In Sermon Illustrations: "Look"

Whatever Happened To Reality

Contributed by James Snyder on May 18, 2024

During my health hiatus I did things I never had time to do before. One of them was to check out some Reality TV Shows. I never had much interest in these TV shows, but I thought now would be a good time to check some of them just to see what their idea of reality really was. Of course, my health ...read more

Scripture: Philippians 4:8

Tags: Reality, Tv Shows

Denomination: Christian Missionary Alliance

How Can I Get My Sneeze Back?

Contributed by James Snyder on Sep 28, 2024

I've had a lot of health issues during this past year, and now that I seem to be over them, something else has taken their place. I have had a sneezing fit for the past two weeks that I've never experienced before. Every time I sneeze, it is in triplets. I don't know why I have to ...read more

Scripture: Romans 8:28

Tags: Health, Sneezing

Denomination: Christian Missionary Alliance

Nothing Is More Satisfying Than Doing Nothing

Contributed by James Snyder on Oct 26, 2024

We were facing a very severe hurricane, and everything was being shut down. The hurricane was to hit us on a Wednesday night. Because we were in the center of where that hurricane was supposed to come, we were not allowed to get out and drive on the streets. I knew that I had to finish all my work ...read more

Scripture: Colossians 3:2

Tags: Hurricane, Planning

Denomination: Christian Missionary Alliance

How Much Sleep Is Too Much?

Contributed by James Snyder on Apr 19, 2025

I have noticed recently that sleeping has become a very important part of my life. This just snuck up on me overnight. When I was young and living at home, I tried to come up with excuses and reasons for not going to bed at night. My parents had an early bedtime schedule that they enforced rather ...read more

Scripture: Psalm 127:2

Tags: Sleep, Energy

Denomination: Christian Missionary Alliance

[202]. A Message From A Poem – Pictures From A Counting Song - (Part 1)

Contributed by Ron Ferguson on Sep 16, 2025

[202]. A MESSAGE FROM A POEM – PICTURES FROM A COUNTING SONG - (PART 1) THIS IS PART 1 OF THE POEM WITH PART 2 TO FOLLOW IN THE NEXT POSTING. “ONE, TWO, BUCKLE MY SHOE” OR “1, 2, BUCKLE MY SHOE” is a counting song dating back to late 18th century in the USA. It was heard for the first time ...read more

Scripture: Exodus 3:2-5

Tags: Nursery Rhyme, Christian Poems, Wrentham Massachusetts, Christian Application, Counting  (view more)  (view less)

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

[211]. A Message From A Poem – Panoramic View From The Pinnacle (Part 1)

Contributed by Ron Ferguson on Sep 24, 2025

[211]. A MESSAGE FROM A POEM – PANORAMIC VIEW FROM THE PINNACLE (PART 1) NOTE: When I went to post this it could not be sent because it said the whole thing was too long. Therefore I had to split it into two Parts.. This is Part 1 and Part 2 will follow after this. This is a longer poem. ...read more

Scripture: 2 Chronicles 16:9, Hebrews 4:13

Tags: Reprobates, Christian Poems, Pinnacle Of A Rock, Tech Companies, Faith Way, World System, Wickedness, Delusion, Reprobate, Humanism, Allegory, Images  (view more)  (view less)

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

If She Cannot Fix It, It’s Not Broken

Contributed by James Snyder on Oct 4, 2025

Life has its many ups and downs. There are some weeks when there are more downs than ups. But if I didn’t have a down, I probably wouldn’t appreciate an up. This past week was one of those down weeks. One day, we lost our electricity for maybe six hours, my printer died on me and some scammer ...read more

Scripture: Psalm 147:3

Tags: Frustration, Fixing

Denomination: Christian Missionary Alliance

Truth Is As The Truther Says

Contributed by James Snyder on Nov 8, 2025

One thing I have learned in life is that for many people, truth is a relative thing. The truth is what they say it is, and you can't convince them otherwise. I wrestle with telling the truth all the time. If you tell the truth, you do not have to remember what happened. But when you lie, you ...read more

Scripture: John 8:31-32

Tags: Family, Truth, Lies

Denomination: Christian Missionary Alliance

Chuck Swindoll In His Book, Improving Your Serve, ...  PRO

Contributed by Sermon Central on Feb 1, 2001

Chuck Swindoll in his book, Improving Your Serve, gives a memorable illustration: Let’s pretend that you work for me. In fact, you are my executive assistant in a company that is growing rapidly. I’m the owner and I’m interested in expanding overseas. To pull this off, I make plans to travel ...read more

Scripture: Genesis 3:1-13

Tags: Call Of The Disciples, Discipleship, Faith

One Of My Favorite Columns By Erma Bombeck Tells ...  PRO

Contributed by Melvin Newland on Apr 22, 2001

One of my favorite columns by Erma Bombeck tells of God in the act of creating mothers. She says that on the day God created mothers He had already worked long overtime. And an angel said to Him, "Lord, you sure are spending a lot of time on this one." The Lord turned & said, "Have you read ...read more

Scripture: 2 Samuel 21:8-14

Tags: Communication General, Commitment, Hypocrite, Pride, Sacrifice  (view more)  (view less)

Denomination: Christian/Church Of Christ

Let’s Play ‘let’s ...  PRO

Contributed by Darren Ethier on Jul 11, 2001

Let’s play ‘Let’s Pretend’. Let’s pretend that you work for me. In fact, you are my executive assistant in a company that is growing rapidly. I’m the owner and I’m interested in expanding overseas. To pull this off, I make plans to travel abroad and stay there until a new branch office gets ...read more

Scripture: Jeremiah 26:1-16, James 2:11

Tags: Discipleship, Faith, Bible Study

Denomination: Pentecostal

The Richest Man's Death  PRO

Contributed by Melvin Newland on Jan 24, 2001

THE RICHEST MAN’S DEATH Carl was a very rich man who owned a great estate. One of his favorite pastimes was riding horseback through his valley, looking at everything he owned & congratulating himself on his great wealth. One day, as Carl was riding along, he came up over a hill & in the ...read more

Tags: Joy, Death Nearness, Death

Denomination: Christian/Church Of Christ

There Was A Family With One Little Daughter. ...  PRO

Contributed by Darren Ethier on May 9, 2002

There was a family with one little daughter. Mother and daughter were very faithful in church and Sunday School attendance…The father wasn’t interested and he made it plain it was okay for his wife and daughter, but not for him. He worked in a steel mill, a huge hulk of a man who had been a ...read more

Scripture: Acts 8:36-39, James 1:12

Tags: Assurance Of Salvation, Commitment To Christ

Denomination: Pentecostal

Erma Bombeck Wrote This Essay Entitled, When God ...  PRO

Contributed by Aaron Burgess on Sep 26, 2002

Erma Bombeck wrote this essay entitled, When God Created Women. “By the time the Lord made mothers, he was into his sixth day of working overtime. An Angel appeared and said "Why are you spending so much time on this one?" And the Lord answered and said, "Have you seen the spec sheet on her? She ...read more

Tags: Mother's Day, Parenting, Love, Share

Denomination: Independent/Bible

There Was Once A Bridge Which Spanned A Large ...  PRO

Contributed by John Cuddeford on Oct 18, 2002

There was once a bridge which spanned a large river. During most of the day the bridge sat with its length running up and down the river paralleled with the banks, allowing ships to pass thru freely on both sides of the bridge. But at certain times each day, a train would come along and the bridge ...read more

Tags: Forgiveness In Jesus, God's Sovereign Will

Denomination: *other

Dennis Said, "I Don't Think I've Ever ...  PRO

Contributed by Melvin Newland on Dec 22, 2000

ILL. Dennis said, "I don’t think I’ve ever experienced greater culture shock than what I experienced at the very first Thai village we visited. This was a village which the missionaries had not yet reached with the good news of Jesus. The people were still living with all their superstitions & ...read more

Scripture: Luke 6:20-26

Tags: God Brings Hope

Denomination: Christian/Church Of Christ

No Mundane Stuff Allowed! ...  PRO

Contributed by Mark Brunner on Jun 8, 2005

No Mundane Stuff Allowed! (06.10.05--Family--Song. 4:1-7) It has been said that one of the major problems with families is that they start out wrong from the start. From the moment the marriage license is signed spouses are inclined to view the privilege as more of a hunting license than a ...read more

Scripture: Song of Songs 4:1-4

Tags: Children, Parenting

Denomination: Lutheran

Coil And Spring! (11.07.05--Christian ...

Contributed by Mark Brunner on Nov 3, 2005

Coil And Spring! (11.07.05--Christian Soldiers!--Ephesians 6:10-17) As I walked with her this morning in the dim morning light, she trotted obediently at my side. There was no pulling on her part. She simply walked obediently at heel anticipating each new smell that wafted through the nearby ...read more

Scripture: Ephesians 6:10-17

Tags: Leadership General

Denomination: Lutheran

Philip Yancey Shared This In Rumours Of Another ...  PRO

Contributed by Christian Cheong on Dec 10, 2005

Philip Yancey shared this in Rumours of Another World, pp.154-55: Living in Colorado, I climb mountains. Colorado has 54 mountains rising above 14,000 ft and every summer I climb some of them. On a summer weekend in the mountains, I see casual hikers who have no idea what they are doing. In ...read more

Tags: Evangelism The Lost

Denomination: Independent/Bible

I Read About A Pastor Who Decided To Experiment ...  PRO

Contributed by K. Edward Skidmore on Jan 16, 2007

I read about a Pastor who decided to experiment with changing those sad statistics in his church. He made a list of 12 people who had recently been baptized in their church, and then he and his wife invited them over. Naturally, these new Christians were thrilled to be invited to their Pastor’s ...read more

Tags: Small Groups

Denomination: Christian/Church Of Christ