In Sermon Illustrations: "Design"

Michael Plant Was One Of The World's Best ...

Contributed by Michael Leon on Aug 11, 2006

Michael Plant was one of the world’s best yachtsmen. Numerous times he navigated the oceans, gaining skill and notoriety. Then early in the fall of 1992, he decided to go all the way and set out from the East Coast on a solo voyage across the Atlantic Ocean to France. He purchased a ...read more

Scripture: 2 Samuel 13:1-3

Tags: Character

Denomination: Pentecostal

Sin Is The Excrement Of Our Soul. I'm Not Trying ...

Contributed by Austin Mansfield on Mar 4, 2007

Sin is the excrement of our soul. I’m not trying to be gross, but as much as our physical excrement may disgust us, our spiritual excrement disgusts God even more. We sin every day, even when we try our best not to do so. We sin less than we did before, and when we let Jesus into our lives, we ...read more

Tags: Sin General

Denomination: Episcopal/Anglican

The Procrastination Before The Ultimate ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Nov 14, 2009

The Procrastination Before the Ultimate Preservation of the Hudson Palisades as a National Natural Landmark The Palisades, also called the New Jersey Palisades or the Hudson Palisades are a line of steep cliffs along the west side of the lower Hudson River in northeast New Jersey and southern New ...read more

Scripture: Leviticus 23:9-14

Tags: First Fruits, Time

True Unity  PRO

Contributed by Sermon Central on Apr 26, 2011

TRUE UNITY Unity is not simply an intellectual exercise. We can believe the same things, recite the same creeds, belong to the same denomination, but that does not mean we have unity. In his book Soul Talk, Larry Crabb writes: "Which is worse? A church program to build community that doesn’t ...read more

Scripture: Ephesians 4:1-16, Ephesians 4:1-22, 1 Samuel 25:14-35

Tags: Unity

Our Need For Pain  PRO

Contributed by Sermon Central on May 4, 2011

OUR NEED FOR PAIN There is no tougher dilemma in the Christian life than the problem of pain. It could be the pain of broken relationship, the pain of rejection, or the pain of insults. Or it could just be plain old physical pain. Nothing tests the faith like pain. It was physical pain that ...read more

Scripture: James 1:2-4

Tags: Trials And Difficulties

Holiness And Red Buttons  PRO

Contributed by Mark Stepherson on Aug 6, 2011

HOLINESS AND RED BUTTONS In studying holiness as a prayer key, I got bogged down with trying to understand it. I had an even harder time trying to explain it. I felt like the Red Buttons character in the movie, "Hatari." In that movie, John Wayne led a team of hunters in Africa capturing wild ...read more

Scripture: 1 Timothy 2:8, Matthew 22:15-22

Tags: Holy, Prayer, Holiness

Denomination: Baptist

Sin: Prison Without Bars

Contributed by Johnny A. Palmer Jr. on Dec 15, 2011

SIN: PRISON WITHOUT BARS It's easy to live in denial--to live in sin and think everything is going our way. So sooner or later God gets our attention. In 1989, Pete Rose, baseball's all-time hit leader, was banished from baseball by Major League Commissioner. [Bart Giamatti]. The ...read more

Tags: Sin Exposed

Denomination: Baptist

We Are Meant To Struggle

Contributed by Spencer Miller on May 13, 2013

WE ARE MEANT TO STRUGGLE You remember the story of the little boy who was playing outdoors and found a fascinating caterpillar. He carefully picked it up and took it home to show his mother. He asked his mother if he could keep it, and she said he could if he would take good care of it. The ...read more

Tags: God Brings Purpose

Denomination: Baptist

Mad Mike Hughes

Contributed by Roberta Karchner on Feb 26, 2020

Mad Mike Hughes had a mission, to launch himself into outer space. He believed the earth was flat, and the only way to prove it was to go up into space and take a photo of the flat earth. He did not trust others to document the truth, he would only believe it if he saw it with his own eyes. In ...read more

Scripture: 1 Corinthians 10:11-13

Tags: Sin, Foolish, Self Importance, Self Righteousness, Flat Earth  (view more)  (view less)

Denomination: Presbyterian/Reformed

The Gift Nobody Wants

Contributed by Sermon Central on Oct 22, 2008

The Gift Nobody Wants In 1999 Dr Paul Brand and Philip Yancey co-wrote a book called "Pain: the Gift Nobody Wants." Dr Brand was born in India to missionary parents, and has spent most of his life caring for people with leprosy. One of Dr Brand's greatest discoveries was that people with leprosy ...read more

Tags: Guilt

Unsung Heroines-They Helped Rebuild Jerusalem’s Wall

Contributed by Jonathan Spurlock on May 12, 2022

Introduction: The Book of Nehemiah is almost like a report or memoir of what Nehemiah did, and why. He led the effort to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem, as these walls were in sad shape. Chapter 3 of his book lists a number of people and groups who did work on these walls. The word “repaired” is ...read more

Scripture: Nehemiah 3:12, Numbers 27:1-11

Tags: Nehemiah, Walls Of Jerusalem, Unsung Heroines

Denomination: Baptist

Some Things Seem Too Good To Be True

Contributed by James Snyder on Mar 21, 2020

Recently I discovered something. The more I try to keep up with the latest trend, the further behind I get. I am not a complete technical idiot, but I'm not too far off. The only thing I can say about me is that I at least try. The best example of all of this has to do with my cell phone. Is ...read more

Scripture: John 3:16

Tags: Good, Cellphone

Denomination: Christian Missionary Alliance

Anybody Here Heard Of A Rich Man Called John ...  PRO

Contributed by Andrew Chan on Feb 21, 2004

Anybody here heard of a rich man called John Davis who lived in Hiawatha, Kansas? Davis, was a farmer and a self-made man. He began as a lowly hired hand and by sheer determination and frugality he managed to amass a considerable fortune in his lifetime. In the process, however, the farmer did not ...read more

Tags: Forgiveness General, Giving General

Denomination: Evangelical Free

Karl Loved To Follow His Dad Around. From An ...  PRO

Contributed by Johnny Creasong on Apr 15, 2004

Karl loved to follow his dad around. From an early age, Hirschel always found young Karl at his heels. The shelves of books in Hirschel’s Law study fascinated young Karl and the lad quizzed His dad to annoyance. The book Hirschel seemed to love the most was the Torah, the Hebrew Book of Law. ...read more

Tags: Parenting

Denomination: Church Of God

From The Time Of Abraham To The Time Of Jesus, ...  PRO

Contributed by Bill Huffhine on May 27, 2004

From the time of Abraham to the time of Jesus, the Jewish people were the chosen people of God. They were the only people on the face of the earth who knew the one, true God. From Abraham, God raised up this nation to be his voice to the entire world. It was to them that God introduced Himself, ...read more

Tags: Baptism

Denomination: Free Methodist

Linchpin For Disaster!" Romans 13: 8-14 Key ...

Contributed by Mark Brunner on Nov 10, 2004

“Linchpin for Disaster!” Romans 13: 8-14 Key verse(s): 13: “Let us behave decently, as in the daytime, not in orgies and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and debauchery, not in dissension and jealousy.” In the recent heavy rains that struck the state this past spring, of chief concern ...read more

Scripture: Romans 13:8-14

Tags: Emotions, Faith

Denomination: Lutheran

Unmanufactured Tissue Of The Universe!" Joshua ...

Contributed by Mark Brunner on Dec 23, 2004

“Unmanufactured Tissue of the Universe!” Joshua 10: 12-15 Key verse(s): 13b: “The sun stopped in the middle of the sky and delayed going down about a full day.” “What ‘cha doing?” The old man said to the young man as he sat lazily next to an old haystack at the side of the road. “Just killing a ...read more

Scripture: Joshua 10:12-15

Tags: Gift Of Time, God's Provision

Denomination: Lutheran

Medical Volunteer Transforms Life Of Man ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Jan 26, 2010

Medical Volunteer Transforms Life of Man Previously Thought To Be In A Vegetative State The simple point to what God is reminding us of is, “The Extra Mile” can change a life and win a soul to Jesus. To me that makes the pain of going the extra mile a pleasure. I listened to an interview on Jeremy ...read more

Scripture: Luke 10:25-37

Tags: Compassion

Simple Solutions

Contributed by Perry Greene on Dec 1, 2011

SIMPLE SOLUTIONS A toothpaste factory had a problem: they sometimes shipped empty boxes, without the tube inside. This was due to the way the production line was set up, and people with experience in designing production lines will tell you how difficult it is to have everything happen with ...read more

Scripture: Ecclesiastes 9:10

Tags: Ambition

Denomination: Christian/Church Of Christ

The Mark Of Jesus  PRO

Contributed by Isaac Butterworth on Feb 17, 2012

THE MARK OF JESUS When I was pastor of the First Presbyterian Church of Levelland, there was a man in our church, the owner of a local business and a highly intentional Christian. The apostle Paul once said of himself that he bore "on [his] body the marks of Jesus" (Gal. 6:17). Well, this man bore ...read more

Scripture: Ephesians 5:25-33

Tags: Sanctification

Denomination: Presbyterian/Reformed