In Sermon Illustrations: "By Grace We Are Saved"

What Happens When We Learn About A Really Bad ...  PRO

Contributed by Sermon Central on Jun 18, 2007

What happens when we learn about a really bad guy repenting? It happens all the time in prison ministry, yet many of us think those people aren’t worth saving. They had more chances than most of us are willing to give them, yet God hasn’t given up on them. Jeffrey Dahmer was a convicted murderer ...read more

Tags: Commitment To Christ

[339]. A Message From A Poem - What We See Is Great Sadness

Contributed by Ron Ferguson on Apr 24, 2026

[338]. A MESSAGE FROM A POEM - WHAT WE SEE IS GREAT SADNESS This world is a hurting, and it’s a sad place and so much misery is everywhere. Christians in western nations tend not to notice the terrible suffering in the world because they don’t seek out information about it. It is certainly ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 23:37, John 5:40, Isaiah 30:15, Romans 8:18

Tags: Sin, Repent, Suffering, Repentance, Wickedness, Sorrow, Sadness, Unwillingness, Unwilling, Unwilling To Repent  (view more)  (view less)

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

Maybe We Should Go Back To Smoke Signal Communications

Contributed by James Snyder on Apr 30, 2022

I must admit that communication is an essential part of my life today. The longer I live, the more sophisticated those communications become, and it’s challenging to me. Recently, I was working on my latest book using my latest computer and its programs. As I was working, I remembered that I did ...read more

Scripture: Colossians 4:6

Tags: Communication, Computer, Media

Denomination: Christian Missionary Alliance

The Book "Will Daylight Come?" By Richard ...  PRO

Contributed by Kenneth Squires on Apr 18, 2003

The book “Will Daylight Come?” by Richard Hoefler, illustrates the truth, that forgiveness frees and unforgiveness enslaves. A little boy visiting his grandparents was given his first slingshot. He practiced in the woods, but he could never hit his target. As he came back to grandma’s back yard, he ...read more

Scripture: Colossians 1:1

Tags: Forgiveness, Forgiveness For Others, Grace, Sin

Denomination: Pentecostal

John Newton: I Am  PRO

Contributed by Rick Stacy on Oct 15, 2003

I am not what I ought to be. I am not what I want to be. I am not what I hope to be. But still, I am not what I used to be. And by ...read more

Tags: Grace, God's Love, Promises Of God

Denomination: Christian/Church Of Christ

Wanted: Movers

Contributed by Sermon Central on Sep 28, 2004

WANTED: MOVERS Suppose that one of the local businessmen had purchased a new building and was planning to move all of his stock into the new store. He placed an ad in the paper offering $100.00 per day to anyone who would come to help him make the move. The first workers were there early on the ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 20:1-16

Tags: Grace, Parable Vineyard, Promises Of God

An Invitation (And A Rejection Form)  PRO

Contributed by Sermon Central on Oct 18, 2004

AN INVITATION (AND A REJECTION FORM) Dearest (your name), You are cordially invited to come and enjoy the delicious banquet of my salvation. Serving will begin at My House and will continue for eternity. I’d love for you to come and get to know Me personally–and join my Family. This feast is ...read more

Scripture: Luke 14:12-24

Tags: Grace, Salvation, Parable Great Banquet

There's A Story About W.c. Fields, A Famously ...  PRO

Contributed by Alan Perkins on May 6, 2001

There’s a story about W.C. Fields, a famously irreligious man, who near the end of his life was visited by the actor Thomas Mitchell, who found him sitting up in bed reading the Bible. When his amazed friend asked what he was doing, he replied, "looking for loopholes". ...read more

Tags: God's Forgiveness, God's Provision, Grace

Denomination: Baptist

I Believe The Doctrine Of Election, Because I Am ...  PRO

Contributed by W. Bryan Wheeler on Jan 19, 2002

‘I believe the doctrine of election, because I am quite certain that, if God had not chosen me, I should never have chosen Him; and I am sure He chose me before I was born, or else He never would have chosen me afterwards; and He must have elected me for reasons unknown to me, for I never could ...read more

Tags: Becoming A Christian, Forgiveness In Jesus, Grace

Denomination: Baptist

Awl For The Good  PRO

Contributed by Sermon Central on Feb 25, 2002

AWL FOR THE GOOD In 1809, Simon Renee Braille and his wife Monique welcomed their fourth child into the world-- a lively boy named Louis. They lived in a small stone house near Paris where Braille was the local harness maker. Leather working tools are dangerous, so the toddler had been ...read more

Scripture: John 9:1-41

Tags: God's Omniscience, God In The Hardships, Grace

Example Of Extreme Forgiveness

Contributed by Ed Vasicek on Feb 17, 2020

Twenty years ago, Rwanda experienced a horrible genocide as one tribal group attacked and massacred another over tribal rivalry. Here is one story of forgiveness from that horrid era. “He killed my father and three brothers. He did these killings with other people, but he came alone to me and ...read more

Scripture: Luke 17:3-4

Tags: Grace, Forgiveness, Reconciliation, Restitution, Apology  (view more)  (view less)

Denomination: Independent/Bible

The Gospel

Contributed by Dr. Fred W. Penney on Dec 9, 2024

Pastor Martin Niemoeller confronted Hitler’s corruption of the German church and spent 8 years in prison. In 1945 he was freed by American forces. Remarkably he lived to the age of 92. A few days before his death he wrote - "when I was young I felt ...read more

Scripture: 1 Corinthians 15:1-8, Galatians 1:1-5, Romans 1:1-5

Tags: Grace, Gospel, Discipleship, Devotion, Justification  (view more)  (view less)

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

Two Mountain Goats

Contributed by David Dunn on Oct 25, 2025

Martin Luther wrote about seeing two mountain goats meeting on a mountain trial that was narrow enough for only one to travel on. When they met up, Luther thought for sure they would butt heads and the strongest would survive. One would die and one would be injured. Instead, when the mountain ...read more

Scripture: Philippians 2:5-8, Romans 12:10, Matthew 20:26-28, John 13:14-15, Ephesians 4:2  (view more)  (view less)

Tags: Service, Humility, Selflessness, Christlikeness, Grace  (view more)  (view less)

Denomination: Seventh-Day Adventist

The Way We Value Our Stuff Can Get Out-Of-Whack. ...  PRO

Contributed by Doane Brubaker on May 3, 2007

The way we value our stuff can get out-of-whack. One day in San Antonio the temperature had risen to 99 degrees. Fred Arriola, a wrecker driver stopped his truck in the street because he saw two women hysterically running around a car and a neighbor trying to unlock it with a hanger. Inside was ...read more

Denomination: Mennonite

A Good Man Wants To Get Into Heaven

Contributed by Martin Spoelstra on Jul 21, 2024

I was recently at the gym having a conversation with someone I just met. Within a matter of 10 minutes, I realized that this man was a better man than me. He had volunteered in more countries than I could count in 10 minutes of our conversation. He was a teacher, he served the poor in many ...read more

Scripture: Ephesians 2:8-9, John 3:16, Romans 3:23

Tags: Grace, Justification, Good Works, Works Righteousness

Denomination: Presbyterian/Reformed

Using The Resources You Have  PRO

Contributed by Sermon Central on Sep 18, 2012

USING THE RESOURCES YOU HAVE At 12:55 pm the mayday call crackled through the speakers at the Flight Service Station on Alaska’s Kenai Peninsula. The desperate pilot of a Piper A22, a small single-engine plane, was reporting that he had run out of fuel and was preparing to ditch the aircraft in ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 25:14-30, Ruth 1:1-5

Tags: Grace, Stewardship, Investment, Value, Give Back  (view more)  (view less)

The Door

Contributed by Joe Bertone on Aug 27, 2012

THE DOOR There is a small metal door painted white in the side of a tiny mission church in Johannesburg South Africa. This door is changing lives. On it are painted the words “door of hope.” That is exactly what it is for various babies within the city. On average some forty to fifty babies were ...read more

Scripture: John 10:1-10

Tags: Baby, Salvation, Missions, Hope, Door, Jesus Christ, I Am, Saving  (view more)  (view less)

Denomination: Christian/Church Of Christ

The Cheapest Way To Park A Rolls Royce!

Contributed by Garris Hudson on Feb 26, 2023

In Mattew 25, Jesus taught the Parable of the Talents to His disciples. The parable shows the value of investing wisely by those who took their talent and multiplied it through wise negotiation. The one who buried his talent and did not invest was scolded by the Lord. Here is a funny ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 25:14-30

Tags: Talents, Investing, Saving Money, Parables, Business, Kingdom Of God, Money Management  (view more)  (view less)

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

John Harper's Last Convert

Contributed by Garris Hudson on Feb 22, 2024

A man stood up in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada four years after the sinking of the Titanic in a testimony meeting and this is what he said. He said, “I am a survivor of the Titanic. When I was drifting alone on that awful night, the tide brought a man toward me in the sea and his name was John ...read more

Scripture: Acts 16:25-34

Tags: Testimony, Witnessing, Lost, Saved, Evangelism, Faith, Death, Believe, Trust, Salvation  (view more)  (view less)

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

We Hear It Almost Every Day: Sigh, Sigh, Sigh  PRO

Contributed by Philip Harrelson on Feb 10, 2005

We hear it almost every day: sigh, sigh, sigh. I just can’t get myself motivated to. . . . .[lose weight, test my blood sugar, etc.]. And we hear an equal number of sighs from diabetes educators who can’t get their patients to do the right things for their diabetes and health. We have news for ...read more

Tags: Faith, Christian Disciplines

Denomination: Pentecostal