In Sermon Illustrations: "Joseph And Mary"

Medical School Professor Teaches Students The ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Dec 1, 2009

Medical School Professor Teaches Students the Consequences of Abortion A professor in a world-acclaimed medical school once posed this medical situation to his students: “Here’s the family history: The father has syphilis. The mother has TB. They already have had four children. The first is blind. ...read more

Scripture: Proverbs 6:16-17

Tags: Abortion

From Obscurity To Importance Because Of An ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Dec 11, 2009

From Obscurity to Importance Because of an Event Prior to June of 1815 hardly anyone in the world had heard of a small village in Belgium. It was in fact so small that it was scarcely found on any map. But after June 18, 1815 that microscopic village became infinitely important because of what ...read more

Scripture: Genesis 3:1-24

Tags: Greatness

Haydn Gives Glory To God

Contributed by Sermon Central on Apr 12, 2011

HAYDN GIVES GLORY TO GOD Franz Joseph Haydn (1732-1809) was present at the Vienna Music Hall, where his oratorio The Creation was being performed. Weakened by age, the great composer was confined to a wheelchair. As the majestic work moved along, the audience was caught up with tremendous emotion. ...read more

Scripture: Acts 12:20-24

Tags: Humility

Forgiveness For Everyone?

Contributed by Tim Smith on Feb 11, 2015

Lloyd Prator writes, “Take Adolph Hitler or better Joseph Stalin because he killed more people. What if, at the last minute, as Stalin lay dying, he turned his heart to Jesus and confessed his sins? Suppose he repented at the last minute, repented of the 14 million Russians Stalin killed… Would he ...read more

Scripture: Luke 23:32-43

Tags: Forgiveness, Repentance

Denomination: Methodist

One Life

Contributed by Bledar Valca on Dec 29, 2008

ONE LIFE One single life has value and is important to God. Think of how God saved the world (or His people) through one person: Noah found favor in the eyes of God when the whole world thought evil all the time. God raised Joseph from the prison to save the world from famine. God used Moses to ...read more

Tags: Discipleship

Denomination: Christian/Church Of Christ

Free For The Taking: Grace

Contributed by Richard Tow on Jul 18, 2017

Joseph Cooke was a missionary to Thailand a generation ago. He illustrated grace this way. Picture a happily married couple in which both husband and wife are all that either could ever wish the other to be. The husband always respects his wife’s feelings, always treasures her individuality, is ...read more

Scripture: 1 Timothy 1:8-9, Ephesians 2:8-9, Romans 5:8

Tags: Grace, Love Of God

Denomination: Charismatic

Remembering God's Faithfulness

Contributed by Tim Smith on Aug 13, 2017

Michelle Johnson writes, “Sometimes we need to take a look at where we’ve been with God to really understand His faithfulness and love for us. She was staying with her son at the hospital following a serious surgery. On that particular morning, she was exhausted by their stay, and her steps were ...read more

Scripture: Genesis 50:15

Tags: God, Faithfulness, Faithfulness Of God

Denomination: Methodist

Silent Night

Contributed by Sermon Central on Dec 28, 2008

SILENT NIGHT Europe in the early 1800s was a place of great war, turmoil and upheaval. Even after the Napoleonic Wars officially ended in 1815, it's effects continued to take their toll. The year 1816 was one in which national and municipal borders were divided, changed and reset. Areas, such as ...read more

Tags: Christmas

Elizabeth Griscom: Freedom Creates Courage  PRO

Contributed by Sermon Central on Jul 13, 2009

ELIZABETH GRISCOM: FREEDOM CREATES COURAGE On January 1, 1752, Samuel and Rebecca Griscom gave birth to a baby girl they named Elizabeth. Elizabeth grew up a Quaker in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. After completing her formal education, Elizabeth went on to work as an apprentice to John Webster, a ...read more

Scripture: Luke 4:18-19

Tags: Independence Day

Why Those Women Loved And Wept, It Were Not Hard ...  PRO

Contributed by Sermon Central on Dec 16, 2005

Why those women loved and wept, it were not hard to guess; but they could not have had greater reasons for love and grief than my heart has. Nain’s widow saw her son restored; but I myself have been raised to newness of life. Peter’s wife’s mother was cured of the fever; but I of the greater plague ...read more

Tags: Repentance

A Cheerful Liver  PRO

Contributed by Davon Huss on Nov 1, 2010

A CHEERFUL LIVER 2 Corinthians 9:7- God loves a cheerful giver. Mary Ann O'Roark: "As a little girl I heard grown ups repeat a bible verse that I was certain said, "God loveth a cheerful liver." I asked my grandma what a liver was. "It's a part inside you," she told me, "like your stomach or ...read more

Scripture: John 20:11-18

Tags: Giving General

Denomination: Christian/Church Of Christ

A Little Boy Told His Father, "I Want A New ...  PRO

Contributed by Phillip Parkin on Nov 24, 2012

A little boy told his father, "I want a new bike". The father said, "In this house we pray and ask God for the things we want and need". That night the little boy prayed, " Dear God, I need a new bike". The next morning the little boy woke up and ran to the garage but there was no bike. The little ...read more

Scripture: John 16:23, Matthew 7:7-11

Tags: Provision, Men's Day, Prayer

Denomination: Independent/Bible

Broken Heart

Contributed by Tim Smith on Feb 11, 2015

In Fox’s Book of Martyrs, there is the story of a 26 year old mother named Perpetua. The early church was growing dramatically and she came to faith in Jesus. The Roman government was trying to get her to renounce her faith but she refused. They threw her in prison. Her father came and begged her ...read more

Scripture: Luke 23:33-38

Tags: Grief

Denomination: Methodist

On July 1, 1935, A Man Actually Wrote These Words ...

Contributed by Stephen Evoy on Jan 4, 2008

On July 1, 1935, a man actually wrote these words in his will: “Unto my two daughters, Francis Marie and Denise Victoria; by reason of their unfilial attitude toward a doting father…I leave the sum of $1 to each and a father’s curse. May their respective lives be fraught with misery, unhappiness ...read more

Denomination: Free Methodist

The Value Of ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Jul 23, 2008

THE VALUE OF STUFF It’s interesting the values people put on stuff. It’s amazing what sells on E-bay. A Brazilian manufacturer put a UFO detector with AA batteries included on E-bay. The detector could detect fluctuations in the earth’s magnetic field caused by visitations from alien spacecraft. ...read more

Tags: Materialism

Girolamo Savonarola

Contributed by Revd. Martin Dale on Oct 24, 2025

At the very start of his ministry there, Savonarola noticed an elderly woman who used to come and pray regularily before that statue of the Virgin Mary. One day, he took an elderly priest aside who had been serving in the cathedral for many years and said, "Look how devoted this woman is. ...read more

Scripture: Luke 18:9-14

Tags: Girolamo Savonarola, Faith

Denomination: Anglican

Jesus Met The Man In The Tombs, Healed Him, Cast ...  PRO

Contributed by Charles R. Swindoll on Nov 18, 2004

Jesus met the man in the tombs, healed him, cast the demons out. Now he is a sane man. Now he can take his place in society. I can imagine him coming home that evening after he met Jesus. His children look out the window and the cry out, "Mother, father is coming." She runs and locks the door. She ...read more

Scripture: Mark 5:1-20

Tags: Joy

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

Jack Benny Was Rather Shy When He Was Young. One ...  PRO

Contributed by Melvin Newland on Feb 21, 2001

Jack Benny was rather shy when he was young. One day at work he saw a young lady that greatly attracted his attention. But he was too shy to speak to her. So he went to the florist & ordered one red rose to be sent to her without any card enclosed. And every day he repeated that order. Well, ...read more

Scripture: 1 Corinthians 13:5-13, Genesis 2:18-27, Ephesians 5:25-33

Tags: Power, Marriage Commitment, Marriage Obligations, Romantic Love

Denomination: Christian/Church Of Christ

The World's A Better Place Because...  PRO

Contributed by Tony Abram on Apr 26, 2008

THE WORLD'S A BETTER PLACE BECAUSE... The worlds a better place because a German monk named Martin Luther did not say, "I don't do doors." The world's a better place because an Oxford don named John Wesley didn't say, "I don't do preaching in fields." The world's a better place because Moses ...read more

Tags: Discipleship

God Did Not Walk Away

Contributed by Sermon Central on Dec 28, 2008

GOD DID NOT WALK AWAY Simon Wiesenthal wrote The Sunflower in 1969. It speaks of the pain he experienced at the hands of the Nazis during WWII. He describes being taken from a Nazi death-camp to a makeshift hospital. He was ushered by a nurse to the side of a Nazi soldier, who asked to have a ...read more

Tags: Christmas