In Sermon Illustrations: "Coming King"

Deadly ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Feb 13, 2009

DEADLY PROFESSION Every year, between 300 and 400 doctors take their own lives (roughly one per day). No other profession has a higher suicide rate. And, in sharp contrast to the general population where male suicides outnumber female suicides 4 to 1, the rate among male and ...read more

Scripture: 1 Kings 19:1-5

Tags: Stress

Intercession: Pyramid Prayer?

Contributed by Sermon Central on Jul 14, 2009

INTERCESSION: PYRAMID PRAYER? Philip Yancey in his book on prayer tells of a young American soldier in Iraq who learns that his wife back home has advanced cervical cancer. Doctors gave a bleak prognosis. In desperation, he sent an urgent email to his church with the request that everyone in turn ...read more

Scripture: 1 Kings 13:6

Tags: Intercession

God's Grace Is Like Lightning And Transforms ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Nov 19, 2009

God’s Grace Is Like Lightning and Transforms Whoever it Strikes Martin Luther found that out. Walking through the forest one day, praying and working through spiritual torment, literally, the lightning did strike close by. And he felt that as the summons of God. Luther came closer, and when God ...read more

Scripture: 1 Kings 18:20-39

Tags: Grace, God's Grace

Company Changes Cake Mix Recipe That Was Too Easy ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Nov 29, 2009

Company Changes Cake Mix Recipe That Was too Easy in order to Increase Sales Years ago a cake mix company put together a cake mix that was a big flop. The instructions said all you had to do was add water and bake. The company couldn’t understand why it didn’t sell, until their research discovered ...read more

Scripture: 2 Kings 5:1-15

Tags: Business, Business And Marketplace

How To Get Attention  PRO

Contributed by Sermon Central on Feb 6, 2010

HOW TO GET ATTENTION This is the story of George Phillips of Mississippi, who was going to bed when his wife told him that he'd left the light on in the shed. George opened the door to go turn off the light but saw there were people in the shed in the process of stealing things. He immediately ...read more

Scripture: 1 Kings 18:27-29

Tags: Communication General

History Of Spam  PRO

Contributed by Sermon Central on Jun 30, 2010

HISTORY OF SPAM In the 1930s, Jay Hormel noticed that there was some perfectly good, though not necessarily desirable, pork-shoulder meat going to waste in his meat-packing plant. So he, being the entrepreneur that he was, came up with the idea of processing that meat with a little ham and ...read more

Scripture: 1 Kings 17:1-24

Tags: God's Provision

Trusting The Scent

Contributed by Sermon Central on Sep 7, 2011

TRUSTING THE SCENT Years ago I read the story of a man by the name of Wally who owned a farm in Connecticut. He had a remarkable talent he had with birds, chickadees specifically. It seems that every morning these little birds would flutter down and land on his hands. And it wasn’t just for food; ...read more

Scripture: 1 Kings 17:2-5

Tags: Trust

The Accident Already Occurred

Contributed by Sermon Central on May 3, 2012

THE ACCIDENT ALREADY OCCURRED There’s a phrase in military aviation which goes like this: "The accident already occurred, we're just waiting for the plane to arrive at the crash site." What does that mean? It means the accident occurred miles before the actual accident occurred, when the pilot or ...read more

Scripture: 1 Kings 11:1-43

Tags: Cause, Idolatry, Effect

Covetousness And The Emperor's New Grove

Contributed by Sermon Central on May 3, 2013

COVETOUSNESS AND THE EMPEROR'S NEW GROVE In Disney's thirty-ninth animated film, "The Emperor's New Groove," self-proclaimed "King of the World" Kuzco (COOS-coh), who had an evil female advisor named Yzma (EEZ-muh), made plans to demolish an entire village to build a new water park. At the highest ...read more

Scripture: 1 Kings 21:1-29

Tags: Greed

William Temple On Worshiping God

Contributed by Suresh Manoharan on Feb 6, 2014

WILLIAM TEMPLE ON WORSHIPING GOD A devout Saint (William Temple) summed up worship thus: "Worshiping God is nothing but opening our hearts to the love of God, quickening our conscience to the Holiness of God, purging our imagination with the beauty of God, ...read more

Scripture: 1 Kings 6:29

Tags: Adoration, Aroma, Assignment

Denomination: *other

Spiritual Formation And Exhaustion

Contributed by Tim Smith on May 11, 2014

James Bryan Smith writes, "The number one enemy of spiritual formation today is exhaustion. We are living beyond our means ... physically. And as a result, one of the primary activities of human life is being neglected: sleep." In the 1850's, the average American slept 9.5 hours. By 1950, that ...read more

Scripture: 1 Kings 19:1-12

Tags: Sleep, Rest

Denomination: Methodist

Solomon's Insightful Judgment: Looking For The Reaction Of Hearts

Contributed by Jung Lee on Jan 16, 2024

King Solomon, known for his God-given wisdom, faced a challenging situation recorded in 1 Kings 3:16-28. Two women, both claiming to be the mother of the same baby, brought their case before him. Solomon's response was both shocking and insightful. He suggested dividing the baby in two, giving ...read more

Scripture: 1 Kings 3:16-28

Tags: Discernment, Prolife, Biblical Wisdom, True Motherhood, Love, Morality, Wisdom  (view more)  (view less)

Denomination: Baptist

Unintentionally Humorous Texts: The "Bad Axe” Incident

Contributed by Jonathan Spurlock on May 3, 2024

Introduction: This is a follow up to the story of Elisha being asked, maybe as an afterthought?, to go with student prophets as they built a new facility. One of these men had borrowed an axe but something awful happened. By the way, this story has nothing whatsoever to do with the city of Bad ...read more

Scripture: 2 Kings 6:1-7

Tags: Elisha, Jordan River, Sons Of The Prophets, Axes

Denomination: Baptist

Shemaiah, A Man Of God

Contributed by Jonathan Spurlock on Jun 21, 2020

Text: 1 Kings 12:22, KJV: But the word of God came unto Shemaiah the man of God, saying, 23 Speak unto Rehoboam, the son of Solomon, king of Judah, and unto all the house of Judah and Benjamin, and to the remnant of the people, saying, 24 Thus saith the LORD, Ye shall not go up, nor fight against ...read more

Scripture: 1 Kings 12:22-24

Tags: Man Of God, Men Of God, Shemaiah

Denomination: Baptist

Coveting Too Early

Contributed by Ed Vasicek on Mar 1, 2022

I was admiring my aunt’s necklace when she surprised me by announcing,“I’m leaving it to you in my will.”I was overjoyed, perhaps too much.“Oh!”I shouted.“I’m looking forward to ...read more

Scripture: 1 Kings 21:1-29

Tags: Money, Prestige, Stealing, Cruelty, Ethics, Covet, Power, Desire, Selfishness, Dishonesty  (view more)  (view less)

Denomination: Independent/Bible

Unsung Heroines-The Widow Of Zarephath

Contributed by Jonathan Spurlock on May 4, 2022

Introduction: this widow woman probably wasn’t even an Israelite but she believed the words of Elijah, the prophet of the LORD, God of Israel. She received much more than she gave Elijah! Text: 1 Kings 17:8-16, KJV: 8 And the word of the LORD came unto him, saying, 9 Arise, get thee to Zarephath, ...read more

Scripture: 1 Kings 17:8-16

Tags: Widow Of Zarephath, Unsung Heroines, Elijah

Denomination: Baptist

God Won’t Ask What Kind Of Car You ...  PRO

Contributed by Tim Gibson on Nov 23, 2000

1. God won’t ask what kind of car you drove, but will ask how many people you drove who didn’t have transportation. 2. God won’t ask the square footage of your house, but will ask how many people you welcomed into your home. 3. God won’t ask about the fancy clothes you had in your ...read more

Tags: Second Coming, Judgment, Love Of The Disciples, Apologetics General

Denomination: *other

I Remember Hearing A Story About A Man Who Was ...  PRO

Contributed by Bradford Robinson on Jun 16, 2001

I remember hearing a story about a man who was visiting a certain school and made a promise to the tiny students that he would give a prize to the one whose desk was found in the best order when he returned. He gave no indication of when that might be. Shortly after he left, a little girl, noted ...read more

Tags: Jesus Teachings, Second Coming, Parable Ten Virgins

Denomination: Methodist

88 Reasons  PRO

Contributed by Bradford Robinson on Jun 16, 2001

88 REASONS You might remember a man by the name of Edgar Whisenant. He was a NASA engineer who used his mathematical skills to set a date for the return of Jesus. He wrote a book called, "88 Reasons Why the Rapture Will Take Place in 1988" The book caused a real buzz in the Christian ...read more

Tags: Parable Ten Virgins, Second Coming, Jesus Teachings

Denomination: Methodist

A Little Boy Walked Into His Dad’s Den Just ...  PRO

Contributed by Dana Chau on Sep 24, 2001

A little boy walked into his Dad’s den just as his Dad finished reading a book. The son asked, "What were you reading?’ The Father replied, "I was reading the book of Revelation, the last book of the Bible." The little boy curiously asked, "What’s it about? His Dad replied, "It’s about God’s ...read more

Tags: God Brings Hope, Second Coming, Jesus Teachings

Denomination: *other