In Sermon Illustrations: "Excited About Preaching"

He Wants To Be With His Master

Contributed by Sermon Central on Aug 29, 2011

HE WANTS TO BE WITH HIS MASTER Today’s story is about an old country doctor that dates back to the late 1930s when doctors made house calls. Isaac Pender was his name. Everyone in the area for two reasons respected him. First, he was an excellent doctor who provided compassion care for his ...read more

Scripture: John 14:1-4

Tags: Heaven

God Bless America: Be Specific

Contributed by Mark Stepherson on Oct 13, 2011

GOD BLESS AMERICA: BE SPECIFIC The blind man's first request is for Jesus to have mercy on him. Jesus asks him specifically, "What do you want me to do for you?" He answers specifically, "Lord, I want to see." "God bless America," is a very general prayer. It may be as specific a prayer as ...read more

Tags: Prayer How To

Denomination: Baptist

The Tree Of Hippocrates

Contributed by Kelly Mitchell on Oct 3, 2012

The Tree of Hippocrates On the island of Kos, the home of Hippocrates, the great physician from whom we get the “Hippocratic Oath”, there grows a tree that history says Hippocrates himself once gathered his students for class. Although the current tree is only about 500 years old, it is purported ...read more

Scripture: Luke 6:46-49

Tags: Revival, Restoration, Church Growth, Church Practices

Denomination: Baptist

The Mirror  PRO

Contributed by Eric Ferguson on May 21, 2008

THE MIRROR Author Robert Fulghum tells this story of one of his professors, a wise man whose name was Alexander Papaderos: At the last session on the last morning of a two week seminar on Greek culture, Dr. Papaderos turned and made the ritual gesture: "Are there any questions?" Quiet quilted ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 5:16

Tags: God Brings Hope

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

Christ: An All-Access Pass

Contributed by Hal Seed on Aug 21, 2008

CHRIST: AN ALL-ACCESS PASS Mark and Susie Alderson have been attending New Song since what we call our "portable days." In the early days of the church, we would pack a trailer full of equipment, unload it at a local school, hold church there, and then pack up and put the trailer away. Mark is ...read more

Tags: Grace

Denomination: Baptist

The ...

Contributed by Eric Ferguson on Aug 22, 2008

The Mirror Author Robert Fulghum tells this story of one of his professors, a wise man whose name was Alexander Papaderos: At the last session on the last morning of a two-week seminar on Greek culture, Dr. Papaderos turned and made the ritual gesture: "Are there any questions?" Quiet quilted ...read more

Tags: Self

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

Many Years Ago Now I Served A Small-Town Church ...

Contributed by Bruce Emmert on Sep 22, 2008

Many years ago now I served a small-town church in north central Kansas. The first week I was there two elderly ladies—twins named Mamie and Edith—asked me to visit them. They wanted to talk about being baptized and joining the church. They went to church every Sunday. As faithful and sweet as ...read more

Tags: Baptism

Denomination: United Methodist

Fear In The Work Cubicle

Contributed by Troy Borst on Apr 4, 2015

IN THE WORK CUBICLE (p) It’s a normal day at the office. You got to work 5 minutes late like usual. You find your normal parking place open and you whip your car into the spot and grab all that you need from the passenger seat. You are soon in the elevator heading to your floor. The elevator ...read more

Scripture: 1 Peter 3:15

Tags: Evangelism, Workplace, Sharing Christ, Workplace Evangelism

Denomination: Christian/Church Of Christ

Charles Colson Tells The Story Of Being On Th...

Contributed by Tim Smith on May 28, 2015

Charles Colson tells the story of being on the Bill Buckley television program, talking about criminal justice reform. A few days later he got a call from Jack Eckerd, the founder of the Eckerd Drug chain, the second largest drug chain in America. He saw me on television and asked me to come to ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 7:13-16

Tags: True Repentance, Led By God

Denomination: Methodist

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

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

A Big Party Is Waiting For You At Home! (The Modern Prodigal Daughter)

Contributed by Garris Hudson on Mar 15, 2022

I think you are all familiar with the parable that we call the “Story of the Prodigal Son.” Well, I want us to consider it again with a little different twist. Listen to the story in a modern setting as told by Philip Yancey in his book “What’s so Amazing about Grace?” Yancey tells of a prodigal ...read more

Tags: Prodigal Son, Luke 15, Grace, Mercy, Forgiveness, Parables, Lost  (view more)  (view less)

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

Whatever Happened To Hell??

Contributed by Garris Hudson on Apr 18, 2022

Though it’s a frequently used word in the English language, it’s one of the least talked about. It’s used as an exclamation, an interjection, and a noun. What word is it? Hell. Pollsters tell us that most people who use the word don’t believe in the existence of Hell. While 90 percent of Americans ...read more

Tags: Truth, Judgment, Last Days, Liberalism, Evangelism, Hell, Death, Sin, Satan  (view more)  (view less)

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

Unsung Heroines-Esther’s Maidens

Contributed by Jonathan Spurlock on Apr 30, 2022

Introduction: Esther was a Jewish maiden who was selected to become Queen of the Persian Empire. The Book of Esther gives additional information about how she truly lived a dream come true. We’re not told how many girls from the Persian Empire were evaluated, but Esther won the contest and became ...read more

Scripture: Esther 4:15-17

Tags: Esther, Mordecai, Fasting, Unsung Heroines

Denomination: Baptist

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

Unsung Heroines-Peter’s Mother-In-Law

Contributed by Jonathan Spurlock on Jun 14, 2022

Introduction: She’s only mentioned once, but in three of the Gospels. Look what happened to this lady after she received healing from Jesus! Text: Here are the texts from each of the Gospels where this event is mentioned: Matthew 8:14-15, KJV: 14 And when Jesus was come into Peter's house, ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 8:14-15, Mark 1:29-31, Luke 4:38-39

Tags: Healings, Ministering, Unsung Heroines

Denomination: Baptist

Surface Level Fellowship

Contributed by Sermon Central on Aug 3, 2022

Bill Hybels recalls a time when “Dr. Bilezikian said there’s life-changing fellowship in biblically functioning community. That was a far cry from the childhood experience of a lot of his audience! The only kind of fellowship that many of his listeners had witnessed revolved around the fifteen or ...read more

Scripture: Proverbs 17:17

Tags: Fellowship, Community, Small Groups

No Room Giving?

Contributed by Wade Martin Hughes, Sr on Nov 26, 2022

NO ROOM… THE SAD STORY CONTINUES… In the early 70’s Linda and I were at my Mom and Dad’s for Christmas. We had no children. My Dad pastored 65 years, 42 in Frankfort, Ky. There were 5 of us children. We had a traditional spot where we all sat around the tree. Mom, my wife and my sister distributed ...read more

Scripture: Luke 6:33, 2 Corinthians 9:6

Tags: Giving, Purpose

Denomination: Assembly Of God

Misapplied Scriptures, Numbers 5:11ff: Abortion?

Contributed by Jonathan Spurlock on Sep 27, 2023

Introduction: By now we’ve seen a few examples where selected (!) Scriptures are taken out of context and used in ways the writers never intended. There are some people who flat-out either twist or attempt to misapply the Scriptures in a much more devious way. They’ll take or quote a passage that, ...read more

Scripture: Numbers 5:11-31

Tags: Spirit Of Jealousy, Abortion, Adultery, Misapplied Scriptures

Denomination: Baptist

For A Mother, A Child Is Never A Burden

Contributed by Jonathan Spurlock on Jan 27, 2024

Text, Exodus 19:4, KJV: Ye have seen what I did unto the Egyptians, and how I bare you on eagles' wings, and brought you unto myself. When was the last time you found anything inspiring, let alone inspirational, when you renew your car's license plate/s? A few days before I wrote this, ...read more

Scripture: Exodus 19:4

Tags: Eagle Wings, Children, Mothers

Denomination: Baptist