In Sermon Illustrations: "Genesis 1 1 2 4a"

The Wrong Kind Of Loyalty

Contributed by Sermon Central on Mar 12, 2009

THE WRONG KIND OF LOYALTY There is a story of a Japanese soldier, Lt. Hiroo Onada, left on the island Lubang in the Philippines on December 25, 1944, with the command to "carry on the mission, even if Japan surrenders." Onada continued his war alone. All efforts to convince him to surrender or to ...read more

Tags: Christian Witness

Buyer's Remorse And A Dead ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Mar 13, 2009

BUYER’S REMORSE AND A DEAD DONKEY A city boy, Kenny, moved to the country and bought a donkey from an old farmer for $100.00. The farmer agreed to deliver the donkey the next day. The next day the farmer drove up and said, "Sorry son, but I have some bad news, the donkey died." Kenny replied, ...read more

Scripture: Luke 16:10

Tags: Lies

One Mountain Too Many

Contributed by Sermon Central on Mar 13, 2009

ONE MOUNTAIN TOO MANY "No one has the right to an activity that can cause so much suffering and pain to others just so they can do something fun." Those are the words of Karl Purnell who lost his 28 year-old son Chris to an avalanche when Chris was ice-climbing in Canada. You can hear and maybe ...read more

Scripture: Deuteronomy 12:29-31

Tags: Idolatry

Personal Property In The ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Mar 13, 2009

PERSONAL PROPERTY IN THE BIBLE Larry Burkett, the founder of Christian Financial Concepts, points out that the bible--with more than 700 references to money--says more about economics than many other subjects. He writes: "Money is such an important subject that nearly two-thirds of the parables ...read more

Tags: Materialism

Girls Growing Up Too Fast

Contributed by Sermon Central on Apr 14, 2009

GIRLS GROWING UP TOO FAST A study by Girlguiding reveals 3 leading potential "triggers" for serious mental health problems in girls: premature sexualization, commercialization and alcohol misuse. The report reveals a loss of childhood innocence and says girls today experience high levels of ...read more

Tags: Children

Your God Is Too ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Apr 27, 2009

YOUR GOD IS TOO SAFE The words that Mark Buchanan wrote of his own experience in his book entitled "Your God Is Too Safe." He wrote that when he was saved, "I hit the ground running. Immediately, I volunteered for everything, anything, that I felt vaguely interested in and marginally qualified ...read more

Scripture: Luke 19:41-45

Tags: Zeal

Radical Revival

Contributed by Sermon Central on Apr 28, 2009

RADICAL REVIVAL Dr. J. Edwin Orr states, "I am convinced that more work for God could be done in six months of revival than in sixty years of any other kind of effort." If we as a church begin doing the work we are appointed with a touch of the radical, we will see more done in six months of ...read more

Scripture: Mark 2:1-12

Tags: Evangelism How To

All Part Of God's Plan  PRO

Contributed by Sermon Central on Apr 28, 2009

ALL PART OF GOD’S PLAN In the opening pages of his autobiography, "An American Life," Ronald Reagan writes, I was raised to believe that God had a plan for everyone and that seemingly random twists of fate are all a part of His plan. My mother - a small woman with auburn hair and a sense of ...read more

Scripture: Jeremiah 29:11

Tags: God In The Hardships

Roy Whetstine Was A Rock Collector Who Two Sons ...

Contributed by Mark Eberly on Jun 8, 2009

Roy Whetstine was a rock collector whose two sons each had given him five dollars to buy a rock for them at a rock show. One table had a Tupperware container with a large potato-sized rock surrounded by a lot of agates. The sign read: “Any stone $15.” Roy picked up the big rock and asked, “You want ...read more

Tags: Parable Treasure

Denomination: Church Of God

We Are ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Jul 10, 2009

"WE ARE HERE" On the Fourth of July 1917, an American Army officer, Charles Stanton, stood in for General Pershing at a ceremony in Paris. The occasion, as the date suggests, was America’s Independence celebration, the Fourth of July. But it was not in America; it was in Paris, 1917, in a city and ...read more

Scripture: Hebrews 10:7-10

Tags: Obedience

When My Father Passed Away, I Remember Going To ...

Contributed by Jeff Kennedy on Sep 9, 2009

When my father passed away, I remember going to church that morning. Our family had only been attending that church for a few weeks, and my dad was on his way to work that morning to put in some overtime, and he was going to meet us at the late service. The pastor later told us that it was the ...read more

Tags: Strength, Grief

Denomination: *other

Demon-Possessed Man

Contributed by Daryl Grimes on Sep 25, 2009

DEMON-POSSESSED MAN People had written him off a long time ago. He was just a crazy lunatic that no one wanted anything to do with. They kept their children away, they kept their wives away and they kept themselves away. He lived like a pig, his body odor was almost unbearable and to make matters ...read more

Tags: Born Again

Denomination: Baptist

Nazarene

Contributed by Clark Tanner on Sep 28, 2009

NAZARENE God could have come to the earth and assumed immediately the role of King of the World, and who could have resisted Him? He could have come with great pomp and ceremony. He could have entered the world a Man full-grown with rings on every finger, wrapped in robes spun in the halls of ...read more

Tags: Jesus Life

Denomination: Orthodox

Your Best Isn't Good Enough

Contributed by Sermon Central on Feb 28, 2010

YOUR BEST ISN'T GOOD ENOUGH A pastor once went to a barber to get a haircut. All through the haircut, the pastor wanted to witness to the barber, but the barber kept talking non-stop and gave the pastor no chance to interrupt. Later, when the pastor was paying for the haircut, he asked the barber ...read more

Scripture: Ephesians 2:8-9

Tags: Faith Vs. Works

William Cowper's

Contributed by Sermon Central on Mar 22, 2010

William Cowper’s "On Opening a Place for Social Prayer" In considering the audience of prayer, properly put, it is God, yet, it is the company of others that deserves prayer. William Cowper wrote this entitled: "On Opening a Place for Social Prayer" Jesus! where’er Thy people meet, There they ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 6:5-15

Tags: Prayer, Prayer General

Peer Pressure In The ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Apr 9, 2010

Peer Pressure in the Classroom A few years ago psychologist Ruth W. Berenda and her associates carried out an interesting experiment with teenagers designed to show how a person handled group pressure. The plan was simple. They brought groups of ten adolescents into a room for a test. Subsequently, ...read more

Scripture: Romans 12:2

Tags: Youth

Are You A Chief Student?

Contributed by Ed Vasicek on Dec 27, 2010

ARE YOU A CHIEF STUDENT? David Friedman, in They Loved the Torah p. 61 comments about Peter (Shim'on): I see Shim'on as Yeshua's Torah-observant....talmid hakham...a Hebrew technical term meaning the leading student (of a rabbi). Every famous rabbi who daily taught the same students had a talmid ...read more

Tags: Discipleship

Denomination: Independent/Bible

Warfield's Faithfulness  PRO

Contributed by Sermon Central on Mar 28, 2011

WARFIELD'S FAITHFULNESS There’s an old story about Dr. Benjamin Warfield. He was a theology professor at Princeton Seminary. While he was still at the height of his academic powers, his wife got sick. And she became an invalid. He took care of her for ten years. During that ten year period, he ...read more

Scripture: Ephesians 5:25-33

Tags: Marriage Faithfulness

Never, Never Be Late  PRO

Contributed by Sermon Central on Apr 17, 2011

NEVER, NEVER BE LATE A local priest was being honored at his retirement dinner after 25 years in the parish. A leading local politician and member of the congregation was chosen to make the presentation and to give a little speech at the dinner. However, he was delayed so the priest decided to say ...read more

Scripture: James 5:13-16

Tags: Confession Of Sin

A Dying Church  PRO

Contributed by Sermon Central on May 5, 2011

A DYING CHURCH An artist was once asked to put on canvas what he considered to be the picture best symbolizing a decaying and dying church. After several months, he returned and reported that he had finished the task. The hour finally arrived when the painting was to be unveiled. Several people ...read more

Scripture: Revelation 3:1-6

Tags: Church Growth