In Sermon Illustrations: "James On Doing"

Nothing Like A Mystery To Calm My Nerves

Contributed by James Snyder on Mar 11, 2023

Nothing calms me down more than a mystery when I have a busy week. The other afternoon I got caught up and faced some rather stressful situations. The remedy to all of this would be to watch one of those mystery movies. One was playing that afternoon, so I decided to rearrange my schedule, enjoy ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 11:28-30

Tags: Humor, Mystery, Rest

Denomination: Christian Missionary Alliance

What’s The Harm With A Little Treat?

Contributed by James Snyder on Sep 23, 2023

The last month has been crazy for me and The Gracious Mistress of the Parsonage. Every month has its crazy element, but this past month beats them all. First, my main computer crashed, and I lost a lot of stuff. Second, we had a hurricane that came through; fortunately, it was only thunder, rain ...read more

Scripture: Proverbs 28:13

Tags: Truth, Decisions

Denomination: Christian Missionary Alliance

John Wesley, The Founder Of The Methodist ...  PRO

Contributed by Don Hawks on Feb 28, 2002

John Wesley, the founder of the Methodist movement in 18th Century England presents this perspective on prayer in his sermon “On Prayer”: When we say our prayers… if we do it for any selfish reason, it is not acceptable to God. The purpose of your praying is not to inform God, as though he didn’t ...read more

Tags: Prayer Adoration, Prayer General

Denomination: Methodist

When The First Memorial Day Was Celebrated, A ...  PRO

Contributed by Sermon Central on May 19, 2002

When the first Memorial Day was celebrated, a group of women from Washington D.C. asked the War Department for permission to put flowers on the soldiers graves at Arlington Cemetery. After a lot of haggling, permission was finally granted to do so. But a stern order was attached to the permission. ...read more

Tags: Holidays Civic, Christian Disciplines

Glamour Is Not Greatness

Contributed by Matthew Kratz on Sep 16, 2007

Quote: Glamour is not Greatness James R. Sizoo said: Let it never be forgotten that glamour is not greatness; applause is not fame; prominence is not eminence. The man of the hour is not apt to be the man of the ages. A stone may sparkle, but that does not make it a diamond; people may have money, ...read more

Denomination: Other

Lead By Example

Contributed by John Bright on Oct 3, 2025

Lead by example. This is different than ordering folks around. When James and John ask for places of authority, Jesus warns them against acting like the world. Jesus describes what it will look like in the church: Mark 10:43-45 “43 Yet it shall not be so among you; but whoever desires to become ...read more

Scripture: Mark 10:43-45

Tags: Jesus, Example, Authority

Denomination: Methodist

Trust In The Lord To Fix It

Contributed by James Ledbetter on Feb 3, 2015

A friend pastor of mine once told me a story about trusting in the Lord to fix what is broken. A certain man and his pastor traveled to preach a sermon at another church. And when finished they went to a store to look around. The man bought a doll for his daughter and took it home and gave it to ...read more

Scripture: Psalm 40:1-4, Psalm 40:1-40

Tags: All-Powerful God, Book Of Psalms, Trust Jesus

Denomination: Apostolic

More Than One Hundred And Thirty Years Ago, God ...  PRO

Contributed by James O. Davis on Nov 2, 2003

More than one hundred and thirty years ago, God called a man named John Williams to go to the South Pacific Island of Aramonda as a missionary. John Williams, and his friend Mr. Harris, set sail one day to take the Gospel message to a cannibalistic tribe that had never heard about Jesus Christ as ...read more

Scripture: Isaiah 53:5

Tags: Faith, Evangelism How To, Christian Disciplines

Denomination: Assembly Of God

The News Carried The Story This Week Of A ...

Contributed by Rodney Buchanan on Dec 10, 2006

The news carried the story this week of a faithful father. James Kim was an editor for CNET. CNN reports: “On November 25 the Kims had begun a drive home to San Francisco, California, after a Thanksgiving vacation in Oregon. They missed a turn and found themselves stranded in snow and lost on ...read more

Denomination: Methodist

"I Love You, Daddy. Amen."

Contributed by Sermon Central on Mar 14, 2014

James Dobson tells of the time he was away on a business trip. While he was away, and his wife and 2 children were sitting down to eat, his wife turned to their two year old son Ryan and asked if he would like to pray before he and sister ate. The invitation startled the little boy, but he folded ...read more

Scripture: 1 Timothy 4:4-5

Tags: Thanksgiving, Children, Fathers Day, Prayer Before Meals

Famous Last Words

Contributed by Brian Harvison on Aug 23, 2008

Famous Last Words P.T. Barnum - 1891: "How were the receipts today at Madison Square Garden?" Humphrey Bogart - 1942: "I should never have switched from Scotch to Martinis." Writer, Oscar Wilde - 1900: he died saying, "Either that wallpaper goes or I do." Lady Nancy Astor - 1964: "Am I dying, ...read more

Tags: Death

Denomination: Baptist

When I Was In Bible College, A Tractor Trailer ...  PRO

Contributed by James Westervelt on Mar 30, 2002

When I was in Bible College, a tractor trailer load of Tropicana Orange Juice was dropped off at the cafeteria every week. I wondered how a low-cost Bible College could afford so much expensive O.J. One morning in chapel, I found out how an older Italian man in broken English, gave his ...read more

Tags: Workplace Evangelism, Giving General

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

It Has Always Been Tough To Be A Young Person ...  PRO

Contributed by James Chandler on Apr 1, 2003

It has always been tough to be a young person growing up. And it has always been tough to be a parent and raise children into adults. Consider these quotes: "I see no hope for the future for people if they are dependent on the frivilous youth of today. For certainly all youth are reckless beyond ...read more

Scripture: Psalm 18:2

Tags: Authority, Children

Denomination: Christian/Church Of Christ

In My Humble Opinion

Contributed by James Snyder on Feb 29, 2020

It was a busy week last week. I was chasing my tail so much, I thought I would actually catch it. What I would do after I caught it is beyond my imagination. However, I was quite busy, and then the mail came. Whenever the mail comes, I’m always expecting “the check.” Rarely do I get it, but my ...read more

Scripture: 1 Peter 5:5

Tags: Humility, Opinion

Denomination: Christian Missionary Alliance

Love Bugs Are Really Not That Loving

Contributed by James Snyder on May 16, 2020

Here in Florida, we have what people call "Love Bugs." I know exactly why they are called “Love Bugs,” but I am not fond of these little critters. Why don’t they just get a motel room? Being shut down at home for quite a while it is not that exciting. You can only be shut down for so ...read more

Scripture: Amos 3:3

Tags: Humor, Love Bugs

Denomination: Christian Missionary Alliance

I Ain’t 16 Anymore

Contributed by James Snyder on Jul 24, 2021

I’ve had so many birthdays in my life that I really don’t know how old I am. All I know is that I’m one year older than I was last year. I would not be able to remember when my life began if it wasn’t for paperwork.. To many people, numbers are very important, but in my opinion, a number is just a ...read more

Scripture: Proverbs 3:5-6

Tags: Birthday, Growing, Responsibity

Denomination: Christian Missionary Alliance

Don't Judge A Person By Their Cover-Up

Contributed by James Snyder on Jul 31, 2021

Have you ever had one of those Déjà vu moments? The other week I was in the shopping mall to pick up some items for the Gracious Mistress of the Parsonage. She shops so much that I have to help her on occasion. On this occasion, I was walking down the mall and stopped dead in my tracks. ...read more

Scripture: Philippians 2:3

Tags: Judgement, Humor, Encouragement, Judging

Denomination: Christian Missionary Alliance

Eating Healthy Is For Sissies

Contributed by James Snyder on Nov 27, 2021

As a youngster, I often heard my father say things that later turned out not to be on the true side of the table. So I guess that is a father's prerogative, and I probably have done the same thing many times. But I don’t want to research that aspect of my life right now. One that he said quite ...read more

Scripture: Ecclesiastes 3:13

Tags: Diet, Health

Denomination: Christian Missionary Alliance

The Great Divide Between Brain And Tongue

Contributed by James Snyder on Nov 12, 2022

As my Uncle Fred used to say, one of the great benefits of getting old is that you know everything. If you had ever met Uncle Fred, you would easily conclude that he certainly wasn’t getting old. Of course, there are things I have learned during my aging career that has been of great use to me. ...read more

Scripture: 1 Peter 3:10

Tags: Temptation, Tongue, Brain

Denomination: Christian Missionary Alliance

Ugly Isn’t For Sissies

Contributed by James Snyder on Feb 4, 2023

Over the years of marital bliss, we’ve not had many disagreements. She likes broccoli. I like Apple Fritters. We’ve never been able to come to any agreement with that. But, outside of that, everything has been rather smooth. There’s one controversy that has plagued our house for the last few ...read more

Scripture: 1 Samuel 16:7

Tags: Appearance, Mirror

Denomination: Christian Missionary Alliance