In Sermon Illustrations: "Last Things"

I Owe My Life Twice

Contributed by Gordon Curley on Dec 17, 2011

I OWE MY LIFE TWICE A wealthy English family once invited friends to spend some time at their beautiful estate. The happy occasion was almost plunged into a terrible tragedy on the first day. Because the children went swimming, and one of them got into deep water and started drowning. ...read more

Tags: Salvation

Denomination: Brethren

R. A. Torrey--Praying, Believing, And Not ...

Contributed by Mark Stepherson on Jan 9, 2012

R. A. TORREY--PRAYING, BELIEVING, AND NOT DOUBTING After R. A. Torrey had been a Christian for more than forty years, someone asked him to visit a family and pray for one member who was dying with typhoid fever. God revealed to Torrey that the man would live. He told them that when he arrived. ...read more

Scripture: Mark 11:22-24

Tags: Faith, Prayer, Prayer Of Faith

Denomination: Baptist

Mother Teresa's Feet

Contributed by Josh Hunt on Feb 10, 2012

MOTHER TERESA'S FEET Shane Claiborne, who spent a summer in the slums of Calcutta with Mother Teresa, wrote the following about one of his experiences: People often ask me what Mother Teresa was like. Did she glow in the dark or have a halo? She was short, wrinkled, and precious, maybe even a ...read more

Scripture: Luke 10:25-37

Tags: Compassion

Denomination: Baptist

Where Is The Church When It Hurts?

Contributed by Sermon Central on May 13, 2012

WHERE IS THE CHURCH WHEN IT HURTS? Where is God in the midst of the storm? One author answered that question with this incident: "In Washington and Chicago, as I talked about the special edition of Where Is God When It Hurts?, inevitably the interviewer would turn the question back on me. 'Well, ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 14:22-36

Tags: Comfort

Donald Trump's Thoughts About Death

Contributed by Sermon Central on Jun 4, 2012

DONALD TRUMP'S THOUGHTS ABOUT DEATH Billionaire Donald Trump was asked one time, "What about death?" the writer asked. "Don't you worry about dying?" Trump said, "No. I'm fatalistic and I protect myself as well as anybody can. I prepare for things." This time, however, as Trump started walking up ...read more

Scripture: Luke 18:18-30

Tags: Death

A Tragic Dream Fulfilled--The Case Of Robert ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Aug 1, 2012

A TRAGIC DREAM FULFILLED--THE CASE OF ROBERT BURNS Robert Burns, the famous poet, occasionally had times of serious reflection of the state of his soul. He recorded one of those times when he compared himself to the review of his past life. He wrote that he was like a lonely man walking amidst the ...read more

Scripture: Luke 8:4-15

Tags: Parable Sower And Seed

The Impacts Of Trust And Distrust

Contributed by Sermon Central on Aug 10, 2012

THE IMPACTS OF TRUST AND DISTRUST One of the serious problems of human nature is our natural tendency to be distrusting and suspicious. Barbara Misztal, in her book, Trust in Modern Societies: The Search for the Bases of Social Order, mentions three things that trust does in the life of a person. ...read more

Scripture: Psalm 9:7-10

Tags: Trust

Do Not Slander. What Is Slandering? It Can Be ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Aug 26, 2012

Do not slander. What is slandering? It can be called many things such as: backstabbing, mud-slinging, bad-mouthing, and it could also include condemning someone. Whatever it is, it doesn’t sound good from the pages of scripture. ILL.- William Cowper (English poet) said, “He that slanders me paints ...read more

Scripture: Proverbs 10:18

Tags: Words

Mark Of The Beast

Contributed by Bruce Ball on Oct 9, 2012

In verse 15, it tells us what will happen to those people who do not accept the Evil One’s mark: “15 … and all who refuse to worship the image or take his mark will be killed.” I saw recently where Motorola has developed an all inclusive data chip that is no larger than a grain of rice. It ...read more

Tags: Second Coming

Denomination: *other

The Truth Of The Book  PRO

Contributed by Michael Mccartney on Oct 23, 2012

THE TRUTH OF THE BOOK John Ortberg states "It’s a strange thing: the book has never been so accessible. According to Guinness Book of Records, L. Ron Hubbard’s writings of scientology have been translated into 65 languages; the Koran is supposed to be read in Arabic so it hasn’t been translated ...read more

Scripture: John 3:16-17, 1 Corinthians 13:1-7

Tags: Bible Truth

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

The Umpire's Revenge  PRO

Contributed by Josh Hunt on Mar 6, 2013

THE UMPIRE'S REVENGE Forgiveness begins when we give up the quest to get even. This is difficult, because getting even is the natural obsession of the wounded soul. Stories about getting even always capture our attention. It wouldn’t surprise me if revenge is the theme of as many as half the ...read more

Scripture: Ephesians 4:32

Tags: Forgiveness General

Denomination: Baptist

Ravi Zacharias: Symbols Of The Pursuit Of God  PRO

Contributed by Lalachan Abraham on Mar 11, 2013

RAVI ZACHARIAS: SYMBOLS OF THE PURSUIT OF GOD 2 Corinthians 4:6 “For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of God’s glory displayed in the face of Christ." Ravi Zacharias said: "The pursuit of the Hebrews was ...read more

Scripture: 2 Corinthians 4:6

Tags: Illusion, Truth Absolute

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

Love  PRO

Contributed by Roger Whipp on Dec 31, 2014

Love is one of the most powerful emotions we have. The actress Joan Crawford once said “Love is a fire but whether it warms your heart or burns your house down, you can never tell!” Love can motivate, give pleasure, hurt even destroy. It can make us do bold, even stupid things. During the 17th ...read more

Scripture: John 14:15-31, Romans 5:8

Tags: Love, Holy Spirit, Love And Obedience

Denomination: *other

Rain Man Doesn't Understand Inheritance

Contributed by David Ward on Feb 25, 2016

"Rain Man" was the top moneymaking film of 1988, and also won the Oscar for Best Picture. It tells the story of an abrasive and selfish wheeler-dealer named Charlie (Tom Cruise), who discovers that his estranged father has died and bequeathed all of his multimillion-dollar estate to his other son, ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 6:19-34

Tags: Priorities, Wealth And Riches, Eternal Inheritance, Treasures In Heaven

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

Encouragement

Contributed by Don Berry-Graham on Mar 1, 2016

In August 1995, the church I pastored made the decision to do a major renovation on our thirty-five-year-old sanctuary. The first step was to put together a crew of people to do internal demolition. Around forty people showed up to take care of this task. Dust was everywhere as we ripped up ...read more

Tags: Encouragement, Encourage, Gifts Encouragement

Denomination: Baptist

Where Will You Be?

Contributed by Dr. Ronald Shultz on Sep 23, 2019

Where Will You Be? When the clouds burst open where will you be? Will there be joy in your heart when Jesus you see? Will you be running to hide from His face Or standing there with your head hanging in disgrace/ It surely is coming and the time is near at hand When Jesus comes to take his ...read more

Scripture: Romans 14:10, 2 Corinthians 5:10, Revelation 20:12

Tags: Death, Rapture, Great White Throne, Bema

Denomination: Baptist

Justification, Propitiation, And The Very Early Church

Contributed by Ed Vasicek on Sep 30, 2019

The early church understood propitiation, the atoning work of Jesus, and justification by faith, not works: from The Epistle of Mathetes to Diognetus, Chapter IX, about 200 A.D. But when our wickedness had reached its height, and it had been clearly shown that its reward, punishment and death, ...read more

Scripture: Romans 3:21-31, Romans 5:8, 1 Corinthians 15:1-5

Tags: Reformers, Penal Atonement, Cross, Justification, Propitiation, Reformation, Grace Alone, Faith Alone, Atonement  (view more)  (view less)

Denomination: Independent/Bible

Hey! Get Your Own!

Contributed by Jonathan Spurlock on Nov 19, 2019

A few years ago, my wife and I were on vacation, traveling through a Midwestern state. Supper time was getting near, so we thought we’d get a drive-through meal. She wanted an ice cream cone so, I ordered one for her. The young lady working at the drive through window gave me the cone, and I handed ...read more

Scripture: Philippians 4:19

Tags: Love, Fellowship, Blessings

Denomination: Baptist

No One Thanked Him.

Contributed by Garris Hudson on Dec 2, 2020

Back in 1860, an excursion boat on Lake Michigan collided with a freighter and began to sink less than a mile from the shore. Hundreds of passengers began screaming as they leaped into the icy water. Edward Spencer was a student at a nearby seminary, and he ran down to the beach to see what he ...read more

Scripture: 1 Thessalonians 5:18

Tags: Thanksgiving, Gratitude, Selfishness, Depression

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

The Witness Barber

Contributed by John Bright on Jan 17, 2021

There was a barber that thought that he should share his faith with his customers more than he had been doing lately. So the next morning when the sun came up and the barber got up out of bed he said, "Today I am going to witness to the first man that walks through my door." Soon after ...read more

Scripture: 1 Peter 3:15

Tags: Evangelism, Witness

Denomination: Methodist