In Sermon Illustrations: "First Things"

When We Reach For The Sponge That We Use To Wipe ...

Contributed by Davon Huss on Feb 5, 2008

When we reach for the sponge that we use to wipe off the counter, the first thing we do is get the sponge wet, because the sponge is crispy and crusty and hard and brittle, and we can’t use the sponge for anything until we get it wet. People come with crusty and hard hearts. Take that hard heart ...read more

Denomination: Christian/Church Of Christ

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

It Is An Old & Familiar Story, But Let Me Use It ...  PRO

Contributed by Melvin Newland on Aug 14, 2001

It is an old & familiar story, but let me use it again. Yakov Smirnoff, the Russian comedian, wrote a book, "Seeing the USA on Six Rubles a Day." In it he tells about being overwhelmed when he first entered an American supermarket & saw the great variety of products there. He just couldn’t ...read more

Tags: Government

Denomination: Christian/Church Of Christ

In Bear Gryll's Show "Man Vs. Wild." Bear Is ...

Contributed by Todd Pugh on Jan 14, 2008

In Bear Gryll’s show “Man Vs. Wild.” Bear is constantly dropping himself into life and death scenarios in order to show you how to survive in the harshest environments. He strands himself in popular wilderness destinations where tourists often find themselves lost or in danger and he tells the ...read more

Denomination: Pentecostal

Comeback Churches  PRO

Contributed by Bobby Scobey on Oct 31, 2007

In his book Comeback Churches, Ed Stetzer said: Comeback churches cast a compelling vision for outreach. They made intentional, strategic efforts to move outward. ** - The main reason a church does not grow is that it doesn’t want to grow. Everyone in the church should be engaged in three ...read more

Denomination: Pentecostal

Hope Brings Survival

Contributed by Sermon Central on Feb 10, 2009

HOPE BRINGS SURVIVAL Viktor Frankl, Austrian psychologist, survived death camps of Nazi Germany. Frankl was determined to know why some survived and some did not. He looked at several factors: health, vitality, family, survival skills, intelligence. He concluded that none of these factors was ...read more

Tags: God Brings Hope

There Are Many Ways To Lie. Paul Uses The Word ...

Contributed by Clark Tanner on Aug 22, 2003

"There are many ways to lie. Paul uses the word falsehood. That word covers a wider scope. When I say, ‘don’t lie‘, the first thing that would come to your mind is that you shouldn’t tell a lie; speak an untruth. But we can lie with a glance. We can lie by our silence. We can lie with a ...read more

Scripture: John 8:44

Tags: Commandments Testimony

Denomination: Orthodox

Dr. Ernest Mellor Writes: "Recently My Wife And ...

Contributed by Mark Brunner on Jul 22, 2005

Dr. Ernest Mellor writes: “Recently my wife and I sat charmed at an outdoor performance by young Suzuki violin students. After the concert, an instructor spoke briefly on how children as young as two, three and four years old are taught to play violin. ‘The first thing the children learn,’ he said, ...read more

Scripture: Numbers 10:29-32

Tags: Forgiveness General

Denomination: Lutheran

Pastor Jack Hyles Once Wrote That, "When The ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Apr 10, 2008

Pastor Jack Hyles once wrote that, “When the average person thinks of eternal life, the first thing that would enter into his mind is endless life. Certainly endless life is included in eternal life, but there is far more than endlessness to eternal life. It is not only endless, but it is ...read more

Father's Day Top 10 List Of Things You've Been Itchin' To Say  PRO

Contributed by Donald Smith on Apr 23, 2003

THE FATHER'S DAY TOP TEN LIST OF THINGS YOU'VE BEEN ITCHIN'TO SAY FOR YEARS NOW... We often hear "the rules" from the feminine side. Ok - well now hear the guys’ side - it’s only fair - - realizing of course that Father’s Day is the only day of the year we could get away with it!) #10 Whenever ...read more

Tags: Father's Day, Parenting

Denomination: Methodist

A Father's Protection

Contributed by Perry Greene on Mar 8, 2012

A FATHER'S PROTECTION Certain Native American tribes had a rite of passage for their teenage boys. At age 13 a boy would be blindfolded and led to a certain spot in the woods. He would be forced to sit down while the men of the tribe returned to their camp. The boy would be required to sit all ...read more

Tags: God In The Hardships

Denomination: Christian/Church Of Christ

Telling A Secret

Contributed by Rick Gillespie- Mobley on Dec 18, 2012

Is there anybody here who has ever told somebody a secret? What’s the first thing you say, when you are about to tell somebody a secret? Right-Don’t tell anybody. But if the secret is some really good news, and you’re the person who is being told the secret, your face lights up, your eyes get ...read more

Tags: Joy

Denomination: Presbyterian/Reformed

The Way Of Sanctification Is The Way Of Spiritual ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Apr 2, 2008

The way of sanctification is the way of spiritual refreshment from the presence of the Lord. Picture your house when you go away for an extended vacation. You shut up the house and close all the blinds. While you’re gone the air becomes stale and musty. When you return the first thing you do is ...read more

Surrounded By Idiots

Contributed by Ed Vasicek on Aug 10, 2021

Do you ever feel like you are surrounded by idiots? One web site collected stories… I was signing the receipt for my credit card purchase when the clerk noticed that I had never signed my name on the back of the credit card. She informed me that she could not complete the transaction ...read more

Scripture: Proverbs 29:5-7

Tags: Sense, Brains, Idiots, Dumb Things We Do, Halfwit, Stupid  (view more)  (view less)

Denomination: Independent/Bible

When I Was In South Africa, A Fine, Handsome ...  PRO

Contributed by Donnie Martin on Apr 7, 2003

When I was in South Africa, a fine, handsome Dutchman came into my service, and God laid his hand on him and convicted him of sin. The next morning he went to the beautiful home of another Dutchman and said to him, “Do you recognize that old watch?” “Why, yes,” answered the other. “Those are ...read more

Tags: Sin General

Denomination: Baptist

I Was Officiating At A Wedding In The Niagara ...  PRO

Contributed by Rev. Matthew Parker on Oct 2, 2005

I was officiating at a wedding in the Niagara region on Friday, and an older man - a friend of the bride’s family - spoke to me about his spiritual journey. At one point he said, “I know the first thing that I’d like to ask God when I see him face to face”. I thought he might say that he wanted to ...read more

Tags: God's Forgiveness, God's Provision

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

M.a. Rosanoff Had Worked Futilely For Over A ...

Contributed by John Shearhart on Jul 5, 2006

"M.A. Rosanoff had worked futilely for over a year to soften the wax of phonograph cylinders by altering their chemical constitution. He tells how he mused night after night trying to ’mentally cough up’ every theoretical and practical solution: "Then it came like a flash of lightning. I could not ...read more

Tags: Bible Influence

A Friend In Montana Told Me About A Sheepherder ...  PRO

Contributed by Josh Hunt on Feb 13, 2012

A friend in Montana told me about a sheepherder who discovered oil on his land and became enormously rich. One of the first things he bought was a Rolls Royce limousine, the kind usually driven by a chauffeur who sits in front of a glass partition. When the sheepherder brought this splendid car in ...read more

Scripture: Luke 16:13

Tags: Money, Materialism

Denomination: Baptist

A Supermarket In The Midwest Could Not ...  PRO

Contributed by Sermon Central on Jun 18, 2007

A supermarket in the Midwest could not understand why at a certain time every winter there sales plummeted. They studied their product line and interviewed customers. They did everything possible to uncover the mystery. Finally someone made a remarkable discovery that changed everything. It seemed ...read more

Tags: Faith General

How Important Is Character To Me Personally? – ...

Contributed by David Swanger on Jul 13, 2007

. How important is character to me personally? – Soon after moving to Pulaski my children, Josh and Britney were eight and six. We walked out of Bi-Lo one day and when I put my quarter into a coke machine out came not one but two cokes. I told Josh and Britney to go on to the car where their ...read more

Denomination: Christian/Church Of Christ