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

A Winning Team  PRO

Contributed by Sermon Central on Aug 8, 2008

A WINNING TEAM Lee Iacocca once asked legendary football coach Vince Lombardi what it took to make a winning team. In the book Iacocca records Lombardi’s answer: "There are a lot of coaches with good ball clubs who know the fundamentals and have plenty of discipline but still don’t win the game. ...read more

Scripture: Galatians 6:9-10, John 13:34-35, Romans 12:10, Ephesians 4:2

Tags: Success, Church Body, Teamwork, Church Health, Church Body Of Christ  (view more)  (view less)

The Perfect ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Aug 11, 2008

THE PERFECT STORY The story is told about a perfect man who met a perfect woman. After a perfect courtship, they had a perfect wedding. Their life together was, of course, perfect. Then one stormy, Christmas Eve this perfect couple was driving along a winding road when they noticed someone on ...read more

Tags: Men And Women

All ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Aug 11, 2008

ALL ALIKE? The pilot was Jewish, and the co-pilot was Taiwanese. It was the first time they had flown together, and it was obvious by the silence that they didn’t get along. After 30 minutes, the Captain finally spoke. He said, "I don’t like Chinese." The co-pilot replied, "Why is that?" The ...read more

Tags: Racism

A Man Called A Pastor's Office At A Church One ...  PRO

Contributed by Sermon Central on Sep 2, 2008

A man called a pastor’s office at a church one day to inquire into membership in the church. He stated that he would not be able to get involved or anything, but he felt it was important to have some religious affiliation. The pastor advised this man that the church he pastored might not be the ...read more

Scripture: Ephesians 4:11-16

Tags: Service, Commitment, Church Body, Membership, Church Body Of Christ  (view more)  (view less)

Grace Or Permission?

Contributed by Norman Lawrence on Oct 12, 2008

Grace or Permission? You're worried about permissiveness—about the way the preaching of grace seems to say it's okay to do all kinds of terrible things as long as you just walk in afterward and take the free gift of God's forgiveness. While you and I may be worried about seeming to give ...read more

Tags: Grace

Denomination: Assembly Of God

Messaging Errors

Contributed by Nigel Heath on May 19, 2009

MESSAGING ERRORS How skilled are we at communicating? Perhaps not as skilled as we think. It is easy to send the wrong message without knowing it. There is a famous example of a message that was sent in WWII "Send reinforcements we’re going to advance." But by the time it reached its destination ...read more

Tags: Communication General

Denomination: Baptist

Too Soft On People?

Contributed by Sermon Central on Aug 12, 2009

TOO SOFT ON PEOPLE? A preacher named Ron Rose told a woman who came into his office complaining that his sermons always being about forgiveness and grace. She said he needed to come down harder on the sinners and in her words, "nail them." After her rant, Ron asked, "So, you’ve got forgiveness ...read more

Scripture: John 1:15-17

Tags: Grace

Legendary Baseball Player Jackie Robinson's ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Dec 30, 2009

Legendary Baseball Player Jackie Robinson’s Humble Act of Kindness to a Boy As a 7-year-old, Richard Bernstein admired Jackie Robinson’s athletic ability and courage as the first African-American man to play Major League baseball in the modern era. A few years later, while working at a small-town ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 20:26-28

Tags: Humility

Pain Passes, But Beauty Remains  PRO

Contributed by Sermon Central on Jan 26, 2011

PAIN PASSES, BUT BEAUTY REMAINS Pierre Auguste Renoir is a famous French artist who lived in the late 19th century to the early 20th century. He was known for his paintings, mostly depicting family life. But there was one disease that tormented this gifted artist -- he had arthritis that plagued ...read more

Scripture: Romans 5:1-5

Tags: Suffering Joy In

Be Found Doing Your Duty

Contributed by Sermon Central on Feb 1, 2011

BE FOUND DOING YOUR DUTY The time was the 19th of May, 1780. The place was Hartford, Connecticut. The day has gone down in New England history as a terrible foretaste of Judgment Day. For at noon the skies turned from blue to gray and by mid-afternoon had blackened over so densely that, in that ...read more

Scripture: Revelation 2:8-11

Tags: Judgment

J. Oswald Sanders On Loneliness  PRO

Contributed by Sermon Central on Aug 9, 2011

J. OSWALD SANDERS ON LONELINESS J. Oswald Sanders once pointed out: "The round of pleasure or the amassing of wealth are [often] but vain attempts to escape from the persistent ache. The millionaire is usually a lonely man and the comedian is often more unhappy than his audience." In his book, ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 6:19-34

Tags: Goals, Suffering Loneliness

God, You're In My Way.  PRO

Contributed by Sermon Central on May 28, 2012

"GOD, YOU'RE IN MY WAY." A California pastor, Kyle Idleman, talks about his last move in his book, Not a Fan. In that move, he saved the heaviest piece of furniture for last -- the desk from his office. And as he was pushing and pulling the desk with all his might, his four-year-old son came over ...read more

Scripture: Philippians 4:6-8, Philippians 4:4-7

Tags: Anxiety

Getting Too Far From The Source  PRO

Contributed by Choe Sergent on Apr 17, 2013

GETTING TOO FAR FROM THE SOURCE The county hired a new person to paint fresh yellow lines down the middle of all the county roads. The first day this man painted an astonishing 10 miles of road with new double yellow lines down the middle. This was a record! No one had ever painted ten miles of ...read more

Scripture: Ezekiel 47:1-23

Tags: Christian Disciplines

Denomination: Baptist

Trials

Contributed by Tim Smith on May 28, 2015

Sam Dixon was the General Secretary of the United Methodist Committee on Relief. He died under the rubble in the Montana Hotel of Haiti, serving God while meeting with other relief agencies to work together to better help the Haitian people. When one serves God so faithfully and suddenly is killed, ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 7:13-16

Tags: God's Sovereignty, Serving, Choices, The Price To Follow

Denomination: Methodist

No Greater Love  PRO

Contributed by Sermon Central on Feb 18, 2002

NO GREATER LOVE It was February 1941, Auschwitz, Poland. Maximilian Kolbe was a Franciscan priest put in the infamous death camp for helping Jews escape Nazi terrorism. Months went by and in desperation an escape took place. The camp rule was enforced. Ten people would be rounded up ...read more

Tags: Peace, Lordship Of Christ, Christian Love, Easter Good Friday

Beyond Redemption?  PRO

Contributed by Sermon Central on Apr 14, 2002

BEYOND REDEMPTION? There are about 600 inmates who await execution in the state of California. A dozen of these are women. All of them have committed heinous crimes. But that doesn’t stop Ann Baker, a grandmother from San Diego, from treating the inmates like she believes Jesus would ...read more

Tags: Compassion, Christian Love

Just Out In This Past Thursday's Usatoday Website ...  PRO

Contributed by Andrew Chan on May 31, 2002

Just out in this past Thursday’s USATODAY website (May 30,2002) – “Americans are increasingly pessimistic about the war against terrorism following weeks of revelations about missed clues and warnings of likely future attacks. Only four in 10 Americans believe the United States and its allies are ...read more

Tags: Supernatural, Human Body, Joy

Denomination: Evangelical Free

Kidnapped By Hatred  PRO

Contributed by Dana Chau on Jul 21, 2002

KIDNAPPED BY HATRED On February 9, 1960, Adolph Coors III, millionaire head of Coors Company, was kidnapped and held for ransom. Seven months later his body was found on a remote hillside. He had been shot to death. Adolph Coors IV was then fifteen years old. He lost not only his father, but also ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 6:14-15, John 10:1-42, John 5:1-9, Luke 8:43-48, Luke 8:43-48, Luke 8:43-48  (view more)  (view less)

Tags: Forgiveness For Others

Denomination: *other

The Wrong Horse  PRO

Contributed by John Williams Iii on Sep 24, 2002

THE WRONG HORSE Two Kentucky farmers who owned racing stables had developed a keen rivalry. One spring, each of them entered a horse in a local steeplechase. Thinking that a professional rider might help him outdo his friend, one of the farmers engaged a crack jockey. The two horses were ...read more

Tags: Repentance, Sin General, Basics Of Christianity

Denomination: United Methodist

The Covenant Of Faithfulness  PRO

Contributed by Dan Cormie on Oct 25, 2002

THE COVENANT OF FAITHFULNESS In modern times we define a host of relations by contracts. These are usually for goods or services and for hard cash. The contract, formal or informal, helps to specify failure in these relationships. The Lord did not establish a contract with Israel or with the ...read more

Tags: Covenant, God's Provision, Faith, Faithfulness

Denomination: Mennonite