In Sermon Illustrations: "How To Get Stronger"

Psychology Today

Contributed by Ryan Peters on Mar 10, 2009

Psychology Today The Dangers of Loneliness (Aug 2003) Friendship is a lot like food. We need it to survive. What is more, we seem to have a basic drive for it. Psychologists find that human beings have fundamental need for inclusion in group life and for close relationships. We are truly social ...read more

Tags: Friendship General

Denomination: Pentecostal

Salvation And Reprobation

Contributed by Sermon Central on Mar 17, 2009

SALVATION AND REPROBATION Someone may ask, "Of what use then is the doctrine of reprobation?" I am glad you asked! Let me suggest (from Dr. Boice) some useful aspects of the doctrine of reprobation. First, reprobation assures us that God’s purpose has not failed. God has determined the outcome ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 24:24-31

Tags: God's Judgment

I Love The Tragedy, King Lear. In What I Think Is ...

Contributed by Timothy Darling on Mar 19, 2009

I love the tragedy, King Lear. In what I think is Shakespeare’s greatest play, the king divides his kingdom in thirds and decides to give the daughter that loves him most the best portion. When he makes his purpose known, the older two begin flattering him shamelessly. His oldest says, Sir, I ...read more

Tags: Truth

Denomination: Mennonite

God Just Needs A Voice  PRO

Contributed by Sermon Central on Jul 13, 2009

GOD JUST NEEDS A VOICE John Stott, a well-known British pastor and theologian, was invited to preach at the University of Sydney in Australia; but after he got there, he lost his voice. He describes his experience as follows: "What can you do with a missionary who has no voice? We had come to ...read more

Scripture: Luke 21:14-15, Matthew 1:18-24

Tags: God Brings Purpose

Character: Prototype Plus Pneumatic Force  PRO

Contributed by Johnny Wilson on Aug 14, 2009

CHARACTER: PROTOTYPE PLUS PNEUMATIC FORCE Jesus is the very imprint or prototype of God’s essential reality. The word used in the Greek here is pronounced "kah-rahk-TEER" (sometimes "kah-rahk-TAYR") and it is the word from which we get "character." In the original Greek usage, it meant an imprint ...read more

Scripture: Romans 5:1-6

Tags: Jesus Christ, Potter, Fix, Who Is Jesus

Denomination: *other

A Few Years Ago I Had The Opportunity To Travel ...

Contributed by Tyler Edwards on Sep 22, 2009

A few years ago I had the opportunity to travel to Italy on a Mission trip to work with some local missionaries and help them get their church developed. It was a great trip we got to go to Rome which I was really excited about. On our way back we had an 18 hour layover in Munich. So rather than ...read more

Tags: Misconceptions

Denomination: *other

Prejudice Comes From An Unclean ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Oct 18, 2009

Prejudice Comes from an Unclean Heart I like this thought posted by Mike Atkinson in his daily email humor list some time ago. If you can start the day without caffeine; if you can get going without pep pills; if you can always be cheerful, ignoring aches and pains; if you can resist complaining ...read more

Scripture: Mark 7:14-15

Tags: Racism

Lt. Col. Brian Birdwell Injured During 9/11 ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Dec 1, 2009

Lt. Col. Brian Birdwell Injured during 9/11 Attack on Pentagon On September 11, Lt. Col. Brian Birdwell watched the television in his boss’ office as a second hijacked airplane slammed into the World Trade Center. The Army officer had no idea that minutes later madmen would ram a Boeing 757 into ...read more

Scripture: James 4:13-17

Tags: War

Trapped Coal Miners Discover Old ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Dec 14, 2009

Trapped Coal Miners Discover Old Passage In one of the coal mines of the north, the top of the pit fell in while a considerable number of the miners were down below, and the shaft was completely blocked. Those who were in the mine gathered to a spot where the last remains of air could be breathed. ...read more

Scripture: James 4:4-10

Tags: Humility

Margaret Waage Wrote Of An Especially Important ...

Contributed by Curry Pikkaart on Dec 26, 2009

"Margaret Waage wrote of an especially important Christmas eve in her life. She got off her job at noon and stood dejectedly in the crowd waiting for the subway train. She had worked by herself all morning since her fellow workers had been given the day off. Now many people around her were talking ...read more

Tags: Christmas Eve

Denomination: Presbyterian/Reformed

Homeless Man Comes Home To His ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Jan 1, 2010

Homeless Man Comes Home to His Mother In 1988 there was a story in the LA Times entitled “A Mother’s Search for Russell Love.” It told of a woman in Houston named Beverly Elliott. She had not seen her son, Russell Love, for four years and had not heard from him in two years; but she knew he was ...read more

Scripture: Luke 15:11-32

Tags: Parable Prodigal Son

The Prison Of ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Jan 18, 2010

The Prison of Bitterness Because we live in a world full of people that don’t know grace. It’s foreign to them. They don’t know it. And if they don’t hear about it and experience it from the body of Christ, they will never know it. I first learned of this story from Max Lucado. Each week Kevin ...read more

Scripture: Ephesians 4:31-32

Tags: Bitterness

I'm Always Fascinated By The Stories Of People ...

Contributed by Bret Toman on May 20, 2010

I'm always fascinated by the stories of people who win large sums of money in lotteries. A large majority of whom wish they had never won. Willie Hurt of Lansing, Mich., won $3.1 million in 1989. Two years later he was broke and charged with murder. His lawyer says Hurt spent his fortune on a ...read more

Tags: Money, Gambling

Denomination: Baptist

Why Be Buried With A Fork In Your ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Jun 4, 2010

Why Be Buried With a Fork in Your Hand There was a woman who had been told she only had 3 months to live. Her doctor recommended that she start making preparations to die. And so, she contacted her Pastor to talk about her final wishes. She told him which songs she wanted sung at her funeral, what ...read more

Scripture: 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18

Tags: Heaven

Child-Speak

Contributed by Sermon Central on Aug 6, 2010

CHILD-SPEAK Someone had noticed that the word "father" appears in the dictionary just before the word "fatigued" and just after the word "fathead." So to all us fatigued, fathead fathers, Happy Father's Day! *** One time a little boy was asked to define Father's Day and he said, "It's just like ...read more

Scripture: Proverbs 22:6

Tags: Father's Day

Not Long Ago I Witnessed An Accident. A Car Ahead ...

Contributed by Ross Cochrane on Sep 15, 2010

Not long ago I witnessed an ACCIDENT. A car ahead of me pulled out of it's lane into a bus lane and collected the car that had been coming up from behind him in that lane. It left a sizeable dent in each car. Each morning as I travel to the Shalom Centre I see many people use Sydney bus lanes ...read more

Tags: Law

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

A Parable Of Parables  PRO

Contributed by Sermon Central on Oct 23, 2010

A PARABLE OF PARABLES The content of belief is important: Jonathan Whitfield was preaching to coal miners in England. He asked one man, "What do you believe?" "Well, I believe the same as the church." "And what does the church believe?" "Well, they believe the same as me." Seeing he was ...read more

Scripture: 2 Timothy 2:15, Luke 22:24-27

Tags: Doctrine

The Modern Rich Man

Contributed by Sajeev Painunkal, Sj on Oct 30, 2010

A popular story recounts a meeting that may have taken place at the Edgewater Beach Hotel in Chicago in 1923. There is debate whether the meeting in fact occurred, but what is not in question is the actual rise and fall of the men featured in the story, who were nine of the richest men in the world ...read more

Tags: Money

Denomination: Catholic

Bonnie Laughlin's Answered Prayer

Contributed by Terry Laughlin on Nov 16, 2010

BONNIE LAUGHLIN'S ANSWERED PRAYER Psalms 27:13 says, “I am still confident of this: I will see the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living.” One sacrifice made by Bonnie K. Laughlin was the Christian homeschooling of her son, Caleb Laughlin. Bonnie saw that Caleb needed to develop his ...read more

Scripture: Psalm 27:13

Tags: God's Sovereign Will

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

History Of "The Star Spangled Banner"

Contributed by Sermon Central on Jan 19, 2011

HISTORY OF "THE STAR SPANGLED BANNER" An American lawyer was dispatched to negotiate for the release of several prisoners, including a civilian named Dr. William Beanes. Although the negotiation for prisoner exchange was initially successful, Francis Scott Key and the American official, Colonel ...read more

Scripture: 1 Corinthians 15:51-58

Tags: Independence Day