In Sermon Illustrations: "Grow Up"

Christina Recently Gave Birth To Our First ...

Contributed by Chris Surber on Jun 17, 2010

Christina recently gave birth to our first daughter. After three sons I am very pleased to have a little girl. Recently I was speaking to the academic dean of the seminary where I am pursuing doctoral studies. The school had asked for individual and family photos of students like me who are ...read more

Tags: Suffering Joy In

Denomination: Christian Church

Truth In Chemistry

Contributed by Sermon Central on Oct 23, 2010

TRUTH IN CHEMISTRY Theologian, writer, speaker R. C. Sproul: "Truth is that which accurately describes reality." Hold with reality; hold with the truth. Let me give you a couple of examples. Jesus often took something that was material to explain something spiritual. He took the ordinary to ...read more

Scripture: John 8:31-47

Tags: Bible Truth

Come Sweet Death

Contributed by Sermon Central on Apr 5, 2011

COME SWEET DEATH The picture is indelibly etched on my memory, I'm sure because at the time the incident seemed so bizarre, so peculiar. The scene was an elementary school talent show; all of us had been groomed and polished and persuaded that we had some talent or another to display before our ...read more

Scripture: Philippians 3:7-14

Tags: Death

Gift Of Honor  PRO

Contributed by Sermon Central on May 12, 2011

GIFT OF HONOR Football practice was over, and Denny was sore from head to toe. Slowly he climbed the graffiti-laden stairway of the aging apartment building. Suddenly, his mother’s chilling screams pierced the cold, still air. He had heard the sound many times before. Still, a sickening knot ...read more

Scripture: Exodus 20:12

Tags: Power Source, Forgiveness For Others

Taking A Grenade

Contributed by Rick Crandall on May 21, 2011

TAKING A GRENADE A week ago last Tuesday (04/08/08) the Medal of Honor was posthumously awarded to Navy Seal Michael Monsoor. Here is part of what President Bush said to Michael’s family and those gathered at the White House: "In September 2006, Michael laid down his life for his brothers in ...read more

Tags: Sacrifices

Denomination: Baptist

Speaking The Same Language

Contributed by Isaac Butterworth on Jun 10, 2011

SPEAKING THE SAME LANGUAGE Back in 1991, I went on a mission trip to the former Soviet Union. Twenty-or-so of us arrived on a snowy November day in Samara, a city of more than a million people located on the Volga River. We were there for about ten days, and our mission was to help start a ...read more

Tags: Preaching

Denomination: Presbyterian/Reformed

Steering By Mother's Light

Contributed by Sermon Central on Aug 6, 2011

STEERING BY MOTHER'S LIGHT To illustrate the great influence of a Godly mother, let me tell you the story of Susannah Prentice. This story goes back to 1950. Susannah and her husband, Miles, lived in a 2-story house located on the coast of Maine. Miles and Susannah had 2 sons and a daughter. ...read more

Scripture: 2 Timothy 1:5

Tags: Mother's Day

What Are You Doing, Lord? Amazing Grace

Contributed by Sermon Central on Aug 31, 2011

WHAT ARE YOU DOING, LORD? AMAZING GRACE A couple days ago I was commuting to the church from Boissevain where we were camping this week, and heard an interview with a young woman named Kristen James Anderson, ironically on the last day of our free satellite radio. She came from a great family, ...read more

Scripture: Psalm 42:5

Tags: Grace

Grace And George Williams

Contributed by Tim Smith on Feb 19, 2012

GRACE AND GEORGE WILLIAMS Max Ellerbusch tells the story of the Friday six days before Christmas. He was working feverishly in his instrument repair shop so he could have all of the Christmas holiday at home with the family when the call came. His 5-year-old Craig had been fatally struck by a car. ...read more

Tags: Grace

Denomination: Methodist

Testimony About God's Comfort After A Suicide

Contributed by Rick Crandall on Jun 26, 2012

Mot Richey was one of the precious senior adults at McClendon Baptist Church in West Monroe. She went home to be with the Lord in 2006. Mot was a lovely Christian lady. She was also a wonderful singer, wife and cook. In my whole life, I never met a more loving couple than Jack and Mot Richey. ...read more

Scripture: 2 Corinthians 1:1-4, John 16:33, John 14:1-6

Tags: Grief, Suicide, God's Comfort

Denomination: Baptist

Our Greatest Need

Contributed by Ed Sasnett on Dec 20, 2012

If we were to go out on the streets and ask people at random, “What is your greatest need?” we would probably get a number of different responses. We wouldn’t be surprised in this economy if we got several answers of people needing a job so they could provide for their home and family. If people ...read more

Tags: Salvation

Denomination: Baptist

Giving Out Of Need

Contributed by Glynda Lomax on Dec 27, 2014

“Hunger also changes the world when eating can’t be a habit, then neither can seeing.” - Maxine Hong Kingston It had been a tough year and it didn’t appear to be getting any easier. She wasn’t working and he wasn’t working much. They had two teenage children to feed and bills to pay. The car ...read more

Scripture: 2 Corinthians 9:7

Tags: Compassion, Poverty, Generosity, Giving Out Of Need

Denomination: Charismatic

A Mother's Search

Contributed by Sermon Central on Mar 24, 2015

Longing to leave her poor Brazilian neighborhood, Christina wanted to see the world. Discontent with a home having only a pallet on the floor, a washbasin, and a wood-burning stove, she dreamed of a better life in the city. One morning she slipped away breaking her mother’s heart. Knowing what ...read more

Scripture: John 10:7-10

Tags: Grace, Forgiveness, Mothers, Prodigal

Ears To Hear

Contributed by Todd Catteau on May 27, 2015

I’ve done a lot of funerals in my twenty plus years of ministry, far more than I thought I would ever do. Every service touches me in a unique way and with each funeral I seem to come away with a life-lesson I needed to hear. Recently I was taught a valuable lesson as I eulogized a certain man. ...read more

Scripture: James 1:19-25

Tags: Communication, Listen, Ears, Hearing

Denomination: Christian/Church Of Christ

Walking With God

Contributed by Richard L. Brown on Oct 1, 2016

“Walking with God” Sermon Opener (Humorous) Micah 6: 1-8 Years ago, in the small town of Catlettsburg Kentucky, there lived several town-drunks. These men where classic characters, each unique in his own way, and from time to time they found themselves arrested ...read more

Scripture: Micah 6:1-8

Tags: Indictment, God's Requirements

Denomination: Presbyterian/Reformed

Thomas Didymas - The Twin

Contributed by Sam Mccormick on Jul 17, 2017

THOMAS DIDYMUS The Twin “Doubting Thomas” - was a more unfair moniker ever pinned on a person? For by taking into account the full account of his first encounter with the risen Christ, Thomas may just as rightly be styled as “Believing Thomas.” For reasons we cannot presume to know, the ...read more

Scripture: Romans 15:7, John 20:24-29

Tags: Doubt, Criticism, Thomas, Doubting

Denomination: Christian/Church Of Christ

A Train For Christmas

Contributed by Paul Steen on Dec 9, 2017

When I was a little boy, Christmas was really exciting. Sears Roebuck and Company would send toy catalogs out to my mom because she had an account with them. I would spend hours every Christmas looking at every item in the catalog. The catalog was filled with every kind of toy a boy could think ...read more

Tags: Christmas, Jesus Came, Unto Us A Child, A Son Is Given

Denomination: Calvary Chapel

Famous Hoaxes On April Fools Day & Skepticism

Contributed by David Simpson on Apr 16, 2018

It’s ironic that this year Easter falls on April Fools day. Have you ever fallen for an April Fools joke or prank? I know as a kid there was always some classmate pulling a prank on someone, with the rest of us in on it and watching that poor soul make a fool of themselves by believing the prank. ...read more

Tags: Doubt, Skepticism, Hoaxes

Denomination: Christian Church

Great Quotes By Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

Contributed by Garris Hudson on Jan 16, 2020

While Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. gave many memorable quotations about freedom, civil rights, humankind and other critical issues, as a Christian pastor, some of his most notable quotes were on matters of faith. 1. “Faith is taking the first step even when you don’t see the whole staircase.” ...read more

Scripture: Amos 4:4, Matthew 5:1-12

Tags: Justice, Civil Rights, Equality, Martin Luther King

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

The House With The Unused Room

Contributed by Jonathan Spurlock on Feb 11, 2020

How many times have you seen a house that looked so promising, you couldn’t help but want to buy it? That very thing happened to me some time ago. I was interested in buying a home, and sure enough, there was one caught my eye! It wasn’t too far from where I was working, the price seemed ...read more

Scripture: Exodus 19:5

Tags: Israel, Houses, Wasted Space, Real Estate

Denomination: Baptist