In Sermon Illustrations: "Demon Cast Out"

What Does God's Voice Sound Like?  PRO

Contributed by Anne Benefield on Feb 4, 2009

WHAT DOES GOD'S VOICE SOUND LIKE? Erwin McManus, a pastor in Los Angeles, tells a great story about recognizing God's voice. My son, Aaron, was five or six when he began asking me, "What does God's voice sound like?" I didn't know how to answer. A few years later, Aaron went off to his first ...read more

Scripture: 1 Samuel 3:1-21

Tags: Hard Heart, Dealing With Conflicts

Denomination: Presbyterian/Reformed

What Is A Witness?

Contributed by Sermon Central on Feb 11, 2009

WHAT IS A WITNESS? I once heard a story about a prosecuting attorney from a small Texas town who called his first witness to the stand in a trial. She was a grandmotherly type, and he asked her, "Mrs. Jones, do you know me?" She said, "I do know you, Mr. Williams. I’ve known you since you were a ...read more

Tags: Evangelism How To

Follow Me

Contributed by Tim Smith on Mar 9, 2009

"FOLLOW ME." To understand that calling and Jesus’ invitation, we need to understand the context. In Jesus’ day, childhood education started at age five as young boys went to the synagogue school to learn Hebrew and memorize the Torah. By the time of his bar mitzvah at age 13, a typical Jewish ...read more

Tags: Discipleship

Denomination: Methodist

No Record

Contributed by Sermon Central on Apr 28, 2009

"NO RECORD" Several years ago Bob Sheffield of the Navigators told a moving story picturing the essence of what it means to receive God’s forgiveness. Before he became a Christian, Bob played professional hockey in Canada. He was tough, loved to fight and found himself in jail one night after a ...read more

Scripture: Psalm 103:1-22

Tags: Atonement

The Secret Of Happiness

Contributed by Sermon Central on Jun 25, 2009

THE SECRET OF HAPPINESS Christopher Parkening is regarded as the world’s greatest classical guitarist, and he’s played guitar with orchestras the world over, even for several presidents in the White House. He’s also a world-class fly-fishing champion. By his own testimony, he writes, "By age 30, ...read more

Scripture: 1 Corinthians 10:31

Tags: Joy

Buying Them Back

Contributed by Johnny Wilson on Aug 11, 2009

BUYING THEM BACK We're told about a gift of grace (singular) and informed that it will help us to build up the church in LOVE. Do you see a pattern, here? Whatever we have to use in God's service comes directly from God. It's a lot like a former colleague experienced at Ziff-Davis Publishing. He ...read more

Tags: Grace

Denomination: *other

What Would It Mean To Obey This Command? Jerry ...

Contributed by Rickey Bennett on Aug 17, 2009

What would it mean to obey this command? Jerry Bridges helps us think through what that looks like in his book, The Gospel for Real Life. Here are just a few points he lists. To love the Lord your God with all your heart … soul and… mind means… • Your love for God transcends all other desires ...read more

Tags: Righteousness

Denomination: *other

Whole World In His Hands

Contributed by Rick Crandall on Sep 14, 2009

WHOLE WORLD IN HIS HANDS Sam Cathey became a Southern Baptist evangelist in 1967. That first year, he had to rush back from a revival, because his daughter had gone in the hospital with acute appendicitis. They thought it might be ruptured. Sam got on a plane in Los Angeles about 2:30 in the ...read more

Tags: God's Provision

Denomination: Baptist

Misunderstood  PRO

Contributed by Sermon Central on Oct 21, 2009

MISUNDERSTOOD It's easy to be misunderstood. Misunderstanding happens all the time. It is very, very easy to be misunderstood. One way to be misunderstood is to be vague and hazy. Just mumble under your breath and utter ambiguities, and I guarantee that you will be misunderstood. Some of you are ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 11:2-19

Tags: Communication Speech

The Country Of The Blind By H.g. ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Oct 28, 2009

The Country of the Blind by H.G. Wells DON’T BE LIKE THOSE WHO WON’T SEE. Don’t be like those who don’t want to be confused with the facts, because they think they know it all already. H. G. Wells, who wrote The War of the Worlds, once wrote a short story called The Country of the Blind. It’s ...read more

Scripture: Galatians 6:7-8

Tags: Sin Deceptive

The Parent Trap: The Joy Of Having A Dad  PRO

Contributed by Sermon Central on Nov 10, 2009

THE PARENT TRAP: THE JOY OF HAVING A DAD Anyone ever seen the original The Parent Trap with Hayley Mills done in 1961? Have you seen the remake from 1998? In the remake Lindsay Lohan plays the twins and Dennis Quaid is the father. If you know the story then you’ll remember that identical twins, ...read more

Scripture: Proverbs 1:8-9

Tags: Father's Day

Man Learns To Forgive His ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Nov 14, 2009

Man Learns to Forgive His Enemy The apostle Paul said, “Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you” (Ephesians 4:32). We don’t serve in order to merit God’s forgiveness. We serve because we have already received God’s forgiveness. And our service is ...read more

Scripture: Ephesians 4:32

Tags: Forgiveness, Forgiveness For Others

Parent Realizes The Parallel Between Training ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Nov 14, 2009

Parent Realizes the Parallel Between Training Children Academically and Spiritually I’d like to invite Dean Ridder to come up and share what he wrote on his blog a couple months ago (see www.pontiacchristian.org/blog/index.php). Dean is a member of PBC, plays in the Praise Band, and is the ...read more

Scripture: Deuteronomy 6:7-9

Tags: Parenting

Charlie Brown Learns The Hard Way That Lucy ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Nov 24, 2009

Charlie Brown Learns The Hard Way that Lucy Didn’t Repent Repenting means changing our minds about who God is. Secondly: repenting means changing our minds about the way we live our lives. If God is all powerful and all caring and all loving, then it’s in my best interests to live a life that’s ...read more

Scripture: Mark 1:15

Tags: Repentance

Famous Businessman Practices ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Nov 30, 2009

Famous Businessman Practices Tithing One Famous Business man: About a 100 plus years ago a young man had to leave home because his family could not afford to feed and house him. On his way to his future he met an old friend who was captain of a canal boat. The Captain asked where he was off to. He ...read more

Scripture: Malachi 3:6-18

Tags: Tithes

The Tin—untold Riches

Contributed by Sermon Central on Dec 7, 2009

THE TIN--UNTOLD RICHES In the late nineteenth Century in South Africa, an old man was digging for gold in a river bed. He had been at it for many years. Every now and then he found a little bit of gold, not enough to make him rich – but just enough to maintain his interest. The part of river in ...read more

Scripture: Colossians 2:2-3

Tags: Christmas

Years Ago I Was Working Two Jobs Trying To Get ...

Contributed by Sean Harder on Dec 18, 2009

Years ago I was working two jobs trying to get into professional golf. One of those was a courier job where you had to use your own vehicle. I had a very reliable Honda civic hatchback, great for driving in the city, a fair bit of space in the back with the seat folded down. It was the best car I ...read more

Tags: Mistakes

Miss Bettye And Her All-Night Prayer Kitchen  PRO

Contributed by Sermon Central on Jan 1, 2010

MISS BETTYE AND HER ALL-NIGHT PRAYER KITCHEN Just this last September (2009), the Chicago Tribune ran a story about Bettye Tucker, a Christian cook who works the night shift at Children's Memorial Hospital in Chicago. She has been doing her job for 43 years -- 28 of them on the night shift. On ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 5:14-16

Tags: Christian Witness

Becoming ...

Contributed by Chris Carter on Feb 3, 2010

Becoming Cupid In a dream I had a short while ago, The winds of love upon my face began to blow. I opened my eyes and began to glare, At what it was that caused the current of air. Many thoughts flooded my wee little mind, As I rose from the bed desperate to find, Whatever this was that made me ...read more

Tags: Miscellaneous

Denomination: Baptist

I Just Want Bread  PRO

Contributed by Sermon Central on Feb 6, 2010

"I Just Want Bread" There was a beggar who came and sat before a baker. "I want bread," he said. "How wise you are," the baker assured him. "Bread is what you need. And you have come to the right bakery." So he pulled his cookbook down from his shelf and began to tell the beggar all he knew about ...read more

Scripture: John 6:25-59

Tags: Jesus Teachings