In Sermon Illustrations: "James 1:2-2:12"

Listening To The Master's Voice  PRO

Contributed by Sermon Central on Oct 23, 2010

LISTENING TO THE MASTER'S VOICE One of the first exposes of the beliefs of our future ministers was made by Redbook magazine in August of 1961. The publishers hired one of the top pollsters in the nation to survey a full representation of our seminaries which are supposedly preparing men for ...read more

Scripture: James 1:22-25

Tags: Bible Truth

Woman Steals From Church And Blames Satan

Contributed by Sermon Central on Oct 23, 2010

WOMAN STEALS FROM CHURCH AND BLAMES SATAN In March 2009, a 62-year old woman was charged with stealing more than $73,000 from her church in the state of Washington. When the detectives interrogated her, she told them: "Satan had a big part in the theft." It sounds like she was saying that the ...read more

Scripture: James 1:13-15

Tags: Temptation Resisting

The Perseverance Of Dan Jansen

Contributed by Sermon Central on Oct 23, 2010

THE PERSEVERANCE OF DAN JANSEN DAN JANSEN: Resident of suburban Milwaukee, Jansen finished 4th place in the 1984 Olympics in the 500 Meters Speed Skating. But four years later, he came rearing back and had proved himself to be the fastest skater in the world, having won the World Sprint Cup just ...read more

Scripture: James 1:12

Tags: Endurance

Kirby Puckett: Disciple  PRO

Contributed by Sermon Central on Oct 23, 2010

KIRBY PUCKETT: DISCIPLE Few have illustrated the process of imitating Jesus as an apprentice, a student, a disciple than Kirby Puckett, who was the centerfielder for 13 years for the Minnesota Twins baseball team. He had a career batting average of .318, made the All Star lineup ten years in a ...read more

Scripture: James 1:22-25

Tags: Discipleship

Edison Burns All His Mistakes  PRO

Contributed by Sermon Central on Jan 19, 2011

EDISON BURNS ALL HIS MISTAKES Thomas A. Edison's plant was on fire. As he helplessly watched it burn, taking his costly experiments up in flames, he called his son Charles. "Come!" he said. "You'll never see anything like this again!" Then he called his wife. As the three stood gazing, Edison ...read more

Scripture: James 1:2-4, Psalm 31:1-24

Tags: Trust, Action, Need, Trials And Difficulties

Trials, Troubles, And Polished Gems

Contributed by Sermon Central on Jan 27, 2011

TRIALS, TROUBLES, AND POLISHED GEMS There is a Chinese proverb, "A gem is not polished without rubbing, nor a man made better without trials." Sure it doesn't feel good to go through abrasive moments of trials and problems. Sometimes they are recurring. Remember this, my Christian friend; life ...read more

Scripture: James 1:2-4

Tags: Trials And Difficulties

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

Anger On The Golf Course

Contributed by Sermon Central on Mar 26, 2011

ANGER ON THE GOLF COURSE There were times when golf course etiquette was completely traded in for the ever popular "lose control and act like a madman" routine. There's something intriguing about watching a full grown man crumble to pieces over a tiny ball that's 1½ inches in diameter. I've seen ...read more

Scripture: James 1:19-21

Tags: Anger

A Blow To A Priceless Jewel

Contributed by Sermon Central on Mar 28, 2011

A BLOW TO A PRICELESS JEWEL Many years ago, there was found in an African mine the most magnificent diamond in the world’s history. It was presented to the king of England to blaze in his crown or state. The king sent it to Amsterdam to be cut. It was put into the hands of an expert lapidary: a ...read more

Scripture: James 1:2-8

Tags: Trials And Difficulties

Our Need For Pain  PRO

Contributed by Sermon Central on May 4, 2011

OUR NEED FOR PAIN There is no tougher dilemma in the Christian life than the problem of pain. It could be the pain of broken relationship, the pain of rejection, or the pain of insults. Or it could just be plain old physical pain. Nothing tests the faith like pain. It was physical pain that ...read more

Scripture: James 1:2-4

Tags: Trials And Difficulties

The Pre-War Setbacks Of Winston Churchill

Contributed by Sermon Central on May 19, 2011

THE PRE-WAR SETBACKS OF WINSTON CHURCHILL Winston Churchill is remembered as perhaps the greatest prime minister in the history of Great Britain. By the steel of his will, he led his island nation to stand against Hitler and eventually triumph in World War II. But years before that victorious ...read more

Scripture: James 1:2-4

Tags: Trials And Difficulties

The Weak Will Become Strong  PRO

Contributed by Sermon Central on Jun 12, 2011

THE WEAK WILL BECOME STRONG The story is told of a ten-year-old boy who decided to study judo. The problem was he had been in a car accident and had lost his left arm. So he started the lessons and was doing well but he couldn’t understand why after 3 months of lessons that his coach had only ...read more

Scripture: James 1:2-5

Tags: Trials And Difficulties

Doubting (Enter Your Name)

Contributed by Mark Stepherson on Jul 30, 2011

DOUBTING (ENTER YOUR NAME) The most famous doubter of all time is Thomas. Through history Judas has been the only disciple criticized more than Thomas. Tradition has given him a new name: "Doubting Thomas." He wanted proof that Jesus was resurrected from the dead. But can you blame him? When the ...read more

Scripture: James 1:6-8, Matthew 21:21, Mark 11:23

Tags: Faith, Doubt, Prayer

Denomination: Baptist

Are You Seaworthy?  PRO

Contributed by Sermon Central on Aug 3, 2011

ARE YOU SEAWORTHY? In his book, Life before Death, Ian Leitch, a Scottish preacher, talks about three luxury ocean liners, the Queen Mary, the Queen Elizabeth, and the QE2. He says, "When they built [these ocean liners], they did not test them in dry dock. They didn’t leave them in dry dock and ...read more

Scripture: James 1:1-15, James 1:2-4

Tags: Faith

Wiersbe: Idealism, Realism, And Skepticism

Contributed by Sermon Central on Aug 3, 2011

WIERSBE: IDEALISM, REALISM, AND SKEPTICISM Warren Wiersbe: "A realist is an idealist who has gone through the fire and been purified. A skeptic is an idealist who has gone through the fire and been burned." (CT Classics, ...read more

Scripture: James 1:2-4

Tags: Hardship Of Life

Refining Sap To Maple Syrup  PRO

Contributed by Sermon Central on Aug 3, 2011

REFINING SAP TO MAPLE SYRUP Dr. David Osborn at Denver Seminary says, "Too often we try to use God to change our circumstances, while He is using our circumstances to change us." (Compass, April 2003) You see, God is right now in the process of making us like Christ. Think of the process of ...read more

Scripture: James 1:2-4, Psalm 13:1-6, Psalm 34:15-16

Tags: Sanctification

Saving A Stranger

Contributed by Sermon Central on Aug 23, 2011

SAVING A STRANGER In his book Open the Door Wide to Happy Living, T. Huffman Harris told of a young man named Eddie who became tired of life and decided to leap from a bridge into a turbulent river. Jim, a total stranger, saw Eddie being swept downstream and plunged into the water in an effort to ...read more

Scripture: James 1:2-4

Tags: Trials And Difficulties

The Invisible Enemy

Contributed by Sermon Central on Sep 7, 2011

THE INVISIBLE ENEMY "Good night, sleep tight, and don't let the bed bugs bite" has been spoken by loving mothers to their children for decades as they gently tucked their little ones to sleep and wished them a good night. The phrase itself carries within it the gentle reminder of a younger age and ...read more

Scripture: James 1:19-27

Tags: Sin Bondage To

You Can't Come In...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Sep 8, 2011

"YOU CAN'T COME IN..." There was once a town drunk who gave his heart to Jesus Christ. He immediately stopped drinking and began to look for a church and had purposed in his heart that he would attend the first church he found. Determined to turn his life around he found a church and went in. He ...read more

Scripture: James 2:1-13

Tags: Hypocrisy

The Gradual Road To Hell  PRO

Contributed by Sermon Central on Oct 27, 2011

THE GRADUAL ROAD TO HELL In C.S. Lewis’ book The Screwtape Letters, we read the story of an older demon counseling a younger demon. At one point in the book, we read these words: "You will say that these are very small sins, and doubtless, like all young tempters, you are anxious to be able to ...read more

Scripture: James 1:13-15

Tags: Sin Deceptive, Risk Of Sin