In Sermon Illustrations: "Grow Up"

People Need To Be Scared

Contributed by Brian Harvison on Nov 12, 2008

PEOPLE NEED TO BE SCARED As Christians today we tend to blend in with the world. We don’t want to be seen as a fanatic. We should want to be considered a fanatic. The shorten form of the word fanatic is fan, Which in sports or entertainment is a compliment. We are not ashamed to be considered a ...read more

Tags: Christian Witness

Denomination: Baptist

When 53-Year-Old Danny Anderson Was Feeding His ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Dec 12, 2008

When 53-year-old Danny Anderson was feeding his horses Monday night, a 5-foot rattler slithered onto his central Washington property. Anderson and his 27-year-old son, Benjamin, pinned the snake with an irrigation pipe and cut off its head with a shovel. A few more strikes to the head left it ...read more

Tags: Hardship Of Life

Head Of A Dead Snake

Contributed by Sermon Central on Dec 28, 2008

HEAD OF A DEAD SNAKE When 53-year-old Danny Anderson was feeding his horses Monday night, a 5-foot rattlesnake slithered onto his central Washington property. Anderson and his 27-year-old son, Benjamin, pinned the snake with an irrigation pipe and cut off its head with a shovel. A few more ...read more

Tags: Hardship Of Life

Why Did God Become A Man?  PRO

Contributed by Sermon Central on Dec 28, 2008

WHY DID GOD BECOME A MAN? Why would the Son of God want to become human? What would possess Him to leave His eternal home to enter this world plagued by pain and sorrow? Why would He give up the worship of angels to endure abuse at the hands of sinful man? Why did God become a man? Max Lucado in ...read more

Tags: Christmas

I Like Me Best When I'm With You

Contributed by Sermon Central on Jan 5, 2009

I LIKE ME BEST WHEN I'M WITH YOU As a part of an assignment for a doctoral thesis, a college student spent a year with a group of Navajo Indians on a reservation in the Southwest. As he did his research, he lived with one family, sleeping in their hut, eating their food, working with them and ...read more

Tags: God's Love

Put God First And Give Him What Is ...

Contributed by Ovidiu Radulescu on Jan 12, 2009

Put God first and give Him what is His! “Now about the collection for God’s people: Do what I told the Galatian churches to do. On the first day of every week, each one of you should set aside a sum of money in keeping with his income, saving it up, so that when I come no collections will have ...read more

Scripture: 1 Corinthians 16:1-13

Tags: Tithes

Denomination: Seventh-Day Adventist

Peace In The ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Feb 10, 2009

PEACE IN THE FRAY Columnist Deborah Mathis wrote about the time when she was at Union Station in Washington D.C. on a particularly busy day. The first thing she remembers about that experience was the noisy hubbub of sounds. The public address announcer calling out arrivals and departures. Scores ...read more

Tags: Peace

Don't Be Cheap With The Seed

Contributed by Sermon Central on Feb 10, 2009

DON’T BE CHEAP WITH THE SEED In Canada, a believer operated a large grain farm. His spread included some twenty-five hundred acres. When asked how he planted the seed, he reached in a bin and pulled out an ear of corn. Then he proceeded to pop out the kernels one by one as he walked along, ...read more

Scripture: 2 Corinthians 9:8, Isaiah 6:1-13

Tags: Evangelism How To

On Anger

Contributed by Sermon Central on Feb 11, 2009

ON ANGER The late great writer, Bede Jarrett (1881 - 1937), once wrote: "The world needs anger. The world often continues to allow evil because it isn’t angry enough." The late great Indian political and spiritual leader, Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (1869 - 1948), once said, "Man should forget ...read more

Scripture: Ephesians 4:25-27

Tags: Anger

Common-Ism In The Church  PRO

Contributed by Sermon Central on Feb 16, 2009

COMMON-ISM IN THE CHURCH Years ago I ran across this following definition of the various forms of government. They compared capitalism (the economic model we try to follow in our country) with communism and socialism, and they used a simple illustration to drive their point home. In a capitalist ...read more

Scripture: Acts 2:42-48

Tags: Church Body Of Christ

Bears, Caps And Bags

Contributed by Sermon Central on Feb 16, 2009

BEARS, CAPS AND BAGS Two hunters came across a bear so big that they dropped their rifles and ran for cover. One man climbed a tree while the other hid in a nearby cave. The bear was in no hurry to eat, so he sat down between the tree and the cave to reflect upon his good fortune. Suddenly, and ...read more

Scripture: 1 Peter 1:6-9

Tags: Hardship Of Life

A Young, New Preacher Went To Visit An Older, ...

Contributed by Paul Carlson on Feb 21, 2009

A young, new preacher went to visit an older, more seasoned preacher for guidance because he felt stressed over the trials of pasturing a church. The older preacher took him out to his back yard -- walked up to a rosebush and handed the young preacher a rosebud and told him to open it without ...read more

Tags: Wisdom

Denomination: Baptist

Following Jesus Is Not Easy. Being Faithful Is ...

Contributed by Mark Eberly on Feb 23, 2009

Following Jesus is not easy. Being faithful is not easy. Giving and sacrificing. Generosity. Showing kindness and love. Being faithful and consistent. Offering praises and worship even when you don’t feel like it can be a huge sacrifice. You will most likely be rejected at some point. You might ...read more

Tags: Sacrifices

Denomination: Church Of God

We Talk A Lot About Serving And Worshiping Jesus. ...

Contributed by Bruce Ball on Mar 6, 2009

We talk a lot about serving and worshiping Jesus. But to be able to serve Him, or worship Him, we must know exactly who He is and what He offers. Here is the Jesus I know: ···· Jesus is Christ. He is the living Son of the living God. ···· He is the First and Last, the Beginning and the ...read more

Tags: Jesus Christ

Denomination: *other

Washing Dishes For ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Mar 17, 2009

WASHING DISHES FOR GOD Brother Lawrence, a 17th century lay brother and a good cook, spent most of his years in a monastery as a cook. He did not have the education necessary to become a cleric and his mundane duties included cooking meals, running errands and scrubbing pots, anything but changing ...read more

Tags: Servanthood

Carey: God's Sovereign Will  PRO

Contributed by Sermon Central on Jun 14, 2011

CAREY: GOD'S SOVEREIGN WILL William Carey, who is called the father of modern missions, began his missionary career to India in 1793. He served the Lord in that country for 40 years, never once returning to his home in England. And throughout those years he translated portions of the Bible into ...read more

Scripture: Psalm 46:10

Tags: Gods Will, Still God, God's Sovereign Will, I Can Do All Things

Serving Saves A Soul

Contributed by Rick Crandall on Jul 8, 2011

SERVING SAVES A SOUL One of the best ways to do these good things is to get involved in Vacation Bible School: Praying for VBS, inviting kids to come, serving in VBS, and following up on our guests. Kids will get saved. Sometimes even parents get saved through VBS. Florence Lee can tell you that. ...read more

Tags: Evangelism The Lost

Denomination: Baptist

A Desire To Know Him More

Contributed by Paul Barreca on Aug 20, 2011

A DESIRE TO KNOW HIM MORE Just imagine how wonderful it would be if our greatest desire was to know God more! Dennis Wise really loved Elvis Presley--so much so that not long after Presley died, Dennis had his face lifted by a plastic surgeon and his hair contoured so that he took on an ...read more

Tags: Worship General

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

We Don't Know Her Story

Contributed by Sermon Central on Aug 22, 2011

WE DON'T KNOW HER STORY They called her their troubled one, or their feisty one. She had wild flyaway hair much like that of a punk rocker, but jet-black. And she was only, at the oldest, a couple of weeks old. So small, she looked as if she could fit in one hand. The ICU nurses all took turns ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 19:13-15

Tags: Prayer Supplication

Visions Of Glory

Contributed by Sermon Central on Sep 9, 2011

VISIONS OF GLORY Chan Gailey, who just began his second season as head coach for the Buffalo Bills, got his start coaching football at Alabama's Troy State University. In 1984, with a 12-1 record, he led the Troy State Trojans to a Division II NCAA national championship. A week before the big ...read more

Scripture: 1 Peter 5:5-6

Tags: Pride