, he left behind more than just thousands of Wendy’s restaurants. He also left a legacy of being a practical, hard-working man who was respected for his down-to-earth values. Among the pieces of good advice that have ...read more

Scripture: James 2:14-26, Luke 10:1-10, Romans 15:1-13

Tags: Faith Vs. Works

Paul's Thorn In The Flesh Like Catfish With ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Nov 10, 2009

Paul’s Thorn in the Flesh Like Catfish with Codfish Years ago in the northeastern United States codfish was a big commercial business. There is a market for eastern cod all over, especially on the West Coast. The demand posed a problem to the shippers. At first they froze the cod, then shipped them ...read more

Scripture: 2 Corinthians 12:7-10

Tags: Affliction

How To Get Attention  PRO

Contributed by Sermon Central on Feb 6, 2010

HOW TO GET ATTENTION This is the story of George Phillips of Mississippi, who was going to bed when his wife told him that he'd left the light on in the shed. George opened the door to go turn off the light but saw there were people in the shed in the process of stealing things. He immediately ...read more

Scripture: 1 Kings 18:27-29

Tags: Communication General

In The World Today...we Are Trying To Marry ...

Contributed by Hugh Laing on Feb 17, 2010

In the world today...we are trying to marry Christianity to all the wrong things...we are trying to marry it to prosperity...popularity...personalities...politics...and beloved...it ain't working 'cause it's broken! And yet many ministers preach a PROSPERITY DOCTRINE today because it feeds our ...read more

Tags: Revival

Denomination: Baptist

Years Ago In California There Was An Ag Minister ...

Contributed by Bobby Scobey on Feb 23, 2010

Years ago in California there was an AG minister named Ralph Mahoney, who was the head of World Missionary Assistance Plan. Also, every summer he ran camp meetings in California and Oregon. A group of people would register for a week’s meetings, which were financed by receiving offerings each ...read more

Tags: Leadership Listening

Denomination: Pentecostal

Your Best Isn't Good Enough

Contributed by Sermon Central on Feb 28, 2010

YOUR BEST ISN'T GOOD ENOUGH A pastor once went to a barber to get a haircut. All through the haircut, the pastor wanted to witness to the barber, but the barber kept talking non-stop and gave the pastor no chance to interrupt. Later, when the pastor was paying for the haircut, he asked the barber ...read more

Scripture: Ephesians 2:8-9

Tags: Faith Vs. Works

Drinking From My Saucer (By John Paul Moore) ...

Contributed by Dennis Selfridge on May 22, 2010

Drinking From My Saucer (By John Paul Moore) “ I've never made a fortune and it's probably too late now But I don't worry about that much I'm happy anyhow and as I go along life's way I'm reaping better than I sow I'm drinking from my saucer 'Cause my cup has overflowed. Haven't got a lot of ...read more

Tags: Growth In Christ, Blessings

Denomination: Wesleyan

A Brief Biography Of Karl ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Jun 2, 2010

A Brief Biography of Karl Marx Back in the 1800’s there was a young man who had a profound sense of admiration for his father. His father saw to it that the life of the family revolved around the religious practices of their faith. In his teen years, however, the boy’s family was forced to move to ...read more

Scripture: Proverbs 14:1

Tags: Atheism

Abimelech And Guilt

Contributed by Ross Cochrane on Aug 23, 2010

ABIMELECH AND GUILT "IT'S NOT MY FAULT! I DIDN'T DO IT!" I remember my protests fell on deaf ears and I was made to go to my room without dinner until I confessed. My mother insisted that it was me, probably because of the lie my sister told her. I don't even remember the crime I was accused of, ...read more

Tags: Guilt

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

Hearing The Crickets

Contributed by Chris Kelly on Sep 29, 2010

HEARING THE CRICKETS An American Indian left the reservation to visit downtown New York. Walking down a busy street with his friend, he suddenly stopped and said, "I hear a cricket". His friend said, "You're crazy! There's no way you could hear a cricket in all this noise!" The Indian ...read more

Tags: Doing God's Will

Denomination: Wesleyan

Margaret: The Hard Soil

Contributed by Ross Cochrane on Jan 13, 2011

MARGARET: THE HARD SOIL Each week I give a devotion in each of the 8 dining areas of the Shalom Centre and Margaret (not her real name) is there, with ears which will not hear. Her heart is a fortress, cold, hard, defensive. The gates are huge, old and impenetrable, bolted with fear and pride that ...read more

Tags: Unbelief

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

Why Don't They Let Him In?

Contributed by Sermon Central on Apr 20, 2011

WHY DON'T THEY LET HIM IN? A picture of the Lord Jesus knocking at the door of a heart was taken one day by a parish visitor to a house where a father and mother lived with their small son. Some impulse made the mother pin the picture up in their little kitchen, and when the small boy came in from ...read more

Scripture: Revelation 3:20

Tags: Commitment To Christ

A Little Girl's Trust

Contributed by Sermon Central on May 9, 2011

A LITTLE GIRL'S TRUST It's a lesson we need to learn, as well. Our true security comes from God and God alone, so we must learn to trust Him. Don't trust in a lie. Don't trust in an idol. Trust in the Lord. Then and only then will you be truly secure. Five-year-old Jessica became a bit ...read more

Scripture: Jeremiah 30:1-24

Tags: Trust

Fear Of Witnessing

Contributed by Sermon Central on Aug 31, 2011

FEAR OF WITNESSING Leighton Ford, Good News is for Sharing, 1977, David C. Cook Publishing Co., Page 15: In preparing for this book, I have talked to a lot of people, and the fear issue comes up front again and again. What makes people hesitate to share their faith? Here are some of the fears ...read more

Scripture: John 20:21-22

Tags: Evangelism Fear Of

Anger Vs. Annoyance  PRO

Contributed by Sermon Central on May 3, 2012

ANGER VS. ANNOYANCE A young girl who was writing a paper for school came to her father and asked, "Dad, what is the difference between anger and annoyance?" The father replied, "It is mostly a matter of degree. Let me show you what I mean." With that the father went to the telephone and dialed a ...read more

Scripture: James 1:19-20, Ephesians 4:26

Tags: Anger

The Great Boston Fire Of ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Jul 27, 2012

THE GREAT BOSTON FIRE OF 1872 In the great Boston fire of 1872, sixty-five acres of land was destroyed. The damage totaled up to $75 million but in our day would be somewhere in the neighborhood of $3 billion. Hundreds of businesses were destroyed. Someone came along and wrote a message on a rough ...read more

Scripture: Romans 8:28

Tags: Trials And Difficulties

The Bible Can Make You Better

Contributed by Hal Seed on Nov 9, 2012

THE BIBLE CAN MAKE YOU BETTER Two hundred years ago, Norway was one of the poorest countries in Europe. She was ruled by her Danish neighbors and most people were poor fishermen or subsistence farmers. Every time there was a famine, people starved to death. Today it is one of the wealthiest. It ...read more

Tags: Bible Influence

Denomination: Baptist

How Not To Build

Contributed by Sermon Central on May 4, 2013

HOW NOT TO BUILD I grew up around construction and building material people. My family, for several generations, was in lumber and building materials. In 1998 we opened a new hardware store in Lake Mary. I ran it from the time it opened, until I went to seminary. Part of my responsibility was to ...read more

Scripture: Luke 6:46-49

Living Now

Contributed by Glynda Lomax on Dec 27, 2014

“Most men pursue pleasure with such breathless haste that they hurry past it.” - Soren Kierkegaard We all know at least one person that, when given something really beautiful as a gift, will open a closet and store it away for “a special day” or “for when company comes over.” When you gave that ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 6:34

Tags: Procrastination, Focused Living, Living Now

Denomination: Charismatic

Pastor And Leadership Speaker John Maxwell Te...

Contributed by Tim Smith on May 28, 2015

Pastor and Leadership speaker John Maxwell tells the story of his brother who was called to active duty during the Pueblo crisis in Korea. He says he could remember standing in his father’s office when my father found out the news and went to his brother, hugged him and said, “Larry, I’m going to ...read more

Scripture: Luke 22:33-38

Tags: Perseverance, Conversion

Denomination: Methodist