In Sermon Illustrations: "Looking Ahead"

Spiritual Near-Sightedness  PRO

Contributed by Ed Vasicek on Jan 25, 2010

Spiritual Near-Sightedness One of my favorite riddles is this one Q: What did the near-sighted porcupine say when it backed into a cactus? A: Pardon me, honey! If you are near-sighted, you see objects that are near, but distant objects are blurry or unclear. To put is simply, you are equipped to ...read more

Tags: Future

Denomination: Independent/Bible

Sandy Sheppard- One Of The Funniest Parties I ...

Contributed by Davon Huss on Jan 25, 2010

Sandy Sheppard- One of the funniest parties I ever attended was to “roast” Walt, a good friend and mentor, who was celebrating his 50th birthday. Each guest told a humorous story about Walt and presented him with a gag gift. Then Carol got up to speak. “My mother told me if I can’t say something ...read more

Scripture: James 3:9-10

Tags: Tongue

Denomination: Christian/Church Of Christ

God's Boot Camp

Contributed by Jerry Blaxton on Feb 14, 2010

GOD'S BOOT CAMP When a civilian enters the military, they go through boot camp. It's my understanding that in boot camp, the individual is broken down, and they are retrained to see themselves as part of the unit. They are conditioned to be disciplined to obey the commands of their superiors. In a ...read more

Tags: Discipleship

Denomination: Baptist

Listeners Must Act

Contributed by Bobby Scobey on Apr 28, 2010

LISTENERS MUST ACT The address is not given for the speaker’s sake, in order that men may praise or blame him. The listener’s repetition of it is what is aimed at. If the speaker has the responsibility for what he whispers, then the listener has an equally great responsibility not to fall short in ...read more

Tags: Preaching

Denomination: Pentecostal

An Angry Hospital Patient ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Jun 1, 2010

An Angry Hospital Patient Repents I read about a woman who was in the hospital when she got a bad report. She was so mad at God she went into the hospital chapel to tell God off. She was angry because she thought God had been fooling people by telling them he was a God of love. As she approached ...read more

Scripture: Luke 18:13

Tags: Repentance

Janet Reno, Attorney General Of The United States ...

Contributed by Ed Sasnett on Jun 2, 2010

Janet Reno, Attorney General of the United States during the Clinton administration, was interviewed on “60 Minutes” on June 26, 1999. She seems to hold this ancient opinion of Christians. Here is how she defined a cultist: A cultist is one who has a strong belief in the Bible and the Second ...read more

Tags: Persecution

Denomination: Baptist

Caught In The Barn  PRO

Contributed by Sermon Central on Aug 13, 2010

CAUGHT IN THE BARN During one of his political campaigns, a delegation called on Theodore Roosevelt at his home in Oyster Bay, Long Island. The President met them with his coat off and his sleeves rolled up. "Ah, gentlemen," he said, "come down to the barn and we will talk while I do some work." ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 5:37

Tags: Hypocrisy

Generosity

Contributed by Fr Mund Cargill Thompson on Oct 21, 2010

You all probably remember the photos that Eve [our former children’s worker] brought back from Zambia of bags of grain lying in church as people had brought a true tithe, ten per cent of their crop to give to God. People in Africa have very little and yet are very generous. In this country ...read more

Tags: Stewardship

Denomination: Anglican

Eternity ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Oct 23, 2010

Eternity Clothes Norma Lauby, of La Mesa, California, was browsing in the ladies’ department one day with her son who was just learning to read. Trying to read all the signs he could, he came upon one in the maternity department. “Look, Mom!” he said excitedly as he pointed at the sign. “They’re ...read more

Scripture: 2 Corinthians 5:1-10

Tags: Salvation

The Second Coming In The Bible

Contributed by Gordon Curley on Nov 30, 2010

THE SECOND COMING IN THE BIBLE Biblical prophecy provides some of the greatest encouragement and hope available to us today. Just as the Old Testament is saturated with prophecies concerning Christ’s first advent, so both testaments are filled with references to the second coming of Christ. One ...read more

Tags: Second Coming

Denomination: Brethren

Insuring Your Voice

Contributed by John Perry on Dec 13, 2010

INSURING YOUR VOICE Friends of George Burns have always kidded him about his singing. Burns, a master of self-deprecating humour, decided to take advantage of this and insure his voice for a million dollars. He thought it would be a wonderful publicity stunt. "I was so excited," said Burns, "I ...read more

Tags: Pride

Denomination: Pentecostal

Would You Become A Dog?

Contributed by Gordon Curley on Dec 30, 2010

WOULD YOU BECOME A DOG? C. S. Lewis: “Lying at your feet is your dog. Imagine, for the moment, that your dog and every dog is in deep distress. Some of us love dogs very much. If it would help all the dogs in the world to become like men, would you be willing to become a dog? Would you put down ...read more

Tags: Jesus Christ

Denomination: Brethren

The Public Scavenger

Contributed by Sermon Central on Mar 21, 2011

THE PUBLIC SCAVENGER A long time ago in Greece, some politicians decided to play a joke on a fellow politician in their group. They got him appointed to the post of Public Scavenger. It was a dirty, lowly post. But instead of being humiliated, the man decided he would show everybody what he could ...read more

Scripture: Proverbs 12:24

Tags: Leadership General

A Young Man Had Finished His First Semester In ...  PRO

Contributed by Sermon Central on Mar 25, 2011

A young man had finished his first semester in college, and was spending the weekend at home. Somewhat bored with the old place, he was regaling his father with the wonders of his campus and the enlightened people there. After getting up a head of steam and warming up to his subject he said, "Why, ...read more

Scripture: Proverbs 11:2

Tags: Arrogance

Joyce Meyers: Addicted To Peace

Contributed by Evangelist Kelly J Farner on Mar 26, 2011

JOYCE MEYERS: ADDICTED TO PEACE "It sounds strange but when I started learning to be peaceful, I was bored at first. I was so accustomed to having something major go on in my life all the time that I wondered what am I supposed to do with myself. That describes how my life used to be. I had no ...read more

Tags: Peace

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

Ever Heard A Sheep Call?

Contributed by Guy Mcgraw on Apr 6, 2011

EVER HEARD A SHEEP CALL? Sheep don’t respond to calls they respond to Shepherds. A man in Australia was arrested for stealing a sheep but he claimed that it was one of his own that had been missing for many days. When the case went to court, the judge was puzzled, not knowing how to decide the ...read more

Tags: Church Body Of Christ

Lights For Our Path

Contributed by Jason Bonnicksen on Jul 10, 2011

LIGHTS FOR OUR PATH A couple of years ago, I went outside after dark to look at the stars in ways we couldn’t while back in Minnesota. I stepped from the porch, with the lights of course, and then I tripped on the water-hose. Down I went, taking my wife and daughter with me. Truth be known — ...read more

Tags: God's Provision

Denomination: Lutheran

Winning In Losing  PRO

Contributed by Sermon Central on Aug 11, 2011

WINNING IN LOSING Both teams that play in the Super Bowl think they will win, so both teams have special t-shirts and hats designed that declare them the victors. It costs about $2 million to have the apparel made--which means for the losing team, $2 million goes to waste, right? Wrong. A recent ...read more

Scripture: 1 Corinthians 9:19-23

Tags: Giving General

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

Relax And Lower Your Branches  PRO

Contributed by Perry Greene on Nov 2, 2011

RELAX AND LOWER YOUR BRANCHES Several years ago, the Wall Street Journal carried a story about Sally, an overly conscientious youngster who made herself miserable over the smallest failures and setbacks. Early one fall, while the leaves were still on the trees, there was an exceptionally heavy ...read more

Tags: Worry

Denomination: Christian/Church Of Christ