In Sermon Illustrations: "Guarding Your Heart"

A Bus Carrying Only Ugly People That Crashed Into ...

Contributed by David Rumley on Dec 21, 2009

A bus carrying only ugly people that crashed into an oncoming truck, and everyone inside dies. As they stand at the Pearly Gates waiting to enter Paradise and meet their maker, God decides to grant each person one wish because of the grief they have experienced. They’re all lined up, and God asks ...read more

Tags: Materialism

Denomination: Pentecostal

Hillel: "What Is Painful To You, Do Not Do Un...

Contributed by Ed Vasicek on Jan 4, 2010

Hillel: "What is painful to you, do not do unto others". (Talmud, tracate Shabbat 31a; Midrash Avot de Rabbi Natan). Akiva states "Whatever you hate to have done unto you, do not do to your neighbor; wherefore do not hurt him; do not speak ill of him; do not reveal his secrets to others; let his ...read more

Tags: Parable Good Samaritan

Denomination: Independent/Bible

Watch Out For The Weeds  PRO

Contributed by Christian Cheong on Feb 23, 2010

WATCH OUT FOR THE WEEDS Watch out for the weeds in your life – the things that come between you and God; between you and serving God. I like the way Rick Warren illustrates weeds. • You don’t have to plan for weeds to grow; it just grows. • The difference between a plant and a weed is this. ...read more

Tags: Parable Sower And Seed

Denomination: Independent/Bible

Have You Ever Been In A Parade? It’s A Fun ...

Contributed by Mark Pierce on May 26, 2010

Have you ever been in a parade? It’s a fun thing to do. When I was a boy scout I was in several parades. Today I want to talk about one of the most famous parades in history - Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem. A parade takes some preparation. Every year we love to watch the tournament of ...read more

Tags: Preparation, Parade

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

Astor's Promise

Contributed by Gordon Curley on Nov 18, 2010

ASTOR'S PROMISE One stormy night an elderly couple entered the lobby of a small hotel and asked for a room. The clerk said they were full and they would probably find so were all the hotels in town. "But I can’t send a fine couple like you out in the rain. Would you be willing to sleep in my ...read more

Tags: Promises Of God

Denomination: Brethren

Two Kinds Of Giving

Contributed by T D on Dec 28, 2010

TWO KINDS OF GIVING I have witnessed in my years of ministry people come to church and when they do not like a decision of the leadership or the minister, they decide to stop giving as a protest or decide to shift their giving to missions in order to inflict pain on the ministry of the church. ...read more

Tags: Giving General

Denomination: Evangelical Free

Joy In The Midst Of Rough Waters

Contributed by Rev. Matthew Parker on Feb 13, 2011

JOY IN THE MIDST OF ROUGH WATERS I’ve spent a fair bit of time in recent weeks doing funeral pre-planning for my parents. Making decisions about final disposition of the remains of people you have loved all your life is not any fun at all. It can be overwhelmingly sad. After spending hours with ...read more

Tags: Joy

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

Disturb Us, O Lord  PRO

Contributed by Sermon Central on Mar 8, 2011

DISTURB US, O LORD Sir Frances Drake: "Disturb us, Lord, when we are too well pleased with ourselves, when our dreams have come true because we have dreamed too little, when we arrive safely because we have sailed too close to the shore. Disturb us, Lord, when with the abundance of things we ...read more

Scripture: Colossians 3:1-4

Tags: Christian Values

Not Encouraging

Contributed by Sermon Central on May 12, 2011

NOT ENCOURAGING A young couple, very much in love, were getting married in church. However, the bride was very nervous about the big occasion and so the preacher chose one verse that he felt would be a great encouragement to them. The verse was 1 John 4:18 which says: "There is no fear in love. ...read more

Scripture: 1 John 4:18

Tags: Weddings

When Does God Settle Accounts?

Contributed by Sermon Central on May 13, 2011

WHEN DOES GOD SETTLE ACCOUNTS? The story is told of a farmer in a Midwestern state who had a strong disdain for God. As he plowed his field on Sunday morning, he would shake his fist at the church people who passed by on their way to worship. October came and the farmer had his finest crop ...read more

Scripture: Psalm 75:1-10

Tags: God's Judgment

Keeping Up With Next Door  PRO

Contributed by Sermon Central on Aug 8, 2011

KEEPING UP WITH NEXT DOOR I heard about a chicken yard with a big hen house, where a rooster had all of his hens laying eggs. One day, two little boys were next door playing football, with a brand new white football. One of them accidentally kicked the football over the fence, and it rolled into ...read more

Scripture: Ecclesiastes 4:4

Tags: Envy, Successful

The World's Accent  PRO

Contributed by Tim White on Mar 22, 2012

THE WORLD'S ACCENT When I was a boy, my Arkansas cousins moved to California for two years. When they moved back, they talked funny. Just living in California for two years influenced how they said "You guys" and how often they said it. I prefer "Y'all" to "You guys" any day. My cousins promised ...read more

Scripture: James 4:4, Romans 12:2

Tags: Sin Deceptive

Denomination: Baptist

The Cup On Its Side  PRO

Contributed by Tim White on Apr 16, 2012

THE CUP ON ITS SIDE A teacher set a cup on the table in front of his two disciples. He took a flask that had a little water in it and poured the water into the cups, evenly dividing all that was left. Trying to teach the students to be hungry for more knowledge, he said, "Your cup has water, but ...read more

Tags: Religion

Denomination: Baptist

Now She Understands  PRO

Contributed by Ken Henson on Jul 5, 2012

NOW SHE UNDERSTANDS A lady had two children. The older son was 7 years old and the little girl about 2½ years old. She heard this terrible scream upstairs and as she ran upstairs she found out that the little girl was pulling the hair of her brother. He was crying out in pain. The mother ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 18:21-35

Tags: Forgiveness General

Denomination: *other

It Takes Two To Reconcile

Contributed by Davon Huss on Mar 26, 2013

IT TAKES TWO TO RECONCILE "Be reconciled to God" 2 Corinthians 5:20 is necessary part of the process. Let's say that we have had a quarrel between us and a friend. We forsake our pride and do whatever needs to be done to break down the barrier, to make it right. But, when we eat this humble ...read more

Tags: Friendship General

Denomination: Christian/Church Of Christ

Never Satisfied

Contributed by Ed Vasicek on May 20, 2013

NEVER SATISFIED Some people are never happy. A Jewish lady's grandson is playing in the water, she is standing on the beach not wanting to get her feet wet, when all of a sudden, a huge wave appears from nowhere and crashes directly over the spot where the boy is wading. The water recedes and ...read more

Tags: Gratitude

Denomination: Independent/Bible

A Friend Of Mine

Contributed by Spencer Miller on Jun 3, 2013

A FRIEND OF MINE Branch Rickey, whose name was recently placed back into our memories in the wonderful movie '42' a story about the baseball great Jackie Robinson, was a devout Christian. Once while head of the old Brooklyn Dodgers, he attended negotiations involving a certain ballplayer's ...read more

Tags: Commitment To Christ

Denomination: Baptist

Don't Just Entertain

Contributed by Davon Huss on Oct 14, 2014

Timothy Paul Jones- With high hopes we had moved to a new youth ministry position. On my first Wednesday evening at this church, I received my first hint that this task might be more difficult than I’d imagined. After a couple of games, I gathered the students for some worship songs. Worship ...read more

Tags: Bible Influence, Delight In God's Word, Neglect Of The Word

Denomination: Christian/Church Of Christ

Purity

Contributed by Davon Huss on May 1, 2015

A mother was concerned when she heard that her son had a live in girlfriend. She went to his house. Her son was the only one home. The son said, “It’s not what you think, Mom. She needed a place to stay. She has her bedroom and I have mine.” The son then showed his mother the guest bedroom ...read more

Scripture: 1 Thessalonians 4:1-8

Tags: Cohabitation, Shacking Up, Sexual Purity, Living Together

Denomination: Christian/Church Of Christ

Shrewd

Contributed by Ed Vasicek on Oct 7, 2019

Morris (the father) says to his son:“I want you to marry a girl of my choice.” The son says: I will choose my own bride.” Morris says:“But the girl is Bill Gates’daughter.” The son answers:“Well, in that case, yes ok.” Morris then approaches Bill Gates and says:“I have a husband for your ...read more

Scripture: Proverbs 27:20-26

Tags: Wisdom, Shrewd, Clever, Conniving, Scheming  (view more)  (view less)

Denomination: Independent/Bible