In Sermon Illustrations: "Chosen People"

Men Happier

Contributed by Sermon Central on Apr 14, 2008

MEN HAPPIER Last year, a team of researchers added a novel twist to something known as a time-use survey. Instead of simply asking people what they had done over the course of their day, as pollsters have been doing since the 1960s, the researchers also asked how people felt during each activity. ...read more

Tags: Men And Women

Let's Take A Closer Look At The Dishonest Manager ...

Contributed by Stephen Evoy on May 10, 2008

Let’s take a closer look at the dishonest manager (Luke 16:1-9). At the beginning of the story, he is stealing from people. At the end of the story, he is no longer stealing from people. He repented--“accidentally.” Obviously, he didn’t repent because he felt that stealing was wrong; he ...read more

Tags: Repentance

Denomination: Free Methodist

The World Is In A Crisis Of Confusion Concerning ...  PRO

Contributed by Michael Mccartney on Jun 25, 2008

The world is in a crisis of confusion concerning the character and the nature of God. Just as paganism and polytheism tainted the ancient Near Eastern world, our society is influenced by corrupted views of God. The names have changed, but the false gods they represented have not. Instead of Baal, ...read more

Scripture: John 14:16-17, 1 Corinthians 12:1-3, 2 Peter 2:1-22

Tags: Polytheism, Truth, Leadership, Culture, Influence, Idolatry, False Teaching  (view more)  (view less)

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

Mort Meyerson, Who Ran Perot Systems From 1992 To ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Jul 16, 2008

Mort Meyerson, who ran Perot Systems from 1992 to 1997, created a stir when he canceled the company’s annual Christmas party. He saw that the event (for 13,000 employees) was costing $360,000 and decided the money could be put to better use. He said, "We’ll take the $360,000 and buy food and ...read more

Tags: Poverty

The Fallacy Of Misplaced Concreteness" Is A ...

Contributed by John Tung on Mar 28, 2007

“The fallacy of misplaced concreteness” is a concept developed by Alfred North Whitehead, a philosopher who specialized in mathematics. And an example of what this says is that in a 2-dimensional world, giving the x and y axis location of a point is sufficient to precisely locate that point. But ...read more

Scripture: John 4:1-42

Tags: Woman At Well

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

Jeremy Was A Christian. He Had Been Saved At ...

Contributed by Ed Vasicek on Apr 6, 2009

Jeremy was a Christian. He had been saved at the age of 16, baptized, and was a faithful church member. When Jeremy chose a career, he did not pray about it or ask God for direction. He did what seemed obvious to him. When he dated, he was not careful to date only godly Christian women. When he ...read more

Tags: Obedience

Denomination: Independent/Bible

The Ruined Hunting Dog

Contributed by Sermon Central on Apr 8, 2009

THE RUINED HUNTING DOG Robert Moffatt, missionary to savage tribes of South Africa, translated the Bible into the native language of the people and taught the people to read. He watched the remarkable changes which the gospel brought in the lives of these formerly fierce warriors. He saw them show ...read more

Tags: Bible Influence

The Bible As Holy

Contributed by Sermon Central on Apr 14, 2009

THE BIBLE AS HOLY The Bible is deemed a holy book by 84% of the U.S. public. Although 84% of Barna Research respondents described themselves as Christian, 7% did not consider the Bible to be sacred, while 38% of adults who do not consider themselves Christian categorized it as such. Most ...read more

Scripture: John 1:1

Tags: Bible Truth

Hell, Literally

Contributed by Ross Cochrane on Jan 3, 2010

HELL, LITERALLY Now the word for "hell" is interesting. According to William Barclay, it literally referred to the Valley of Hinnom, to the South West of Jerusalem. William Barclay says "It was notorious as the place where Ahaz had introduced into Israel the fire worship of the heathen god Molech, ...read more

Tags: Hell

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

Praise Be To The Lord, The God Of Israel, ...

Contributed by Gregg Bitter on Jan 3, 2010

"Praise be to the Lord, the God of Israel, because he has come and has redeemed his people" (Luke 1:68 NIV). A little child plays innocently in a park. Suddenly a man grabs her from behind and drags her into a van. She’s gagged. A bag’s pulled over her head. Dust stings her eyes. The smell of sweat ...read more

Tags: Restoration

Denomination: Lutheran

There Was A Logging Community Who Felt The Need ...

Contributed by Bobby Scobey on Mar 15, 2010

There was a logging community who felt the need of divine worship, so they built a church and called a young preacher. He was alarmed to discover dishonesty among the loggers. People there and those upstream would float their logs in the river down to the mill. Each logger would take a metal die ...read more

Tags: Truth

Denomination: Pentecostal

Biblical Fellowship  PRO

Contributed by Sermon Central on Jul 15, 2010

BIBLICAL FELLOWSHIP If the local church is going to develop the kind of beauty that God says is possible, that which will attract others to Christ, we much commit to becoming together, the kind of church Christ calls us to be. A church that is a biblical fellowship. In his book, Rediscovering ...read more

Scripture: Acts 2:42-47

Tags: Church Body Of Christ

Something In Their Eyes...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Apr 6, 2011

SOMETHING IN THEIR EYES... A prominent atheist named Matthew Parris wrote in a 2008 essay about a strange phenomenon that he had observed in Africa. Amazingly, as an atheist, he wrote an essay for The Times titled, "Why Africa Needs God." Although Parris made it clear that he does not believe in ...read more

Scripture: John 8:31-36

Tags: Christian Witness

Spiritual Carcinogens

Contributed by Alison Bucklin on Jun 20, 2011

SPIRITUAL CARCINOGENS When the Challenger went down nearly 20 years ago, the whole country went around draped in a dark cloud of mourning. Soon the shock gave way to outrage and scandal when it was discovered that cost-cutting and carelessness components that didn’t quite meet the required ...read more

Tags: Heresy

Denomination: Presbyterian/Reformed

Love Of A Disciple  PRO

Contributed by Stephen E. Trail on Jul 6, 2011

LOVE OF A DISCIPLE Tertullian, an early Christian author, reported that the Romans would exclaim, "See how they love one another," and Justin Martyr, a Greek-speaking Christian apologist, sketched Christian love this way: "We who used to value the acquisition of wealth and possessions more than ...read more

Scripture: Acts 2:45

Tags: Christian Love

Denomination: Baptist

No Faith In The Future, No Power For The Present

Contributed by Sermon Central on May 12, 2012

NO FAITH IN THE FUTURE, NO POWER FOR THE PRESENT Years ago, a small town in Maine was proposed for the site of a great hydroelectric plant. Since the dam would be built across the river, the entire town would be submerged. When the project was announced, the people were given many months to ...read more

Scripture: Jeremiah 29:10-14, 1 John 3:3

Tags: Future

So What?

Contributed by Sermon Central on Aug 26, 2012

"SO WHAT?" SOCIETY When I talk about this it might seem rather funny to you or odd, because people don’t worry or care about such things today. Recent surveys in 2011 sum it up pretty well. • 44% told the 2011 Baylor University Religion Survey they spend no time seeking "eternal wisdom," and 19% ...read more

Scripture: Isaiah 6:1-13

Tags: Culture

Charles Dickens And Reviving Christmas  PRO

Contributed by Warner Pidgeon on Dec 23, 2012

Two hundred years ago, in the early 19th Century, as astonishing as it may seem, Christmas in Great Britain had become almost extinct. The Times newspaper did not mention Christmas once between 1790 and 1835. Not once! However, Charles Dickens was instrumental in reviving Christmas during the ...read more

Scripture: Luke 2:8-14

Tags: Christmas, Losing Christmas

Denomination: Anglican

Where Are You Leading?

Contributed by Davon Huss on Aug 18, 2014

David Wheeler tells of a funeral procession that illustrates a leader’s influence. David officiated at a funeral. In accordance with custom, after the funeral, the attenders filed out of the funeral home and into their waiting cars to form a processional to the cemetery. The hearse led the ...read more

Scripture: 1 Timothy 3:1-13

Tags: Funeral, Role Model, Spiritual Leadership, Outhouse

Denomination: Christian/Church Of Christ

What Is Your Legacy?

Contributed by Russell Brownworth on Sep 16, 2008

What is Your Legacy? This week I had the extreme privilege of praying at a ceremony honoring the memory of Sandra Waugh Bradshaw, one of the heroic flight crew of 9/11's Flight 93. Sandy went to Grays Chapel and had ties to this community. I want to suggest to you that in the moment that brave ...read more

Tags: Christian Love

Denomination: United Methodist