In Sermon Illustrations: "Church Persecution"

Saved From The Guttermost To The Uttermost

Contributed by Dr. David Hallum on Sep 11, 2019

Introduction: Larry Johnson was an oil field hand. Big, loud, cursing, drinking, woman chasing and completely anti-God. He worked on one of the dirtiest jobs in the old field – he ran a workover crew. Those guys NEVER came home clean. They were covered in grime, sludge and oil from head to toe ...read more

Scripture: 1 John 4:7-13

Tags: Love, Salvation, Joy

Denomination: Baptist

Never Surrender

Contributed by Dr. Ronald Shultz on Aug 28, 2020

Acts 5:29 Then Peter and the other apostles answered and said, We ought to obey God rather than men. When the 101st Airborne was surrounded in WWII the Germans asked them to surrender. General Anthony McAuliffe replied, "Nuts!" The Germans tried to figure what that meant and while they ...read more

Scripture: Acts 5:29

Tags: Ministry, Victory, Surrender, Defeat, Calling  (view more)  (view less)

Denomination: Baptist

Enticed By A False Prophet

Contributed by Richard Tow on Apr 26, 2021

Shortly after Jeanie and I were married, we were fresh out of Bible College and I was doing some teaching. The associate pastor of our church approached us in private with a very flattering word. He said that God had told him to gather an elite circle of you couples for him and his wife to mentor. ...read more

Scripture: 1 Corinthians 14:29, 1 John 2:27

Tags: Prophecy, False Prophets, Deception

Denomination: Charismatic

A Man For All Seasons

Contributed by Sermon Central on Aug 11, 2008

A MAN FOR ALL SEASONS In 1966, Robert Bolt's play was made into a movie of the same name. A Man For All Seasons was a movie about Sir Thomas More. More, a member of the elite Privy Council of the Roman Catholic Church, refused to give his okay to King Henry VIII's divorce to his wife and ...read more

Tags: Character

Redeemed, Redeemed, Redeemed...

Contributed by Bob Gillchrest on Dec 1, 2008

REDEEMED, REDEEMED, REDEEMED... A.J. Gordon was the great Baptist pastor of the Clarendon Church in Boston, Massachusetts. One day he met a young boy in front of the sanctuary carrying a rusty cage in which several birds fluttered nervously. Gordon inquired, "Son, where did you get those birds?" ...read more

Tags: Salvation

Denomination: Baptist

Stealing His Glory

Contributed by Sermon Central on Dec 28, 2008

STEALING HIS GLORY Recently, we heard about what happened in the capital in Washington State. OLYMPIA, Wash. -- An atheist group unveiled an anti-religion placard/sign in the state Capitol, joining a Christian Nativity scene and "holiday tree" on display during December. The atheists' sign was ...read more

Tags: Christmas

Stranger Than Fiction: A True Story

Contributed by Sermon Central on Dec 31, 2008

STRANGER THAN FICTION: A TRUE STORY A young couple from another church came to one of our assistant pastors for counseling about marital problems they started having soon after their wedding. After just a few minutes of interviewing the two, he could see they were miles apart in tastes, ideas, and ...read more

Tags: Bible Study

Sex Is Like A ...

Contributed by Charles Wallis on Feb 19, 2009

Sex is Like a Maserati (Based on an illustration given by Pastor Ed Young Fellowship Church C3 conference February 19, 2009) Pastor Young was talking to a porn actress from Europe about salvation through Jesus Christ. She did not believe and questioned him. She wondered if she would have to ...read more

Tags: Sexuality

Denomination: Pentecostal

The Belt Of Truth

Contributed by Roger Hasselquist on Jul 9, 2023

I need Jesus. I need Him because He is the truth! I need Him because without Him I am weak and unable to fight the battles that constantly throw lies my way. I need to be prepared for the battle by having the armor of God. I need the belt of truth. Rick Burdette, minister with Cornerstone ...read more

Scripture: Ephesians 6:14

Tags: Armor Of God, Belt Of Truth, Jesus Is Truth

Denomination: Christian/Church Of Christ

Why Be So Negative?

Contributed by Wade Martin Hughes, Sr on Dec 12, 2025

NEGATIVE: One young boy stood holding on to the poles behind me. He was a smart young man. During the trip the young boy talked how stupid his teachers were. The conversation turned about how bad the principal and the office staff was. Then he told me how our best Sunday School teacher was ignorant ...read more

Scripture: Jude 1:22

Tags: Negative, Attitude

Denomination: Assembly Of God

The Christmas Storm: A Modern Parable By Paul ...  PRO

Contributed by Sermon Central on Dec 10, 2002

THE CHRISTMAS STORM: A Modern Parable by Paul Harvey "This is about a modern man, one of us, he was not a scrooge, he was a kind, decent, mostly good man, generous to his family, upright in his dealings with others. But he did not believe in all that incarnation stuff that the Churches proclaim ...read more

Scripture: John 1:14

Tags: Birth, Christmas, Flesh, God-Man, Humanity Of Christ, Incarnation  (view more)  (view less)

The Unquenchable Worshipper, Matt ...

Contributed by Roger Nelmes on Jan 30, 2008

Illustration: The Unquenchable Worshipper, Matt Redman Regal Books; Ventura California, ©2001 When we come together as congregations, we can just as easily get thrown off course. A few years back in our church, we realized some of the things we thought were helping us in our worship were ...read more

Tags: Corporate Worship

Denomination: Pentecostal

True ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Jul 10, 2009

TRUE WORSHIP I want to read to you an excerpt from James Montgomery Boice’s book, "Whatever Happened to the Gospel of Grace?" to preface my opening statements. This is from his chapter entitled, "Reforming Our Worship". In it he cites two sources from which he got his information. I cite my ...read more

Scripture: John 4:23-24

Tags: Worship, Worship Definition

Mothers Live For Others  PRO

Contributed by Fr Mund Cargill Thompson on Sep 29, 2011

MOTHERS LIVE FOR OTHERS We've got all sorts of people here this morning. One thing we have got a lot of is mothers. Some of you, your children are long grown up. But you have the experience of having been a mother. So? Well, every mother lives her life for another. And that is what the church ...read more

Scripture: 1 Corinthians 13:4-8

Tags: Mother's Day

Denomination: Anglican

The Bible Thoroughly Equips

Contributed by Terry Laughlin on Nov 4, 2012

THE BIBLE THOROUGHLY EQUIPS 2 Timothy 3:16-17 says, "All Scripture is God Breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training for righteousness, so the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work." The Bible is the Word of God and is useful for thoroughly ...read more

Scripture: 2 Timothy 3:16-17

Tags: Bible Influence

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

Born, And ...

Contributed by Terry Laughlin on Aug 11, 2008

Born, And Born-again The birth of a baby is a wonderful thing! Doctors, nurses and parents regularly speak of the miracle of the birth of a child. News of a child’s birth is often reported by newspaper and radio, especially in rural areas. Exciting as it is, however, no natural birth of ...read more

Scripture: John 3:7

Tags: Salvation

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

Listen To This Song Of Praise About The ...  PRO

Contributed by Don Walker on Dec 21, 2000

Listen to this song of praise about the incarnation written by Graham Kendrick: Meekness and majesty, human and deity, in perfect harmony the one who is God. Lord of eternity dwells in humanity, kneels in humility and washes our feet. Wisdom unsearchable, God the invisible, love indestructible ...read more

Tags: God's Provision, Humanity Of Christ, Forgiveness In Jesus

Denomination: Baptist

Kind Of Like The Little Kid Who Was Told This ...  PRO

Contributed by Maximiliano Zapata on Jun 19, 2001

Kind of like the little kid who was told this same story in his Sunday morning Bible class. After church on way home mom asks him what they talked about in Bible class, little boy tells her that they talked about the creation story and how God had taken a rib from mans side and made a wife for ...read more

Scripture: Ephesians 6:1-3

Tags: Children

Denomination: Christian/Church Of Christ

In A Book I Just Read This Week – Every Man's ...  PRO

Contributed by Steve Malone on Dec 3, 2001

In a book I just read this week – Every Man’s Battle; ‘Winning the war on Sexual Temptation…’ The authors make the following observation… Sexual impurity has become rampant in the church because we’ve ignored the costly work of obedience to God’s standards as individuals, asking too often, “How ...read more

Tags: Holiness, Temptation Sex, Sexuality

Denomination: Christian/Church Of Christ

Across The Pond, Dawn Gilkes, Wife Of Vicar Don ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Dec 16, 2001

Across the pond, Dawn Gilkes, wife of vicar Don Gilkes, asked children at her church to pray that Osama bin Laden and other Muslims would convert to Christianity. One parent complained, "In the current climate to voice sentiments like this, particularly in front of children ...read more

Tags: Sharing My Testimony, Great Commission, World Religions