In Sermon Illustrations: "New Years"

John Wesley: Desired Personal Holiness, But Felt ...  PRO

Contributed by Sermon Central on Dec 28, 2008

John Wesley: Desired personal holiness, but felt like a failure. A serious man speaking to John Wesley, "Sir, you wish to serve God and to heaven? Remember that you cannot serve him alone. You must therefore find companions or make them; the Bible knows nothing of solitary religion." Wesley's ...read more

Tags: Church Body Of Christ

Sure ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Jan 28, 2009

SURE DESTINATION I heard about an 83-year-old man who had lived his entire life as a bachelor. One day this man gathered his four nephews and announced that he was planning to be married. His nephews were in shock. One spoke up and said, "Uncle are you getting married because this woman is ...read more

Tags: Salvation

Jesus Loves Me This I Know

Contributed by Bruce Howell on Feb 21, 2009

JESUS LOVES ME THIS I KNOW KARL BARTH was a German theologian who dominated the theology of the 20th century. In 1962, six years before his death, he made his only visit to the United States. One night he lectured at a seminary in Virginia, and after the lecture he met with students in the ...read more

Tags: God's Love

Denomination: Wesleyan

Augustine And The Bible  PRO

Contributed by Bobby Scobey on Mar 3, 2009

AUGUSTINE AND THE BIBLE For 2,000 years the Bible, often unaided by any human intervention, has transformed the lives of those who read it, many times dramatically so. St. Augustine is a good example. For most of his life he was a famed academic in the Roman Empire. He was very successful in ...read more

Scripture: Romans 13:8-19

Tags: Bible Influence

Denomination: Pentecostal

Finishing Well

Contributed by Sermon Central on Mar 17, 2009

FINISHING WELL Dr. J. Robert Clinton, professor at Fuller Seminary, did a study of male leadership in the Bible and determined that only 30% of them finished well. Wow! The odds are against us! Consider also this next example. The World Cup is over. Italy beat France in a shootout, 5-3, in the ...read more

Tags: Christian Witness

How Steinway Pianos Are Crafted

Contributed by Garris Hudson on Nov 14, 2021

THE POUNDER ROOM The Steinway piano has been preferred by keyboard masters such as Rachmaninoff, Horowitz, Cliburn, and Liszt and for good reason. It is a skillfully crafted instrument that produces phenomenal sound. Steinway pianos are built today the same way they were 140 years ago when Henry ...read more

Scripture: 2 Corinthians 4:16-18

Tags: Discipline, Trials, Tests Of Faith

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

Make Room For The Tide!

Contributed by Joshua Blackmon on Mar 12, 2022

"Years ago, a wealthy businessman from London chartered a bus to carry a busload of urban children to the coast. There, the children spent a wonderful day at the ocean. Many of the children had never left the city. Most had never seen the ocean. For one blissful day, they ran unfettered over ...read more

Scripture: Ephesians 5:18

Tags: Make Room, Spirit Filled, Ocean, Full, Tide  (view more)  (view less)

Denomination: Pentecostal

Rescued Twice

Contributed by Garris Hudson on Oct 23, 2022

A wealthy English family once invited friends to spend some time at their beautiful estate. The happy gathering was almost plunged into a terrible tragedy on the first day. When the children went swimming, one of them got into deep water and was drowning. Fortunately, the gardener heard the others ...read more

Scripture: 1 Corinthians 6:19-20, Galatians 1:4

Tags: Salvation, Miracle, Sovereignty Of God, Rescued

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

Staring At The Great Stone Face

Contributed by Garris Hudson on Jan 2, 2023

Perhaps you remember Nathaniel Hawthorne’s story about the great stone face. A little lad lived in a village where there was a mountain with a rock formation which they called the great stone face. The people had a legend that someday someone would come to the village who would look like the ...read more

Scripture: Colossians 3:1-4, Hebrews 12:1-3

Tags: Glory, Jesus, Worship, Vision, Focus, Looking To Jesus  (view more)  (view less)

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

The Dangers Of Toying With Sin

Contributed by Garris Hudson on Mar 12, 2023

Several years ago our family visited Niagara Falls. It was spring, and ice was rushing down the river. As I viewed the large blocks of ice flowing toward the falls, I could see that there were carcasses of dead fish embedded in the ice. Gulls by the score were riding down the river feeding on the ...read more

Scripture: Romans 3:23

Tags: Sin, Salvation, Temptation, Deceit, Sinners, Sin Nature  (view more)  (view less)

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

Carrion Comfort

Contributed by Alison Bucklin on Mar 30, 2023

Not, I’ll not, carrion comfort, Despair, not feast on thee; Not untwist - slack they may be - these last strands of man In me or, most weary, cry I can no more. I can; Can something, hope, wish day come, not choose not to be. But, ah, but O thou terrible, why wouldst thou rude on me Thy wring-world ...read more

Scripture: Genesis 32:22-32

Tags: Purification, Struggle, Trials, Wrestling, Gerard Manley Hopkins  (view more)  (view less)

Denomination: Presbyterian/Reformed

Was Esther Taken Forcefully In Sex Trafficking?

Contributed by Garris Hudson on Aug 21, 2023

"So it came about when the command and decree of the king were heard and many young ladies were gathered to Susa the capital into the custody of Hegai, that Esther was taken to the king’s palace into the custody of Hegai, who was in charge of the women". (Esther 2:8). I’m intrigued by ...read more

Tags: Esther, Rape, Force, Sexual Sins, Sex Trafficking  (view more)  (view less)

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

Traveling With A Pack?

Contributed by Wade Martin Hughes, Sr on Aug 30, 2023

I have several different pairs of glasses. I really focus on one pair. A rose colored pair of glasses makes everything appear rosy. Everything you see will be rosy as we have a rose filter. Years ago I read about a pet dog. The little girl bottle fed the puppy and raised it to adult ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 23:25-26, Romans 12:2

Tags: Change, Paradigm, Attitudes

Denomination: Assembly Of God

Spiritual Maturity

Contributed by Barry O Johnson on Feb 5, 2024

1 Timothy 3:6 - "Not a novice, lest being lifted up with pride he fall into the condemnation of the devil." Recently, a father sat down with his four-year-old son and asked him if he would like the $10 in his right hand or the two Oreo cookies in his left hand. His son immediately chose ...read more

Scripture: 1 Timothy 3:6

Tags: Talent, Maturity, Novice

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

Doctrine Of Atonement

Contributed by John Bright on Mar 1, 2025

We need to have core beliefs that do not change over time – NO MATTER WHAT! The doctrine of atonement is under attack today. It is attacked by folks who look at humans and see each one as basically good who occasionally do bad things. They talk about each person’s freedom to become your ...read more

Scripture: 1 Peter 3:17

Tags: Scripture, Atonement, Authentic, Holy God, Fallen World  (view more)  (view less)

Denomination: Methodist

Wesley Fetter Lane

Contributed by John Bright on Jun 5, 2025

Each year, on May 24, we remember the date in 1738 when John Wesley had his heart “strangely warmed” in the Bible study on Aldersgate Street. I tend to agree with the folks that claim this is the day Wesley became a Believer and after this, he had a great assurance of his salvation. Have you ever ...read more

Scripture: Acts 2:1-4, Galatians 5:22-23

Tags: Power, John Wesley, Aldersgate, Fetter Lane, Holy Spirit  (view more)  (view less)

Denomination: Methodist

Why The Grasshoppers?

Contributed by Wade Martin Hughes, Sr on Jan 3, 2026

THERE WAS A SUCCESSFUL CORN FARMER THAT LEARNS ABOUT THE VALLEY. In the mid-west there was a very successful corn farmer. He grew many acres of corn and made his living by selling corn. One spring he plowed, fertilized and planted hundreds of acres of corn. Later that year a swarm of millions of ...read more

Scripture: Psalm 23:1-5

Tags: Restoration, Valleys

Denomination: Assembly Of God

Resisting A False Culture

Contributed by Martin Spoelstra on Mar 6, 2026

In the late 1980s, the world witnessed the collapse of communist regimes across Eastern Europe. One of the central figures in the Velvet Revolution of Czechoslovakia was Václav Havel. Havel had been a playwright and dissident long before he became president. He spent years imprisoned because ...read more

Scripture: Acts 2:42-47, Colossians 4:2-6

Tags: Culture, Scattered, Resisting, Gathered

Denomination: Presbyterian/Reformed

Sin With A Big S

Contributed by John Bright on Jul 12, 2026

• “If we say that we have no sin,” John is referring to what today we call Sin with a big ‘S’. This is what we call the sin nature within each person; it is a matter of the heart and desires. Paul put it like this in Romans 7:17: “But now, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells in ...read more

Scripture: Romans 7:17, 1 Corinthians 15:3

Tags: Sin, Garden, Weeds, Sin Nature

Denomination: Methodist

One Of The Characters In The Movie, Toy Story, Is ...  PRO

Contributed by Jim Kane on Apr 29, 2001

One of the characters in the movie, Toy Story, is Buzz Lightyear, a new toy to Andy’s room. Buzz is an astronaut, with a lot of neat things attached to him. Buzz comes into the other toys’ lives thinking that there are no other Buzz Lightyears around. He is the only one. Woody, a cowboy toy, and ...read more

Scripture: 2 Corinthians 4:7-10, 2 Corinthians 4:7-18

Tags: Lordship Of Christ, God's Provision, Descriptions Of God

Denomination: Church Of God