In Sermon Illustrations: "Guarding Your Heart"

Are You Worth Saving?

Contributed by Rodelio Mallari on Nov 14, 2010

ARE YOU WORTH SAVING? Bishop Moore tells the story of a little boy who was swimming one day in a lake when suddenly he suffered some type of physical difficulty and could swim no farther. The boy struggled for his life. He had gone under twice, when he felt the strong arm of a man lifting him. The ...read more

Tags: God's Provision

Denomination: *other

Deal With Habits Early On

Contributed by Rodelio Mallari on Apr 13, 2011

DEAL WITH HABITS EARLY ON An elderly teacher, with a pupil by his side, took a walk through a forest. Suddenly he stopped and pointed to four plants close at hand. The first was just beginning to peep above the ground, the second had rooted itself pretty well into the earth, the third was a small ...read more

Tags: Christian Disciplines

Denomination: *other

Shortcuts

Contributed by Dale Pilgrim on May 8, 2011

SHORTCUTS We live in a world of shortcuts. When I drive up to the Wendy's drive-through menu, I order my usual #6 rather than recite the details of the food order. You have your own shortcuts: mixing laundry loads; hot dinner pick up at Superstore; "control-C" on the computer to copy an item ...read more

Tags: Burden, Commitment To Christ

Denomination: Salvation Army

What Would You Do?

Contributed by Revd. Martin Dale on Jun 30, 2011

WHAT WOULD YOU DO? A number of years ago, a young police officer was taking his final exam for the police academy when he came upon the following question: "You are on patrol in the outer city when an explosion occurs in a gas main in a nearby street. On investigation you find that a large hole ...read more

Tags: Christian Witness

Denomination: Anglican

God Picks The Unlovable Ones

Contributed by Sermon Central on Aug 15, 2011

GOD PICKS THE UNLOVABLE ONES Anne Lamott described a time when a fellow church member told about adopting her son through an organization called A.S.K. -- Adopt Special Kids. Part of the adoption process included filling out a questionnaire checking "yes" or "no" for one's willingness to adopt ...read more

Scripture: John 4:1-42

Tags: Adoption

Smelly Collections

Contributed by Ed Vasicek on Nov 28, 2011

SMELLY COLLECTIONS He may dress like a skid-row bum and smell like a dead rat, but Andy Smulian is a hit among London businessmen plagued by those who won't pay their bills. Employed by the London-Manhattan Debt Collection Agency, the 20-years-old youth will stumble into a deadbeat's office for ...read more

Tags: Evangelism The Lost

Denomination: Independent/Bible

Forgive And Forget

Contributed by Josh Hunt on Feb 15, 2012

FORGIVE AND FORGET There's a wonderful story about the cardinal of the Philippines, named, oddly enough, Cardinal Sin. When Cardinal Sin was a bishop, a young woman in his parish claimed that she had visions of Jesus. Bishop Sin was given the task of determining if these visions were authentic. He ...read more

Scripture: 1 John 1:9

Tags: Forgiveness General

Denomination: Baptist

Travelers Vs. Tourists

Contributed by Tim Hinrichs on Mar 29, 2012

TRAVELERS VS. TOURISTS Canadian Pastor Mark Buchanan in his book "Your Church is Too Safe" points out the radical difference between a traveler and a tourist. "A traveler literally means 'one who travails.' He labors, he suffers, endures. A traveler -- travailer - ...immerses himself in a culture, ...read more

Tags: Discipleship

Denomination: Lutheran

So Yesterday I Went Across The Road To Jumbos Takeaways!

Contributed by Andrew Moffatt on Apr 29, 2012

So yesterday I went across the road to Jumbos Takeaways. Just as an aside have you ever noticed that just about every town in New Zealand has a ‘Jumbo’s Takeaway’s’ it’s like the franchise that you have when you’re not having a franchise. There was one in Stoke where I grew up, it wasn’t painted ...read more

Scripture: John 3:16

Tags: Commitment, Food, Commitment To Christ, Commitment To God, Commitment To Church  (view more)  (view less)

Denomination: Salvation Army

A Fork In The Road

Contributed by Sermon Central on May 1, 2012

A FORK IN THE ROAD Several artists were asked to illustrate their concepts of temptation. When their paintings were unveiled, some of them depicted man's attempt to achieve fame and fortune at any cost. Others pictured mankind’s struggle against the alluring desires of the flesh. The ...read more

Scripture: Proverbs 4:10-19

Tags: Temptation Resisting

Jesus Freaks

Contributed by Joe Bertone on Jul 23, 2012

JESUS FREAKS In the book, Jesus Freaks, is the story of the Hine family. They lived in Cambodia during the Vietnam War. At that time it was very dangerous to be Christian in Cambodia. They were arrested one day for being Christians and thus enemies of the revolution and bad blood. One morning ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 7:13-14, Hebrews 11:1-40

Tags: Sacrifice, Paradise, Dying, Sacrifices, Martyr  (view more)  (view less)

Denomination: Christian/Church Of Christ

Listening To God Compared To Listening To The ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Aug 4, 2012

LISTENING TO GOD COMPARED TO LISTENING TO THE DOCTOR We should treat prayer for what it is, a two way conversation with God, and learn to be quiet long enough for him to get a word in edge ways. Nicky Gumbel, in his book Questions of Life compares it to a visit to the doctor, he writes “Suppose I ...read more

Scripture: 1 Samuel 3:10

Tags: Prayer How To

Fly To The Light  PRO

Contributed by Joe Bertone on Aug 20, 2012

FLY TO THE LIGHT Southeast Christian Church in Louisville, Kentucky has this huge sanctuary that seats thousands upon thousands. Sometimes birds get in there. The facilities department has the job of trying to figure out how to get these birds out. The last thing you want Sunday morning is a bird ...read more

Scripture: John 8:12

Tags: Light, Darkness, Escape, Jesus Teachings

Denomination: Christian/Church Of Christ

Daddy, What Does It Feel Like To Die?  PRO

Contributed by Garris Hudson on Feb 19, 2014

Years ago I heard the compelling story of a young pastor whose son was very sick and not expected to live long. Night after night the pastor and his wife would put their boy to bed and say a prayer hoping for a miracle. One evening, the boy looked at his father and said, "Daddy, what does it feel ...read more

Scripture: John 14:1-6, 2 Timothy 3:1-9

Tags: Death, Children, Heaven, Grief

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

Solving Problems; It's In The Angle

Contributed by Sermon Central on Feb 15, 2015

“With 900 million members worldwide and growing, Facebook is building its first European data storage facility—60 miles south of the Arctic Circle in Lulea, Sweden. The reason: natural air conditioning. Some Internet “server farms” spend as much to cool the machines as power them. Facebook’s Nordic ...read more

Scripture: John 15:1-12

Tags: Fruitfulness, Christian Growth

Trials

Contributed by Tim Smith on May 28, 2015

Sam Dixon was the General Secretary of the United Methodist Committee on Relief. He died under the rubble in the Montana Hotel of Haiti, serving God while meeting with other relief agencies to work together to better help the Haitian people. When one serves God so faithfully and suddenly is killed, ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 7:13-16

Tags: God's Sovereignty, Serving, Choices, The Price To Follow

Denomination: Methodist

When Good Intentions Go Wrong

Contributed by Jeremiah Menyongai on Mar 14, 2016

Illustration 2: In Tanzania, two guys went for an interview. One was smarter than the other but they were good friends and willing to work together so the less smarter could pass. The educated one said if he went first, he would come back with the answers to the interview questions. It happens that ...read more

Scripture: Genesis 26:1-33

Tags: Examine, Follower, Repeat, Mess, Ignorant, Stupid, Independent, Intention, Dull, Dummy, Ax, Evaluate, Test  (view more)  (view less)

Denomination: Charismatic

Before You Can Know God's Will....

Contributed by Garris Hudson on Jul 7, 2016

BEFORE YOU CAN KNOW GOD’S WILL.... When we are asked about knowing the will of God, we usually hurry to Romans 12:1-2 and give info about the "perfect will of God." But we may be missing something if that is the case. The New Testament was originally written in letters, not in chapter formats. ...read more

Tags: God's Will, Surrender, The Glory Of God

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

Pelagianism A Simple Explaination

Contributed by Clarence Eisberg on Sep 6, 2017

Pelagius. He was a British Monk who lived in the 4th century. He taught that Adam was created good and everything God creates is good. He went on to say that all human beings could be sinless, an never do an evil action if they chose. Nothing that some men have lived without sin. Adam’s sin, ...read more

Scripture: Romans 3:21-24

Tags: Grace Alone, False Beliefs

Denomination: Lutheran

Ten Word Sermon

Contributed by Kevin Barron on Aug 31, 2018

The shortest sermon I know is only ten words. It was preached by my grandfather to a small, country congregation on the story of the Good Samaritan (Mark 10:35-45). He read the account of an outsider who demonstrates true neighbor love by stopping on the road to care for a bleeding and badly ...read more

Scripture: Mark 10:35-45

Tags: Compassion, Good Samaritan

Denomination: Methodist