In Sermon Illustrations: "Effectual Calling"

Reasons We ...

Contributed by Terry Laughlin on Aug 11, 2008

Reasons We Congregate Psalm 122:1, “I rejoiced with those who said to me, ‘Let us go to the house of the LORD.’" We are told that this verse can be translated as, “I rejoice whenever they say to me, ‘Let us go to the house of the Lord’”. (The Expositors Bible Commentary) Our key text ...read more

Scripture: Psalm 122:1

Tags: Worship Purpose

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

Our Room Steward, Denny, Was So Nice And Seemed ...

Contributed by Mark Eberly on Mar 17, 2009

Our room steward, Denny, was so nice and seemed to genuinely show concern and respect to our family. It was amazing. So as I thought about this issue of respect, which we are going to talk about today, I also began to wonder if respect can be bought. How many of you have been on a cruise? This ...read more

Tags: Servanthood

Denomination: Church Of God

Population Control Stats

Contributed by K. Edward Skidmore on Mar 30, 2009

POPULATION CONTROL STATS The God of Israel stood apart in the ancient world as the One and Only God who cares about even the most helpless little infant. Exodus 1:20 says that God rewarded these brave midwives by giving them families of their own. You see, our God sees babies as blessings! ...read more

Tags: Birth Control

Denomination: Christian/Church Of Christ

Here Is A Conjecture About A Historical Event, ...

Contributed by Bobby Scobey on Apr 8, 2009

Here is a conjecture about a historical event, but it could have happened just this way. A man named Barabbas had been involved in open revolt against Roman rule, and was guilty of murder. He was in prison awaiting crucifixion – death by extended, painful, torturous suffering. Possibly the prison ...read more

Tags: Salvation

Denomination: Pentecostal

Stay Busy Until The Master's ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Apr 8, 2009

STAY BUSY UNTIL THE MASTER’S RETURN "The disciple is not called to eliminate his ignorance of the timing of the end, he is called to cope with it and respond to it appropriately." "How can a doorkeeper fulfill his duties if he spends his time calculating how long the delay will be?" In the ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 24:36-51

Tags: Second Coming

Forgotten How To ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Jun 25, 2009

FORGOTTEN HOW TO FISH? I read an interesting story about a group of pelicans in California. If you’ve ever seen pelicans in action, you know they’re great fishermen, or fisher-birds. These pelicans were hanging out near a fleet of fishing boats. The fishermen on the boats would pull into the ...read more

Scripture: 1 Corinthians 4:7-14

Tags: Servanthood, God's Direction

Converted By Dreams And Visions

Contributed by Sermon Central on Jul 14, 2009

CONVERTED BY DREAMS AND VISIONS Do you know that many Muslims are recently becoming Christians because of dreams and visions? According to Wendell Evans of the Billy Graham Center’s Institute for Muslim Studies, "More and more stories are coming out of closed countries, of God supernaturally ...read more

Scripture: Joel 2:28

Tags: Dreams

Check-Out Line Deception  PRO

Contributed by Sermon Central on Oct 21, 2009

Check-Out Line Deception And in verse 7, Jeremiah is mad at God! He says "O LORD, you deceived me, and I was deceived; you overpowered me and prevailed. You tricked me!" (From a sermon by Marc Axelrod, When You Are Mad at God, 10/20/2009) This reminds me of the guy who was shopping at WalMart. ...read more

Scripture: Jeremiah 20:7-8

Tags: Fool

Losing A Child

Contributed by Sean Harder on Dec 4, 2009

When the parent loses a child they seek answers and beg to have things reversed, often rather than seeking God himself and his comfort. We are to try and look at things from His perspective, but most importantly we are to strengthen our faith in the fact that God uses all things for good, - for ...read more

Tags: Faith

The Blood Of Lambs

Contributed by Sermon Central on Dec 28, 2009

THE BLOOD OF LAMBS I just finished a very moving book called, "The Blood of Lambs" by Kamal Saleem (Howard Books, 2009). He describes his life as a terrorist and how he hated Israel and America. He also couldn't stand Christians--that is, until God brought some Christian men into his life after he ...read more

Scripture: 2 Corinthians 5:17

Tags: Islam

A Rainbow Is A Beautiful Picture Of Christ. Jesus ...

Contributed by Ross Cochrane on Jan 14, 2010

A RAINBOW IS A BEAUTIFUL PICTURE OF CHRIST. Jesus is called the light of the world. A rainbow has 3 primary colours, red, green and purple. RED SPEAKS OF THE BLOOD OF CHRIST - His sacrifice on the cross for me. Genesis 8:21 says "The intent of man's heart is evil from his youth;" Jesus paid the ...read more

Tags: Noah

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

The Life Of Dietrich Bonhoeffer

Contributed by Sermon Central on Oct 18, 2010

THE LIFE OF DIETRICH BONHOEFFER This week I want to look at the life of one of the most influential, conservative theologians of the 20th century. To say this man was brilliant would be an understatement. He graduated summa cum laude from the University of Berlin in 1927 with a doctorate in ...read more

Scripture: John 12:23-26

Tags: Servanthood

A Second Chance  PRO

Contributed by Sermon Central on Mar 8, 2011

A SECOND CHANCE Some years ago, two teenagers with a long history of crime and misbehavior robbed a YMCA on the lowest East Side of New York City. On the way out they saw a young man at the telephone switchboard. They were frightened and assumed that the man must be calling the police. They held ...read more

Scripture: Psalm 32:1-2

Tags: Love, Hope, Change, Care, Forgiveness For Others  (view more)  (view less)

Wear The Pants  PRO

Contributed by Sermon Central on Sep 7, 2011

WEAR THE PANTS Levi-Strauss recently ran an ad campaign that targeted men for a line of Dockers pants (June 2011). Maybe you've seen some of the ads. One of them was called a "MAN-ifesto," and the script went like this: "Once upon a time, men wore the pants, and wore them well. Women rarely had ...read more

Scripture: 1 Peter 5:1-4

Tags: Men, Leadership, Biblical, Leadership General

The Punishment Of The Golf Addict  PRO

Contributed by Rodelio Mallari on Jan 10, 2012

THE PUNISHMENT OF THE GOLF ADDICT Once there was a man who was such a golf addict that he was neglecting his job. Frequently he would call in sick as an excuse to play. One morning, after making his usual call to the office, an angel up above spotted him on the way to the golf course and decided ...read more

Tags: Sin Punishment Of

Denomination: *other

H: The Aspirate Word

Contributed by Suresh Manoharan on Jan 22, 2013

H: THE ASPIRATE WORD When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the LORD appeared to him.....No longer will you be called Abram; your name will be AbraHam, for I have made you a father of many Nations.- Genesis 17:5 God also said to Abraham, "As for Sarai your wife, you are no longer to call her ...read more

Tags: Restoration

Denomination: *other

Willie Stargell And The Pittsburgh Pirates' Family

Contributed by Dr. Larry Petton on Aug 2, 2023

Teammates of the late Willie Stargell called him "Pops" because of his leadership both on and off the baseball field. In 1979, when Stargell led the Pittsburgh Pirates to their second World Series title, the team was nicknamed "The Family" because of their close relationship and ...read more

Scripture: Ephesians 4:1-11, Philippians 2:1-11

Tags: Prejudice, Diversity, Body Of Christ, Baseball, Family Of God, Love, Fellowship, Holy Spirit, Team, Unity  (view more)  (view less)

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

Stress Management

Contributed by David Parks on Nov 4, 2024

Stress Management A lecturer, when explaining stress management to an audience, raised a glass of water and asked, "How heavy is this glass of water?" Answers called out ranged from 20g to 500g. The lecturer replied, "The absolute weight doesn't matter. It depends on how ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 11:28-30

Tags: Stress, Worry

Denomination: Christian/Church Of Christ

20 Beautiful One-Liners You Can Use

Contributed by Tony Abram on Mar 28, 2019

20 Beautiful One-liners you can use. 1. Give God what's right - not what's left. 2. Man's way leads to a hopeless end - God's way leads to an endless hope. 3. A lot of kneeling will keep you in good standing. 4. He who kneels before God can stand before anyone. 5. Are you ...read more

Scripture: Romans 8:28

Tags: Testimony, Speaking, Sharing, One Liners

Good Intentions

Contributed by Ed Vasicek on Nov 29, 2021

In our younger days, my husband and I sign up for a “boot camp” fitness class. This class costs $300 per person for ten classes. At the start of the first class, our instructor. Tara, does a quick roll-call. She frowns and comments: “Hmm, Susie isn’t here. That’s a shame; attending the first ...read more

Scripture: Romans 15:14-33

Tags: Unrealized Intentions, Excuses, Discipline, Follow Through, Explanations  (view more)  (view less)

Denomination: Independent/Bible