In Sermon Illustrations: "Dark Days"

Whose Hands Are You Thankful For?  PRO

Contributed by Sermon Central on Mar 26, 2011

WHOSE HANDS ARE YOU THANKFUL FOR? "A Thanksgiving Day editorial in the newspaper told of a school teacher who asked her first graders to draw a picture of something they were thankful for. She thought of how little these children from pour neighborhoods actually had to be thankful for. But she ...read more

Scripture: 1 Thessalonians 5:18

Tags: Thanksgiving Holiday

The Stress-Free Life Of The Bedouins

Contributed by Sermon Central on May 4, 2011

THE STRESS-FREE LIFE OF THE BEDOUINS The Bedouin shepherd lives in shabby box tents that dot the hillsides throughout Israel. When compared to our lives saturated with modern conveniences it seems as though they live a very difficult life. However, an interesting fact is that their average life ...read more

Scripture: 2 Timothy 3:1-5

Tags: Stress

When You Can't Fight, Pray

Contributed by Isaac Butterworth on Jun 14, 2011

WHEN YOU CAN'T FIGHT, PRAY Nancy told me the other day that, not too long ago, she overheard Graham praying. Here he was, near the end of his life, beset with a failing body more than nine decades old, and what was he praying for? His country. Your country. Mine. He fought for this country. He ...read more

Tags: Prayer Supplication

Denomination: Presbyterian/Reformed

Precious Stone

Contributed by Ronnie Miller on Jul 31, 2011

PRECIOUS STONE Peter says that Jesus is a living stone rejected by men, but chosen by God and precious. He also says that we are living stones...so we are precious to God also. We are precious to God because of what Jesus has done for us. If we are precious to God and he calls us a living stone, ...read more

Scripture: 2 Peter 2:1-3

Tags: Atonement, Persecution, Troubles, Trial

Denomination: Baptist

The Bible Is The Blueprints

Contributed by Sean Harder on Aug 5, 2011

THE BIBLE IS THE BLUEPRINTS Can you build a real house without blueprints? Sure you can throw up a square storage shed maybe without them, but do you not need to have some kind of visual plan of the dimensions, how many rooms, where the rooms go, and so on in order to start building an actual ...read more

Tags: Bible Influence

Accepting The Good News  PRO

Contributed by Sermon Central on Aug 11, 2011

ACCEPTING THE GOOD NEWS A promotion by H. R. Block Inc. in 2001 offered walk-in customers a chance to win a drawing for a million dollars. Glen and Gloria Sims of Sewell, New Jersey, won the drawing, but they refused to believe it when an H. R. Block representative phoned them with the good ...read more

Scripture: John 5:45-47

Tags: Unbelief

Judging Food Stamps

Contributed by Derrick Tuper on Aug 15, 2011

JUDGING FOOD STAMPS A grocery store check-out clerk once wrote to advice-columnist Ann Landers to complain that she had seen people buy "luxury" food items--like birthday cakes and bags of shrimp--with their food stamps. The writer went on to say that she thought all those people on welfare who ...read more

Tags: Judgment

Denomination: Christian/Church Of Christ

He's No Longer In The Grave  PRO

Contributed by Sermon Central on Aug 15, 2011

HE'S NO LONGER IN THE GRAVE In 1887, twenty two years after the assassination of President Abraham Lincoln, his coffin was dug up and opened because there were constant rumors that his body was not in the grave. So they dug it up and the body was there. The rumors continued so 14 years later they ...read more

Scripture: John 20:1-20

Tags: Jesus Lives, Easter Resurrection

On The Way To The Fair

Contributed by Stephen E. Trail on Aug 28, 2011

ON THE WAY TO THE FAIR A man was going to the county fair one day with a pig under one arm and a chicken under one arm, and a basket on his head. He came to a crossroads and didn’t know which way to turn. While he stood there deciding, an attractive young woman approached him, heading the same ...read more

Tags: Romantic Love

Denomination: Baptist

Nuk Nuk Nuk

Contributed by Brad Henry on Sep 27, 2011

NUK NUK NUK As you know our 12-year-old son Chase is autistic. I have introduced both our boys to a very intellectual series of programs called The Three Stooges. The problem with Chase being autistic is he can do a "Nuk Nuk" almost anywhere at anytime. So the slapstick has started at our house. I ...read more

Tags: Joy

Chippie's Story  PRO

Contributed by Scott Spencer on Nov 14, 2011

CHIPPIE'S STORY Max Lucado shares the story of a parakeet named Chippie. Chippie’s owner decided to clean his cage...with a vacuum cleaner. She was almost finished when the phone rang, so she turned around to answer it. Before she knew it, Chippie was gone. In a panic she ripped open the vacuum ...read more

Tags: Trials And Difficulties

Denomination: Calvary Chapel

Defusing A Bomb

Contributed by Tim Hinrichs on Nov 29, 2011

DEFUSING A BOMB The setting is modern day Iraq. A soldier specially trained is cautiously approaching a large cigar-shaped bomb capable of destroying the lives of anyone within half a block. He has good intentions of defusing it and making peace instead of destruction. But the bomb is a real ...read more

Tags: Dealing With Conflicts

Denomination: Lutheran

Expectations And Reality

Contributed by Tim Hinrichs on Nov 29, 2011

EXPECTATIONS AND REALITY I had arrived only a couple weeks before in the Czech Republic and was living with a retired Czech couple in a small village. Being the only American in the area I was somewhat a celebrity. One day a couple elders from a local church visited me to ask if I would preach in ...read more

Tags: Disappointment

Denomination: Lutheran

The Tragedy Of Steve Irwin

Contributed by Johnny A. Palmer Jr. on Dec 9, 2011

THE TRAGEDY OF STEVE IRWIN I loved to watch Steve Irwin, the Crocodile Hunter, but I knew he would die young. You simply do not play with wild animals without sooner or later getting in trouble. Steve survived countless snakebites; chased up a tree by a deadly komodo dragan; spat on by a red ...read more

Scripture: Proverbs 4:23

Tags: Sin General

Denomination: Baptist

I Want To Go Home

Contributed by Johnny A. Palmer Jr. on Dec 11, 2011

I WANT TO GO HOME Fred Smith, an influential Christian businessman was seriously ill in the summer of 2004. He was hospitalized, semiconscious, and not expected to live. Periodically he would mutter, "I want to go home, I want to go home." After an emotional family conference, the family ...read more

Tags: Death

Denomination: Baptist

I Owe My Life Twice

Contributed by Gordon Curley on Dec 17, 2011

I OWE MY LIFE TWICE A wealthy English family once invited friends to spend some time at their beautiful estate. The happy occasion was almost plunged into a terrible tragedy on the first day. Because the children went swimming, and one of them got into deep water and started drowning. ...read more

Tags: Salvation

Denomination: Brethren

God, Send Us Bigger Rattlesnakes  PRO

Contributed by Curry Pikkaart on Mar 26, 2012

GOD, SEND US BIGGER RATTLESNAKES There was a farmer who had three sons: Jim, John, and Sam. No one in the family ever attended church or had time for God. The pastor and church members tried for years to interest the family in the things of God, but to no avail. Then one day, a rattlesnake bit ...read more

Tags: Prayer Supplication

Denomination: Presbyterian/Reformed

The Straightest Path  PRO

Contributed by Perry Greene on Apr 12, 2012

THE STRAIGHTEST PATH Two boys were playing in the snow one day, when one said to the other, "Let us see who can make the straightest path in the snow." His companion readily accepted the proposition, and they started. One boy fixed his eyes on a tree, and walked along without taking his eyes off ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 7:13-15

Tags: Jesus Christ

Denomination: Christian/Church Of Christ

The Heart Of The Saviour

Contributed by Sermon Central on Apr 19, 2012

THE HEART OF THE SAVIOUR I am reminded of the story of a wee lass who sought baptism and membership in a country church. The elders questioned the child in a perfunctory manner, but they were not inclined to believe that such a young person could actually understand what it meant to be saved. So, ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 28:18-20

Tags: Evangelism Urgency

The Key Called Promise

Contributed by Sermon Central on May 2, 2012

THE KEY CALLED PROMISE In John Bunyan's great allegory, Pilgrim's Progress, the incident is related of how Christian decides to leave the Main Highway and follow another Path which seemed easier. But this Path leads him into the territory of Giant Despair who owns Doubting Castle. Eventually he ...read more

Scripture: Hebrews 6:13-20

Tags: Promises Of God