In Sermon Illustrations: "Christian Giving"

Paul Billheimer: The Agent Of Destruction

Contributed by Sermon Central on Mar 21, 2011

PAUL BILLHEIMER: THE AGENT OF DESTRUCTION In his book, Don't Waste Your Sorrows, Paul Billheimer wrote: "Satan is the agent of destruction, not God. Who was it that destroyed Job's fortune, family, and health when God permitted it done? Satan. Satan brings about accidents, sickness, disease, and ...read more

Scripture: 1 Peter 5:8-9

Tags: Trials And Difficulties

Who Is John Three-Sixteen?

Contributed by Sermon Central on Apr 4, 2011

WHO IS JOHN THREE-SIXTEEN? A few years ago the principal of the English Mission College at Cairo, Egypt, received a letter from a Japanese Buddhist of the city whose children were attending his school. "Who is John three sixteen? My children are always talking about him?" The principal sent a ...read more

Scripture: John 8:12-30

Tags: Jesus Christ

Higher Ground

Contributed by John Putty on Apr 5, 2011

HIGHER GROUND The old hymn, “Higher Ground” is a spiritual declaration of one determined man Johnson Oatman, Jr. put to music! While some refuse to believe that our personal faith plays any real role in our spiritual growth and in experiencing Christian victory, in all my 20 years of preaching ...read more

Tags: Faith General

Denomination: Assembly Of God

Ministry: A Character Profession

Contributed by Rodelio Mallari on Apr 13, 2011

MINISTRY: A CHARACTER PROFESSION Ministry is a character profession. To put it bluntly, you can sleep around and still be a good brain surgeon. You can cheat on your mate and have little trouble continuing to practice law. Apparently, it is no problem to stay in politics and plagiarize. You can be ...read more

Tags: Character

Denomination: *other

Evading The "R" Word

Contributed by Sermon Central on Apr 17, 2011

EVADING THE "R" WORD Jimmy had trouble pronouncing the letter "R" so his teacher gave him a sentence to practice at home: "Robert gave Richard a rap in the rib for roasting the rabbit so rare." Some days later the teacher asked him to say the sentence for her. Jimmy rattled it off like this. "Bob ...read more

Tags: Repentance

Packer On God's Impassivity

Contributed by Ed Vasicek on Aug 22, 2011

PACKER ON GOD'S IMPASSIVITY J.I. Packer does an excellent job defining the doctrine of God's impassivity: "This means, not that God is...unfeeling..., but that no created beings can inflict pain, suffering and distress on him at their own will. In so far as God enters into suffering and ...read more

Tags: God In The Hardships

Denomination: Independent/Bible

Gluttony Pants

Contributed by Tim Smith on Oct 8, 2011

GLUTTONY PANTS Chef Chris Cosentino, Food Network star and executive chef at Incanto restaurant in San Francisco, has created the Gluttony Pants for those of us who occasionally indulge and engorge without the post-meal awkwardness. The pants have three buttons, allowing you to expand the pants' ...read more

Tags: Sin General

Denomination: Methodist

Allow The Word To Disturb You  PRO

Contributed by Curry Pikkaart on Nov 4, 2011

ALLOW THE WORD TO DISTURB YOU "We need to repent of the haughty way in which we sometimes stand in judgment upon Scripture and must learn to sit humbly under its judgment instead. If we come to Scripture with our minds made up, expecting to hear from it only an echo of our own thoughts and never ...read more

Tags: Bible Truth

Denomination: Presbyterian/Reformed

Dead People Everywhere

Contributed by Jeff Gauss on Jun 29, 2012

DEAD PEOPLE EVERYWHERE Sometimes the most basic truths of Christianity can be quite confusing. Take for instance the first time little Suzy attended a funeral service. The minister used the phrase, "Ashes to ashes, dust to dust." Suzy didn't understand so she asked her grandma, who was with her, ...read more

Tags: Death

Denomination: Baptist

Why Say No When Everybody Else Is Saying ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Oct 9, 2012

WHY SAY NO WHEN EVERYBODY ELSE IS SAYING YES? Writing in the aftermath of World War II, Elton Trueblood looked back to those few brave German Christians who had the courage to oppose Adolph Hitler. When so many others went along or simply kept silent, a few, a courageous handful, would not go along ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 22:36-38

Tags: Love For God

The Real Story Of Unequally Yoked.  PRO

Contributed by Davon Huss on Jan 31, 2015

David Slagle, a minister at a small church in Atlanta, tells the story of a woman in her late 20’s. The woman had befriended a man living in her apartment complex. Slagle and his wife asked whether the two were dating. The man in question was a known atheist. The young woman answered, “No, I’m ...read more

Scripture: 2 Corinthians 5:1-10

Tags: Marriage, Premarital, Unequally Yoked, Pre-Marital Counsel

Denomination: Christian/Church Of Christ

If Billy Goes To Hell, Do You Care?

Contributed by Steve Kinnard on Feb 10, 2019

Billy was born in 1972 into a family of drug abusers. His mother died of an overdose when little Billy was three years old, His father was wanted in Tennessee for selling drugs. Little Billy was slipped into Tennessee to live with relatives. In all reality little Billy spent his life looking for ...read more

Scripture: Luke 16:19-31

Tags: Hell, Compassion

Denomination: Pentecostal

Old Nature

Contributed by Steve Kinnard on Feb 15, 2019

OLD MAN Some time ago, a person I worked with came up to me and said, “if I didn’t know you, I would be terrified to meet you on the street”. If my coworker only knew half of what I’d been, He would never even talk to me. God took the most vile, evil, misguided person in the world and ...read more

Scripture: Ephesians 4:22-32

Tags: New Man, Old Man

Denomination: Pentecostal

Pigs Don't Say Thanks!

Contributed by Garris Hudson on Nov 21, 2019

An old farmer who was a loyal, church-going Christian was spending the day in a large city. He entered a restaurant and sat down at the table near a group of young men from the city. When his meal was brought to the table, the farmer quietly bowed his head and said grace. One of the smart-aleck ...read more

Tags: Thanksgiving, Prayer, Gratitude, Jokes, Meal Grace  (view more)  (view less)

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

Embraced By The Darkness

Contributed by Garris Hudson on Apr 18, 2022

"Embraced By the Light" or is it more like.... "Embraced By the Darkness?" The idea of Hell and judgment are nowhere to be found in Betty Eadie’s bestseller, Embraced By The Light, on the N.Y. Times bestseller list. In November 1973, Eadie allegedly died after undergoing a ...read more

Tags: Judgment, False Teachers, Lies, Deceit, False Prophets, Hell, Death, Jesus, Heaven  (view more)  (view less)

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

In The Fulness Of Time, God Sent His Son

Contributed by Garris Hudson on Dec 19, 2022

•When God sent His Son into the world, the ancient world benefited from several conditions that made it far easier to spread the news of the good new of salvation. Some of those conditions were: • Roman Law - This protected Paul and others as they traveled the Roman world and preached the ...read more

Tags: Christmas, Bethlehem, Rome, Prophecy, History, Sovereignty Of God  (view more)  (view less)

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

3 Types Of People In The Wilderness

Contributed by Garris Hudson on Mar 17, 2023

THREE TYPES OF PEOPLE IN THE WILDERNESS (Joshua 1, I Corinth. 2:13-3:3) * THOSE LIVING IN EGYPT (NATURAL MAN) - unbelievers in bondage to sin. Christ is on the outside of their life. Those in Egypt were freed from slavery by the blood of a sacrificial Lamb, a picture of Christ on the Cross, ...read more

Tags: Promised Land, Wilderness, Carnal, Canaan, Natural Man, Spiritual Man, Backsliding, Spiritual Victory, Spirit Filled Life  (view more)  (view less)

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

Fooled By Our Emotions

Contributed by Alison Bucklin on Jun 17, 2023

One of the most difficult things, all Christians must surely admit, is to differentiate between a truly spiritual fervor and a carnal, animal zeal and enthusiasm. Natural animal spirits and temperament may very well make one fervent and zealous.... There is nothing of which a preacher needs to be ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 7:21, Jeremiah 17:9

Tags: Spirituality, Enthusiasm, Martin Lloyd Jones

Denomination: Presbyterian/Reformed

Should Pastors Preach Against Corrupt Politicians? Bonhoeffer Did.

Contributed by Garris Hudson on Apr 6, 2024

At the height of WWII, Protestant theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer was imprisoned for taking a stand against Hitler. Yet, he continued to urge fellow believers to resist Nazi tyranny. A group of Christians, believing that Hitler was the Antichrist, asked Bonhoeffer, "Why do you expose yourself ...read more

Tags: Rapture, Pastors, Hitler, Signs, Return Of Christ, Bonhoeffer, Evil, Prophecy, Politics, Darkness, Second Coming, Last Days  (view more)  (view less)

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

Views On The Nephilim

Contributed by Garris Hudson on Oct 13, 2024

Who Are the Nephilim? 4 Different Theories For centuries, scholars from Judaism and Christianity have presented different views on who the Nephilim were. 1: The first view is that fallen angels had relations with the "daughters of men," which resulted in a part human, part supernatural ...read more

Scripture: Jude 1:6-8

Tags: Satan, Angels, Flood, Noah, Judgment, Giants, Nephilim  (view more)  (view less)

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational