In Sermon Illustrations: "Call"

Harry Potter: Temptation

Contributed by Isaac Butterworth on Jul 30, 2011

HARRY POTTER: TEMPTATION Every great story has great characters. And in truly great stories, the characters go through significant change. This change is called a character arc. For example, if you’re familiar with the Harry Potter series, you know that Harry starts off in the story as an ...read more

Tags: Temptation General

Denomination: Presbyterian/Reformed

No Atheists Among Heathens

Contributed by Sermon Central on Aug 3, 2011

NO ATHEISTS AMONG HEATHENS Leith Samuel writes in HIS magazine, "Many missionaries point out that the heathen know more than we think. They know that there is a God. There are no atheists among heathen tribes. There has never been discovered upon earth a tribe of people, however small or depraved, ...read more

Scripture: Romans 1:16-32

Tags: Guilt

Where's Your Security  PRO

Contributed by Ronnie Miller on Aug 11, 2011

WHERE'S YOUR SECURITY (NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- Investors lost $1 trillion in the in the stock market Monday as the debt crisis in Europe, lackluster economic news and a downgrade to the U.S. credit rating spark fears of a double-dip recession. Investors placed their wealth in the hands of a man ...read more

Scripture: John 10:28-29, Jude 1:24-25, 1 Peter 1:18-19

Tags: Holy Spirit, Salvation, Security, Promises Of God, Secure  (view more)  (view less)

Denomination: Baptist

Not A Role Model...?

Contributed by Jehu Hernandez on Aug 12, 2011

NOT A ROLE MODEL...? Former NBA star Charles Barkley, the Round Mound of Rebound, as he was called, is famous for saying, "I'm not a role model." In spite of the fact that young kids wanted to imitate him, he didn't want that responsibility. He ignored the fact that his high visibility made it ...read more

Tags: Christian Witness

Denomination: Assembly Of God

Disposable Guilt Bags

Contributed by Sermon Central on Aug 12, 2011

DISPOSABLE GUILT BAGS Several years ago a new product called "Disposable Guilt Bags" appeared in the supermarkets. It consisted of a set of ten ordinary brown bags on which were printed the following instructions: "Place the bag securely over your mouth, take a deep breath and blow all your guilt ...read more

Scripture: Psalm 32:1-5

Tags: Guilt

Searching For The Treasure  PRO

Contributed by Sermon Central on Aug 23, 2011

SEARCHING FOR THE TREASURE When Betty Goldstein of Staten Island, New York, entered the hospital, her husband Ron wrapped her 3.5-carat diamond ring in a napkin for safekeeping. But in a forgetful moment, the 63-year-old Goldstein threw the napkin in the trash. When he realized his mistake, he ...read more

Scripture: Proverbs 2:1-15, Luke 15:8

Tags: Wisdom

Picking The Wrong Door

Contributed by Sermon Central on Aug 31, 2011

PICKING THE WRONG DOOR Stuart Briscoe, in his book Everyday Discipleship for Ordinary People, tells the story about a fellow pastor who was officiating at the funeral of a war veteran. The dead man’s military friends wanted to have a part in the service at the funeral home, so they requested that ...read more

Scripture: 1 Peter 5:1-5

Tags: Leadership General

The Old Rugged Cross

Contributed by Gordon Curley on Dec 4, 2011

THE OLD RUGGED CROSS About an hour away from where I used to live in Coventry (England), there is a little village called Bredwardine. It is in the county of Herefordshire. A lady who attended the Anglican Church in that village died, and in her will she left some money for the Church. As well as ...read more

Tags: Cross

Denomination: Brethren

The Unnecessary War

Contributed by Gordon Curley on Feb 4, 2012

THE UNNECESSARY WAR When Winston Churchill was in his early thirties, he tried with all his powers to awaken the English speaking world to the impending dangers of a resurgent Germany. At the time Germany was being influenced by one Corporal Hitler, but Churchill’s warnings were all to no avail. ...read more

Tags: Sin General

Denomination: Brethren

No King But Jesus

Contributed by Sermon Central on May 3, 2012

NO KING BUT JESUS Did you know that the colonialists wanted to make George Washington a king? But he refused. Because George and many of the colonists believed that there was only one king, and it was not King George III. On April 22, 1774, before the Revolutionary War, a report was sent to King ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 27:37

Tags: Jesus Christ

If Crumbs Of Joy Now, What Next?

Contributed by Sermon Central on Aug 2, 2012

IF CRUMBS OF JOY NOW, WHAT NEXT? A widely respected man known as "Uncle Johnson" died in Michigan at the incredible age of 120. Perhaps his advanced years could be credited in part to the cheerful outlook that characterized his life. One day while at work in his garden, he was singing songs of ...read more

Scripture: 1 Corinthians 2:9-16, 1 Corinthians 2:2

Tags: Joy

Ali Kissed 'em!

Contributed by Sermon Central on Aug 16, 2012

"ALI KISSED 'EM!" Former boxing writer Harold Conrad visited a women's prison with heavyweight fighter Muhammad Ali. "All the inmates lined up," wrote Conrad. "They were ooh-ing and aah-ing as he went along. There were some good-looking ones. But he kissed only the ugly ones." After they left the ...read more

Scripture: Romans 15:7

Tags: Kindness

Worship Warrior  PRO

Contributed by Sermon Central on Aug 17, 2012

WORSHIP WARRIOR I like the way songwriter and worship leader, Brian Doerksen, puts it. He says, "Becoming a worshipper means becoming a warrior... And by toning that down...we have sent men and women away from the church in droves. It's time to call them back," Doerksen says, "as worshiping ...read more

Scripture: Romans 12:1-2

Tags: Worship Definition

God Is Not An Editor

Contributed by David Tack on Oct 17, 2012

GOD IS NOT AN EDITOR "God is looking for common ordinary people like you and me who are willing to let Him use as He sees fit. He wants to write our story, He doesn’t want to be our editor. But, we want to write the story and then we call God in as our editor. When the story gets messy then we ...read more

Scripture: Luke 9:23

Tags: Discipleship

Denomination: Baptist

Marcus Young And The Bible

Contributed by Hal Seed on Nov 9, 2012

MARCUS YOUNG AND THE BIBLE In the 1890s, Marcus Young moved his family to the country of Burma, which is now called Myanmar. He was digging a well one day when he noticed some mountain tribesmen staring down into the hole he was in. The tribesmen asked him, “Have you brought the book of ...read more

Tags: Bible Influence

Denomination: Baptist

The Bible: Like No Other Book

Contributed by Hal Seed on Nov 9, 2012

THE BIBLE: LIKE NO OTHER BOOK The Bible has been burned and banished by more people and cultures than any other book. For centuries the only translation of the Bible available to the peoples of Europe was a fourth-century Latin translation called the Vulgate. Only priests and scholars knew Latin, ...read more

Scripture: John 16:33

Tags: Bible Influence

Denomination: Baptist

Storage Wars. ...

Contributed by Tim Spear on Dec 6, 2012

I enjoy watching a TV show called Storage Wars. In this reality show people bid on storage units that have been abandoned after having five minutes to look at them from the doorway. I enjoy watching because many times they find some great treasures worth a lot of money buried in all the other ...read more

Tags: Church Purpose Of

Denomination: Baptist

What Alcoholics Can Teach Us

Contributed by Davon Huss on May 31, 2014

Philip Yancey interviewed a young alcoholic who had formerly been an active church member, but had allowed Alcoholics Anonymous to replace the church. When questioned why, the young man responded, "Mainly I'm trying to survive, and AA helps me in that struggle far better than any church." ...read more

Scripture: Romans 12:5

Tags: Accountability, Authenticity, Dependency, Self-Righteousness

Denomination: Christian/Church Of Christ

Poinsettia

Contributed by David Simpson on Dec 19, 2014

There are a lot of symbols at the Christmas season. All represent something. Santa Claus, mistletoe, wreaths, candles, etc. I’ve always admired the beauty of poinsettias, and decided to do a little research on them. You may know that they were named after Joel Poinsett, who happened to be the ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 2:1-12

Tags: Christmas, Wise Men, Star Of Christmas, Poinsettia

Denomination: Christian Church

The King Has One More Move  PRO

Contributed by Dwayne Brown, Phd on Apr 9, 2015

This story has been told by Christian speakers as far back as 1955 when Billy Graham told a variation of it early in his ministry. Two men are standing in front of a painting called Checkmate in an art gallery. In the painting, a man is playing chess with the devil. The devil is grinning ...read more

Tags: Don't Quit, God Is In Control

Denomination: Baptist