In Sermon Illustrations: "Ephesians 1:1-6:23"

Father's Day Gift

Contributed by Rick Gillespie- Mobley on Jun 26, 2024

One morning I got a text from my daughter about 4 days before Father's Day and we exchanged these texts. Dad, what size shirt do you wear. Large, Extra Large, or Extra, Extra Large. Me: Extra Large. What size pants do you wear? Me: 36 by 34 What size shoes do you wear in dress and tennis ...read more

Scripture: Ephesians 6:1-4

Tags: Father's Day, Gift For Father

Denomination: Presbyterian/Reformed

Regalo Del Día Del Padre

Contributed by Rick Gillespie- Mobley on Jun 26, 2024

Una mañana recibí un mensaje de texto de mi hija unos 4 días antes del Día del Padre e intercambiamos estos mensajes de texto. Papá, ¿qué talla de camisa usas? Grande, Extra Grande o Extra, Extra Grande. Yo: extra grande. ¿Qué talla de pantalones ...read more

Scripture: Ephesians 6:1-4

Tags: Regalo Del Día Del Padre, Regalo Para Papá, Father's Day Gift

Denomination: Presbyterian/Reformed

Regalo Para Kay Tatay

Contributed by Rick Gillespie- Mobley on Jun 26, 2024

Isang umaga nakatanggap ako ng text mula sa aking anak mga 4 na araw bago ang Father's Day at nagpalitan kami ng mga text na ito. Dad anong size ng shirt mo. Malaki, Extra Large, o Extra, Extra Large. Ako: Extra Large. Anong size ng pants ang suot mo? Ako: 36 by 34 Anong laki ng sapatos ...read more

Scripture: Ephesians 6:1-4

Tags: Regalo Para Kay Tatay, Father Day Gift

Denomination: Presbyterian/Reformed

Boxer Illustration For Spiritual Battles

Contributed by Richard Tow on Jul 9, 2024

Paul said in 1 Corinthians 9:26: “I do not fight like a man beating the air (NIV).The NLT says, “I am not like a boxer who misses his punches.” A boxer can throw a lot of punches, but if none of them hit the opponent, he will lose the fight. This is one reason a boxer trains so that he punches with ...read more

Scripture: 1 Corinthians 9:26, Ephesians 6:10-18

Tags: Devil, Spiritual Warfare, Opposition, Overcoming, Boxing, Battles  (view more)  (view less)

Denomination: Charismatic

Gang Member's Turf

Contributed by Richard Tow on Jul 9, 2024

We learned that the belt of truth is a belt of truthfulness. It is “speaking the truth in love” (Eph. 4:15). It is avoiding all forms of lies, hypocrisy, deception, and manipulation because that is the devil’s turf. Gang members in these big cities understand the value of staying on your own turf. ...read more

Scripture: Ephesians 6:10-18, Ephesians 4:15

Tags: Safety, Spiritual Warfare, Truthfulness, Lies, Turf  (view more)  (view less)

Denomination: Charismatic

Staying In Our Assigned Scope

Contributed by Richard Tow on Jul 9, 2024

I was sitting on my deck at home one day this week having a brief devotional with the Lord. I looked up into a tree and saw a very small bird, a tiny yellow finch. I looked at him, and he looked at me. He was perched there without a care in the world, feeling safe and sound on his God-given turf. ...read more

Scripture: 2 Corinthians 10:13, Ephesians 6:10-18

Tags: Peace, Safety, Spiritual Warfare, Obedience, Assignment, Empowerment, Vain Ambition  (view more)  (view less)

Denomination: Charismatic

Prayer As Our Heavy Artillery

Contributed by Richard Tow on Jul 9, 2024

In Ephesians 6:18, Paul has completed the metaphor of Roman armor. But he is not finished teaching about spiritual warfare. In fact, he has come to the most important weapon in our spiritual arsenal. Prayer is the heavy artillery. Through prayer we call down the bombardment of God against our ...read more

Scripture: Ephesians 6:18

Tags: Spiritual Warfare, Prayer, Intercession, Victory, Armor, Battles  (view more)  (view less)

Denomination: Charismatic

My Past, Present And Future

Contributed by Martin Spoelstra on Jul 21, 2024

Harry A Ironside the great Bible teacher was riding on a train in Southern California one Saturday when a gypsy got on and sat beside him. "How do you do, gentleman," she said. "You like to have your fortune told? Cross my palm with a silver quarter, and I will give you your past, ...read more

Scripture: Romans 8:9-11, Ephesians 2:1-10

Tags: Present, Future, Past, Fortunes

Denomination: Presbyterian/Reformed

A Good Man Wants To Get Into Heaven

Contributed by Martin Spoelstra on Jul 21, 2024

I was recently at the gym having a conversation with someone I just met. Within a matter of 10 minutes, I realized that this man was a better man than me. He had volunteered in more countries than I could count in 10 minutes of our conversation. He was a teacher, he served the poor in many ...read more

Scripture: Ephesians 2:8-9, John 3:16, Romans 3:23

Tags: Grace, Justification, Good Works, Works Righteousness

Denomination: Presbyterian/Reformed

The Anaconda Attack

Contributed by Garris Hudson on Aug 12, 2024

Lorrie Anderson, missionary to the head-shrinking Candoshi Shapra Indians of Peru, was looking for a quiet place for her daily time of Bible reading and prayer, so she went down by the edge of the river. After reading the Bible, she took up her prayer list. Eyes closed, she did not see the deadly ...read more

Scripture: 1 Peter 5:1-10, Ephesians 6:10-18

Tags: Protection, Healing, Satan, Devil, Spiritual Warfare, Prayer, Miracles  (view more)  (view less)

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

A Miraculous Story Of Forgiveness

Contributed by Garris Hudson on Aug 12, 2024

Scottish soldiers, forced by their Japanese captors to labor on a jungle railroad, had degenerated to barbarous behavior, but one afternoon something miraculous happened. A shovel was missing. The officer in charge became enraged. He demanded that the missing shovel be produced, or else. When ...read more

Scripture: Ephesians 4:28-32

Tags: Atonement, Sacrifice, Forgiveness, Cross, Unconditional Love, Death Of Christ  (view more)  (view less)

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

The Price Has Been Paid For You

Contributed by Martin Spoelstra on Aug 28, 2024

The story is told of a young man who left the old country and sailed to America to make a new life in the new world. Before he left, his father pressed some money in his hand. It wasn't much, but it was all he had. He hoped it would tide the boy over until he found a job. His mother handed him ...read more

Scripture: Ephesians 2:13-14

Tags: Good News, Barriers, Intimacy With God, Missing Out

Denomination: Presbyterian/Reformed

How Wide And Long And High And Deep Is The Love Of Christ?

Contributed by Martin Spoelstra on Sep 14, 2024

In the last century, Napoleon's armies opened a prison that the Spanish Inquisition had used. They found the remains of a prisoner who had been incarcerated for his faith. The dungeon was underground. The body had long since decayed. Only a chain fastened around an ankle bone cried out his ...read more

Scripture: Ephesians 3:14-19, Romans 8:38-39

Tags: Hope, Suffering, Unconditional Love, Christ's Love

Denomination: Presbyterian/Reformed

A Superior Love

Contributed by David Tack on Sep 18, 2024

“The strenuous Christian mandate to extend unconditional love towards those that hate you is a fatiguing duty for the soldiers of the cross of Christ! In the heat of a damning spiritual warfare, when the spiritual defensive battlefronts are diminishing, the fleshly armaments derived from the human ...read more

Scripture: John 3:16, Romans 5:7-8, Ephesians 2:4-7

Tags: Love, Unconditional, Soldier

Denomination: Baptist

God's Mercy

Contributed by Dr. Fred W. Penney on Nov 2, 2024

Henri Nouwen tells the story of a family from Paraguay. The father spoke out against the military regime and its human rights abuses. The police arrested his teenage son and tortured him to death. Enraged townsfolk wanted to turn the boy's funeral into a huge protest march, but the doctor ...read more

Scripture: 1 Corinthians 15:1-18, Romans 5:1-11, Ephesians 2:1-5

Tags: Mercy, Sin, Evil, Salvation, Cross  (view more)  (view less)

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

What Are The Five Solas Of The Reformation?

Contributed by Garris Hudson on Nov 11, 2024

What are the 5 Solas of the Reformation? The 5 “Solas” of the Reformation (“solas,” meaning, “alones”) are five principles that are foundational to the doctrine of salvation that were the focus of the Protestant Reformation. These five "solas" led to the rejection of the false teachings ...read more

Scripture: Ephesians 2:8-9, Titus 3:5, Romans 5:1-8

Tags: Faith, Grace, Scripture, Sin, Salvation, Theology, Glory Of God, Reformation  (view more)  (view less)

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

You Shall Know The Truth - But First It Might Make You Miserable!

Contributed by Garris Hudson on Nov 12, 2024

A police officer pulls over a speeding car. The officer says, ‘I clocked you at 80 miles per hour, sir.’ The driver says, ‘Oh my, officer I had it on cruise control at 60; perhaps your radar gun needs calibrating.’ Not looking up from her knitting the wife says, ‘Now don’t be silly dear, you ...read more

Scripture: John 17:17, John 14:6, Ephesians 4:15

Tags: Marriage, Truth, Honesty, Ten Commandments, Lying, Husbands, Wives, Drinking, Police Officers  (view more)  (view less)

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

Be Careful What You Imitate

Contributed by Roger Hasselquist on Nov 17, 2024

In the late 1990s, aspiring actor and writer Johnny Knoxville had moved from Knoxville, Tennessee to Los Angeles, California, and landed work in commercials in order to support his wife and infant daughter. Among his ideas was one to produce an article that involved testing various self-defense ...read more

Scripture: 3 John 1:11, Ephesians 5:1-2

Tags: Imitate, Bad Examples, Good Examples, Johnny Knoxville

Denomination: Christian/Church Of Christ

The Ocean Of Understanding Awaits

Contributed by Andrew Moffatt on Dec 22, 2024

Many saved by grace through faith in Christ wait on the shore of a great ocean. For them great opportunities to serve, encounter life change, and gain deeper understanding of God and their fellow man awaits. All ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 6:33, Ephesians 2:8-9

Tags: Faith, Belief, Understanding, Ocean, Depth, Kingdom Of God, Shore  (view more)  (view less)

Denomination: Salvation Army

Prayer For New Year

Contributed by Samuel M on Jan 4, 2025

Let you find Christ in greater measure this year satisfying your needs, nourishing your heart, guiding and leading you through still and dark waters. Let not a day pass by without seeing the face of Jesus. Let Jesus become real to you and everything else fade away. Let his face be the first thing ...read more

Scripture: Ephesians 4:7

Tags: Faith, Hope