In Sermon Illustrations: "Changed By Christ"

A Second Chance  PRO

Contributed by Sermon Central on Mar 8, 2011

A SECOND CHANCE Some years ago, two teenagers with a long history of crime and misbehavior robbed a YMCA on the lowest East Side of New York City. On the way out they saw a young man at the telephone switchboard. They were frightened and assumed that the man must be calling the police. They held ...read more

Scripture: Psalm 32:1-2

Tags: Love, Hope, Change, Care, Forgiveness For Others  (view more)  (view less)

Go Get Your Mother!

Contributed by Joe Bertone on Aug 27, 2012

GO GET YOUR MOTHER! One of my favorite stories of a door is the story of the Amish boy and his father who went to the big city for the very first time. They were amazed by everything they saw. Having grown up and lived all their lives on a rural farm everything was completely new to them. The ...read more

Scripture: John 10:7-10

Tags: Door, Change, Transformation, Mystery, Elevator, Amish  (view more)  (view less)

Denomination: Christian/Church Of Christ

Buster, Get Your Heart Right!

Contributed by Garris Hudson on Jan 29, 2014

A professor from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Ft. Worth, Texas was preaching in Nevada. The normally reserved professor put his whole heart into the sermon and called for people in the congregation to repent and get their hearts right with God. At the end of his message, he ...read more

Scripture: 2 Chronicles 7:14

Tags: Revival, Repentance, Confession Of Sin, Change Of Heart

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

The Two Coats

Contributed by Gordon Curley on Feb 17, 2011

THE TWO COATS A friend of mine once saw a tramp and decided to help him. He noticed he was wearing a dirty old coat. It was ripped and fit only for the bin. So my friend offered the tramp his coat. The tramp took it but to my friends surprise, instead of taking off the old coat and putting on the ...read more

Tags: Change, Old Coat, New Coat, Two Coats

Denomination: Brethren

After World War Ii, A Group Of ...

Contributed by D. Greg Ebie on Feb 26, 2006

ILLUSTRATION: After World War II, a group of German students volunteered to help rebuild an English cathedral that had been severely damaged by German bombs. As work progressed, they became concerned about a large statue of Jesus, whose arms were outstretched and beneath which was the inscription: ...read more

Tags: Church Body Of Christ

Denomination: Assembly Of God

Kyle Idleman On Dying To Self

Contributed by Kevin Karhoff on Mar 18, 2013

What’s it look like to die every day? Well, dying to yourself today may mean spending your lunch hour serving food to the homeless at the shelter down the street from your office. It may mean the next time you talk to your neighbor, instead of playing it safe and keeping comfortable you bring ...read more

Scripture: Luke 9:23

Tags: Surrender, Jesus Christ, Dying To Self, Commitment To Christ

Denomination: Presbyterian/Reformed

In Bill Moyers's Book A World Of Ideas Ii, Jacob ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Jun 18, 2007

In Bill Moyers’s book A World of Ideas II, Jacob Needleman remembers, "I was an observer at the launch of Apollo 17 in 1975. It was a night launch, and there were hundreds of cynical reporters all over the lawn, drinking beer, wisecracking, and waiting for this 35-story-high rocket. "The ...read more

Tags: Church Body Of Christ

What Kind Of Example Are You?

Contributed by Sermon Central on May 11, 2012

WHAT KIND OF EXAMPLE ARE YOU? It is said that for many years Monterey, a California coast town, was a pelican’s paradise. As the fishermen cleaned their fish, they flung the innards to the pelicans. The birds grew fat, lazy, and contented. Eventually, however the innards were utilized, and there ...read more

Scripture: Ephesians 4:11-16

Tags: Church Body Of Christ

The Nobodies Of The Church  PRO

Contributed by Sermon Central on Jun 6, 2010

THE NOBODIES OF THE CHURCH Janet Reno, Attorney General of the United States during the Clinton administration, was interviewed on "60 Minutes" on June 26, 1999. She seems to hold this ancient opinion of Christians. Here is how she defined a cultist: "A cultist is one who has a strong belief in ...read more

Scripture: 1 Corinthians 1:18-31

Tags: Church Body Of Christ

Christmas Humor

Contributed by Garris Hudson on Dec 21, 2020

A Sunday School was putting on a Christmas pageant which included the story of Mary and Joseph coming to the inn. One boy wanted so very much to be Joseph, but when the parts were handed out, a boy he didn’t like was given that part, and he was assigned to be the inn-keeper instead. He was pretty ...read more

Scripture: John 1:1-12

Tags: Christ, Manger, Birth Of Christ, Mary And Joseph, Coming Of Christ, Christmas  (view more)  (view less)

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

Let The Walls Come Down!  PRO

Contributed by Sermon Central on Dec 10, 2002

LET THE WALLS COME DOWN! One of the greatest all-time blunders in history took place in East Germany. Erich Honecker, the iron-fisted East German leader, stepped down due to an illness and was replaced by a reformer, Egon Krenz. Just before a news conference, with mass demonstrations in Berlin ...read more

Tags: Humanity Of Christ, Christmas

Diversity In The Church  PRO

Contributed by Sermon Central on Apr 8, 2009

DIVERSITY IN THE CHURCH Philip Yancey put it this way in an article in Christianity Today just this last November. He writes, "As I read accounts of the New Testament church, no characteristic stands out more sharply than [diversity]. Beginning with Pentecost, the Christian church dismantled the ...read more

Scripture: Galatians 3:28

Tags: Church Body Of Christ

On A Wall Near The Main Entrance To The Alamo In ...  PRO

Contributed by David Browne on Dec 9, 2000

On a wall near the main entrance to the Alamo in San Antonio, Texas, is a portrait with the following inscription: "James Butler Bonham--no picture of him exists. This portrait is of his nephew, Major James Bonham, deceased, who greatly resembled his uncle. It is placed here by his family so that ...read more

Tags: Lordship Of Christ, Humanity Of Christ, Descriptions Of God

Denomination: Baptist

Calvin Miller Said, "One Cannot Even Begin To ...  PRO

Contributed by Victor Yap on Jan 29, 2001

Calvin Miller said, "One cannot even begin to understand the life of Christ ...read more

Tags: Jesus Teachings, Jesus Christ, Lordship Of Christ

Denomination: Independent/Bible

A Pastor From A Bygone Age, Named Arthur John ...  PRO

Contributed by Dennis Lawrence on Apr 6, 2001

A pastor from a bygone age, named Arthur John Gossip, wrote: The wonderful thing about Christ is that as people looked at Him, followed Him, and watched Him, it became apparent to them that this is what God must be like. They concluded that if there is a God at all, then He must have Christ’s ...read more

Tags: Humanity Of Christ, Forgiveness In Jesus, Divinity Of Christ

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

Some Of You Might Have Heard Of The Late Malcolm ...  PRO

Contributed by Michael Milton on Sep 25, 2001

Some of you might have heard of the late Malcolm Muggeridge. He was a British journalist and a noted atheist for many years of his life. But in his sin, in the very midst of about to commit yet another vile act of wickedness, he came face to face with the Gospel of Jesus Christ. He repented and ...read more

Tags: Lordship Of Christ, Basics Of Christianity, Commitment To Christ

Denomination: Presbyterian/Reformed

Strong Evidence  PRO

Contributed by Sermon Central on Dec 16, 2001

STRONG EVIDENCE There is evidence for the deity of Jesus -- good, strong, historical , cumulative evidence; evidence to which an honest person can subscribe without ...read more

Tags: Lordship Of Christ, Divinity Of Christ, Apologetics General

Garbed As A Peasant  PRO

Contributed by Matthew Rogers on Mar 18, 2002

GARBED AS A PEASANT Soren Kierkegaard, the Danish theologian, told a story about a certain kingdom wherein there was a handsome prince, searching for a woman worthy enough to be his wife and become queen of the land. One day while running an errand for his father he passed through a poor village. ...read more

Tags: Forgiveness In Jesus, Lordship Of Christ, Humanity Of Christ

Denomination: Christian/Church Of Christ

It’s Too Late To Hide

Contributed by Mark Beaird on Dec 31, 2015

It’s Too Late to Hide I first noticed him as he shuffled past me while making his way through the crowd of excited children swarming around the room at the school for deaf and blind children outside Saigon, Vietnam. He moved slow, but steady. His arms and legs were twisted and drawn in such a ...read more

Scripture: Hebrews 4:15-16

Tags: Blessings In Christ, Accepted By Grace, Acceptance In Christ

Denomination: Independent/Bible

Royalty Clothed In Rags

Contributed by Garris Hudson on Dec 2, 2020

“This is the way the Savior came into the world. He did not lay aside His deity; He laid aside His glory. There should have been more than just a few shepherds and angels to welcome Him—all of creation should have been there. Instead of collecting taxes, that fellow Caesar should have been in ...read more

Scripture: John 1:1-12

Tags: Christmas, Birth Of Christ, The First Coming Of Christ

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational