In Sermon Illustrations: "Know"

God As My Guard  PRO

Contributed by Dr. Nicholas M. Muteti on Jun 24, 2011

GOD AS MY GUARD I remember one time driving on a completely unknown route. It was dark, early in the morning, just after midnight. I didn’t know the way and I thought I can drive ahead and somehow will find the town I was looking for. It was the time when all the routes in Kenya were very poor ...read more

Scripture: Psalm 121:1-8

Tags: God's Omnipotence

Denomination: Baptist

What A Waste...??  PRO

Contributed by Isaac Butterworth on Jul 8, 2011

WHAT A WASTE...?? There was a young man who grew up just down the block from my wife Jan. I never met him; I can’t even remember his name. But I know about him. I think about him every time I’m in the neighborhood. This boy didn’t attract much notice as he was growing up. He studied mostly. He ...read more

Tags: Servanthood

Denomination: Presbyterian/Reformed

Man On The Street

Contributed by Michael Buckingham on Jul 18, 2011

MAN ON THE STREET When you meet someone on the street, you don’t know anything about them. Everyone is different, so be kind and courteous and don’t get caught up in discrimination. We all subconsciously stereotype people, but there isn’t one person in the world that fits perfectly into a ...read more

Tags: Pride

Denomination: Baptist

Harry Potter: Temptation

Contributed by Isaac Butterworth on Jul 30, 2011

HARRY POTTER: TEMPTATION Every great story has great characters. And in truly great stories, the characters go through significant change. This change is called a character arc. For example, if you’re familiar with the Harry Potter series, you know that Harry starts off in the story as an ...read more

Tags: Temptation General

Denomination: Presbyterian/Reformed

What Makes Your Face Shine?  PRO

Contributed by Sermon Central on Aug 2, 2011

WHAT MAKES YOUR FACE SHINE? A Hindu trader in India once asked a missionary, "What do you put on your face to make it shine?" With surprise the man of God answered, "I don’t put anything on it!" His questioner began to lose patience and said emphatically, "Yes, you do! All of you who believe in ...read more

Scripture: Philippians 2:14-16

Tags: Christian Witness

Feeling A Tug  PRO

Contributed by Sermon Central on Aug 3, 2011

FEELING A TUG A small boy was flying a kite one April afternoon when a low drifting cloud encircled the kite and hid it from view. A man passing by asked the little boy what he was doing with that string in his hand. "I’m flying my kite," the child responded. The man, looking up and seeing ...read more

Scripture: Hebrews 11:1

Tags: Faith, Real Faith, Better Faith, Feeling Faith

If You Want It Bad Enough

Contributed by Sermon Central on Aug 10, 2011

IF YOU WANT IT BAD ENOUGH When a person first comes to faith in Christ and gets a taste of His grace, they can’t get enough of the Bible. Pat Summerall, the well-known sports announcer, trusted Christ with his life and overcame alcohol in the late 60’s. As he describes his life with Christ, he ...read more

Scripture: 1 Peter 2:2-3

Tags: Growth In Christ

Americans: Flabby Faith  PRO

Contributed by Sermon Central on Aug 16, 2011

AMERICANS: FLABBY FAITH A dozen or so years ago, a Romanian pastor came to visit the church I belonged to. He had gotten to know my pastor, John Vawter, who had been involved in a Bible-smuggling ministry when the Iron Curtain was still up. John asked him what he thought of our country, and of the ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 5:11-16, Romans 12:1-6

Tags: Discipleship

Tough Ladies And Human Nature

Contributed by Ed Vasicek on Aug 29, 2011

TOUGH LADIES AND HUMAN NATURE I used to enjoy the old "Where's the Beef?" commercial. Everyone, it seems, knows a "where's the beef" type of lady. Germany has them, too: BERLIN (Reuters) - A feisty 90-year-old German woman chased away three would-be burglars from her rural farmhouse with her ...read more

Tags: Human Life

Denomination: Independent/Bible

The Rusted Out Car  PRO

Contributed by John Sears on Jan 18, 2012

THE RUSTED OUT CAR A few weeks ago, I was driving home on the interstate and saw a pickup truck pulling a trailer with the rusted out shell of an old car on it. All I know was that the car on that trailer was an antique. And it was covered in rust from bumper to bumper. I could tell from the ...read more

Tags: Stewardship

Denomination: Christian Church

No King But Jesus

Contributed by Sermon Central on May 3, 2012

NO KING BUT JESUS Did you know that the colonialists wanted to make George Washington a king? But he refused. Because George and many of the colonists believed that there was only one king, and it was not King George III. On April 22, 1774, before the Revolutionary War, a report was sent to King ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 27:37

Tags: Jesus Christ

Billy Graham: Can Money Buy Happiness?  PRO

Contributed by Sermon Central on Jul 23, 2012

BILLY GRAHAM: CAN MONEY BUY HAPPINESS? Rev. Billy Graham: "The Bible warns that money cannot buy happiness. Money cannot buy true pleasure. Money cannot buy peace of heart. And money cannot buy entrance into the Kingdom of God. If God has given you more than your neighbors around about you, ...read more

Scripture: Luke 12:13-34

Tags: Money

Worship Warrior  PRO

Contributed by Sermon Central on Aug 17, 2012

WORSHIP WARRIOR I like the way songwriter and worship leader, Brian Doerksen, puts it. He says, "Becoming a worshipper means becoming a warrior... And by toning that down...we have sent men and women away from the church in droves. It's time to call them back," Doerksen says, "as worshiping ...read more

Scripture: Romans 12:1-2

Tags: Worship Definition

Get Acquainted With Heaven

Contributed by Francis Balla on Sep 24, 2012

GET ACQUAINTED WITH HEAVEN "The man who is about to sail for Australia or New Zealand as a settler, is naturally anxious to know something about his future home, its climate, its employments, its inhabitants, its ways, its customs. All these are subjects of deep interest to him. You are leaving ...read more

Tags: Heaven

Denomination: Baptist

God Is Not An Editor

Contributed by David Tack on Oct 17, 2012

GOD IS NOT AN EDITOR "God is looking for common ordinary people like you and me who are willing to let Him use as He sees fit. He wants to write our story, He doesn’t want to be our editor. But, we want to write the story and then we call God in as our editor. When the story gets messy then we ...read more

Scripture: Luke 9:23

Tags: Discipleship

Denomination: Baptist

What Time Is It?  PRO

Contributed by Rod Elmore on Feb 18, 2013

WHAT TIME IS IT? An old man was standing on a crowded bus. A young man standing next to him asked, "What time is it?" The old man said nothing. As the young man walked away, the old man's friend asked, "Why were you so rude to the young man?" The old man answered, "If I had given him the time ...read more

Scripture: Ecclesiastes 3:1-8

Tags: Heart

Denomination: Christian Church

The Meaning Of Life. The Wasted Years Of Life. ...  PRO

Contributed by Kevin Karhoff on Mar 23, 2013

The meaning of life. The wasted years of life. The poor choices of life. God answers the mess of life with one word: grace. We talk as though we understand the term. The bank gives us a grace period. The seedy politician falls from grace. Musicians speak of a grace note. We describe an ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 27:32

Tags: Grace

Denomination: Presbyterian/Reformed

Trusting Faith

Contributed by Kristen Wright Zeller on Aug 26, 2014

Those who share Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior begin to become as magnets to those who share the same intimate relationship. While humans range from "new" to "elder," there is still a feeling of familiarity in those who gather together to worship in spirit and in truth. A sense somewhat of ...read more

Scripture: 2 Corinthians 5:7

Tags: Trust, Recognize God, Faith To Believe, Move Mountains

Denomination: Christian Church

Door Of Hope

Contributed by Sermon Central on Mar 24, 2015

There is a small metal door painted white in the side of a tiny mission church in Johannesburg South Africa. This door is changing lives. On it are painted the words “door of hope.” That is exactly what it is for various babies within the city. On average some forty to fifty babies were being ...read more

Scripture: John 10:7-10

Tags: Hope, Jesus The Door, Rescuing Babies

Not Much Help

Contributed by Richard Tow on Jul 18, 2017

In his Peanuts strip, Charles Schulz had an amazing talent for communicating truths like this in humorous, memorable ways. In one strip Charlie Brown rests his head in his hands while leaning on the wall and looking miserable. His friend, Lucy, approaches. “Discouraged again, eh, Charlie Brown?” ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 7:1-5

Tags: Criticism, Critical, Judging

Denomination: Charismatic