In Sermon Illustrations: "Love For The Church"

Finding Peace Of Mind

Contributed by Richard Goble on Nov 12, 2007

Finding Peace Of Mind Duke University did a study on “peace of mind.” Factors found to contribute greatly to emotional and mental stability are: · The absence of suspicion and resentment. Nursing a grudge was a major factor in unhappiness. · Not living in the past. An unwholesome preoccupation ...read more

Denomination: Baptist

Parts Of A Cake

Contributed by Rev Dr Randall M Deal Sr on Jun 7, 2009

PARTS OF A CAKE A daughter is telling her mother how everything is going wrong, she’s failing algebra, her boyfriend broke up with her and her best friend is moving away. Meanwhile, her Mother is baking a cake and asks her daughter if she would like a snack, and the daughter says, "Absolutely Mom, ...read more

Tags: Trials And Difficulties

Denomination: Baptist

Divorce Barbie

Contributed by Sermon Central on Jun 25, 2009

DIVORCE BARBIE Too many times, we are more concerned with what we get out of giving than what we are trying to give in the first place. A father was sitting in his chair one night reading the paper. All of a sudden, he realized it was his young daughter’s birthday, and he had forgotten to get her ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 5:38-42

Tags: Giving Yourself

Drink Deeply  PRO

Contributed by Sermon Central on Jul 10, 2009

DRINK DEEPLY Picture this: You have just finished a ten-mile hike on a 95 degree day, and on the entire journey you haven’t had a thing to drink. Stumbling with thirst, you come to your father’s house and plea for water. With love and concern, he brings you a cold pitcher of water and a glass and ...read more

Scripture: John 4:1-26

Tags: Faith

Too Soft On People?

Contributed by Sermon Central on Aug 12, 2009

TOO SOFT ON PEOPLE? A preacher named Ron Rose told a woman who came into his office complaining that his sermons always being about forgiveness and grace. She said he needed to come down harder on the sinners and in her words, "nail them." After her rant, Ron asked, "So, you’ve got forgiveness ...read more

Scripture: John 1:15-17

Tags: Grace

Everyone Needs This List To ...

Contributed by Tony Abram on Aug 20, 2009

Everyone Needs this List to Live. * The most destructive habit: Worry, * The greatest Joy: Giving, * The greatest loss: Loss of self-respect, * The most satisfying work: Helping others, * The ugliest personality trait: Selfishness, * The most endangered species: Dedicated ...read more

Tags: Christian Values

Max Lucado's Story About A Scottish Fisherman's ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Nov 16, 2009

Max Lucado’s Story about a Scottish Fisherman’s Stain on Wall that is Transformed by Famous Wildlife Painter into a Masterpiece Max Lucado tells this story: “Over a hundred years ago, a group of fishermen were relaxing in a Scottish seaside inn. One of the men gestured widely and his arm struck the ...read more

Scripture: 2 Corinthians 5:17-20

Tags: Forgiveness, Forgiveness In Jesus

Elizabeth Elliot On His Sufficient Grace For ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Nov 22, 2009

Elizabeth Elliot on His Sufficient Grace for Discipleship It’s the anticipation of that “glory of victory” that helps us to persevere in the hard times. It’s the assurance of that coming crown that helps us bear our cross today. Just one year after her husband was slain in Ecuador, along with ...read more

Scripture: Luke 14:26-27

Tags: Discipleship, Count The Cost

The Explosive Christmas Story  PRO

Contributed by Sermon Central on Dec 7, 2009

THE EXPLOSIVE CHRISTMAS STORY James Martin tells about a trip to the Holy Land. While there, he buys a nativity set for his Sunday School class. It was carved out of olive wood in the town of Bethlehem and had all the traditional figures: sheep and oxen; wise men and the shepherds; Mary, Joseph, ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 2:1-23

Tags: Birth Of Jesus

Boice On The Virgin Birth  PRO

Contributed by Sermon Central on Dec 28, 2009

BOICE ON THE VIRGIN BIRTH One well-known Christian author, James Montgomery Boice, eloquently documents amazing things Jesus’ virgin birth, sinless life and sacrificial death accomplished for mankind as an amazing sign of His love. Jesus endured a human birth to give us a new spiritual birth. ...read more

Scripture: John 1:14

Tags: Birth Of Jesus

The Psychoanalyst Victor Frankl And His Friends ...

Contributed by Curry Pikkaart on Mar 23, 2010

The psychoanalyst Victor Frankl and his friends were imprisoned in a Nazi concentration camp during World War II. It was winter. They had been marched off to work in the morning, spent the day at hard labor, been given only a little thin soup to eat, and then staggered back to camp in the late ...read more

Tags: Hope, Security

Denomination: Presbyterian/Reformed

As A Young Boy, Theologian Alister Mcgrath ...

Contributed by Bobby Mcdaniel on Apr 17, 2010

As a young boy, theologian Alister McGrath enjoyed experimenting with chemicals in his school's laboratory. He liked to drop a tarnished coin into a beaker of diluted nitric acid. He often used an old British penny bearing the image of Queen Victoria. Because of the accumulated grime, Her Majesty's ...read more

Tags: Change

The Hippocratic Oath

Contributed by Sermon Central on Aug 2, 2010

THE HIPPOCRATIC OATH We have all heard about the Hippocratic Oath, even if we don't know what all is in it, and what we do know is delivered through television and is wrong. We hear TV doctors say "remember what it says in the Hippocratic Oath: 'First, do no harm'" but that isn't in the ...read more

Scripture: 3 John 1:2

Tags: Abortion

My Daddy Is Here!  PRO

Contributed by Sermon Central on Aug 6, 2010

MY DADDY IS HERE! David Elkind, a psychologist, tells the story of visiting his middle son's nursery school class, at the request of his teacher. She wanted him to observe a "problem child" in the class. While he was there, he caught a conversation between his son and some other boys. There ...read more

Scripture: Ephesians 6:1-4

Tags: Father's Day

Losing Jesus

Contributed by Ed Vasicek on Dec 13, 2010

LOSING JESUS For about 14 years, I have been teaching AWANA. I teach each of our three division, beginning with a puppet skit and then a flannel graph lesson with felt figures. I taught the Christmas Story to the Sparks, K-2nd grade, then I moved everything into the auditorium to teach the Flames ...read more

Tags: Birth Of Jesus

Denomination: Independent/Bible

No Other Plan

Contributed by Isaac Butterworth on Jun 17, 2011

NO OTHER PLAN An old legend imagines Jesus arriving in heaven right after the Ascension, welcomed by all the angels. Then the angel Gabriel asks Jesus, "You suffered much, dying for the sins of mankind. Does everyone down on earth know it?" "Oh, no," replied the Savior, "just a handful of folks ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 28:16-20

Tags: Evangelism Urgency

Denomination: Presbyterian/Reformed

Gollum And Sin

Contributed by Michael Mccartney on Jul 19, 2011

GOLLUM AND SIN Tolkien’s character - Gollum. What a great name. Just from the sound of it, you can tell that it is attached to a ne'er-do-well. Gollum is the slimiest character in J. R. R. Tolkien's Lord of the Rings trilogy. If you are a true-blue fan of the books, you know that originally this ...read more

Tags: Sin General

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

Sometimes We Must Start Over

Contributed by Brad Henry on Oct 18, 2011

SOMETIMES WE MUST START OVER When Jonah was in the belly of the fish he didn't know he was going to Nineveh. He thought his life was over. So he tried to make things right with God. Jonah 2:8 "Those who cling to worthless idols forfeit the grace that could be theirs." So what does this mean? ...read more

Tags: Obedience

Salvation Swing

Contributed by Jason Bonnicksen on Dec 6, 2011

SALVATION SWING I remember back, as though it was yesterday, when my daughters were just little tykes. There was a great playground just down the hill from our seminary apartment where the girls would climb, slide and swing. Day after day they’d ask, "Mom, Dad, can we go to the park and swing?" ...read more

Tags: Encouragement

Denomination: Lutheran

Spiritual Acne

Contributed by Antonio Silveira on Feb 29, 2012

SPIRITUAL ACNE Have you seen ads for Clearsil, Proactiv, or other acne treatments? They usually exaggerate things and show the face before and aft the application of the "miraculous" product that makes you look good and perfect. They also make sure you get hooked to the remedy so they can bank on ...read more

Scripture: James 1:22-27

Tags: Sanctification

Denomination: Baptist