In Sermon Illustrations: "Human Condition"

I Can Remember One Saturday Afternoon In The 60's ...

Contributed by Frank Zerbel on Feb 4, 2005

I can remember one Saturday afternoon in the 60’s as I was outside with the push mower cutting the grass for my father when two men carrying a box down our driveway caught my attention. They sat it down outside the front door and unpacked our first color TV. It had a beautiful solid wood cabinet ...read more

Tags: God's Forgiveness

A Click And A Pop-Up Menu! ...  PRO

Contributed by Mark Brunner on Jun 28, 2005

A Click and a Pop-Up Menu! (06.30.05--Direction--John 21:15-19 ) Just being in love is not enough especially when you are considering spending the rest of your life in that condition. Internet romance is on a real boom swing around the world. Only a few short years ago anyone who “dated” on ...read more

Scripture: John 21:15-19

Tags: Romantic Love

Denomination: Lutheran

Those Little Maybe's! (08.12.05--Character ...  PRO

Contributed by Mark Brunner on Aug 11, 2005

Those Little Maybe’s! (08.12.05--Character Counts!--Romans 5: 3-4) A drought tests the metal of a man. It tests his fortitude and his faithfulness. It also tests his resourcefulness and his ingenuity. I come from a long line of “resourceful” folks who seemed to see in every bleak and forlorn ...read more

Scripture: Romans 5:3-4

Tags: Perseverance, Character, Diligence, Faith

Denomination: Lutheran

Only A Risk Away! (08.26.05--Under ...  PRO

Contributed by Mark Brunner on Aug 25, 2005

Only A Risk Away! (08.26.05--Under Pressure!--Judges 6:25-30) Is it worth Risking? It used to be that life was a matter of “this I will risk” but “this I will not.” Risk was something that was weighed on a daily basis. It was a part of life. You picked one thing over another because you had ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 25:14-30, Judges 6:25-30

Tags: Doubt

Denomination: Lutheran

It's Better Higher Up! (08.31.05--Sickness!--John ...

Contributed by Mark Brunner on Aug 30, 2005

It’s Better Higher Up! (08.31.05--Sickness!--John 16:32) Webley our oldest dachshund has a thing about long walks. Simply, he doesn’t like them very much. Webley is eight and getting up there in years. Anything over a mile or so can be grueling for him. And, because of this the pads of his paws ...read more

Scripture: John 16:32

Tags: Hardship Of Life

Denomination: Lutheran

Undone And Redone! (09.01.05--Sickness!--Psalm ...

Contributed by Mark Brunner on Aug 30, 2005

Undone and Redone! (09.01.05--Sickness!--Psalm 38:21) Recently I had a crown installed on one of my molars. In the process of doing the work, the dentist created a space between the new crown and a nearby tooth that hadn’t existed before. Now, every time I chewed on that side of my mouth, the food ...read more

Scripture: Psalm 38:21

Tags: Hardship Of Life

Denomination: Lutheran

I Used To Fly Small Planes, Cessnas And Pipers, ...

Contributed by Mike Cleveland on Mar 19, 2008

I used to fly small planes, Cessnas and Pipers, single engine and multi-engine, and I would give flight instruction to people who wanted to learn flying and I would also do what is called “bank runs” where we would fly cancelled checks to various places throughout the country. We would fly ...read more

Denomination: Independent/Bible

In Communist Romania There Was A Very Young Man ...

Contributed by Mark Eberly on Jun 8, 2009

In communist Romania there was a very young man named Matchevici who had been put into prison because of his faith at the age of 18. Because of the tortures, he was very sick with tuberculosis. Somehow his family found out that he was sick and sent him a hundred bottle so streptomycin, which could ...read more

Tags: Persecution

Denomination: Church Of God

Road Rage And Patience

Contributed by Sermon Central on Oct 19, 2009

ROAD RAGE AND PATIENCE (From Bob Bob Mionske’s Blog on Cyclists and the Law) Charles Montgomery writes: "The driving experience primes car drivers for meltdowns. They are conditioned by popular culture to see cars as symbols of freedom, yet city driving is a slow-motion trap that subjects drivers ...read more

Scripture: Psalm 89:46

Tags: Fruit Of The Spirit

Adoption In Christ Frees Us From ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on May 10, 2010

Adoption In Christ Frees Us From Satan An illustration from history past can help us realize the significance of being children of Almighty God - an amazing concept! The image of emaciated babies and young children sitting in cribs, in a stark, ill-equipped Romanian orphanage blazed across the ...read more

Scripture: Ephesians 1:5

Tags: Adoption

The Agony Of Defeat

Contributed by Sermon Central on Aug 28, 2012

"THE AGONY OF DEFEAT" Some of you might remember the TV program "The Wide World of Sports". For many years, the opening of the program opened like this: "Spanning the globe to bring you the constant variety of sport; the thrill of victory... and the agony of defeat." The opening illustrated "the ...read more

Scripture: Proverbs 27:12

Tags: Change

The Orphan Train

Contributed by Sam Mccormick on Dec 15, 2016

THE ORPHAN TRAIN In the history of the westward migration in the United States, part of the story has been largely passed over. From 1850 to 1930, tens of thousands of those who populated the west were orphans--children from eastern cities who were without parents because of disease or the death ...read more

Scripture: John 14:18

Tags: Adoption, Rebirth, Orphan, Train

Denomination: Christian/Church Of Christ

An Observation About Aging—and Baseballs

Contributed by Jonathan Spurlock on Jul 7, 2022

Introduction: You just can’t change some facts. Aging is one of those facts! Text: Ecclesiastes 12:1, KJV: 1 Remember now thy Creator in the days of thy youth, while the evil days come not, nor the years draw nigh, when thou shalt say, I have no pleasure in them; Thoughts: Like most good ...read more

Scripture: Ecclesiastes 12:1

Tags: Sports, Aging, Baseball

Denomination: Baptist

[041] A Message From A Poem – Christ - Our Support In Hurt

Contributed by Ron Ferguson on Mar 1, 2025

[041] A MESSAGE FROM A POEM – CHRIST - OUR SUPPORT IN HURT We can pass through stormy seas and feel like those disciples in the boat when calm gave way to anxiety, but Jesus was in the boat resting in peace. The disciples focussed on the conditions and not on the Lord. Is that like us as ...read more

Scripture: Psalm 56:3-4, Psalm 56:11, Matthew 28:20, John 14:16, Mark 4:37-40  (view more)  (view less)

Tags: Hurt, Afraid, Support, Alone, Anxious, Always With You  (view more)  (view less)

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

Unwanted Items-Fresh Meat On The Street?

Contributed by Jonathan Spurlock on Apr 2, 2025

Introduction: This illustration is the first in a series about things that either aren’t wanted, left behind, or otherwise abandoned. Here’s hoping some of these illustrations will be useful! Text: 2 Kings 7:7, KJV: 7 Wherefore they arose and fled in the twilight, and left their tents, and their ...read more

Scripture: 2 Kings 7:7

Tags: Caution, Meat, Unwanted, Abandoned Things

Denomination: Baptist

[217]. A Message From A Poem - Placed In Perilous Times

Contributed by Ron Ferguson on Oct 3, 2025

[217]. A MESSAGE FROM A POEM - PLACED IN PERILOUS TIMES Placed in perilous times spells the conditions that often apply to Christians in all ages. The believers in Roman times could very well know that. The Huguenots certainly knew that when hunted down by incited mobs from the French Catholic ...read more

Scripture: 2 Corinthians 11:26-27, 2 Timothy 3:1

Tags: A Sure Foundation, Christian Poems, Scriptures Are God Breathed, Persecution, Christianity, Danger, Peril, Unfeigned, A Crown Of Righteousness, Love  (view more)  (view less)

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

Clip: "Everybody Loves Raymond," Excerpted From ...  PRO

Contributed by Alan Perkins on Oct 28, 2002

[Clip: "Everybody Loves Raymond," excerpted from episode 119, "Talk To Your Daughter". Note: this episode is one of four included in a "For Your Consideration" DVD/VHS package that was prepared for the 2002 Emmy voters. You might find it on ebay.] Deborah: Ally just doesn’t want to know how we get ...read more

Tags: God Brings Purpose, Fulfillment, Worry

Denomination: Baptist

Jim Jones – He Started Out As A Pastor And Became ...  PRO

Contributed by Michael Mccartney on Nov 3, 2004

Jim Jones – He started out as a pastor and became deceived and it lead to the death of 100’s. This was a Christian destructive, doomsday cult founded and led by James Warren Jones (1931-1978). Jim Jones held degrees from Indiana University and Butler University. He was not a Fundamentalist pastor ...read more

Tags: Cults

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

In 1858, A Man Named John Gray Was Buried In Old ...  PRO

Contributed by Sermon Central on May 3, 2002

In 1858, a man named John Gray was buried in old Greyfriars Churchyard, Edinburgh, Scotland. His grave levelled by the hand of time, and unmarked by any stone, became scarcely discernible; but, although no human interest seemed to attach to it. The sacred spot was not wholly disregarded and ...read more

Scripture: Romans 8:35

Tags: Endurance, Christian Disciplines

Basics Of Sikh Faith  PRO

Contributed by Sermon Central on Aug 10, 2002

BASICS OF SIKH FAITH There are currently about 18 million who practice the Sikh Faith. The Founder, Guru Nanak (1469-1539 C.E.) was the first of Sikhism’s 10 Gurus, a lineage of holy teachers that continued until the end of the 17th century. The Gurus are understood to be the mediators of divine ...read more

Tags: World Religions