In Sermon Illustrations: "No Room At The Inn"

Sooner Or Later Everyone Reads Or Hears About ...  PRO

Contributed by Rodney Buchanan on Jan 5, 2003

Sooner or later everyone reads or hears about Cervantes’ story of Don Quixote. Cervantes is thrown in prison in Seville. Finding himself in the middle of a band of cutthroats he tries to divert them by telling them his story of Don Quixote, the Man of La Mancha. In the story, Quixote pictures ...read more

Tags: Call, God's Provision, Missions, Promises Of God

Denomination: Methodist

A Real Heroine  PRO

Contributed by Sermon Central on Aug 26, 2004

A REAL HEROINE As you walk down the red carpet, a frenzied mob swarms around you, demanding your autograph. The reporters are snapping your picture, nearly blinding you. Every ten feet, a television crew stops you for an interview. Have you just become the hottest newest star? No, you’re at ...read more

Scripture: John 15:14

Tags: Ruth, Christian Disciplines, Endurance

C.s. Lewis Is Portrayed In The Movie Shadowlands ...

Contributed by Michael Mccartney on Apr 19, 2005

C.S. Lewis is portrayed in the movie Shadowlands as a man struggling with doubts about God. Shadowlands is about his life and reveals the awful ordeal he had to go through with his wife dying of cancer: I discovered these thoughts on the internet about this movie: 1. Jack’s grief was intense. His ...read more

Tags: Assurance Of Salvation

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

The Story Is Told That During His College Years, ...

Contributed by Patrick Lublink on Oct 18, 2006

The story is told that during his College years, Samuel Logan Brengle was a brilliant law student who was very gifted in the art of speaking. The Lord called him to the ministry of preaching. After he received his Bachelor of Arts degree, he became a circuit preacher with the Methodist ...read more

Denomination: Salvation Army

Whom God Loves, He Chastens

Contributed by Clark Tanner on May 15, 2009

WHOM GOD LOVES, HE CHASTENS George MacDonald was a 19th century orator and story-writer who C.S. Lewis once called his master as relates to story-telling and relating truth through fantasy. One of MacDonald’s short stories was titled, "The Gifts of the Child Christ." The main character of the ...read more

Tags: God In The Hardships

Denomination: Orthodox

The Story Goes That The Animals At The National ...

Contributed by Mark Eberly on Sep 21, 2009

The story goes that the animals at the National Zoo all got together to play a football. Each animal played the position that was geared to the way it was designed. Since the giraffe had a tall neck to see well, it was the quarterback for the one side. But the defense for the other team was tough ...read more

Tags: Possibilities

Denomination: Church Of God

First Grader Learns That More Is Expected Of Him ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Nov 14, 2009

First Grader Learns That More Is Expected of Him Than When He Was in Kindergarten When they came in the house, Jesus asked them, “What were you arguing about on the road?” But they kept quiet because on the way they had argued about who was the greatest. Sitting down, Jesus said, “If anyone wants ...read more

Scripture: Mark 9:33-35

Tags: Discipleship

We Sing When We Face ...

Contributed by Thomas Cash on Jan 11, 2010

We sing when we face death. Lavena (Beanie) Peters was dying of liver cancer. I was at the hospital with her family, essentially on a deathwatch. Beanie’s pain was excruciating, and the pain medicine kept her in a nearly unconscious state. Others left the room for a moment; only Harriet her ...read more

Tags: Singing Praise, Death Nearness

Denomination: Christian/Church Of Christ

The Modeler And The Modeled

Contributed by Sermon Central on Feb 6, 2010

THE MODELER AND THE MODELED Michael Chesko describes himself as an eccentric mix of engineer, model maker, unofficial cartographer, and most of all, artist. When he was a little boy living in Arizona he would make maps of fictitious landscapes of places like Arizona and then he started to model ...read more

Scripture: 1 Corinthians 12:12

Tags: Church Body Of Christ

Cliff Barrows' Honeymoon ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Mar 21, 2010

Cliff Barrows’ Honeymoon Service Dr. James Dobson wrote a book entitled When God Doesn’t Make Sense, and in his book he shared an illustration that is very applicable to the point being drawn from this particular verse. Take a moment and reflect upon the following story: In 1945, a young ...read more

Scripture: Ecclesiastes 11:6

Tags: Servanthood, God's Sovereignty

Chaplains Give Their Lives To Save Sailors During ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on May 26, 2010

Chaplains Give Their Lives to Save Sailors during World War II On February 3, 1943, the USS Dorchester would become another casualty of World War II. But unlike others before it, what would take place on the upper deck of the Dorchester would become a testament of brotherly love and ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 20:28

Tags: Sacrifice, Heroism

If I Had My Life To Live Over- By Erma ...

Contributed by Michael Mccartney on Jun 3, 2010

IF I HAD MY LIFE TO LIVE OVER- by Erma Bombeck (written after she found out she was dying from cancer). I would have gone to bed when I was sick instead of pretending the earth would go into a holding pattern if I weren't there for the day. I would have burned the pink candle sculpted like a rose ...read more

Tags: Death

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

History Of Spam  PRO

Contributed by Sermon Central on Jun 30, 2010

HISTORY OF SPAM In the 1930s, Jay Hormel noticed that there was some perfectly good, though not necessarily desirable, pork-shoulder meat going to waste in his meat-packing plant. So he, being the entrepreneur that he was, came up with the idea of processing that meat with a little ham and ...read more

Scripture: 1 Kings 17:1-24

Tags: God's Provision

Sing Praise

Contributed by Ray Ellis on Nov 22, 2010

SING PRAISE We can get victory over hardships by singing praise to the Lord. "My mouth is filled with Your praise...all day long." Ps. 71:8 NAS Roger Bennett, pianist and songwriter died in 2007. Prior to his death he wrote on his website: Our enemy stalks us exactly the way the Bible ...read more

Tags: God In The Hardships

Denomination: Free Methodist

When Muller Prayed

Contributed by Dennis Davidson on Jul 10, 2011

WHEN MULLER PRAYED During GEORGE MULLER'S life, he received more than 1,000,000 pounds from the Lord, without advertising - every penny came as an answered prayer. The following story is told by the captain of a ship on which he was traveling. "We had George Muller of Bristol, England on board," ...read more

Tags: Prayer Of Faith

Denomination: Baptist

Poor Man's Philanthropist  PRO

Contributed by Sermon Central on Aug 11, 2011

POOR MAN'S PHILANTHROPIST In 2005, when Thomas Cannon died of colon cancer in a hospital in Richmond, Virginia, he was 79. Thomas described himself a "poor man's philanthropist." When Thomas was three years old, his father died. Once Thomas' mother remarried, the family of six lived in a ...read more

Scripture: 2 Corinthians 9:1-15, 2 Corinthians 9:15

Tags: Giving General

Making Service A Joy

Contributed by David Parks on Sep 2, 2011

MAKING SERVICE A JOY An amusing story was told to me by the manager of a New York hotel. The great Paderewski occupied a suite there a number of years ago during one of his seasons at Carnegie Hall. It was the master’s custom to practice for a couple of hours every morning on the magnificent ...read more

Scripture: 1 Peter 4:9-11

Tags: Servanthood

Denomination: Christian/Church Of Christ

Know The True From The False

Contributed by Mark Stepherson on Feb 23, 2012

KNOW THE TRUE FROM THE FALSE I have heard and read several variations of this story. Some relate it to training bank tellers, some to treasury agents, and some to FBI agents. I don’t know which, if any, is true. The story makes a good point even if none of the stories are true. It is important ...read more

Scripture: 2 Timothy 1:1-14

Tags: Bible Truth

Denomination: Baptist

Not Allowed To Die  PRO

Contributed by Jeff Strite on Apr 22, 2012

NOT ALLOWED TO DIE Back in March of 2008, the mayor of a city in SW France had a problem. It seems his village was running out of space. Not in housing, nor in the retail district, nor even at City Hall. It seems they were running out of space... in the cemetery. There was no room for any more ...read more

Tags: Death

Denomination: Christian/Church Of Christ

Glory To God First

Contributed by Ken Henson on Jun 25, 2012

GLORY TO GOD FIRST A man came to Pastor Chuck, the church that I went to for several years while in California, and he said to the pastor that he wanted to make a large donation - about one million dollar donation. The pastor said to that, "Wow -- that is a lot of money. Let me go first and pray ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 15:21-39

Tags: Principles

Denomination: *other