In Sermon Illustrations: "Holy Living"

Forgiving Jerks

Contributed by W Pat Cunningham on Sep 7, 2008

Forgiving Jerks There's great power in our hands. It's the power to forgive a jerk-bully, a jerk-cheater, a jerk-thief. It’s powerful because it's unexpected. Jerks expect us to cry, run, or take revenge. The last thing they expect is forgiveness. That's why it's so disarming. Forgive them ...read more

Tags: Forgiveness For Others

Denomination: Catholic

A Man Is In The Barber Shop Getting A Haircut. As ...

Contributed by Donny Granberry on Oct 21, 2008

A man is in the barber shop getting a haircut. As he is leaving, the barber points out a man who is homeless, filthy, dirty, unkept and says, "Do you see that man?" He replied, "Yes, I see him." The barber said, "There is not a God, because if there was, he would not allow him to live so ...read more

Tags: Apologetics Jesus

Denomination: Assembly Of God

On His Side

Contributed by Sermon Central on Oct 22, 2008

On His Side During the US civil war, Abraham Lincoln met with a group of ministers for a prayer breakfast. Lincoln was a man of deep, if at times unorthodox, faith. At one point one of the ministers said, "Mr. President, let us pray that God is on our side". Lincoln's response showed far greater ...read more

Tags: Christian Disciplines

Perhaps The Economy Can Teach Us ...

Contributed by Charles Wallis on Dec 22, 2008

Perhaps the economy can teach us something… Tom Ehrich “Economy puts Christ back into Christmas” “so a lifestyle built on credit-funded excess doesn’t look like adult behavior. Large houses look different now. So do large wardrobes, large travel budgets, large parties. The question many are ...read more

Tags: Money

Denomination: Pentecostal

Gma Dove ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Feb 13, 2009

GMA DOVE AWARDS The 39th annual GMA Dove Awards were awarded 1/25/08 and televised live on the Gospel Music Channel. The Dove Awards in the overall categories went to: Artist of the Year: Toby Mac Female Vocalist of the Year: Natalie Grant Male Vocalist of the Year: Chris Tomlin Group of the ...read more

Scripture: Ephesians 5:19-20

Tags: Music

Jewish People Stats

Contributed by Sermon Central on Jul 24, 2009

JEWISH PEOPLE STATS Of the 6 billion inhabitants of the earth, only 13 million are Jewish. That is less than 1% of the world’s population, and yet, Jewish people have received more than 22% of the Noble prizes awarded. Roughly, 41% of the 13 million reside within the land of Israel and 40% live in ...read more

Scripture: Hebrews 8:7-12

Tags: Israel

Hate

Contributed by Donnie Martin on Aug 7, 2009

HATE One of the worst cases of hatred I have ever come across is found in a will written in 1935 by a Mr. Donohoe. It says, "Unto my two daughters, Frances Marie and Denise Victoria, by reason of their unfilial attitude toward a doting father...I leave the sum of $1.00 to each and a father's ...read more

Tags: Hatred

Denomination: Baptist

The Hope Of 3:16  PRO

Contributed by James Mercer on Dec 8, 2009

THE HOPE OF 3:16 I don’t know about you, but I will be glad to turn the calendar to a new decade in a few weeks. An ongoing war on two fronts, the Great Recession draining our family resources, the growing immorality of our country, tragic accidents and gruesome killers all over the news. The ...read more

Tags: Future

Denomination: Baptist

What Will They Say?

Contributed by Gordon Curley on Nov 23, 2010

WHAT WILL THEY SAY? A minister, a priest and a rabbi die and go to heaven for orientation. They are all asked, "When you are in your casket, and friends, family, and congregants are mourning over you, what would you like to hear them say?" The minister says, "I would like to hear them say that I ...read more

Tags: Death

Denomination: Brethren

Targums

Contributed by Jeff Strite on Dec 13, 2010

TARGUMS More than 500 years before Jesus was born in Bethlehem, the Jews returned to Judea from their long time of captivity Babylon. About that time, Jewish religious leaders began to write commentaries on various Bible books that they called "Targums." One of these Targums dealt with the ...read more

Tags: Christmas

Denomination: Christian/Church Of Christ

Select The Greatest Gift

Contributed by Terry Laughlin on Dec 11, 2011

SELECT THE GREATEST GIFT Even people of this world know the value of a thoughtful gift. When Pastor John Bisagno was working as chaplain to the Houston Oilers, the players gave him an autographed football which every player had signed inscribed with a Scripture from the Bible. Whenever he looks ...read more

Scripture: John 3:16

Tags: Christmas

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

So Hungry

Contributed by Davon Huss on Jan 16, 2012

SO HUNGRY The silence of the congregation partaking of the Lord’s Supper was suddenly broken by a loud exclamation. A 5-year-old girl was watching that passing out of the bread and juice and asked her mother is she could take some. Her mother said that she was not old enough to take some. With ...read more

Tags: Growth In Christ

Denomination: Christian/Church Of Christ

Praying Together: Greater Than The Sum Of Our ...

Contributed by Christopher Gregas on Sep 8, 2012

PRAYING TOGETHER: GREATER THAN THE SUM OF OUR PARTS Someone wrote, "At a horse-pull in Canada, one horse pulled 9,000 pounds, another pulled 8,000 pounds. Together, we might assume that they could pull 17,000 pounds. However, when harnessed together these mighty steeds pulled 30,000 pounds, over ...read more

Tags: Prayer General

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

Kyle Idleman On Carrying Your Cross

Contributed by Kevin Karhoff on Mar 18, 2013

There is no comfortable way to carry a cross; I don’t care how you position it. I often talk to people who are convinced that some suffering or pain in their lives is an indication that they must not be following Jesus. After all, if they are following Jesus, the Son of God, doesn’t it follow ...read more

Scripture: Luke 9:23

Tags: Surrender, Jesus Christ, Commitment To Christ, Carrying Your Cross

Denomination: Presbyterian/Reformed

Now A Man Can Scarcely Arrive At The Needed ...

Contributed by W Pat Cunningham on Jun 8, 2013

"Now a man can scarcely arrive at the needed sense of responsibility, unless his living conditions allow him to become conscious of his dignity, and to rise to his destiny by spending himself for God and for others. But human freedom is often crippled when a man encounters extreme poverty just as ...read more

Tags: Servanthood

Denomination: Catholic

Your Time On Earth

Contributed by Garris Hudson on Oct 15, 2019

You’re going to spend about 150,000 hours of your life working, which is about 40% of your waking hours. The average American spends 46 hours a week at work. If you’re a professional, you spend an average of 52 hours a week working and if you’re a small business owner/operator you work an average ...read more

Tags: Life, Work, Business, Time Management, Time  (view more)  (view less)

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

Ham And Egg Breakfast

Contributed by John Bright on Mar 10, 2025

A chicken and a pig were talking about how people don’t truly appreciate what goes into making a breakfast of eggs and ham. The chicken spoke first: “Folks don’t appreciate me and all the hard work it takes to lay an egg. It really hurts!” The pig replied, “That’s the difference between you and ...read more

Scripture: Isaiah 53:4-6

Tags: Sacrifice, Commitment, Chicken, Ham, Pig, Eggs  (view more)  (view less)

Denomination: Methodist

Charlie Peace

Contributed by Revd. Martin Dale on Jun 3, 2026

Story: Charlie Peace was a notorious English criminal who lived in the 1800’s. He was eventually captured and sentenced to death by hanging When he was being taken to the gallows, a priest followed him reading about heaven and hell. At the mention of hell, Peace reportedly said: “Sir, if I ...read more

Scripture: Luke 16:19-31

Tags: Hell, Salvation By Walking On Glass

Denomination: Anglican

A Mucker Kind Of Love!" 1 Peter 1:22-25 Key ...  PRO

Contributed by Mark Brunner on Apr 5, 2005

“A Mucker Kind of Love!” 1 Peter 1:22-25 Key verse(s) 22:“Now that you have purified yourselves by obeying the truth so that you have sincere love for your brothers, love one another deeply, from the heart.” Where self is involved, there is no afterthought. Either we focus on us or we focus on ...read more

Scripture: Proverbs 2:1-15, Luke 23:40-42, 1 Peter 1:22-25

Tags: Mystery, Please, King, Liberty, Lord, Freedom, I'm Sorry, Heart, Change, Ancient Paths, Attention, Christian Love, Church, Christ Love, Christmas, Compassion, Commitment, Foot, Feet, Emmanuel, Savior, Stand, Thanks  (view more)  (view less)

Denomination: Lutheran

The Ideal ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Oct 9, 2008

THE IDEAL PASTOR The ideal pastor is difficult to find. But if your church is fortunate, you may be able to secure his services. Since he is the ideal pastor, it won’t cost very much - he lives by faith. Yet he can be counted upon to tithe heavily and still be able to afford a large house in which ...read more

Tags: Preaching