In Sermon Illustrations: "Choosing Friends"

The Beginning Of Marilyn Manson

Contributed by Derrick Tuper on Feb 27, 2012

THE BEGINNING OF MARILYN MANSON Brian Warner started going to church with a friend years ago. Brian was a skinny pizza faced nerdy looking kid that nobody liked. He was also a loner who looked out of place most of the time. The youth group took a trip to an amusement park one weekend and when ...read more

Tags: Judgment

Denomination: Christian/Church Of Christ

Joni And Jesus

Contributed by Joe Bertone on Jul 23, 2012

JONI AND JESUS A vase of roses could always be found next to Joni's hospital bed. Although Joni was only five she had many admirers. She liked flowers. And she liked painting, crayons, the "play lady," and riding her IV pole like a skateboard down the hall of the hospital each night before going ...read more

Tags: Death, Heaven, Afterlife, Home

Denomination: Christian/Church Of Christ

So Many Valuable Possessions  PRO

Contributed by Perry Greene on Sep 26, 2012

SO MANY VALUABLE POSSESSIONS Waylon Prendergast, 37, of Tampa, Florida, committed a spur-of-the-moment robbery while on his way home from a late-night drinking session. A very inebriated Mr. Prendergast forced his way into the house through an open upstairs window, filling a suitcase with cash and ...read more

Scripture: Luke 21:25-31, Luke 23:28-34

Tags: Blessing, Forgive, Nightmare

Denomination: Christian/Church Of Christ

From Shackles To Statue

Contributed by Lee Strawhun on Sep 17, 2014

It was 1985 when Tim Cole was picked out of a lineup for a rape he never committed but would be convicted of and sentenced to serve 25 years. He was near the Texas Tech campus when the rape occurred and as a result was sent to prison because the victim picked the wrong man and the courts sentenced ...read more

Scripture: Philippians 4:5-9

Tags: Hope Of Justice, Victim, Forgiveness For Others, Continue In Faith

Denomination: United Methodist

Impersonating A Christian

Contributed by Shawn Miller on Jan 16, 2015

In her recently published book “Dance with the Devil” Barbara Bentley shares her experience with former husband, John Perry, a mysterious man, whose father was supposedly portrayed by John Wayne in a World War II movie. She fell in love with him when He dazzled her and her friends with his heroic ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 7:21-23

Tags: Hypocrisy, Day Of Judgment, False Believer, Imposter

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

Loving Neighbour

Contributed by Don Berry-Graham on Feb 29, 2016

A Little Pointer on Keeping a Balance Here’s a little bonus tip that I’ve found helpful to keep my wits about me as I live next to these wild Vikings we call sinners, pagans, and wacko unbelievers while keeping my vertical relationship with God strong. It’s called “whimsical holiness,” which is ...read more

Scripture: Luke 7:34

Tags: Witnessing Tools, Loving Neighbor

Denomination: Baptist

Isaiah's Prophecies And The Dead Sea Scrolls

Contributed by Mark Stepherson on Jan 14, 2017

There was a time when skeptics claimed that the prophecies in Isaiah 53 were too detailed, too specific, too accurate to be mere coincidence. I agreed. But then the skeptics argued that the ONLY logical explanation was that Isaiah was written after the gospels and patterned the suffering Servant ...read more

Scripture: Isaiah 53:1-12

Tags: Prophecy, Reliability Of Bible, Fulfilled Prophecy, Dead Sea Scrolls

Denomination: Baptist

The Horse Won't Stop!

Contributed by John Bright on Jan 17, 2021

There's this guy who had been lost and walking in the desert for about 2 weeks. One hot day, he sees the home of a missionary. Tired and weak, he crawls up to the house and collapses on the doorstep. The missionary finds him and nurses him back to health. Feeling better, the man asks the ...read more

Scripture: Mark 1:35

Tags: Supplication, Prayer

Denomination: Methodist

Pardoned Fugitive

Contributed by Roger Byrd on Jul 17, 2021

He was an unlikely criminal. In the difficult days after World War I, many veterans like Robert Elliot Burns had taken to “riding the rails” in search of work. A native of New Jersey, Burns had found the times very trying so when a friend told him of a job, he immediately agreed. The problem was ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 11:28

Tags: Pardon, Historical

Denomination: Baptist

We’re Not Always Headed In The Direction We Think We Are

Contributed by Glynda Lomax on May 30, 2022

Once while living in Dallas, I witnessed to someone I worked with who proceeded to tell me they believed they just needed to be a good person to go to Heaven. Though I explained what the Bible says about being saved, they rejected my witness and went on with their life. It was clear to me they were ...read more

Scripture: Jonah 1:17, Proverbs 3:6

Tags: Deception, Truth, Right Path, Wrong Doctrine

Denomination: Charismatic

The Marathon

Contributed by Dr. Fred W. Penney on Oct 17, 2022

On Sunday, October 16, 2022 my daughter, aged 25, ran her first marathon – the Toronto Waterfront marathon. Though I’m currently living 3000 kms away in St. John’s, Newfoundland, Canada – I was there at the race to cheer her on. I was not prepared for the emotional intensity of the ...read more

Scripture: Hebrews 12:1-2, 1 Corinthians 9:24-27, Philippians 3:14

Tags: Salvation, Perseverance, Gospel, Discipleship, The Cross  (view more)  (view less)

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

The Night Before Cassie Bernal Was Murdered At Columbine

Contributed by Dr. Larry Petton on Nov 6, 2022

On Tuesday April 20, 1999, Cassie Bernal was in the Columbine Colorado high school library reading her Bible when the two students burst in carrying guns. According to one of the witnesses, her friend Josh, one of the killers pointed his gun at Cassie and asked, "Do you believe in ...read more

Tags: Faith, Death, Persecution, Heaven, Satan, Testimony, Terrorism, High School, Last Words, Martyrs, Columbine  (view more)  (view less)

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

The Funniest Funeral Sermon Ever!

Contributed by Dr. Larry Petton on Dec 4, 2022

Two brothers had terrorized a small town in Alabama for decades. They lied, they cheated, they stole and they were two of the sorriest persons in the entire town. Then, unfortunately, one of the brothers died unexpectedly. The surviving brother went to the pastor of the local Baptist church. He ...read more

Tags: Death, Lies, Pastors, Churches, Funerals  (view more)  (view less)

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

Victorious Living

Contributed by Jerry Cosper on Feb 13, 2023

2 weeks ago as I sat in the office of my lawyer, he showed me a photocopy of a handwritten letter from Abraham Lincoln that was written to my lawyer’s great-great uncle. The uncle happened to be the president of the University of Pennsylvania at that time. He was involved in writing a pamphlet on ...read more

Scripture: John 16:19-22

Tags: Victory, Hard Times

Denomination: Baptist

The Compass And God's Truth

Contributed by Timothy Lueking on Jul 1, 2025

Let me tell you a story to bring this passage home. Back in the 1800s, the thick forest of northern Michigan there was a young logger, confident in his sense of direction, set out one crisp morning to scout new timber. The forest was dense, the sky hidden by a canopy of green. Hours passed, and as ...read more

Scripture: John 2:3-6, John 8:31-32

Tags: Compass, Waver, Bible, Direction, Truth, God's Word  (view more)  (view less)

Denomination: Christian/Church Of Christ

I Recently Finished The Book, D-Day, By Stephen ...

Contributed by John Shearhart on Jun 26, 2007

I recently finished the book, D-Day, by Stephen Ambrose. D-Day occurred on June 6, 1944 when allied troops stormed the beaches of Normandy by ship and plane to defeat Hitler’s evil Nazi Germany. There are literally thousands of stories of bravery and heroism to tell from that day, but I want to ...read more

The Fruit Of Your Words (Spanish And English)

Contributed by Major Gerardo Balmori on Mar 22, 2010

THE FRUIT OF YOUR WORDS (Spanish and English) Seremos lo que decimos ser. Las palabras tiene poder. Llevan poder. Crean imágenes. Y así Usted puede crear lo bueno y lo malo. Dios dice yo creo el fruto de tus labios. Yo creo todo lo que hables. Piense en el fruto de sus labios. Sabe muchas veces, ...read more

Tags: Confession Of Sin

Denomination: Salvation Army

Cobia, Bigfoot, And God - Elusive Searching

Contributed by Jack Kale on May 10, 2016

Cobia, Bigfoot, and God I’ve been three times now and I’m starting to lose hope. I keep hearing rumors about these tasty leviathans that meander just off the second sandbar on their annual pilgrimage around the Gulf of Mexico. I’ve heard rumors of folks catching them off the pier and even seen ...read more

Scripture: John 20:29

Tags: Search, Finding God, Fishing, Bigfoot

Denomination: *other

[031] A Message From A Poem – Before Him Lay The Cross

Contributed by Ron Ferguson on Feb 19, 2025

[031] A MESSAGE FROM A POEM – BEFORE HIM LAY THE CROSS We have a retrospective view of the cross in a very limited understanding, but the Lord’s view in the Garden of gethsemane was a forward one. The anticipation of that ordeal was a dreadful one. That comes out in the description and this ...read more

Scripture: Hebrews 12:2, John 3:16-17, Psalm 69:1-3, Psalm 22:13-16, Matthew 26:38-39  (view more)  (view less)

Tags: Love, The Cross, Anticipation, Endurance, Cross, Suffering, Gethsemane, Endure, Calvary  (view more)  (view less)

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

In God's Eyes," By Candace Carteen Of Portland, ...  PRO

Contributed by Brian Atwood on May 5, 2008

"In God's Eyes," by Candace Carteen of Portland, Oregon. By the time I was ten, I was totally ashamed of my father. All my friends called him names: Quasi-Moto, hunchback, monster, little Frankenstein, the crooked little man with the crooked little cane. At first it hurt when they called him ...read more

Tags: Faults

Denomination: Baptist