In Sermon Illustrations: "Enjoy Life"

Finding Grace  PRO

Contributed by Johnathan Hester on Jun 15, 2008

FINDING GRACE If you want to learn the meaning of faith, get down to a child's level. "What could this possibly be?" I thought to myself. "Why would someone place that sign so low? No one could read it." You see them everywhere. Small signs promoting yard sales, cars, and business opportunities ...read more

Scripture: Hebrews 11:1-2

Tags: Examples Of Faith

Denomination: Baptist

A History Of Thanksgiving ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Oct 22, 2008

A HISTORY OF THANKSGIVING DAY In 1604 King James came to power in England. We hear his name often, as the most trusted version of the English Bible was translated during his reign – the King James Version. He was relatively tolerant of other religious opinions, except those that openly criticized ...read more

Tags: Thanksgiving Holiday

Knock, Knock; Someone’s In Trouble

Contributed by James Snyder on Feb 27, 2021

For some reason, the last several weeks we have been getting many visitors at our door. I'm not sure if this is a general trend or if it is just our door. Some of them have been salesmen, religious people, scam artists, and a host of other people. They only had one goal in mind, and that was ...read more

Scripture: Luke 6:31

Tags: Money, Telemarketers, Knocking On Doors

Denomination: Christian Missionary Alliance

Father Teaches Disobedient Daughter About Grace ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Nov 5, 2009

Father Teaches Disobedient Daughter About Grace and Consequences I’ve given you all the acronym before of “GRACE- God’s Riches At Christ’s Expense.” I’ll always remember a daddy-daughter moment with my oldest girl when she was maybe three years old. We raised our girls with loving discipline ...read more

Scripture: Romans 7:18-25

Tags: Grace

Fool Me Once And You Will Be The Fool

Contributed by James Snyder on Jul 16, 2022

Recently, the A/C company we use came and did their yearly inspection. The Gracious Mistress of the Parsonage took them around to the places that needed inspection. Everything turned out to be quite well and no problems. That got me thinking of what happened many years ago with another company ...read more

Scripture: Proverbs 18:2-3

Tags: Service, Fool

Denomination: Christian Missionary Alliance

Nothing Like A Mystery To Calm My Nerves

Contributed by James Snyder on Mar 11, 2023

Nothing calms me down more than a mystery when I have a busy week. The other afternoon I got caught up and faced some rather stressful situations. The remedy to all of this would be to watch one of those mystery movies. One was playing that afternoon, so I decided to rearrange my schedule, enjoy ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 11:28-30

Tags: Humor, Mystery, Rest

Denomination: Christian Missionary Alliance

Learning What "Me-Time” Is All About

Contributed by James Snyder on Mar 18, 2023

Several months ago, The Gracious Mistress of the Parsonage said she and her daughter and granddaughter were going to St. Augustine for a week and wondered if I wanted to go along. I said, “Let me think about it for a while, and I’ll get back to you.” I then overheard a conversation between my ...read more

Scripture: Amos 3:3

Tags: Vacation, Me Time

Denomination: Christian Missionary Alliance

My Reward I’ll Eat It If I Want To

Contributed by James Snyder on May 6, 2023

One day last week, I was up early working in my office as I normally do. I happened to pause what I was doing for a moment and smelled this wonderful aroma. I know it wasn’t me because I hadn’t taken a shower yet. The aroma was coming from the kitchen area. I got up from my desk, walked out into ...read more

Scripture: 2 John 1:8

Tags: Reward, Chooses

Denomination: Christian Missionary Alliance

What’s The Harm With A Little Treat?

Contributed by James Snyder on Sep 23, 2023

The last month has been crazy for me and The Gracious Mistress of the Parsonage. Every month has its crazy element, but this past month beats them all. First, my main computer crashed, and I lost a lot of stuff. Second, we had a hurricane that came through; fortunately, it was only thunder, rain ...read more

Scripture: Proverbs 28:13

Tags: Truth, Decisions

Denomination: Christian Missionary Alliance

[061]. A Message From A Poem – Do You Love Me More Than These?

Contributed by Ron Ferguson on Mar 14, 2025

[061]. A MESSAGE FROM A POEM – DO YOU LOVE ME MORE THAN THESE? How sound is our love? How enduring is it? How sturdy is it – does it flicker on and off like some lights? Is your love for the Lord, your Saviour, prepared to go to a martyr’s death? The inspiration for this poem came from that ...read more

Scripture: Revelation 2:4-5, 1 John 4:19, John 21:15-17

Tags: Love, Friendship, Poetry, Poem, First Love  (view more)  (view less)

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

Another Week On My Own

Contributed by James Snyder on Mar 22, 2025

Several weeks ago, The Gracious Mistress of the Parsonage informed me she would be in St. Augustine with our daughter and granddaughter for spring break. As always, I really didn’t properly process this information. I get so busy with other things that there are some things I can’t process. It ...read more

Scripture: 1 Corinthians 10:13

Tags: Sin, Temptation, Cheating

Denomination: Christian Missionary Alliance

What It Was, Was A Cookie

Contributed by James Snyder on Aug 11, 2025

At least once a month The Gracious Mistress of the Parsonage and her daughter will spend a day visiting thrift stores in our community. I’m not sure, so don’t quote me, but I think there’s a 100-mile radius where they do their shopping. This past week was one of those days. As she was backing out ...read more

Scripture: Luke 12:2

Tags: Desire, Cookie

Denomination: Christian Missionary Alliance

You Share Christ By Imitating Christ. A Story Is ...  PRO

Contributed by Brian Mavis on Oct 27, 2000

You share Christ by imitating Christ. A story is told – by Fredrick Beuchner I believe – called “The Happy Hypocrite." It is a story about a man who was born with an awful facial deformity. He grew up alone and lonely. When reaching adulthood, he decided to move from his town to begin a new life. ...read more

Tags: Hypocrite, Image Of Christ, Influence, Great, Accomplishment, Call Of The Disciples, Change, Discipleship  (view more)  (view less)

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

It Was Sunday Morning And Harry Was Off. He ...  PRO

Contributed by Chris Appleby on Jan 29, 2001

It was Sunday morning and Harry was off. He pulled out of his driveway in his 2-seater convertible, with the roof closed because of typical Melbourne driving rain, and headed for church. But as he turned into the main road he saw ahead of him three bedraggled figures huddled under a single umbrella ...read more

Scripture: Esther 4:14-17, Esther 4:8-14

Tags: Memorial Day, Christian Love, Doing God's Will, Faith

Denomination: Anglican

Leighton Ford(Billy Graham’s Bro In Law) ...  PRO

Contributed by Guy Mcgraw on Feb 2, 2001

LEIGHTON FORD(Billy Graham’s bro in law) was traveling by airplane and found himself next to an empty seat. He was looking forward to the extra room when appeared the stewardess with an elderly woman, 96 yrs of age. ‘Mrs ____ will be sitting here next to your sir’. As the flight proceeded ...read more

Tags: Church Body Of Christ, People In The Gospel, Lordship Of Christ

In Preaching Today, Leith Anderson Wrote The ...  PRO

Contributed by Tony Miano on Feb 24, 2001

In Preaching Today, Leith Anderson wrote the following. “My family and I have lived in the same house for seventeen years. We’ve lived there more than twice as long as I have lived at any other address in my entire life. I’ll sometimes refer to it as ‘our house,’ but more often I refer to it as ...read more

Tags: Promises Of God, Heaven

Denomination: *other

During The Late 1800’s An English ...  PRO

Contributed by Tom Dooley on May 14, 2001

During the late 1800’s an English evangelist named Henry Moorhouse made several trips to preach in America. On one of those occassions he was taking a walk through a poor section of town when he noticed a small boy coming out of a store with a pitcher of milk in his hands. Just then, he ...read more

Scripture: Ephesians 2:8-10

Tags: God's Forgiveness, God's Holiness, Grace, Transformation

Denomination: Baptist

Here’s A List Of All Variations Of The "God ...  PRO

Contributed by Kenneth Roberts on May 24, 2001

Here’s a list of all variations of the "God Speaks" billboards that appeared in the Metropolitan Dallas-Fort Worth area. The billboards are a simple black background with white text. No fine print or sponsoring organization is included. The sponsorship for these “God Speaks” billboards is ...read more

Tags: God The Father, Apologetics God

Denomination: Lutheran

Charles Haddon Spurgeon Had This Type Of ...  PRO

Contributed by Owen Bourgaize on Jun 16, 2001

Charles Haddon Spurgeon had this type of experience. Even as a young lad he was conscious of sin, but couldn’t find peace. It so happened under the providential over-ruling of God that one Sunday morning he was prevented from attending his usual place of worship because of a snowstorm. He was ...read more

Tags: Lordship Of Christ, Cross Agony, Faith General

Denomination: Baptist

One Day A Farmer's Donkey Fell Down Into A Well. ...  PRO

Contributed by Jeff Kolk on Aug 4, 2001

One day a farmer’s donkey fell down into a well. The animal cried piteously for hours as the farmer tried to figure out what to do. Finally he decided the animal was old and the well needed to be covered up anyway, it just wasn’t worth it to retrieve the donkey So he invited all his neighbors to ...read more

Scripture: James 1:1-18

Tags: Endurance

Denomination: Baptist