In Sermon Illustrations: "Christian Bears"

Inspiration Of Scripture

Contributed by Kerry Haynes on Feb 23, 2020

Consider Bill, who was just a young man at the time. He had tried preaching, but didn’t always feel the power of God or see any results. One of his contemporaries, Charles Templeton, got into academia and started to believe scripture as flawed and outdated. Bill wondered about all of this. A ...read more

Scripture: 2 Peter 1:16-21, 2 Timothy 3:16

Tags: Word Of God, Inspired Word, Inspiration Of Scripture, Inspiration Of The Bible

Denomination: Baptist

Open Rebuke Is Better Than Secret Love.

Contributed by Dr. Larry Petton on Jan 25, 2021

The Scripture tells us that "Open rebuke is better than love carefully concealed. Faithful are the wounds of a friend but the kisses of an enemy are deceitful" (Proverbs 27:5-6).   Rebuke means sin is not only pointed out, it is condemned. The church really doesn’t do this ...read more

Scripture: 2 Timothy 3:16-17, 2 Timothy 4:1-3

Tags: Sin, Preaching, Repentance, Rebuke, Pastors, The Word Of God, Preachers  (view more)  (view less)

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

Burmese Parable About A Banyan Tree ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Apr 28, 2010

Burmese Parable About a Banyan Tree Seed Don’t pitch your tents near sin or soon you will be living in it. I have heard stories of people who have been hooked by a variety of addictions. They almost always start by just an ‘innocent’ act that did not seem like much at the time. Gamblers who started ...read more

Scripture: James 1:13-15

Tags: Sin Deceptive

Playwright Maria Hedley Had Her Fill Of Terrible ...

Contributed by Ed Sasnett on Jun 23, 2010

Playwright Maria Hedley had her fill of terrible dates. Most of the dates she went on she thought the guys would be great candidates but they were totally unsatisfying. She got sick of her own taste and decided that fate couldn’t mess up her love life anymore than she could, and it might just do ...read more

Tags: Sexual Purity, Marriage Singleness

Denomination: Baptist

Sing Praise

Contributed by Ray Ellis on Nov 22, 2010

SING PRAISE We can get victory over hardships by singing praise to the Lord. "My mouth is filled with Your praise...all day long." Ps. 71:8 NAS Roger Bennett, pianist and songwriter died in 2007. Prior to his death he wrote on his website: Our enemy stalks us exactly the way the Bible ...read more

Tags: God In The Hardships

Denomination: Free Methodist

How's My Driving?  PRO

Contributed by James Lee on Dec 1, 2010

HOW'S MY DRIVING? Mat 5:16 "Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven." A lot of trucks have a sticker on the back that says, "How's my driving? Call xxx-xxxx to report." This is supposed to make the driver accountable. I read that in ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 5:16

Tags: Attitude General

Denomination: Baptist

Good For Goodness' Sake

Contributed by Jeff Strite on Dec 26, 2010

GOOD FOR GOODNESS' SAKE “You better watch out, you better not cry Better not pout I'm telling you why - Santa Claus is coming to town He's making a list and checking it twice; Gonna find out Who's naughty and nice Santa Claus is coming to town He sees you when you're sleeping - He knows when ...read more

Tags: Christmas

Denomination: Christian/Church Of Christ

High On Their Huddles

Contributed by John Hamby on Apr 25, 2011

HIGH ON THEIR HUDDLES One of my favorite preachers is Dr. Tony Evans in Dallas. Some years ago I heard him give the following description of the purpose of the church service. He said, "In football they have a huddle, the goal of the huddle is to give you thirty seconds to call the play; that is ...read more

Tags: Church Practices

Denomination: Baptist

The Story Of Frida

Contributed by Warner Pidgeon on Mar 20, 2009

THE STORY OF FRIDA Frida Gashumba tells something of her story in her book Frida: Chosen to Die, Destined to Live, a miraculous escape from the Rwandan genocide. Frida was born in 1980. She was a Tutsi, one of the tribes 'created' during colonial rule based primarily upon height, head size, shape ...read more

Tags: Comfort

Denomination: Anglican

Whom God Loves, He Chastens

Contributed by Clark Tanner on May 15, 2009

WHOM GOD LOVES, HE CHASTENS George MacDonald was a 19th century orator and story-writer who C.S. Lewis once called his master as relates to story-telling and relating truth through fantasy. One of MacDonald’s short stories was titled, "The Gifts of the Child Christ." The main character of the ...read more

Tags: God In The Hardships

Denomination: Orthodox

Run With Endurance  PRO

Contributed by Sermon Central on Oct 19, 2009

RUN WITH ENDURANCE Unlike most competitions however, running the race in spiritual terms is not to try to be first, but to be faithful and finish! The Christian race is not a competitive event to see who comes in first, but an endurance run to see who finishes faithfully. It’s like the ...read more

Scripture: Hebrews 12:1-2, Hebrews 12:2-3, Matthew 1:16-25

Tags: Endurance

Miraculous Protection Of Hutu ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Oct 26, 2009

Miraculous Protection of Hutu Preacher Psalm 91:5 goes on to say, “You will not fear the terror of the night, nor the arrow that flies by day.” And vs. 11 says, “He will command His angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways.” ILL. Tribal wars are nothing new in Central Africa. In fact, a ...read more

Scripture: Psalm 91:1-16

Tags: Miracles, Miracles General

The Role Of Prayer In ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Oct 31, 2009

The Role of Prayer in Revival A U.S. Lutheran bishop tells of visiting a parish church in California and finding a stirring red and orange banner on the wall. "Come Holy Spirit. Hallelujah!" it declared in words printed under a picture of a fire burning. The bishop was also interested in the sign ...read more

Scripture: Romans 8:26-27

Tags: Revival

Romanians Take Vengeance On Former Dictator, ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Nov 5, 2009

Romanians Take Vengeance on Former Dictator, Nicolae Ceausescu A few years ago Nicolae Ceausescu, the cruel dictator of Rumania, was executed by revolutionaries. You probably remember seeing his bullet riddled body on the newscasts. The revolutionary forces emptied their rifles of ammunition as ...read more

Scripture: 1 Corinthians 16:5

Tags: Political Freedom

First Grader Learns That More Is Expected Of Him ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Nov 14, 2009

First Grader Learns That More Is Expected of Him Than When He Was in Kindergarten When they came in the house, Jesus asked them, “What were you arguing about on the road?” But they kept quiet because on the way they had argued about who was the greatest. Sitting down, Jesus said, “If anyone wants ...read more

Scripture: Mark 9:33-35

Tags: Discipleship

2 Corinthians 7:1,

Contributed by Tim Adams on Dec 1, 2009

2 Corinthians 7:1,“Let us cleanse ourselves” - that means we would do a good job if we were just as fond of straightening our own selves out as we are to find the faults of others. It is God’s Holy Spirit that will do the work but we must enter in to an active cooperation with God on this matter. ...read more

Tags: Sin Exposed

Denomination: Baptist

Giving

Contributed by Brad Beaman on Apr 17, 2022

Henry Parsons Crowell contracted tuberculosis when a boy and could not go to school. His Father and brother died of tuberculosis, and he should have died of it too. He made a contract with God. If he were spared he would use his abilities to amass large sums of money for evangelism. For the next 50 ...read more

Scripture: 2 Corinthians 9:7-8

Tags: Giving, Purpose Of Giving, Cheerful Giver

Denomination: Baptist

Stand Strong

Contributed by Jerry Cosper on Feb 13, 2023

I want you all to think back with me as we begin this morning. Many of us looked forward to leaving high school behind with all of its challenges. Then we began to experience a whole new set of challenges in college or in the workplace. We began wondering what direction we were going to take in ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 24:1-14

Tags: Dedication, Loyalty

Denomination: Baptist

Counterfeit Preachers

Contributed by Dr. Larry Petton on Jul 10, 2023

Did you know that counterfeiting of money is one of the oldest crimes in history? Here in America it became a serious problem during the 19th century when banks issued their own currency. In fact, by the time of the Civil War, it was estimated that one-third of all currency in circulation was ...read more

Tags: Spirits, Spirit Of Error, Discernment, Truth, False Teachers, Spirit Of Truth, False Prophets  (view more)  (view less)

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

Adoniram Judson Returns To The Lord

Contributed by Sermon Central on Jun 13, 2011

ADONIRAM JUDSON RETURNS TO THE LORD Adoniram Judson graduated at the top of his class in college, then he headed to New York City to seek fame and fortune as an actor and/or writer. He had left the God of his father, thinking he was beyond such "primitive notions." But such a life was empty for ...read more

Scripture: Isaiah 44:22, Isaiah 44:22-44

Tags: Revelation