In Sermon Illustrations: "Going To Church"

John Ortberg In His Book- If You Want To Walk On ...  PRO

Contributed by Michael Mccartney on Nov 11, 2004

John Ortberg in his book- If You Want To Walk On Water You’ve Got To Get Out Of The Boat notes this about fear: The single command in Scripture that occurs more often then any other-God’s most frequently repeated instruction-is formulated in two words: Fear Not. Do not be afraid. Be strong and ...read more

Tags: Fear, Faith

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

Imagine You Are At A Dinner Party; Elegant ...

Contributed by Timothy Smith on Oct 20, 2006

Imagine you are at a dinner party; elegant silverware, warm company, great food. At the end the hostess brings out a plate of dessert and stumbles dropping the dessert on the floor. Here’s how each person might respond according to their giftedness: Mercy: "Don’t feel bad, I should of offered to ...read more

Denomination: Christian Church

I Know You've Heard The Passage Time And Time ...

Contributed by Kyle Blanton on May 14, 2007

I know you’ve heard the passage time and time again. 6 Teach a youth about the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it. Psalm 22:6 My mother never missed a beat. There was a time when my dad resigned from the pastorate when we lived in Illinois that he took to the road ...read more

Denomination: Baptist

Jesus Stated, "Unless You Eat The Flesh . . . And ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Apr 10, 2008

Jesus stated, “Unless you eat the flesh . . . and drink His blood, you have no life in you” (v. 53). Eating flesh and drinking blood sounds like the Lord’s Supper or Communion, where Jesus spoke of the bread as his body and the cup as his blood (Matthew 26:26-28). Warren Wiersbe tells us, “I do not ...read more

What Is Your Money Doing To ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Jul 14, 2009

WHAT IS YOUR MONEY DOING TO YOU? On their way to church on Sunday, a mother gave her child a one-dollar bill and a quarter. "Sweetheart," the mother said, "you can place either one in the offering plate. It’s entirely up to you." As they were driving home, the mother asked the daughter what she ...read more

Scripture: 1 Timothy 6:10

Tags: Money

Leave The Bones  PRO

Contributed by Sermon Central on Oct 23, 2010

LEAVE THE BONES A clergyman took a seat in a dining car on a train traveling along the Hudson River. Opposite him was an atheist who, seeing his clerical collar, started a discussion. "I see you are a clergyman." "Yes," came the reply. "I am a minister of the gospel." "I suppose you believe the ...read more

Scripture: 2 Timothy 2:15

Tags: Bible Study

Avoiding The Rocks

Contributed by Tim Smith on Mar 17, 2011

AVOIDING THE ROCKS Alan was my prayer partner at a previous church and he tells the story of going white water rafting on a Christian retreat. He said he always got stuck being the captain of the boat and sure enough for the 4th year in a row, he was named captain. So his job was to direct the men ...read more

Tags: Discipleship

Denomination: Methodist

Longing

Contributed by Rodney Buchanan on Jan 15, 2012

LONGING In his book The Spiritual Life of Children, the famous Harvard psychiatrist Robert Coles tells the story of Alice, a ten-year-old girl who came from a family that did not believe in God. She expressed her doubts to him with these words: "I remember... I saw the people next door coming ...read more

Tags: Salvation

Denomination: Methodist

Is Evangelism Too Hard?

Contributed by Tim Smith on May 11, 2014

Jenn Hopkins writes of attending a funeral several years ago. "There he lay, dead. He was gone and unsaved. Lived a life and then, in the flash of an eye, he was in Hell. Someone I loved and respected was gone and so was my opportunity to share the Gospel with him. His funeral was in a church, one ...read more

Scripture: 2 Peter 3:8-13

Tags: Evangelism, Hell

Denomination: Methodist

Shaping The Stone Down Here

Contributed by Sermon Central on Feb 12, 2009

SHAPING THE STONE DOWN HERE A famous evangelist told the following incident: I have a friend who in a time of business recession lost his job, a sizable fortune, and his beautiful home. To add to his sorrow, his precious wife died; yet he tenaciously held to his faith -- the only thing he had ...read more

Tags: Disciples

One Of The Most Incredible Stories Of ...  PRO

Contributed by Melvin Newland on Mar 13, 2001

ILL. One of the most incredible stories of forgiveness I’ve ever heard came out of Tulsa, OK, a couple of years ago. Tom McGee was a young man who went out for a night of partying & revelry. He got drunk & ran head-on into a car driven by a young man by the name of Ted Morris. He killed Ted ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 5:43-48, Leviticus 19:17-18, Romans 12:17-21, Matthew 18:21-22, Jonah 4:1-10, Matthew 18:23-35  (view more)  (view less)

Tags: Cross Agony, Forgiveness General, Forgiveness For Others

Denomination: Christian/Church Of Christ

George Beaverly Shea Has Sung Many Times A Song ...  PRO

Contributed by Ray Ellis on Sep 10, 2003

George Beaverly Shea has sung many times a song written by Rhea Miller. It was George’s mother who started the whole course of events when she left a copy of Miller’s song on the family piano in their home in New York City. Years later, George Beaverly Shea wrote: "Instead of practicing the hymn I ...read more

Tags: Faith

Denomination: Free Methodist

Whom God Loves, He Chastens

Contributed by Clark Tanner on May 15, 2009

WHOM GOD LOVES, HE CHASTENS George MacDonald was a 19th century orator and story-writer who C.S. Lewis once called his master as relates to story-telling and relating truth through fantasy. One of MacDonald’s short stories was titled, "The Gifts of the Child Christ." The main character of the ...read more

Tags: God In The Hardships

Denomination: Orthodox

Learn To Speak The Language

Contributed by Neil Olcott on Sep 10, 2009

LEARN TO SPEAK THE LANGUAGE A new missionary recruit went to Venezuela for the first time. He was struggling with the language and didn’t understand a whole lot of what was going on. Intending to visit one of the local churches, he got lost, but he eventually got back on track and found the place. ...read more

Tags: Communication General

Denomination: Baptist

I've Been Studying The Effects That God Has Upon ...

Contributed by Mark Eberly on Sep 10, 2009

I’ve been studying the effects that God has upon the brain. Specifically, neuroscience is finding meditating especially meditating on God actually changes your brain. Now science has shown a strong correlation between spiritual beliefs and practices and the benefits upon our bodies: lower blood ...read more

Tags: Meditation, Worship General

Denomination: Church Of God

Where Do We Stand?  PRO

Contributed by Paul Dietz on Jul 19, 2011

WHERE DO WE STAND? This past Tuesday morning I had finally settled down into my easy chair to read the daily news paper. As always, I turned to the editorial section of which is one of favorites, besides the daily “Frank and Ernest” cartoon. There I found a very interesting Readers Commentary ...read more

Tags: Faith

Denomination: *other

Divorce Rate Myth Among Christians

Contributed by Sermon Central on Apr 30, 2012

DIVORCE RATE MYTH AMONG CHRISTIANS A common myth going around is that the divorce rate is the same among Christians as it is among non-Christians. But such just isn't the case, when you take a closer look. According to the "Americans for Divorce Reform," the divorce rate among the general ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 19:1-12

Tags: Divorce

The Story Of George Beverly Shea

Contributed by Sermon Central on Aug 17, 2012

THE STORY OF GEORGE BEVERLY SHEA George Beverly Shea was a young man in the late 1920s aspiring to become a well-known singer. He entered Houghton College in New York in 1928 to get some good music training, but family financial problems caused him to leave after only one year. He found a job as a ...read more

Scripture: 1 John 2:15-17

Tags: Commitment To Christ

Corrie Ten Boom Had To Forgive

Contributed by Dr. Larry Petton on Jan 30, 2020

Corrie Ten Boom's example of forgiveness (from The Hiding Place) in which she describes an unexpected encounter with one of the Nazi guards who had mistreated her at Ravensbruck concentration camp, where her sister had Betsie died and she herself had been subjected to horrible indignities. ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 5:1-12

Tags: Mercy, Forgiveness, Beatitudes, Holocaust

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

I Am Baptised!  PRO

Contributed by Philip Gill on Jan 11, 2003

I am Baptised! Apparently Martin Luther, the great 16th figure of the reformation used to take great comfort from these words. When it seemed to him that the whole church had left the precepts of the Gospel, when he was under scrutiny from Church officials as to the truth of his beliefs, ...read more

Tags: Baptism

Denomination: Anglican