In Sermon Illustrations: "House Of The Lord"

Evangelism Through Fellowship

Contributed by Tim Smith on Feb 11, 2015

Charles Moore writes, “Alan and I met 20 years ago. We were both students at Cal Poly. I was a freshman and he was a junior. As a physics major, Alan was both intelligent and articulate. How Alan got on with his studies, however, is still a mystery to me. Alan was vritually blind. He could not see ...read more

Scripture: Luke 23:33-38

Tags: Evangelism, Fellowship, Community

Denomination: Methodist

Charles Colson Tells The Story Of Being On Th...

Contributed by Tim Smith on May 28, 2015

Charles Colson tells the story of being on the Bill Buckley television program, talking about criminal justice reform. A few days later he got a call from Jack Eckerd, the founder of the Eckerd Drug chain, the second largest drug chain in America. He saw me on television and asked me to come to ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 7:13-16

Tags: True Repentance, Led By God

Denomination: Methodist

Ashamed When It Counted The Most

Contributed by Jonathan Spurlock on Dec 18, 2019

Ashamed when it counted the most My two sisters, when they were somewhat younger, liked to play the piano and took lessons for some time. I like music, too, but not all the practicing that went along with it! We found out there was going to be a “recital” where all of the students in their ...read more

Scripture: 1 Corinthians 3:12-15, 1 John 2:28

Tags: Christian Life, Shame, Rewards

Denomination: Baptist

Friends And Acquaintances?

Contributed by Jonathan Spurlock on Jan 26, 2020

Junior high/middle school basketball is always fun to play, and more fun to watch. These youngsters have acquired some skill—more or less—and it’s still more for fun than for competition. Oh, sure, we wanted to win, and few athletes that don’t want to win will ever get very far in any kind of ...read more

Scripture: Philippians 4:3

Tags: Youth, Book Of Life, Athletics, Friends, Relationship  (view more)  (view less)

Denomination: Baptist

The Book Of Daniel Is About Teenagers.

Contributed by Garris Hudson on Feb 1, 2022

HOW MANY MISS THE POINT THAT THESE ARE TEENAGERS! The Book of Daniel is about a young man and his teenage friends who grew up in a time when his country, Judah, southern tribes of Israel, was judged by God for their idolatry. God allowed the most ungodly leader and nation in the world, King ...read more

Tags: Fathers, Teenagers, Daniel, Family, Prayer, Revival, Mothers, Fasting  (view more)  (view less)

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

Unsung Heroines-Esther’s Maidens

Contributed by Jonathan Spurlock on Apr 30, 2022

Introduction: Esther was a Jewish maiden who was selected to become Queen of the Persian Empire. The Book of Esther gives additional information about how she truly lived a dream come true. We’re not told how many girls from the Persian Empire were evaluated, but Esther won the contest and became ...read more

Scripture: Esther 4:15-17

Tags: Esther, Mordecai, Fasting, Unsung Heroines

Denomination: Baptist

The Baby's Smile

Contributed by Bruce Lee on Dec 28, 2022

The Baby’s Smile “A woman giving birth to a child has pain because her time has come; but when her baby is born she forgets the anguish because of her joy that a child is born into the world.” John 16:21 We are in the last few days of the year. Most of our thoughts on Christmas is that it is ...read more

Scripture: John 16:21

Tags: Smile, Hope, Cross, Baby Jesus, After Christmas, Cradle To The Cross  (view more)  (view less)

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

Where Is God Working?

Contributed by Martin Spoelstra on May 21, 2023

Pastor Henry Blackaby, of Faith Baptist Church in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan Canada began to sense God leading them to an outreach ministry on the college campus. He had never done student work. Their church had never done student work. Their denominational student ministries department recommended ...read more

Scripture: John 5:17-20, Romans 3:10-11, John 6:44

Tags: Evangelism, Holy Spirit, Discipleship, God At Work, Joining God At Work  (view more)  (view less)

Denomination: Presbyterian/Reformed

Misapplied Scriptures: "There Is But A Step Between Me And Death”

Contributed by Jonathan Spurlock on Sep 24, 2023

Introduction: This verse, on the surface, seems pretty straightforward. The problem is that some well-meaning folks have used it in a different sense. Let’s take a deeper look: Text: 1 Samuel 20:3, KJV: 3 And David sware moreover, and said, Thy father certainly knoweth that I have found grace in ...read more

Scripture: 1 Samuel 20:3

Tags: David, Death, Jonathan, Misapplied Scriptures

Denomination: Baptist

An Observation About Eternity

Contributed by Jonathan Spurlock on Feb 5, 2024

Text, Ecclesiastes 3:11, American Standard Version: He hath made everything beautiful in its time: also he hath set eternity in their heart, yet so that man cannot find out the work that God hath done from the beginning even to the end. Every day we live takes us one day closer to the end of our ...read more

Scripture: Ecclesiastes 3:11

Tags: Hell, Eternity, Salvation

Denomination: Baptist

Allenby Captures Jerusalem Without Firing A Shot 1917

Contributed by Raymond Petzholt on Mar 12, 2024

Allenby captures Jerusalem without firing a shot 1917 Palestine was now in the hands of a Christian nation which only twelve months previously had officially declared its interest in the return of the Jews to their own land, and promised to assist them in facilitating the creation of a Jewish ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 19:13-15

Tags: Jerusalem, Prayer, Children

Denomination: Baptist

A Good Start Matters

Contributed by Todd Catteau on Mar 19, 2024

I can remember it like it was yesterday. It was my sixth-grade field day when all the elementary schools gathered for a series of track and field events at the town’s high school track. It was a sunny New England spring morning and I was representing Glen Forest Elementary School in the 50-yard ...read more

Scripture: 1 Thessalonians 5:17, 1 Timothy 2:8, Ephesians 5:15-17, Colossians 4:5

Tags: Prayer, Meditation

Denomination: Christian/Church Of Christ

When I Passed Out Preaching On Death!

Contributed by Garris Hudson on Mar 25, 2024

I met Christ as my personal Lord and Savior when I was 15 years old. I had grown up in church and had faithfully gone to church 3 or 4 times per week my whole life......but I did not have a personal relationship with Jesus. After trusting Him as my Savior, I felt that God spoke to my heart ...read more

Scripture: Hebrews 9:27

Tags: Pastors, Churches, Fainting, Death, Heaven, Preaching, Humor  (view more)  (view less)

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

So God Made A Farmer

Contributed by Garris Hudson on Apr 6, 2024

In James chapter 5, we see a comparison between the patient farmer in the field waiting for his crops and the waiting believer in Christ preparing to meet the Lord at His return. Paul Harvey did a masterful job of describing the life of the farmer years ago. And on the 8th day, God looked down ...read more

Scripture: James 5:7-12, 1 Thessalonians 5:13-18

Tags: Return Of Christ, Prophets, Farmers, Waiting, End Times, Prophecy, Second Coming, Last Days, Rapture, Patience, Job  (view more)  (view less)

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

[005]. Message From A Poem - A Mirror On The State Of The World

Contributed by Ron Ferguson on May 29, 2024

[005]. MESSAGE FROM A POEM - A MIRROR ON THE STATE OF THE WORLD We are citizens of this world, but we also are citizens of heaven. Those dear souls who are unsaved are just citizen of this world. They have singular citizenship. When we look at the awful political systems the world has, and at ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 28:18-20, John 16:33

Tags: Sadness, The World, Sin, Suffering, Mirror, Distress, Authority  (view more)  (view less)

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

An Observation About A Certain Bird:

Contributed by Jonathan Spurlock on May 30, 2024

Our church’s parking lot is mostly gravel except for a small paved section. Ordinarily that’s not a problem but recently, we’ve discovered a very small problem. Would you believe, it’s a bird? Birds of various types are mentioned often in the Bible. All were unclean, according to the dietary laws ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 23:37

Tags: Protection, Birds, Nests

Denomination: Baptist

Why Isn't The Book Of Enoch In Our Bible?

Contributed by Garris Hudson on Aug 24, 2024

This question illuminates one of those painful intersections between theology and church history: the canonization of Scripture. Throughout church history, many books have been scrutinized by theologians, and before those theologians, other theologians, and before such, were the members of the ...read more

Tags: Scripture, Holy Spirit, Inspiration, Enoch, Inerrancy, Church History, Canon, Book Of Enoch  (view more)  (view less)

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

A Lesson From A Band Concert

Contributed by Jonathan Spurlock on Dec 19, 2024

Introduction: Sometimes you can find an example or illustration from places you wouldn’t normally expect. Such an instance happened to me recently, Here’s the verse that came to mind when I saw what took place: Text: John 16:13, KJV: 13 Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide ...read more

Scripture: John 16:13

Tags: Holy Spirit, Teaching, Encouragement

Denomination: Baptist

[094]. A Message From A Poem – Forgetting The Past, Look Ahead

Contributed by Ron Ferguson on Apr 30, 2025

[094]. A MESSAGE FROM A POEM – FORGETTING THE PAST, LOOK AHEAD Someone posted to a Christian forum I was on, a four line stanza once, that in effect said that you can not go back and fix the past, i.e. to go back and alter the beginning but you can start from here and make a brand new end. I ...read more

Scripture: 2 Corinthians 4:16, Matthew 11:28-30

Tags: Regret, Hope, Past, End, Failure, Start, Look Ahead  (view more)  (view less)

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

Daily Warrior's Prayer

Contributed by William Akehurst on Jun 29, 2025

DAILY WARRIOR’S PRAYER HEAVENLY FATHER, I praise and worship you because YOU are GOD. I am honored to be YOUR servant and I take my stand today against the devil and his schemes against me, my family, and my ministry. FATHER, as I take up each piece of the armor, please secure it in place on ...read more

Scripture: Ephesians 6:10-18

Tags: Armor Of God, Warrior's Prayer

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational