In Sermon Illustrations: "Not Enough Time"

The Faith Of Cecil B. Demille

Contributed by W F on Jan 10, 2011

THE FAITH OF CECIL B. DEMILLE Cecil B DeMille, the famous Hollywood film director was responsible for a number of famous movies with Biblical themes such as: The King of Kings The Sign of the Cross The Crusades Samson and Delilah The Ten Commandments DeMille was once asked what his finest ...read more

Tags: Workplace Evangelism

Denomination: *other

How Much Land?

Contributed by Sermon Central on May 4, 2011

HOW MUCH LAND? In his 1886 short story "How Much Land Does a Man Need?" Leo Tolstoy shows how a continual desire for more can ultimately cause us to lose everything. The main character of the story is a peasant named Pahóm, who at the beginning can be heard complaining that he does not own ...read more

Scripture: 1 Timothy 6:6-10

Tags: Greed

Mama's Prayers  PRO

Contributed by Sermon Central on Aug 9, 2011

MAMA'S PRAYERS E. V. (Ed) Hill, who pastored Mt. Zion Missionary Baptist Church in Los Angeles, tells the story of how "Mama’s" love and prayers changed his life. During the height of the Depression, Hill’s real mother, who had five children of her own, didn’t have enough food to go around, so ...read more

Scripture: Luke 11:1-13

Tags: Mother's Day

Hybels' Evangelism Formula For Maximum Impact  PRO

Contributed by Sermon Central on May 21, 2012

HYBELS' EVANGELISM FORMULA FOR MAXIMUM IMPACT We call this relational evangelism, and I have spoken of this many times before. It is showing people that we care, it is about building relationships with people who may not know Jesus and in that relationship, bringing them to a place where they can ...read more

Scripture: Luke 5:27-32

Tags: Evangelism How To

Using The Resources You Have  PRO

Contributed by Sermon Central on Sep 18, 2012

USING THE RESOURCES YOU HAVE At 12:55 pm the mayday call crackled through the speakers at the Flight Service Station on Alaska’s Kenai Peninsula. The desperate pilot of a Piper A22, a small single-engine plane, was reporting that he had run out of fuel and was preparing to ditch the aircraft in ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 25:14-30, Ruth 1:1-5

Tags: Grace, Stewardship, Investment, Value, Give Back  (view more)  (view less)

Division In The Church

Contributed by Davon Huss on Sep 6, 2014

Daniel Overdorf- A few years ago I visited a couple in their home. Both husband and wife had lived most of their lives apart from Christ and His church. Their marriage- a second marriage for both- had grown rocky. The 50 year old husband faced a frightening battle with cancer, and neither ...read more

Scripture: John 17:20-23

Tags: Argue, Church Unity, Disunity

Denomination: Christian/Church Of Christ

Servant

Contributed by Ed Sasnett on Mar 27, 2018

Nantucket, Massachusetts is located next to important shipping lanes running along the East Coast. Toward the end of the 1800s, sailing ships were in their heyday. Nantucket Island saw hundreds of vessels passing by each day—all navigating without the advantages of modern technology. Treacherous ...read more

Scripture: 1 Corinthians 9:1-27

Tags: Evangelism, Servant Attitude

Denomination: Baptist

A Lesson From A Damaged Lock

Contributed by Jonathan Spurlock on Nov 20, 2019

Moving from one place to another is always a challenge, no matter how many times you’ve gone through this “process”! My wife and I recently made a move and learned a strange, but interesting lesson—one that was valuable for us, too. As sometimes happens, there is too much stuff and not enough ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 6:19-20

Tags: Theft, Possessions, Worldly Goods

Denomination: Baptist

A Lesson From A Pair Of Mildewed Shoes

Contributed by Jonathan Spurlock on Mar 22, 2020

A number of years ago I received a three-year assignment to Okinawa, Japan, as part of my Air Force experience. Hardly anybody I knew had much knowledge of that part of the world, so we really had no idea what to expect. We were in for a number of surprises! We lived in a motel, basically, for a ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 6:33-34

Tags: Shoes, Life's Problems

Denomination: Baptist

The Wise ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Nov 6, 2008

The Wise Fool There is an old, corny story about the young man who was the first in his family to go to college. In fact, he was the first in his small town to go to college. And so when he came home after his freshman year, he was the apple of his father’s eye. His dad, who had never in his life ...read more

Tags: Wisdom

Ii. Anthony Grew Up In An Italian Bakery In A ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Jun 18, 2007

II. Anthony grew up in an Italian bakery in a mostly Italian neighborhood of New York. His father was the baker, and as long as Anthony could remember he was at work in his father’s business. The sights and sounds of the bakery permeated every aspect of Anthony’s life. The heat of the oven. The ...read more

Tags: Christmas

Spite Fences: Isolation

Contributed by Wade Martin Hughes, Sr on May 4, 2021

THE ISOLATION OF SPITE FENCES… Years ago I build a very close relationship with a pastor in our community. We often visited and had sweet communion together. We would exchange ideas and notes with each other. Our friendship grew. This man pastored a larger church than I did. His church was in ...read more

Scripture: Genesis 2:18, Proverbs 18:24

Tags: Isolation, Seperation

Denomination: Assembly Of God

Unsung Heroines-The "sinful Woman" At Simon's House

Contributed by Jonathan Spurlock on Aug 4, 2022

Introduction: We don’t know her name, or much of anything else about her, except for one incident where she’s featured. What she did, and to whom, qualifies her to be an unsung heroine! Text: Luke 7:36-39, KJV: 36 And one of the Pharisees desired him that he would eat with him. And he went into ...read more

Scripture: Luke 7:36-50

Tags: Forgiveness, Parables, Unsung Heroines

Denomination: Baptist

In His Book, "Just As I Am", Billy Graham Writes ...  PRO

Contributed by Thomas Black on Feb 2, 2005

In his book, "Just As I Am", Billy Graham writes of the following event. "One summer while in New Jersey, I was having lunch at a roadside diner when I was greeted by a big, smiling man whose eyes grew large as he studied me. "Hallelujah!" he shouted, grabbing and pumping my hand. "What an answer ...read more

Tags: Doubt

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

The Difference Between A Fool And Being Full

Contributed by James Snyder on Dec 7, 2019

One thing truly amazing to me is how fast Thanksgiving goes. Here I am in the living room relaxing in my easy chair just one day after Thanksgiving. My ears are still ringing with all the chatter that went on around our Thanksgiving dinner table. It is so beautiful to get together with family to ...read more

Scripture: Proverbs 13:20

Tags: Thanksgiving, Holiday

Denomination: Christian Missionary Alliance

And Then, There It Was

Contributed by James Snyder on May 7, 2022

In getting older, I have discovered, I pay a little more attention to my dietary habits. Or, maybe I should say, The Gracious Mistress of the Parsonage pays more attention to my dietary habits. As we get older, she is more obsessed with vegetables than anything else. But, for the life of me, I ...read more

Scripture: Luke 6:38

Tags: Unity, Cooperation, Cookies

Denomination: Christian Missionary Alliance

Unintentionally Humorous Texts: What Are They Doing Here?

Contributed by Jonathan Spurlock on Apr 3, 2024

Introduction: David had fled to Achish, king of Gath, in the land of the Philistines once before to escape Saul, the king of Israel and his own father-in-law (1 Samuel 21)! Now it’s a few years later and, once again, Saul is chasing David and, again, David fled to Gath. This time, David and his ...read more

Scripture: 1 Samuel 29:1-5

Tags: David, Philistines, Achish

Denomination: Baptist

Boy, Oh Boy, What A Day It Was

Contributed by James Snyder on Sep 27, 2025

Dr. James L. Snyder Throughout my years, I have had many crazy days. I guess it's crazy days that develop character. If so, I have a lot of character. I never had a day quite like last week. Everything seemed to go wrong for me. When we got up, our electricity was off. It had been off for ...read more

Scripture: 1 Corinthians 10:13

Tags: Accident, Scam

Denomination: Christian Missionary Alliance

The Cross At Ground Zero  PRO

Contributed by Sermon Central on Sep 10, 2002

THE CROSS AT GROUND ZERO I’m an excavation laborer, and a member of union local 731. Pick-and-shovel work is my trade. I live in New Jersey, but I’m a New York City native, Brooklyn born and bred. After the Towers collapsed, my city was hurting. When I heard they needed guys like me for ...read more

Tags: God In The Hardships, Promises Of God, Lord's Supper

The Cross At Ground Zero After ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Nov 9, 2009

The Cross at Ground Zero After 9/11 A testimony from a worker at ground zero on 9-11 testifies of God’s transforming power. I’m an excavation laborer, and a member of union local 731. Pick-and-shovel work is my trade. I live in New Jersey, but I’m a New York City native, Brooklyn born and bred. ...read more

Scripture: 2 Corinthians 4:16-17

Tags: Cross