In Sermon Illustrations: "Jesus Friends"

It Matters Which Way You Go

Contributed by Curry Pikkaart on Apr 7, 2010

IT MATTERS WHICH WAY YOU GO In Lewis Carroll's classic story Alice asks the Cheshire Cat, "Which way do I want to go? Would you tell me, please, which way I ought to go from here?" "That depends a good deal on where you want to get to," said the Cat. "I don't much care where" says Alice. ...read more

Tags: Heaven

Denomination: Presbyterian/Reformed

A Church Made William ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Jun 3, 2010

A Church Made William Wickham King Edward of England appointed William Wickham to build a church. William Wickham performed his duty and finished by writing in one of the windows, "This work made William Wickham." When the king saw this he confronted William for assuming the honor of building the ...read more

Scripture: Philippians 2:12-13

Tags: Gratitude

Mark Twain On Heaven And Hell

Contributed by Sermon Central on Jul 20, 2010

MARK TWAIN ON HEAVEN AND HELL Mark Twain gave some interesting quotes during his lifetime. One such amusing statement was, "Go to heaven for the climate, hell for the company." He along with others, do not realize how horrible hell will be. We do not hear much about hell these days from the ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 5:21-30

Tags: Hell

Alex Haley, In His Book Roots, Shared The Story ...

Contributed by Curry Pikkaart on Sep 28, 2010

Alex Haley, in his book, Roots, shared the story of an old slave who one day drove his master to a great ball at an adjoining plantation. As the slave sat quietly in the buggy waiting for his master to return, he became aware not only of the sounds coming from the big house, but of strange music ...read more

Tags: Baptism

Denomination: Presbyterian/Reformed

On Obedience  PRO

Contributed by Sermon Central on Apr 12, 2011

ON OBEDIENCE "One word stands out from all others as the key to knowing God, to having His peace and assurance in your life--it is obedience." (Eric Liddell) Elisabeth Elliot tells the story of when she and her brother Tom were small children. Their mother would let Tom play with paper bags that ...read more

Scripture: 1 Samuel 15:22, 1 Peter 1:3-12, 1 Peter 3:1-12, Luke 8:16-21, Psalm 81:1-16  (view more)  (view less)

Tags: Obedience

Christian Caste System

Contributed by Sermon Central on Apr 26, 2011

CHRISTIAN CASTE SYSTEM Division is the opposite of unity. When we exclude or separate others based on race, socioeconomic status, age, appearance or personal hygiene we are dividing. In his autobiography, Mahatma Gandhi wrote that during his student days he read the Gospels seriously and ...read more

Scripture: Mark 11:17

Tags: Racism, Self Cleansing

What A Waste...?

Contributed by Isaac Butterworth on Jul 8, 2011

WHAT A WASTE...? When I lived in another city, I became acquainted with an organization called the Wycliffe Bible Translators. In fact, we had a man come speak to our church. I’ll never forget the impression he made on me. He had a PhD in linguistics. He was an incredibly well-educated and gifted ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 13:24-43, Matthew 13:1-9

Tags: Servanthood

Denomination: Presbyterian/Reformed

Church As A Spectator Sport

Contributed by Sermon Central on Aug 5, 2011

CHURCH AS A SPECTATOR SPORT A British pastor and author made this observation a few years ago. I think it’s still accurate. D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones said, "Men and women no longer...exercise in sport as they used to. Instead, people tend to sit in crowds and just watch other people play. ...And I ...read more

Scripture: Ephesians 4:1-16, 1 Corinthians 12:27

Tags: Church Practices

When We Come Together

Contributed by Sermon Central on Aug 30, 2011

WHEN WE COME TOGETHER Dr. J. Vernon McGee told a story about a little community where there were three churches on the same corner, a Presbyterian church, Methodist church and Baptist church. One Sunday night, all the windows were open and they could hear each other singing. They didn't get along ...read more

Scripture: John 13:34-35

Tags: Unity

It

Contributed by Brad Henry on Dec 9, 2011

IT Each of us has an "IT" that is keeping us from joy and being free from worry. It isn't until we let go of that "IT" that we will be free. We can talk about all the steps to get out of addictions, the steps to curtail anger, animosity, jealousy, fear of death and a host of other worries and ...read more

Tags: Fear And Worry

Good Friday In The Philippines

Contributed by Jeff Strite on Apr 8, 2012

GOOD FRIDAY IN THE PHILIPPINES Ever since the 1950s, the men of the Philippines have had unusual tradition around Easter. It has grown to the point where from 50,000 to 75,000 people attend every year. The ritual that has drawn all these tourists to the Philippines is an odd and gruesome Good ...read more

Tags: Crucifixion

Denomination: Christian/Church Of Christ

The Connected Life

Contributed by Curry Pikkaart on Apr 10, 2012

THE CONNECTED LIFE In his novel, Edge of Eternity, Randy Alcorn has the main character, Nick, reflect upon how different things are now that He has encountered the risen, reigning Lord Jesus Christ. "I remembered now why I'd stopped looking at the stars. They made me feel so lonely, so ...read more

Tags: Self

Denomination: Presbyterian/Reformed

Downward Trends In U.s. Christianity

Contributed by Sermon Central on May 15, 2012

DOWNWARD TRENDS IN U.S. CHRISTIANITY In George Barna's new book on U.S. Christians called Futurecast, he tracks annual changes from 1991 to 2011 and shows that all the major trend lines of religious belief and behavior ran downward except two: More people claim they have accepted Jesus as their ...read more

Scripture: Ephesians 4:11-16

Tags: Church Practices

At Times Being A Christian Will Mean For Us A ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Jun 18, 2007

At times being a Christian will mean for us a sacrifice, will involve a cost , it could involves once held friendships it could mean letting go of something in order for us to fulfil Gods purposes in our lives as Martin Luther once said, “The cross we bear always goes before the crown we ...read more

Tags: Christian Disciplines

A Small Child, Not Even Old Enough For School, ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Jun 18, 2007

A small child, not even old enough for school, went into one of those mirrored mazes at an amusement park. When her father discovered that she had slipped away he saw her trying to find her way out and beginning to cry in fear. She became increasingly con. fused by all the paths, until she heard ...read more

Tags: God's Provision

An Ad For The U.s. Marines Pictures A Sword, And ...  PRO

Contributed by Sermon Central on Jun 18, 2007

An ad for the U.S. Marines pictures a sword, and beneath it the words: “Earned, not given.” If you want to become a Marine, be prepared to earn the right to be called a “Marine” through sacrifice, hardship, and training. If you get it, you deserve it. But if you want to become a Christian, you must ...read more

Scripture: Ephesians 2:8-9

Tags: Evangelism How To

Attributes Of A Servant…  PRO

Contributed by Sermon Central on Jun 18, 2007

Attributes of a Servant… 1. Humility In the summer of 1986, two ships collided in the Black Sea off the coast of Russia. Hundreds of passengers died as they were hurled into the icy waters below. News of the disaster was further darkened when an investigation revealed the cause of the accident. It ...read more

Tags: Giving General

Years Ago There Was A Woman Crossing The Hills ...  PRO

Contributed by Sermon Central on Jun 18, 2007

Years ago there was a woman crossing the hills of South Wales on foot in the midst of a blizzard but she was not as fortunate as my wife and I were in South Dakota. She never made it to her destination. When they found her frozen body they did not understand why in that climate she was not wearing ...read more

Scripture: Romans 5:8, John 3:16

Tags: Atonement, Salvation, Cross, World Religions, Eternal Life  (view more)  (view less)

What Would You Think Of A Person Who Was Taking ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Jun 18, 2007

What would you think of a person who was taking a trip across the ocean and in the middle of the ocean the ship sinks. People are drowning all around but all of a sudden a raft shows up. A rescuer has arrived. He offers to pull us aboard – to save our lives. Would you say, “No thanks I think I can ...read more

Tags: Evangelism How To

He Declares That He Was An Eyewitness To The ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Jun 18, 2007

He declares that he was an eyewitness to the majesty of Jesus Christ. There is more to the word ‘eyewitness’ than the way we commonly use the word. Here is what William Barclay wrote about it. “In the Greek usage of Peter’s day this was a technical word. We have already spoken about the Mystery ...read more

Tags: Easter Resurrection