In Sermon Illustrations: "Long Sermon"

Praying For Your Prosperity

Contributed by Sermon Central on Aug 18, 2011

PRAYING FOR YOUR PROSPERITY One day a man was walking with this pastor. He knew this pastor was living in horrible poverty in Ethiopia, and he made the mistake of showing a little bit of what he thought would be gracious sympathy. He told the Ethiopian pastor, brother, we pray for you in your ...read more

Scripture: Proverbs 30:7-9

Tags: Poverty

Saving A Stranger

Contributed by Sermon Central on Aug 23, 2011

SAVING A STRANGER In his book Open the Door Wide to Happy Living, T. Huffman Harris told of a young man named Eddie who became tired of life and decided to leap from a bridge into a turbulent river. Jim, a total stranger, saw Eddie being swept downstream and plunged into the water in an effort to ...read more

Scripture: James 1:2-4

Tags: Trials And Difficulties

Cruel Christians

Contributed by Sermon Central on Aug 29, 2011

CRUEL CHRISTIANS During the Spanish conquest of Mexico under Hernando Cortez in the early 1500s, a resistance leader named Hatney was captured after a fierce battle and sentenced to be burned alive. After tying him to the stake, his captors urged him to become a Christian so that at his death his ...read more

Scripture: Titus 2:1-10

Tags: Christian Witness

The Reverend And The Rose

Contributed by Larry Wilson on Aug 30, 2011

THE REVEREND AND THE ROSE Rev. Jerry Parnell, pastor of the Canaan Baptist Church of Anderson, South Carolina, will often conclude one of his sermons with an illustration using a live rose. He tells how that God gives us a fresh flowing in life, but that over the course of time we make bad ...read more

Tags: Grace

Denomination: Baptist

Trespasses And Debts  PRO

Contributed by Sermon Central on Aug 31, 2011

TRESPASSES AND DEBTS The story is told of two congregations that were located only a few blocks from each other in a small community. They thought it might be better if they would merge and become one united, larger, and more effective body rather than two struggling churches. Good idea ... but ...read more

Scripture: Romans 15:1-7

Tags: Divisions

Silent Cal

Contributed by Sermon Central on May 7, 2012

"SILENT CAL" President Calvin Coolidge was a man of few words, and the words he spoke were often blunt. A female journalist once told him, "Mr. President I made a $100 bet with another journalist that I could get you to say more than three words. Would you care to comment?" Calvin Coolidge smiled ...read more

Scripture: James 1:2-4

Tags: God In The Hardships

Steering Your Ship In A Storm

Contributed by Sermon Central on May 7, 2012

STEERING YOUR SHIP IN A STORM An old seaman once said, "During the fiercest storms the only way a ship can survive is to keep its nose pointed straight into the wind. If you try to turn to the left or the right, the ship may capsize. If you try to run from the wind, the waves can surge over the ...read more

Scripture: Hebrews 12:1-13

Tags: Trials And Difficulties

Picking And Choosing  PRO

Contributed by Sermon Central on May 28, 2012

PICKING AND CHOOSING An extremely nervous patient came to his dentist for root canal surgery. He was brought into the examining room and made comfortable in the reclining dental chair. The dentist then injected a numbing agent around the patient's tooth, and left the room for a few minutes while ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 5:17-30

Tags: Bible Truth

Eastern Religious Beliefs About Hell

Contributed by Sermon Central on May 28, 2012

EASTERN RELIGIOUS BELIEFS ABOUT HELL Buddhists believe in 7 "hot hells" which await the evildoers - each flanked by 4 torture chambers that include a fiery pit and a quagmire. Tibetan Buddhists also speak of eight cold hells and certain "Frontier" hells for those guilty of lesser sins. Hindus ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 18:1-9

Tags: Hell

The Boy And D. L. Moody

Contributed by Sermon Central on Jun 4, 2012

THE BOY AND D. L. MOODY Many years ago, D. L. Moody was going to speak at a church. A nine year old boy heard about the engagement and went to hear Moody. He got there early and went in the Church. A man escorted him immediately out. "This is for adults. Besides, you are not properly dressed and ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 19:13-15

Tags: Compassion

Josh Mcdowell On Why People Refuse To ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Aug 4, 2012

JOSH MCDOWELL ON WHY PEOPLE REFUSE TO BELIEVE Josh McDowell writes, “People refuse to believe that which they don’t want to believe, in spite of evidence. When explorers first went to Australia they found a mammal which laid eggs; spent some time in water, some on land; had a broad, flat tail, ...read more

Scripture: Mark 16:14

Tags: Unbelief

When To Let Your Light ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Aug 6, 2012

WHEN TO LET YOUR LIGHT SHINE A young man who had heard the Gospel accepted Christ. A little while after this, a Christian teacher asked him: "What have you done for Christ since you believed?" He replied: "Oh, I’m a learner." "Well," said the questioner, "when you light a candle do you light it ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 5:14-16

Tags: Christian Witness

The Most Important Discovery  PRO

Contributed by Sermon Central on Aug 14, 2012

THE MOST IMPORTANT DISCOVERY Dr. Henry "Fritz" Schaefer earned his Ph.D in chemical physics from Stanford University. For 18 years, he served as professor of chemistry at the University of California, Berkeley. He is the author of more than 800 scientific publications and during the period of ...read more

Scripture: 1 Corinthians 1:18-31

Tags: Jesus Christ

Humility Under Oath

Contributed by Sermon Central on Aug 15, 2012

HUMILITY UNDER OATH "Humility is something we should constantly pray for, yet never thank God that we have." Henry Augustus Rowland, professor of physics at Johns Hopkins University, was once called as an expert witness at a trial. During cross-examination a lawyer demanded, "What are your ...read more

Scripture: 1 Peter 5:5-7

Tags: Humility

Why Say No When Everybody Else Is Saying ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Oct 9, 2012

WHY SAY NO WHEN EVERYBODY ELSE IS SAYING YES? Writing in the aftermath of World War II, Elton Trueblood looked back to those few brave German Christians who had the courage to oppose Adolph Hitler. When so many others went along or simply kept silent, a few, a courageous handful, would not go along ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 22:36-38

Tags: Love For God

The Use Of Wine

Contributed by Ron Freeman, Evangelist on Dec 22, 2018

An aged brother told me jokingly one time regarding the difference between the elders and deacon’s use of wine, in 1 Timothy 3:3. He said Brother Freeman: “It’s simple. The deacon can drink, ‘a little wine’; however, the elder can only sip it, swish it around in his mouth, and then spit it out.” He ...read more

Scripture: 1 Timothy 3:3, Titus 1:5-9, 1 Peter 5:1-4

Tags: Preacher, Drink, Deacon, Member, Wine, Elder  (view more)  (view less)

Denomination: Christian/Church Of Christ

And We Can't Even Preach Without A Sound System Today???

Contributed by Garris Hudson on Feb 19, 2022

Peter's sermon to such a large crowd of Jews reminds us of stories of how God's Spirit used George Whitefield in the 1700's as an instrument to bring about the First Great Awakening in America. John MacArthur says that "Whitfield preached in Bristol to 20,000 people regularly, ...read more

Tags: Preaching, Revival, Word Of God, Whitfield, Simon Peter, Power Of God's Word, Evangelism, Pentecost, Gospel, Missions  (view more)  (view less)

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

The 10-10-80 Rule

Contributed by Sermon Central on Jun 20, 2022

Sir John Templeton is a multi-billionaire, one of the wealthiest men in the world. He’s a dedicated Christian in his nineties. He invented the idea of trust funds in investments and started the Templeton Fund. Someone asked him, “How did you make such enormous wealth?” He said, “From the very start ...read more

Scripture: Malachi 3:10

Tags: Offering, Giving, Tithes

Appetite Killers

Contributed by Richard Tow on Mar 27, 2023

If we want our appetite for righteousness to grow, we must avoid appetite killers. This is true in the natural. Every parent knows that kids who eat too much candy will not have an appetite for the healthy food at dinner time. The same is true with our spiritual appetite. If we snack on the things ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 5:6, Colossians 3:2, Ephesians 4:24, Psalm 81:10, Psalm 42:1-2, Luke 6:21  (view more)  (view less)

Tags: Worldliness, Entertainment, Seek, Hunger, Desire, Righteousness  (view more)  (view less)

Denomination: Charismatic

Fooled By Our Emotions

Contributed by Alison Bucklin on Jun 17, 2023

One of the most difficult things, all Christians must surely admit, is to differentiate between a truly spiritual fervor and a carnal, animal zeal and enthusiasm. Natural animal spirits and temperament may very well make one fervent and zealous.... There is nothing of which a preacher needs to be ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 7:21, Jeremiah 17:9

Tags: Spirituality, Enthusiasm, Martin Lloyd Jones

Denomination: Presbyterian/Reformed