In Sermon Illustrations: "John And Jesus"

Bad News And Worse News!

Contributed by Dr. Larry Petton on Dec 21, 2023

Doctor to patient: "I have bad news and worse news." Patient: "So let's have it." Doctor: "The bad news is that you only have 24 hours to live." Patient: "I can't imagine what could be worse than ...read more

Scripture: 1 Corinthians 10:13, John 16:33

Tags: Tests, Trials, Problems, Faith, Tribulation, Difficulties, Bad News  (view more)  (view less)

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

People Still Want To Be Invited To Church

Contributed by Dr. Larry Petton on Mar 25, 2024

Most Americans say they would visit a church if invited by a family member, neighbor or a friend. A recent study by the North American Mission Board (NAMB) and LifeWay Research found that 67 percent of Americans say a personal invitation from a family member would be effective in getting them to ...read more

Scripture: John 20:21, Acts 1:8, Matthew 28:19-20

Tags: Unchurched, Unbelievers, Wintessing, Evangelism, Church, Easter, Gospel, Missions, Lost  (view more)  (view less)

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

Death

Contributed by David Tack on Apr 22, 2024

"An introduction to death means that one has finally succumbed to the fact of a pending loss of independence and now are now facing a total and final dependence on The Creator of your trinitarian being this is why death is so frightening! Even more reason to walk intimately with Him every day ...read more

Scripture: 1 Corinthians 15:55, John 3:16

Tags: Death, Sin

Denomination: Baptist

Just An Old Shoebox

Contributed by Loyd C. Taylor on May 23, 2024

Just an Old Shoebox It was just an old shoebox, With a pink faded ribbon wrapped around. The old house was sad and sat strangely quiet, Ever since Momma graced Heaven’s dawn. It’s like she had just turned loose of living, To dutifully follow Dad on. Brother and I had moved things for ...read more

Scripture: Luke 2:19, John 14:1-3, Lamentations 3:21

Tags: Mother's Day, Memories, Junk, Secrets, Treasures, Shoebox, Precious Memories  (view more)  (view less)

Denomination: Baptist

A Superior Love

Contributed by David Tack on Sep 18, 2024

“The strenuous Christian mandate to extend unconditional love towards those that hate you is a fatiguing duty for the soldiers of the cross of Christ! In the heat of a damning spiritual warfare, when the spiritual defensive battlefronts are diminishing, the fleshly armaments derived from the human ...read more

Scripture: John 3:16, Romans 5:7-8, Ephesians 2:4-7

Tags: Love, Unconditional, Soldier

Denomination: Baptist

Deconstruction, Deconstruction, Deconstruct, Decon....

Contributed by Martin Spoelstra on Sep 20, 2024

One cannot insist that all truth claims are power plays, that all truth claims destroy freedom. C. S. Lewis writes in The Abolition of Man: “But you cannot go on ‘explaining away’ forever: you will find that you have explained explanation itself away. You cannot go on ‘seeing through’ things ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 28:16, John 18:38, Acts 26:25

Tags: Doubt, Truth, Objective Truth, Deconstructing Faith

Denomination: Presbyterian/Reformed

W.e. Vines Defines True Saving Faith

Contributed by Dr. Larry Petton on Oct 13, 2024

W E Vines defines genuine saving faith as consisting of the following: (1) A firm conviction which produces full acknowledgment of God's revelation of Truth - (2 Thess. 2:11 -"in order that they all may be judged who did not believe [pisteuo] the truth, but took pleasure in ...read more

Scripture: John 1:12, 2 Thessalonians 2:11

Tags: Works, Believing, Faith, Salvation, Truth, Assurance  (view more)  (view less)

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

That Great Getting' Up Morning...

Contributed by Dr. Fred W. Penney on Oct 30, 2024

And now O Lord – When I’ve done drunk my last cup of sorrow— When I’ve been called everything but a child of God— When I’ve done travelling up the rough side of the mountain— O – Mary’s baby— When I start down the steep and slippery steps of death— When this old world begins to rock beneath my ...read more

Scripture: John 11:25, 1 Corinthians 15:20-26

Tags: Death, Resurrection, Hope, Dying, Funeral  (view more)  (view less)

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

Be Careful What You Imitate

Contributed by Roger Hasselquist on Nov 17, 2024

In the late 1990s, aspiring actor and writer Johnny Knoxville had moved from Knoxville, Tennessee to Los Angeles, California, and landed work in commercials in order to support his wife and infant daughter. Among his ideas was one to produce an article that involved testing various self-defense ...read more

Scripture: 3 John 1:11, Ephesians 5:1-2

Tags: Imitate, Bad Examples, Good Examples, Johnny Knoxville

Denomination: Christian/Church Of Christ

A Loving Congregation

Contributed by John Bright on Feb 2, 2025

This is the greatest need we have in the local congregation today – to be seen as a place where love for on another is present. What does that look like? A quote from St. Francis of Assisi: “Blessed is the servant who loves his brother as much when he is sick and useless as when he is well and an ...read more

Scripture: John 13:34-35, 1 Peter 4:8

Tags: Love, St Francis Of Assisi

Denomination: Methodist

[062a]. A Message From A Poem – Does Suffering Cancel Out A God Of Love?

Contributed by Ron Ferguson on Mar 14, 2025

[062A]. A MESSAGE FROM A POEM – DOES SUFFERING CANCEL OUT A GOD OF LOVE? THE POEM AS IT IS WILL NOT FIT IN THE ILLUSTRATION SPACE AVAILABLE. I HAVE HAD TO SPLIT IT INTO THREE PARTS. THIS IS THE FIRST PART PART 1 INTRODUCTION TO THIS POEM This is my most serious poem because it addresses ...read more

Scripture: Psalm 45:6-7, John 3:16, Exodus 34:6-7

Tags: Comfort, Suffering, Tragedy, God Of Comfort, God Of Love, Hurt, Pain, Love, Compassion  (view more)  (view less)

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

[062c]. A Message From A Poem – Does Suffering Cancel Out A God Of Love?

Contributed by Ron Ferguson on Mar 14, 2025

[062C]. A MESSAGE FROM A POEM – DOES SUFFERING CANCEL OUT A GOD OF LOVE? THE POEM AS IT IS WILL NOT FIT IN THE ILLUSTRATION SPACE AVAILABLE. I HAVE HAD TO SPLIT IT INTO THREE PARTS. THIS IS THE THIRD PART. THE INTRODUCTION FOR THE POEM IS IN PART 1. PART 3 SECTION C - PART 1 (GOD ...read more

Scripture: Psalm 45:6-7, John 3:16, Exodus 34:6-7

Tags: Tragedy, God Of Comfort, God Of Love, Pain, Love, Christ, Compassion, Comfort, Suffering, Hurt  (view more)  (view less)

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

A Hint Of Heaven

Contributed by Dr. Fred W. Penney on May 22, 2025

“At present we are on the outside of the world, the wrong side of the door. We discern the freshness and purity of morning, but they do not make us fresh and pure. We cannot mingle with the splendours we see. But all the leaves of the New Testament are rustling with the rumour that it ...read more

Scripture: 1 Corinthians 15:42-54, John 14:1-4

Tags: Faith, Heaven, Eternal Life

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

[113]. A Message From A Poem – Have You Seen A Gouldian Finch?

Contributed by Ron Ferguson on Jun 20, 2025

[113]. A MESSAGE FROM A POEM – HAVE YOU SEEN A GOULDIAN FINCH? I keep finches including the gouldian finch, one of the most beautiful finches in the world, if not the most beautiful. If you have not seen one, go do a search on the internet. This poem covers a number of subjects. When you look ...read more

Scripture: Philippians 4:8, Acts 17:30-31, John 1:3

Tags: Christian Poems, Gouldian Finches, Wise Designer, Creation, Evolution, Repent, Colors, Christian Poetry  (view more)  (view less)

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

Soul Food

Contributed by David Dunn on Oct 8, 2025

A certain man who had been absent from church for a long time received an inquiring visit from the Pastor. The man told the Pastor, "I've attended nearly every Sunday for 30 years. In that time, I have heard something like 1,500 sermons. In all of those years, people were shouting ...read more

Scripture: Psalm 103:1-5, Isaiah 40:31, John 6:35

Tags: Worship, Faithfulness, Nourishment

Denomination: Seventh-Day Adventist

Modern Jericho Road

Contributed by David Dunn on Nov 1, 2025

It was just after noon on a gray Thursday. Rick, a young grocery worker, had finished his shift and was heading home when a customer named Ian asked for a favor. Could Rick drive to Toronto to pick up an auto part? He’d lend him his new car and pay him a hundred dollars. Rick said yes. He ...read more

Scripture: Luke 10:33-35, 1 John 3:17

Tags: Compassion, Action

Denomination: Seventh-Day Adventist

Luther: Asleep In Christ

Contributed by David Dunn on Nov 1, 2025

(Martin Luther quotes about death.) “What is our death but a night’s sleep? For as through sleep all weariness and faintness pass away… so at the Last Day we shall rise again as if we had only slept a night.” Source: It’s widely reproduced in quotation databases such as AZ Quotes and Luther’s ...read more

Scripture: 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17, John 11:25

Tags: Resurrection, Hope

Denomination: Seventh-Day Adventist

From Stable To Table

Contributed by Loyd C. Taylor on Dec 11, 2023

From Stable to Table Down from the splendors of Heaven to the lowliness of a stable, Wrapped in swaddling clothes, God’s Lamb lay in a manger cradle. His destiny ordained, Heaven’s loss, mankind to save, through a cross. From the lowly stable, to sitting with his disciples around the table: Do ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 1:21, Galatians 4:4, 1 Corinthians 11:23-26, John 1:14

Tags: Lord's Supper, Birth Of Christ, Christmas, Communion

Denomination: Baptist

The Sermon On The Mount Quote By Oswald Chambers

Contributed by Matthew Redder on Sep 25, 2018

The impossibly difficult instructions found in the sermon on the mount have often troubled me. When I think about loving enemies, turning the other cheek, giving to the poor, storing up treasures in heaven, etc... I often feel like there's NO WAY I can be successful in the correctives Jesus ...read more

Scripture: 2 Corinthians 5:17, Galatians 6:15, Matthew 4:23

Tags: Disciples, Jesus Christ, New Creation, Devotional, Sermon On The Mount, Love Your Enemies, Oswald Chambers, Sermon, My Utmost For His Highest  (view more)  (view less)

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

Salvation Is Not Mainly Forgiveness Of Sins It ...  PRO

Contributed by Lynn Floyd on Jul 10, 2003

“Salvation is not mainly forgiveness of sins it is mainly a fellowship with Jesus.” (John Piper. ...read more

Tags: Repentance, Salvation, E

Denomination: Baptist