In Sermon Illustrations: "Christianity"

[062a]. A Message From A Poem – Does Suffering Cancel Out A God Of Love?

Contributed by Ron Ferguson on Mar 14, 2025

[062A]. A MESSAGE FROM A POEM – DOES SUFFERING CANCEL OUT A GOD OF LOVE? THE POEM AS IT IS WILL NOT FIT IN THE ILLUSTRATION SPACE AVAILABLE. I HAVE HAD TO SPLIT IT INTO THREE PARTS. THIS IS THE FIRST PART PART 1 INTRODUCTION TO THIS POEM This is my most serious poem because it addresses ...read more

Scripture: Psalm 45:6-7, John 3:16, Exodus 34:6-7

Tags: Comfort, Suffering, Tragedy, God Of Comfort, God Of Love, Hurt, Pain, Love, Compassion  (view more)  (view less)

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

[030] A Message From A Poem – Beauty From Ashes

Contributed by Ron Ferguson on Feb 18, 2025

[030] A MESSAGE FROM A POEM – BEAUTY FROM ASHES One of the deepest emotions we have is shame. Shame happens when sin has caused havoc in a person’s life, and the realisation of it bursts like a cloud over the person. Shame brings guilt and guilt can affect a person greatly, even causing ...read more

Scripture: Psalm 51:10, Psalm 51:1-2, Psalm 51:12, 1 John 1:7-9

Tags: Ashes, Sinning, Repentance, Guilt, Shame, Bathsheba, Conviction, Poetry, David, Forgiveness, Beauty, Holy Spirit  (view more)  (view less)

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

True Or False?  PRO

Contributed by Sermon Central on Mar 20, 2002

TRUE OR FALSE? Palm Sunday celebrates the day Jesus made his triumphal entry into Jerusalem. Test your knowledge of that day’s events, recorded in all four Gospels, with these true or false statements. 1. According to the Gospels, the people waved palm branches when Jesus rode into Jerusalem on ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 23:5-10

Tags: Easter Palm Sunday

Sin Complicates Life  PRO

Contributed by Sermon Central on Aug 15, 2002

SIN COMPLICATES LIFE Let us lay aside the weight and sin that so easily entangles… Hebrews 11:2 I was supposed to get money from the ATM sometime during my work day. That’s all my wife asked of me that day. But for one reason, then another, I failed to do it. I know I went out to lunch that ...read more

Tags: Sin Deceptive, Faith

His Last Convert  PRO

Contributed by David Yarbrough on Apr 21, 2003

HIS LAST CONVERT There where a lot of notable wealthy people on the Titanic in 1912. But the most notable passenger on the Titanic was someone that most of the world has never heard of before. He was a man by the name of John Harper. He was a plan ordinary Pastor from the city of Glasgow, ...read more

Tags: Evangelism How To, Evangelism Urgency, Sharing My Testimony

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

Streaming After Dreaming! (08.01.05--Boldness ...

Contributed by Mark Brunner on Jul 28, 2005

Streaming After Dreaming! (08.01.05--Boldness Too!--Deuteronomy 33:27) Do you consider yourself a cautious person? I don’t know about you but mom and dad always taught me to “look before you leap.” A cautious approach to things can keep you out of a lot of trouble in this life. Did you also know ...read more

Scripture: Deuteronomy 33:27

Tags: Love Of The Disciples, Call Of The Disciples

Denomination: Lutheran

Excellent Congregations: Excellent Protestant ...  PRO

Contributed by Sermon Central on Jan 16, 2006

Excellent Congregations: Excellent Protestant Congregations, by Paul Wilkes and published by Westminster John Knox Press identified the following 26 common traits among the "excellent" protestant congregations. 1. A vibrancy about living a Christian life...living on the creative and holy edge of ...read more

Tags: Church General

One Of The Things I Love To Do Most Is To Tell ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Jun 18, 2007

One of the things I love to do most is to tell people about how I met the risen Lord. I was a senior in high school. I was just about to graduate. And my English teacher gave us one final assignment. He put a bowl on the table filled with slips of paper. He said, "Each slip of paper has a value on ...read more

Tags: Easter Resurrection

They Will Give You Up  PRO

Contributed by Bruce Landry on Mar 31, 2008

THEY WILL GIVE YOU UP Donald Grey Barnhouse led the son of a prominent American family to the Lord. He was in the service, but he showed the reality of his conversion by immediately professing Christ before the soldiers of his military company. The war ended. The day came when one of the ...read more

Tags: Friendship New Friends

Denomination: Baptist

Happiness... Or Holiness?  PRO

Contributed by Terry Laughlin on Aug 11, 2008

Happiness... or Holiness? We Christians have sometimes made a mistake when leading others to Christ in allowing (or encouraging) them to believe that, once they are born-again children of God, there will no longer be any trials in their lives. This may be especially true when they come to ...read more

Scripture: Nehemiah 8:10

Tags: Holiness

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

The Head Vs. The Heart

Contributed by Terry Laughlin on Aug 11, 2008

The Head VS. the Heart Be strong and let your heart take courage, all you who wait for the Lord. Ps. 31: 24 It is with the heart that we must wait upon God. As a man's heart is, so is he before God. We can advance no further or deeper into the holy place of God's presence to ...read more

Scripture: Psalm 31:24

Tags: Confidence

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

Blessed Are The Peacemakers

Contributed by Terry Laughlin on Aug 11, 2008

Blessed Are The Peacemakers "Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons of God." (Matthew 5:9) There is a commission from God that is available to every obedient Christian today and that is to be a peacemaker. Argument and discord is a great waste of energies better spent on ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 5:9

Tags: Character

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

Ordinary People For Christ

Contributed by Sermon Central on Oct 18, 2009

ORDINARY PEOPLE FOR CHRIST Bud Villers was a good man. Bud was my neighbor. I grew up beside him until he died when I was in college. Bud helped my dad put a roof on our house, he assisted my dad when they poured concrete sidewalks and porches. My dad helped him put a roof on his patio. When Bud ...read more

Scripture: Colossians 4:5-6

Tags: Evangelism How To

Kindness Trumps Riches

Contributed by Sermon Central on Feb 6, 2010

Kindness Trumps Riches Like many American Christians, Keith Taylor has benefited from the generosity of other people in different times and different ways. For example, while Keith was attending graduate school in Tennessee, his car broke down, and the subsequent repair bill caused him to be short ...read more

Scripture: 2 Corinthians 9:6-15

Tags: Giving General

Thomas Campbell And The Restoration Movement  PRO

Contributed by Sermon Central on Aug 8, 2011

THOMAS CAMPBELL AND THE RESTORATION MOVEMENT Back in early 1800's there was a preacher in Western Pennsylvania named Thomas Campbell. He was a preacher for the Old-light, Anti-burger, Seceder Presbyterian Church. Each of those phrases described a political division within the Presbyterian Church ...read more

Scripture: Philippians 1:27-30, John 17:17-23

Tags: Divisions

James Dobson's Faith-Full Parents  PRO

Contributed by Sermon Central on Aug 29, 2012

JAMES DOBSON'S FAITH-FULL PARENTS "Of all the values transmitted to me by my father, none made a more lasting impression than his attitude toward money. As an evangelist, he could never depend on the compensation he would be given. The local church would collect a freewill offering for my father, ...read more

Scripture: Hebrews 13:5-6

Tags: Father's Day

I Have A Friend Who Worked In A Slaughter House, ...  PRO

Contributed by Dallas Mcgill on Jun 10, 2002

I have a friend who worked in a slaughter house, putting to death cattle, hogs, chickens, turkeys; you name it he did it. One day there was an exceptional animal that was penned in the slaughter barn. A Lamb. "Usually," my friend voiced, "I would just slit the throat of the beast and it would ...read more

Tags: Crucifixion, Jesus Teachings

Denomination: Baptist

Chuck Mistler Testifies  PRO

Contributed by Izak Shipman on Jun 13, 2002

Chuck Mistler testifies A few years ago, we flew back to California late one Sunday night from a seminar in Washington State. Tired and hungry, we still had to face another one-hour drive home from the airport. Trying to check out of the airport parking lot, we found at least 30 cars in ...read more

Tags: Holiness, Love Of The Disciples

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

Changing Lifestyles Present New Challenge To ...  PRO

Contributed by Sermon Central on Aug 15, 2002

Changing lifestyles present new challenge to churches Increasingly segmented lifestyles, religious pluralism and even the "worship wars" within today’s church are among the most significant challenges Robert E. Reccord sees ahead for evangelical Christians in the 21st century. Reccord, president ...read more

Scripture: Genesis 998:3-5

Tags: Worship Definition, Sharing My Testimony, Leisure, Pleasure, Media, Entertainment, Church Practices  (view more)  (view less)

A Couple Of F-15's Are Escorting A C-130 ...  PRO

Contributed by Andrew Chan on Apr 20, 2003

A couple of F-15’s are escorting a C-130 Hercules, and their pilots are chatting with the pilot of the transport to pass the time. Talk comes around to the relative merits of their respective aircraft. The fighter pilots contend that their airplanes were better because of their superior speed, ...read more

Tags: Easter Resurrection

Denomination: Evangelical Free