In Sermon Illustrations: "Dual Meaning"

Those Strong Urges

Contributed by Ed Vasicek on Sep 14, 2009

THOSE STRONG URGES Gary Dougherty, a co-worker at RBC Ministries, was walking home from church one evening when he saw a young man coming from the opposite direction. A strong urge came over Gary to talk with him about becoming a Christian. He hesitated at first, but then he said to this total ...read more

Tags: Evangelism Fear Of

Denomination: Independent/Bible

Article From Paper On The Pastor And His Wife Who ...

Contributed by Michael Mccartney on Dec 28, 2009

Article from paper on the pastor and his wife who collect nativity scenes from all over the world. 1. The message of the nativity according to the article is this: “An Enduring symbol. Christ’s birth has been a powerful story through-out the ages. The Nativity is a three dimensional depiction of ...read more

Tags: Christmas

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

Accepting This Part Of The Plan

Contributed by Curry Pikkaart on Apr 14, 2010

ACCEPTING THIS PART OF THE PLAN Years ago, the church I was serving did a cantata, during which one of the choir members gave a brief testimony. He was a beloved man who had been battling cancer. After acknowledging that he had asked all the questions and experienced all the emotions he simply ...read more

Tags: God's Sovereign Will

Denomination: Presbyterian/Reformed

Image Is Not Everything But It Sure Helps To Send ...

Contributed by John Perry on Apr 17, 2010

Image is not everything but it sure helps to send a positive message to people. Tom was a man in our church. He was from the old school & believed that he needed to live his everyday life dressed in a suit & tie. Naturally he would come to church in his suit & tie. A suit that looked as though he ...read more

Tags: Change

Denomination: Pentecostal

Can't Call Him A Liar

Contributed by Sermon Central on Jun 2, 2010

CAN'T CALL HIM A LIAR During quail season in Georgia, an Atlanta journalist met an old farmer hunting with an ancient pointer at his side. Twice the dog ran rheumatically ahead and pointed. Twice his master fired into the open air. When the journalist saw no birds rise, he asked the farmer for an ...read more

Scripture: Proverbs 12:10

Tags: Kindness

Accountability

Contributed by Thomas Donelan on Aug 4, 2010

He wanted to get out from out of the sphere of his father’s influence. Think about it, every year we get flooded in Florida for about a week or so every year with a bunch of college students for a thing called “spring break” and these kids go out and get drunk, do drugs, get their groove on, and ...read more

Tags: Parable Prodigal Son

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

Jesus' Frustration

Contributed by Timothy Dolan on Oct 17, 2010

JESUS' FRUSTRATION Living our lives, trusting Jesus, does not mean that we will never feel futility or pointlessness. The clear implication of Isaiah 49: verse 4 is that Jesus felt this way. How many times did Jesus have to say, "ye of little faith." "When the disciples failed to grasp the ...read more

Tags: Jesus Life

Denomination: Baptist

Why Muslims Convert

Contributed by Sermon Central on Oct 23, 2010

WHY MUSLIMS CONVERT Fuller seminar asked 750 former Muslims to fill out an extensive questionnaire about how they came to decide to become a Christian. The respondents were from 30 countries and 50 ethnic groups, representing every major region of Islam. They were asked to rank the relative ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 5:14-16

Tags: Christian Witness

God's Standard For Sin

Contributed by K. Edward Skidmore on Dec 30, 2010

GOD'S STANDARD FOR SIN At a former church, a youth leader came up to me one day and said, "I'm trying to figure out the way God judges sin. The best I can figure it, I assume he grades on the curve like they do at school. You know, 70% good is a passing grade." I had bad news for him. God has a ...read more

Tags: Judgment

Denomination: Christian/Church Of Christ

Harry Potter: Temptation

Contributed by Isaac Butterworth on Jul 30, 2011

HARRY POTTER: TEMPTATION Every great story has great characters. And in truly great stories, the characters go through significant change. This change is called a character arc. For example, if you’re familiar with the Harry Potter series, you know that Harry starts off in the story as an ...read more

Tags: Temptation General

Denomination: Presbyterian/Reformed

What Makes Your Face Shine?  PRO

Contributed by Sermon Central on Aug 2, 2011

WHAT MAKES YOUR FACE SHINE? A Hindu trader in India once asked a missionary, "What do you put on your face to make it shine?" With surprise the man of God answered, "I don’t put anything on it!" His questioner began to lose patience and said emphatically, "Yes, you do! All of you who believe in ...read more

Scripture: Philippians 2:14-16

Tags: Christian Witness

Americans: Flabby Faith  PRO

Contributed by Sermon Central on Aug 16, 2011

AMERICANS: FLABBY FAITH A dozen or so years ago, a Romanian pastor came to visit the church I belonged to. He had gotten to know my pastor, John Vawter, who had been involved in a Bible-smuggling ministry when the Iron Curtain was still up. John asked him what he thought of our country, and of the ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 5:11-16, Romans 12:1-6

Tags: Discipleship

Sure You Want To Win The Lottery?

Contributed by Ed Vasicek on Jun 1, 2012

SURE YOU WANT TO WIN THE LOTTERY? When William "Bud" Post won $16.2 million in a 1988 lottery, one of the first things he did was try to please his family. Unfortunately, his kin was of the unfriendly sort. Post's brother hired a hit man to kill him, hoping to inherit some money. Other family ...read more

Tags: Money

Denomination: Independent/Bible

Worship Warrior  PRO

Contributed by Sermon Central on Aug 17, 2012

WORSHIP WARRIOR I like the way songwriter and worship leader, Brian Doerksen, puts it. He says, "Becoming a worshipper means becoming a warrior... And by toning that down...we have sent men and women away from the church in droves. It's time to call them back," Doerksen says, "as worshiping ...read more

Scripture: Romans 12:1-2

Tags: Worship Definition

Joining For The Perks

Contributed by Stephen Belokur on Nov 13, 2012

JOINING FOR THE PERKS Lay down our lives? You mean total sacrifice? Partial commitment is not allowed. I remember a man in a church I attended long ago who had a grandson who was in the Army and his grandson was about to be deployed into a war zone. This man got up in church and with tears ...read more

Tags: Commitment To Christ

Denomination: Nazarene

"Knowing" Christ  PRO

Contributed by Paul Barreca on Jan 6, 2013

"KNOWING" CHRIST In today's world of Smart Phones, tablets and instant Internet access, there are many things that we can "know." If someone asks the questions, "how long is the Verrazano Bridge," a nimble person with a 4 G connection and an Iphone can ask Siri, "How long is the Verrazano ...read more

Scripture: Philippians 3:10

Tags: Jesus Christ, Knowing God

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

What Will Your Legacy Be?  PRO

Contributed by Jeff Van Wyk on Feb 24, 2013

WHAT WILL YOUR LEGACY BE? I visited the home of Elvis in Graceland, Tennessee. After so many years after his death, I was amazed at the crowds of people that take the tour and listen to his life’s story. The sad thing is, the story will never change, because he has lived his life and what he has ...read more

Tags: Opportunity

Denomination: Charismatic

Grace And Matthew

Contributed by Kevin Karhoff on Mar 12, 2013

GRACE AND MATTHEW These days people don't know Matthew as a failure and embarrassment who sold his soul to the Romans for a job. We know Matthew as a follower of Jesus who wrote the first book of the New Testament. It's important to understand that the grace of God doesn't simply invite us to ...read more

Scripture: Luke 5:27-31

Tags: Grace, Jesus Christ

Denomination: Presbyterian/Reformed

Wooden Legged Friend  PRO

Contributed by Dr. Larry Petton on Jan 30, 2014

WOODEN LEGGED FRIEND Two farmers were talking about their livestock when a pig walked by them that had a wooden leg. One farmer was amazed and said, "Is that your pig? Why does he have a wooden leg?" The other farmer smiled and said, " That pig is my best friend! He saved my life." ...read more

Scripture: John 15:1-10

Tags: Friendship, Christian Friendship

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

What Alcoholics Can Teach Us

Contributed by Davon Huss on May 31, 2014

Philip Yancey interviewed a young alcoholic who had formerly been an active church member, but had allowed Alcoholics Anonymous to replace the church. When questioned why, the young man responded, "Mainly I'm trying to survive, and AA helps me in that struggle far better than any church." ...read more

Scripture: Romans 12:5

Tags: Accountability, Authenticity, Dependency, Self-Righteousness

Denomination: Christian/Church Of Christ