In Sermon Illustrations: "Hand"

Richard Meyer On Reasons For Our Lack Of ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Dec 1, 2009

Richard Meyer on Reasons for Our Lack of Prayer C. Richard Meyer gave three reasons for our lack of prayer in his chapter on praying for one another, in his book “One Anothering.” 1. First, he said that we don’t pray because we don’t know how to pray. a. And that certainly can be a reason. b. Many ...read more

Scripture: Ephesians 6:18-20

Tags: Prayer General

Leading A Neighbor To Christ During A Time Of ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Dec 14, 2009

Leading a Neighbor to Christ During a Time of Grief Someone in Elgin once had a neighbor named Jack. Jack was a tough man. He worked hard, he drank hard, he fought hard, and he was harsh and gruff in his manner. Most people were afraid of Jack. But this one neighbor got brave and said hello to him ...read more

Scripture: Acts 17:1-15

Tags: Christian Witness

Little ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Jan 18, 2010

Little Mirrors Robert Fulghum, in his book, It Was On Fire When I Lay Down On It, tells how he found purpose in life. Fulghum, a former Episcopal priest, took a course on Greek culture at an Orthodox retreat center on the Island of Crete. A man named Alexander Papaderos built the center. After ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 5:14-16

Tags: Christian Witness

Defining Moments Of Faith

Contributed by Michael Mccartney on Aug 11, 2010

DEFINING MOMENTS OF FAITH Several years ago Jeff Strueker was a US Army Ranger posted in Mogadishu, Somalia. Today he is a master of divinity student at the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, KY. For him Oct 3-4, 1993 were the defining moments of his life. He was one of the ...read more

Tags: Faith

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

Barna On New Year's Resolutions

Contributed by Michael Mccartney on Jan 19, 2011

BARNA ON NEW YEAR'S RESOLUTIONS When it comes to the types of resolutions people make, Americans not surprisingly focus on self-oriented changes. Among those planning to make resolutions, the top pledges for 2011 relate to weight, diet and health (30%); money, debt and finances (15%); personal ...read more

Tags: Future

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

Cheering For The Other Team

Contributed by Sermon Central on May 9, 2011

CHEERING FOR THE OTHER TEAM I heard about an unusual high school football game played in Grapevine, Texas recently between Grapevine Faith Academy and the Gainesville State School. Faith Academy is a Christian school and Gainesville is located within a high-security youth correctional facility. ...read more

Scripture: Proverbs 3:27

Tags: Christian Witness

Sarah's Vase  PRO

Contributed by Sermon Central on Jun 21, 2011

SARAH'S VASE Just like life comes in the place of death, so honor comes in the place of service. Pediatrician David Cerqueira tells the story of a little girl in his wife's Sunday School class. His wife had prepared a lesson on being useful and told the children that everyone can be useful in ...read more

Scripture: John 12:23-26, Mark 14:1-9

Tags: Servanthood

Love Is A Process  PRO

Contributed by Sermon Central on Aug 10, 2011

LOVE IS A PROCESS When we obey the truth, whether we feel like it or not, we can "love one another deeply from the heart." That's what Bible College professor, Yohanna Katanacho, discovered. He pastors a small church in the Israeli city of Jerusalem. He is a Palestinian living in Israel, and a ...read more

Scripture: 1 Peter 1:22

Tags: Love Of The Disciples

Chris Paul: Forgiving The Murderers

Contributed by Sermon Central on Aug 23, 2011

CHRIS PAUL: FORGIVING THE MURDERERS In April, 2011, Rick Reilly wrote a moving story about forgiveness from the life of Chris Paul, the all-star basketball player for the Charlotte Hornets. Reilly writes: On the moonless night of November 15, 2002, five boys ran across a park, jumped a ...read more

Scripture: Luke 11:4

Tags: Forgiveness For Others, Ask Seek Knock

He Wants To Be With His Master

Contributed by Sermon Central on Aug 29, 2011

HE WANTS TO BE WITH HIS MASTER Today’s story is about an old country doctor that dates back to the late 1930s when doctors made house calls. Isaac Pender was his name. Everyone in the area for two reasons respected him. First, he was an excellent doctor who provided compassion care for his ...read more

Scripture: John 14:1-4

Tags: Heaven

Pray And Read Your Bible

Contributed by Josh Hunt on Feb 29, 2012

PRAY AND READ YOUR BIBLE A man was in prison and was in need of some money. He wrote his mother and asked her to send five hundred dollars immediately. Soon after, he got a package in the mail. It was a Bible. On the top of the Bible, there was a letter that said, "Son, I love you. Pray and read ...read more

Scripture: Philippians 4:19

Tags: Men's Day

Denomination: Baptist

Baptism: Clothed In Christ  PRO

Contributed by Jeff Strite on Apr 1, 2012

BAPTISM: CLOTHED IN CHRIST Just this last week we baptized a 9-year-old boy into Christ. His name is J.J. J.J. knew all the answers to the questions I posed to him, but his father was concerned that his young son viewed baptism as a "magic act" that would make all kinds of marvelous changes ...read more

Tags: Baptism

Denomination: Christian/Church Of Christ

Galatians 4:4-5 Says "But When The Time Had ...

Contributed by Jeff Strite on Aug 26, 2012

Galatians 4:4-5 says “But when the time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under law, to redeem those under law, that we might receive the full rights of sons.” We’re sons. We’ve been redeemed from UNDER the Law. Those UNDER the Mosaic law lived UNDER the strict rules and ...read more

Tags: Law

Denomination: Christian/Church Of Christ

The Agony Of Defeat

Contributed by Sermon Central on Aug 28, 2012

"THE AGONY OF DEFEAT" Some of you might remember the TV program "The Wide World of Sports". For many years, the opening of the program opened like this: "Spanning the globe to bring you the constant variety of sport; the thrill of victory... and the agony of defeat." The opening illustrated "the ...read more

Scripture: Proverbs 27:12

Tags: Change

Sins Are Habits  PRO

Contributed by John Sattler on Feb 18, 2013

SINS ARE HABITS I’m reading a book right now called "The Power of Habit" (http://charlesduhigg.com/the-power-of-habit/) about how so much of our daily life is lived by habit. We have to. Our brain needs habits in order for us to be able to function. Just about everything we do is habitual. How ...read more

Scripture: Ephesians 4:28, Romans 12:2

Tags: Temptation General

Denomination: Lutheran

Mammon

Contributed by Michael Mccartney on Oct 2, 2014

The Blessed Life is a book written Robert Morris. He talks about a crucial weed that chokes out the truth of God, the teachings of God, the Word in our life – that weed or thorny vine is called mammon – greed – the love of money which supersedes the love of the Lord Jesus. It’s a real weed and it’s ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 6:24

Tags: Money, Greed, Riches, Spiritual Attack

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

Beginning Again  PRO

Contributed by Sam Mccormick on Dec 29, 2016

BEGINNING AGAIN The opening lines of a poem by Louisa Fletcher express this plaintive wish: I wish that there were some wonderful place Called the "Land of Beginning Again," Where all our mistakes, and all our heartaches, And all of our poor selfish grief Could be dropped like a shabby old coat ...read more

Scripture: John 3:3-8

Tags: Resolution, Born Again, New Year, New Start

Denomination: Christian/Church Of Christ

False Converts

Contributed by Rick Palmer on Oct 5, 2018

As an archery deer hunter I walk a lot out in nature. Yesterday as I was walking across a corn field I found a small branch of pretty colored leaves. My wife loves collecting leaves and doing crafts with them. I looked around and there were no trees with in a great distance from the leaves. How ...read more

Scripture: John 14:6, Matthew 4:17, John 3:16-18

Tags: Grace, Believe, Salvation, Repentance

An Observation About Context

Contributed by Jonathan Spurlock on Mar 16, 2020

Context is very important, even in the little things. For example, people have done a lot of damage to Bible verses, stories, doctrines, etc., because they did not or do not consider the context. Someone once remarked that a Bible verse out of its context is like a diamond away from a necklace: ...read more

Scripture: Luke 4:1-13, Matthew 4:1-11

Tags: Context, Temptations And Testings

Denomination: Baptist

Mom Left Us More Than Her Insurance Policy

Contributed by Jonathan Spurlock on Jun 2, 2020

Around April 28, 2020, my mother completed her earthly journey and went to be with the Lord. I have to confess, part of me was glad she wasn’t suffering any longer (she had several serious health issues) but of course there was the grief that comes along with losing someone you love. Yes, I know ...read more

Scripture: Luke 12:15

Tags: Insurance, Mothers, Inheritance

Denomination: Baptist