In Sermon Illustrations: "Matthew 5:1-20:20"

Protecting Our Children

Contributed by Sermon Central on Apr 14, 2009

PROTECTING OUR CHILDREN Studies show 25-33% of girls and 5-15% of boys will be sexually abused by the age of 18. The majority will be abused by family members or trusted family friends. Churches are urged to take steps in ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 18:5-7

Tags: Children

Aging Are Leaving No ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Apr 14, 2009

AGING ARE LEAVING NO INHERITANCE An AARP analysis of the Federal Reserve Board’s 2004 Survey of Consumer Finances finds 21% of people born after 1964 thought they would inherit money someday. But with each passing year, the pressures on the nest-eggs of older people will only grow. A lot of ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 6:19-20

Tags: Money

Stop For The Boat People

Contributed by Sermon Central on Apr 28, 2009

STOP FOR THE BOAT PEOPLE On Aug. 8, 2004, the Vietnamese community of Westminster, California, celebrated one of the kindest and bravest acts performed by a stranger on them. On Nov. 13, 1985, ninety-six Vietnamese refugees despaired for their lives and their families’ lives when the engine of the ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 5:43-48

Tags: Christian Love

Love Your Neighbor's Broccoli

Contributed by Sermon Central on Apr 28, 2009

LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR’S BROCCOLI A little girl stayed for dinner at the home of her friend. The vegetable was buttered broccoli, and the mother asked if she liked it. The child replied very politely, "Oh, yes, I love it." But when the bowl of broccoli was passed, she declined to take any. The hostess ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 5:43-48

Tags: Christian Love

Staring At The Gates Of Hell

Contributed by Sermon Central on Apr 28, 2009

STARING AT THE GATES OF HELL Auguste Rodin was a French impressionist sculptor. He created The Thinker. The Thinker was originally meant to sit on top of Rodin’s greatest masterpiece, the Gates of Hell. The Thinker is contemplating an eternity of judgment separated from God. Author Neil Cole ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 16:18

Tags: Church Purpose Of

Let The Lower Lights Be Burning  PRO

Contributed by Dwight L. Moody on Jun 11, 2009

LET THE LOWER LIGHTS BE BURNING A few years ago, at the mouth of Cleveland harbor, there were two lights, one at each side of the bay, called the upper and lower lights; and to enter the harbor safely by night, vessels must sight both of the lights. These western lakes are more dangerous ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 5:14-16

Tags: Evangelism How To

Denomination: *other

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

The Broom And The ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Jun 25, 2009

THE BROOM AND THE WATER In his Pilgrim’s Progress, John Bunyan describes Interpreter’s house, which Pilgrim entered during the course of his journey to the Celestial City. The parlor of the house was completely covered with dust, and when a man took a broom and started to sweep, he and the others ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 5:17-20

Tags: Law

You Can Worry To Death  PRO

Contributed by Sermon Central on Jun 25, 2009

YOU CAN WORRY TO DEATH Chronic worry can cause serious physical problems, such as ulcers, heart attacks, and high blood pressure. Dr. Charles Mayo, of the famous Mayo Clinic, wrote, "Worry affects the circulation, the heart, the glands and the whole nervous system. I have never met a man or known ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 6:25-34

Tags: Anxiety

Vengeance Overseas  PRO

Contributed by Sermon Central on Jun 25, 2009

VENGEANCE OVERSEAS The story is told of a soldier who was fighting over in Iraq who received a letter from his girlfriend that said she was breaking up with him. In the letter she also asked for him to return the picture of herself that she had given him, because she needed it for her bridal ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 5:43-48

Tags: Anger

Doormat For ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Jul 10, 2009

DOORMAT FOR GOD Oswald Chambers confessed, "If I work for God because I know it brings me the good opinion of those whose good opinion I wish to have, I am a Pharisee. If I love Jesus Christ, I will serve humanity, though men and women treat me like a ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 5:38-48

Tags: Servanthood

Betty Crocker ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Jul 10, 2009

BETTY CROCKER SALVATION In 1952, when the Betty Crocker company first began selling cake mixes, they offered a product which only needed water, and you would get a perfectly moist cake every time. But it bombed, and they couldn’t understand why! So they commissioned a study and found that people ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 16:25

Tags: Salvation

Ray Of Light, Ray Of Hope

Contributed by Sermon Central on Jul 10, 2009

RAY OF LIGHT, RAY OF HOPE There is a story about how the caverns north of Yellowstone National Park were discovered. As the story goes, one of the original explorers was walking along the top of that mountain and fell through a hole, and he dropped down several hundred feet into this cavern and ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 5:14

Tags: God Brings Hope

Dietrich Bonhoeffer Worded It This Way: "It I...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Jul 10, 2009

Dietrich Bonhoeffer worded it this way: "It is Jesus himself who comes between the disciples and the law, not the law which comes between Jesus and the disciples." Source: Dietrich Bonhoeffer, The Cost of Discipleship 123 (R.H. Fuller trans., New York: Touchstone, 1995). ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 5:17-20

Tags: Law

Love Your Enemies: Forgiveness In Rwanda

Contributed by Sermon Central on Jul 10, 2009

Love Your Enemies: Forgiveness in Rwanda Bishop John Rucyahana, a Tutsi Rwandan, found Christ while growing up as an exile from his native Rwanda. I like the way he describes His conversion: "I did not accept Jesus. Jesus graciously met me and accepted me." This is a man who understands how we ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 5:38-48

Tags: Forgiveness For Others

Unaware Of The Treasure

Contributed by Sermon Central on Jul 13, 2009

UNAWARE OF THE TREASURE "The Mystery of the Missing Owner" read the headline on an unusual section of the Chicago Tribune on Sunday, February 6, 2005. The supplement was actually a legal notice published by the Illinois State Treasurer’s Office seeking to give money away to rightful owners--the ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 13:52

Tags: Blessing

Treasure In Christ, But "Out Of Gas"  PRO

Contributed by Sermon Central on Jul 13, 2009

TREASURE IN CHRIST, BUT "OUT OF GAS" Several years ago, on New Year’s Day, a beautiful float in the Tournament of Roses parade suddenly sputtered and quit. It was out of gas. The whole parade was held up until someone could get a can of gas. The amusing thing was this float represented the ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 6:19-20

Tags: God's Provision

You Do Not Pull The Shore To ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Jul 24, 2009

YOU DO NOT PULL THE SHORE TO YOU Prayer is surrender--surrender to the will of God and cooperation with that will. If I throw out a boathook from the boat and catch hold of the shore and pull, do I pull the shore to me, or do I pull myself to the shore? Prayer is not pulling God to my will, but ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 6:9-10

Tags: Prayer, Prayer Supplication

Sir Walter Scott Had Difficulty With The Idea Of ...

Contributed by Davon Huss on Aug 3, 2009

Sir Walter Scott had difficulty with the idea of “turning the other cheek.” But Jesus’ words took on special meaning one day when Scott threw a rock at a stray dog to chase it away. His aim was like a baseball pitchers and he hit the animal and broke its leg. Instead of running off, the dog ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 5:39

Tags: Sermon On The Mount

Denomination: Christian/Church Of Christ

From Aaron Saufley- My New Book

Contributed by Davon Huss on Aug 3, 2009

From Aaron Saufley- My new book "The Jumbo Shrimp Gospel" was inspired by a conversation I had with my 7 year old. I read her the part of Jesus’ sermon on the mount where Jesus talked about turning the other cheek and getting undressed when someone takes your shirt (yeah, that’s what he said). ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 5:39-40

Tags: Sermon On The Mount

Denomination: Christian/Church Of Christ