In Sermon Illustrations: "Lifted Up"

What Kind Of Soil Will The Word Find?  PRO

Contributed by Sermon Central on Sep 12, 2004

WHAT KIND OF SOIL WILL THE WORD FIND? The following story speaks about the kind of soil the Word of God might find. Which woman would you be? Two women were hired by a man to make custom-tailored dresses for his clothing store. They were told that not only would they be paid a flat hourly wage ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 13:1-23

Tags: Parable Sower And Seed

Frederick Buechner Was Twenty-Seven And Living ...

Contributed by Rodney Buchanan on Dec 19, 2004

Frederick Buechner was twenty-seven and living alone in New York trying to start a novel. He tells of going to hear a famous preacher in New York on impulse. He was not a churchgoer, but the church was right next door. It was around the time that Elizabeth II was crowned at Westminster Abbey ...read more

Tags: Christmas Advent

Denomination: Methodist

A Look At The Parade  PRO

Contributed by Sermon Central on Mar 18, 2005

A LOOK AT THE PARADE The parade route begins near the twin towns of Bethpage and Bethany, less than two miles from Jerusalem and winds into the Holy City. The Grand Marshal is an unlikely hero – a rustic from a blue-collar town up north, the son of a woodworker. In keeping with his “common man” ...read more

Scripture: Mark 11:1-11

Tags: Easter Palm Sunday

Dragging My Sin  PRO

Contributed by Sermon Central on Jul 6, 2005

DRAGGING MY SIN In this award winning film called “The Mission,” Robert DeNiro plays a mercenary who has taken asylum in the local church after killing his brother in a fit of jealous rage. He eventually leaves the church and heads to a mission post located above the waterfalls in a South American ...read more

Scripture: Psalm 32:1-11, Psalm 32:1-11, Mark 5:1-19, Mark 5:1-19

Tags: Forgiveness General, Forgiveness For Others, Character

In The Movie Saving Private Ryan, A Group Of Army ...

Contributed by Paul Wallace on Feb 22, 2007

In the movie Saving Private Ryan, a group of Army Rangers receive a mission to go deep into enemy territory to save Private Ryan. They hit skirmish after skirmish, and some of them are killed along the way. They finally get to where Private Ryan is holed up, and they say, “Come with us. We’re here ...read more

Denomination: Wesleyan

Defense Lawyer's Final Trick Back ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Nov 19, 2009

Defense Lawyer’s Final Trick Back Fires A defendant was on trial for murder in Oklahoma. There was strong evidence indicating guilt, but there was no body. In the defense’s closing statement the lawyer, knowing that his client would probably be convicted, resorted to a trick. "Ladies and gentlemen ...read more

Tags: Justice

You Have To Love Him Into It

Contributed by Sermon Central on Jan 1, 2010

"You Have To Love Him Into It"--A Stock Assistant Learns a Big Lesson A stock assistant was working at a grocery store on Christmas Eve. One of the things he was responsible for was the display in one of the aisles which was a pyramid of canned products. He had to rebuild this display many times ...read more

Scripture: Luke 2:8-20

Tags: Unconditional Love

And Now, Am Watching Larry King Live! Where There ...

Contributed by Pastor Gbenga Shadare on May 6, 2010

And now, am watching Larry King Live! Where there is an interesting interview with Mrs Cindi Broaddus, the sister to Robin McGraw, Dr Phil McGraw’s wife. She was attacked five years ago by an unknown, hateful bigot who sprayed her with Sulfuric Acid from a highway overpass in the quiet countryside ...read more

Tags: Sharing Your Faith

Denomination: Independent/Bible

Beer Commercials And Community

Contributed by Andrew Chan on Jun 28, 2010

BEER COMMERCIALS AND COMMUNITY Beer commercials do not really sell beer. Have you seen how they really sell "living it up with others" or what Christians call "community"? Do they not sell good looking people partying with other good looking people? Even the losers in those commercials all of a ...read more

Tags: Friendship General

Denomination: Evangelical Free

Who Is The Shepherd?

Contributed by Guy Mcgraw on Apr 6, 2011

WHO IS THE SHEPHERD? Keith Miller writes, "Years ago, when our daughters were very young, we'd drop them off at our church's children's chapel on Sundays before the eleven o'clock service. One Sunday, just as I was about to open the door to the small chapel, the minister came rushing up. He said ...read more

Scripture: Romans 8:14-17

Tags: Arrogance

What I Don't Want To Be

Contributed by Sermon Central on Aug 1, 2011

WHAT I DON'T WANT TO BE I recall a conversation I once had with a precocious little boy we once had in the church I pastored for 10 years in Wiesbaden. I asked him what he wanted to be when he grew up. "Well," he replied, "I don't want to be a fireman." I'd never had a kid tell me what he was ...read more

Scripture: Psalm 37:4-5

Tags: Christian Values

My Life Is In His Hands

Contributed by Guy Mcgraw on Dec 12, 2011

MY LIFE IS IN HIS HANDS Chuck Colson tells about going to Salem, OR. & preaching to prisoners there. Kathy Trocoli went with him, sang the song, "My Life is in His Hands." After the service was over, one of the inmates came up to Kathy and said, "I really want to thank you for singing that song. ...read more

Tags: God Brings Hope

Light In The Darkness  PRO

Contributed by Steven Angus on May 20, 2013

LIGHT IN THE DARKNESS Some of you may be familiar with the name Catherine Marshall. She was a wonderful Christian author who wrote such classics as Christy, which became a television series. There was an occasion in her life when she felt as if the flame of God’s love had gone out. It started ...read more

Scripture: Psalm 23:4, Psalm 22:1-31

Tags: God In The Hardships

Denomination: United Methodist

A Pastor's Dream Of His Own Worship Service  PRO

Contributed by Dr. Larry Petton on Jan 28, 2014

A PASTOR’S DREAM OF HIS OWN WORSHIP SERVICE The story is told of a pastor of a large church who had a dream one night that really opened his eyes. He dreamed that he could see his own church worship service on Sunday morning. But there was something very strange happening. The choir was ...read more

Scripture: 1 Samuel 16:7

Tags: Church, Worship, Devotion, Intimacy With God

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

What Dawn Of The Planet Of The Apes And Lilo And Stitch Tell Us

Contributed by Fr Mund Cargill Thompson on Apr 10, 2015

Two films. The 2014 film “Dawn of the Planet of the Apes” and the earlier “Lilo and stitch”. In the Dawn of the Planet of the apes, small groups of human beings and intelligent apes have both survived a deadly plague. A group of humans trying to restart a hydro electric generator stumble across ...read more

Scripture: 1 John 4:18

Tags: Fear, Overcoming Anxiety, Non-Anxious Presence, Ohana

Denomination: Anglican

Commitment

Contributed by Tim Smith on May 28, 2015

Dave Hood tells the story of training to run a 5K run. Every time his wife and he would go running on their favorite trail, they’d walk a little faster, and with a little more gusto. One day, a half mile in and a young lady came at them sprinting towards them. They jumped out of the way so she ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 7:13-14

Tags: Commitment, Spiritual Growth, Running The Race

Denomination: Methodist

Can You See It?

Contributed by John Bright on Feb 24, 2021

We are surrounded by things we can’t see, so are they real? It was really windy here this week. Did you see it? Of course not! We can’t see the wind. I saw the trees moving. I heard the wind chimes on the porch. I felt it on my skin. I never saw it… so is the wind real? Last week, during ...read more

Scripture: Luke 4:35

Tags: Physics, Light, Demons, Wind, Invisible, Gravity  (view more)  (view less)

Denomination: Methodist

Being Involved In The Church Will Require You To ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Jun 18, 2007

Being involved in the church will require you to love people who are difficult to love. Being involved in the church may require you to work with people who are difficult to work with. Being involved in the church, may cost you some of our friends, who don’t see the importance of being actively in ...read more

Tags: Evangelism How To

Back When The Telegraph Was The Fastest Method Of ...  PRO

Contributed by Kent Kessler on Aug 30, 2007

Back when the telegraph was the fastest method of long-distance communication, a young man applied for a job as a Morse Code operator. Answering an ad in the newspaper, he went to the office address that was listed. When he arrived, he entered a large, busy office filled with noise and clatter, ...read more

Denomination: Methodist

One Day In The 1880's A Little Lady Lived In A ...  PRO

Contributed by Wade Martin Hughes, Sr on Aug 31, 2007

One day in the 1880’s a little lady lived in a little house. There had been little rain that summer. This morning there was a little wind blowing. The little lady woke up one ordinary morning, it was still dark. So the little lady picked up her little lamp with a little oil in it. She picked up a ...read more

Denomination: Assembly Of God