In Sermon Illustrations: "Genesis 17 1 7 15 16"

[033] A Message From A Poem – Belshazzar’s Time Had Ended

Contributed by Ron Ferguson on Feb 21, 2025

[033] A MESSAGE FROM A POEM – BELSHAZZAR’S TIME HAD ENDED The purpose of this poem is to retell the story from Daniel in poem form. There is not much to say about it for it follows the biblical narrative, but it is the last stanza that is important in defining biblical principles. God’s word ...read more

Scripture: 1 Thessalonians 1:10, Daniel 5:24-30

Tags: Wrath, Daniel, Judgment, Babylon, Belshazzar, Found Wanting  (view more)  (view less)

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

Mockery Of The Church

Contributed by Ed Vasicek on Feb 22, 2025

New Zealand, Feb. 26 [2016] (UPI) -- Members of the Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster, otherwise known as Pastafarians, registered their first official marriage celebrant in New Zealand. The group announced the news on its Facebook page, although the first couple that was set to be married by ...read more

Scripture: Galatians 6:7, 1 Timothy 3:15

Tags: Mocking The Church, Mocking Christianity, Ridiculous, Religion, Mockers, Mocking  (view more)  (view less)

Denomination: Independent/Bible

Factor In Fallenness

Contributed by John Bright on Mar 1, 2025

A few years ago, our congregation joined with many churches in the area praying for a 6-year-old boy with extremely aggressive form of brain cancer. Of course, we prayed for a full healing so that the boy could have a long life. He died within 6 months. His parents grew in their faith of a God ...read more

Scripture: Psalm 23:4, 1 Peter 3:17

Tags: Healing, Prayer, Suffering, Fallenness

Denomination: Methodist

[046]. A Message From A Poem – Christians In Response

Contributed by Ron Ferguson on Mar 6, 2025

[046]. A MESSAGE FROM A POEM – CHRISTIANS IN RESPONSE This is another poem where I make use of rhyming patterns. Each line has an internal rhyme separated by one syllable. Here it is explained – “My life was SPENT, and WENT its way, with worldly discord gained.” The rhyming scheme for the ...read more

Scripture: 1 John 4:19, Revelation 5:11-13

Tags: Praise, Christians, Response, Poetry, Poem, Death Of Christ  (view more)  (view less)

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

A Praying Mother

Contributed by Roger Hasselquist on May 12, 2025

Has your life been impacted by a sacrificial mother who would never give up? Never underestimate the power of a praying mother. Born in 1669, Susanna Wesley raised up two of Christianity’s most gifted leaders, John and Charles Wesley. Daily, as a mother, Susanna prayed, “Dear God, guide me. Make ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 20:20-28, 1 Samuel 1:10-16

Tags: Prayer, Mother, Susanna Wesley

Denomination: Christian/Church Of Christ

A Hint Of Heaven

Contributed by Dr. Fred W. Penney on May 22, 2025

“At present we are on the outside of the world, the wrong side of the door. We discern the freshness and purity of morning, but they do not make us fresh and pure. We cannot mingle with the splendours we see. But all the leaves of the New Testament are rustling with the rumour that it ...read more

Scripture: 1 Corinthians 15:42-54, John 14:1-4

Tags: Faith, Heaven, Eternal Life

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

Gift Of Complaining?

Contributed by Wade Martin Hughes, Sr on Sep 3, 2025

DO WE COMPLAIN TOO MUCH? Did you hear about the lady that prayed and asked God to bless her garden? Then she complained about having to hoe out the weeds. Then she complained about how hot it was? Then she complained about having to pick the tomatoes and the beans? Then she complained she had to ...read more

Scripture: Galatians 6:2, 1 Timothy 6:9-10

Tags: Thanks, Complaining

Denomination: Assembly Of God

Prayer

Contributed by Wade Martin Hughes, Sr on Sep 9, 2025

I read where a family bought a PRAYER BOOK for their son. Each night the boy would read a prayer before going to sleep. He was faithful to read a prayer. One night the boy was tired. He turned the light off and crawled into bed. He remember the prayer book. That night he called out to God: ...read more

Scripture: 1 Timothy 2:1, Matthew 21:13

Tags: Faith, Prayer

Denomination: Assembly Of God

Sin No Nym

Contributed by David Dunn on Sep 29, 2025

Sin No Nym Josie loved words. She liked to clap their sounds and spell them out. One day she wrote a big word on her paper: S I N N O N Y M She giggled. “Listen! It sounds like sin–no–name.” --- Word Play at Home Daddy peeked over. “That’s funny,” he said. “What do you think it ...read more

Scripture: 1 John 1:9, Psalm 103:12

Tags: Forgiveness, Grace

Denomination: Seventh-Day Adventist

The Boy And The Sprinkles

Contributed by David Dunn on Oct 20, 2025

He couldn’t have been more than seven or eight. A mop of brown hair, freckles across his nose, and a handful of coins jingling in his palm as he stepped up to the counter. “Ma’am,” he asked shyly, “how much is a scoop of vanilla ice cream?” The waitress smiled. “Fifty cents.” He nodded and ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 5:48, 1 Corinthians 13:4-7

Tags: Love, Humility, Gratitude, Generosity, Kindness  (view more)  (view less)

Denomination: Seventh-Day Adventist

[233]. A Message From A Poem - Remember Me Until I Come

Contributed by Ron Ferguson on Oct 21, 2025

[233]. A MESSAGE FROM A POEM - REMEMBER ME UNTIL I COME This poem was written as a Communion meditation with the view of being a Communion hymn. It uses a Metre 12 in the four lines. I adapted this for another poem based on this one using a Metre 10 that can be sung to various tunes. At the ...read more

Scripture: Galatians 2:20, 1 Corinthians 11:24-26

Tags: Passover, Cup, Remember Me, Christian Poetry, Christian Poems, Until I Come, Communion, Bread, Remember  (view more)  (view less)

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

Modern Jericho Road

Contributed by David Dunn on Nov 1, 2025

It was just after noon on a gray Thursday. Rick, a young grocery worker, had finished his shift and was heading home when a customer named Ian asked for a favor. Could Rick drive to Toronto to pick up an auto part? He’d lend him his new car and pay him a hundred dollars. Rick said yes. He ...read more

Scripture: Luke 10:33-35, 1 John 3:17

Tags: Compassion, Action

Denomination: Seventh-Day Adventist

Stuck In A Rut

Contributed by David Dunn on Nov 14, 2025

The U.S. standard railroad gauge—the width between the rails—is 4 feet, 8 ½ inches. Strange number, isn’t it? You’d think something so crucial would be more logical. So why that width? Because American railroads were built by British expatriates, and that’s how they did it in England. Why ...read more

Scripture: Romans 12:2, 1 Peter 1:18-19

Tags: Tradition, Transformation

Denomination: Seventh-Day Adventist

Natural And Special Revelation

Contributed by Rodelio Mallari on Apr 13, 2011

NATURAL AND SPECIAL REVELATION There are two types of revelation: natural and special. Natural revelation is that which is revealed about God through what we can see in creation (Rom. 1:20). Through creation we may learn that there is a God, that He is in control, that He has an order, and that He ...read more

Tags: Revelation

Denomination: *other

Gift Buyers: An Estimated 10% Of Today's $2.6 ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Jan 27, 2006

Gift Buyers: An estimated 10% of today’s $2.6 trillion retail market is spent to buy gifts for one person to give to another. For retailers that means 1 out of every 10 customers in their store has a gift shopping need. This offers marketers, the potential to expand their business by ...read more

Tags: Giving General

Why Pastors Leave: Researchers With Catholic ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Feb 3, 2006

Why Pastors Leave: Researchers with Catholic University of America, Washington, D.C., “found that tensions with church staff and laity and opportunities for better jobs were factors.” However, more than 1 out of every 4 of those who left a church reported that they were motivated by conflict with ...read more

Tags: Church General

Media Bias: Political Science Professors At Ucla ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Jan 27, 2006

Media Bias: Political science professors at UCLA and the University of Chicago ranked major media outlets according to observable liberal political bias. Here are rankings on a scale of 0-100, the more liberal, the higher the score. Wall Street Journal 85.1 New York Times 73.7 CBS Evening News ...read more

Tags: Truth

As We Fall In Love With Jesus, Our Hearts Change ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Jun 18, 2007

As we fall in love with Jesus, our hearts change and we WANT to keep His commandments. Paul calls this the “obedience of faith” (Romans 1:5) Tim Keller puts it this way: "Religion is — I obey ...read more

Tags: Bible Influence

Japan's Sea Wall

Contributed by Tim Hinrichs on May 31, 2011

JAPAN'S SEA WALL New York Times, April 16, 2011: So unshakable was this town's faith in its sea wall and its ability to save residents from any tsunami that some rushed toward it after a 9.0-magnitude earthquake struck off the coast of northeast Japan on the afternoon of March 11. After all, the ...read more

Tags: Security

Denomination: Lutheran

Evangelism?

Contributed by Sermon Central on Apr 14, 2009

EVANGELISM? A 4-year study funded by the Lily Endowment designed to identify and analyze highly effective examples of evangelism by congregations in 7 mainline denominations reached two primary findings: (1) Of the 30,000 churches that qualified for the Mainline Evangelism Project, only 1/2 of 1% ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 28:16-20

Tags: Evangelism The Lost