In Sermon Illustrations: "Death Grieving"

The Love Of Christ Enables Believers  PRO

Contributed by Sermon Central on May 31, 2010

THE LOVE OF CHRIST ENABLES BELIEVERS I like the way one pastor put it years ago (1986) when he became overwhelmed with all the "ideals" he was collecting from church growth seminars and books. He said, "Quite frankly, I'm sick to death of ideals. I have so many ideals and I've been so frustrated ...read more

Scripture: 1 John 4:13-16

Tags: Growth In Christ

A Call To Die

Contributed by Christian Cheong on Jun 28, 2010

A CALL TO DIE The story is told of the military legend Alexander the Great, King of Macedonia (336-323) and conqueror of Asia Minor, Syria, Egypt, Babylonia, and Persia, almost all of the known world. One day on the warpath, Alexander and small company of soldiers approached a strongly fortified ...read more

Tags: Commitment To Christ

Denomination: Independent/Bible

The Wandering Sheep

Contributed by Gordon Curley on Nov 23, 2010

THE WANDERING SHEEP Dr. Andrew Bonar tells of how in the Highlands of Scotland, a sheep would often wander off into the rocks and get into places that they can't get out of. The grass on these mountains is very sweet and the sheep like it, and they will jump down ten or twelve feet, and then ...read more

Scripture: Romans 5:6

Tags: Parable Lost Sheep

Denomination: Brethren

J. Oswald Sanders On Loneliness  PRO

Contributed by Sermon Central on Aug 9, 2011

J. OSWALD SANDERS ON LONELINESS J. Oswald Sanders once pointed out: "The round of pleasure or the amassing of wealth are [often] but vain attempts to escape from the persistent ache. The millionaire is usually a lonely man and the comedian is often more unhappy than his audience." In his book, ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 6:19-34

Tags: Goals, Suffering Loneliness

Not If Jesus Is Like Dad  PRO

Contributed by Sermon Central on Aug 21, 2011

NOT IF JESUS IS LIKE DAD Some months ago I heard a touching story about a humble, consecrated pastor whose young son had become very ill. After the boy had undergone an exhaustive series of tests, the father was told the shocking news that his son had a terminal illness. The youngster had accepted ...read more

Scripture: John 14:1-3

Tags: Father's Day

Ingersoll And The Patience Of God

Contributed by Guy Mcgraw on Mar 5, 2012

INGERSOLL AND THE PATIENCE OF GOD Robert Ingersoll, an American Agnostic, after delivering one of his addresses, pulled his watch from his pocket and said, "According to the Bible, God has struck men to death for blasphemy. I will blaspheme Him and give Him five minutes to strike me dead and ...read more

Tags: Judgment

Jesus Freaks

Contributed by Joe Bertone on Jul 23, 2012

JESUS FREAKS In the book, Jesus Freaks, is the story of the Hine family. They lived in Cambodia during the Vietnam War. At that time it was very dangerous to be Christian in Cambodia. They were arrested one day for being Christians and thus enemies of the revolution and bad blood. One morning ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 7:13-14, Hebrews 11:1-40

Tags: Sacrifice, Paradise, Dying, Sacrifices, Martyr  (view more)  (view less)

Denomination: Christian/Church Of Christ

Pray With Me: An Intercession Story

Contributed by Davon Huss on May 31, 2014

In his book Stories for the Journey, William White tells of a European seminary professor and his wife, Hans and Enid. During WW2 they escaped to America, where Hans began teaching in a seminary. Students loved this Bible teacher, and they enjoyed observing the tender love that Hans and Enid ...read more

Scripture: John 16:20-22

Tags: Grief, Prayer Partner, Intercessory Prayer

Denomination: Christian/Church Of Christ

During One Summer While I Was In Seminary, I ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Jun 18, 2007

During one summer while I was in seminary, I worked as a chaplain at Holy Cross Hospital in Silver Spring, MD. I discovered while I was there that there were one group of people who were really open to prayer and to hearing about the need for Christ in their lives. Who were they? Men in the cardiac ...read more

Tags: Endurance

Folks In The Arkansas Hills Have A Tradition Of ...  PRO

Contributed by Sermon Central on Jun 18, 2007

Folks in the Arkansas hills have a tradition of strong family ties, which has sometimes led to unfortunate results. Like the time that Jeb Hollings stole a mule from the McCrary place. When the McCrary boys went to recover the mule, one of the Hollings clan shot Frank McCrary for trespassing. ...read more

Tags: Will Of God, God's Omnipotence

Our Body Is Murphy's Law In Action: If Anything ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Jun 18, 2007

Our body is Murphy’s Law in action: if anything can go wrong, it will. Five diseases - heart disease (29%), cancers (22.9%), stroke (6.8%), chronic obstructive pulmonary diseases (5.1%), and diabetes (3%) - claimed 1.6 million lives or more than two-thirds of all deaths in the United States. Not ...read more

Tags: Easter Resurrection

Rebellion In China

Contributed by Sermon Central on Jun 18, 2007

Illustration from Tai Ping Rebellion in China We don’t learn much world history anymore in school. Back in the 1860s, a man arose in China who claimed to be a Messiah. [11] His name was Hong Xiuquan. Hong was this disturbed young salesman who read a bunch of heretical Christian literature, ...read more

Tags: Second Coming

Healing — Doctors Have Faith In Faith

Contributed by Herman Abrahams on Aug 12, 2007

ILLUSTRATION Healing - Doctors Have Faith in Faith A survey conducted by the American Academy of Family Physicians shows that ninety-nine percent of doctors believe a relationship exists between faith and physical healing. Recently, more than one thousand health-care professionals met at Harvard ...read more

Denomination: Charismatic

John Stott Wrote, "I Could Never Believe In God, ...  PRO

Contributed by Hansel Young on Nov 15, 2007

John Stott wrote, “I could never believe in God, if it were not for the cross… In the real world of pain, how could one worship a God who was immune to it? I have entered many Buddhist temples in different Asian countries and stood respectfully before the statue of Buddha, his legs crossed, arms ...read more

Scripture: John 19:16-37

Tags: Worship, Persecution, Violence, Suffering, Unity, Friend, Flesh, Priorities, Martyrdom, Apathy, Hatred, Mortify  (view more)  (view less)

Denomination: Holiness

Joseph Sung A Romanian Pastor Who Was Tortured ...  PRO

Contributed by Dave Kinney on Nov 22, 2008

Joseph Sung a Romanian Pastor who was tortured and beaten under Communist rule for 25 years. The communists despised his Christianity. After the fall of Communism in Eastern Europe Joseph became a spiritual leader in Romania until his death in 1998. An American Pastor asked Joseph what he thought ...read more

Tags: Commitment To Christ

Denomination: Baptist

Forgiveness Sets Me Free.

Contributed by Sermon Central on Dec 28, 2008

"FORGIVENESS SETS ME FREE." Kenneth Hart, a psychology professor at the University of Windsor (Ontario, Canada), studied sixty-six recovering alcoholics. The individuals had one thing in common: They were all angry with someone. Teaching forgiveness, Hart found, is one way to break the cycle that ...read more

Tags: God's Forgiveness

Moving The Fence

Contributed by Sermon Central on Jan 13, 2009

MOVING THE FENCE Millard Erickson wrote, "The church is the repository of grace...it possesses the gospel, the good news of salvation" During World War II, some American soldiers took the body of their buddy to a local cemetery. The priest stopped them saying, "You can't bury your friend here if ...read more

Tags: Church Body Of Christ

A Body Is Not Crippled 'til Its Heart Has Ceased ...

Contributed by Bruce Howell on Jan 22, 2009

A body is not crippled ’til its heart has ceased to praise. Louis Albert Banks tells of an elderly Christian man, a fine singer, who learned that he had cancer of the tongue and that surgery was required. In the hospital after everything was ready for the operation, the man said to the doctor, "Are ...read more

Tags: Suffering Joy In

Denomination: Wesleyan

Dying To Save Her Father

Contributed by Sermon Central on Jan 26, 2009

DYING TO SAVE HER FATHER The great Charles Spurgeon told a story that demonstrated a person’s concern for an unsaved family member. A rather young girl in Spurgeon’s congregation who had a terminal illness approached her pastor one day with thoughts about her upcoming funeral. She spoke of her ...read more

Tags: Evangelism The Lost

Jesus Loves Me This I Know

Contributed by Bruce Howell on Feb 21, 2009

JESUS LOVES ME THIS I KNOW KARL BARTH was a German theologian who dominated the theology of the 20th century. In 1962, six years before his death, he made his only visit to the United States. One night he lectured at a seminary in Virginia, and after the lecture he met with students in the ...read more

Tags: God's Love

Denomination: Wesleyan