In Sermon Illustrations: "Mean People"

Blind Man Rows On River Using A Bell As Reference ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Nov 24, 2009

Blind Man Rows On River Using A Bell As Reference Point--From "To Catch An Angel" the Autobiography of Robert Russell (From The Preacher’s Commentary) “I recently heard the story of another commuter, a traveler of sorts. To Catch an Angel, by Robert Russell, is the autobiography of a young blind ...read more

Scripture: Luke 21:25-36

Tags: Security, Blind

Elementary Students Penalized For Mentioning The ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Jan 1, 2010

Elementary Students Penalized for Mentioning the Name of Jesus in Relation to Christmas Recently a sixth grader was penalized for daring to mention the name of Jesus in an assignment to write a poem called “What Christmas means to me.” The poem read: “The best Christmas ever is when everyone is ...read more

Scripture: Luke 6:22-23

Tags: Persecution

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

Travelers Vs. Tourists

Contributed by Tim Hinrichs on Mar 29, 2012

TRAVELERS VS. TOURISTS Canadian Pastor Mark Buchanan in his book "Your Church is Too Safe" points out the radical difference between a traveler and a tourist. "A traveler literally means 'one who travails.' He labors, he suffers, endures. A traveler -- travailer - ...immerses himself in a culture, ...read more

Tags: Discipleship

Denomination: Lutheran

Discipleship Is A Call To Suffer

Contributed by Garris Hudson on Jan 4, 2021

John R. Scott gives a modern example of one who suffered for the gospel observing that… "Few men of this century have understood better the inevitability of suffering than Dietrich Bonhoeffer. He seems never to have wavered in his Christian antagonism to the Nazi regime, although it meant for ...read more

Scripture: 2 Timothy 1:12, Philippians 3:1-20, Romans 1:16

Tags: Church, Commitment, Discipleship, Suffering, Will Of God, Bonhoeffer  (view more)  (view less)

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

I Know This Is Going To Sound Surprising To Those ...

Contributed by Johnny Wilson on Jan 16, 2010

I know this is going to sound surprising to those of us who live near, in, or work and/or play in the City of Chicago, but I once saw a police officer turn down free coffee and doughnuts. Yes, that’s right. I was on a “ride along” with an officer in Redondo Beach, California. It was a graveyard ...read more

Tags: Debt

Denomination: *other

In Order Of Importance  PRO

Contributed by Sermon Central on Sep 12, 2004

IN ORDER OF IMPORTANCE After months of working overtime as a financial analyst for a large corporation, I returned home one night at 12:30. As I crawled into bed, my wife awoke. "You’ve got to alphabetize," she commented. "What do you mean?" I ...read more

Scripture: Luke 8:4-15

Tags: Parable Sower And Seed, Idiot, Dumb, Come

Maturialism Coined By Futurist S At Trendsight, ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Jan 3, 2006

Maturialism Coined by futurist s at TrendSight, it means; “A vital combination of ‘mature’ consumers pursuing a seemingly restrained ‘best of the best’ materialism is driving the trend in ditching mundane goods and services for more professional, premium or sassier versions. From heavy duty power ...read more

Tags: Workplace Balance

Abc Cuts Religion: Disney-Owned Abc News Is ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Jan 16, 2006

ABC Cuts Religion: Disney-owned ABC News is releasing its long-time religion correspondent, Peggy Wehmeyer, and doing away with her beat in October. The award-winning For 7 years she has been covering religious issues for the network and her departure means that none of the ...read more

Tags: World Religions

Employers Must Destroy Personal Information About ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Jan 27, 2006

Employers Must Destroy Personal Information about their employees they got from a credit report before they throw it out. That means “shredding or burning” paper documents or “smashing or wiping” computer disks. All employees are included, even if you have only one. Non-compliance risks state ...read more

Tags: Workplace

Gift Buyers: An Estimated 10% Of Today's $2.6 ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Jan 27, 2006

Gift Buyers: An estimated 10% of today’s $2.6 trillion retail market is spent to buy gifts for one person to give to another. For retailers that means 1 out of every 10 customers in their store has a gift shopping need. This offers marketers, the potential to expand their business by ...read more

Tags: Giving General

We Can't Be A Servant If We Think We're In ...

Contributed by Austin Mansfield on Sep 18, 2007

We can’t be a servant if we think we’re in charge. There’s an old blues song by B.B. King called, “Paying the Cost to Be the Boss.” Jesus is calling us to something different when we carry the cross and follow him. We’re “paying the cost to not be the boss.” Being a ...read more

Denomination: Episcopal/Anglican

Thomas Merton Writing To Dorothy Day ...

Contributed by Mick Court on Jun 22, 2008

Thomas Merton writing to Dorothy Day – “To some this quote will mean nothing, to others it describes an important stage in the journey .... We should in a way fear for our perseverance because there is a big hole in us, an abyss, and we have to fall through it into emptiness, but the Lord will ...read more

Tags: Trust

Denomination: Catholic

55% Of U.s. Adults Attended A Conventional Church ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Jul 30, 2008

55% of U.S. adults attended a conventional church service in the past month. 28% of all adults who did not attend a conventional church activity participated in an alternative means of experiencing and expressing their faith in God. 12% engaged in spiritual activity on the Internet. 9% participated ...read more

Tags: Church Body Of Christ

Six Misunderstandings About Temptation

Contributed by Garris Hudson on Jan 8, 2024

Misunderstandings regarding temptation: 1) Temptation itself is sin. 2) We fall into temptation. 3) God is disappointed and displeased when we are tempted. 4) To be strongly tempted means we are as guilty as if we had actually committed sin. 5) We overcome all temptation by separation ...read more

Scripture: James 1:10-15

Tags: Satan, Temptation, Failure, Tests, Trials, Sin, Lust  (view more)  (view less)

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

The Fact That God Forgives Us And Blesses Us When ...  PRO

Contributed by Bill Sullivan on Jul 11, 2001

The fact that God forgives us and blesses us when we don’t deserve it, and of course, we never really deserve it, is what makes grace such a risky thing. Author Philip Yancey, in his book What’s So Amazing About Grace, calls these things loopholes. We all understand loopholes. Webster’s defines ...read more

Tags: Grace, God's Forgiveness, Forgiveness For Others

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

A Healing Fool  PRO

Contributed by A. Todd Coget on Feb 14, 2002

A HEALING FOOL The Gospels depict Jesus as having spent a surprising amount of time healing people… It is significant also that the Greek verb "sozo" was used in Jesus’ day to mean both to save and to heal, and "soter" could signify either savior or physician. Ever since the time of Jesus, ...read more

Scripture: Mark 1:29-39

Tags: Miracles Of Jesus, Prayer Answered, Gifts Healing

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

The Purpose Of Marriage

Contributed by Sermon Central on Aug 6, 2011

THE PURPOSE OF MARRIAGE God is the Helper of His people! Does that mean He is inferior to them? Does that mean He is second-rate? No way! He is the Sovereign Creator of the Universe. He is in no way inferior to His creation. So it is with women. Even though God made her to help her man, she is ...read more

Scripture: Genesis 1:26

Tags: Marriage General

Working On Hell  PRO

Contributed by Sermon Central on Mar 22, 2002

WORKING ON HELL Reader’s Digest recently asked the great fighter Muhammed Ali what his faith meant to him. Ali replied: "[It] means [a] ticket to heaven. One day we’re all going to die, and God’s going to judge us, [our] good and bad deeds. [If the] bad outweighs the good, you go to hell; ...read more

Tags: Grace, Cross Agony, World Religions

When Jesus Says The Holy Spirit Would Convict The ...  PRO

Contributed by Peter Schmidt on Nov 13, 2003

When Jesus says the Holy Spirit would convict the world of guilt in regard to sin. What this simply means is what we went through in Bible class this morning: when we compare ourselves to God’s Law and see how we measure up, we don’t like what we see. It’s like we are looking into a mirror, and ...read more

Tags: Sin Wages Of, Sin Exposed

Denomination: Lutheran