In Sermon Illustrations: "Old Testament Prophets"

Bees That Sting Also Bring Honey

Contributed by Sermon Central on Feb 1, 2011

BEES THAT STING ALSO BRING HONEY One Saturday morning, a seven-year-old boy was playing in their front-yard garden in the middle of flowers in bloom. He was trying to catch butterflies with his torn net. Suddenly a bee flew to his position buzzing straightway landing on the back of his palm. The ...read more

Scripture: James 1:2-4

Tags: Trials And Difficulties

Knots In Your Life

Contributed by Davon Huss on Feb 21, 2011

KNOTS IN YOUR LIFE The Baxter boys, Paul and John, liked to play in the woods near their home. They like the woods because they always found something they had never seen before. That's the way it was when they discoverd the tree with the knot tied in it. The knot was about halfway up the tree. ...read more

Tags: Parenting

Denomination: Christian/Church Of Christ

Ruby Bridges On Doing What's Right  PRO

Contributed by Sermon Central on Mar 27, 2011

RUBY BRIDGES ON DOING WHAT'S RIGHT "A federal judge had ordered New Orleans to open its public schools to African-American children, and the white parents decided that if they had to let black children in, they would keep their children out. They let it be known that any black children who came to ...read more

Scripture: Deuteronomy 31:1-8

Tags: Racism

Learned Helplessness

Contributed by Sermon Central on Apr 5, 2011

LEARNED HELPLESSNESS Learned Helplessness is a term I came across in my reading this week. It is a technical term originally used in reference to animal psychology but is also appropriately applied to human behavior as well. Learned helplessness describes an animal or a person who has learned to ...read more

Scripture: Jeremiah 29:10-14

Tags: Attitude General

Walk With You  PRO

Contributed by Sermon Central on May 11, 2011

WALK WITH YOU During WW2, two young Jews lived as close friends, (BFFs, we can call them), more than real brothers in a dingy Nazi concentration camp jammed with helpless-hopeless-exhausted-abused Jews. They shared everything, literally everything. One day, one of them felt weak and started to ...read more

Scripture: Proverbs 18:24

Tags: Trials And Difficulties

How Not To Achieve Virtue

Contributed by Michael Walther on Jul 4, 2011

HOW NOT TO ACHIEVE VIRTUE How do we move from vice to virtue? Let me tell you first of all how not to... Even ancient pagans, those who never heard the Bible, recognized that living in vice was deadly and destructive. They were far ahead of our modern culture that is foolishly accepting vices ...read more

Tags: Sin Bondage To

Denomination: Lutheran

I'll Give You My First Paycheck

Contributed by Sermon Central on Aug 4, 2011

I'LL GIVE YOU MY FIRST PAYCHECK Craig C. had been an alcoholic for more than a dozen years. He'd lost everything he had, including his wife and son, due to his selfishness and addiction. Things began to change after he gave his life to Christ, but he still fell regularly into his old habits. It ...read more

Scripture: 1 Peter 1:13-16

Tags: Trust

Mom's Church  PRO

Contributed by Sermon Central on Aug 6, 2011

MOM'S CHURCH Four scholars were arguing over Bible translations. One said he preferred the King James Version because of its beauty, eloquent old English. Another said he preferred the American Standard Bible for its literalism, the way it moves the reader from passage to passage with confident ...read more

Scripture: 2 Timothy 1:5

Tags: Mother's Day

Walking On Water In Los Angeles  PRO

Contributed by Sermon Central on Aug 9, 2011

WALKING ON WATER IN LOS ANGELES [James Bryan Smith, The Good and Beautiful Life (InterVarsity Press, 2010), pp. 131-132 | posted 7/05/2010] In the early 1990s, gang violence erupted in Boyle Heights, a section of East Los Angeles. Eight gangs were in conflict in the parish around the Dolores ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 5:9

Tags: Christian Witness

For The Life Of An Enemy  PRO

Contributed by Derrick Tuper on Feb 14, 2012

FOR THE LIFE OF AN ENEMY A Baptist pastor named Peter Miller was from a small town in Pennsylvania who lived during the American Revolution. And there was another man who lived there named Michael Wittmann, an evil-minded sort who did all that he could to oppose and humiliate the pastor. He made ...read more

Tags: Obedience

Denomination: Christian/Church Of Christ

Miracle Mandy

Contributed by Josh Hunt on Mar 5, 2012

MIRACLE MANDY The doctor told Marsha Mark and her husband they would never have biological children. In their disappointment, Marsha clung to a friend's words: "Somehow, God is going to use your struggle with infertility for his glory." Marsha began to pray for a glimpse of that glory. "I asked ...read more

Scripture: 1 Samuel 1:1-20

Tags: Prayer Answered

Denomination: Baptist

On Habits

Contributed by Josh Hunt on Mar 7, 2012

ON HABITS Someone Once Said... * Thoughts produce acts, acts produce habits, and habits produce character.--Anonymous * If we realize the extent to which we are mere walking bundles of habits, we would give more heed to their own formation.--William James* * First we ...read more

Scripture: Acts 17:2

Tags: Disciplines General

Denomination: Baptist

What Happens At Home

Contributed by Sermon Central on May 2, 2012

WHAT HAPPENS AT HOME Howard Hendricks used to say to us men in seminary preparing to lead churches, "If your Christianity isn't working at home, don't export it." It was his way of saying, "If you can't make your faith work in your own family, then please don't try to make it work in the family of ...read more

Scripture: 1 Timothy 3:4-5

Tags: Parenting

The Master And The Child  PRO

Contributed by Sermon Central on May 17, 2012

THE MASTER AND THE CHILD The folklore surrounding Poland's famous concert pianist and prime minister, Ignace Paderewski, includes a story, which though fictional, provides a true picture of what God can do with us: A mother, wishing to encourage her young son's progress at the piano, bought ...read more

Scripture: James 1:2-4

Tags: God In The Hardships

An Honors Student In Fort Worth, Texas, Was Sent ...  PRO

Contributed by Sermon Central on May 17, 2012

An honors student in Fort Worth, Texas, was sent to the principal's office and punished for telling a classmate that he believes homosexuality is wrong. Holly Pope said she was "absolutely stunned" when she received a telephone call from an assistant principal at Western Hills High School ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 5:10-16

Tags: Persecution

Humorous Definitions  PRO

Contributed by Sermon Central on Aug 2, 2012

HUMOROUS DEFINITIONS Definitions matter. Do you know what these words mean? ABDICATE: To give up all hope of ever having a flat stomach. ADULT: A person who has stopped growing at both ends and is now growing in the middle. ANTIQUE: An item your grandparents bought, your parents got rid of, and ...read more

Scripture: Proverbs 17:22

Tags: Words

Ten Dollars Is Ten Dollars  PRO

Contributed by Sermon Central on Aug 6, 2012

TEN DOLLARS IS TEN DOLLARS A man named Stumpy and his wife Martha went to the state fair every year and every year when Stumpy saw the antique bi-plane he would say, "Martha, I'd like to ride in that airplane." Martha always replied, "I know Stumpy, but that airplane ride costs 10 dollars, and ...read more

Scripture: 1 Peter 3:1-7

Tags: Marriage Struggle

False Messiah—rev. Sun Myung Moon

Contributed by Sermon Central on Aug 10, 2012

FALSE MESSIAH—REV. SUN MYUNG MOON It amazes me how many religions are in stark opposition to Christianity; and they do not even have God as their leader. In fact, they are just empty philosophies being advanced by empty followers. While members of Congress looked on, Rev. Sun Myung Moon declared ...read more

Scripture: 1 John 2:18-29

Tags: Antichrist

Just Didn't Work Right  PRO

Contributed by Rick Boyne on Aug 13, 2012

JUST DIDN'T WORK RIGHT My parents bought my 16 year old daughter her first car, a 1970 VW Beetle. While it was cute and a collector car, it wouldn’t run right. Even though it had been a gift from her grandparents, it cost as much in repairs as a new car would have cost in payments. While it had ...read more

Tags: Dealing With Conflicts

Denomination: Baptist

Given The Farm  PRO

Contributed by Sermon Central on Apr 10, 2014

The story is told of a farmhand who had worked for a married couple for several years. As time went on, the couple grew older and older and they couldn't do as much they had and the farm was beginning to look a little shabby. The paint on the barn was peeling. The fences had holes in them and slats ...read more

Scripture: Romans 8:14-17, Romans 8:14

Tags: Servanthood, Attitude General, Heirs Of God, Co-Heirs With Christ