In Sermon Illustrations: "Genesis 2 15 17 3 1 7"

Pure Love Brings Joy

Contributed by Christopher Sweeney on May 19, 2017

Many of you may have experienced this but I have from my two nephews and my time in youth ministry that there are times when you are having the worst days and then a child will run up to you and give you a hug or say I love you and everything goes away. Why, why is it that a hug can help erase the ...read more

Scripture: 1 Thessalonians 5:16, Philippians 4:4

Tags: Love, Joy

Get In The Barrel

Contributed by Ron Freeman, Evangelist on Oct 18, 2017

A man was type rope walking across Niagara Falls. As he made his first attempt, it seemed like the draft from the falls would pull him down. With some struggle, he got to the other side and returned. A crowd began to gather. He asked: "how many of you believe I can take this wheel barrel across and ...read more

Scripture: 1 Corinthians 10:1-4, Exodus 14:29-30

Tags: Faith, Obedience, Red Sea, Dry Land, Lord Saved Israel, Lord Destroyed Egypt, True Faith Trust God  (view more)  (view less)

Denomination: Christian/Church Of Christ

Stoyan's Father By Nik Ripken

Contributed by Michael Mccartney on Apr 14, 2019

When Stoyan was twelve, they imprisoned his protestant pastor father. His father remained in custody for ten years. “At first,” he said, “they held him in a secret police place in our city.” “Every morning one of the guards would take some of his own human waste and spread it on the piece of toast ...read more

Scripture: Romans 15:13, 1 Peter 1:3

Tags: Persecution, Hope, Faith

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

Take Me Home

Contributed by Dr. Ronald Shultz on Sep 23, 2019

Take Me Home I've been everything that I want to be. I've seen everything that I want to see. All over this world I did roam. Now, I'm asking you, Jesus, please take me home. I can hear my spirit within me groan. I wan to be sitting at the foot of Your throne. I've had my fill ...read more

Scripture: 1 Kings 19:13-14, Philippians 1:23-24

Tags: Sorrow, Despair, Homesick, Success, Failure, Loneliness  (view more)  (view less)

Denomination: Baptist

Not Enough Scriptures

Contributed by Ron Freeman, Evangelist on Sep 23, 2019

I and several other preaching students were permitted to visit Brother G. E. Steward, a masterful preacher of the gospel, who was holding a gospel meeting in Houston, TX, in the summer of 1972. We were permitted to bring lessons at that meeting. He was following Brother Keeble’s manner of ...read more

Scripture: 1 Peter 4:10-11, Hebrews 4:12

Tags: Faith, Disciples, Word Of God, Sound Doctrine, Masterful Preacher, Gospel Meeting, Training Preachers, Scriptures, Power In The Word, Sermon Delivery, Marshall Keeble, Power In Preaching, G E Steward  (view more)  (view less)

Denomination: Christian/Church Of Christ

Love Or Achievement

Contributed by Dr. Fred W. Penney on Dec 9, 2019

I once heard a woman give a remarkable account of achievement. An early feminist, she gained renown in the male-dominated field of endocrinology. She brushes shoulders with Nobel laureates and world leaders, and has lived as full and rich a life as any I have known. At the end of her story she ...read more

Scripture: John 3:16, 1 John 4:7-8

Tags: Love, Success, Meaning Of Life

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

When Covid-19 Is Over.....

Contributed by Garris Hudson on Mar 30, 2020

When this coronavirus Is over and life returns to normal, may we never, ever take for granted again..... * A handshake or a kind word from a stranger * A hug from a friend * Worshipping with other believers in a crowded church service * A boring night at home * Full shelves at the grocery ...read more

Scripture: Romans 8:28, 1 Thessalonians 5:18

Tags: Revival, Thankfulness, Gratitude, Blessings, Remembering, Coronavirus  (view more)  (view less)

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

Temporal Vs Eternal

Contributed by Wade Martin Hughes, Sr on Jan 21, 2021

I HAVE BEEN WITH MANY DYING PEOPLE AND LISTENED CLOSELY TO “THE REGRETS.” I was driving an elderly lady to a doctor’s appointment in Lexington. It was a four hour trip. The doctor did not have real good news. Her days were limited. On the way home we stopped and ate. Then we headed home. ...read more

Scripture: 1 Corinthians 3:9-14, Malachi 3:8-11

Tags: Eternity, Temporal Vision

Denomination: Assembly Of God

Not Loving The World

Contributed by Glynda Lomax on Jul 30, 2021

It was very late Wed. Night of last week. I had only just finally gotten to relax after working on sermons all day and helping my friends a little with their move. So my plan was, while I was working some more on my sermons, to listen to a documentary about John Foxe, the author of Foxes Book of ...read more

Scripture: 1 John 2:15, Romans 12:2

Tags: Obedience, Taking Up Your Cross, Not Loving The World

Denomination: Charismatic

I Got You

Contributed by Glynda Lomax on Oct 2, 2021

I like to take my dogs places with me. They have their own seats in the back seat of my pickup. I have a small elderly dog named Bambi who has always had anxiety, I think from having to survive on her own when she lived in the streets as a tiny little thing with no one to feed or care for her. A ...read more

Scripture: Psalm 54:4, 1 Peter 5:7

Tags: Adversity, Assurance, Anxious

Denomination: Charismatic

All In

Contributed by Michael Mccartney on Nov 21, 2021

Mark notes: “When you go all in with God, you never know how or when or where He might show up. But you can live in holy anticipation, knowing that God can invade the reality of your life at any given moment and change everything for eternity. And when He does, you need to ...read more

Scripture: 1 Corinthians 10:31, Colossians 3:23-24

Tags: Commitment, Covenant

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

Wanting Without Knowing

Contributed by Ed Vasicek on Mar 1, 2022

. As my two sons were climbing into the back seat of our car, Eric, five, yelled, “I call the left side!” That didn’t sit well with Ron, four. “No, I want the left side!” “I want the left side!” “No, I want the left side!” Intervening, I said, “Since Eric is older, he can ...read more

Scripture: James 4:1-3, 1 Kings 21:1-29

Tags: Desiring, Pride, Winning, Ego, Fighting, Wanting, Quarreling, Covet  (view more)  (view less)

Denomination: Independent/Bible

Hope

Contributed by Wade Martin Hughes, Sr on Jun 22, 2022

Franklin D. Roosevelt said: We have always held to the hope, the belief, the conviction that there is a better life, ...read more

Scripture: 1 Corinthians 13:13, Psalm 26:2

Tags: Give, Hope

Denomination: Assembly Of God

Once Shaved, Always Shaved!!!

Contributed by Garris Hudson on Oct 23, 2022

After twenty years of shaving himself every morning, a man in a small southern town decided he had been doing that long enough. He told his wife that from then on he’d let the local barber shave him each day.The man went to the barbershop which was owned by the pastor of the local Baptist church. ...read more

Scripture: Romans 8:28-39, 1 John 5:10-13

Tags: Grace, Salvation, Humor, Eternal Security, Jokes  (view more)  (view less)

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

Rescued Twice

Contributed by Garris Hudson on Oct 23, 2022

A wealthy English family once invited friends to spend some time at their beautiful estate. The happy gathering was almost plunged into a terrible tragedy on the first day. When the children went swimming, one of them got into deep water and was drowning. Fortunately, the gardener heard the others ...read more

Scripture: 1 Corinthians 6:19-20, Galatians 1:4

Tags: Salvation, Miracle, Sovereignty Of God, Rescued

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

The Greedy Little Monkey

Contributed by Garris Hudson on Nov 28, 2022

I once heard about how animal catchers used to catch wild monkeys for zoos. I was told that they would set an empty glass pop bottle in an open field with a peanut dropped into it. Then they'd hide in the bushes and wait. After a while, a monkey would sneak up to the pop bottle, squeeze its paw ...read more

Scripture: Luke 14:25-35, 1 Timothy 6:10

Tags: Money, Greed, Discipleship, Riches, Kingdom, Parables  (view more)  (view less)

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

Seven Stanzas At Easter

Contributed by Alison Bucklin on Mar 19, 2023

John Updike put it in his wonderful poem : Make no mistake: if he rose at all it was as his body; If the cells dissolution did not reverse, the molecules reknit, the amino acids rekindle, the church will fall. Let us not mock God with metaphor, Analogy, sidestepping transcendence; Making ...read more

Scripture: 1 Corinthians 15:14, Matthew 28:1-10

Tags: Resurrection, Tomb, John Updike

Denomination: Presbyterian/Reformed

A Drastic Decline Among Americans Who Live With A Biblical Worldview

Contributed by Timothy Lueking on Mar 30, 2023

The year was 1999 and George Barna just wrapped up his latest study on the status of the Worldview of American adults. He was shocked to discover that only 12% of American adults were living their life with a Biblical worldview. He knew that if this trend did not change then it would mean a rapid ...read more

Scripture: 1 John 2:6, Matthew 9:37-38

Tags: Evangelism, Harvest, Statistics, Biblical Worldview, American Adults  (view more)  (view less)

Denomination: Christian/Church Of Christ

I Aint The One Who Is Lost!

Contributed by Garris Hudson on Jul 12, 2023

A businessman was traveling through the country and stopped to ask a young boy for directions. "Son, I seem to be lost. Do you know how to get to next town?" The boy was eating an ice cream cone and slowly replied, "Nope." "Do you know far it is to the next ...read more

Scripture: John 3:16, 1 John 5:1-13

Tags: Children, Salvation, Humor, Lost, Eternal Life, Saved, Plan Of Salvation  (view more)  (view less)

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

We're Not Going To Heaven In A Rowboat!

Contributed by Garris Hudson on Jul 12, 2023

A friend gave me the illustration of a man in a rowboat to describe salvation. He told about a man rowing a boat across a lake. In one hand was the oar of faith and in the other was the oar of works. He explained that if he was only rowing with the oar of faith, he would go around in circles. ...read more

Scripture: John 3:16, 1 John 5:1-13

Tags: Faith, Grace, Heaven, Salvation, Assurance, Works, Doubts  (view more)  (view less)

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational