In Sermon Illustrations: "John And Jesus"

Sometimes Sharing Christ Takes Interesting ...  PRO

Contributed by Sermon Central on Mar 3, 2003

Sometimes sharing Christ takes interesting forms. For months I left the church well into the late night hours. Periodically I would see a man huddled on the corner of our property. At first I feared the man. You see our neighborhood is rough and we have many homeless individuals that roam the ...read more

Scripture: John 4:36

Tags: Evangelism How To

You Must Have The Spirit Of Christ  PRO

Contributed by Terry Laughlin on Aug 11, 2008

You Must Have the Spirit of Christ Jesus said; "If you love me, you will obey what I command. And I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Counselor to be with you forever - the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept Him. But you know Him for He lives with you and will be in you. ...read more

Scripture: John 14:16-17

Tags: Holy Spirit In Believers

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

The Fallacy Of Misplaced Concreteness" Is A ...

Contributed by John Tung on Mar 28, 2007

“The fallacy of misplaced concreteness” is a concept developed by Alfred North Whitehead, a philosopher who specialized in mathematics. And an example of what this says is that in a 2-dimensional world, giving the x and y axis location of a point is sufficient to precisely locate that point. But ...read more

Scripture: John 4:1-42

Tags: Woman At Well

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

Dianne Odell's Attitude Remained Positive, Even ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Jun 7, 2010

Dianne Odell’s Attitude Remained Positive, Even in an Iron Lung I read once of Dianne Odell of Jackson, Tennessee. She was quite a lady. Her life story received nation-wide attention. Dianne graduated from high school and college, she was involved with her church, and wrote her autobiography. ...read more

Scripture: John 8:34-36

Tags: Disability

The Mardi Gras Miracle

Contributed by Richard L. Brown on Apr 17, 2021

“The Mardi Gras Miracle.” On Fat Tuesday of 1994 I was on my way to a meeting at Normal Presbyterian Church. I was listening to a basketball game. Kentucky was playing LSU at LSU and Kentucky was down 16 points at half time. I was concerned but to make things worse LSU started the second half ...read more

Scripture: John 20:19-31

Tags: Doubt, Doubting Thomas

Denomination: Presbyterian/Reformed

In January, 1995, According To An Article ...  PRO

Contributed by Richard Tow on Dec 8, 2003

“In January, 1995, according to an article written by Gary Thomas, J. Robert Ashcroft had fewer than forty-eight hours to live, but he was holding on to life, hoping to see his son, John Ashcroft, sworn into the U.S. Senate the following day. [John Ashcroft, as we all know by now…is our Attorney ...read more

Scripture: John 5:37

Tags: Workplace Evangelism

Denomination: Charismatic

Oswald Chambers On Conviction Of Sin  PRO

Contributed by Sermon Central on May 3, 2011

OSWALD CHAMBERS ON CONVICTION OF SIN Oswald Chambers: "Conviction of sin is one of the rarest things that ever strikes a man. It is the threshold of an understanding of God. Jesus Christ said that when the Holy Spirit came He would convict of sin, and when the Holy Spirit rouses the conscience and ...read more

Scripture: John 16:7-11

Tags: Holy Spirit General, Oswald Chambers

Taste Is All Wrong

Contributed by Tim Hinrichs on Nov 29, 2011

TASTE IS ALL WRONG I remember one of the stories from the Chronicles of Narnia from the book "The Last Battle." It was the story of a number of dwarfs who just didn't believe in Aslan (who represented Jesus Christ in all the books). They were blind to reality refusing to be "taken in" by those ...read more

Scripture: John 12:39-40

Tags: Sin Deceptive

Denomination: Lutheran

Orphans

Contributed by Davon Huss on Oct 24, 2014

Rubel Shelly tells of his friends Rich and Patty White, who traveled to a 3rd world country to adopt a little girl named Olona. After 2 years of effort and paperwork, the Whites stood before a judge who read words from an official document: “Inasmuch as Olona Morgan is orphaned and unwanted by ...read more

Scripture: John 14:18

Tags: Chosen By God, Orphan, Unwanted

Denomination: Christian/Church Of Christ

Smell The Rain

Contributed by Dr. David Hallum on Sep 10, 2015

When my daughter Cynthia was a little girl, we lived in Odessa, TX. We made one of the pilgrimages that we did from time to time to see my wife, Rosemary’s family. Rosemary’s brother, Michael was in town at the time from the Navy. Now in West Texas, rain is a beautiful thing. We got one of ...read more

Scripture: John 12:1-10

Tags: Disciples, Aroma, Smell, Pleasant

Denomination: Baptist

Unrealistic Expectations

Contributed by J Jeffrey Smead on Feb 2, 2026

Often times ... we may have ... unrealistic expectations. For example, ... if I have an expectation ... that my wife Lee will cook a 4-course meal every night. And she expects ... that I will take her out to eat every night. Well ...we are both going to be ... very disappointed. Not because ...read more

Scripture: John 6:26-64

Tags: Disappointed, Commitment, Image, Expectations

Denomination: Anglican

Apples And The Things We Usually Miss

Contributed by Martin Spoelstra on Feb 20, 2026

I brought something with me today. (Bring out the apples.) These are apples. Nothing fancy. Not miraculous. Not smuggled out of the Garden of Eden. Just apples. But here’s what I want you to notice. An apple is sweet. An apple is useful. An apple is good. But the apple is not the point. The point ...read more

Scripture: John 15:1-8

Tags: Faithfulness, The Church, Remain, Abide, Fruitfullness, Discipleship  (view more)  (view less)

Denomination: Presbyterian/Reformed

The Sinner's Friend

Contributed by Martin Spoelstra on May 6, 2023

There's the story told by Watchman Nee, the Chinese evangelist where he was talking to another Christian in his home. They were downstairs, as was his friend's son. The friend's wife and mother were in an upstairs room. All at once the little boy wanted something and called out to his ...read more

Scripture: John 4:1-26, Luke 19:1-10, John 1:14

Tags: Evangelism, Incarnation, Friend Of Sinners

Denomination: Presbyterian/Reformed

The Voice - Billy Graham Story

Contributed by J Jeffrey Smead on Feb 2, 2026

In 1948, ...a remarkable religious phenomenon occurred... in the United States. It began in a tent ... near Hollywood California, ...under the preaching ... of a young evangelist. The crowds were sparse at first ... but as the preaching continued, ... the crowds began to grow. At first, ... the ...read more

Scripture: John 1:6-7, John 1:19-21, John 1:23-24, John 3:30

Tags: Good News, Voice, Preach, Witness, Light, Wilderness  (view more)  (view less)

Denomination: Anglican

Ricochet Evangelism

Contributed by Martin Spoelstra on Apr 9, 2023

Lee Strobel tells the story of a time when he felt God prompting him to go and share an Easter invitation in the business office of the newspaper where he worked. He didn’t know why. But, he listens to God. When he arrived, he saw his friend who was working in the business office. It was an ...read more

Scripture: John 20:1-31

Tags: Evangelism, Easter

Denomination: Presbyterian/Reformed

Augustine And The Four States Of Man  PRO

Contributed by Terry Barnhill on Mar 5, 2012

AUGUSTINE AND THE FOUR STATES OF MAN In the 5th century AD, St. Augustine wrote about the "4 States of Man": * The first state of man (the haec sunt prima) is "living according to the flesh -- with reason making no resistance." This can be seen in so many ancient cultures and religions (and ...read more

Scripture: John 14:1-15

Tags: Allegory

Denomination: Presbyterian/Reformed

Division In The Church

Contributed by Davon Huss on Sep 6, 2014

Daniel Overdorf- A few years ago I visited a couple in their home. Both husband and wife had lived most of their lives apart from Christ and His church. Their marriage- a second marriage for both- had grown rocky. The 50 year old husband faced a frightening battle with cancer, and neither ...read more

Scripture: John 17:20-23

Tags: Argue, Church Unity, Disunity

Denomination: Christian/Church Of Christ

I Served As A U.s. Marine In Iraq During 2004. ...  PRO

Contributed by Troy Mason on Mar 4, 2005

I served as a U.S. Marine in Iraq during 2004. One day, I traveled with an Army unit to a border checkpoint between Iraq and Syria. We were "officially" turning over control of the border crossing to the Iraqi Border Police. To celebrate their newly regained authority, the Iraqi officers invited ...read more

Scripture: John 13:26

Tags: Bread, Lord's Supper

Denomination: Baptist

Submitting Totally To God's Plan For Us And Our ...  PRO

Contributed by Mark Brunner on Mar 7, 2006

Submitting totally to God’s plan for us and our loved ones, is difficult to do. But, it is a must for any Christian seeking the “whatever it takes” solution to the difficult problems in life. In 1878, when William Booth’s Salvation Army was beginning to make its mark, men and women from all over ...read more

Scripture: John 2:5

Tags: God In The Hardships

Denomination: Lutheran

Authentic Worship  PRO

Contributed by Sermon Central on Jul 12, 2002

AUTHENTIC WORSHIP In his article ’Celebrating God in Authentic Worship’, pastor Glenn Wagner (Calvary Church, Charlotte, NC) points out: "I believe that one of the most evangelistic tools the church possesses, one desperately needed in today’s society, is authentic worship. People want to know, ...read more

Scripture: John 4:24

Tags: Church Practices, Worship Purpose