In Sermon Illustrations: "Good Gifts"

The Importance Of Public Confession

Contributed by Sermon Central on Apr 5, 2011

THE IMPORTANCE OF PUBLIC CONFESSION There's a parable about an ancient philosopher who came to a city to save its people from its sins. The inhabitants of the city, who at first listened to the philosopher, gradually turned away. One day a child asked the learned man why he went on - did he not ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 10:32-33

Tags: Evangelism Urgency

The Caddy  PRO

Contributed by Sermon Central on Apr 13, 2011

THE CADDY Two golfers stepped up to the first tee on the St. Andrews course in New York. The older golfer was a kindly man who played a thoughtful, deliberate game. The younger golfer was full of pride and impatience. On the first hole he sliced, lost his ball in the tall grass, hit another one, ...read more

Scripture: 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18

Tags: Gratitude, New Year

True Unity  PRO

Contributed by Sermon Central on Apr 26, 2011

TRUE UNITY Unity is not simply an intellectual exercise. We can believe the same things, recite the same creeds, belong to the same denomination, but that does not mean we have unity. In his book Soul Talk, Larry Crabb writes: "Which is worse? A church program to build community that doesn’t ...read more

Scripture: Ephesians 4:1-16, Ephesians 4:1-22, 1 Samuel 25:14-35

Tags: Unity

The Wrestler Who Never Gave Up

Contributed by Sermon Central on Aug 19, 2011

THE WRESTLER WHO NEVER GAVE UP Caleb teaches us to never give up on God or His promises. One of my favorite stories is about a scrawny kid from West Texas who attended a small high school. They didn't have a wrestling program, but he read a book on wrestling and asked one of the assistant ...read more

Scripture: Joshua 14:6-15

Tags: Endurance

You Can't Come In...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Sep 8, 2011

"YOU CAN'T COME IN..." There was once a town drunk who gave his heart to Jesus Christ. He immediately stopped drinking and began to look for a church and had purposed in his heart that he would attend the first church he found. Determined to turn his life around he found a church and went in. He ...read more

Scripture: James 2:1-13

Tags: Hypocrisy

The "Regard For Others" Ethic

Contributed by Don Berry-Graham on Jan 24, 2012

THE "REGARD FOR OTHERS" ETHIC John Sommerville currently teaches history at the University of Florida. He has been carrying out an exercise with his students for years. He challenges his students with the following thought experiment. Imagine that you see a little old lady coming down the ...read more

Scripture: Luke 10:25-37

Tags: Neighbor

Denomination: Baptist

The Story Of The Gipper

Contributed by Charlie Roberts on Feb 2, 2012

THE STORY OF THE GIPPER It was halftime of the 1928 Army vs. Notre Dame Game that legendary head coach Knute Rockne gave his "win one for the Gipper" speech to his beleaguered players. Notre Dame was having one of its worst seasons on record and Rockne was trying to salvage what he could of the ...read more

Tags: Encouragement

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

Amish Grace And Forgiveness

Contributed by Michael Mccartney on Mar 9, 2012

AMISH GRACE AND FORGIVENESS Following the tragic Amish school shooting of 10 young schoolgirls in a one-room Amish school in October 2006, reporters from throughout the world invaded Lancaster County, PA to cover the story. However, in the hours and days following the shooting a different, an ...read more

Tags: Forgiveness In Jesus

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

John Macarthur On Knowing God's Will

Contributed by Josh Hunt on Mar 27, 2012

JOHN MACARTHUR ON KNOWING GOD'S WILL God’s will is that you be saved, Spirit-filled, sanctified, submissive, and suffering. God’s Word makes all this clear. Do not read on until you have grasped these five principles. You say, "MacArthur, you were going to tell me what school I should go to. You ...read more

Scripture: Jeremiah 29:11

Tags: God's Will, Knowing God's Will

Denomination: Baptist

Follow Instructions: Rafting The Rio Grande

Contributed by Sermon Central on May 5, 2012

FOLLOW INSTRUCTIONS: RAFTING THE RIO GRANDE A few years ago, my family climbed aboard a rubber raft for a ride down the rapids of the Rio Grand River. We had never been on such an adventure, but all of us were experienced swimmers, and the river seemed to be fairly shallow. It seemed to be a ...read more

Scripture: Proverbs 4:20-27

Tags: Obedience

Compassion For An Old Man

Contributed by Sermon Central on Aug 14, 2012

COMPASSION FOR AN OLD MAN It was a bitterly cold evening in Northern Virginia many years ago. The old man's beard was glazed by winter's frost as he waited for a ride across the river. He heard a brigade of men on horses coming around the bend. He let the first one pass him without any effort to ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 22:34-40, Luke 7:11-17

Tags: Compassion

Dad Was Dying Of Something Similar To ...

Contributed by C. Scott Ghan on Aug 27, 2012

ILL. Dad was dying of something similar to Alzheimer’s. He was very violent, dangerous and in a great deal of trouble in his home town where he had been Fire Chief. The County didn't want to, but left with no other option committed him to a lock-down unit where he would remain for the rest of his ...read more

Tags: God's Forgiveness

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

Pressure, Heat And Agitation

Contributed by David Simpson on Jan 15, 2013

PRESSURE, HEAT AND AGITATION Ever since the 1920s, Yoo-hoo has been making a permanent mark in the history of soft drinks. The story starts in the beginning of the 20th century, when the Olivieri family of New Jersey ran a small business producing Tru-Fruit flavors by squeezing fresh fruit. Mr. ...read more

Scripture: James 1:2-3

Tags: Stress

Denomination: Christian Church

The Pastor From ...

Contributed by Ken Pell on Mar 23, 2013

THE PASTOR FROM KENYA Ramez Attalah, general director at The Bible Society of Egypt, attended an international conference or Christian leaders in 1974. He was thrilled to be with top-notch leaders from around the globe—sharing and reading interesting papers on important subjects--but the most ...read more

Tags: Humility

Denomination: Nazarene

Unusual Banquet

Contributed by Davon Huss on Oct 22, 2013

Unusual Banquet Boston Globe's account in June 1990 of a most unusual wedding banquet. Accompanied by her fiance, a woman went to the Hyatt Hotel in downtown Boston and ordered the meal. The two of them poured over the menu, made selections of china and silver, and pointed to pictures of the ...read more

Scripture: Luke 14:12-14

Tags: Feed, Banquet, Repay

Denomination: Christian/Church Of Christ

Thanksgiving

Contributed by Roy Fowler on Nov 19, 2014

91% of Americans have turkey for Dinner. And so... I was thinking about Butterball Turkeys for some reason I know not why. Did you know they have an online help page? Well I went to that computer page and I found some of the problems that people have with cooking turkeys. You may be flabbergasted ...read more

Scripture: Deuteronomy 8:13-16

Tags: Thanksgiving, Family Days

Denomination: Independent/Bible

Just Let Go !

Contributed by Bruce Simpkins on Mar 11, 2015

In my younger years I thought it would be an exciting adventure to try sky diving. After checking into it, I found I could get a big discount if I brought 5 friends to jump with me . . . so I did. It was a beautiful sunny day in California when we arrived for a half day training and then an ...read more

Scripture: 2 Corinthians 12:8-9

Tags: He Is Strong, I Am Weak

Denomination: Baptist

Second Chances

Contributed by Tim Smith on Sep 25, 2016

David Emory tells the story of baptizing a young father who had a 7 year old and 5 year old. They were close friends of his family and had never been a part of a church. But one Sunday, they came to worship, he gave his life to Christ and was baptized. At the end of the service, after everyone else ...read more

Scripture: Isaiah 6:1-8

Tags: Sin, Repentance, Woe, Second Chances

Denomination: Methodist

The Living Word

Contributed by Tim Smith on Aug 13, 2017

Ravi Zacharias tells of ministering in Vietnam in 1971, and one of his interpreters was Hien Pham, an energetic young Christian. He had worked as a translator with the American forces, and was of immense help both to them and to missionaries such as myself. Hien and I traveled the length of the ...read more

Scripture: 2 Timothy 3:16

Tags: Scripture, Romans, Living Word, The Bible, Persevering Grace  (view more)  (view less)

Denomination: Methodist

Corrie Ten Boom On Forgiveness And Love Of Enemy

Contributed by Kerry Haynes on May 6, 2018

When I think of drawing on love’s source, I think of Corrie ten Boom. Her family had all died in the Nazi concentration camps. Their crime? Hiding Jews in their home. Somehow Corrie survived. The war had ended, the camps had been liberated, and Corrie was speaking in various churches, sharing about ...read more

Scripture: John 15:9-17, Matthew 5:43-48

Tags: Agape Love, Love Your Enemy, Source Of True Love, Love, Forgiveness, Forgive, Divine Love  (view more)  (view less)

Denomination: Baptist