In Sermon Illustrations: "Church Hopping"

Did You Ask?

Contributed by Stephen Smarowsky on Jun 13, 2008

DID YOU ASK? There is an old story about how the University of Chicago received a million-dollar grant from the heiress of a major department store. She had been a student at Northwest. So, administrators of Northwest went to visit her and asked why she had not made such a gift to her alma mater. ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 7:7-11

Tags: Evangelism Fear Of

Denomination: Baptist

Looking In The Wrong Place  PRO

Contributed by Charles Wallis on Nov 10, 2008

LOOKING IN THE WRONG PLACE Billy Graham tells the story of a man looking for his wallet on the street. Someone asked him what he was looking for. He said, "I lost my wallet." The other person said, "Where did you lose it?" He replied, "About half a block up the street." The other person ...read more

Tags: Politics

Denomination: Pentecostal

Some Years Back, The Company With The Brown ...

Contributed by John Herrmann on Nov 14, 2008

Some years back, the company with the brown trucks and brown uniforms - UPS, went public on the stock market for the first time in its 92 year history. The Chairman and CEO then, Jim Kelly said, “We’ve discussed the benefits of private ownership for a long time, but this is something we had to do ...read more

Tags: Evangelism Urgency

Denomination: Lutheran

Pastor Dave Kinney Said, "In The Year 1940 A ...

Contributed by Dave Kinney on Nov 15, 2008

Pastor Dave Kinney said, "In the year 1940 a physicist working in a garage in Chicago developed the process of splitting the atom, which started the atomic age we live in today. They realized that they could unleash the power found in the atom and then multiply that power! This has changed the ...read more

Tags: Authority

Denomination: Baptist

Believers Happier

Contributed by Sermon Central on Feb 13, 2009

BELIEVERS HAPPIER People who believe in God are happier than agnostics or atheists, claim British researchers. They become even happier the more they pray and go to church. The report found religious people were better able to cope with disappointments such as unemployment or divorce than ...read more

Scripture: 1 Thessalonians 5:16

Tags: Happiness

The Master Of Religiosity

Contributed by Mark Schaeufele on Jun 29, 2009

THE MASTER OF RELIGIOSITY He made free use of Christian vocabulary. He talked about the blessing of the Almighty and the Christian confessions which would become the pillars of the new government. He assumed the earnestness of a man weighed down by historic responsibility. He handed out pious ...read more

Tags: Hypocrisy

Denomination: Methodist

I Have Heard The Statement Of Couples Being 'soul ...

Contributed by Tony Abram on Jul 10, 2009

I have heard the statement of couples being ’soul mates’, but I believe when two believers filled with the same Holy Spirit are married, it is God who has joined them together and no one, including the devil should be able to break that tie. In this outline we share a simple message around the ...read more

Tags: Marriage Commitment

A Paramedic Was Asked On A Local Dallas Tv ...

Contributed by Tim Adams on Dec 1, 2009

A paramedic was asked on a local Dallas TV talk-show program: “What was your most unusual and challenging 911 call?” “Recently,” the paramedic began, “we got a call from that big white church on 11th and Walnut. A frantic usher was very concerned that during their worship service an elderly man ...read more

Tags: Worship General

Denomination: Baptist

God Shows Up In The Humblest Dwellings

Contributed by Charles Wallis on Dec 15, 2009

GOD SHOWS UP IN THE HUMBLEST DWELLINGS Tommy Welchel describes the miracles of Azusa Street: "The thought that God visited us in a barn to introduce His Son...confounds the minds of scholars a skeptics. These miracles were happening in and old, run-church that once used to house animals. By the ...read more

Tags: Christmas

Denomination: Pentecostal

Albert Barnes, An 19th Century Theologian, In His ...

Contributed by Jesse Roncales on Mar 12, 2010

Albert Barnes, an 19th century theologian, in his Notes on the New Testament, affirms this truth, “If a man is not influenced by the meek, pure and holy Spirit of the Lord Jesus, if he is not conformed to His image, if his life does not resemble that of the Saviour, he is a stranger to ...read more

Tags: Christian Values

Denomination: Assembly Of God

God And...

Contributed by Curry Pikkaart on Jul 6, 2010

"GOD AND..." The Heidelberg Catechism puts it succinctly (Q&A #95): Idolatry "…is TO IMAGINE, CLING TO, OR TRUST IN SOMETHING OTHER THAN OR IN ADDITION TO THE ONE TRUE GOD WHO HAS BEEN REVEALED IN GOD’S WORD." Notice that this definition strikes where most of us are – we like to worship 'God and…' ...read more

Tags: Idolatry

Denomination: Presbyterian/Reformed

Behind The Mask

Contributed by Gordon Curley on Nov 27, 2010

BEHIND THE MASK In Basel, Switzerland each year the good Protestant townspeople have a festival in which they all don masks and go through the city doing things and going placed they would never consider doing/going under normal circumstances. The mask, which veiled their identity emboldened them ...read more

Tags: God's Omniscience

Denomination: Brethren

Fighting The Wolves

Contributed by Gordon Curley on Nov 27, 2010

FIGHTING THE WOLVES There was a pastor of a local Church who was concerned about some unsavoury business outside his local school. His protests finally led to a court case and the opposing barrister tried to do everything he could to discredit the pastor. "Are you a pastor?" the lawyer ...read more

Tags: Culture

Denomination: Brethren

Whyte In Prayer

Contributed by Sermon Central on Apr 13, 2011

WHYTE IN PRAYER Scottish minister Alexander Whyte was known for his uplifting prayers in the pulpit. He always found something for which to be grateful. One Sunday morning the weather was so gloomy that one church member thought, "The preacher certainly won’t think of anything for which to thank ...read more

Scripture: 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18

Tags: Gratitude

One Sunday Morning The Minister Asked The ...

Contributed by Bill Burress on Feb 25, 2012

One Sunday morning the minister asked the congregation, "Whoever wants to go to heaven, stand up!" Everyone stood except one man sleeping in the back of the church. When the preacher told them they could sit down he asked the question, "Anyone who wants to go to hell, stand up!" About that time ...read more

Tags: Heaven

Denomination: Christian/Church Of Christ

There Was An Ot Professor Who Taught Young People ...

Contributed by Ken Henson on Jul 5, 2012

There was an OT professor who taught young people that were preparing for the ministry. At the beginning of the class he would take off his coat and bow. He would bow to the class of his students. Some of his faculty members were upset at this gesture. And he said, "I bow to them because you ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 18:1-9

Tags: Humility, Luther

Denomination: *other

Christian Priesthood  PRO

Contributed by Davon Huss on Oct 1, 2013

From R. Paul Stevens: Christian priesthood is not a matter of being religious and Mr. Goody two shoes but of serving God and God’s purposes in the nitty gritty everydayness of life in the world, not a matter of sacred times and sacred places but ordinary times and ordinary places, not a matter ...read more

Scripture: Romans 15:15-16

Tags: Everyday Life, Priestly

Denomination: Christian/Church Of Christ

Creche And The Second Coming

Contributed by Tim Smith on Aug 13, 2017

Marques Silva writes, “In college I was surprised when a close friend explained her family crèche. It wasn’t the style or the model that caused me to pause. It was the addition of a figurine that I had neither seen nor considered before. This particular set included not only the baby Jesus but an ...read more

Scripture: Ephesians 2:1

Tags: Second Coming, Creche

Denomination: Methodist

Palm Sunday Funny

Contributed by Ed Vasicek on Mar 29, 2021

It was Palm Sunday but because of a sore throat, 5 year old Sammy stayed home from church with a babysitter. When the family returned home, they were carrying several palm fronds. Sammy inquired as to what they were for. 'People held them over Jesus' head as he walked by,' his father ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 21:1-11

Tags: Palm Sunday, Seeing Jesus, Jesus The King, Jesus' Presence

Denomination: Independent/Bible

Best Tithing Joke Ever!

Contributed by Dr. Larry Petton on Jan 31, 2022

BEST TITHING JOKE EVER! Two men were marooned on a deserted Island. One man paced back and forth worried and scared while the other man sat back and was sunning himself. The first man said to the second man, "Aren’t you afraid that we are about to die?" "No," said the ...read more

Tags: Giving, Stewardship, Pastors, Tithing

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational