In Sermon Illustrations: "Heart For The Lost"

The People With The Roses  PRO

Contributed by Ryan Johnson on Feb 23, 2002

THE PEOPLE WITH THE ROSES John Blanchard stood up from the bench, straightened his Army uniform, and studied the crowd of people making their way through Grand Central Station. He looked for the girl whose heart he knew, but whose face he didn’t, the girl with the rose. His interest in her had ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 12:38, 1 Samuel 16:7, Matthew 6:33, 1 Samuel 16:7, Matthew 13:24-43  (view more)  (view less)

Tags: Compassion, Evangelism Fear Of, Great Commission, Heart, Love, The Organ  (view more)  (view less)

Denomination: Christian/Church Of Christ

Cloudy Days

Contributed by Dr. Ronald Shultz on Sep 18, 2021

My wife told me about a dream where she is looking up at a cloudy sky with two arms sticking through the clouds and says, I love you. The arms sign back to her, "I love you." I am cautious about dreams and interpretations because most are just our brains doing what we call in the IT ...read more

Scripture: Hebrews 13:5

Tags: Dark, Alone, Cloud, Silence, Sile, Arms, Love, Heart  (view more)  (view less)

Denomination: Baptist

Blindness

Contributed by Ed Vasicek on Feb 22, 2025

Aero Condor was experiencing money problems in Peru and needed to cut back expenses. So, rumor had it they hired two blind pilots. Story soon spread about these pilots, but no one believed it. So one day the plane was loaded and up came the two pilots, with dark glasses and walking sticks. The ...read more

Scripture: Isaiah 6:10, Matthew 15:14, Matthew 23:16-19, Matthew 23:24-26, Luke 6:39, John 9:39-41, John 12:40, Romans 2:19, 2 Corinthians 4:4  (view more)  (view less)

Tags: Blind, Spiritual Blindness, Hard Hearts, Not Understanding, Lack Of Discernment  (view more)  (view less)

Denomination: Independent/Bible

Weeping Over Others

Contributed by Dr. Larry Petton on Jan 15, 2020

Do you weep for your family, friends, church, nation and world? 1) Jesus did- Jesus wept over the sins of others, over their bitter consequences in judgment and death, and over Jerusalem which would not receive him. Jesus was a Man of Sorrows (Isaiah 53). Why? Because he took our sins upon ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 5:1-12

Tags: Intercession, Beatitudes, Lost, Weeping, Mourning, Evangelism, Prayer  (view more)  (view less)

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

Mankind Has Been Trying To Get Satisfaction For ...  PRO

Contributed by Owen Bourgaize on Oct 30, 2000

Mankind has been trying to get satisfaction for an inner longing. Someone put it in terms of our having a "God-shaped gap" in our make-up. The famous poet, Lord Byron, described his experience vividly: he "Drank every cup of joy, drank early, deeply drank, drank draughts which common millions ...read more

Tags: God's Provision, Evangelism The Lost, Promises Of God

Denomination: Baptist

Several Years Ago The Peanuts Comic Strip Had ...  PRO

Contributed by Jeeva Sam on Mar 20, 2001

Several years ago the Peanuts comic strip had Lucy and Charlie Brown practicing football. Lucy would hold the ball for Charlie’s placekicking and then Charlie would kick the ball. But every time Lucy had ever held the ball for Charlie, he would approach the ball and kick with all his might. At the ...read more

Scripture: 2 Timothy 1:13-18, 2 Corinthians 7:9-11

Tags: Evangelism The Lost, God's Forgiveness, Momentum, Repentance

Denomination: Methodist

Charles Spurgeon Said, We Need Our God; He Is To ...  PRO

Contributed by Tj Tipton on Mar 29, 2001

Charles Spurgeon said, We need our God; He is to be had for the seeking; and He will not deny Himself to any one ...read more

Tags: Evangelism The Lost, Church Practices, Worship General

Denomination: Pentecostal

There's A Famous Painting By Rembrandt's Of The ...  PRO

Contributed by Owen Bourgaize on Oct 18, 2000

There’s a famous painting by Rembrandt’s of The Three Crosses. Those who view have their attention drawn first to the centre cross on which Jesus died. Then they look at the crowd gathered around the foot of that cross, impressed by the various facial expressions and actions of the people ...read more

Scripture: Colossians 1:1-8

Tags: God's Forgiveness, Evangelism The Lost, Cross Agony

Denomination: Baptist

If You Were To Sit Down In Your Living Room, Hit ...  PRO

Contributed by Mary Lewis on May 11, 2001

If you were to sit down in your living room, hit the remote control and nothing happened, what’s the first thing you’d do? Call the cable company? Call KDKA and ask what happened to their signal? Call ABC & CBS & NBC & Fox? Probably most of you would check the batteries in the remote. Or you’d see ...read more

Tags: Evangelism The Lost, Growth In Christ, God's Provision

Denomination: Baptist

One Day Some Manure Came Out From A Prize Bull - ...  PRO

Contributed by Joel Pankow on Sep 6, 2001

One day some manure came out from a prize bull - landing right in the middle of the walkway. It thought to itself, “I’m going to rise above the rest of this dung. I’m not going to live in the gutter - I’m going to be great and famous. That same day, a farmer’s hat fell off on top of the manure. ...read more

Tags: Humanity Of Christ, Apologetics General, Evangelism The Lost

Denomination: Lutheran

Back In 1995 In Christianity Today - Harold ...  PRO

Contributed by Jeff Strite on Oct 8, 2001

Back in 1995 in Christianity Today - Harold Miller told of the change that God brought to the natives in the Peruvian Amazon. He wrote: “Just one generation ago these were fearful, aggressive, and animistic people; all their contacts with outsiders were marked by violence. But now they’ve been ...read more

Tags: Growth In Christ, Evangelism The Lost, Call Of The Disciples

Denomination: Christian/Church Of Christ

The Catch-22 Of Incompetence  PRO

Contributed by A. Todd Coget on Oct 26, 2001

THE CATCH-22 OF INCOMPETENCE Most incompetent people don’t know they are incompetent. In fact, researcher Dr. David A. Dunning of Cornell University reports that people who are incompetent are more confident of their abilities than competent people. Dunning and his associate Justin Krueger ...read more

Tags: Evangelism The Lost, Sin Separates From God

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

The Whole Conviction Of My Life Now Rests Upon ...  PRO

Contributed by Sermon Central on Dec 16, 2001

The whole conviction of my life now rests upon the belief that loneliness, far from being a rare and curious phenomenon, peculiar to myself and a few other solitary men, is the ...read more

Tags: Holy Spirit Attributes, Evangelism The Lost, Disappointment

A Man Returns From A Foreign Holiday And Is ...  PRO

Contributed by Byron Sherman on Jan 24, 2002

A man returns from a foreign holiday and is feeling very ill. He goes to see his doctor, and is immediately rushed to the hospital to undergo tests. The man wakes up after the tests in a private room at the hospital, shuffles to the door & finds it locked from the outside!/Just then the phone by ...read more

Tags: Sin Separates From God, Evangelism The Lost

Denomination: Baptist

Without Hope  PRO

Contributed by Guy Mcgraw on Mar 18, 2002

WITHOUT HOPE What is 750,000 miles long? It could wrap itself around the earth 30 times and it grows an additional 20 miles longer with each passing day? ...read more

Tags: What Is Evangelism?, Evangelism The Lost, Great Commission

They Took Away…  PRO

Contributed by Curtis Kittrell on Apr 17, 2002

They took away what should have been my eyes, (But I remembered Milton’s Paradise). They took away what should have been my ears, (Beethoven came and wiped away my tears). They took away what should have been my tongue, (But I had walked with God when I was young). He ...read more

Tags: God's Provision, Evangelism The Lost, Human Body

Denomination: Pentecostal

Leave Hungry  PRO

Contributed by Terry Cavanaugh on Apr 26, 2002

Tommy Tenney, in his new book tells this story. He believes that God spoke to him and said, “You know, Tommy, your favorite worship services and My favorite services are not the same. You leave you services full and satisfied, but when you leave, I’m still hungry.” He writes, “God whispered this ...read more

Tags: Worship General, Church Practices, Evangelism The Lost

Denomination: Methodist

Elie Wiesel, Nobel Prize Winner And Author Is A ...  PRO

Contributed by William Norman on Nov 4, 2002

Elie Wiesel, Nobel prize winner and author is a Holocaust survivor. He tells the story of two men and a youth who were hung at a Nazi concentration camp. All of the prisoners, including Wiesel, were paraded to the gallows to witness this horror. The older men died quickly, but the death throes of ...read more

Scripture: Mark 3:1-35, Mark 3:20-35

Tags: Promises Of God, God In The Hardships, Evangelism The Lost

Denomination: Baptist

A Certain Man Was Troubled With Dizzy Spells. He ...  PRO

Contributed by Paul Gabriel on Mar 18, 2004

A certain man was troubled with dizzy spells. He went from one doctor to another and none could tell him what the problem was. He tried everything, it seemed. Finally, it was bothering him so much he started to lose weight, and he couldn’t sleep at night. He became a nervous wreck and his health ...read more

Tags: Hope, God's Provision, Expectation, Evangelism The Lost

Denomination: Baptist

Faking It

Contributed by Ed Vasicek on Feb 8, 2021

One of my wife’s third graders was wearing a Fitbit watch, which prompted my wife to ask, “Are you tracking your steps?” “No,” said the little girl. “I wear this for Mommy so ...read more

Scripture: Romans 10:1-13

Tags: Deception, Torah, Works Righteousness, Religious But Lost

Denomination: Independent/Bible