In Sermon Illustrations: "Matthew 18:21-25"

A Little Girl’s Prayer: A Little Girl Was ...  PRO

Contributed by Brian Mccutchen on Jan 26, 2001

A little girl’s Prayer: A little girl was being punished by eating alone in the corner of the dining room. The family paid no attention to her until they heard her pray: “I thank Thee, Lord, ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 18:21-35, Matthew 5:16-18, Matthew 6:3-20, Psalm 145:8-21

Tags: Compassion, Forgiveness General, Forgiveness For Others

Denomination: Christian/Church Of Christ

Author And Teacher, Dr. Howard Hendricks Tells ...  PRO

Contributed by Sermon Central on Feb 4, 2001

Author and teacher, Dr. Howard Hendricks tells the story of a young man who strayed from the Lord but was finally brought back by the help of a friend who really loved him. When there was full repentance and restoration, Dr. Hendricks asked this Christian how it felt away from the Lord. The young ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 18:21-35, Matthew 18:15-17

Tags: Friendship General, Church Small Groups, Christian Love

One Of The Most Incredible Stories Of ...  PRO

Contributed by Melvin Newland on Mar 13, 2001

ILL. One of the most incredible stories of forgiveness I’ve ever heard came out of Tulsa, OK, a couple of years ago. Tom McGee was a young man who went out for a night of partying & revelry. He got drunk & ran head-on into a car driven by a young man by the name of Ted Morris. He killed Ted ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 5:43-48, Leviticus 19:17-18, Romans 12:17-21, Matthew 18:21-22, Jonah 4:1-10, Matthew 18:23-35  (view more)  (view less)

Tags: Cross Agony, Forgiveness General, Forgiveness For Others

Denomination: Christian/Church Of Christ

Too Many Times I Have Played The Part Of Humpty ...  PRO

Contributed by James May on Jul 11, 2001

Too many times I have played the part of Humpty Dumpty as I stayed on the wall, walked the fence between serving God and the Devil. Just like old “Humpty”, I fell off of the wall too. All my “king’s horses” of personal accomplishments, education, abilities and reasoning could not repair the ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 18:21-22

Tags: Forgiveness For Others, God's Provision

Denomination: Independent/Bible

Cymbala's Easter Story  PRO

Contributed by Davon Huss on Jan 31, 2005

CYMBALA'S EASTER STORY Jim Cymbala preaches at a church in the slums of New York. He tells the following story: It was Easter Sunday and I was so tired at the end of the day that I just went to the edge of the platform, pulled down my tie and sat down and draped my feet over the edge. It was a ...read more

Scripture: Exodus 18:15-18, Luke 23:32-34, 1 Corinthians 13:1-8, John 13:34-35, Matthew 25:34-45, Psalm 40:1-3, Ephesians 2:1-10, Colossians 1:1-11, Matthew 18:22-35, Matthew 22:1-14  (view more)  (view less)

Tags: Second Coming, New Year, Dignity, Body Of Christ, Supper, Work  (view more)  (view less)

Denomination: Christian/Church Of Christ

This Story Comes From P131-133 Of The The Lion, ...  PRO

Contributed by Pat Cook on Sep 14, 2005

This story comes from p131-133 of the The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe in The Chronicles of Narnia series. Peter, the great king, has just slain the evil wolf general Maugrim. Aslan tells him he has blood on his sword. Peter looks down and sees that t is true. He bends down and wipes the blood ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 18:21-35

Denomination: Baptist

Leeches In Burma Fall Off Traveler In Herbal ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Nov 23, 2009

Leeches in Burma Fall Off Traveler in Herbal Bath William Arnot wrote this: "A traveler in Burma, after fording a certain river, found his body covered all over by a swarm of small leeches, busily sucking his blood. His first impulse was to tear them from his flesh: but his servant warned him that ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 18:21-35

Tags: Forgiveness, Forgiveness In Jesus

Healing The Wounds Of War: The Kim Phuc Story

Contributed by Sermon Central on Apr 4, 2010

HEALING THE WOUNDS OF WAR: THE KIM PHUC STORY Probably one of the most well-known pictures to come out of the Vietnam War was Nick Ut’s Pulitzer Prize-winning photo (show picture) of Phan Thi Kim Phuc (pronounced "fuke"). On June 8, 1972, a napalm bomb was dropped on her village, and Kim, who was ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 18:21-35

Tags: Forgiveness For Others

Do You Want To Be Right, Or Do You Want To Be ...  PRO

Contributed by Sermon Central on Jun 11, 2011

DO YOU WANT TO BE RIGHT, OR DO YOU WANT TO BE WELL? Dr. David Seamands tells the story about a young woman he counseled in college several years ago. She had suffered every kind of abuse in her own home--psychological, sexual and physical. The very place that was supposed to be nurturing was ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 18:21-35

Tags: Forgiveness For Others

Only The Strong Forgive

Contributed by Ken Henson on Jul 5, 2012

ONLY THE STRONG FORGIVE Mahatma Gandhi said, "The weak can never forgive. Forgiveness is the attribute of the ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 18:21-35

Tags: Forgiveness For Others

Denomination: *other

Now She Understands  PRO

Contributed by Ken Henson on Jul 5, 2012

NOW SHE UNDERSTANDS A lady had two children. The older son was 7 years old and the little girl about 2½ years old. She heard this terrible scream upstairs and as she ran upstairs she found out that the little girl was pulling the hair of her brother. He was crying out in pain. The mother ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 18:21-35

Tags: Forgiveness General

Denomination: *other

Ugandan Juvenile Jail

Contributed by Tim Smith on Sep 25, 2016

Bob Goff tells the story of his longtime friend Charlie. Charlie was one of those guys who measured his life not by what he was but by what he has given up. He was a graduate of law school and then became an FBI agent. He met Bob for coffee and then said he wanted to use his training to help kids ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 18:21-25

Tags: Prayer, Forgiveness

Denomination: Methodist

Take A Clear Glass Or Cup And Fill It With Dirty ...  PRO

Contributed by Weston Blankenship on Jul 29, 2007

Take a clear glass or cup and fill it with dirty water. Say this is a type of our sinfull soul before God’s forgiveness. Then dump it out in a bucket and say this is Christ forgivness, He cleans out all the sin. Then wash in the cup in a clean bucket. This is a type of baptism in Jesus name. Then ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 18:21-35

Denomination: Apostolic

Forgiveness Is Not About Making The Other Person ...  PRO

Contributed by Bobby Stults on Aug 11, 2007

Forgiveness is not about making the other person right in what they did… forgiveness is about 2 things, first it is obedience to your calling as a Child of God, and 2nd it is an instrument that frees you from the ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 18:21-35

Tags: Forgiveness General

Denomination: Baptist

Forgiveness

Contributed by Steve Malone on Feb 3, 2021

It was in a church in Munich that I saw him, a balding heavyset man in a gray overcoat, a brown felt hat clutched between his hands. People were filing out of the basement room where I had just spoken, moving along the rows of wooden chairs to the door at the rear. It was 1947 and I had come from ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 18:21-35

Tags: Hurt, Forgiveness

Denomination: Christian/Church Of Christ

Understanding Mercy

Contributed by Richard Tow on Apr 4, 2023

There was a young soldier in Napoleon’s army who committed an offense worthy of death. The day before he was scheduled for the firing squad, the young man’s mother went to Napoleon and asked him to show mercy for her son. Napoleon harshly replied, “Woman, your son does not deserve mercy.” “I know,” ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 5:7, Micah 6:8, Matthew 9:13, Luke 10:25-37, Ephesians 4:32, Matthew 18:23-35  (view more)  (view less)

Tags: Kindness, Mercy, Forgiveness, Compassion, Leadership, Relationships, Merciful  (view more)  (view less)

Denomination: Charismatic

$10 Million Dollars Education

Contributed by Jm Raja Lawrence on Aug 22, 2025

In the early days of IBM (variously dated to the 1920s–1960s), an employee was responsible for a major error that cost the company a significant amount of money—typically cited as $10 million (adjusted for inflation, that's over $100 million today; some versions say $1 million or $600,000). The ...read more

Scripture: Luke 15:20-24, Matthew 18:21-22, Proverbs 24:16, Ephesians 4:32

Tags: Rising, Forgiveness, Kindness, Unlimited, Prodigal Son, Falling  (view more)  (view less)

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational