In Sermon Illustrations: "Great Awakening"

I Collected A Few Quotes From Our Nation's ...

Contributed by K. Edward Skidmore on Oct 17, 2008

I collected a few quotes from our Nation’s Founders that illustrate how much they expected Christians to influence the nation. (These are just a few of the many quotes I could have used!) Benjamin Franklin wrote, “Whoever shall introduce into the public affairs the principles of primitive ...read more

Tags: Christian Values

Denomination: Christian/Church Of Christ

God Blesses Christian Parents

Contributed by Eric Hanson on Nov 17, 2008

GOD BLESSES CHRISTIAN PARENTS How wonderful for children to have parents who are truly "in the Lord." They will be able to honor such men and women, thus activating the promise mentioned in verse 3. Nancy’s Grandparents took her Grandfather’s mother into their home and cared for her when she ...read more

Tags: Home

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

Celebration Fires

Contributed by Sermon Central on Dec 28, 2008

CELEBRATION FIRES During the dark winter of 1864, at Petersburg, Virginia, the Confederate army of Robert E. Lee faced the Union divisions of General Ulysses S. Grant. Late one evening one of Lee's generals, Major General George Pickett, received word that his wife had given birth to a beautiful ...read more

Tags: Jesus Christ

Lee Strobel Story

Contributed by Sermon Central on Dec 28, 2008

LEE STROBEL STORY I have been fascinated by the testimony and story of Lee Strobel. Lee was a journalist for the Chicago Tribune. By his own testimony he was ruthless. He liked his high end lifestyle of work, travel and partying. By his own admission he was an atheist. He had no time for his ...read more

Tags: Hypocrisy

What’s Giving Thanks All ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Dec 31, 2008

What’s giving Thanks all about A. The pilgrims did it 1. In 1621, the pilgrims celebrated the first harvest at Plymouth 2. To them, it was a religious holiday celebrating all that God gave them The Pilgrim Proclamation of 1623 Inasmuch as the great Father has given us this year an abundant ...read more

Tags: Thanksgiving Holiday

The Best News No One Heard

Contributed by Sermon Central on Dec 31, 2008

THE BEST NEWS NO ONE HEARD Take the year 1809. The international scene was tumultuous. Napoleon was sweeping through Austria; blood was flowing freely. Nobody then cared about babies. But the world was overlooking some terribly significant births. For example, William Gladstone was born that ...read more

Scripture: 2 Timothy 3:1-5

Tags: Christmas

A Light Of Hope  PRO

Contributed by Sermon Central on Jan 5, 2009

A Light of Hope There is a story about how the caverns north of Yellowstone National Park were discovered. As the story goes, one of the original explorers was walking along the top of that mountain and fell through a hole, and he dropped down several hundred feet into this cavern and was stuck in ...read more

Scripture: John 8:12, Isaiah 9:1-2, Matthew 4:14-16

Tags: Evangelism The Lost

Be Content To Speak In A Cottage

Contributed by Sermon Central on Feb 13, 2009

BE CONTENT TO SPEAK IN A COTTAGE January 6, 1850, was bitterly cold in Colchester, England, a hard-biting blizzard keeping most worshipers at home. At the Primitive Methodist Chapel on Artillery Street, only about a dozen showed up. When it became apparent that even the pastor would not arrive, an ...read more

Tags: Evangelism How To

A Father's Duty Never Ends

Contributed by Johnny Wilson on Feb 23, 2009

A FATHER'S DUTY NEVER ENDS I went to a Saturday matinee showing of that great Sidney Poitier movie, "Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner?" and I reveled in that confrontation between Poitier’s world-renowned doctor character and his inner-city postman father. The postman father plays the "I sacrificed ...read more

Tags: Father's Day

Denomination: *other

Last Week We Attended Our Niece's Wedding. Our ...

Contributed by K. Edward Skidmore on Mar 4, 2009

Last week we attended our niece’s wedding. Our little 2 year-old granddaughter Lydia was the Flower Girl and our 5-year-old grandson David was Ring-Bearer. Susan was talking to David after the wedding about what a great job he did coming up that aisle. She told him, “Charis said you were an ...read more

Tags: Pride

Denomination: Christian/Church Of Christ

Justification, Propitiation, And The Very Early Church

Contributed by Ed Vasicek on Sep 30, 2019

The early church understood propitiation, the atoning work of Jesus, and justification by faith, not works: from The Epistle of Mathetes to Diognetus, Chapter IX, about 200 A.D. But when our wickedness had reached its height, and it had been clearly shown that its reward, punishment and death, ...read more

Scripture: Romans 3:21-31, Romans 5:8, 1 Corinthians 15:1-5

Tags: Atonement, Cross, Justification, Propitiation, Reformation, Grace Alone, Faith Alone, Reformers, Penal Atonement  (view more)  (view less)

Denomination: Independent/Bible

The Magi -- Who Were They?

Contributed by Ed Vasicek on Nov 25, 2019

Lambert Dolphin writes: “The ancient Magi were a hereditary priesthood of the Medes (known today as the Kurds) credited with profound and extraordinary religious knowledge. After some Magi, who had been attached to the Median court, proved to be expert in the interpretation of dreams, Darius the ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 2:1-12

Tags: Wise Men, Magi, Kinds, Seers

Denomination: Independent/Bible

Crisis Of Covid-19

Contributed by Dr. Fred W. Penney on May 4, 2020

The 20th century... What if you were born in 1900 - my grandparents for example were born in 1904 in Newfoundland. At age 14 , World War I starts, and ends on your 18th birthday. 22 million people perish in that war. Later in 1918, the Spanish Flu epidemic kills 50 million people in those two ...read more

Scripture: Isaiah 9:6, Hebrews 12:28-29

Tags: Hope, Second Coming, Perspective, Crisis

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

No One Thanked Him.

Contributed by Dr. Larry Petton on Dec 2, 2020

Back in 1860, an excursion boat on Lake Michigan collided with a freighter and began to sink less than a mile from the shore. Hundreds of passengers began screaming as they leaped into the icy water. Edward Spencer was a student at a nearby seminary, and he ran down to the beach to see what he ...read more

Scripture: 1 Thessalonians 5:18

Tags: Thanksgiving, Gratitude, Selfishness, Depression

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

Christmas Humor

Contributed by Dr. Larry Petton on Dec 21, 2020

A Sunday School was putting on a Christmas pageant which included the story of Mary and Joseph coming to the inn. One boy wanted so very much to be Joseph, but when the parts were handed out, a boy he didn’t like was given that part, and he was assigned to be the inn-keeper instead. He was pretty ...read more

Scripture: John 1:1-12

Tags: Coming Of Christ, Christmas, Christ, Manger, Birth Of Christ, Mary And Joseph  (view more)  (view less)

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

Obedience

Contributed by Anitha Jabastion on Jan 2, 2021

There was a boy who went trekking on the mountain. He reached a great height when he realized that it was getting dark and he had to reach the bottom soon. He began climbing down. It was getting darker and darker, so dark that he could barely see. He was somehow managing to get down the mountain ...read more

Scripture: 1 Samuel 15:22

Tags: Obedience, Listening To God

Don't Come Home?

Contributed by Wade Martin Hughes, Sr on Feb 26, 2021

We have hope. We walk in blessed assurance that Jesus died for us. The 7 years coming on this world will be THE GREAT TRIBULATION. Current, prayed up and ready Christians have nothing to fear. God is in control. We have hope. As the world goes into a paradigm or pattern change the dead in Christ ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 24:21-22

Tags: Second Coming, Be Ready

Denomination: Assembly Of God

Hilarious Christmas Story!!!

Contributed by Dr. Larry Petton on Dec 19, 2022

• A Sunday School was putting on a Christmas pageant which included the story of Mary and Joseph coming to the inn. One boy wanted so very much to be Joseph, but when the parts were handed out, a boy he didn’t like was given that part, and he was assigned to be the inn-keeper instead. He was ...read more

Tags: Mary, Nativity, Christmas, Bethlehem, Children, Joseph, Pageants  (view more)  (view less)

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

The Deceitfulness Of Sin

Contributed by Dr. Larry Petton on Mar 12, 2023

Radio personality Paul Harvey tells the story of how an Eskimo kills a wolf. The account is grisly, yet it offers fresh insight into the consuming, self-destructive nature of sin. "First, the Eskimo coats his knife blade with animal blood and allows it to freeze. Then he adds another layer of ...read more

Scripture: Romans 3:23

Tags: Deliverance, Sinners, Sin Nature, Death, Sin, Satan, Salvation, Temptation, Justification  (view more)  (view less)

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

A Pride Illustration

Contributed by Bruce Blythe on Dec 27, 2023

The Background My observation, after reading my Bible, Observing fellow Christians, And considering my own Christian life is: Pride is the biggest problem, For 99.9% plus of Christians! You could not tell it though. Christians don’t talk about it (much). Preachers don’t preach on it (much). But the ...read more

Scripture: Proverbs 16:18

Tags: Lesson, Pride

Denomination: Baptist