In Sermon Illustrations: "Heavenly Things"

O In Peter Schaeffer's Play ...

Contributed by David Rumley on Oct 28, 2009

o In Peter Schaeffer’s Play Amadeus o Story of Salieri  Makes a prayer before God…  I would offer up secretly the proudest prayer a boy could think of. “Lord, make me a great composer! Let me celebrate your glory through music – and be celebrated myself! Make me famous through the ...read more

Tags: Salvation, Assurance Of Salvation

Denomination: Pentecostal

Rare Italian Automobile Good Only For ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Nov 24, 2009

Rare Italian Automobile Good Only for Show I heard this week about a very, very special automobile. It was built in the 1920’s by the Italian manufacturer Bugatti, and it was designed to be sold to the outrageously wealthy. This car was equipped with 450 horses under the hood; it was some 22 feet ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 6:19-21

Tags: Materialism

So What Does This Gentle Restoration Or ...

Contributed by Sean Harder on Dec 4, 2009

So what does this gentle restoration or correction look like? Well here’s what it doesn’t look like, from a real example I observed: “How could you be so stupid, did you grow up with wolves? You are going to pay for this buster, and you’re going to straight to hell where you belong.” I have left ...read more

Tags: Mercy

Blessed Are The Peacemakers - For They Shall Be ...

Contributed by Ross Cochrane on Dec 28, 2009

"BLESSED ARE THE PEACEMAKERS - for they shall be called sons of God." You may say "Well that’s nonsense. All you have to do is see all the so-called Christians who have been involved in bloody conflict in history, all done in the Name of God". In fact even Al-Qaeda operates in the Name of a god ...read more

Tags: Peace

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

Married But Not Engaged

Contributed by Ross Cochrane on Jan 6, 2010

MARRIED BUT NOT ENGAGED Years ago, Julie and I began to have difficulty in our marriage. I was spending all my time pastoring a small Church, and our relationship was being neglected. It suffered to the point where I needed to take time out of ministry, and we needed to do some repair work. That ...read more

Tags: Divorce

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

In Robert J. Morgan’s Book, The Promise, He ...

Contributed by Scott Bayles on Jan 9, 2010

In Robert J. Morgan’s book, The Promise, he tells the story of John Peterson. When John was a teenager he had a remarkable singing voice and was in high demand as a performer. His greatest ambition was to become a famous vocalist. “Only in singing did I feel competent and confident,” he wrote. ...read more

Tags: Promises Of God

Denomination: Christian Church

Haddon Robinson Told A Story Of A Mother And Her ...

Contributed by Curry Pikkaart on Jan 18, 2010

Haddon Robinson told a story of a mother and her son. The father died when the boy was young. This was back before television, when folks spent evenings listening to the radio or reading to one another. They both enjoyed listening to good music. In his early twenties, he met a young woman at the ...read more

Tags: God's Love

Denomination: Presbyterian/Reformed

I Have Prayed For A Sick Lady Who Had Cancer, And ...

Contributed by Ross Cochrane on Feb 26, 2010

I have prayed for a sick lady who had cancer, and she died. In fact more than one person I have prayed for has died and not been healed. Do you want someone like me to pray for you? Why weren't they healed? Not enough faith? I prayed for a wonderful Pastor who had cancer who was involved in doing ...read more

Tags: Jesus' Ministry

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

Still Preparing When The Party Is Over

Contributed by Ross Cochrane on Mar 21, 2010

STILL PREPARING WHEN THE PARTY IS OVER My youngest grandson had his first birthday recently. My daughter wanted to make it special for him and she invited all her friends with young children to come. SHE SPENT WEEKS PLANNING THIS PARTY. We spent a good week just setting it up. We wanted it to be a ...read more

Tags: Discipleship

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

The Old Tree

Contributed by Sermon Central on Apr 4, 2010

THE OLD TREE There is an old proverb about the leader of a city who would take daily walks to gain peace of mind and inspiration from nature. One day, the burdens of his position had his mind more disturbed than normal, and the old man found himself walking much further than usual. Eventually he ...read more

Scripture: Philemon 1:11

Tags: God Brings Purpose

Location, Location, Location

Contributed by Peter Loughman on Apr 15, 2010

LOCATION, LOCATION, LOCATION Back in 1991, I did an internship as a hospital chaplain in Philadelphia. At that time, AIDS was a new thing, and honestly, the hospital wasn’t sure how to handle people with AIDS, they were not sure what precautions to take when treating AIDS patients, so they took ...read more

Tags: Affliction

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

The Absence Of A Loving Father  PRO

Contributed by Sermon Central on Aug 6, 2010

THE ABSENCE OF A LOVING FATHER Dr. Paul Vitz, Professor of Psychology at New York University, studied the lives of more than a dozen of the world's most influential atheists over the last four centuries. As a result, Vitz discovered they all had one thing in common: defective relationships with ...read more

Scripture: Ephesians 6:1-4

Tags: Father's Day

Sanctity Of Human Life

Contributed by Ross Cochrane on Dec 6, 2010

SANCTITY OF HUMAN LIFE There's plenty of evidence of blatant disregard for human life today. Terrorism and suicide bombers? Capital punishment? Human trafficking. Abortion? So what is God thinking when He asks Abraham to take his only son, the son he loves, and to sacrifice him as a burnt ...read more

Tags: Human Life

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

Survival: What Would You Take?  PRO

Contributed by Revd. Martin Dale on Jan 4, 2011

SURVIVAL: WHAT WOULD YOU TAKE? About 20 years ago I went on a training conference when I was working as a Patent Attorney for a Swiss multinational company called Sandoz. And one of the conundrums they set us to test our ingenuity was this: You are in a plane flying over the desert and as you are ...read more

Tags: Security

Denomination: Anglican

Two Men, Two Soils  PRO

Contributed by Ross Cochrane on Jan 28, 2011

TWO MEN, TWO SOILS Two of the men have impacted my life. Both of them died of cancer. For many years one of these men allowed his CIRCUMSTANCES to harden him towards those in his family and towards God. I thought my dad was about as far away from God as he could be. He seemed to be represented ...read more

Tags: Parable Sower And Seed

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

Treating The Disease, Not The Symptoms  PRO

Contributed by Ken Pell on Jan 31, 2011

TREATING THE DISEASE, NOT THE SYMPTOMS I know a man who has diabetes. It has gone unchecked and he has some serious problems with his feet. He is always hindered by his foot problems and he's afraid he will lose one to amputation so he has the tendency to treat the foot concerns. The problem is ...read more

Scripture: Ephesians 5:8-17

Tags: Holy Spirit In Believers

Denomination: Nazarene

The Risk Of Fishing For Souls  PRO

Contributed by Sermon Central on May 3, 2011

THE RISK OF FISHING FOR SOULS A little more than 10 years ago (2000), a movie called The Perfect Storm was released, which graphically portrayed the dangers of the fishing industry even in modern times. The movie is about the crew of the Andrea Gail, a fishing boat out of Gloucester, ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 10:14-39

Tags: Evangelism Fear Of

Eating A Bald Eagle  PRO

Contributed by Sermon Central on May 4, 2011

EATING A BALD EAGLE A forest ranger is making rounds in a remote part of the wooded reserve when he comes across an unkempt man, sitting at a make-shift campfire, and, to the ranger's astonishment, eating a fish and a bald eagle. The man is consequently put in jail for the crime. He was soon ...read more

Scripture: Colossians 3:9-10

Tags: Hypocrisy

It All Started By One Man Wanting To Pray  PRO

Contributed by Sermon Central on May 9, 2011

IT ALL STARTED BY ONE MAN WANTING TO PRAY In 1857 there was a 46 year old man named Jeremiah Lamphere who lived in New York City. Jeremiah loved the Lord tremendously, but he didn’t feel that he could do much for the Lord until he began to feel a burden for the lost and accepted an invitation ...read more

Scripture: Psalm 85:1-7

Tags: Revival, Starting Over

The Story Of Martin Luther

Contributed by Mark Stepherson on Jul 17, 2011

THE STORY OF MARTIN LUTHER In 1517, an obscure Catholic priest named Martin Luther placed his life in God's hands when he nailed his 95 theses, his 95 arguments against the Catholic church, on the door of the Wittenberg Church. There was nothing wrong with nailing pages to the door. Everything was ...read more

Scripture: Psalm 46:1-11

Tags: God In The Hardships

Denomination: Baptist