In Sermon Illustrations: "Encourage Others"

Osceola Mccarty, African-American Philanthropist  PRO

Contributed by Sermon Central on Nov 3, 2009

Osceola McCarty, African-American Philanthropist The late great African-American laundry woman, author, and philanthropist, Osceola McCarty (1908 - 1999), did one thing all of her life: laundry! For decades, Osceola, a frugal Christian woman who never bought a car - who never got married - who ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 26:6-13

Tags: Giving General

Two Sons And What They Did With Their ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Dec 11, 2009

Two Sons and What They Did With Their Marbles Once upon a time, a mother gave each of her sons two dollars and took them to a toy store to buy the beautiful, shiny marbles they had been asking for. The older son quickly figured out how many marbles he could get with his two dollars, chose the ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 25:14-30

Tags: Stewardship

How To Adorn A Bride And How Not ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Mar 21, 2010

How To Adorn A Bride and How Not To When I was about nine years old there was a wedding held at the church of Christ for the eldest daughter of one of the congregation families who was marrying the son of another long standing family. The family of the daughter was close friends with my family, ...read more

Scripture: Revelation 19:7-9

Tags: Weddings

The Meaning Of The Colors In The Flag – Spoken By ...  PRO

Contributed by Michael Mccartney on Jul 7, 2010

THE MEANING OF THE COLORS IN THE FLAG – spoken by the flag. My red stands for the blood that was shed for the freedom I represent. Yet, my red originated from the blood of Jesus who died and rose again for those who believe in Him and for whom the Pilgrims came to this country for religious ...read more

Tags: Independence Day

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

Thomas Campbell And The Restoration Movement  PRO

Contributed by Sermon Central on Aug 8, 2011

THOMAS CAMPBELL AND THE RESTORATION MOVEMENT Back in early 1800's there was a preacher in Western Pennsylvania named Thomas Campbell. He was a preacher for the Old-light, Anti-burger, Seceder Presbyterian Church. Each of those phrases described a political division within the Presbyterian Church ...read more

Scripture: Philippians 1:27-30, John 17:17-23

Tags: Divisions

I Wish I Had Known Then What I Know Now

Contributed by Mark Stepherson on Mar 15, 2012

I WISH I HAD KNOWN THEN WHAT I KNOW NOW Mickey Mantle’s father was right handed and his grandfather was left handed. Between them, they taught him to switch hit. He is widely regarded to be the greatest switch hitter of all time, and one of the greatest players ever. He was inducted into the ...read more

Tags: Prayer General

Denomination: Baptist

The Prayer Of Grandma Jones

Contributed by Sermon Central on May 28, 2012

THE PRAYER OF GRANDMA JONES I'd like to tell you the story about an old lady that everybody called "Grandma Jones." She had a close relationship with Jesus. And she knew that Jesus wanted her to be a soul-winner. She wanted to lead others to Christ. However, Grandma Jones was pretty much home ...read more

Scripture: John 4:4-38

Tags: Evangelism Urgency

Letter Home From A W Va Farm Kid Enduring Marine ...  PRO

Contributed by C. Scott Ghan on Aug 5, 2013

Letter home from a W VA farm kid enduring Marine Basic Training on Paris Island. Dear Ma and Pa, I am well. Hope you are. Tell Brother Walt and Brother Elmer the Marine Corps beats working for old man Minch by a mile. Tell them to join up quick before all of the places are filled. // I was ...read more

Scripture: Ezra 3:1-13, Hebrews 12:7-11

Tags: Restoration, Rebuild

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

Beginning Again  PRO

Contributed by Sam Mccormick on Dec 29, 2016

BEGINNING AGAIN The opening lines of a poem by Louisa Fletcher express this plaintive wish: I wish that there were some wonderful place Called the "Land of Beginning Again," Where all our mistakes, and all our heartaches, And all of our poor selfish grief Could be dropped like a shabby old coat ...read more

Scripture: John 3:3-8

Tags: Resolution, Born Again, New Year, New Start

Denomination: Christian/Church Of Christ

Not A Slave? Think Again

Contributed by Nickolas Kooi on Jun 22, 2017

Paul says that you were a slave. Slavery is unfortunately still alive and well in our world. The story of a young girl named “Dodzi” is a common one in Ghana. Dodzi was orphaned at nine months and lived with her Grandmother, who served as her guardian. Her Grandmother had a lot on her plate as ...read more

Scripture: Romans 6:12-23

Tags: Sin, Slave

Denomination: Lutheran

The Most Expensive Doorstop In The World!

Contributed by David Simpson on Apr 23, 2018

1 Peter 2:7-8 “Now to you who believe, this stone is precious. But to those who do not believe, ‘The stone the builders rejected has become the capstone, and, ‘A stone that causes men to stumble and a rock that makes them fall.’ They stumble because they disobey the message—which is also what they ...read more

Scripture: 1 Peter 2:7-8

Tags: Precious Cornerstone, Treasure, Foundation, Stumbling Stone

Denomination: Christian Church

Have You Been To The Great Physician?

Contributed by David Goering on Sep 6, 2018

Mr. Pharisee and Mr. Publican lived in the town of Doomsville, both heard that a great Physician was going to be in the neighboring town of Gilead. The great Physician was going to hold a free Health Clinic and give people a free complete examination, and if they passed this examination he would ...read more

Scripture: Luke 18:10-14

Tags: Justification, Pride, Publican, Pharisee, The Great Physician, Salvation, Humility  (view more)  (view less)

False Converts

Contributed by Rick Palmer on Oct 5, 2018

As an archery deer hunter I walk a lot out in nature. Yesterday as I was walking across a corn field I found a small branch of pretty colored leaves. My wife loves collecting leaves and doing crafts with them. I looked around and there were no trees with in a great distance from the leaves. How ...read more

Scripture: John 14:6, Matthew 4:17, John 3:16-18

Tags: Grace, Believe, Salvation, Repentance

Ashamed When It Counted The Most

Contributed by Jonathan Spurlock on Dec 18, 2019

Ashamed when it counted the most My two sisters, when they were somewhat younger, liked to play the piano and took lessons for some time. I like music, too, but not all the practicing that went along with it! We found out there was going to be a “recital” where all of the students in their ...read more

Scripture: 1 Corinthians 3:12-15, 1 John 2:28

Tags: Christian Life, Shame, Rewards

Denomination: Baptist

What I Learned At The Recycling Center

Contributed by Jonathan Spurlock on Jan 21, 2020

Recycling centers have always been something that fascinated me. Usually these companies are in buildings that were themselves built for another purpose, but were, well, “recycled” as places where we can take aluminum cans, newspapers, and so forth. Besides, we managed to save enough aluminum cans ...read more

Scripture: Jeremiah 36:20-25

Tags: Scripture, Bibles Destroyed

Denomination: Baptist

An Observation About Context

Contributed by Jonathan Spurlock on Mar 16, 2020

Context is very important, even in the little things. For example, people have done a lot of damage to Bible verses, stories, doctrines, etc., because they did not or do not consider the context. Someone once remarked that a Bible verse out of its context is like a diamond away from a necklace: ...read more

Scripture: Luke 4:1-13, Matthew 4:1-11

Tags: Context, Temptations And Testings

Denomination: Baptist

Dire Warnings?

Contributed by Jonathan Spurlock on Mar 24, 2020

Once upon a time. . . . sorry, folks, I couldn’t resist that one. But it wasn’t that long ago that people paid their bills by writing a check and then mailing said item and bill to the address provided. That was true of car insurance, utility bills, credit card bills, among other things. Now, one ...read more

Scripture: Mark 9:42-48, Luke 16:19-31

Tags: Hell, Judgment, Rewards, Warnings

Denomination: Baptist

Seven Types Of Loneliness

Contributed by Dr. Larry Petton on Feb 1, 2021

7 Types of Loneliness 1. New-situation loneliness. You’ve moved to a new city where you don’t know anyone, or you’ve started a new job, or you’ve started at a school full of unfamiliar faces. You’re lonely. 2. I’m-different loneliness. You’re in a place that’s not unfamiliar, but you feel ...read more

Scripture: 2 Timothy 4:10

Tags: Loneliness, Single, Widow, Fear, Drugs, Alone, Alcohol, Depression  (view more)  (view less)

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

Praying For Unity

Contributed by Jw Worcester on Feb 8, 2021

As I think of the unity of God’s Gospel to us, I’m reminded of the unity I’ve experienced over the years with other saints on short term mission trips, volunteer positions at a crisis pregnancy center and a “Rescue Mission”, Promise Keepers (Men’s nationwide Ministry), and the Urban-Suburban ...read more

Scripture: Colossians 1:9-14

Tags: Self Image, Reflecting Christ

Questions That Churches Must Ask Themselves

Contributed by Dr. Ronald Shultz on Jun 7, 2022

Why is this church here or what really is our mission? Are we truly fulfilling our mission? How did we get here? Were we a split or the first of our faith? If a split, was it because of doctrine or something/someone else? If we are the first, have we fallen from our first love position or is ...read more

Scripture: Revelation 3:1

Tags: Church, Purpose, Division

Denomination: Baptist