In Sermon Illustrations: "Isaiah 61 1 4 8 11"

Have You Checked The Labels On Your Grocery Items ...  PRO

Contributed by Sermon Central on Oct 8, 2001

Have you checked the labels on your grocery items lately? You may be getting less than you thought. According to U.S. News & World Report, some manufacturers are selling us the same size packages we are accustomed to, but they are putting less of the product in the box. For example, a box of ...read more

Shouts Of Praise  PRO

Contributed by Terry Laughlin on Aug 11, 2008

Shouts of Praise There is a loud declaration of our Lord's purpose for coming to earth at the triumphal entry. "As Jesus approached Jerusalem and came to Bethphage and Bethany at the Mount of Olives... Many people spread their cloaks on the road, while others spread branches ...read more

Scripture: Mark 11:1-10

Tags: Easter Palm Sunday

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

Unsung Heroes: The Devout Men Who Buried Stephen

Contributed by Jonathan Spurlock on Aug 25, 2021

Text, Acts 8:1-2, KJV: 1 And Saul was consenting unto his death. And at that time there was a great persecution against the church which was at Jerusalem; and they were all scattered abroad throughout the regions of Judaea and Samaria, except the apostles. 2 And devout men carried Stephen to his ...read more

Scripture: Acts 8:1-2

Tags: Martyrdom, Stephen, Devout Men

Denomination: Baptist

Helpful Background On The Book Of Jonah

Contributed by Rick Crandall on Oct 7, 2025

BACKGROUND: *Today we will study the story of the Prophet Jonah. And it may surprise you but Jonah's story has some crucial lessons for Christians today. Almost everybody who has been to church knows the story of Jonah. It's one of the first Bible stories we learn as kids. They even made a ...read more

Scripture: Jonah 1:1-17, Jonah 4:1-11

Tags: Evangelism, Jonah, Nineveh, Storms, Gentiles, Old Testament Prophets, Baal Worship, Assyrian Empire, Sharks, Whales, Mediterranean Sea, Swallowed  (view more)  (view less)

Denomination: Baptist

Babel And Pentecost In Contrast

Contributed by Dr. Larry Petton on Feb 19, 2022

"Pentecost was a reversal of the judgment at the Tower of Babel when God confused man’s language (Gen. 11:1-9). God’s judgment at Babel scattered the people, but God’s blessings at Pentecost united the believers in the Spirit. At Babel, the people were unable to understand each other, but at ...read more

Scripture: Acts 1:11

Tags: Ministry, Church, Holy Spirit, Pentecost, Power, Revival, Pastors  (view more)  (view less)

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

Pentecost And Babel Contrasted

Contributed by Dr. Larry Petton on Nov 15, 2023

Pentecost was a reversal of the judgment at the Tower of Babel when God confused man’s language (Gen. 11:1-9). God’s judgment at Babel scattered the people, but God’s blessings at Pentecost united the believers in the Spirit. At Babel, the people were unable to understand each other, but at ...read more

Scripture: Acts 2:1-7

Tags: Tongues, Holy Spirit, Pentecost, Judgment, Babel  (view more)  (view less)

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

Gifting Occasions: About 53% Of The Gifters' ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Jan 18, 2006

Gifting Occasions: About 53% of the gifters’ $2,062 annual budget is spent to buy gifts for holidays. After Christmas, which accounts for $843, Mothers Day is the next. The remaining 47% of the annual gifting budget is spent for gift occasions. Birthdays top the list with the typical gifter buying ...read more

Tags: Giving General

Roughly Six In Ten U.s. Households Contribute To ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Apr 15, 2008

Roughly six in ten U.S. households contribute to charity routinely, according Indiana University’s Center on Philanthropy Panel Study. The ongoing survey asked the same 8,000 families about their charitable gifts made in '00, '02 and '04. While the total percentage of gifting households was similar ...read more

Tags: Giving General

I ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Mar 13, 2009

I CHEATED... Davy Troxel said: My 8-year-old son came home from school with a stuffed animal he had won at the class Valentine party. "How did that happen?" I asked. "Well," he explained, "the teacher put all our names together, then picked one out. I cheated, though," he said, looking ...read more

Scripture: John 16:24

Tags: Prayer General

Gifted Leaders Who Are Self-Centered And Loveless ...

Contributed by Tony Abram on Jul 27, 2005

Gifted leaders who are self-centered and loveless are a blight to the church rather than a blessing (1) a leader works; (2) a leader sees his assignment as responsibility rather than rank or privilege; (3) a leader wants strong, capable, self-assured, independent associates; (4) a leader creates ...read more

Tags: Leadership General

Why Pastors Leave: Researchers With Catholic ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Feb 3, 2006

Why Pastors Leave: Researchers with Catholic University of America, Washington, D.C., “found that tensions with church staff and laity and opportunities for better jobs were factors.” However, more than 1 out of every 4 of those who left a church reported that they were motivated by conflict with ...read more

Tags: Church General

On January 6, 1941, Franklin D. Roosevelt ...

Contributed by Lou Nicholes on Jan 7, 2005

On January 6, 1941, Franklin D. Roosevelt addressed Congress as to the state of the war in Europe. Most of what he said that day has been forgotten. However at the close of his address, he said that he looked forward "to a world founded upon four essential ...read more

Scripture: Romans 8:38-39

Tags: Fear And Worry

Denomination: Baptist

Why Is It That We Don't Witness To Others? Let ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Jun 18, 2007

Why is it that we don’t witness to others? Let me share some statistics with you. Why people don’t witness: 1. 90% have failed in witnessing attempts in the past 2.The are biblically illiterate 3. They leave it to the professionals 4. We ...read more

Tags: Evangelism How To

Six Misunderstandings About Temptation

Contributed by Dr. Larry Petton on Jan 8, 2024

Misunderstandings regarding temptation: 1) Temptation itself is sin. 2) We fall into temptation. 3) God is disappointed and displeased when we are tempted. 4) To be strongly tempted means we are as guilty as if we had actually committed sin. 5) We overcome all temptation by separation ...read more

Scripture: James 1:10-15

Tags: Satan, Temptation, Failure, Tests, Trials, Sin, Lust  (view more)  (view less)

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

They've All Been Wrong  PRO

Contributed by Timothy Peck on Feb 1, 2001

THEY'VE ALL BEEN WRONG Looking back at how Christians have viewed Christ’s second coming in the past, we find many people obsessed with figuring out all the details and making predictions. Here is a quote: "The last days are upon us. Weigh carefully the times. Look for him who is above all ...read more

Scripture: John 20:19-31, 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18, Daniel 9:20-27

Tags: Second Coming

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

Next Time You’re In An Airport Notice The ...  PRO

Contributed by Timothy Peck on Feb 1, 2001

Next time you’re in an airport notice the difference between passengers who have confirmed tickets and those on standby (Hybels, Too Busy Not to Pray 113). Those who have confirmed tickets are relaxed, their confident and expectant. Those on standby hang around the ticket counter, they pace and ...read more

Scripture: John 3:1-16, Genesis 4:1, 1 John 5:11-13

Tags: Faith, Confusion, Assurance Of Salvation, Born Again, God Brings Hope, Forgiveness In Jesus, Uncertainty  (view more)  (view less)

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

God Honors Radical, Risk-Taking ...  PRO

Contributed by Mark Beaird on Nov 6, 2000

"God honors radical, risk-taking faith. When arks are built, lives are saved. When soldiers march, Jerichos tumble. When staffs are raised, seas still open. When a lunch is shared, thousands are fed. And when a garment is touched -- whether by the hand of an anemic woman in ...read more

Scripture: 2 Kings 4:8-37, 1 Samuel 1:8-16

Tags: Faith General, Faith

Denomination: Pentecostal

Heres What Cambridge Scholar N.t Wright Has To ...  PRO

Contributed by Bob Hager on Apr 26, 2001

Heres what Cambridge scholar N.T Wright has to say about the subject, "Why did christianity arise, and why did it take the shape it did? The early Christians themselves reply: We exist because of Jesus’ resurrection…. There is no evidence for a form of early Christianity in which the resurrection ...read more

Scripture: 2 Corinthians 4:1-11, 1 Corinthians 15:12-19

Tags: Easter Resurrection

Denomination: Methodist

W. Graham Scroggie Once Said, "Pray When You ...  PRO

Contributed by Donn Heinrich on Feb 11, 2002

W. Graham Scroggie once said, "Pray when you feel like it, pray when you don’t feel like it, ...read more

Scripture: 1 Thessalonians 5:17, Ephesians 6:18, Philippians 4:6-7

Tags: Prayer, Prayer How To, Prayer General

Denomination: Baptist

What's The Use  PRO

Contributed by Wade Martin Hughes, Sr on Apr 20, 2002

WHAT'S THE USE There was an old man that lived in the mountains of eastern Kentucky. The old man had a big family. One day one of the old man’s grandsons approached him with a problem. The Grandson said, "Pap, I read the Bible and I don’t understand it, and what I understand I forget as soon as I ...read more

Scripture: Luke 11:28, Hebrews 4:12, 1 Timothy 3:16-18

Tags: Scripture, Word Of God, Family, Disciplines, Bible, Bible Study  (view more)  (view less)

Denomination: Assembly Of God