In Sermon Illustrations: "One Line Sermons"

When The Railroads Were First Introduced To The ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Jan 28, 2009

When the railroads were first introduced to the U.S., some folks feared that they’d be the downfall of the nation! Here’s an excerpt from a letter to then President Jackson dated January 31, 1829: "As you may know, Mr. President, 'railroad' carriages are pulled at the enormous speed of 15 miles ...read more

Tags: God's Sovereign Will

Helped Him ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Mar 24, 2009

HELPED HIM CRY Author and lecturer Leo Buscaglia once talked about a contest he was asked to judge. The purpose of the contest was to find the most caring child. The winner was a four-year-old child whose next-door neighbor was an elderly gentleman who had recently lost his wife. Upon seeing the ...read more

Scripture: Colossians 3:12

Tags: Compassion

Stones: Throw, Stumble Or Climb ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Apr 9, 2009

STONES: THROW, STUMBLE OR CLIMB OVER This week, I read a common-sense statement by William Andrew Ward about the way we live together in our world: "We can choose to throw stones, to stumble on them, to climb over them, or to build with them." The first three choices (throwing, stumbling and ...read more

Tags: Trials And Difficulties

Spit On The ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Apr 28, 2009

SPIT ON THE PICTURE When North Korea fell to the Communists, all the Christians in a small village were ordered to go at once to their church. The building was plain and simple, and the people had placed a picture of Christ on the wall. When the soldiers walked in, they took it down and put it on ...read more

Scripture: Revelation 2:13

Tags: Persecution

Discerning God's ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Jul 13, 2009

DISCERNING GOD’S WILL George Mueller’s recommended method for discerning God’s will: 1. Have no will of your own in the matter. (Mark 14:36) 2. Seek the will of God in direct connection with the Word of God (Psalm 119:33-35) 3. Circumstances will agree with the Word of God (Judges 6:36-40) 4. Ask ...read more

Scripture: Romans 12:2

Tags: Prayer Answered

Treasure In Christ, But "Out Of Gas"  PRO

Contributed by Sermon Central on Jul 13, 2009

TREASURE IN CHRIST, BUT "OUT OF GAS" Several years ago, on New Year’s Day, a beautiful float in the Tournament of Roses parade suddenly sputtered and quit. It was out of gas. The whole parade was held up until someone could get a can of gas. The amusing thing was this float represented the ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 6:19-20

Tags: God's Provision

George Whitfield's Sense Of Urgency In Preaching ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Oct 26, 2009

George Whitfield’s Sense of Urgency in Preaching the Gospel "It should bless our hearts to see people turn to Christ, but it should also break our hearts when they turn away. George Whitfield often had to stop preaching because he broke into tears. When someone suggested that he should control ...read more

Scripture: Revelation 10:1-11

Tags: Evangelism, Evangelism Urgency

Elderly Woman Bitter For 50 ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Nov 23, 2009

Elderly Woman Bitter for 50 Years Ray Stedman- A woman in her 80’s told me that, fifty years before, her aunt had said something insulting to her, and this woman had never forgiven her. 50 years later she could recount the event to the precise detail, and she felt all the same bitterness, anger, ...read more

Scripture: Hebrews 12:14-15

Tags: Bitterness

Charlemagne's Final ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on May 26, 2010

Charlemagne’s Final Communication In 1000 AD, 186 years after the death of Emperor Charlemagne, officials of the Emperor Otto re-opened Charlemagne’s tomb. Before them was an extraordinary sight. In the midst of all the finery buried with him—the gold, the jewels, the priceless treasure—there was ...read more

Scripture: Mark 8:34-38

Tags: Riches, Worldliness

God's Word And Daniel Webster

Contributed by Sermon Central on Jun 9, 2010

GOD'S WORD AND DANIEL WEBSTER Daniel Webster testified: "If there be anything in my style or thoughts to be commended, the credit is due to my kind parents for instilling into my mind an early love for the Scriptures. From the time that, at my mother's feet or on my father's knee, I learned to ...read more

Scripture: 2 Timothy 3:14-17

Tags: Bible Influence

C.s. Lewis On God's Love

Contributed by Sermon Central on Jul 30, 2010

C.S. LEWIS ON GOD'S LOVE C. S. Lewis described God’s love like this: "God, who needs nothing, loves into existence wholly superfluous creations in order that He may love and perfect them. He creates the universe, already foreseeing—or should we say ‘seeing’?—the buzzing cloud of flies about the ...read more

Scripture: John 3:16-17

Tags: God's Love

The Love Of God On An Asylum Wall

Contributed by Sermon Central on Apr 2, 2011

THE LOVE OF GOD ON AN ASYLUM WALL Pencilled on the wall of a narrow room of an asylum were these familiar words: "Could we with ink the ocean fill, And were the skies of parchment made; Were every stalk on earth a quill, And every man a scribe by trade; To write the love of God above Would drain ...read more

Scripture: Romans 5:6-8

Tags: God's Love

How To Be Liked By Your Peers

Contributed by Sermon Central on Apr 30, 2012

HOW TO BE LIKED BY YOUR PEERS ScienceDaily (Apr. 16, 2010) — People who pursue happiness through material possessions are liked less by their peers than people who pursue happiness through life experiences, according to a new study...The "take home" message in his most recent study, which appears ...read more

Scripture: Mark 8:34-38

Tags: Materialism

Foster: Five Percent Spirituality

Contributed by Sermon Central on May 2, 2012

FOSTER: FIVE PERCENT SPIRITUALITY Richard Foster writes this: Many of us live in a kind of inner apartheid. We segregate out a small corner of pious activities and then make no spiritual sense out of the rest of our lives. We become so accustomed to this way of living that we fail to see the ...read more

Scripture: 1 Corinthians 10:31

Tags: Christian Disciplines

Hudson Taylor's Example

Contributed by Sermon Central on May 1, 2013

HUDSON TAYLOR'S EXAMPLE Years ago the communist government in China commissioned an author to write a biography of Hudson Taylor with the purpose of distorting the facts and presenting him in a bad light. They wanted to discredit the name of this consecrated missionary of the gospel. As the author ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 5:14-16

Tags: Christian Witness

Drive-Thru Fellowship  PRO

Contributed by Sermon Central on Feb 21, 2014

DRIVE-THRU FELLOWSHIP This week I read a story about a pastor traveling with a Brazilian seminary student. Along the way the pastor asked the student if he would like to stop for a cup of coffee. The student said, "I would be honored." So he swung into a Starbucks, went through the drive-thru. ...read more

Scripture: Acts 2:42-47

Tags: Fellowship, Sharing Life

Cheeful Giver

Contributed by Rev. Duraimony Dickson on Nov 20, 2020

A missionary in Africa was preaching his first sermon in a mission church. When time came for the offering, the people danced their offerings forward. They danced and sang praise to God as they brought their offerings to the altar. For they were “coming before God's presence with ...read more

Scripture: 2 Corinthians 9:7

Tags: Cheerful Giving, Dancing

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

Funnnnny Story About Temptation!

Contributed by Garris Hudson on Jan 8, 2024

A driver tucked this note under the windshield wiper of his automobile for a police officer to read. "I've circled this block for 20 minutes. I'm late for an appointment, and if I don't park here, I'll lose my job. Forgive us our trespasses." When he came back, the ...read more

Scripture: James 1:10-15

Tags: Tests, Trials, Police Officers, Drivers, Sin, Lust, Temptation, Excuses  (view more)  (view less)

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

There Were 15 In Sunday School -- Counting Jesus

Contributed by Rick Crandall on Oct 3, 2025

A little girl returning from Sunday School was asked by her grandmother how many had been in her class that day. And she replied, "There were 15 of us, -- Counting Jesus." *Rejoice in the Lord, Christians! He is here with us, and in us this morning. And Jesus wants to change our lives ...read more

Scripture: Acts 16:16-34

Tags: Evangelism, Paul, Salvation, Missions, Silas, Crisis, Christian Service, Philippian Jailer, Demon Possession, Spiritual Transformation  (view more)  (view less)

Denomination: Baptist

Buttprints In The Sand  PRO

Contributed by Sermon Central on Mar 22, 2004

Buttprints in the Sand One night, I had a wondrous dream; One set of footprints there was seen. The footprints of my precious Lord, But mine were not along the shore. But then some stranger prints appeared, And I asked the Lord, "What have we here?" "Those prints are large and round and neat, But, ...read more

Tags: Growth, Servanthood, Service, Spiritual