In Sermon Illustrations: "Ministering"

Praying For People  PRO

Contributed by Ralf Bergmann on May 4, 2002

Praying for People A hospital chaplain visited a delightful old lady in the hospital. As he approached her bed he noticed that with the index finger of one hand she was touching, one by one, the fingers of the other, with her eyes closed. When the chaplain spoke to her she opened her eyes and ...read more

Tags: Prayer How To, Prayer Persistence

Denomination: *other

One Sunny Sunday Morning, Henry Jones Awoke To ...  PRO

Contributed by Darrin Koone on May 10, 2002

One sunny Sunday morning, Henry Jones awoke to find his wife standing over him,shaking him by the shoulder. "You have to get up," she urged. "We have to get ready for church.” "I don’t want to go to church," he replied. "I want to stay in bed.” Crossing her arms over her chest, his wife ...read more

Tags: Leadership General, Finding Fulfillment

Denomination: Christian/Church Of Christ

For Goodness' Sake  PRO

Contributed by Sermon Central on Jan 27, 2003

FOR GOODNESS’ SAKE "Starting next year, high school and college students in Thailand will reportedly be graded not just on academics, but on ’goodness’ as well. Concerned that the competitive education system puts too much emphasis on materialism and not enough on morality, officials told the ...read more

Tags: Christian Love, Christian Values, Love Of The Disciples

St. Patrick: A Brief History

Contributed by Sermon Central on Mar 10, 2003

ST. PATRICK, A BRIEF HISTORY The uncontested, if somewhat unspecific, biographical facts about Patrick are as follows: Patrick was born Patricius somewhere in Roman Britain to a relatively wealthy family. He was not religious as a youth and, in fact, claims to have practically renounced the faith ...read more

Tags: God In The Hardships, Great Commission, Sharing My Testimony

The Following True Story Is From The Life Of ...  PRO

Contributed by Charles R. Swindoll on Sep 29, 2004

The following true story is from the life of Louis XIV of France: One Sunday when he and his royal party arrived at church, no one was there except Archbishop Fenelon, the court preacher. Surprised to see all the vacant seats, the King inquired, "Where is everybody?" Why isn’t anyone else present ...read more

Tags: Church Purpose Of, Church Practices

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

Robert Moffatt, A Scottish Missionary To Africa, ...

Contributed by Terry Barnhill on Nov 6, 2006

Robert Moffatt, a Scottish missionary to Africa, returned to England to recruit young men for the missionary field. He was greeted by the fury of a cold British winter. Arriving at the church where he was to speak, he noted only a small group had braved the elements to hear his appeal. What ...read more

Denomination: Presbyterian/Reformed

Surely This Is What Jesus Meant When He Said, ...

Contributed by John Tung on Apr 25, 2007

Surely this is what Jesus meant when he said, when he said in Jn. 14:12 (slide) “I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing. He will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father.” Jesus didn’t go to China, but our church has sent missions ...read more

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

Words, Just Words  PRO

Contributed by Sermon Central on Jun 18, 2007

Words, just words I was reading the other day. The famous American author, Samuel Clement, Mark Twain, attended a Sunday service. He met the preacher at the door afterward to shake his hand. And he told him that he had a book at home with every word he had preached that morning. The minister ...read more

Scripture: 2 Thessalonians 3:7

Tags: Evangelism How To

I Received This Email In Response To The ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Jun 18, 2007

I received this email in response to the Virginia Tech shooting. It’s from the WorldNetDaily. Speakers at the Virginia Tech convocation yesterday called on Allah and Buddha in their efforts to minister to the survivors, family and friends of victims of the shooting massacre at the school – but ...read more

Tags: Satan

Action Speaks Louder

Contributed by Christian Cheong on Aug 27, 2007

ACTION SPEAKS LOUDER A minister was being shown through a large weaving mill where one of his parishioners worked. Mentioning that particular employee to the foreman, the pastor said, "I suppose that John is one of your best workers." The foreman responded, ’No, I’m sorry to say he isn’t. The ...read more

Denomination: Independent/Bible

Submission Is A Two-Way Street

Contributed by Timothy Smith on May 3, 2008

SUBMISSION IS A TWO-WAY STREET Several years ago, while ministering in Florida, I was about to speak in chapel for our Church’s preschool, and my wife was supposed to lead singing. But it was time to start and Deb was on the phone, and I became impatient. So, when I went out to the auditorium, our ...read more

Tags: Marriage Obligations

Denomination: Christian Church

Words Do Things

Contributed by Sermon Central on Dec 28, 2008

Words Do Things One poet tells how a certain man who had performed a heroic act found it impossible to tell his friends about it for a lack of words to describe it. But there was a witness to the event whom the poet refers to as having been "afflicted with the necessary magic of words." He told ...read more

Tags: Heart

You Didn't Get Him From Here

Contributed by Sermon Central on Jan 13, 2009

"YOU DIDN’T GET HIM FROM HERE" One Sunday morning a stranger wandered into a small country church in the middle of the sermon. The man was unkempt and dirty. The usher tried his best to seat him off in a far corner, but instead the man walked to the very first pew and sat directly in front of the ...read more

Tags: Church Purpose Of

Two Kinds Of Giving

Contributed by T D on Dec 28, 2010

TWO KINDS OF GIVING I have witnessed in my years of ministry people come to church and when they do not like a decision of the leadership or the minister, they decide to stop giving as a protest or decide to shift their giving to missions in order to inflict pain on the ministry of the church. ...read more

Tags: Giving General

Denomination: Evangelical Free

Church Conflict

Contributed by Sermon Central on Jan 16, 2011

CHURCH CONFLICT In Winchester, Ohio there’s a church called the Bethlehem Church of Christ. It’s been in existence for over 150 years, and over the years different events have been recorded in their “history” book. One of their recent ministers was reading back over the different entries in this ...read more

Scripture: Numbers 16:1-41

Tags: Divisions

Hope In The Storm  PRO

Contributed by Sermon Central on May 14, 2012

HOPE IN THE STORM Fresh out of Oxford, John Wesley was perplexed over England's complicated social problems: slavery, economic uncertainties, corruption, drunkenness, gambling, and prostitution. This deeply religious, sensitive soul became a parish minister and, subsequently, a missionary to ...read more

Tags: Security

Faith In Tragedy: Luther Bridges  PRO

Contributed by Sermon Central on Jul 24, 2012

FAITH IN TRAGEDY: LUTHER BRIDGES A Methodist preacher by the name of Luther Bridges was born in 1884. He married and had 3 sons. Pastor Bridges accepted an invitation to minister at a conference in Kentucky in the year 1910, so he left his family in the care of his father-in-law & made the trip to ...read more

Scripture: Job 1:20-21

Tags: Trials And Difficulties

The Devil Never Takes A Day Off

Contributed by J Jeffrey Smead on Aug 7, 2023

Not long ago, ... a minister shared... a conversation ...he had ... with one of his ...parishioners. He said that one day ... a church member ... called him up on the telephone, ... and angrily said ... I phoned you Saturday, ... but I could not get you. The pastor explained that it was his day ...read more

Scripture: Hebrews 4:9-10, Mark 2:23-28, Exodus 34:21, Matthew 11:28

Tags: Sabbath, Rest

Denomination: Anglican

God With Us

Contributed by Edward Hardee on Dec 2, 2024

I started out by describing a song that I had been singing all week long. (I used Leaning on the Everlasting Arms but you can use any song). I spent about 5 - 7 minutes giving all the details of the song. The author, the beat, where it is used at, who sung the song, etc. I keep the title ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 1:23, Philippians 2:5-11

Tags: Emmanuel, Immanuel, God With Us

Denomination: Church Of God

For Most Of His Life, Hudson Taylor Was Haunted ...  PRO

Contributed by Sermon Central on Nov 19, 2002

For most of his life, Hudson Taylor was haunted and depressed both by his desire to see the Chinese saved and his fear of responsibility. In many instances, he trusted God for what at the time were remarkable requests: In 1881, he asked for another 70 missionaries within three years, and he got 76. ...read more

Tags: Discipleship, Workplace Evangelism