In Sermon Illustrations: "It Came To Pass"

Open Our Eyes...?  PRO

Contributed by Paul Green on Feb 5, 2010

Open Our Eyes...? I have a book called 'Tall Tales of a Big God' written by a man called Maurice Smith. Maurice is (or at least was) an international Christian Speaker travelling all over the UK, and Europe and particularly the USA. And his book is a compilation of some of the most embarrassing ...read more

Scripture: Psalm 23:1, Acts 4:1-21

Tags: Grace, Service, Humility, Pride, Embarrassment  (view more)  (view less)

Denomination: Baptist

Leo Tolstoy Once Wrote A Story About A Successful ...

Contributed by Christian Cheong on Mar 9, 2010

Leo Tolstoy once wrote a story about a successful peasant farmer who was not satisfied with his lot. He wanted more of everything. One day he received a novel offer. For $1000, he could buy all the land he could walk around in a day. The only catch in the deal was that he had to be back at his ...read more

Tags: Greed, Parable Rich Fool

Denomination: Independent/Bible

Charles Colson Who Was Put Into Jail For His Part ...

Contributed by Guy De Swardt on Apr 1, 2010

Charles Colson who was put into jail for his part in the Watergate scandal in America so many years ago now, subsequently found Jesus in prison and today he heads up an international ministry to people in prisons all around the world. He writes in his book Who Speaks for God? …about a man by the ...read more

Tags: Sermon On The Mount, Depravity Of Man

Denomination: Baptist

Pows In Vietnam Recall Memorized Scripture To ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on May 28, 2010

POWs in Vietnam Recall Memorized Scripture to Help Themselves Survive In the prison camps which were opened up following the terrible years of the Vietnam war, a story came out about how men endured six, seven, eight years of prison under the most terrible of conditions: rotten food, isolation, ...read more

Scripture: Psalm 119:105

Tags: Scripture, War

Salvation: It Really Is ...

Contributed by Larry Wilson on Aug 11, 2010

SALVATION: IT REALLY IS FREE Reader's Digest wrote of the late Harvey Penick: "For 90-year-old golf pro Harvey Penick, success has come late. His first golf book, Harvey Penick's Little Red Book, has sold more than a million copies, which his publisher believes makes it one of the biggest ...read more

Tags: Salvation

Denomination: Baptist

Is He Like Bill?  PRO

Contributed by Aubrey Vaughan on Oct 1, 2010

"IS HE LIKE BILL?" Bill was a drunk, converted at a city mission. Before his conversion he had gained a reputation as a tramp and alcoholic for whom there was no hope. But when he was converted everything changed. He became the most caring person at the mission. He spent all his days there doing ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 5:16, Romans 8:9

Tags: Evangelism, Witness, Prayer, Christlikeness, Christian Witness  (view more)  (view less)

Denomination: Baptist

Work For The Glory Of God

Contributed by Tim Smith on Oct 20, 2010

Mark is a young businessman who does business in China. Each time he has gone to China, he has asked God to reveal to him whom he might speak to on behalf of Jesus. What might happen if every one of you went to work praying for God to reveal to him whom he might speak to on behalf of Jesus. You’re ...read more

Tags: Servanthood

Denomination: Methodist

The Joy Of Our Reunion

Contributed by Scott Bradford on Oct 29, 2010

THE JOY OF OUR REUNION Rev. Don Piper in his "death experience" describes the reunion he experienced in heaven in his book 90 Minutes in Heaven. Listen to an excerpt: (p. 21) "Joy pulsated through me as I looked around, and at that moment I became aware of a large crowd of people. They stood" ...read more

Tags: Death

Denomination: United Methodist

70 Funerals In One Day

Contributed by Gregg Bitter on Nov 24, 2010

70 FUNERALS IN ONE DAY During a forty-year ministry, I would guess that many pastors do seventy or more burials. But this wasn't over the full span of his ministry. In fact, it wasn't even a full year. In one day, Pastor Rinkart did burial rites for up to seventy people and did the same the next ...read more

Tags: Suffering Joy In

Denomination: Lutheran

The Lion And The Dog  PRO

Contributed by Sermon Central on Jan 24, 2011

THE LION AND THE DOG D.L. Moody one time saw a man beat his dog at a zoo one time because he was mad at him. He had made a bet and boasted about him being so obedient and when he tried to get the dog to so something he wanted, it wouldn’t do it and he lost his bet. He got so mad at that dog and ...read more

Scripture: Titus 3:3-7

Tags: Salvation

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

A Second Chance  PRO

Contributed by Sermon Central on Mar 8, 2011

A SECOND CHANCE Some years ago, two teenagers with a long history of crime and misbehavior robbed a YMCA on the lowest East Side of New York City. On the way out they saw a young man at the telephone switchboard. They were frightened and assumed that the man must be calling the police. They held ...read more

Scripture: Psalm 32:1-2

Tags: Love, Hope, Change, Care, Forgiveness For Others  (view more)  (view less)

Ruby Bridges On Doing What's Right  PRO

Contributed by Sermon Central on Mar 27, 2011

RUBY BRIDGES ON DOING WHAT'S RIGHT "A federal judge had ordered New Orleans to open its public schools to African-American children, and the white parents decided that if they had to let black children in, they would keep their children out. They let it be known that any black children who came to ...read more

Scripture: Deuteronomy 31:1-8

Tags: Racism

Huck Finn On Prayer

Contributed by Curry Pikkaart on Apr 5, 2011

HUCK FINN ON PRAYER There’s an incident in Huckleberry Finn where Mark Twain has Huck make a very human observation. "Miss Watson took me into a closet and prayed, but nothing came of it. She told me to pray every day, and whatever I asked for, I would get. But it weren't so. I tried it. Once I ...read more

Tags: Prayer General

Denomination: Presbyterian/Reformed

Learned Helplessness

Contributed by Sermon Central on Apr 5, 2011

LEARNED HELPLESSNESS Learned Helplessness is a term I came across in my reading this week. It is a technical term originally used in reference to animal psychology but is also appropriately applied to human behavior as well. Learned helplessness describes an animal or a person who has learned to ...read more

Scripture: Jeremiah 29:10-14

Tags: Attitude General

The Face Of God

Contributed by Sermon Central on Apr 26, 2011

THE FACE OF GOD I heard the story once of a great Cherokee wood carver. He took logs and sat them on a stump outside his back door and sat in front of that log sometimes for hours just staring at it. Finally, he would pick up his carving tools and start carving the most beautiful of things out of ...read more

Scripture: Luke 2:1-20

Tags: Birth Of Jesus

The Stranger

Contributed by Sermon Central on May 19, 2011

THE STRANGER Some time ago, a small east coast community was struggling financially, so they called an open town meeting to discuss the problem. A couple dozen people were there, including a stranger that no one seemed to know. Most assumed he was a tourist who had just dropped in on the meeting. ...read more

Scripture: Acts 13:26-43

Tags: Ignorance

A Unique Excuse

Contributed by Sermon Central on Aug 10, 2011

A UNIQUE EXCUSE A man who bought a brand new Mercedes and got out on the interstate. It was a convertible and the top was down, the breeze was blowing through his hair, and he decided he would open it up to see what it could do. The needle hit 80 miles an hour, then 90, then 100, then 110, then ...read more

Scripture: Luke 14:16-24

Tags: Lies

God's Forgiveness And The Jump Drive

Contributed by James Webster on Jan 14, 2012

GOD'S FORGIVENESS AND THE JUMP DRIVE Most of you know I keep most of my office work in the corner of the family room in the parsonage since we moved back. Most of my study I do early before anyone gets up. However, for the past couple of weeks I have been coming over to the church office early ...read more

Tags: Forgiveness General

Denomination: Nazarene

Miracle Mandy

Contributed by Josh Hunt on Mar 5, 2012

MIRACLE MANDY The doctor told Marsha Mark and her husband they would never have biological children. In their disappointment, Marsha clung to a friend's words: "Somehow, God is going to use your struggle with infertility for his glory." Marsha began to pray for a glimpse of that glory. "I asked ...read more

Scripture: 1 Samuel 1:1-20

Tags: Prayer Answered

Denomination: Baptist