In Sermon Illustrations: "Over Thinking"

Pastor Prays Honestly After Loss Of ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Nov 30, 2009

Pastor Prays Honestly After Loss of Son O The Beauty of Honest prayer (I think God prefers angry honesty vs. flowery fakeness) Heard a story this week of a pastor who lost his precious little son in a tragic accident. Told how he drove the freeways of Los Angeles in the grief of that loss. Said… ...read more

Scripture: 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18

Tags: Death

Time To A Pig

Contributed by Johnny A. Palmer Jr. on Dec 7, 2011

TIME TO A PIG Reminds me of a man who was walking past a farm, and noticed a farmer feeding pigs in a most extraordinary manner. The farmer would lift a pig up to a nearby apple tree, and the pig would eat the apples off the tree directly. The farmer would move the pig from one apple to another ...read more

Tags: Time

Denomination: Baptist

A Parable From A Peanuts Cartoon

Contributed by Dr. Larry Petton on Feb 19, 2022

We need another revival like Pentecost! It will come when walking and working together! As Vance Havner said, “Snowflakes are fragile things, but when they stick together... they can stop traffic!” In a Peanuts cartoon Lucy demanded that Linus change TV channels, threatening him with her fist ...read more

Tags: Unity, Jokes, Cartoons, Church, Holy Spirit, Pentecost, Revival, Humor  (view more)  (view less)

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

Do You Really Believe What You Are Preaching?

Contributed by Dr. Larry Petton on Nov 7, 2022

When Charles Peace (a convicted thief and murderer) was being escorted to the gallows, he was accompanied by a clergyman reading from The Consolations of Religion about the “flames never quenched.” Peace was a known criminal for whom the public had no sympathy; no one can say with confidence the ...read more

Tags: Evangelism, Death, Scripture, Gospel, Truth, Preaching, Witnessing, Last Words, Unbelievers  (view more)  (view less)

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

In Malcolm Gladwell's Book, The Tipping Point: ...  PRO

Contributed by Timothy Smith on Sep 27, 2007

In Malcolm Gladwell’s Book, The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make A Big Difference he tells of a fascinating experiment: “Some years ago two Princeton University psychologists, John Darley and Daniel Batson, decided to conduct a study inspired by the biblical story of the Good Samaritan. ...read more

Denomination: Christian Church

Lieghton Ford Tells This Story Of A Crusade With ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Jun 18, 2007

Lieghton Ford tells this story of a crusade with Billy Gtraham. I was speaking at an open-air crusade in Halifax, Nova Scotia. Billy Graham was to speak the next night and had arrived a day early. He came incognito and sat on the grass at the rear of the crowd. Because he was wearing a hat and dark ...read more

Tags: Evangelism How To

First Of All, What Is A Shepherd And What Does ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Jun 18, 2007

First of all, what is a shepherd and what does he do? I think that Dr. Andrew Bonar, a close friend and biographer of Robert Murray M’Cheyne, says it best when he had this to say to a friend of his about sheep and shepherds. Dr. Andrew Bonar told me how, in the Highlands of Scotland, a sheep would ...read more

Tags: People In Acts

Real ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Jan 5, 2009

REAL LISTENING The story is told of a grandmother, a mother and a little boy--three generations--who went into a restaurant and sat down to order. The waitress took the grandmother’s order, the mother’s order, then turned to the little boy and said, "What would you like?" The mother immediately ...read more

Tags: Leadership Listening

Hannibal The Great Was A Carthaginian Military ...

Contributed by Jeremy Lane on May 15, 2010

Hannibal the great was a Carthaginian military commander around the year 200 B.C. He is thought of as one of the great military leaders of all time, alongside Alexander the Great, Napoleon, and others. There is a story that says as a boy Hannibal begged his father to take him to a war overseas. ...read more

Tags: Happiness, Fighting

Denomination: Independent/Bible

Let The Master Play

Contributed by Revd. Martin Dale on Aug 22, 2010

LET THE MASTER PLAY An organist was practicing one day in a great church in Europe. As he was playing, a man came up to the organ and asked if he could play. The organist looked at him and thought to himself. "I shouldn’t let this man play, just look at him, he is unshaven, his clothes are ...read more

Tags: Arrogance

Denomination: Anglican

I Came Across A Paragraph By An 85 Year Old Woman ...  PRO

Contributed by Melvin Newland on Nov 6, 2001

I came across a paragraph by an 85 year old woman that I think is a classic. Here is what she wrote, "If you live to be 75 years old you will live over 657,000 hours." Did you know that? That’s almost 2/3rds of a million hours that you’re going to live. That’s too much to be anxious about all ...read more

Tags: Guilt, Peace

Denomination: Christian/Church Of Christ

Starting Is The Easy ...

Contributed by Peter Loughman on Mar 31, 2009

STARTING IS THE EASY PART------------------- Katie and I got married a little over 21 years ago. We wanted a simple wedding ceremony, a simple reception - a few friends, some family, a little cake, some punch and that was it. But then, the relatives got involved. Sound familiar? What started out ...read more

Tags: Wedding, Weddings

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

A Refugee For Thanksgiving  PRO

Contributed by Sermon Central on Nov 17, 2002

A REFUGEE FOR THANKSGIVING In her book entitled "It’s Not in the Ministry Manual," Mary Ann Cejka relates a time when her students welcomed a refugee for Thanksgiving dinner one year. The following is an excerpt from this story: , taken from the Fernando did not look like what I thought a ...read more

Tags: Thanksgiving Holiday, Joy, Compassion

Who’s The Clown Now?

Contributed by James Snyder on Nov 5, 2022

As a young person, I was fascinated with clowns. My first encounter was at a circus I attended with my family. The main character in the circus was the clown. When I first saw those clowns, I was scared almost to death. I've never seen anything as scary as those circus clowns. That began my ...read more

Scripture: James 1:19-20

Tags: Humor, Clowns, Circus

Denomination: Christian Missionary Alliance

Precious Grandmother  PRO

Contributed by Sermon Central on May 5, 2003

PRECIOUS GRANDMOTHER “In Charles Colson’s book, Loving God, he tells the story of an incredible ninety-one-year-old woman, known affectionately as Grandma Howell… As she moved into the twilight of her life, she had more than one reason to let depression take over--to just give up and die. Her ...read more

Tags: Mother's Day, Encourage, Encouragement, Giving Yourself, Family  (view more)  (view less)

Meditate On The Lord.

Contributed by Roy Fowler on Sep 18, 2021

Where I was Pastoring at the time I got 5th Sunday off. I had a favorite fishing hole. The water wasn’t very deep so I could wade in the water. That was fun for me. It had big trees that hung over the water and the sun would shine through them and made it look beautiful. It was great, this river ...read more

Scripture: Psalm 1:1-6

Tags: Life Is Rough, God Teaches To Smooth Us

Denomination: Independent/Bible

Morrie: In His Own Words  PRO

Contributed by Don Hawks on Oct 16, 2002

1. Morrie: In His Own Words By Morrie Schwartz: · Learn how to live, and you’ll know how to die. Once you know how to die, you know how to live. · Death ends life, not a relationship. · Dying is only one thing to be sad over. Living unhappily is something else. · Everything that gets born ...read more

Tags: Death Nearness, Fulfillment

Denomination: Methodist

Maybe It's Good News......maybe It's Bad News.

Contributed by Dr. Larry Petton on Oct 15, 2019

Many times we really don’t know what we should specifically pray for. We are not omniscient. We don’t know everything, nor can we see into the future. So we don’t know whether the things we’re asking for will turn out good or bad for us. An old story illustrates: A Chinese gentleman lived on the ...read more

Scripture: Romans 8:28

Tags: Prayer, Will Of God

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

Let’s Look At Two Scenarios About The ...

Contributed by Michael Mccartney on Jan 12, 2010

Let’s look at two scenarios about the importance of actions, or lack of actions and how we impact a person searching for the truth. T.S. - Let’s explore what the church should look like to people who are seeking a spiritual encounter with the Lord. Scenario 1: “The visitor” John and Amanda ...read more

Tags: Church, Church Practices

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

In The Movie "Shawshank Redemption," An Old ...  PRO

Contributed by Timothy Smith on Sep 10, 2005

In the movie “Shawshank Redemption,” an old prisoner, Brooks Handlin, acts unreasonable and threatens to take another prisoner’s life. They find out that the reason Brooks has reacted this way is that he’s scared. Scared because his parole has been approved. You see those outside of Shawshank see ...read more

Scripture: Revelation 21:1-3

Tags: Heaven

Denomination: Christian Church