In Sermon Illustrations: "Heart Of God"

Making Your Life Count For Something

Contributed by Sermon Central on Apr 7, 2011

MAKING YOUR LIFE COUNT FOR SOMETHING Many years ago at a Presbyterian retreat center near Asheville, NC, the annual summer conference was being held. An elderly man with a neatly clipped white goatee and resonant voice rose to speak. He explained that he was a medical doctor and he had a story to ...read more

Scripture: Luke 14:25-33

Tags: Missions

Do You Want To Be Right, Or Do You Want To Be ...  PRO

Contributed by Sermon Central on Jun 11, 2011

DO YOU WANT TO BE RIGHT, OR DO YOU WANT TO BE WELL? Dr. David Seamands tells the story about a young woman he counseled in college several years ago. She had suffered every kind of abuse in her own home--psychological, sexual and physical. The very place that was supposed to be nurturing was ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 18:21-35

Tags: Forgiveness For Others

If ...

Contributed by Joe Bertone on Aug 1, 2012

IF ONLY There was a great Scotch writer and historian in the nineteenth century named Thomas Carlyle. He married a woman, who’d worked as his secretary named Jane Welsh. But Carlyle was dedicated to his writing so he didn’t spend much time with her. He just mostly wrote. At one point she became ...read more

Scripture: James 4:13-17

Tags: Death, Remorse, Parable Ten Virgins, Regret

Denomination: Christian/Church Of Christ

Compassion For An Old Man

Contributed by Sermon Central on Aug 14, 2012

COMPASSION FOR AN OLD MAN It was a bitterly cold evening in Northern Virginia many years ago. The old man's beard was glazed by winter's frost as he waited for a ride across the river. He heard a brigade of men on horses coming around the bend. He let the first one pass him without any effort to ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 22:34-40, Luke 7:11-17

Tags: Compassion

Come Home

Contributed by Joe Bertone on Aug 27, 2012

COME HOME 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 ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 18:12-14

Tags: Salvation, Lost, Home, Seek, Found, Wander  (view more)  (view less)

Denomination: Christian/Church Of Christ

Covetousness And The Emperor's New Grove

Contributed by Sermon Central on May 3, 2013

COVETOUSNESS AND THE EMPEROR'S NEW GROVE In Disney's thirty-ninth animated film, "The Emperor's New Groove," self-proclaimed "King of the World" Kuzco (COOS-coh), who had an evil female advisor named Yzma (EEZ-muh), made plans to demolish an entire village to build a new water park. At the highest ...read more

Scripture: 1 Kings 21:1-29

Tags: Greed

Temporal Vs Eternal

Contributed by Wade Martin Hughes, Sr on Jan 21, 2021

I HAVE BEEN WITH MANY DYING PEOPLE AND LISTENED CLOSELY TO “THE REGRETS.” I was driving an elderly lady to a doctor’s appointment in Lexington. It was a four hour trip. The doctor did not have real good news. Her days were limited. On the way home we stopped and ate. Then we headed home. ...read more

Scripture: 1 Corinthians 3:9-14, Malachi 3:8-11

Tags: Eternity, Temporal Vision

Denomination: Assembly Of God

When It Was Dark

Contributed by Joshua Blackmon on Apr 15, 2022

When It Was Dark I’m not quite sure how to say this. We have always said in the church that our faith was based upon facts. It was a faith built upon evidence that led us to the facts. My friends, something has come to light just this past week that is out now in the professional journals and ...read more

Scripture: 1 Corinthians 15:3-4

Tags: Easter, Resurrection

Denomination: Pentecostal

We Are Biologically Wired To Trust

Contributed by Martin Spoelstra on Apr 20, 2023

Henry Cloud in his book, Trust, talks about how we are hard-wired to trust. If you have ever been around a newborn, you may have noticed that newborns do not do much due diligence when they're hungry. They scream with all their might and basically say, "Bring it to me now!" The human ...read more

Scripture: Proverbs 13:12

Tags: Trust, Mothers, Infants, Neuroscience

Denomination: Presbyterian/Reformed

A Dear Friend, Donna Smith, Once Told Me, ...  PRO

Contributed by Russell Brownworth on Aug 16, 2001

A dear friend, Donna Smith, once told me, “I never say Amen I always have so much to pray about.” That’s probably good advice; when you’ve got God ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 6:7-13

Tags: Prayer How To, Prayer General, Prayer Persistence

Denomination: United Methodist

Will You Please Tell Me In A Word," Said A ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Dec 21, 2005

“Will you please tell me in a word,” said a Christian woman to a minister, “what your idea of consecration is?” Holding out a blank sheet of paper the pastor replied, “It is to sign your name at the bottom of this ...read more

Tags: Faith

Confidence: (Wesley)"When I Was Young I Was Sure ...

Contributed by Steve Miller on Feb 5, 2006

CONFIDENCE: (Wesley)"When I was young I was sure of everything; in a few years, having been mistaken a thousand times, I was not half so sure of most things as I was before; at present, I am ...read more

Tags: Truth

Denomination: *other

A. George Barna States, "My Research Has Shown ...

Contributed by Brian Matherlee on Dec 5, 2006

a. George Barna states, “My research has shown that people – especially young people – absorb an amazing degree of their values, beliefs and lifestyle practices from the media content to which they are exposed. Most of that media ...read more

Denomination: Wesleyan

Pastor And Author, Chuck Swindoll Says Of These ...

Contributed by Dale Pilgrim on Mar 17, 2007

Pastor and author, Chuck Swindoll says of these verses, “it isn’t just a suggestion, an off-the-cuff, casual idea like, “Oh, by the way,…it might be good, while your holding fast to the faith, to toss in a little ...read more

Scripture: Hebrews 10:24-25

Denomination: Salvation Army

Dr. James Dobson Said In His Book Parenting ...

Contributed by Paul Wallace on Sep 14, 2004

Dr. James Dobson said in his book Parenting lsn’t for Cowards, `Attach a boy to a good man, and he seldom goes wrong." Dr. Terry Wise defines mentoring as: "A relational experience in ...read more

Tags: Love Of The Disciples, Sharing My Testimony

Denomination: Wesleyan

Twelve Words Will Keep A Marriage Together: "I ...

Contributed by Thomas Cash on Jan 13, 2005

Twelve words will keep a marriage together: "I was wrong; I am sorry; please forgive me; I love you." If we are going to cope with conflicts constructively, they need to be expressed frequently. To cope with the ...read more

Tags: Romantic Love

Denomination: Christian/Church Of Christ

During A Dismal Morning In Wwi, David Lloyd ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Jun 18, 2007

During a dismal morning in WWI, David Lloyd George stood grimly before the members of the British cabinet. The seriousness of the situation was evident. The prime minister said, “Gentlemen, we are fighting with our backs ...read more

Tags: Faith

John Hannah, Research Professor Of Theological ...

Contributed by Warren Lamb on Jul 1, 2007

John Hannah, Research Professor of Theological Studies and Distinguished Professor of Historical Theology at Dallas Theological Seminary said, “No one who is ever in hell will be able to say to God, ‘You put me here,’ ...read more

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

Four Things Strike Me About Abraham's Journey To ...

Contributed by Jim Kane on Sep 24, 2007

Four things strike me about Abraham’s journey to where God was leading him:1. He knew there was a destination. 2. He took a known route. 3. He knew the goal. 4. But, he ...read more

Tags: Patriarchs Abraham

Denomination: Church Of God

Quote From Justin Martyr 150ad, "If You Want ...

Contributed by Michael Mccartney on Oct 9, 2008

Quote from Justin Martyr 150AD, "If you want proof that the Spirit of God, who was with your people, and left you to come to us, come into our assemblies, and there you shall see Him cast out ...read more

Tags: Gifts Tongues

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational