In Sermon Illustrations: "Memories About Dad"

The Lost (And Found) Baptistery

Contributed by Davon Huss on Nov 21, 2011

THE LOST (AND FOUND) BAPTISTERY Supposedly, it was constructed around 1828; sometime between then and about 1930 it was forgotten and unused till discovered in May of 2002. No one knows for certain when the open air baptistery of Mt. Gilead Baptist Church in Fort Gaines, Georgia, was last used. ...read more

Tags: Baptism

Denomination: Christian/Church Of Christ

Anibal Sat In A Brazilian Jail Cell, Guilty Of ...

Contributed by Bret Toman on Dec 22, 2011

Anibal sat in a Brazilian jail cell, guilty of murder. He was a weightlifter, with bulging biceps, a leathery face and a tattoo of an anchor on his forearm that seemed to symbolize his personality. But he appeared to soften as the preacher talked with him about guilt, forgiveness, a God who knew ...read more

Tags: Discipleship

Denomination: Baptist

Spurgeon's Poor Sermon

Contributed by Josh Hunt on Mar 14, 2012

SPURGEON'S POOR SERMON Mr. Spurgeon once preached what in his judgment was one of his poorest sermons. He stammered and floundered, and when he got through felt that it had been a complete failure. He was greatly humiliated, and when he got home he fell on his knees and said, "Lord, God, thou ...read more

Scripture: Romans 8:26

Tags: Holy Spirit General

Denomination: Baptist

The Key Called Promise

Contributed by Sermon Central on May 2, 2012

THE KEY CALLED PROMISE In John Bunyan's great allegory, Pilgrim's Progress, the incident is related of how Christian decides to leave the Main Highway and follow another Path which seemed easier. But this Path leads him into the territory of Giant Despair who owns Doubting Castle. Eventually he ...read more

Scripture: Hebrews 6:13-20

Tags: Promises Of God

Labor Day And Our Divine Union

Contributed by Sermon Central on May 4, 2012

LABOR DAY AND OUR DIVINE UNION I’ve heard that Labor Day was first celebrated in Boston on Sept 5, 1882. It wasn’t until 1894 that it became a federal holiday. That was an effort encouraged by President Grover Cleveland to reconcile with the labor movement and prevent further violence. You see, ...read more

Scripture: Ecclesiastes 4:9-12

Tags: Holidays Civic

A Tragic Dream Fulfilled--The Case Of Robert ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Aug 1, 2012

A TRAGIC DREAM FULFILLED--THE CASE OF ROBERT BURNS Robert Burns, the famous poet, occasionally had times of serious reflection of the state of his soul. He recorded one of those times when he compared himself to the review of his past life. He wrote that he was like a lonely man walking amidst the ...read more

Scripture: Luke 8:4-15

Tags: Parable Sower And Seed

Mark Of The Beast

Contributed by Bruce Ball on Oct 9, 2012

In verse 15, it tells us what will happen to those people who do not accept the Evil One’s mark: “15 … and all who refuse to worship the image or take his mark will be killed.” I saw recently where Motorola has developed an all inclusive data chip that is no larger than a grain of rice. It ...read more

Tags: Second Coming

Denomination: *other

The Truth Of The Book  PRO

Contributed by Michael Mccartney on Oct 23, 2012

THE TRUTH OF THE BOOK John Ortberg states "It’s a strange thing: the book has never been so accessible. According to Guinness Book of Records, L. Ron Hubbard’s writings of scientology have been translated into 65 languages; the Koran is supposed to be read in Arabic so it hasn’t been translated ...read more

Scripture: John 3:16-17, 1 Corinthians 13:1-7

Tags: Bible Truth

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

Rent A Family…?

Contributed by Sermon Central on May 14, 2013

RENT A FAMILY...? I read a recent article about how people in Japan are so busy that older people can now rent a family. Here’s the quote: "In Japan, you can rent a family. Elderly Japanese who are isolated from their children by the frantic pace of modern life can rent a 'family' for lunch and a ...read more

Scripture: Acts 2:42-47

Tags: Church Body Of Christ

See You On The Other Side Of The River

Contributed by Dr. Larry Petton on Feb 2, 2014

SEE YOU ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THE RIVER Kansas City, Missouri is separated from Kansas City, Kansas by the Missouri River. Years ago, there was an old farmer who lived on the Kansas side of the river. He had a farm, a wife and a beautiful daughter. The farmer and his family had never been across ...read more

Scripture: John 14:1-6

Tags: Death, Heaven, Funeral

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

Is It Death Or Really Life?

Contributed by Tim Smith on Feb 11, 2015

Robin Norwood in her book, “Why Me? Why This? Why Now?” writes, “A very wise old fried of mine who has just celebrated his 100th birthday said to me about a recent news broadcast he recently heard about 73 people losing their lives in a plan crash: “Don’t they know we can’t lose our lives? We can ...read more

Scripture: Luke 23:32-43

Tags: Death, Eternal Life

Denomination: Methodist

Well, Let Me Begin With An Interesting Boxing...

Contributed by Suresh Manoharan on Jun 7, 2016

Well, let me begin with an interesting boxing related episode. Larry Holmes the undisputed World Heavy Weight boxing champion from 1978 to 1983 was in his younger days a sparring partner of Mohammed Ali. Some wouldn’t believe that the upcoming and not-so-famous (at that time) Holmes was indeed ...read more

Scripture: Galatians 6:17

Tags: Boxing, Skin And Spirit, Slave And Spirited

Denomination: *other

Jesus The Perfect Man  PRO

Contributed by Martin Spoelstra on Jul 3, 2016

Harry Ironside, the Bible teacher, told of a visit to Palestine years ago by a man named Joseph Flax. He had an opportunity to address a gathering of Jews and Arabs and took for the subject of his address the first Psalm. He read it and then he asked the question: "Who is this blessed man of whom ...read more

Scripture: Psalm 1:1-6

Tags: Wisdom, Perfection

Denomination: Presbyterian/Reformed

Being Crucified With Christ

Contributed by Glynda Lomax on Aug 11, 2016

As I was typing up the many pages of notes I would use for my weekly podcast sermon, I needed to replace some letters in a name in part of my document with "M-E," so it would read correctly as I recorded. I was trying to use the ’Find & Replace’ command, but it looked a little ...read more

Scripture: Galatians 2:20

Tags: Sin, Flesh, Self, Crucified With Christ, Crucify Flesh, Crucified  (view more)  (view less)

Denomination: Charismatic

Totally Submerged In The Plan

Contributed by Wade Martin Hughes, Sr on Mar 22, 2019

WE NEED TO BELIEVE GOD TO BE CALLED OUT, SET ASIDE, TO HEAR THE CALL OF GOD TO BE FAITHFUL, A PECULIAR PEOPLE… 1 Peter 2:9 But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his ...read more

Scripture: 1 Peter 2:9

Tags: Plan, Called Out, Submerged

Denomination: Assembly Of God

Love Is Like Candy

Contributed by John Bright on May 22, 2021

I’m talking about love that is a real, tangible – like candy! Since you are watching on video (or reading this at home), you will have to imagine I have a big bag of Hershey Kisses right here. I have LOTS OF CANDY! So - I can claim to be full of candy. What if this candy is the love we have to ...read more

Scripture: Luke 6:27-36

Tags: Love, Enemies

Denomination: Methodist

Plant The Seed And Wait For The Harvest

Contributed by Dr. Larry Petton on Apr 4, 2022

D.L. Moody made an covenant with God that he would witness for Christ to at least one person each day. One night, about ten o- clock, he realized that he had not yet witnessed; so he went out in to the street and spoke to a man standing by a lamppost, asking him, "Are you a Christian?" ...read more

Scripture: Acts 1:8, Mark 4:1-20

Tags: Faithfulness, Word Of God, Witnessing, Evangelism, Harvest, Gospel  (view more)  (view less)

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

Powerful Illustration For A Funeral

Contributed by Dr. Larry Petton on Dec 13, 2022

There is an old story of a king and his clown or “jester” who sometimes said very foolish things. One day the jester had said something so foolish that the king handing him a staff, said to him: “Take this, and keep it till you find a bigger fool than yourself.” “Some years later, the king lay on ...read more

Scripture: Psalm 14:1

Tags: Funerals, Evangelism, Death, Salvation, Lost, Time, Fools  (view more)  (view less)

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

Meekness When Inconvenienced

Contributed by Richard Tow on Mar 20, 2023

Charles Spurgeon tells the story of an archbishop who lived in a small house in Scotland. He had only one employee, but the employee tended to be forgetful. One day the employee got up before the bishop and decided to go fishing. As he headed out, he locked his Archbishop Leighton in the house with ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 5:5, Matthew 11:28-29, 1 Timothy 6:11

Tags: Gentle, Humility, Meekness, Contentment, Meek, Gentleness  (view more)  (view less)

Denomination: Charismatic

You Are Your Own Worst Enemy.

Contributed by Dr. Larry Petton on Jun 26, 2023

"Cain slew Abel, but Cain’s worst enemy was himself". - R E Neighbour “There is an old Icelandic legend that contains its own lesson. There was a man who was constantly pursued by a terrible spirit which took the form of a dwarf. His grain ricks were fired, his barns unroofed, his ...read more

Tags: Offerings, Enemies, Murder, Self, Hate, Cain, Abel, Blood Of Christ  (view more)  (view less)

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational