In Sermon Illustrations: "Look"

Foundational ...

Contributed by Terry Laughlin on Aug 11, 2008

Foundational Love In the Book of John 13:34-35, Jesus makes a powerful statement, “A new commandment I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this all men will know that you are My disciples, if you love one another.” (emphasis ours) God has given ...read more

Scripture: John 13:34-35

Tags: Love Of The Disciples

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

Cups Of The ...

Contributed by Terry Laughlin on Aug 11, 2008

Cups of the Lord Cup of Salvation Psalms 116:13 says, “I will lift up the cup of salvation and call on the name of the Lord.” The opening verse of psalm 116 says, “I love the Lord, for he heard my voice; he heard my cry for mercy.” (Psalm 116:1) Dewight Jones tells us that there are some 32 ...read more

Scripture: Psalm 116:13

Tags: Salvation

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

Heaven, A Holy Place

Contributed by Terry Laughlin on Aug 11, 2008

Heaven, A Holy Place Jesus said, "Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in Me. In My Father's house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take ...read more

Scripture: John 14:1-6

Tags: Heaven

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

Joy

Contributed by Terry Laughlin on Aug 11, 2008

Joy In Galatians 5: 22 we read that the fruit of the Holy Spirit is joy. The Greek word means an inner gladness, a deep pleasure which comes from an inner assurance and confidence that God does all things for His good purposes. This joy is not the same as the joy found in ...read more

Scripture: Galatians 5:22, Matthew 2:1-23

Tags: Fruit Of The Spirit

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

Heart Of ...

Contributed by Terry Laughlin on Aug 11, 2008

Heart of Temptation “When tempted, no one should say, ‘God is tempting me.’ For God… does [not] tempt anyone; but each one is tempted when, by his own evil desire, he is dragged away and enticed. Then after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives ...read more

Scripture: James 1:13-15

Tags: Temptation General

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

Aikido For Christ

Contributed by Michael Mccartney on Mar 25, 2009

AIKIDO FOR CHRIST The lessons and teaching of the Holy Spirit came each day and through various ways. When we were doing a tent revival on Penn and Plymouth, the Holy Spirit taught me a lesson about dying to myself and letting go of my natural abilities like strength and fighting to resolve ...read more

Tags: Evangelism How To

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

No Substitutions

Contributed by Peter Loughman on Apr 21, 2009

NO SUBSTITUTIONS We had been living in New Jersey for about three weeks and were wanting to try out different things to get the "East Coast" experience. We both grew up in the San Francisco Bay Area, and honestly, New Jersey was a complete mystery to us. Some friends recommended that we eat at a ...read more

Tags: Complaining

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

Keys To The Kingdom?

Contributed by Peter Loughman on Sep 29, 2009

KEYS TO THE KINGDOM? At a former church, the day I started my job as an associate pastor I was given a set of keys to the church by one of the Trustees, Bill. Bill told me, "Peter, these are not all the keys to the church, we are only giving you four keys: One key to the church building, one key ...read more

Tags: Basics Of Christianity

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

Substitute Teacher Finally Admits She Doesn't ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Nov 6, 2009

Substitute Teacher Finally Admits She Doesn’t Know Subject Matter Have you ever tried to stand and teach, and there you are in front of the class, and you realize all of a sudden that you are out of your depth and that you haven’t got a clue as to what is going on and what to say? That makes for ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 28:18-20

Tags: Evangelism How To

Christian Walk Compared To Learning How To Pitch ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Nov 14, 2009

Christian Walk Compared to Learning How to Pitch Horseshoes When I married into Charlotte’s family I married into a really close family that liked to spend a lot of time together. Almost every Sunday was spent at Charlotte’s Mom and Dad’s house. There were football or baseball games to watch or ...read more

Scripture: Philippians 3:12-21

Tags: Growth In Christ

It’s Closer Than I Thought!

Contributed by Jonathan Spurlock on Feb 7, 2020

My wife and her parents used a certain brand of ketchup for many things over a long period of time. They hadn’t had any of it, though, in maybe 30 years or so. They believed this brand wasn’t available, locally, so they never got around to finding any more of it. Now, I grew up in a different part ...read more

Scripture: 1 Thessalonians 4:3, 1 Thessalonians 5:18

Tags: God's Will, Discovery, Sharing

Denomination: Baptist

Hope For When Christ Comes

Contributed by Martin Spoelstra on Jun 27, 2021

This two-part story can frame a message on heaven, hope or the resurrection. The 1989 Armenian earthquake needed only 4 minutes to flatten the nation and kill 30,000 people. Moments after the deadly tremor ceased, a father raced to an elementary school to save his son. When he arrived, he saw that ...read more

Scripture: 1 Thessalonians 4:14, 1 Corinthians 15:17, 1 Corinthians 15:23, Romans 6:5-9

Tags: Resurrection, Heaven, Hope

Denomination: Presbyterian/Reformed

Keep Away From Sin!

Contributed by Paul Clemente on Oct 24, 2022

Genesis 4 Devotional Part 2 The first children from Adam and Eve grew up having 2 different interests: Abel took care of animals while Cain took care of plants. When it was time to worship God (how did they learn and why did they worship God?), Cain offered firstfruits from the field and Abel ...read more

Scripture: Genesis 4:6-15

Tags: Love, Sin, Heart, Cain, Relationship  (view more)  (view less)

Denomination: Independent/Bible

Jesus Is Hard To Ignore And Easy To Miss

Contributed by Garris Hudson on Dec 19, 2022

In a Christmas sermon, David Devine relates a story that appeared in the Washington Post last year... “He emerged from the Metro at the Plaza Station and positioned himself against a wall beside a trash basket. By most measures, he was nondescript: a youngish white man in jeans, a long-sleeved ...read more

Tags: Mary, Christmas, Bethlehem, Manger, Angels, Prophecy, Joseph, Birth Of Christ, History, Spiritual Blindness, Shepherds  (view more)  (view less)

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

Ben Hooper

Contributed by David Swanger on Jan 19, 2024

In Rising Above the Crowd, Brian Habour tells the story of Ben Hooper. When Ben was born in the foothills of East Tennessee, little boys and girls like Ben who were born to unwed mothers were ostracized and treated terribly. By the time he was three years old, the other children would scarcely play ...read more

Scripture: 1 Peter 2:9

Tags: Christian, Encouragement

Unexpected Journey Thru Cancer

Contributed by Michael Mccartney on Apr 12, 2024

The unexpected journey and a second Dove appeared on a difficult day walking thru cancer: I hit another rough day in the journey after my second surgery with Dr. Q – He got back pathology and said it did look good the light showed cancer lining my bladder like a carpet. When the Dr, Q called to ...read more

Scripture: Psalm 46:1-3

Tags: Encouragement, Cancer, Hope

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

[003] Message From A Poem – A Simple Farmer’s Ditty

Contributed by Ron Ferguson on May 13, 2024

[003] MESSAGE FROM A POEM – A SIMPLE FARMER’S DITTY You will note that each line of the poem ends with the “ay” rhyme. The following poem is simple in structure but an attempt to relate to the simplicity of the land. I used to spend my holidays as an early teenager on the land with a farming ...read more

Scripture: Leviticus 26:23-25, Ezekiel 14:13

Tags: God Keeps Us, Agrarian Society, Nature, Poem, Farming, Farmers, A Ditty  (view more)  (view less)

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

[014] A Message From A Poem - Against The Christian

Contributed by Ron Ferguson on Jun 18, 2024

[014] A MESSAGE FROM A POEM - AGAINST THE CHRISTIAN The origin of this poem goes right back to a time of considerable difficulty when I was going through tough times and some people were very nasty. Christians do face real difficulties and you will have persecution and unfairness just because ...read more

Scripture: 2 Timothy 3:12, Hebrews 2:17, John 14:16-17

Tags: Persecution, Comfort, Difficulties, Trials, Suffer  (view more)  (view less)

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

[019] A Message From A Poem - An Atheist’s Lament

Contributed by Ron Ferguson on Jun 22, 2024

[019] A MESSAGE FROM A POEM - AN ATHEIST’S LAMENT I do not know how many nations know what the 1st of April is. In western society it is known as April Fools’ Day and is a time when some play tricks on others. The Day is also known as “All Fools’ Day.” The following is taken from The Editors ...read more

Scripture: Psalm 14:1, Psalm 53:1-2, Ecclesiastes 2:14

Tags: April Fools Day, Fools, Atheists, There Is No God

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

[020] A Message From A Poem - Arrogance Without Truth

Contributed by Ron Ferguson on Jun 26, 2024

[020] A MESSAGE FROM A POEM - ARROGANCE WITHOUT TRUTH Those of us who are older know very well the great change that has come over our societies from what we lived under in the 1950s to the 1990s at which point it all started to decline. The decline is rapid now as we see lawlessness, riots, ...read more

Scripture: 2 Peter 2:17-18, 2 Timothy 3:1-2

Tags: Truth, Arrogance, The Me Generation

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational