In Sermon Illustrations: "Focused Living"

Beatitudes For Marriage

Contributed by Garris Hudson on Jan 30, 2020

We all know and love the Beatitudes for what they mean to our own personal lives, but recently I sensed the Lord leading me to write down how these guidelines for Kingdom citizens affected the lives of married couples. The results were received very powerfully by our amazing church family: Poor ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 5:1-12

Tags: Marriage, Prayer, Beatitudes, Couples

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

As For Me — "Henry"

Contributed by Sermon Central on Apr 9, 2009

AS FOR ME -- "Henry" Dangling over eternity are many unlearned souls, Gripping the bands of God’s mercy, Stretching them all they can go, Living the most deceptive nightmare, As it is written, they are living a lie, They can’t even allow themselves the luxury of breaking down to cry, Unable to ...read more

Scripture: Proverbs 14:12

Tags: Endurance

The Bible Is A Survivor

Contributed by Sermon Central on Feb 6, 2010

THE BIBLE IS A SURVIVOR The inspiration of the Bible is seen in its unique survival. All through history it has been a hated book for certain people because of its claim to be the word of the living God. But in spite of all attempts at times by emperors, dictators and totalitarian governments to ...read more

Scripture: 2 Timothy 3:16-17

Tags: Bible Influence

The Privilege Of Praying To God As Our ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on May 26, 2010

The Privilege of Praying to God as Our Father The great preacher, teacher, and well-known speaker, Rev. Haddon W. Robinson, in his book entitled "What Jesus Said About Successful Living: Principles from the Sermon on the Mount for Today," writes, "In the Old Testament, the Israelites did not ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 6:5-15

Tags: Prayer General, Children Of The King

How A Pastor Loved His Enemy

Contributed by Garris Hudson on Feb 2, 2023

In The Grace of Giving, Stephen Olford tells of a Baptist pastor during the American Revolution, Peter Miller, who lived in Ephrata, Pennsylvania, and enjoyed the friendship of George Washington. In Ephrata also lived Michael Wittman, an evil-minded sort who did all he could to oppose and ...read more

Scripture: Galatians 5:19-23

Tags: Love, Forgiveness, Hate, Pastors, Churches, Enemies, Division  (view more)  (view less)

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

Unrealistic Expectations

Contributed by J Jeffrey Smead on Feb 2, 2026

Often times ... we may have ... unrealistic expectations. For example, ... if I have an expectation ... that my wife Lee will cook a 4-course meal every night. And she expects ... that I will take her out to eat every night. Well ...we are both going to be ... very disappointed. Not because ...read more

Scripture: John 6:26-64

Tags: Disappointed, Commitment, Image, Expectations

Denomination: Anglican

Gives Us Sight

Contributed by Sermon Central on Dec 28, 2008

GIVES US SIGHT An obstetrician approached an anxious father in the waiting room of a New York City hospital and said, "I am sorry to inform you, but your baby lived but two hours after his birth. We did everything we could to save his life." As the sympathetic doctor was about to leave, the quick ...read more

Tags: Christmas

Rick Warren And Colossians 3:2

Contributed by Dale Pilgrim on Jan 5, 2009

RICK WARREN AND COLOSSIANS 3:2 Rick Warren's Purpose Driven Life book earned $9 million in first quarter of its release. Rick told God he didn’t need the money, it wasn’t about the money. What did he do? He searched the Bible. Here’s his answer to his interview with David Kuo of Beliefnet. "I ...read more

Tags: Commitment To Christ

Denomination: Salvation Army

Is God In Residence?

Contributed by Johnny Wilson on Feb 27, 2009

IS GOD IN RESIDENCE? I once saw a poster of a valentine-shaped heart with a castle on top of it. There was a flag with a slogan, oversized and coming out of the top of the castle. The slogan read: "Joy is the banner flown from the heart when the King is in residence." Well, stupid me, I didn’t ...read more

Tags: Joy

Denomination: *other

Overcoming The Loss Of Hands And Feet

Contributed by Rick Crandall on Jul 16, 2008

David and Becky Guinn have been on my mind this past week. In 1997, the Lord blessed me to go with David on a mission trip to Ukraine. It was a life-changing experience for me. David and Becky deeply love the Lord. They have faithfully served the Lord for years in college ministry, mission work and ...read more

Scripture: Philippians 2:25-30, Matthew 12:9-15, 2 Timothy 1:1-12

Tags: Faith, Perseverance, Overcome Difficulty

Denomination: Baptist

Crucified With Christ

Contributed by Terry Laughlin on Aug 11, 2008

Crucified With Christ "The Christian's Passion" Jesus said, "If anyone would come after Me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow Me" (Luke 9:23). We have just passed Easter--celebrating what Christ did for us on Calvary and the victory He won over sin and death. The Bible ...read more

Scripture: Luke 9:23

Tags: Easter Good Friday

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

Blessed Are The Merciful

Contributed by Terry Laughlin on Aug 11, 2008

Blessed Are The Merciful In the Sermon on the Mount, we notice that Jesus' subject was not on how people are to be saved, but on the fruit of those who allow the Holy Spirit to work in their lives. One of the signs or evidences that a person has been converted is that he is now merciful. ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 5:7

Tags: Character

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

A Musician And An Instrument Unite To Produce ...  PRO

Contributed by Bradley White-Findeisen on Feb 7, 2001

A musician and an instrument unite to produce sounds which neither would produce without the other. We are living instruments fashioned by the divine Instrument Maker with greater sophistication than any man-made instrument, having our own creativity. Like an instrument maker with his cherished ...read more

Scripture: Proverbs 1:1

Tags: Church Body Of Christ, Gifts General

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

Christian Contradictions, Citation: Joseph Roy, ...  PRO

Contributed by A. Todd Coget on Jun 21, 2001

[Christian Contradictions, Citation: Joseph Roy, Leadership, Vol. 5, no. 4.] A true Christian is a sign of contradiction--a living symbol of the Cross. He or she is a person who believes the unbelievable, bears the unbearable, forgives the unforgivable, loves the unlovable, is perfectly happy not ...read more

Scripture: Romans 8:31-39

Tags: Character, Basics Of Christianity, Christian Values

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

Somewhere Along The Line, Most Of Us Bought ...  PRO

Contributed by Paul Kuzma on Jan 2, 2002

“Somewhere along the line, most of us bought into productivity as a chief value in life. The lie that came along with this value was that the more we work, the greater would be the productivity. The end result: rest is dangerous to productivity. We can only rest after the work is done. This is ...read more

Tags: Commandments Sabbath, Peace, Workplace Balance

Denomination: Foursquare

A Wired Generation: Those Between Ages 10 And 17 ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Jan 10, 2006

A Wired Generation: Those between ages 10 and 17 will center much of their life around the Internet. They will spend over 23 years of their lives online. They will send an average of 304,000 e-mails and just 265 hand-written love notes. 66% of all marriages will ...read more

Tags: Children

Fifty Years From Now, It Will Not Matter What ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Feb 8, 2006

Fifty years from now, it will not matter what kind of car you drove, what kind of house you lived in, how much you had in your bank account, or what your clothes looked like, But the world may be a little better because you were important in the life ...read more

Tags: Children

The Idea Of A Substitutionary Christ Accepted As ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Feb 8, 2006

"The idea of a substitutionary Christ accepted as an outward covering or refuge, instead of the power of "an endless life," is a cheat of the devil, and has been the ruin of thousands of souls. I fear this view of Christ, so persistently preached in the present day, encourages thousands in a false ...read more

Tags: Jesus Christ

Night And Day I Pondered Until I Saw The ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Feb 8, 2006

"Night and day I pondered until I saw the connection between the justice of God and the statement that ’the just shall live by his faith.’ Then I grasped that the justice of God is that righteousness by which through grace and sheer mercy God justifies us through faith. Thereupon ...read more

Tags: Faith General

In The Taurus Mountains Of Southern Turkey, ...  PRO

Contributed by Vinnie Cappetta on Apr 19, 2006

In the Taurus Mountains of southern Turkey, lives a certain variety of crane. These birds tend to cackle a lot, especially while flying. And, all that noise gets the attention of eagles, which swoop down and seize them for a meal. The experienced cranes avoid this threat by picking up stones large ...read more

Tags: Christian Disciplines

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational