In Sermon Illustrations: "Mercy Of God"

A Darkened Mind

Contributed by Andy Grossman on Feb 15, 2012

A DARKENED MIND The god of this age, Satan, wants people to be blinded to the Truth. He loves a darkened mind. Sean Sellers was a willing mind. His parents were long haul truckers from Colorado. Sean filled the empty hours with the occult. He began with Dungeons and Dragons. The he began ...read more

Tags: Cults

Denomination: Holiness

Mary's Choice

Contributed by Tim Hinrichs on Mar 22, 2012

MARY'S CHOICE Mary Khoury, 17 from Damour, Lebanon and her family were forced to their knees before their home. The leader of the Muslim fanatics who had raided their village waved his pistol carelessly before their faces. His hatred for Christians burned in his eyes. "If you do not become a ...read more

Tags: Forgiveness For Others

Denomination: Lutheran

Call Sin Something Else, Please?

Contributed by Eugene Morell on Jul 1, 2012

CALL SIN SOMETHING ELSE, PLEASE? There is a story about a Methodist preacher who often spoke on the subject of sin. He defined sin as that abominable thing that God hates. One day some of the leading laymen came to urge their pastor to stop using the word sin. The laymen told their pastor that ...read more

Tags: Sin General

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

Roger Williams: Worship As A "Religious Fix"

Contributed by Tim Smith on Jul 1, 2012

ROGER WILLIAMS: WORSHIP AS A "RELIGIOUS FIX" Roger Williams was thumbing through a magazine on a short flight from Sacramento to San Diego. He had taken his seat when two well-dressed, attractive 20-something-year-old women sat down next to him. Their conversation competed with his attention to ...read more

Tags: Worship General

Denomination: Methodist

How Leprosy ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Aug 9, 2012

HOW LEPROSY WORKS According to the Jewish Encylopedia: Priests were in charge of the diagnosis of all diseases. They were not allowed to live in a community that didn’t have a doctor. Those who were diagnosed with the curable strain of leprosy had to appear before a priest every 7 days. Once ...read more

Scripture: Numbers 12:4-15

Tags: Affliction

The Bible Can Make You Better

Contributed by Hal Seed on Nov 9, 2012

THE BIBLE CAN MAKE YOU BETTER Two hundred years ago, Norway was one of the poorest countries in Europe. She was ruled by her Danish neighbors and most people were poor fishermen or subsistence farmers. Every time there was a famine, people starved to death. Today it is one of the wealthiest. It ...read more

Tags: Bible Influence

Denomination: Baptist

The Choice Of Sheep And Goats

Contributed by Stephen Belokur on Nov 27, 2012

THE CHOICE OF SHEEP AND GOATS I tried and tried to think of a common example that could be used to illustrate this separation of the sheep from the goats but was unable to do so because this situation is so unique and the reason it is so unique is because the sheep and the goats have chosen their ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 25:31-46

Tags: Judgement, Salvation, Free Will, Sheep And Goats, Free Moral Agency  (view more)  (view less)

Denomination: Nazarene

Entry-Level Faith

Contributed by Josh Hunt on Jun 3, 2013

ENTRY-LEVEL FAITH During World War II, a young teenager tried to enlist in the navy. Only fifteen but large for his years, he told the recruiting officer in Richmond, Virginia, that he was sixteen. The officer looked at him and shook his head. "Sorry, son, you're not old enough." Two months ...read more

Scripture: Hebrews 6:1

Tags: Discipleship

Denomination: Baptist

Sweet Surrender  PRO

Contributed by Dr. Larry Petton on Jan 17, 2014

Abraham laid down his Isaac. Lay down your Isaac today and remember the words of Andrew Murray: God is ready to assume full responsibility for the life wholly yielded to Him. Bruce Larson tells how he helped people struggling to surrender their lives to Christ: "For many years I worked in New ...read more

Scripture: Genesis 22:1-18, Genesis 22:8

Tags: Surrender, Consecration, Testing Faith, Abraham And Isaac

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

A Creative Partnership

Contributed by Sermon Central on Mar 24, 2015

During the summer of 1904 an unlikely partnership was formed at the World’s Fair in St. Louis. The summer was unusually hot and people were searching the fair for something to help cool them off… A vendor named Arnold had just what they were looking for… ice cream. People lined up for what seemed ...read more

Scripture: Exodus 17:8-13

Tags: Intercession, Amalek, Partnership, Moses And Aaron

Faith

Contributed by Darryl Womack on Dec 17, 2015

In the movie called the Matrix there is one of the best encouragements to share our Faith with others that I have ever seen. The Spiritual leader of that rag tag bunch goes by the name of Morpheus and the young deliverer who he believes is the promised one goes by the name of Neo. Needless to say ...read more

Scripture: 1 John 5:5

Tags: Evangelism, Faith, Matrix

Denomination: Baptist

Kory Wilcoxon- Gary, Who Was In His 50s, Was ...

Contributed by Davon Huss on Apr 25, 2016

Kory Wilcoxon- Gary, who was in his 50s, was mentally disabled, and had the mental capacity of a six- or seven-year-old. He also had one of the worst singing voices I’ve ever heard. His singing was slurred and never close to the right key. And he didn’t have the social development to recognize his ...read more

Scripture: Psalm 95:1-2

Tags: Make A Joyful Noise, Singing

Denomination: Christian/Church Of Christ

Recognising Conflict, Where An Enemy Sowing Bad Seed

Contributed by Gordon Mcculloch on Jul 24, 2017

1. Be Perceptive to the enemy. The first way to deal with conflict is to be perceptive to the enemy. Verse 25 “but while everybody was asleep, an enemy, (that is Satan), came and sowed weeds among the wheat, and then went away”. Notice he went away, he was sly; he did not stay to watch, or say, “I ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 13:25

Tags: Satan's Deception, Bad Seed, Satans Tactics

Denomination: Episcopal

Managing Time

Contributed by David Simpson on Jan 30, 2018

No matter what changes, no matter how much changes, TIME remains the same. And even though we know that, we never seem to have enough time. Consider the Calvin and Hobbes cartoon. Calvin says to Hobbes, "God put me on earth to accomplish a certain number of things. Right now I am so far behind I ...read more

Scripture: Psalm 39:4-6

Tags: Investing Your Life, Spending Time Wisely, Time Management

Denomination: Christian Church

The Deadly Hand

Contributed by Steve Kinnard on Feb 7, 2019

It was the nearly dark as James entered the room , over in the corner a poker game was getting ready to start. James joined in the poker game looking to beat the other players out of their hard-earned money. In this worldly realm it was just another poker game, with only money at stake, but in ...read more

Scripture: James 1:5

Tags: Sin, Temptation

Denomination: Pentecostal

Deliverance

Contributed by Steve Kinnard on Feb 14, 2019

DELIVERANCE Use your imagination this morning, we are in a small boat with JESUS. We have set sail from Galilee and are heading across the Sea of Galilee to the other shore. We are unsure where Jesus is leading us, but we trust Him and know he has a reason. We are approaching the other shore ...read more

Scripture: Luke 8:26-33

Tags: Deliverance, Possession

Denomination: Pentecostal

Saved From The Guttermost To The Uttermost

Contributed by Dr. David Hallum on Sep 11, 2019

Introduction: Larry Johnson was an oil field hand. Big, loud, cursing, drinking, woman chasing and completely anti-God. He worked on one of the dirtiest jobs in the old field – he ran a workover crew. Those guys NEVER came home clean. They were covered in grime, sludge and oil from head to toe ...read more

Scripture: 1 John 4:7-13

Tags: Love, Salvation, Joy

Denomination: Baptist

There Is A Story Told That Is Totally ...

Contributed by Jeffrey Dillinger on Apr 21, 2007

There is a story told that is totally fictitious, but the point is true. The story is that when Jesus went back up into Heaven, the angel Gabriel had a conversation with Jesus. This is just an illustration. He asked Jesus, “What happened while you down on earth? Did they make you king?” Jesus ...read more

Denomination: Christian/Church Of Christ

Gold Medalist

Contributed by Matthew Kratz on Jun 18, 2007

Gold Medalist In Seoul Korea—At his father’s funeral, American Carl Lewis placed his 100-meter gold medal from the 1984 Olympics in his father’s hands. “Don’t worry,” he told his surprised mother. “I’ll get another one.” A year later, in the 100-meter final at the 1988 games, Lewis was competing ...read more

Denomination: Other

H. You Have Probably Heard The Old Story About ...  PRO

Contributed by Sermon Central on Jun 18, 2007

H. YOU HAVE PROBABLY HEARD THE OLD STORY ABOUT THE LATE, GREAT DR. A. J. GORDON, A FAMOUS PREACHER FROM ENGLAND WHO CAME TO A VERY DEAD, DULL, FORMAL, CHURCH IN DOWNTOWN BOSTON, MASS. I. HE WAS A FIERY PREACHER, WHO REFUSED TO WEAR A ROBE, WHICH WAS MANDATORY IN THAT CHURCH AND HE PREACHED ...read more

Scripture: Amos 6:1-8

Tags: Justice, Church Body Of Christ