In Sermon Illustrations: "Genesis 28 10 19a"

Wooden's Attitude

Contributed by Paul Carlson on Feb 20, 2009

WOODEN'S ATTITUDE Coach John Wooden at U.C.L.A. won 665 games in 27 seasons and 10 NCAA titles during his last 12 seasons, including 7 in a row from 1967 to 1973. His UCLA teams also had a record winning streak of 88 games, four perfect 30-0 seasons, and won 38 straight games in NCAA Tournaments. ...read more

Tags: Trials And Difficulties

Denomination: Baptist

Governor William Bradford's Account Of The Story ...

Contributed by Gene Gregory on Feb 26, 2009

Governor William Bradford’s account of the story of Plymouth Plantation discusses how the Pilgrims who landed at Plymouth and their leaders initially planned to have everyone own and share everything. They planned for the people to work for the common good, and believed that this would produce ...read more

Tags: Thanksgiving Holiday

Denomination: Baptist

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

Invisible Christians

Contributed by Sermon Central on Apr 14, 2009

INVISIBLE CHRISTIANS More Americans are acquainted with a gay or lesbian person than an evangelical, according to a recent Ellison Research study. Only 24% of all Americans who say they are not evangelical know an evangelical person very well, and 40% have never known any evangelicals at all, even ...read more

Tags: Evangelism The Lost

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

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

Don't Stop Ringing The ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Jul 13, 2009

DON’T STOP RINGING THE BELL Understanding is the reward of faith. Therefore seek not to understand that thou mayest believe, but believe that thou mayest understand. Augustine. A man took his son to the tiny rural community where he grew up. He was disappointed to discover that the little church ...read more

Scripture: Luke 4:18-19

Tags: Revival

Sit So He Can Walk, So They Can Run

Contributed by Warner Pidgeon on Aug 9, 2009

SIT SO HE CAN WALK, SO THEY CAN RUN I wonder who amongst us this morning feels insignificant. On December 1, 1955, Rosa Parks, a 42-year-old African American woman who worked as a seamstress, boarded a Montgomery City bus to go home from work. On that bus on that day, Rosa Parks initiated a new ...read more

Tags: Action

Denomination: Anglican

There Could Have Been Peace Instead Of War In ...

Contributed by Gregg Bitter on Aug 16, 2009

There could have been peace instead of war in 1939. Great Britain and France could have just let Hitler have Poland. That had worked the year before when they let Hitler have part of Czechoslovakia, and British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain returned from Munich declaring "peace for our ...read more

Tags: Peace, War

Denomination: Lutheran

I Was Pumping And Finally My Friend Sorin Said, ...

Contributed by Ovidiu Radulescu on Sep 11, 2009

I was pumping and finally my friend Sorin said, “You know Ovidiu, I don’t think there is any water left down there… Oh yes, still there but deep down… And the good thing about the water that is deep down at 50 feet underground, is this: the deeper the water - the purer, the sweeter, the cooler ...read more

Tags: Zeal

Denomination: Seventh-Day Adventist

Addicted To Unkind ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Oct 19, 2009

Addicted to Unkind Words Joseph Telushkin, author of Words That Hurt, Words That Heal, lectures throughout our country on the powerful and often negative impact of words. He often asks those in his audience if they can go 24 hours without saying any unkind words about or to another person. ...read more

Scripture: Ephesians 4:29

Tags: Words

Seek ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Oct 19, 2009

Seek Wisdom There’s a story about a proud young man who came to Socrates asking for knowledge. He walked up to the muscular philosopher and said, “O great Socrates, I come to you for knowledge.” Socrates recognized a pompous numbskull when he saw one. He led the young man through the streets, to ...read more

Scripture: Proverbs 4:5-7

Tags: Wisdom

Thanksgiving Poem: We Plow The Fields By Matthias ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Oct 26, 2009

Thanksgiving Poem: We Plow The Fields by Matthias Claudius The poem entitled "We Plow The Fields," by Matthias Claudius, says things well: We plow the fields, and scatter The good seed on the land, But it is fed and watered By God’s Almighty hand; He sends the snow in winter, The warmth to swell ...read more

Scripture: Luke 17:11-19

Tags: Thanksgiving Holiday

Dale Carnegie's Solution To ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Oct 26, 2009

Dale Carnegie’s Solution to Worry--Prayer We can forget about what tomorrow brings - we can quit worrying - because if we love Almighty God and have faith in Him, everything will work out for our good! Down through the centuries, many who have tried Him have found that to be true! The late great ...read more

Scripture: Philippians 4:6-7

Tags: Worry

Knowing Oneself Is Important For ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Oct 26, 2009

Knowing Oneself is Important for Leadership Mort Meyerson became the CEO of Perot Systems, a computer services company. Within six months, he realized that compared to other companies he had known as CEO, everything was different at this one. It wasn’t just the technology, market, and customers, ...read more

Scripture: Proverbs 28:2

Tags: Leadership General

Roll-Up-Your-Shirt-Sleeves Christianity  PRO

Contributed by Sermon Central on Oct 26, 2009

ROLL-UP-YOUR-SHIRT-SLEEVES CHRISTIANITY When DAVE THOMAS died in early 2002, he left behind more than just thousands of Wendy’s restaurants. He also left a legacy of being a practical, hard-working man who was respected for his down-to-earth values. Among the pieces of good advice that have ...read more

Scripture: James 2:14-26, Luke 10:1-10, Romans 15:1-13

Tags: Faith Vs. Works

Disfigured War Veteran Helps Boy Regain Sight ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Oct 28, 2009

Disfigured War Veteran Helps Boy Regain Sight Only to be Rejected Ps 33:18-19 “But the eyes of the LORD are on those who fear him, on those whose hope is in his unfailing love, to deliver them from death and keep them alive in famine.” It is not that God does not exist; man who does not want to ...read more

Scripture: Psalm 33:18-19

Tags: Unbelief

In The Trenches Of Life When Decisions Need To Be ...

Contributed by Ed Vasicek on Nov 9, 2009

In the trenches of life when decisions need to be made quickly, we often depend upon short principles that offer us immediate direction and give us spiritual instincts. C. Everett Koop is a great medical ethicist; when addressing end of life decision-making in a booklet he wrote for ...read more

Tags: Sermon On The Mount

Denomination: Independent/Bible

Paul's Thorn In The Flesh Like Catfish With ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Nov 10, 2009

Paul’s Thorn in the Flesh Like Catfish with Codfish Years ago in the northeastern United States codfish was a big commercial business. There is a market for eastern cod all over, especially on the West Coast. The demand posed a problem to the shippers. At first they froze the cod, then shipped them ...read more

Scripture: 2 Corinthians 12:7-10

Tags: Affliction

A Man's Skin Changes After Being Swallowed By ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Nov 10, 2009

A Man’s Skin Changes After Being Swallowed by Fish Dr Harry Rimmer told of a man in 1926 who was swallowed by a fish and spent two days inside the fish and lived to tell the story. He was displayed in London as “the Jonah of the twentieth century.” Dr. Rimmer interviewed him two years later after ...read more

Scripture: Jonah 3:1-5

Tags: Jonah