In Sermon Illustrations: "Get Up"

Spiritual Formation And Exhaustion

Contributed by Tim Smith on May 11, 2014

James Bryan Smith writes, "The number one enemy of spiritual formation today is exhaustion. We are living beyond our means ... physically. And as a result, one of the primary activities of human life is being neglected: sleep." In the 1850's, the average American slept 9.5 hours. By 1950, that ...read more

Scripture: 1 Kings 19:1-12

Tags: Sleep, Rest

Denomination: Methodist

Critical Personality

Contributed by Ed Vasicek on May 11, 2020

My cousin was in love and wanted to introduce his bride-to-be to his hypercritical mother. But in order to get an unbiased opinion, he invited over three other female friends as well and didn’t tell his mom which one he intended to marry. After the four women left, he asked his mother, "Can ...read more

Scripture: Romans 7:1-25

Tags: Acceptance, Criticism

Denomination: Independent/Bible

Saving On Parking Shrewdly

Contributed by Ed Vasicek on Feb 22, 2025

A woman goes to a bank in NYC and takes out a loan for $5,000. She leaves her Rolls Royce as collateral. They carefully park it in their garage, confused as to why a millionaire would take out a loan for only $5,000. Two weeks later, she returns. She pays off the loan plus $15.55 interest. The ...read more

Scripture: Mark 14:1-9, Luke 16:1-9, Matthew 10:16

Tags: Wise, Shrewd, Creative, Clever, Conniving  (view more)  (view less)

Denomination: Independent/Bible

Secret Service Christians

Contributed by David Dunn on Sep 30, 2025

A man was coming out of church one day. The pastor stood at the door to shake hands and gently pulled him aside. “Brother,” he said, “you need to join the Army of the Lord.” The man smiled, “Pastor, I’m already in the Lord’s army.” “Then how come I only see you at Christmas and Easter?” He ...read more

Scripture: John 2:11, Matthew 5:14-16

Tags: Commitment, Discipleship, Kingdom

Denomination: Seventh-Day Adventist

Heresy Of Hyper-Grace

Contributed by John Bright on Feb 4, 2026

One more brief description of a heresy in our recent past, where grace was turned into lewdness – The Hyper-Grace Movement. They were teaching that since all our past, present, and future sins are forgiven already, you might as well go ahead and do whatever you want. In churches where this took ...read more

Scripture: Romans 6:1-2, Jude 1:4

Tags: Sin, Hyper Grace

Denomination: Methodist

I’m So Poor I Can’t Pay Attention

Contributed by James Snyder on Mar 25, 2023

Occasionally I go to my computer and search for the wealthiest preachers in America. I am curious to know who came up with this idea, but I check it out occasionally to see who they are. As often as I have checked this information, I have never found my name on that list. I so much wanted to see ...read more

Scripture: 1 Timothy 6:9-10

Tags: Poor, Wealth, Rich

Denomination: Christian Missionary Alliance

Unwanted Items—the Ark Of The Covenant

Contributed by Jonathan Spurlock on Jul 16, 2025

Unwanted Items—The Ark of the Covenant Introduction: To “frame” this illustration, we’d need to look at a couple of chapters in 1 Samuel. In chapter 4, the writer tells us of Israel’s decision, foolish as it was, to bring the Ark of the Covenant out of the Tabernacle and down to the battlefield. ...read more

Scripture: 1 Samuel 5:1-12

Tags: Philistines, Ark Of The Covenant, Unwanted Items

Denomination: Baptist

We Have No Sufficient Strength Of Our Own… All ...  PRO

Contributed by Donn Heinrich on Mar 4, 2002

“We have no sufficient strength of our own… All our sufficiency is of God… We should stir up ourselves to resist temptations in a reliance upon God’s ...read more

Tags: God's Omnipotence, Temptation Resisting

Denomination: Baptist

Everything That Is Done In The World Is Done By ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Apr 12, 2007

Everything that is done in the world is done by hope. No husbandman would sow a grain of corn if he hoped not it would grow up and become seed... Or tradesman would set ...read more

Tags: Faith

You Shouldnt Be Afraid To Fail, But You Should ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Apr 12, 2007

"You shouldnt be afraid to fail, but you should learn to fail intelligently. By that I mean, when you fail, find out why you failed, and each time ...read more

Tags: Hardship Of Life

Once Youve Failed, Analyze The Problem And Find ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Apr 12, 2007

"Once youve failed, analyze the problem and find out why, because each failure is one more step leading up to the cathedral of success. The only ...read more

Tags: Hardship Of Life

We Shall Not Fight Our Battles Alone. There Is ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Apr 12, 2007

"We shall not fight our battles alone. There is a just God who presides over the destinies of nations, and who will raise up friends to fight our battles for us. The battle, sir, is not to ...read more

Tags: Political Freedom

Give Me One Hundred Preachers Who Fear Nothing ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Apr 12, 2007

"Give me one hundred preachers who fear nothing but sin and desire nothing but God, and I care not a straw whether they be clergymen or laymen, such alone will shake ...read more

Tags: Pastors

A Recent Nielsen Survey Finds 27.4 Million People ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Feb 20, 2007

A recent Nielsen survey finds 27.4 million people age 55 and older bought something online in the last 6 months, up from about ...read more

Books Are Readily Available, And What ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Apr 11, 2007

"Books are readily available, and what companions they are. A good book is the same today as yesterday. It is never displeased when we put it down; it is always inspiring ...read more

Tags: Books And Literature

13 Million Americans Made Donations Online After ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Jan 27, 2006

13 million Americans made donations online after Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. 7 million set up their own hurricane relief efforts using the ...read more

Tags: Giving General

The Intelligence Knob

Contributed by Richard Goble on Nov 26, 2007

The Intelligence Knob I wish there was a knob on the TV so you could turn up the intelligence. They have one marked brightness, but it doesn’t work, does it? ...read more

Denomination: Baptist

What If I Am A Woman? Is Not The God Of Ancient ...

Contributed by Carl Benge on Nov 14, 2008

What if I am a woman? Is not the God of ancient times the God of these modern days? Did he not raise up Deborah, to be a mother, and a judge in Israel? Did not queen ...read more

Scripture: Judges 4:1-22

Tags: Leadership General

Denomination: Methodist

I Like The Story Of The 72 Year Old Woman Who ...  PRO

Contributed by Gordon Curley on Nov 24, 2010

I like the story of the 72 year old woman who went to bed one night and prayed this prayer: "Please God, give me the skin like a ...read more

Tags: Prayer Answered

Denomination: Brethren

A Mother Noticed That It Was About Time For ...  PRO

Contributed by Brian Mccutchen on Jan 29, 2001

A mother noticed that it was about time for school to dismiss and since it looked like it would rain, she drove toward the school to pick up her eight-year-old daughter. She turned down the street to see her daughter running towards her down the sidewalk. A lightning bolt flashed and the little ...read more

Tags: Children, Parenting

Denomination: Christian/Church Of Christ