In Sermon Illustrations: "nearness" showing 721-740 of 1,476

One Woman Called Her Flight Agent To Book A ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Nov 6, 2008

One woman called her flight agent to book a flight to New York. She said, "I want to go and see the wonders of Hippopotamus, New York; please book me a flight from Dallas." The agent said, "I'm sorry Madame, but there is no such city. Perhaps you want Albany or Syracuse?" After ten minutes the ...read more

Tags: Encouragement

Father More Anxious To Find Boy

Contributed by Sermon Central on Dec 12, 2008

Father More Anxious To Find Boy One Sunday night D. L. Moody preached in a big circus tent near the Columbian Exposition in Chicago from the text, "The Son of man is come to seek and to save the lost." After he had finished, a little boy was brought to the platform by an officer who had found the ...read more

Tags: Becoming A Christian

Father More Anxious To Find Boy

Contributed by Sermon Central on Dec 27, 2008

Father More Anxious To Find Boy One Sunday night D. L. Moody preached in a big circus tent near the Columbian Exposition in Chicago from the text, "The Son of man is come to seek and to save the lost." After he had finished, a little boy was brought to the platform by an officer who had found the ...read more

Tags: Becoming A Christian

Shaping The Stone Down Here

Contributed by Sermon Central on Feb 12, 2009

SHAPING THE STONE DOWN HERE A famous evangelist told the following incident: I have a friend who in a time of business recession lost his job, a sizable fortune, and his beautiful home. To add to his sorrow, his precious wife died; yet he tenaciously held to his faith -- the only thing he had ...read more

Tags: Disciples

Dancing With God

Contributed by Anne Benefield on Mar 5, 2009

DANCING WITH GOD One of my very favorite stories is told by Gertrud Mueller Nelson in To Dance with God: Family Ritual and Community Celebration. It’s the first thing she says at the beginning of Chapter 1: "Some years ago, I spent an afternoon caught up in a piece of sewing I was doing. The ...read more

Tags: Discovery

Denomination: Presbyterian/Reformed

George Sweeting, In His Book The No-Guilt Guide ...

Contributed by Bobby Scobey on Sep 29, 2009

George Sweeting, in his book The No-Guilt Guide for Witnessing, tells of a man by the name of John Currier who in 1949 was found guilty of murder and sentenced to life in prison. Later he was transferred and paroled to work on a farm near Nashville, Tennessee. In 1968, Currier’s sentence was ...read more

Tags: Freedom, Evangelism Urgency

Denomination: Pentecostal

Painter Andrew Wyeth's Understanding Of What ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Dec 3, 2009

Painter Andrew Wyeth’s Understanding of What Doesn’t Show on the Canvas Helps Him Better Draw What Does Andrew Wyeth painted picture of General Lafayette’s quarters near Chadds Ford, Pa., with a sycamore tree behind the building. When his brother first saw the painting, Andrew wasn’t finished with ...read more

Scripture: Psalm 23:1-6

Tags: God's Sovereign Will

Why So ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Dec 15, 2009

“Why so Cheerful?” On a train to Liverpool a Christian worker found himself in a crowded compartment seated near two soldiers, one a private, and the other a sergeant in his middle thirties. The private was a young lad, ruddy and open of countenance. The Christian worker’s heart went out to the ...read more

Scripture: Habakkuk 3:18

Tags: Joy

Poem: I Met A Traveler From An Antigue Land By ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on May 30, 2010

Poem: I Met A Traveler From an Antigue Land by Percy Bysshe Shelley In 1818, Percy Bysshe Shelley published a poem on the ephemeral nature of human kings and political powers: I MET A TRAVELER FROM AN ANTIQUE LAND I met a traveler from an antique land Who said: Two vast and trunkless legs of ...read more

Scripture: John 18:33-38

Tags: Truth

The Joy Of Citizenship

Contributed by Jason Bonnicksen on Mar 15, 2011

THE JOY OF CITIZENSHIP Arnold Schwarzenegger once said: "As long as I live, I will never forget that day 21 years ago when I raised my hand and took the oath of citizenship. Do you know how proud I was? I was so proud that I walked around with an American flag around my shoulders all day long." ...read more

Scripture: Ephesians 2:17-22

Tags: Kingdom Of God

Denomination: Lutheran

Thelma And Louise: Rethinking The Trip

Contributed by Larry Wilson on Aug 9, 2011

THELMA AND LOUISE: RETHINKING THE TRIP Thelma, married to Darryl (which the film portrays as a controlling husband) and Louise (a single waitress with a troubled past) decide to take a weekend road trip in Louise’s teal 1966 Thunderbird convertible. They stop at a bar where Thelma flirts with a ...read more

Tags: Self

Denomination: Baptist

Know The Problem

Contributed by Ronald Franklin on Dec 28, 2012

Dr. Herbert Jackson was a missionary to the Philippines. He tells a story about something that happened to him when he was just getting started on the mission field. He was given a car that wouldn't start without a push, so he quickly devised different ways of getting that car started without him ...read more

Tags: Sanctification

Denomination: Baptist

Pushing The Outhouse  PRO

Contributed by Perry Greene on Dec 10, 2013

PUSHING THE OUTHOUSE A young boy lived in the country. His family had to use an outhouse, which the young boy hated. It was hot in the summer, cold in the winter, and always smelly. The outhouse was located near the creek so the boy decided that he would push it into the water. After a spring ...read more

Scripture: Luke 18:9-14, John 8:1-11

Tags: Repentance, Discipline, Consequences, Outhouse

Denomination: Christian/Church Of Christ

The Virgin Birth

Contributed by Davon Huss on Dec 17, 2014

M.R. DeHaan- From a beginningless eternity Jesus was the infinite Son of God, one of the three persons of the trinity, equal with God the Father and the Holy Spirit. And then when the time for the payment of redemption’s price came, Jesus left the glories of the Father’s house, laid aside the form ...read more

Scripture: Philippians 2:6-8

Tags: Incarnation, Virgin Birth, Christ's Incarnation, Christmas Meaning

Denomination: Christian/Church Of Christ

Get In The Barrel

Contributed by Ron Freeman, Evangelist on Oct 18, 2017

A man was type rope walking across Niagara Falls. As he made his first attempt, it seemed like the draft from the falls would pull him down. With some struggle, he got to the other side and returned. A crowd began to gather. He asked: "how many of you believe I can take this wheel barrel across and ...read more

Scripture: 1 Corinthians 10:1-4, Exodus 14:29-30

Tags: Faith, Obedience, Red Sea, Dry Land, Lord Saved Israel, Lord Destroyed Egypt, True Faith Trust God  (view more)  (view less)

Denomination: Christian/Church Of Christ

The Vine

Contributed by Michael E. Bartee Sr. on Oct 19, 2018

When I was growing up I was one of six children. Our house was very small, only four rooms. And without any of the convieniences most houses had in those days. We did not have a bathroom,running water, or a furnace. There were two boys, about my age, that lived close by. In my mind they were ...read more

Scripture: John 5:15

Tags: Trusting God, Faith In Christ

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

God's Doing Something

Contributed by Steve Kinnard on Feb 14, 2019

GOD IS DOING SOMETHING Gas Station Business Card A few years ago, I was impressed of God to design a business card that had a picture of hell on the front with the words “GET OUT OF HELL FREE” on the back I placed Salvation Scriptures. I was driving to work early one morning and nearing my exit, ...read more

Scripture: Mark 10:27

Tags: Obedience, Unexpected

Denomination: Pentecostal

Keeping The Main Thing The Main Thing!

Contributed by Dr. Larry Petton on Jan 2, 2023

It was a 99-degree September day in San Antonio, Texas, when a woman accidentally locked her 10-month-old baby inside a parked car. Frantically the mother ran around the auto in near hysteria, while a neighbor attempted to unlock the car with a clothes hanger. Soon the infant was turning purple ...read more

Tags: Priorities, Distractions, Little Things, Heroes, Evangelism, Vision  (view more)  (view less)

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

Semper Fi - Forever Faithful

Contributed by Dr. Larry Petton on Feb 12, 2023

One of the most tragic events during the Reagan Presidency was the Sunday morning terrorist bombing of the Marine barracks in Beirut, in which hundreds of Americans were killed or wounded as they slept. Many of us can still recall the terrible scenes as the dazed survivors worked to dig out their ...read more

Scripture: Galatians 5:22-23

Tags: Holy Spirit, Commitment, Faithfulness, Fruit Of The Spirit, Works Of The Flesh, Spirit Filled Life  (view more)  (view less)

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

In A Seminary Missions Class, Herbert Jackson ...  PRO

Contributed by William Jewett on Nov 2, 2000

In a seminary missions class, Herbert Jackson told how, as a new missionary, he was assigned a car that would not start without a push. After pondering his problem, he devised a plan. He went to the school near his home, got permission to take some children out of class, and had them push his car ...read more

Tags: God's Omnipotence, Prayer How To

Denomination: *other