In Sermon Illustrations: "Knowing Jesus"

An Old Preacher Wants To Die Between Two Greedy ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Nov 16, 2009

An Old Preacher Wants To Die Between Two Greedy Men from His Congregation An old preacher was dying. He sent a message for his banker and his lawyer, both church members, to come to his home. When they arrived, they were ushered up to his bedroom. As they entered the room, the preacher held out his ...read more

Scripture: Ephesians 5:3-7

Tags: Greed

This Story Broke This Week From The United ...

Contributed by Ed Vasicek on Dec 14, 2009

This story broke this week from the United Kingdom: " LONDON (Reuters) – Gone are the days of shepherds in tea towels and tinsel-clad angels. Britain’s competitive parents are forking out on luxury pashmina shawls and velour dressing gowns to make their child the star of the annual nativity ...read more

Tags: Christmas

Denomination: Independent/Bible

Donald Grey Barnhouse: The Truck And Its ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Dec 14, 2009

Donald Grey Barnhouse: The Truck and Its Shadow Donald Grey Barnhouse, famous preacher of the past century wrote of driving his children to his wife, and their mother’s funeral; “I was driving with my children to my wife’s funeral where I was to preach the sermon. As we came into one small town ...read more

Scripture: Hebrews 2:14-15

Tags: Death

Legendary Baseball Player Jackie Robinson's ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Dec 30, 2009

Legendary Baseball Player Jackie Robinson’s Humble Act of Kindness to a Boy As a 7-year-old, Richard Bernstein admired Jackie Robinson’s athletic ability and courage as the first African-American man to play Major League baseball in the modern era. A few years later, while working at a small-town ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 20:26-28

Tags: Humility

Vance Havner On How To Reach The Masses  PRO

Contributed by Sermon Central on Feb 28, 2010

VANCE HAVNER ON HOW TO REACH THE MASSES Preacher Vance Havner used to tell this story: Years ago a convention met in Indianapolis to discuss "How to Reach the Masses." One day during that convention a young man stood on a box on a corner and began to preach. A crowd gathered, mostly workingmen ...read more

Scripture: Romans 10:14-15

Tags: Evangelism How To

The Love Of Christ Enables Believers  PRO

Contributed by Sermon Central on May 31, 2010

THE LOVE OF CHRIST ENABLES BELIEVERS I like the way one pastor put it years ago (1986) when he became overwhelmed with all the "ideals" he was collecting from church growth seminars and books. He said, "Quite frankly, I'm sick to death of ideals. I have so many ideals and I've been so frustrated ...read more

Scripture: 1 John 4:13-16

Tags: Growth In Christ

Adams, Coolidge And Roosevelt On The Bible  PRO

Contributed by Sermon Central on Jul 12, 2010

ADAMS, COOLIDGE AND ROOSEVELT ON THE BIBLE The late great 6th President of the United States of America, John Quincy Adams (1767 - 1848), once said, "The [Holy] Bible is the Book of all others to be read at all ages and in all conditions of human life...I speak as a man of the world to men [and, ...read more

Scripture: 2 Timothy 3:16-17

Tags: Bible Influence

The Key To The Spiritual Life

Contributed by Sermon Central on Apr 17, 2011

THE KEY TO THE SPIRITUAL LIFE At age 16, Madame Jeanne Guyon (1648-1717) was forced into an arranged marriage with an invalid 22 years older. She found her marriage to be one of utter humiliation. Her husband was often angry and melancholy. Her mother-in-law was a merciless critic. Even the maid ...read more

Scripture: 2 Corinthians 1:3-11

Tags: Trials And Difficulties

Rooted For Life  PRO

Contributed by Sermon Central on Aug 3, 2011

ROOTED FOR LIFE There was once a farmer who went to town to purchase seeds for his farm. As he was returning home, one of the squash seeds he had purchased fell from his pocket onto the ground. It happened that within a few feet was another seed of a different type. The place where the two seeds ...read more

Scripture: Colossians 2:1-7

Tags: Growth In Christ

God Picks The Unlovable Ones

Contributed by Sermon Central on Aug 15, 2011

GOD PICKS THE UNLOVABLE ONES Anne Lamott described a time when a fellow church member told about adopting her son through an organization called A.S.K. -- Adopt Special Kids. Part of the adoption process included filling out a questionnaire checking "yes" or "no" for one's willingness to adopt ...read more

Scripture: John 4:1-42

Tags: Adoption

The Signet Ring

Contributed by Antonio Silveira on Sep 4, 2011

THE SIGNET RING "...I will make you like my signet ring, for I have chosen you,' declares the LORD Almighty" (Haggai 2:23). We don't often hear about signet rings anymore; but in Bible times, they were very significant. f In other words, you knew something was from the king because it was marked ...read more

Scripture: Isaiah 40:31

Tags: Attitude General

Denomination: Baptist

Travelers Vs. Tourists

Contributed by Tim Hinrichs on Mar 29, 2012

TRAVELERS VS. TOURISTS Canadian Pastor Mark Buchanan in his book "Your Church is Too Safe" points out the radical difference between a traveler and a tourist. "A traveler literally means 'one who travails.' He labors, he suffers, endures. A traveler -- travailer - ...immerses himself in a culture, ...read more

Tags: Discipleship

Denomination: Lutheran

Erased

Contributed by Tim Hinrichs on Jul 25, 2012

ERASED When we lived in Poland, I walked through one of the cemeteries in one of the cities. And as I was looking at the stones I was surprised to see many of the smooth stones scarred with a roughness right in the middle. Later I found out that the names had been gouged out because they were ...read more

Tags: Sin Separates From God

Denomination: Lutheran

Match Made In Heaven

Contributed by Ken Henson on Oct 16, 2012

There is a story about a couple that went to heaven and in this life they loved each other, but from a distance. So when they got to heaven, they decided to get married. They said to Peter, "Pete, we want to get married." And Peter says, "You have got eternity, why don't you think of it for 50 ...read more

Tags: Heaven

Denomination: *other

Light In The Darkness

Contributed by David Simpson on Jan 15, 2013

LIGHT IN THE DARKNESS Have you ever been in on one of those guided tours of any of a number of caves around our country ... like Ruby Falls, or Carlsbad Caverns or another one. Our family went to the Carlsbad Caves in New Mexico years ago. And as they do in so many places, they’ll turn out the ...read more

Tags: Light, Outreach, Darkness

Denomination: Christian Church

Getting Too Far From The Source  PRO

Contributed by Choe Sergent on Apr 17, 2013

GETTING TOO FAR FROM THE SOURCE The county hired a new person to paint fresh yellow lines down the middle of all the county roads. The first day this man painted an astonishing 10 miles of road with new double yellow lines down the middle. This was a record! No one had ever painted ten miles of ...read more

Scripture: Ezekiel 47:1-23

Tags: Christian Disciplines

Denomination: Baptist

Going Outside The Wire  PRO

Contributed by Joseph Richard on Nov 10, 2013

"Going Outside The Wire" Scripture(s): Job. 1:8-12; 2:1-6 "Going outside the wire" is a term that has been used by military members who are deployed in a hostile and dangerous environment such as Iraq or Afghanistan. It means you leave the safety and protection of the Camp or Base and travel on ...read more

Tags: Faith

Denomination: Christian/Church Of Christ

Robes Of Righteousness

Contributed by Suresh Manoharan on Feb 28, 2015

Dr Ravi Zacharias came up with a true witty story of a New Zealand Shepherd who was happy on a Christmas morning, sad in the afternoon but once again happy in the evening. What exactly contributed to his mood swings? Here goes…in the morning two of his ewes’ “A” and “B” gave birth to two lambs “a” ...read more

Scripture: Isaiah 61:10

Tags: Grace, Gratitude, God's Righteousness, Grimy

Denomination: *other

It's In Your Hands

Contributed by Dr. Larry Petton on Apr 18, 2017

A young student in China decided to play a trick on his elderly teacher one day. He caught a small bird and cupped it in his hands behind his back. He then approached the sage with this plan in mind. He would ask the old man what he had in his hand. If he answered correctly, he would then ask ...read more

Scripture: Joshua 24:15

Tags: Eternity, Decision, Commitment, Salvation

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

The First And Second Great Revival

Contributed by Martin Spoelstra on May 24, 2018

The first recorded revival in Christian history happened from a prayer meeting that took place with a handful of disciples in the upper room (Acts 1:14). The result of that prayer meeting was that they were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them ...read more

Scripture: Acts 2:2-4, Acts 4:23-24

Tags: Revival, Prayer

Denomination: Presbyterian/Reformed