In Sermon Illustrations: "John 5:39-54:1"

Bless Assurance: Fanny Crosby

Contributed by Wade Martin Hughes, Sr on Jan 16, 2021

ASSURANCE: free from doubt, a positive declaration intended to give confidence, a sure promise, in a religious sitting it means salvation by the inner witness of the Holy Spirit that we are justified. No harm will come, with great faith. FANNY JANE CROSBY was born in 1820 and died in 1915 at the ...read more

Scripture: John 3:16, John 14:27, John 14:1-3

Tags: Assurance, God Can

Denomination: Assembly Of God

: "The Boy Who Believes In The Holy ...  PRO

Contributed by Bruce Howell on May 30, 2001

Illus.: “The Boy Who Believes in the Holy Spirit Isn’t Here” A children’s catechism class was learning the Apostles Creed. Each child had been assigned a sentence to repeat. The first one said, “I believe in God the Father Almighty, maker of heaven and earth.” The second child said, “I believe ...read more

Scripture: John 14:1-7, John 14:21-22, John 14:15-21

Tags: Creed, Children, Believe, Basics Of Christianity, Holy Spirit General, Holy Spirit, Third Person  (view more)  (view less)

Denomination: Wesleyan

We'll Stay Out Of The Way  PRO

Contributed by Bob Hager on Apr 26, 2001

WE'LL STAY OUT OF THE WAY The Call to Worship had just been pronounced starting Easter Sunday Morning service in an East Texas church. The choir started its processional, singing "Up from the Grave He Arose" as they marched in perfect step down the center aisle to the front of the church. The ...read more

Scripture: John 11:25, John 17:6-19, John 11:1-25, John 11:1-44, John 4:23-24, John 20:26-29, Mark 8:33  (view more)  (view less)

Tags: Easter Resurrection, Wholehearted, Indifference, Hope

Denomination: Methodist

No True Freedom Without God  PRO

Contributed by Sermon Central on Jul 24, 2009

NO TRUE FREEDOM WITHOUT GOD According to Mark Parsec, Independence Day "celebrates America’s Declaration of Independence from the tyranny of England under King George." The Declaration of Independence of 1776, he says, was not intended to declare war with England, nor did it actually establish our ...read more

Scripture: John 8:36, John 8:32

Tags: Independence Day

Better One Safe And Sure Way  PRO

Contributed by Sermon Central on Mar 30, 2011

BETTER ONE SAFE AND SURE WAY There is a story about a Fox boasting to a Cat about his clever tactics for escaping its enemies. "I have a whole bag of tricks," he said, "which contains a hundred different ways of escaping from my enemies." "I have only one," said the Cat; "but I can generally ...read more

Scripture: John 14:6, John 14:6-14

Tags: Salvation, Humor

Memory And Truth

Contributed by Sermon Central on Jun 27, 2011

MEMORY AND TRUTH Two middle-aged couples were enjoying friendly conversation when one of the men asked the other, "Fred, how was the memory clinic you went to last month?" "Outstanding," Fred replied. "They taught us all the latest psychological techniques, such as visualization, association and ...read more

Scripture: John 8:31-32, John 8:51-59

Tags: Truth

Most Of Us Don't Mind Jesus Making Some Minor ...  PRO

Contributed by Kevin Karhoff on Feb 18, 2013

Most of us don’t mind Jesus making some minor change in our lives but Jesus wants to turn our lives upside down. Fans don’t mind him doing a little touch up work, but Jesus wants complete renovation. Fans come to Jesus thinking tune up, but Jesus is thinking overhaul. Fans think a little makeup ...read more

Scripture: John 3:11-18, John 3:1-18

Tags: Jesus Christ

Denomination: Presbyterian/Reformed

Staying On The Path  PRO

Contributed by Scott Bradford on Jun 20, 2013

TWO MILES OF DITCH I was headed home late from a wedding reception and had about a two hour drive when a friend said to me, "Remember that for every mile you drive there are two miles of ditch". I was in the car before that really sunk in, and then it hit me, for every path we walk, there are ...read more

Scripture: John 21:1-14, John 21:15-17

Tags: Disciples, Journey, Backslide, Faith Journey

Denomination: United Methodist

Jesus Is The Gospel.

Contributed by Dr. Larry Petton on May 19, 2016

JESUS IS THE GOSPEL. "Fundamentally, our Lord’s message was Himself. He did not come merely to preach a Gospel; He himself is that Gospel. He did not come merely to give bread; He said, "I am the bread." He did not come merely to shed light; He said, "I am the light." He did not come merely to ...read more

Scripture: John 1:1-12, John 1:1-2

Tags: Jesus, Salvation, Gospel

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

We Need To Cultivate The Habit Of Bearing Each ...  PRO

Contributed by Sermon Central on Jun 18, 2007

We need to cultivate the habit of bearing each other’s burdens. Lend a hand by lifting a heavy load. Burdens are the over loads which we can lighten by building meaningful relationships with others in the church. I read a story a few years ago about a family who found out that their un-born child ...read more

Scripture: John 9:1-6, John 9:1-38

Tags: Friendship New Friends

Every Branch That Bears Fruit Must Be Pruned To ...  PRO

Contributed by Stephen Smarowsky on Jun 14, 2008

Every branch that bears fruit must be pruned to bear much more fruit. I have a tomato plant that has been living for over two years now. Every winter the cold weather and heavy breeze kill more than half of the vines and leafs. If I don't prune the dead, it will spread and kill the whole plant. ...read more

Scripture: John 17:13, John 17:13-21

Tags: Growth In Christ

Denomination: Baptist

Without One Plea  PRO

Contributed by Sermon Central on Dec 28, 2008

WITHOUT ONE PLEA Charlotte Elliott was a sickly English woman who had developed a long history of refusing to do things she was asked to do because of her illness. Her brother, who was a pastor, had been particularly persistent in trying to get her out of herself, trying to get her involved in ...read more

Scripture: John 8:3-11, John 4:1-26

Tags: Healing, Brokenness, Trials And Difficulties, Used

We Must Be Wary Of Defining Friendship With God ...  PRO

Contributed by Sermon Central on Dec 11, 2001

We must be wary of defining friendship with God in terms of our relationships with one another. Friendship is a divine idea, and it must, therefore, ...read more

Scripture: John 15:13-15, John 15:14-15

Tags: Friendship General, Church Small Groups

An Old Lady Spent Much Of Her Summer Setting And ...  PRO

Contributed by Wade Martin Hughes, Sr on Apr 27, 2002

An old lady spent much of her summer setting and swinging in the old swing hanging on her front porch. Her husband had been dead several years and she had withdrawn from all but the closest family. Her lonely time grew and grew?? One spring day, the old lady went out in the garage and dug the old ...read more

Scripture: John 11:1, John 11:1-44

Tags: Disappointment

Denomination: Assembly Of God

A Man Flew Into Chicago & Hired A Taxi To Take ...  PRO

Contributed by Melvin Newland on Jul 2, 2002

A man flew into Chicago & hired a taxi to take him downtown. As he was riding along they came to a red light & the driver went right on through the red light. The man said, "Hey, the light was red. You’re supposed to stop." The driver said, "Yeah, I know, but my brother does it all the ...read more

Scripture: John 8:12, John 8:12

Tags: Holiness, Light, Shine, Darkness, Evangelism Fear Of  (view more)  (view less)

Denomination: Christian/Church Of Christ

If God Intended Man To Live On Bread, Why Didn't ...  PRO

Contributed by Don Hawks on Jul 31, 2002

‘If God intended man to live on bread, why didn’t he create a bread tree?’ And the answer, in effect, is that God could have created a tree that produced crusty loaves of bread, but he prefers to offer us a grain and invite us to buy a field and plant the seed. He prefers that we till the soil ...read more

Scripture: John 6:54, John 6:51

Tags: Giving Yourself

Denomination: Methodist

There Is Little Doubt To The Fact That Every ...  PRO

Contributed by David Taylor on Apr 23, 2003

There is little doubt to the fact that every person here has most likely heard the old adage, “Seeing is believing.” In a world filled with insatiable claims it has become commonplace for a person to respond, “I won’t believe it, until I see it.” It is this very principle that brought Robert ...read more

Scripture: John 12:37, John 6:30

Tags: Faith General

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

In Middle Eastern Countries, It Was The Slaves ...  PRO

Contributed by Chad Wright on Mar 30, 2004

In Middle Eastern countries, it was the slaves who washed the feet of guests; here Christ took the place of a slave. He makes this clear to His disciples: if their Lord and Teacher has washed their feet, then they should wash one another’s feet, that is, serve each other in humility. This must have ...read more

Scripture: John 13:1-38, John 13:1

Tags: Easter Maundy Thursday

Denomination: Lutheran

I Remember Our Friend Taylor Hendley Who Took ...  PRO

Contributed by Charles R. Swindoll on Sep 28, 2004

I remember our friend Taylor Hendley who took teams of missionaries to Russia when it first opened it’s doors to us. He described how people would walk from miles around (many all night) to come to worship in a small one-room church with no heat. How to accommodate as many people as ...read more

Scripture: John 12:1-11, John 12:9-11

Tags: Worship Definition

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

In September, 1938, A Man Who Lived On Long ...

Contributed by Stephen Wright on Dec 12, 2004

In September, 1938, a man who lived on Long Island ordered a very fine barometer. When it arrived he was extremely disappointed to find that the dial was stuck, pointing to “Hurricane.” After shaking the barometer very vigorously several times, its new owner sat down and wrote a scorching letter to ...read more

Scripture: John 20:19-31, John 20:1-31

Tags: Doubt

Denomination: Baptist