In Sermon Illustrations: "Lighten Up"

Renewal And New Life

Contributed by Perry Greene on Apr 1, 2013

RENEWAL AND NEW LIFE Henry David Thoreau, in his classic book, Walden, told of a powerful custom of the Mucclasse Indians. Once each year, they had a village clean up called a "busk." First they would make new clothes for themselves as well as furniture and cooking utensils. They would keep all ...read more

Tags: God Brings Hope

Denomination: Independent/Bible

The "Group-Think" Impulse  PRO

Contributed by Robert Joseph on Jun 1, 2013

THE "GROUP-THINK" IMPULSE Stand up for the truth. Romans 12:2 says, "...Do not be conformed to this world..." [NKJV] People today show a stong tendency to adjust their opinions to match those of the group. This goes a long way towards explaining why only a fraction of the educated population ...read more

Scripture: Romans 12:2

Tags: Homosexuality, Peer Pressure, Truth Absolute

Denomination: Pentecostal

Last Lap Of The Race

Contributed by Shawn Miller on Jul 4, 2014

May 29, 2011 it looked like it was destiny, the day Dale Earnhardt Jr. was rounding the last lap of the Charlotte Motor Speedway. You could just imagine the script that was being set; it was memorial day, he was being sponsored by the national guard, and He was going to finally win for the first ...read more

Scripture: 2 Timothy 4:7

Tags: Perseverance, Endurance, Finish The Race, Gas Tank

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

The Emporer's Clothes

Contributed by Isaac Butterworth on Dec 19, 2014

Do you remember the story of the emperor’s clothes? If I am recalling it right, someone persuaded the emperor to buy a suit of clothes that only people with the most exquisite taste in fashion could see. Of course, the emperor could not see the clothes, nor could anyone else – because the peddler ...read more

Scripture: Luke 2:10-11

Tags: Flattery, Self Deception

Denomination: Presbyterian/Reformed

Being Crucified With Christ

Contributed by Glynda Lomax on Aug 11, 2016

As I was typing up the many pages of notes I would use for my weekly podcast sermon, I needed to replace some letters in a name in part of my document with "M-E," so it would read correctly as I recorded. I was trying to use the ’Find & Replace’ command, but it looked a little ...read more

Scripture: Galatians 2:20

Tags: Sin, Flesh, Self, Crucified With Christ, Crucify Flesh, Crucified  (view more)  (view less)

Denomination: Charismatic

Car Keys

Contributed by Nickolas Kooi on Sep 7, 2017

“You shall not steal,” the Seventh Commandment. Not only do we not take what is not ours, we actually help to improve and protect the possessions and income of other people. I had this done to me a few weeks. I was finishing up something at home on a Friday, and Dawn came to pick me up in the ...read more

Tags: Theft, Seventh Commandment

Denomination: Lutheran

Loaves, Fish, And Children's Sermons

Contributed by Roberta Karchner on Nov 18, 2017

I love doing chidren's sermons, but it doesn't always work out quite the way I expect. So it went one morning when I spoke to the children about the loaves and fish. Just to make my point, I began by showing them five rolls and two fish sticks on a plate. I asked them how to share it so that all ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 14:13-21, Mark 6:31-44, Luke 9:12-17, John 6:1-14, Matthew 15:32-39, Mark 6:1-9  (view more)  (view less)

Tags: Miracles, Miracles Of Jesus, Loaves And Fish, Childrens Sermon

Denomination: Presbyterian/Reformed

The Influence Of A Pastor's Wife

Contributed by Garris Hudson on Aug 12, 2019

When William Booth, the founder of The Salvation Army, felt the call of the Lord to go into the streets of London and begin ministering to street people, he stood in a Methodist Conference meeting and requested permission from the presiding bishop to be released from his church to go into the ...read more

Scripture: Exodus 17:1-16

Tags: Pastor's Wives, Listening To God, Encouraging Others

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

Love

Contributed by Roy Fowler on Sep 19, 2020

A young teenage boy and girl were setting in a swing on her parents front porch way up in the mountains of North Carolina. They spent a lot of time there away from everyone just them. They would talk about all kinds of things. Things about when they had grown up. What would they do: go to college ...read more

Scripture: 1 John 4:9-10

Tags: Love For God, Love Like God

Denomination: Independent/Bible

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

Don't Come Home?

Contributed by Wade Martin Hughes, Sr on Feb 26, 2021

We have hope. We walk in blessed assurance that Jesus died for us. The 7 years coming on this world will be THE GREAT TRIBULATION. Current, prayed up and ready Christians have nothing to fear. God is in control. We have hope. As the world goes into a paradigm or pattern change the dead in Christ ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 24:21-22

Tags: Second Coming, Be Ready

Denomination: Assembly Of God

I Got You

Contributed by Glynda Lomax on Oct 2, 2021

I like to take my dogs places with me. They have their own seats in the back seat of my pickup. I have a small elderly dog named Bambi who has always had anxiety, I think from having to survive on her own when she lived in the streets as a tiny little thing with no one to feed or care for her. A ...read more

Scripture: Psalm 54:4, 1 Peter 5:7

Tags: Adversity, Assurance, Anxious

Denomination: Charismatic

One Time I Went To A My Favorite Mexican ...

Contributed by Dj Castilleja on Jun 11, 2007

One time I went to a my favorite Mexican restaurant. I just couldn’t wait to get there. My stomach was growling and my mouth was salivating. I sat down in my favorite booth and ordered my favorite Mexican dish. Minutes later they brought it out. Cheese enchiladas with sides of beans and rice. ...read more

Scripture: Revelation 3:15-16

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

There Was A Little Boy That Sat At His ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Jun 18, 2007

There was a little boy that sat at his grandmother’s feet while she was doing some needlepoint. Stitch by stitch, grandma pushed the needle down through the cloth and back up again. The little boy sat there and looked up in amazement trying to figure out what grandma was doing. “What is it ...read more

Tags: God's Provision

First Of All, What Is A Shepherd And What Does ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Jun 18, 2007

First of all, what is a shepherd and what does he do? I think that Dr. Andrew Bonar, a close friend and biographer of Robert Murray M’Cheyne, says it best when he had this to say to a friend of his about sheep and shepherds. Dr. Andrew Bonar told me how, in the Highlands of Scotland, a sheep would ...read more

Tags: People In Acts

Two Men Had An Argument. To Settle The Matter, ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Jun 18, 2007

Two men had an argument. To settle the matter, they went to a judge to let him decide. The plaintiff made his case. He was very eloquent and persuasive in his reasoning. When he finished, the judge nodded in approval and said, "That’s right, that’s right." On hearing this, the defendant jumped up ...read more

Tags: World Religions

Blame

Contributed by Sermon Central on Jun 18, 2007

Blame In a recent Peanuts cartoon, Lucy approaches Charlie Brown with a paper and pen and says, “Here, sign this. It absolves me from all blame”. Then she goes to Shroeder with the same paper and says, “Here, sign this. It absolves me from all blame”. Finally she comes to Linus: “Here, sign this. ...read more

Tags: God In The Hardships

Justin Armour

Contributed by Sermon Central on Jun 18, 2007

Justin Armour The September/October 1996 Issue of Campus Life ran a story about Justin Armour, wide receiver for the Buffalo Bills. Before he played his first pro game, Justin joined some teammates for a night on the town. They ended up by the docs, where one by one his teammates started ...read more

Tags: Temptation Resisting

January 6, 1850, Was Bitterly Cold In ...  PRO

Contributed by Sermon Central on Jun 18, 2007

January 6, 1850, was bitterly cold in Colchester, England, a hard-biting blizzard keeping most worshipers at home. At the Primitive Methodist Chapel on Artillery Street only about a dozen showed up. When it became apparent that even the pastor would not arrive, a man rose and spoke from Isaiah ...read more

Tags: Doing God's Will

Several Years Ago An Eastern Paper Reported This ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Jun 18, 2007

Several years ago an eastern paper reported this story: One evening a woman was driving home when she noticed a huge truck behind her that was driving uncomfortably close. She stepped on the gas to gain some distance from the truck, but when she sped up, the truck did too. The faster she drive, the ...read more

Tags: Joy