In Sermon Illustrations: "Closed Churches"

Listen To This True Story About God's Love: I Am ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Jun 18, 2007

Listen to this true story about God’s love: I am a mother of three (ages 14, 12, 3) and have recently completed my college degree. The last class I had to take was Sociology. The teacher was absolutely inspiring with the qualities that I wish every human being had been graced with. Her last ...read more

Tags: God's Provision

Max Lucado, In No Wonder They Call Him The ...  PRO

Contributed by Sermon Central on Jun 18, 2007

Max Lucado, in No Wonder They Call Him the Savior, tells the story of Maria and her daughter Christina. Longing to leave her poor Brazilian neighborhood, Christina wanted to see the world. Discontent living at home having only a pallet on the floor, a washbasin, and a wood-burning stove, she ...read more

Scripture: Jeremiah 1:4-8

Tags: Commitment To Christ

The Compassion Of Jesus Makes A Funeral A ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Jun 10, 2010

The Compassion of Jesus Makes a Funeral a Celebration When I was in the 5th grade and we lived above the funeral home in Pawnee, there was no street celebration, no brass band or snare drum or festive umbrellas but the funeral for Rev Sonious’ wife was something to behold. Just months before she ...read more

Scripture: 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18

Tags: Funerals Christian

Jesus Died For Nacozari

Contributed by Sermon Central on Aug 24, 2011

JESUS DIED FOR NACOZARI On November 7th, 1907, a boxcar containing dynamite caught fire in the village of Nacozari in Sonora, Mexico. When the flames reached the dynamite, the blast was felt 16 kilometers (10 miles) away. That would be like standing in the parking lot of the St. Albert Wal-Mart ...read more

Scripture: Romans 5:6-8

Tags: Heroism

Closer To The Other Side—joni Eareckson Tada

Contributed by Sermon Central on May 3, 2012

"CLOSER TO THE OTHER SIDE"--Joni Eareckson Tada Joni Eareckson Tada is a woman who has experienced a lot of suffering. Paralyzed from the shoulders down after a tragic diving accident as a teenager, Joni often wanted to die instead of working to live and overcome her disabilities. She still lives ...read more

Scripture: Philippians 1:19-26

Tags: Heaven

The Prayer Of Grandma Jones

Contributed by Sermon Central on May 28, 2012

THE PRAYER OF GRANDMA JONES I'd like to tell you the story about an old lady that everybody called "Grandma Jones." She had a close relationship with Jesus. And she knew that Jesus wanted her to be a soul-winner. She wanted to lead others to Christ. However, Grandma Jones was pretty much home ...read more

Scripture: John 4:4-38

Tags: Evangelism Urgency

Examples Of Generous People

Contributed by Sermon Central on Jun 4, 2012

EXAMPLES OF GENEROUS PEOPLE In a country where getting and having more seems so normal, people who choose to live with a lot less so they can help others seem, to put it mildly, less than sane. Zell Kravinsky is one of those people. Kravinsky got rich in the real estate business, and then gave ...read more

Scripture: Galatians 6:7-10

Tags: Giving General

In 1 John 4:18, We Are Assured That Love Defeats ...

Contributed by Kelly Mitchell on Jan 10, 2013

In 1 John 4:18, we are assured that Love defeats fear. That’s good news. But be careful not to read that God’s Love, and God’s Love alone drives out fear. It can. It does. However, some things are very difficult to fight alone. Go back and read verse 12 of Chapter 4 as well. There we are ...read more

Scripture: 1 John 4:18

Tags: Fear And Worry, Finding Fulfillment, Hardship Of Life, Outreach, Obedience, Missions, Servanthood, Affliction, Opportunity  (view more)  (view less)

Denomination: Baptist

Have You Been To The Great Physician?

Contributed by David Goering on Sep 6, 2018

Mr. Pharisee and Mr. Publican lived in the town of Doomsville, both heard that a great Physician was going to be in the neighboring town of Gilead. The great Physician was going to hold a free Health Clinic and give people a free complete examination, and if they passed this examination he would ...read more

Scripture: Luke 18:10-14

Tags: Justification, Pride, Publican, Pharisee, The Great Physician, Salvation, Humility  (view more)  (view less)

Fishers Of Men

Contributed by Rick Palmer on Oct 15, 2018

While fishing in the dark in a very deep canyon can present very obvious problems it can produce some unexpected experiences as well. It was a warm summer night about 2:00 AM, dark would be an understatement as the moon was nonexistent at least in the bottom of our canyon. Trout was ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 4:19, 1 Corinthians 2:2-5, 1 Corinthians 2:9-14, John 16:8

Tags: Filled With The Spirit, Holy Spirit, Sin, Gospel, Righteousness, Spirit Of Truth, Gospel Presentation, Evangelism, Judgement  (view more)  (view less)

What I Learned At The Recycling Center

Contributed by Jonathan Spurlock on Jan 21, 2020

Recycling centers have always been something that fascinated me. Usually these companies are in buildings that were themselves built for another purpose, but were, well, “recycled” as places where we can take aluminum cans, newspapers, and so forth. Besides, we managed to save enough aluminum cans ...read more

Scripture: Jeremiah 36:20-25

Tags: Scripture, Bibles Destroyed

Denomination: Baptist

Friends And Acquaintances?

Contributed by Jonathan Spurlock on Jan 26, 2020

Junior high/middle school basketball is always fun to play, and more fun to watch. These youngsters have acquired some skill—more or less—and it’s still more for fun than for competition. Oh, sure, we wanted to win, and few athletes that don’t want to win will ever get very far in any kind of ...read more

Scripture: Philippians 4:3

Tags: Youth, Book Of Life, Athletics, Friends, Relationship  (view more)  (view less)

Denomination: Baptist

Don't Oppress The Poor

Contributed by James Dina on Nov 16, 2020

DON'T OPPRESS THE POOR "A poor man that oppresses the poor is like a sweeping rain which leaves no food." (Proverbs 28:3) Anyone who oppress the poor reproach the Almighty God that creates the poor but those that honor Him has mercy on the poor (Proverbs 14:31). It is a grievous ...read more

Scripture: Proverbs 28:3, Proverbs 28:27

Tags: Love, Poor, Rain, Oppression

Denomination: Pentecostal

Outwit, Outplay, Outlast

Contributed by Todd Catteau on Nov 18, 2020

Over the pandemic I reunited with an old friend – Survivor. That’s right, the father of all reality shows and I had been apart for several years when the shutdown brought us back together. I had faithfully watched the first few seasons, but, as it is with many relationships, we drifted away over ...read more

Tags: Faith, Endurance, Wait, Parousia, Patience, Coming, Second, Waiting  (view more)  (view less)

Denomination: Christian/Church Of Christ

Misapplied Scriptures, Numbers 5:11ff: Abortion?

Contributed by Jonathan Spurlock on Sep 27, 2023

Introduction: By now we’ve seen a few examples where selected (!) Scriptures are taken out of context and used in ways the writers never intended. There are some people who flat-out either twist or attempt to misapply the Scriptures in a much more devious way. They’ll take or quote a passage that, ...read more

Scripture: Numbers 5:11-31

Tags: Spirit Of Jealousy, Abortion, Adultery, Misapplied Scriptures

Denomination: Baptist

An Observation About Eternity

Contributed by Jonathan Spurlock on Feb 5, 2024

Text, Ecclesiastes 3:11, American Standard Version: He hath made everything beautiful in its time: also he hath set eternity in their heart, yet so that man cannot find out the work that God hath done from the beginning even to the end. Every day we live takes us one day closer to the end of our ...read more

Scripture: Ecclesiastes 3:11

Tags: Hell, Eternity, Salvation

Denomination: Baptist

Allenby Captures Jerusalem Without Firing A Shot 1917

Contributed by Raymond Petzholt on Mar 12, 2024

Allenby captures Jerusalem without firing a shot 1917 Palestine was now in the hands of a Christian nation which only twelve months previously had officially declared its interest in the return of the Jews to their own land, and promised to assist them in facilitating the creation of a Jewish ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 19:13-15

Tags: Jerusalem, Prayer, Children

Denomination: Baptist

[106]. A Poem Message – Golgotha – With Jesus In The Midst (Easter Poem)

Contributed by Ron Ferguson on Jun 8, 2025

[106]. A MESSAGE FROM A POEM – GOLGOTHA – WITH JESUS IN THE MIDST Easter Poem This poem is an Easter poem constructed around the events played out at Golgotha. I called it Golgotha (the place of the skull) and not Calvary in the title because of this reason – The word Calvary occurs in the ...read more

Scripture: John 19:17-18, Matthew 27:33-34

Tags: Place Of The Skull, Christian Poetry, Christian Poems, Easter Poem, Calvary, Golgotha, Lamb Of God, Three Crosses, Jesus Crucified  (view more)  (view less)

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

Outward Pressure And Inward Pleasure

Contributed by Suresh Manoharan on Sep 12, 2025

Outward Pressure and Inward Pleasure Cross bearing is an indispensable part of a Christian’s life (Luke 9:23), so that work of molding a person into a Christ-like image which begins at the point of re-generation is completed in all respects (2 Cor 3:18) by the time of Rapture or one’s departure ...read more

Scripture: 1 Peter 1:7-8

Tags: Outward Pressure, Inward Pleasure

Denomination: *other

Christian Author's Miraculous Testimony On Psalm 91

Contributed by Rick Crandall on Sep 26, 2025

Christian author, William MacDonald had a miraculous testimony about Psalm 91. He began by saying: "Psalm 91 is my Psalm. In 1922, in the Western Hebrides, a five-year-old lad was dying of diphtheria. A mucous membrane was forming across his throat, and breathing was becoming increasingly ...read more

Scripture: Psalm 91:1-16

Tags: Fortress, Eternal Life, Refuge, Cross Of Christ, Messianic Prophecies, Fear, Protection, Resurrection, Trust, Overcome  (view more)  (view less)

Denomination: Baptist