In Sermon Illustrations: "New Creation"

Raffling A Dead Donkey

Contributed by Ed Vasicek on Jun 13, 2011

RAFFLING A DEAD DONKEY Jean Paul, a Cajun, moved to Texas and bought a donkey from an old farmer for $100. The farmer agreed to deliver the donkey the next day. The next day the farmer drove up and said, "Sorry, but I got some bad news. The donkey died." "Well then, just give me my money ...read more

Tags: Hypocrisy

Denomination: Independent/Bible

Loneliness And Belonging

Contributed by Sermon Central on Jun 16, 2011

LONELINESS AND BELONGING Chip Ingram notes: "In his landmark book Bowling Alone, Robert Putman makes the case that loneliness is America’s new epidemic. People are searching for a place to belong. In the 1970s, it wasn’t uncommon for someone to leave a job that paid well and go off into the woods ...read more

Scripture: Romans 12:3-8

Tags: Suffering Loneliness

Standing In Worship

Contributed by W Pat Cunningham on Jul 9, 2011

STANDING IN WORSHIP Jesus stands in God’s presence--he stands, because he has trodden death and the power of the Evil One underfoot. At the end of this struggle, he is the one who stands upright, the one who remains standing. This standing is also an expression of readiness: Christ is standing ...read more

Tags: Worship General

Denomination: Catholic

Dead To Garlic

Contributed by Curry Pikkaart on Jul 20, 2011

DEAD TO GARLIC The problem is we are so accustomed to sin we do not recognize it's gravity. I once read the news account of the two Lake Worth, Florida, high school boys. They were suspended from school because they ate so much garlic that no one could stand to have them around. They had read ...read more

Tags: Dead To Sin

Denomination: Presbyterian/Reformed

The Inspiration Behind The Statue Of Liberty

Contributed by Sermon Central on Aug 6, 2011

THE INSPIRATION BEHIND THE STATUE OF LIBERTY The Statue Of Liberty has towered above Bedlow Island, near the entrance to New York Harbor, as a symbol of freedom. The famous sculptor, Bartholdi, gave twenty years of devoted effort to the work, personally superintending the raising of the ...read more

Scripture: Proverbs 31:10-31, Proverbs 31:1-27

Tags: Mother's Day

Keeping Up With Next Door  PRO

Contributed by Sermon Central on Aug 8, 2011

KEEPING UP WITH NEXT DOOR I heard about a chicken yard with a big hen house, where a rooster had all of his hens laying eggs. One day, two little boys were next door playing football, with a brand new white football. One of them accidentally kicked the football over the fence, and it rolled into ...read more

Scripture: Ecclesiastes 4:4

Tags: Envy, Successful

The World's Accent  PRO

Contributed by Tim White on Mar 22, 2012

THE WORLD'S ACCENT When I was a boy, my Arkansas cousins moved to California for two years. When they moved back, they talked funny. Just living in California for two years influenced how they said "You guys" and how often they said it. I prefer "Y'all" to "You guys" any day. My cousins promised ...read more

Scripture: James 4:4, Romans 12:2

Tags: Sin Deceptive

Denomination: Baptist

War Horse: Perseverence

Contributed by Paul Barreca on Apr 8, 2012

WAR HORSE: PERSEVERENCE Last week, I watched "War Horse." It's a Steven Spielberg film about a young English boy and his horse. The family is about to lose their farm because dad bought a horse for his son. The father bears a war injury and cannot tend the farm. He spends his last money ...read more

Tags: Tenacity

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

Dream Big: Google's Founders

Contributed by Sermon Central on Apr 18, 2012

DREAM BIG: GOOGLE'S FOUNDERS In 1998, Larry Page and Sergey Brin picked the number one followed by 100 zeroes while they were still graduate students at Stanford University. That number in mathematical terms is called a googol, and that became the name of their new enterprise. Today, Google ...read more

Scripture: Ephesians 3:20-21

Tags: Business And Marketplace

Fear Of Flying?

Contributed by Sermon Central on May 4, 2012

FEAR OF FLYING? A man is sitting in the coach section of a flight from New York to Chicago, biting his fingernails and sweating profusely. Noticing his disturbed expression, a flight attendant walks over and says, "Sir, can I get you something from the bar to calm you down?" The man gives a nod ...read more

Scripture: 1 Timothy 3:3

Tags: Alcohol

Historical Impact Of The Word Of God

Contributed by Sermon Central on May 28, 2012

HISTORICAL IMPACT OF THE WORD OF GOD In every genuine revival among God’s people the revealed word of the Lord has had a large place. It was so in Josiah’s day, and in the awakening under Hezekiah. It has been so throughout the Church period. It was the recovery of the Word that brought about the ...read more

Scripture: Nehemiah 8:1-18

Tags: Bible Influence

The Enduring Frog

Contributed by Ed Vasicek on Jun 13, 2012

THE ENDURING FROG We can flourish and develop in new ways or we can drown in despair. Story from India: One night two frogs found themselves in a dairy. Hopping and jumping around as frogs do they both jumped into a milk pail half full of milk. After swimming around for some time they tried to ...read more

Tags: Endurance

Denomination: Independent/Bible

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

Working Hard To Earn Salvation

Contributed by Tim Smith on Oct 21, 2012

WORKING HARD TO EARN SALVATION United Methodist Bishop Reuben Job writes, "If we are just good enough, do enough, deny ourselves enough, we will be forgiven, redeemed, and reconciled to God. Following this path brings no peace, assurance, or sense of companionship with God. Rather than asking ...read more

Tags: Grace

Denomination: Methodist

Whose Side Are You On?

Contributed by Perry Greene on Mar 20, 2013

WHOSE SIDE ARE YOU ON? One day in 1943 thousands of soldiers were preparing to leave for Europe. The Army, the Navy, and the Marines were preparing to load on the ships. The General decided to have a huge parade through New York City to seek prayer and honor for the men. Many of these brave men ...read more

Tags: Testimonies About Jesus

Denomination: Christian/Church Of Christ

Resurrection Plant

Contributed by Davon Huss on Jan 20, 2014

As a boy I saw an advertisement in a comic book that appealed to my scientific nature. The product being offered for sale was called a "miracle plant." The ad declared that the plant would be dead when received by the purchaser; but when placed in water, it would soon "miraculously" return to ...read more

Scripture: John 3:3-8

Tags: Born Again, Regeneration

Denomination: Christian/Church Of Christ

Don't Just Entertain

Contributed by Davon Huss on Oct 14, 2014

Timothy Paul Jones- With high hopes we had moved to a new youth ministry position. On my first Wednesday evening at this church, I received my first hint that this task might be more difficult than I’d imagined. After a couple of games, I gathered the students for some worship songs. Worship ...read more

Tags: Bible Influence, Delight In God's Word, Neglect Of The Word

Denomination: Christian/Church Of Christ

Community

Contributed by Michael Mccartney on Oct 2, 2015

Dr. B. adds, “Christ desired that his church would be the earthly community of oneness modeled after the eternal community of oneness. Jesus went on to declare that he had provided his followers with everything they needed to bring about this oneness. He prayed, “I have given them the glory that ...read more

Scripture: 1 Corinthians 12:12-27

Tags: Connection, Church Community, Christian Community

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

Do Not Let Others Discourage You

Contributed by Shawn Drake on Apr 18, 2021

Over the last few Wednesdays, we have been studying how to make wise choices in who are your close friends. One of the main points is- To have a close friend, you have to be a close friend. We live in a time where people enjoy destroying other people and leave them discouraged. In our sermon ...read more

Scripture: Acts 18:1-28

Tags: Be The Church, Encourager

Denomination: Baptist

The Truth About The Wizard Of Oz

Contributed by Dr. Larry Petton on Nov 14, 2021

Did you know that “Somewhere Over the Rainbow” was written, not about the mythical Land of Oz but it was about Israel, the homeland of the Jewish people. The lyrics were written by Yip Harburg, the youngest of four children born to Russian-Jewish immigrants. His real name was Isidore Hochberg, ...read more

Tags: Israel, Jewish, Wizard Of Oz

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational