In Sermon Illustrations: "Fear And Worry"

They're Not Ready For Heaven

Contributed by Sermon Central on Aug 25, 2011

THEY'RE NOT READY FOR HEAVEN The movie The End of the Spear tells the true story of five missionaries who gave their lives to reach the violent Waodoni tribe in the jungles of Ecuador in the 1950s. Led by Nate Saint, the missionaries were eager to reach the Waodoni people before they all died off ...read more

Scripture: 1 Peter 4:12-19

Tags: Missions

Donald Trump's Thoughts About Death

Contributed by Sermon Central on Jun 4, 2012

DONALD TRUMP'S THOUGHTS ABOUT DEATH Billionaire Donald Trump was asked one time, "What about death?" the writer asked. "Don't you worry about dying?" Trump said, "No. I'm fatalistic and I protect myself as well as anybody can. I prepare for things." This time, however, as Trump started walking up ...read more

Scripture: Luke 18:18-30

Tags: Death

A Tragic Dream Fulfilled--The Case Of Robert ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Aug 1, 2012

A TRAGIC DREAM FULFILLED--THE CASE OF ROBERT BURNS Robert Burns, the famous poet, occasionally had times of serious reflection of the state of his soul. He recorded one of those times when he compared himself to the review of his past life. He wrote that he was like a lonely man walking amidst the ...read more

Scripture: Luke 8:4-15

Tags: Parable Sower And Seed

The Umpire's Revenge  PRO

Contributed by Josh Hunt on Mar 6, 2013

THE UMPIRE'S REVENGE Forgiveness begins when we give up the quest to get even. This is difficult, because getting even is the natural obsession of the wounded soul. Stories about getting even always capture our attention. It wouldn’t surprise me if revenge is the theme of as many as half the ...read more

Scripture: Ephesians 4:32

Tags: Forgiveness General

Denomination: Baptist

Rain Man Doesn't Understand Inheritance

Contributed by David Ward on Feb 25, 2016

"Rain Man" was the top moneymaking film of 1988, and also won the Oscar for Best Picture. It tells the story of an abrasive and selfish wheeler-dealer named Charlie (Tom Cruise), who discovers that his estranged father has died and bequeathed all of his multimillion-dollar estate to his other son, ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 6:19-34

Tags: Eternal Inheritance, Treasures In Heaven, Priorities, Wealth And Riches

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

Does Anybody Know Who Has Won The Most Ncaa ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Jun 18, 2007

Does anybody know who has won the most NCAA national championships in men’s basketball? It was John Wooden - the coach of the UCLA Bruins. He won all those championships because he focused on. He created TEAMS. If you watch many basketball matchups, you’ll see that many teams have a “go-to” guy who ...read more

Tags: Church Body Of Christ

There Was A College Girl Who Wrote This Letter ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Jun 18, 2007

There was a college girl who wrote this letter to her Dad: Dear Dad, Sorry I haven’t written sooner. My arm really has been broken. I broke it, and my left leg, when I jumped from the second floor of my dormitory . . . when we had the fire. We were lucky. A young service station attendant saw the ...read more

Tags: Joy

Blame

Contributed by Sermon Central on Jun 18, 2007

Blame In a recent Peanuts cartoon, Lucy approaches Charlie Brown with a paper and pen and says, “Here, sign this. It absolves me from all blame”. Then she goes to Shroeder with the same paper and says, “Here, sign this. It absolves me from all blame”. Finally she comes to Linus: “Here, sign this. ...read more

Tags: God In The Hardships

The Year Was 1992 I Was Playing Baseball At ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Jun 18, 2007

The year was 1992 I was playing baseball at Campbell (the fighting camels). I was playing shortstop a position I had played for about 13 years. I was fielding balls keeping my bottom down and I have to admit I thought I was a pretty good fielder. Yet all my life I had struggled with my batting. It ...read more

Tags: Guilt

These Are Actual Answering Machine Answers ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Jun 18, 2007

These are actual answering machine answers recorded and verified by the world-famous International Institute of Answering Machine Answers *Hello, you are talking to a machine. I am capable of receiving messages. My owners do not need siding, windows, or a hot tub, and their carpets are clean. They ...read more

Tags: Faith

We Can Glorify God By How We React To Life And ...

Contributed by Richard Schwedes on Mar 9, 2008

We can glorify God by how we react to life and death. Some of you know Dorothy Krist a lady who was a member of our congregation for over 20 years. For much of that time Dorothy had cancer. And she encouraged me to use her story whenever I saw fit. She spent the last three months of her life in ...read more

Denomination: Lutheran

Once You Are A Christian, God Intends To Use You ...  PRO

Contributed by Sermon Central on Apr 8, 2008

Once you are a Christian, God intends to use you for His goals. God has a MINISTRY for you in His Church and a MISSION for you in the world! Regardless of your job of career, you are called by God to FULL-TIME CHRISTIAN SERVICE! If you are not involved in any service or ministry, what excuse are ...read more

Tags: Samson

I Love You ...

Contributed by Eric Ferguson on May 9, 2008

ILLUSTRATION: I LOVE YOU ANYWAY Overcoming the odds is like the man who finally decided to ask his boss for a raise in salary. It was Friday. He told his wife that morning what he was about to do, All day the man felt nervous and apprehensive. Late in the afternoon he summoned the courage to ...read more

Tags: Unconditional Love

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

Set Free  PRO

Contributed by Sermon Central on Sep 2, 2008

SET FREE A man said to his pastor: “I am a miserable sinner and there is no help available for me. I have prayed to God, I have tried to be good and I have tried to do the right thing at the right time, but I always seem to fail.” The pastor asked him: “Do you believe in the life, the death, and ...read more

Scripture: Romans 8:1-17

Tags: Forgiveness In Jesus

In The 1500s, Martin Luther Wrote "The Bondage Of ...

Contributed by Glenn Durham on Sep 30, 2008

In the 1500s, Martin Luther wrote "The Bondage of the Will" to defend the Biblical teaching of the depravity of our nature and our slavery to sin. Luther's work was in answer to the writings of Erasmus on free will. Of Erasmus' defense of free will, Luther wrote: "Your book struck me as so ...read more

Tags: Calvinism

Denomination: Presbyterian/Reformed

Some Of You Know Helen Schaaf. I Shared With The ...

Contributed by Paul Carlson on Feb 16, 2009

Some of you know Helen Schaaf. I shared with the church her current physical struggles a few weeks ago. She had debilitating back pain that was making walking excruciatingly painful; finally, her doctor diagnosed a treatment for her. She had an injection in her spine so that she could walk ...read more

Tags: Suffering Joy In

Denomination: Baptist

He'll Find Me

Contributed by Sermon Central on Jun 20, 2022

Two men have ended up marooned on an island in the South Pacific. On the deserted island is one palm tree and nothing to see but the ocean. One guy is in a complete panic, pacing back and forth, ranting about how they are going to die, hungry and alone, that nobody will stumble on them until they ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 6:2-4

Tags: Tithes, Offerings, Giving

The Church That Voted God Out!

Contributed by Dr. Larry Petton on Jan 28, 2024

The story is told about a poor woman who lived across the tracks and wanted to join a very fashionable church. She talked to the pastor about it, but he sought to discourage her. He suggested she go home and think about it carefully for a week. At the end of the week she came back. He said, “Go ...read more

Scripture: James 2:1-12

Tags: Church, Revival, Favoritism, Pastors, Membership, Partiality  (view more)  (view less)

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

Green Thumb Versus Black And Blue Thumb

Contributed by James Snyder on Oct 16, 2021

If you came to our parsonage, you would discover all over our property, plants and flowers. Just don’t ask me to identify what they are. I can tell a plant from a flower, but that’s as far as it goes with me. That is not true with the Gracious Mistress of the Parsonage. She gets all the credit for ...read more

Scripture: 1 Thessalonians 5:11

Tags: Unity, Differences

Denomination: Christian Missionary Alliance

A Click And A Pop-Up Menu! ...  PRO

Contributed by Mark Brunner on Jun 28, 2005

A Click and a Pop-Up Menu! (06.30.05--Direction--John 21:15-19 ) Just being in love is not enough especially when you are considering spending the rest of your life in that condition. Internet romance is on a real boom swing around the world. Only a few short years ago anyone who “dated” on ...read more

Scripture: John 21:15-19

Tags: Romantic Love

Denomination: Lutheran