In Sermon Illustrations: "Hope After Grave"

The Valley Of the Shadow Of Death

Contributed by Rev Purvi Satvedi on Oct 27, 2023

An experience Peter Marshall, the great Scottish preacher, related during his ministry: On Sunday morning, December 7, 1941, Peter Marshall preached to the regiment of midshipmen in the Naval Academy at Annapolis. A strange feeling which he couldn’t shake off led him to change his announced topic ...read more

Tags: Funeral, Death, Valley

Denomination: Brethren

I Just Read The Story Online Of A Guy Who Sold ...  PRO

Contributed by Rodney Buchanan on Apr 11, 2004

I just read the story online of a guy who sold everything in order to place a bet in Los Vegas. The article explains: “A British man who has sold all his possessions, including his clothes, will stand in a rented tuxedo on Sunday and bet everything on a single spin of the roulette wheel. If he ...read more

Tags: Easter Resurrection

Denomination: Methodist

The Pet Rattler

Contributed by C Jordan on Aug 3, 2007

ILLUSTRATION: The Pet Rattler A newspaper told the story of a man in Arkansas who had a pet rattlesnake. The man found the snake as a baby. He took it, fed it, and made it a pet. The reptile would come when he whistled, it would eat from his fingers, and it would coil around his arm and let him ...read more

Denomination: *other

To The Best Of Our Knowledge, The New Hebrides ...

Contributed by Glenn Durham on Mar 25, 2008

“To the best of our knowledge, the New Hebrides had no Christian influence before John Williams and James Harris from the London Missionary Society landed in 1839. Minutes after going ashore, both missionaries were killed and eaten by cannibals” (John Piper, online paper). Eighteen years later, ...read more

Denomination: Presbyterian/Reformed

Video Illustration: City Slickers- Right Atfter ...  PRO

Contributed by Michael Mccartney on Feb 11, 2003

Video Illustration: City Slickers- Right atfter he is gored by the bull and they talk about it on the plane. It’s right after the scene of New York which says 1 year later. It’s his birthday and he is depressed and worried. Mitch has become a worry wart and it’s draining the joy out of his ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 6:25-34

Tags: Guilt

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

We Find Ourselves In An Interesting Time In Our ...

Contributed by Bruce Landry on Jan 15, 2007

We find ourselves in an interesting time in our churches history again. We are losing for a season Sherrie, Becky and the kids, this after just losing David, Juliann and Wyatt, boy it would be easy to lose heart. Yet God keeps giving me great expectation for this upcoming year, something that ...read more

Denomination: Baptist

Rejoicing In Pain  PRO

Contributed by Sermon Central on Aug 3, 2011

REJOICING IN PAIN Richard Stearns, the president of World Vision, visited a church in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, nearly a year after the devastating earthquake. The church's building consisted of a tent made from white tarps and duct tape, pitched in the midst of a sprawling camp for thousands of ...read more

Scripture: 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18

Tags: Gratitude

In His Sermon "Loving Your Enemies," Martin ...  PRO

Contributed by A. Todd Coget on Oct 31, 2003

In his sermon "Loving Your Enemies," Martin Luther King, Jr., said: When Abraham Lincoln was running for president of the United States, there was a man who ran all around the country talking about Lincoln. He said a lot of unkind things. And sometimes he would get to the point that he would even ...read more

Tags: Forgiveness For Others

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

Waiting 20 Years For The End Of The Story

Contributed by Sermon Central on Jun 28, 2011

WAITING 20 YEARS FOR THE END OF THE STORY In her book The God Who Hung on the Cross, journalist Ellen Vaughn retells a gripping story of how the Gospel came to a small village in Cambodia. In September 1999, Pastor Tuy Seng (not his real name) traveled to Kampong Thom Province in northern ...read more

Scripture: Luke 24:46-48

Tags: Evangelism Urgency

Anzac ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on May 27, 2010

ANZAC Day For those who do not know, ANZAC day is not the day to celebrate Australia’s victories, nor do we celebrate how great our country is. Rather we celebrate the sacrifice and loss of the young men and women who protect other people’s freedom. Australia has never been seriously attacked or ...read more

Scripture: 2 Samuel 22:26-51

Tags: War

Visiting Beethoven

Contributed by Gordon Curley on Apr 9, 2012

VISITING BEETHOVEN Beethoven died in 1827 and is buried in Vienna. A tourist went to visit his grave and found it a deeply moving experience. As they stood looking at the gravestone they could hear music. It was Beethoven’s music only it wasn’t quite right, there was something wrong. Then the ...read more

Tags: Easter Resurrection

Denomination: Brethren

A Bad ...

Contributed by Dwight L. Moody on Jun 11, 2009

A BAD BOY I once heard of a father who had a prodigal boy, and the boy had sent his mother down to the grave with a broken heart. One evening the boy started out as usual to spend the night in drinking and gambling, and his old father, as he was leaving, said, "My son, I want to ask a favor of you ...read more

Scripture: Proverbs 7:1-27

Tags: Parable Prodigal Son

Denomination: *other

Love Your Enemies

Contributed by David Simpson on Feb 19, 2018

After the horrific school shooting in Broward County, Florida on February 14, 2018, several prayer vigils were held in the community. The vigil on Thursday evening ended with a request for everyone to write one specific act of good that they would perform in the coming days and weeks as a way to ...read more

Tags: Persecution, Tragedy, Bitterness, Love Your Enemies

Denomination: Christian Church

I Received An Email This Week Titled, "Advice To ...  PRO

Contributed by Dana Chau on Aug 18, 2002

I received an email this week titled, "Advice to be passed onto your daughter." Since I have a daughter, I read carefully, hoping to learn something. The first advice was, "Don’t imagine you can change a man - unless he’s in diapers." I’ve given counsel like that to wives. I generally say, ...read more

Tags: Marriage Struggle

Denomination: *other

In A Song Written By Tim Mcgraw For His Dying ...

Contributed by Tim Richards on Sep 3, 2005

"In a song written by Tim McGraw for his dying father, the country music superstar describes how his death caused him to reevaluate his life. After learning the bad news, he "went sky divin’, went Rocky Mountain climbing, went 2.7 seconds on a bull named Fu Manchu. I loved deeper, and I spoke ...read more

Tags: Death Nearness

Denomination: Baptist

An Open Border  PRO

Contributed by Sermon Central on Jul 13, 2002

AN OPEN BORDER Janet Daley writes, “During the Second World War, the Jewish philosopher Walter Benjamin fled across Europe from the Nazis. After weeks of running and hiding through occupied France, he reached his longed-for destination of Spain, from which it would have been possible to escape to ...read more

Tags: Lord's Supper, Crucifixion, Cross Agony

Three Pieces Of Bread: Passover

Contributed by Warner Pidgeon on Apr 7, 2009

THREE PIECES OF BREAD: PASSOVER In a Jewish home (at Passover) the Father places three pieces of matzot bread inside a cloth. The middle of the three pieces is broken. Part is wrapped in cloth with the remaining two, and the other broken part is hidden. Jewish people have many views as to what ...read more

Tags: Easter Maundy Thursday

Denomination: Anglican

Someone Has Said That We Are In Danger Of ...

Contributed by William Hooper on Jul 12, 2007

Someone has said that we are in danger of entertaining ourselves to death. In his blog, Michael Spencer has said that "work must be entertaining. Education must be entertaining. Marriage must be entertaining. Family life must be entertaining. Children must be entertained. Our lives must be full of ...read more

Denomination: Baptist

The Inscription On The Plymouth Rock Monument: ...

Contributed by Sherm Nichols on Dec 31, 2007

The inscription on the Plymouth Rock monument: "This spot marks the final resting place of the Pilgrims of the Mayflower. In weariness and hunger and cold, fighting the wilderness and burying their dead in common graves that the Indians should not know how many had perished, they here laid the ...read more

Denomination: Christian/Church Of Christ

Is Your Church A Church Of Bones?

Contributed by Jay Mccluskey on Jan 29, 2009

IS YOUR CHURCH A CHURCH OF BONES? In the town of Sedlec in the Czech Republic, there is a famous cemetery that dates back to the 13th century. Some 40,000 people who died from the Black Plague in the 14th century and in the Hussite wars in the beginning of the 15th century were buried there. ...read more

Tags: Determination, Press, Church General

Denomination: Baptist