In Sermon Illustrations: "Member"

In The Days Before Connecticut Became A State, ...

Contributed by Matthew Sickling on Apr 1, 2007

In the days before Connecticut became a state, the colonial legislature was in session when a thick black cloud blocked out the sunlight. Someone shouted, "It is the day of judgment! Let us go home and get ready!" But one member of the legislature, who happened to be an old church deacon, stood ...read more

Tags: Christmas Advent

Denomination: Baptist

Someone Once Said That, As A Child When He ...  PRO

Contributed by Morris Mott on Sep 27, 2001

Someone once said that, as a child when he thought of Heaven, he thought of a very cold ominous place with an innumerable amount of faceless angels. As years went by, one of his siblings died. When he then thought of Heaven, he pictured this family member, very lonely, standing in this ominous ...read more

Tags: Heaven, Death

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

Some Of Us Fear Conflict, Like The Grass In The ...  PRO

Contributed by Jim Kane on Sep 3, 2002

Some of us fear conflict, like the grass in the African proverb, “when bull elephants fight, the grass always loses.” Others of us dread conflict much like opening the proverbial can of worms without knowing how to get them back in. Others of us, however, seem to deal with it quite well like the ...read more

Tags: Dealing With Conflicts, Unity

Denomination: Church Of God

Author Leo Buscaglia Tells This Story About His ...

Contributed by Scott Bradford on Nov 15, 2002

"Author Leo Buscaglia tells this story about his mother and their "misery dinner." It was the night after his father came home and said it looked as if he would have to go into bankruptcy because his partner had absconded with their firm’s funds. His mother went out and sold some jewelry to buy ...read more

Tags: Joy, Human Body

Denomination: United Methodist

The Other Day I Received An Email From John ...  PRO

Contributed by Paul Kallan on Dec 14, 2002

The other day I received an email from John Schwartz, a member of a group that mobilises people to help the needy. He writes, “there are many lepers in the world who have never experienced a hug or known what a human touch is!” That we are not able to touch them or embrace them is a sign of the ...read more

Tags: Forgiveness General, Grace

Denomination: Catholic

No Difference To Me  PRO

Contributed by A. Todd Coget on Jul 17, 2003

NO DIFFERENCE TO ME John G. Paton, a nineteenth-century missionary to the South Seas met opposition to leaving his home in Scotland and going to preach to the cannibalistic people of the New Hebrides Islands. A well-meaning church member moaned to him, “The cannibals, the cannibals! You’ll be ...read more

Tags: Easter Resurrection

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

A Small Town Had Three Churches: Presbyterian, ...  PRO

Contributed by Rick Pendleton on Feb 2, 2004

A small town had three churches: Presbyterian, Methodist, and Baptist. All three had a serious problem with squirrels in the church. Each church in its own fashion had a meeting to deal with the problem. The Presbyterians decided that it was predestined that squirrels be in the church and that ...read more

Tags: Church General

Denomination: Baptist

In The Days Before Connecticut ...

Contributed by Matthew Sickling on May 6, 2007

Illustration: In the days before Connecticut became a state, the colonial Legislature was in session when a thick black cloud blocked out the sunlight. Someone shouted, “It is the Day of Judgment! Let’s go home and get ready!” But another member of the Legislature, who happened to be a deacon ...read more

Tags: Cross Agony

Denomination: Baptist

C. S. Lewis Explains The Conflict In The Four ...  PRO

Contributed by Matthew Kratz on Jan 19, 2008

C. S. Lewis explains the conflict in The Four Loves. Anyone who has ever taught or attempted to lead others knows the tendency in all of us toward exaggerating our depth of character while treating leniently our flaws. The Bible calls this tendency hypocrisy. We consciously or subconsciously put ...read more

Denomination: Other

Paul Esheman, The Man Responsible For ...  PRO

Contributed by David Yarbrough on Apr 8, 2002

: Paul Esheman, the man responsible for distributing millions of copies of the Jesus film around the world, tells bout the time that the film was shown at a refugee camp I Mozambique on the southeast coast of Africa. Although most of the people had never heard the gospel, they fell in love with ...read more

Tags: Evangelism How To

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

Normally All Of The Good Choir People Came To ...  PRO

Contributed by David Elvery on Nov 14, 2004

Normally all of the good choir people came to church on Wednesday night to practice, and they tended to be early, well before the 7:30 starting time which is early for us Baptists. But one night, March 1, 1950, one by one, two by two, they all had excuses for being late. Marilyn, the church ...read more

Tags: God's Provision

Denomination: Baptist

If We Can Look Inside The Womb And See That The ...

Contributed by Chris Edmondson on May 28, 2007

If we can look inside the womb and see that the baby has some birth defect, i.e., German Measles, and kill the baby, why should we not go one step further and look at the people who we’re not guessing about—people who we now are deformed and are handicapped. And trust me, that day is coming. The ...read more

Denomination: Baptist

Wall Street Journal Banned From Church

Contributed by Ed Vasicek on Feb 4, 2008

Wall Street Journal Banned From Church Reviving an ancient practice, churches are exposing sinners and shunning those who won’t repent. By ALEXANDRA ALTER January 18, 2008; Page W1 On a quiet Sunday morning in June, as worshippers settled into the pews at Allen Baptist Church in southwestern ...read more

Denomination: Independent/Bible

Years Ago A Chicago Restaurant Had Specially ...

Contributed by Ajai Prakash on Feb 21, 2008

Years ago a Chicago restaurant had specially printed place mats at all its tables. The mats were designed exclusively for the restaurant. And if you asked the waitress, she’d give you one to take home, frame, and hang on your wall…The wording that appeared on those mats…went something like this: ...read more

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

The Adultery Market

Contributed by Sermon Central on Apr 27, 2009

THE ADULTERY MARKET Many of us have seen the wild and funny TV ads that go along with the Super Bowl. But fans in Texas got quite a shock during the game this year. An ad by AshleyMadison.com was seen as inappropriate by the NFL and NBC. But local affiliates in Texas decided that the $250,000 for ...read more

Tags: Adultery

Size Of Congregation Doesn't Guarantee ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Jun 1, 2010

Size of Congregation Doesn’t Guarantee Fruitfulness It is important to note that large crowds do not necessarily mean that a teacher has a fruitful ministry. He may have a “successful” ministry, in the sense that the world measures success: by buildings, budgets, and bodies. But a “successful” ...read more

Scripture: Jude 1:12-13

Tags: Fruit Of The Spirit

At War With Our Vices

Contributed by Michael Walther on Jul 4, 2011

AT WAR WITH OUR VICES On July 4, 1776 fifty-six men signed the Declaration of Independence. Citing numerous abuses of the law and the oppressive and unjust rule of the king of England, these men pledged their honor, their lives and their livelihood to the cause of justice and freedom. We have ...read more

Tags: Christian Disciplines

Denomination: Lutheran

Philippi And Ebay

Contributed by Ronnie Miller on Jul 30, 2011

PHILIPPI AND EBAY How would you rate your self as a Christian on a scale from 1 to 10? Better yet how would your family and friends rate you on the same scale? People see you and I on a different perspective than we do ourselves. For the people who have Internet, I’m sure have encountered eBay at ...read more

Scripture: Philippians 1:27-30

Tags: Witness, Christian, Christian Values

Denomination: Baptist

Walking On Water In Los Angeles  PRO

Contributed by Sermon Central on Aug 9, 2011

WALKING ON WATER IN LOS ANGELES [James Bryan Smith, The Good and Beautiful Life (InterVarsity Press, 2010), pp. 131-132 | posted 7/05/2010] In the early 1990s, gang violence erupted in Boyle Heights, a section of East Los Angeles. Eight gangs were in conflict in the parish around the Dolores ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 5:9

Tags: Christian Witness

God Knows

Contributed by Brad Henry on Oct 7, 2011

GOD KNOWS The receiving line at the memorial was very long as Jim and Steph had many family members that came from Texas and Georgia. Halfway through the line, I was introduced to Jim's sister, brother and nephew. They said "Are you the Brad Henry that wrote the devotional about my brother?" I ...read more

Tags: Miracles General