In Sermon Illustrations: "Commit Your Way To The Lord"

Smoke Alarms

Contributed by Jeff Strite on Apr 11, 2011

SMOKE ALARMS This is one of my smoke alarms. (HIT BUZZER) Annoying, isn’t it? Now a smoke alarm is supposed to go off if the house is on fire. But mine goes off more often than that. Generally my smoke alarm goes off when I’m cooking (yes I’ve burnt my food). And when the smoke from burnt ...read more

Tags: Hell

Denomination: Christian/Church Of Christ

Shoot The Moon

Contributed by Jason Bonnicksen on Jul 17, 2011

SHOOT THE MOON The other day I needed to take my mind off things, so I opened my computer and played a game of hearts. Now, like all card games, no matter how diligent you play, there's time when the unexpected happens, and you're hand turns to disaster. One sneaky move from an opponent and it's ...read more

Tags: Suffering Joy In

Denomination: Lutheran

Margin Or Messiah?

Contributed by Sermon Central on Aug 24, 2011

MARGIN OR MESSIAH? Richard Swenson wrote a book in the 1990's titled, "Margin" in which he describes modern society as so overcommitted and over scheduled that we have no space left for rest. A reviewer writes: Overload is not having time to finish the book you're reading on stress. Margin is ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 11:28-30

Tags: Stress

Obstacles To Worship

Contributed by Tim Smith on Jul 1, 2012

OBSTACLES TO WORSHIP Don Chapman writes, "Recently I visited a church where I had to jump over a few unnecessary hurdles before I finally took my seat in their worship service. There was no sign out front. I drove to the church's location and was surprised not to see a sign. Was I in the right ...read more

Tags: Worship General

Denomination: Methodist

The Week Before Last I Made A Trip To Lincoln, ...

Contributed by K. Edward Skidmore on Aug 20, 2008

The week before last I made a trip to Lincoln, Illinois. I drove Dallas and Alpha’s car up there and left it off for them. (It was an 18-hour road trip, but I actually enjoyed most of it. The reason I enjoyed it was not JUST that I was driving a red SAAB with lots of pickup --- that got 35 miles ...read more

Tags: Music

Denomination: Christian/Church Of Christ

Don't Be Cheap With The Seed

Contributed by Sermon Central on Feb 10, 2009

DON’T BE CHEAP WITH THE SEED In Canada, a believer operated a large grain farm. His spread included some twenty-five hundred acres. When asked how he planted the seed, he reached in a bin and pulled out an ear of corn. Then he proceeded to pop out the kernels one by one as he walked along, ...read more

Scripture: 2 Corinthians 9:8, Isaiah 6:1-13

Tags: Evangelism How To

Common-Ism In The Church  PRO

Contributed by Sermon Central on Feb 16, 2009

COMMON-ISM IN THE CHURCH Years ago I ran across this following definition of the various forms of government. They compared capitalism (the economic model we try to follow in our country) with communism and socialism, and they used a simple illustration to drive their point home. In a capitalist ...read more

Scripture: Acts 2:42-48

Tags: Church Body Of Christ

Dead Man Walking

Contributed by J Jeffrey Smead on Nov 25, 2025

In some of the Maximum-Security Prisons in the United States ... when a prisoner is taken to be executed ... the guard that is leading the procession continual shouts out, ... "Dead man walking". It means, ...to clear the way ... to quiet down ... for this prisoner is on their last walk ...read more

Scripture: Hebrews 2:15, Romans 5:12

Tags: Sin, Cross, Prison, Slave, Dead, Walking, World, Death  (view more)  (view less)

Denomination: Anglican

Unsung Heroines-Naaman’s Maid

Contributed by Jonathan Spurlock on Apr 30, 2022

Introduction: Sometimes children know more than we think they do. This “little maid” knew about Elisha the prophet, and how God performed miracles through him. We know nothing more about her than what’s mentioned in these verses but through her one recorded sentence, she brought hope to a hopeless ...read more

Scripture: 2 Kings 5:1-4

Tags: Naaman, Unsung Heroines, Maids, Leprosy

Denomination: Baptist

[214]. A Message From A Poem - Paul’s Prison

Contributed by Ron Ferguson on Sep 28, 2025

[214]. A MESSAGE FROM A POEM - PAUL’S PRISON This is my oldest surviving poem. I had parts of others but they are gone. The poem came about when thinking of Paul in prison in Rome. Everything seemed against him there, but he was never forsaken by God of course. When Paul was in prison he ...read more

Scripture: 2 Timothy 1:15, 2 Timothy 4:11, 2 Timothy 4:10, Philippians 1:23

Tags: Luke, Paul In Prison, Christian Poems, Devotion, Asia, Defection, Departure, Desertion, Demas  (view more)  (view less)

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

The Shanty Remodel  PRO

Contributed by Jim Luthy on Feb 26, 2002

THE SHANTY REMODEL "In the upper portion of New York City, many citizens may often have noticed, especially in the past years, a great number of miserable shanties, standing on the choicest sites. Though perhaps on the corner of a splendid new avenue or looking out on a magnificent prospect, the ...read more

Tags: Apologetics General, Holiness, Holy Spirit Attributes

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

To Be Had For The Asking

Contributed by Bill Butsko on Jul 28, 2009

TO BE HAD FOR THE ASKING A few days after the Civil War had been officially ended a man was riding along a road in West Virginia. Suddenly a soldier, clad in a dirty and tattered Confederate uniform, sprang out of a thicket, seized the horses’ bridle, and with twitching face demanded, "Give me ...read more

Tags: God's Provision

Denomination: Christian Church

And It Came To Pass...  PRO

Contributed by Sermon Central on Aug 15, 2011

AND IT CAME TO PASS... "The Bible is alive, it speaks to me; it has feet, it runs after me; it has hands, it lays hold of me." -- Martin Luther During a Sunday class the question was asked, "In your time of discouragement, what is your favourite Scripture?" A young man said, "The Lord is my ...read more

Scripture: Hebrews 4:12

Tags: Bible Influence, It Came To Pass

Corrie Ten Boom Had To Forgive

Contributed by Garris Hudson on Jan 30, 2020

Corrie Ten Boom's example of forgiveness (from The Hiding Place) in which she describes an unexpected encounter with one of the Nazi guards who had mistreated her at Ravensbruck concentration camp, where her sister had Betsie died and she herself had been subjected to horrible indignities. ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 5:1-12

Tags: Mercy, Forgiveness, Beatitudes, Holocaust

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

Spiritual Health Checks

Contributed by Terry Laughlin on Aug 11, 2008

Spiritual Health Checks (Hungry for God's Word) A healthy Christian will not find his strength or determine his weakness in the size of the church he attends. Healthy Christians gain strength to overcome the flesh, the world, and the devil by what is written in Acts 2:42, "They devoted ...read more

Scripture: Acts 2:42

Tags: Christian Disciplines

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

You've Probably Noticed; When Two People Get In A ...

Contributed by Ovidiu Radulescu on Oct 14, 2008

You’ve probably noticed; when two people get in a wreck, a drunk and a Christian, who lives? Who walks away from that wreck? It’s the drunk! And what happens to the Christian? Is he instantly killed or languishes in a nursing home for years? Whys is this? Among all other kids in my home town, my ...read more

Tags: Prayer Answered

Denomination: Seventh-Day Adventist

The Persistence In Forgiveness

Contributed by Sermon Central on Dec 12, 2008

The Persistence in Forgiveness After sixteen years as a missionary on the continent of Africa. David Livingstone returned Scotland to address the students at Glasgow University. His body had been ravaged by some 27 fevers that had overtaken him during his years of service. One arm hung useless at ...read more

Tags: Endurance

I Made A Difference To That One - Starfish Story

Contributed by J Jeffrey Smead on Mar 31, 2023

Where your ability ... and the worlds need intersect... is where you are most needed ......and can and will be ... where you will do the most good. The author Loren Eisely ... would go to the ocean ...to do his writing. He had a habit ... of walking on the beach ... before he began ...his ...read more

Scripture: Romans 10:14, Acts 4:12, Acts 8:27-36, John 4:29, Matthew 4:19  (view more)  (view less)

Tags: Difference, Ability, Good, Share, Need, Connect  (view more)  (view less)

Denomination: Anglican

Steward Of The Light  PRO

Contributed by Michael Elmore on Jan 17, 2002

STEWARD OF THE LIGHT In the nineteenth century, lighthouses on the U.S. coasts were tended by lighthouse keepers and their families. If a man who tended the light took ill or became disabled, often the work was picked up by his wife or children. Such was the case of Hosea Lewis. Having become, ...read more

Scripture: Hosea 2:19

Tags: Faith, Christian Disciplines, What Is Evangelism?

Denomination: Methodist

Is He Real Or Pretend?

Contributed by Mark Stepherson on Dec 15, 2011

IS HE REAL OR PRETEND? I think George Reeves was the first actor to be Superman on TV. Back in the 50's, TV actors were not quite as "elite" as some seem to be now. They would throw out the first pitch at a Los Angeles little league game. They would fire the starting pistol for a soap box derby ...read more

Scripture: 1 Samuel 16:7, Isaiah 29:13

Tags: Hypocrisy, Sincerity

Denomination: Baptist