In Sermon Illustrations: "How To Pray"

Bees That Sting Also Bring Honey

Contributed by Sermon Central on Feb 1, 2011

BEES THAT STING ALSO BRING HONEY One Saturday morning, a seven-year-old boy was playing in their front-yard garden in the middle of flowers in bloom. He was trying to catch butterflies with his torn net. Suddenly a bee flew to his position buzzing straightway landing on the back of his palm. The ...read more

Scripture: James 1:2-4

Tags: Trials And Difficulties

Knots In Your Life

Contributed by Davon Huss on Feb 21, 2011

KNOTS IN YOUR LIFE The Baxter boys, Paul and John, liked to play in the woods near their home. They like the woods because they always found something they had never seen before. That's the way it was when they discoverd the tree with the knot tied in it. The knot was about halfway up the tree. ...read more

Tags: Parenting

Denomination: Christian/Church Of Christ

Wash Your Hands

Contributed by Sermon Central on May 5, 2011

WASH YOUR HANDS In 1818, Ignaz Phillip Semmelweis was born into a world of dying women. The finest hospitals lost one out of six young mothers to the scourge of "childbed fever." A doctor's daily routine began in the dissecting room where he performed autopsies. From there he made his way to the ...read more

Scripture: Mark 5:25-34, Mark 5:21-43

Tags: Unbelief

Beholden To Money

Contributed by Sermon Central on May 13, 2011

BEHOLDEN TO MONEY In his book How Much Is Enough? Hungering For God In An Affluent Culture author and Founder of Bread for the World: Arthur Simon writes about Bryce and Ellen, "a couple in their mid-thirties. They have two sons and a daughter, and on Sundays the family attends church more often ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 6:19-34

Tags: Money

A Purpose For Sheep

Contributed by Chuck Sligh on Jun 14, 2011

A PURPOSE FOR SHEEP Sad to say, millions of people wander through life with no earthly idea what they’re here for. One of the abiding fascinations of my wife here in Germany are sheep. About once a year, a shepherd brings a flock of sheep near our village, and my wife goes out and makes as many ...read more

Tags: God Brings Purpose

Denomination: Baptist

Tozer: Salvation Demands Obedience

Contributed by Derrick Tuper on Jun 16, 2011

TOZER: SALVATION DEMANDS OBEDIENCE A. W. Tozer was a man of God who was troubled with the idea that Christian profession does not demand obedience to Christ. He said: "[Years ago] no one would ever dare to rise in a meeting and say, 'I am a Christian' if he had not surrendered his whole being to ...read more

Tags: Lordship Of Christ

Denomination: Christian/Church Of Christ

Wellington Defeated...

Contributed by Milo Velebir on Jul 14, 2011

WELLINGTON DEFEATED... It is a story about how the news of the victory at the battle at Waterloo arrived in England. There were no telegrams or telephones in those days, nobody could send an SMS or put it up on Facebook or Youtube, of course, but everyone knew that Wellington was facing Napoleon ...read more

Scripture: 1 Corinthians 15:54-57

Tags: Mistakes

Denomination: Lutheran

Aiming At The Right Target  PRO

Contributed by Sermon Central on Aug 4, 2011

AIMING AT THE RIGHT TARGET Some of our deeds are of great value, especially those done in dependence upon God for His glory and honor. Some of our deeds are worthless. They accomplish nothing of eternal value and will be quickly forgotten after we are gone. Matt Emmons had the gold medal in ...read more

Scripture: Philippians 3:1-16

Tags: Goals

Cheap Purchase—high Price  PRO

Contributed by Sermon Central on Aug 4, 2011

CHEAP PURCHASE--HIGH PRICE In Decision magazine some time ago, Karen Morerod wrote about shopping in a store for a sweater. She was looking for one at minimal cost, so she went to the clearance rack. As she flipped through the sweaters, one caught her eye. It was the right color and the right ...read more

Scripture: 1 Peter 1:13-21

Tags: Blood Of Christ

Statistics On Loneliness

Contributed by Sermon Central on Aug 7, 2011

STATISTICS ON LONELINESS This week I read an article by Medical News Today about the health effects of loneliness. Quoting the article, it states that "there is evidence that the risk of developing and dying from heart disease can depend on the strength of one's social network of friends and ...read more

Scripture: Ephesians 4:1-16

Tags: Church Body Of Christ

Tonsillitis: Growing With God

Contributed by Ronnie Miller on Sep 8, 2011

TONSILLITIS: GROWING WITH GOD I remember when I was growing up as a small boy I had problems with my tonsils. During the winter months I would get tonsillitis and that would turn into strep throat. Mom and Dad would take me to Dr. Newsom in Pilot Mountain. He would always give me a shot of ...read more

Scripture: Romans 11:33-36

Tags: Trials And Difficulties

Denomination: Baptist

God Knows

Contributed by Brad Henry on Oct 7, 2011

GOD KNOWS The receiving line at the memorial was very long as Jim and Steph had many family members that came from Texas and Georgia. Halfway through the line, I was introduced to Jim's sister, brother and nephew. They said "Are you the Brad Henry that wrote the devotional about my brother?" I ...read more

Tags: Miracles General

God's Promises And Urban Legends  PRO

Contributed by Scott Carson on Nov 20, 2011

GOD'S PROMISES AND URBAN LEGENDS Do you really believe that being godly is great gain and not financial gain, but something that really matters and lasts? If you believed that, wouldn’t it change your life? Most people believe that if you smoke, you’ll get lung cancer. Many of you quit smoking ...read more

Tags: Christian Values

Denomination: Independent/Bible

Greed: Armored Truck Accident

Contributed by Rodelio Mallari on Jan 10, 2012

GREED: ARMORED TRUCK ACCIDENT Oakland, Calif. (AP) - People jumped out of cars in rush hour traffic, grabbing bags of money that fell out of a Brink's armored truck, and apparently got away with it. "I saw one guy strike an old lady who was reaching for one bag," said Willie Greenwood, who was ...read more

Tags: Greed

Denomination: *other

Coping With Complaining

Contributed by Ed Vasicek on Feb 21, 2012

COPING WITH COMPLAINING How do you cope with complaining, nagging, whine-baby people? Internet discussion board posted this: Why do people complain so much? I know it's a natural thing but it has to be unhealthy. At my job people never stop complaining. Every day it's either too hot or too cold. ...read more

Tags: Complaining

Denomination: Independent/Bible

On Habits

Contributed by Josh Hunt on Mar 7, 2012

ON HABITS Someone Once Said... * Thoughts produce acts, acts produce habits, and habits produce character.--Anonymous * If we realize the extent to which we are mere walking bundles of habits, we would give more heed to their own formation.--William James* * First we ...read more

Scripture: Acts 17:2

Tags: Disciplines General

Denomination: Baptist

Kyle Idleman: I Cheapened The Gospel  PRO

Contributed by Michael Mccartney on Apr 15, 2012

KYLE IDLEMAN: I CHEAPENED THE GOSPEL "Many of the fans turn to go home. I was struck by the fact that Jesus doesn't chase after them. He doesn't soften his message to make it more appealing. He doesn't send the disciples chasing after them with a creative handout inviting them to come back for a ...read more

Scripture: John 6:60-69

Tags: Easter Palm Sunday

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

What Happens At Home

Contributed by Sermon Central on May 2, 2012

WHAT HAPPENS AT HOME Howard Hendricks used to say to us men in seminary preparing to lead churches, "If your Christianity isn't working at home, don't export it." It was his way of saying, "If you can't make your faith work in your own family, then please don't try to make it work in the family of ...read more

Scripture: 1 Timothy 3:4-5

Tags: Parenting

False Messiah—rev. Sun Myung Moon

Contributed by Sermon Central on Aug 10, 2012

FALSE MESSIAH—REV. SUN MYUNG MOON It amazes me how many religions are in stark opposition to Christianity; and they do not even have God as their leader. In fact, they are just empty philosophies being advanced by empty followers. While members of Congress looked on, Rev. Sun Myung Moon declared ...read more

Scripture: 1 John 2:18-29

Tags: Antichrist

Communion: In Remembrance

Contributed by Gene Gregory on Aug 11, 2012

COMMUNION: IN REMEMBRANCE A man was working in his backyard one day, when his neighbor began talking to him over the fence. He said, "Yeah, my wife and I went to one of those seminars yesterday, you know, where they teach you ways to improve your memory and such." His neighbor commented, ...read more

Scripture: James 1:19-21, James 1:19

Tags: Lord's Supper

Denomination: Baptist