In Sermon Illustrations: "Greatest Gift"

Billy Graham: Growing Old Has Been A Surprise  PRO

Contributed by Josh Hunt on Feb 7, 2012

BILLY GRAHAM: GROWING OLD HAS BEEN A SURPRISE Billy Graham, in his book "Nearing Home: Life, Faith, and Finishing Well" (pp. 1-2, Thomas Nelson), he writes: Growing old has been the greatest surprise of my life. The young live for the here and now. Thinking ahead seems to be in the form of dreams ...read more

Scripture: Proverbs 16:31

Tags: Aging

Denomination: Baptist

The Happiness Of Heaven

Contributed by Sermon Central on May 7, 2012

THE HAPPINESS OF HEAVEN In 1871 Fr. J. Boudreau wrote a short story entitled "The Happiness of Heaven." It's a story about a kindhearted king who is hunting in the forest when he discovers a blind, poor orphan boy living there. The king takes the blind orphan to his palace and adopts him as his ...read more

Scripture: 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18

Tags: Heaven

D.l. Moody: God Loves Sinners  PRO

Contributed by Sermon Central on Jun 25, 2009

D.L. MOODY: GOD LOVES SINNERS D.L. Moody was a renowned American preacher back in the mid 1800’s. He went to England where he was introduced to a young preacher named Henry Moorehouse. During their short conversation, Moorehouse said he wanted to go to America. Moody, trying to be polite, said ...read more

Scripture: Romans 5:8

Tags: Atonement, Salvation, Cross, Revival, God's Love  (view more)  (view less)

Weathering The ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Jul 13, 2009

WEATHERING THE STORMS Pastor Ron Ritchie once talked about a friend of his named Jack who called him one night many years ago. He sensed immediately that his heart was heavy with grief. A few months prior his wife Cindy had become pregnant for the first time after years of waiting on the Lord to ...read more

Scripture: 2 Corinthians 12:10

Tags: Trials And Difficulties

Right And Wrong And Ruby ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Jul 14, 2009

RIGHT AND WRONG AND RUBY BRIDGES A federal judge had ordered New Orleans to open its public schools to African-American children. White parents in the community decided to keep their children at home if this verdict was enforced. They made it known that any African-American children who came to ...read more

Scripture: James 1:22-24

Tags: Christian Values

Billy Graham Awarded Golden Congressional Medal

Contributed by Sermon Central on Oct 22, 2009

BILLY GRAHAM AWARDED GOLDEN CONGRESSIONAL MEDAL On Thursday May 2, 1996, Dr. Billy Graham was awarded the Golden Congressional Medal, the highest honor this country can bestow upon an individual - only 263 individuals had ever received this in the history of the United States of America. In his ...read more

Scripture: Psalm 23:1-6

Tags: Attitude General

I Saw That Kind Of Wellspring Of Abundant Life ...

Contributed by Steve Miller on Mar 16, 2008

I saw that kind of wellspring of abundant life this week on the internet when I saw Nick Vujicic. He’s a 25 year old man, born without arms or legs, but has a marvelous wellspring of Abundent life like no other I’ve seen… [Play clip from http://lifewithoutlimbs.org/ or read the following excerpt ...read more

Denomination: *other

In 1988, Author Robert Fulghum Had A Book ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Mar 31, 2008

In 1988, author Robert Fulghum had a book published entitled, “All I really need to know I learned in Kindergarten”. The idea behind the little book was that since the basics of human social behavior are taught us as young children, such as kindness, fairness, cleaning up after yourself, sharing ...read more

Tags: Worry, Burden

The Wise Farmer Can Usually Depend On ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Apr 1, 2008

"...the wise farmer can usually depend on expected timetables of seedtime and harvest. Not so in the spiritual life. One of the greatest frustrations in the Christian ministry, and principal cause for 'weariness in well doing' is the inability to calculate the spiritual outcome of faithful labors ...read more

Tags: Endurance

The Value Of The ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Aug 11, 2008

THE VALUE OF THE BLOOD Several years ago in Oshawa, Ontario, Canada, George and Vera Bajenksi’s lives were changed forever. February 16, 1989, on a very normal Thursday morning, the phone rang at 9:15 a.m. "There’s been an accident..." It involved their son Ben. As they approached the ...read more

Scripture: 1 Peter 1:18-19

Tags: Blood Of Christ

Counting On Them  PRO

Contributed by Sermon Central on Dec 16, 2008

COUNTING ON THEM The wise farmer can usually depend on expected timetables of seedtime and harvest. Not so in the spiritual life. One of the greatest frustrations in the Christian ministry, and principal cause for "weariness in well doing" is the inability to calculate the spiritual outcome of ...read more

Tags: Servanthood

Does He Have Other Plans?

Contributed by Sermon Central on Dec 28, 2008

DOES HE HAVE OTHER PLANS? The wise farmer can usually depend on expected timetables of seedtime and harvest. Not so in the spiritual life. One of the greatest frustrations in the Christian ministry, and principal cause for "weariness in well-doing" is the inability to calculate the spiritual ...read more

Tags: Servanthood

Victorious Living

Contributed by Jerry Cosper on Feb 13, 2023

2 weeks ago as I sat in the office of my lawyer, he showed me a photocopy of a handwritten letter from Abraham Lincoln that was written to my lawyer’s great-great uncle. The uncle happened to be the president of the University of Pennsylvania at that time. He was involved in writing a pamphlet on ...read more

Scripture: John 16:19-22

Tags: Victory, Hard Times

Denomination: Baptist

And Then It Was Silent No More

Contributed by James Snyder on May 23, 2020

During this time of exclusive lockdown, I and the Gracious Mistress of the Parsonage have grown accustomed to silence. Don't get me wrong here. I do not object to noise as long as it's the right kind of noise. However, I do have a good warm feeling about silence. What was that song? ...read more

Scripture: Proverbs 3:13

Tags: Books, Silence, Noise

Denomination: Christian Missionary Alliance

The Novelist, A. J. Cronin, Tells A Story From ...  PRO

Contributed by Sermon Central on Dec 16, 2001

The novelist, A. J. Cronin, tells a story from his own experience as a doctor that catches the wonder of the gift of grace. The Adams family at the close of the Second World War decided to open their home to a little refugee boy with the outlandish name of Paul Piotrostanalzi. The Adams had two ...read more

Tags: God's Forgiveness, Grace, God's Provision

Dr. Bill Bright Of Campus Crusade For Christ ...  PRO

Contributed by A. Todd Coget on Jan 11, 2002

Dr. Bill Bright of Campus Crusade for Christ tells this story of a famous oil field called Yates Pool: During the depression this field was a sheep ranch owned by a man named Yates. Mr. Yates wasn’t able to make enough on his ranching operation to pay the principal and interest on the mortgage, so ...read more

Tags: Holy Spirit Attributes, God's Omnipotence, Love Of The Disciples

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

In The Power Of The Spirit  PRO

Contributed by A. Todd Coget on Aug 30, 2002

IN THE POWER OF THE SPIRIT As a young man, Oswald Chambers, who wrote the materials that became My Utmost For His Highest, battled a persistent sense of barrenness in his Christian life. He finally wrote: I was getting desperate. I knew no one who had what I wanted; in fact I did not know what ...read more

Tags: Holy Spirit In Believers, Love Of The Disciples

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

One Of The Supreme Tests Of Life Is, "How Did ...  PRO

Contributed by John Williams Iii on Oct 12, 2002

"One of the supreme tests of life is, "How did we use our privileges?" Oscar Wilde has a terrible kind of parable like this. Jesus was walking through the streets of a city. In an open courtyard. He saw a young man feasting gluttonously and growing drunk with wine. "Young man." said Jesus. "why do ...read more

Tags: Sin General

Denomination: United Methodist

One Evening The Door Bell Rang.i Was Tired And ...  PRO

Contributed by Sermon Central on Mar 16, 2004

One evening the door bell rang.I was tired and trodded downstairs feeling like a martyr. I opened the door to find an elderly parishioner. She said, "I just wanted you to have this." I said thank you. It was an envelope of money, nearly a month’s pay for me. I left it on my bedroom bureau. Next ...read more

Tags: Giving General, Money

Ann Along With Her Two Small Sons, Went To Live ...  PRO

Contributed by Brad Bailey on Aug 2, 2004

Ann along with her two small sons, went to live with her parents in Texas for the duration of World War II, while her Air Force husband was busy in Europe. It was Christmas time and mother and grandparents were making great plans for the boys. The tree was up and decorated. Gifts were bought and ...read more

Tags: Christmas

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational