In Sermon Illustrations: "Holiness"

Salman Rushdie, Is An Author Who Had A Fatawah, ...

Contributed by Matthew Kratz on Sep 14, 2008

Salman Rushdie, is an author who had a fatawah, or Islamic death edict, put on his life several years ago for writing a book critical of Islam called Satanic Verses. In another book he wrote entitled Imaginary Homelands he notes one of the family traditions of his home: “In our house, whenever ...read more

Tags: Pride

Denomination: Other

The Ministry Of Spiritual Gifts Originates In The ...  PRO

Contributed by Michael Mccartney on Sep 15, 2008

The ministry of Spiritual Gifts originates in the New Testament, commissioned by our Lord Jesus Christ. After He established His church on the earth and ascended to Heaven, Jesus sent the Holy Spirit to equip His church with power and spiritual gifts (Greek -- charismata) so that His disciples ...read more

Tags: Gifts General

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

Majority Rules?  PRO

Contributed by Sermon Central on Oct 9, 2008

Majority Rules? A rabbi was at odds with his congregation. The president of the synagogue said, "Rabbi, we must have a conference to settle this dispute once and for all." So the rabbi, the president an the ten elders met together to discuss the issue -- but the rabbi soon discovered that he was ...read more

Tags: Authority

Very Hard Work

Contributed by Sermon Central on Dec 28, 2008

VERY HARD WORK A favorite book for children is Frog And Toad Together by Arnold Lobel. Frog had a garden that Toad admired, and he wanted one too. So Frog told him: "It is very nice, but it was hard work." When he gave Toad some flower seeds, Toad quickly ran home and planted them. "Now seeds," ...read more

Tags: Discipleship

Years Ago Bonnie Chamberlain Wrote A Story In The ...

Contributed by Thomas Cash on Apr 13, 2009

Years ago Bonnie Chamberlain wrote a story in the Saturday Review that told of an artist who was once commissioned to paint in a Sicilian cathedral a mural depicting the life of Jesus. The painter accepted this task and made it his life’s work. He began by searching for people to be his models for ...read more

Tags: Sin Bondage To

Denomination: Christian/Church Of Christ

The Bible Says,

Contributed by Terry Laughlin on Apr 16, 2009

The Bible says, “…be joined with his wife.” (Genesis 2:24) “Joined” (dāḇaq) means to cling to and stay with. The application is something sticking together and when used in a marriage relationship it is a man clinging to his wife, no matter what life throws at them and she sticks with ...read more

Tags: Marriage Commitment

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

Crocodile Dundee

Contributed by Dan Stires on Aug 12, 2009

CROCODILE DUNDEE Do you remember the movie called "Crocodile Dundee?" It was a good one. Crocodile Dundee comes from the land down under. He is completely out of his realm when he came from Australia to New York City. Crocodile Dundee and his girlfriend are out for a walk at night, when all of a ...read more

Tags: God's Provision

Denomination: Nazarene

Rawlins Kept U.s. Grant On His Horse

Contributed by David Owens on Oct 19, 2009

RAWLINS KEPT U.S. GRANT ON HIS HORSE Ulysses S. Grant was a 4 star general of the union forces during the Civil War and became the 18th President of the United States. John A. Rawlins was Grant’s friend and fellow general, who became Grant’s chief of staff. During the Civil War, no one was closer ...read more

Tags: Church Discipline

Denomination: Christian/Church Of Christ

When Our Family Moved To East Point, Georgia, A ...

Contributed by Bobby Gilstrap on May 25, 2010

When our family moved to East Point, Georgia, a suburb of Atlanta, our house was in the flight pattern for Atlanta’s Hartsfield International Airport. Every few minutes, all day and all night, large commercial jets would take off and fly over our home before veering off to destinations unknown. ...read more

Tags: Unbelief, Ears To Hear

Denomination: Baptist

Oath

Contributed by Ken Pell on Jun 7, 2010

The "Oath of Allegiance" taken by all who choose to become naturalized citizens of the United States follows. Immediately after saying the oath one's citizenship is in effect. "I hereby declare, on oath, that I absolutely and entirely renounce and abjure all allegiance and fidelity to any foreign ...read more

Tags: Kingdom Of God

Denomination: Nazarene

Hidden Prayer Results In Revival

Contributed by Sermon Central on Mar 22, 2011

HIDDEN PRAYER RESULTS IN REVIVAL I heard Brother John Harrell of Bridge City, Texas tell of a church up in the piney woods of east Texas that began to have a tremendous breakthrough revival. An evangelist came in and they started their series of meetings and from the beginning of the meeting, all ...read more

Scripture: Ephesians 6:18

Tags: Prayer Persistence

Galileo And The Church

Contributed by Jeff Strite on May 2, 2011

GALILEO AND THE CHURCH Many of us have heard about the conflict between Galileo and the church of his day. The Church doctrine of that day taught that the sun revolved around the earth. But Galileo discovered that that wasn’t true--it was the earth that revolved around the sun. The Church didn’t ...read more

Tags: Bible Truth

Denomination: Christian/Church Of Christ

Jesus Saves Me Now

Contributed by Larry Wilson on Aug 30, 2011

JESUS SAVES ME NOW The old version used to tell us that He was able to keep us from falling. The new version, giving a closer rendering of the Greek, tells us that He is able to guard us from stumbling. So He can. So He will. But we must trust Him. Moment by moment we must look into His face, and ...read more

Tags: Security

Denomination: Baptist

The First Radio Broadcast  PRO

Contributed by Sermon Central on Sep 7, 2011

THE FIRST RADIO BROADCAST Allow me to start our time by reading you a nifty story. It is called, "The First Radio Broadcast." For their entire careers, wireless operators onboard US Navy and merchant ships had only heard Morse code coming through their headphones. However, a few days before ...read more

Scripture: Luke 2:1-20

Tags: Christmas Eve, Peace, Eternal

The Bible Can Make You Better

Contributed by Hal Seed on Nov 9, 2012

THE BIBLE CAN MAKE YOU BETTER Two hundred years ago, Norway was one of the poorest countries in Europe. She was ruled by her Danish neighbors and most people were poor fishermen or subsistence farmers. Every time there was a famine, people starved to death. Today it is one of the wealthiest. It ...read more

Tags: Bible Influence

Denomination: Baptist

Salvation And The Surgeon

Contributed by Jeff Strite on Dec 17, 2012

Jesus came to be our Savior. To be our substitute. To die FOR us. But while God would be the only one pure enough to die for us... Gods don't die. And while mortals CAN die, no mortal man could ever be the sinless sacrifice the law required to pay for our sins. No ordinary man would be pure and ...read more

Tags: Christmas, Atonement, Salvation

Denomination: Christian/Church Of Christ

Entry-Level Faith

Contributed by Josh Hunt on Jun 3, 2013

ENTRY-LEVEL FAITH During World War II, a young teenager tried to enlist in the navy. Only fifteen but large for his years, he told the recruiting officer in Richmond, Virginia, that he was sixteen. The officer looked at him and shook his head. "Sorry, son, you're not old enough." Two months ...read more

Scripture: Hebrews 6:1

Tags: Discipleship

Denomination: Baptist

My Prayer For Those Who Need To Forgive

Contributed by Dr. Larry Petton on Jan 27, 2014

Lord, my heart has been wounded by someone who hurt me deeply. I have been very angry and bitter because this happened and I have not been able to let go of the pain. I have wondered many times where You were when this happened to me. I acknowledge that a spirit of unforgiveness has overtaken me ...read more

Scripture: Genesis 50:15-20

Tags: Forgiveness, Prayer, Forgiving Others

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

Don't Blame The Judge

Contributed by Tim Smith on May 11, 2014

God has done everything He possibly can to keep you out of Hell and still leave you as a person with free will. Now some Christians argue otherwise that it is in fact God who sends people to hell. Peculiar Pilgrim blog writes, "No one would choose to go into hell ... Not one person would decide to ...read more

Scripture: 2 Peter 3:8-13

Tags: Hell, Judgement

Denomination: Methodist

Bold Witness

Contributed by Tim Smith on Sep 25, 2016

Hugh Hewitt in his book “The Embarassed Believer” contends that most Christian are embarrassed believers. They do not talk about their faith or church. They don’t have Bibles on the corner of their desks. They never engage others in spiritual conversations. And the result has been the dramatic ...read more

Scripture: Luke 19:11-27

Tags: Witness, Witnessing, Embarrassed

Denomination: Methodist