In Sermon Illustrations: "Man Born Blind"

King Rat

Contributed by Alison Bucklin on Jul 2, 2011

KING RAT James Clavell, King Rat: about a Japanese POW camp in which one prisoner, a pathetic loser before the war, who became the most powerful man in the camp by trading with the enemy and exploiting the misery of his fellows. He used to try to pressure the other prisoners to join him, calling ...read more

Scripture: Revelation 18:9-15

Tags: Apocalypse

Denomination: Presbyterian/Reformed

Feeling A Tug  PRO

Contributed by Sermon Central on Aug 3, 2011

FEELING A TUG A small boy was flying a kite one April afternoon when a low drifting cloud encircled the kite and hid it from view. A man passing by asked the little boy what he was doing with that string in his hand. "I’m flying my kite," the child responded. The man, looking up and seeing ...read more

Scripture: Hebrews 11:1

Tags: Faith, Real Faith, Better Faith, Feeling Faith

Picking The Wrong Door

Contributed by Sermon Central on Aug 31, 2011

PICKING THE WRONG DOOR Stuart Briscoe, in his book Everyday Discipleship for Ordinary People, tells the story about a fellow pastor who was officiating at the funeral of a war veteran. The dead man’s military friends wanted to have a part in the service at the funeral home, so they requested that ...read more

Scripture: 1 Peter 5:1-5

Tags: Leadership General

The Gradual Road To Hell  PRO

Contributed by Sermon Central on Oct 27, 2011

THE GRADUAL ROAD TO HELL In C.S. Lewis’ book The Screwtape Letters, we read the story of an older demon counseling a younger demon. At one point in the book, we read these words: "You will say that these are very small sins, and doubtless, like all young tempters, you are anxious to be able to ...read more

Scripture: James 1:13-15

Tags: Sin Deceptive, Risk Of Sin

Time To A Pig

Contributed by Johnny A. Palmer Jr. on Dec 7, 2011

TIME TO A PIG Reminds me of a man who was walking past a farm, and noticed a farmer feeding pigs in a most extraordinary manner. The farmer would lift a pig up to a nearby apple tree, and the pig would eat the apples off the tree directly. The farmer would move the pig from one apple to another ...read more

Tags: Time

Denomination: Baptist

A Jealous Wife  PRO

Contributed by Sermon Central on May 8, 2012

A JEALOUS WIFE A man worked in an office with several attractive ladies. His wife, constantly jealous, had a list of questions ready every day. Then she would examine his coat. If she found a blond hair she would accuse, "You’re having an affair with a blond woman." If she found a red hair, black ...read more

Scripture: Colossians 3:19

Tags: Marriage Faithfulness

If Crumbs Of Joy Now, What Next?

Contributed by Sermon Central on Aug 2, 2012

IF CRUMBS OF JOY NOW, WHAT NEXT? A widely respected man known as "Uncle Johnson" died in Michigan at the incredible age of 120. Perhaps his advanced years could be credited in part to the cheerful outlook that characterized his life. One day while at work in his garden, he was singing songs of ...read more

Scripture: 1 Corinthians 2:9-16, 1 Corinthians 2:2

Tags: Joy

Little Things Can Change The Direction Of Big Things

Contributed by Sermon Central on Mar 13, 2014

Tim George gave the example of two warships that had the largest full-load displacement in the world: U.S. Navy aircraft carriers. The USS Nimitz and Dwight D. Eisenhower each weigh about 91,000 tons. They are over 1,000 feet long and can travel over 30 knots per hour, powered by engines that can ...read more

Scripture: James 3:1-12

Tags: Ship, Tongue

Identifying With Christ

Contributed by Garris Hudson on Oct 15, 2019

During the Civil War a man by the name of George Wyatt was drawn by lot to go to the front. He had a wife and six children. A young man named Richard Pratt offered to go in his stead. He was accepted and joined the ranks, bearing the name and number of George Wyatt. Before long Pratt was killed in ...read more

Scripture: Romans 6:1-13

Tags: Christ Our Substitute, Identifying With Christ, The Exchanged Life, Crucifixion To Self

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

The Power Of Unity

Contributed by Sermon Central on Aug 3, 2022

In one of Aesop's fables, he describes an old man who had several sons, who were always falling out with one another. He had often, but to no purpose, exhorted them to live together in harmony. One day he called them together, and he gathered a bundle of sticks and tied them together, and asked ...read more

Scripture: Ecclesiastes 4:12

Tags: Fellowship, Community, Small Groups

Poor Short-Term Memory

Contributed by Sermon Central on Dec 31, 2022

A man was working in his backyard one day when his neighbor began talking to him over the fence. He said, “Yeah, my wife and I went to one of those seminars yesterday, you know, where they teach you ways to improve your memory and such.” His neighbor commented, “Really? What was the name of the ...read more

Scripture: Luke 22:19

Tags: Communion, Lord's Supper

Can You Conquer Yourself?

Contributed by Garris Hudson on Feb 27, 2023

GREAT QUOTES ON SELF-CONTROL Edmund Hilary the first man who conquered Mount Everest was asked by an interviewer about his passions for climbing mountains. He gave this reply: "It is not the mountain we conquer but ourselves." Peter the Great of Russia is quoted as saying, "I have ...read more

Scripture: Galatians 5:22-23

Tags: Works Of The Flesh, Self Control, Holy Spirit, Self, Self Denial, Crucified With Christ, Fruit Of The Spirit, Discipline  (view more)  (view less)

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

Four Battles With Self Control

Contributed by Garris Hudson on Mar 5, 2023

FOUR BATTLES WITH SELF CONTROL IN PROVERBS: Uncontrolled lust. (Proverbs 6:26: “For the prostitute reduces you to a loaf of bread, and the adulteress preys upon your very life”). Uncontrolled spending (Proverbs 21:20: “In the house of the wise are stores of choice food and oil, but a foolish man ...read more

Scripture: Proverbs 6:26, Proverbs 21:20, Proverbs 23:29-30, Proverbs 29:11, Galatians 5:23  (view more)  (view less)

Tags: Proverbs, Lust, Spending, Anger, Alcoholism, Drunkenness, Fruit Of The Spirit, Self Control  (view more)  (view less)

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

Raising Cain

Contributed by Garris Hudson on Jun 26, 2023

Cain was so angry he would not be talked out of his sin—even by God. Eve, however, had to be talked into her sin by Satan; but Cain “belonged to the evil one” (1 John 3:12). It is as if he could not wait to destroy his brother—a natural man’s solution to his own failure. God’s advice was that ...read more

Tags: Cain, Abel, Offerings, Eve, Genesis, Sin, Murder, Adam, Hate  (view more)  (view less)

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

Deconstruction, Deconstruction, Deconstruct, Decon....

Contributed by Martin Spoelstra on Sep 20, 2024

One cannot insist that all truth claims are power plays, that all truth claims destroy freedom. C. S. Lewis writes in The Abolition of Man: “But you cannot go on ‘explaining away’ forever: you will find that you have explained explanation itself away. You cannot go on ‘seeing through’ things ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 28:16, John 18:38, Acts 26:25

Tags: Doubt, Truth, Objective Truth, Deconstructing Faith

Denomination: Presbyterian/Reformed

Little Things Add Up

Contributed by Wade Martin Hughes, Sr on Mar 15, 2025

MY SUNDAY SCHOOL TEACHER TOLD A STORY OF A MAN THAT WORKED IN THE COAL MINES IN EAST TENNESSEE. The man drove a coal truck from the coal temple to the rail road loading dock. It was a short quick trip. Each time the driver drove by the house where he lived. He made a quick stop threw a very large ...read more

Scripture: 2 Timothy 2:13

Tags: Small, Little

Denomination: Assembly Of God

Pledge -- Prayer

Contributed by David Dunn on Oct 6, 2025

Two men were arguing at work one day about religion. Neither really knew what they were talking about. Finally one said, “Man, you don’t know anything about religion. I’ll bet you ten dollars you can’t even repeat the Lord’s Prayer.” The other grinned. “Oh yeah? It’s a bet!” He straightened up ...read more

Scripture: 2 Timothy 3:16-17, Hebrews 4:12, Psalm 119:105

Tags: Scripture, Discipleship, Truth, Authority

Denomination: Seventh-Day Adventist

Grass On Your Path

Contributed by David Dunn on Jan 21, 2026

Prayer sharpens perception. It tunes the heart so you sense danger before it speaks. John Bunyan once wrote, “Prayer will make a man cease from sin, or sin will entice a man to cease from prayer.” Both can’t thrive in the same heart. Early African believers understood this. Each had a path ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 26:41

Tags: Prayer, Vigilance

Denomination: Seventh-Day Adventist

Sacrificing The Son  PRO

Contributed by Lacell Sherman on Jul 4, 2001

SACRIFICING THE SON There was a Pastor, who after the usual Sunday Evening Hymns, stood up, walked over to the pulpit and, before he gave his sermon for the evening, briefly introduced a guest minister who was in service that evening. In the introduction, the Pastor told the congregation that the ...read more

Scripture: John 2:1-42

Tags: God, Faithful, Bible, Love, Life, Promise, Promises Of God, Righteous, Righteousness, Share, Steady, Temptation, Tempt  (view more)  (view less)

Denomination: Independent/Bible

The Noted Author, John Killinger, Tells A ...

Contributed by Charles R. Swindoll on Oct 10, 2004

The noted author, John Killinger, tells a powerful story about a man who is all-alone in a hotel room in Canada. The man is in a state of deep depression. He is so depressed that he can’t even bring himself to go downstairs to the restaurant to eat. He is a powerful man usually the chairman of a ...read more

Tags: Salvation, Repentance, Confession Of Sin

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational