In Sermon Illustrations: "Parable Great Banquet"

In Or Out Of The Fort?

Contributed by Sermon Central on Jul 23, 2008

IN OR OUT OF THE FORT? One of the things I find really neat about this area is all of the forts. You have Fort Morgan, all the Forts over at Pensacola NAS. We have had forts all over this country since the day the Pilgrims first landed, up to right now. Some were made of wood, stone, brick and ...read more

Tags: Church Purpose Of

Spiritual Problem—spiritual Cure

Contributed by Michael Mccartney on Sep 2, 2008

Spiritual Problem--Spiritual Cure I picked up a recent book which I received from the AACC Convention called "Caring for People God's Way." The book is written by three people Tim Clinton, Archibald Hart and George Ohlschlager. The book is considered a new guide for Christian Counseling and is ...read more

Tags: Peace

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

Pass Your Wisdom

Contributed by Charles Whitmire on Sep 28, 2008

Pass Your Wisdom You and I are supposed to be passing wisdom to each other... Here's the good news - every one of you can do that! Every one of you has the potential to pass on wisdom: To help someone grow, to help inspire someone, to champion someone ...to add value to their life. Every one of ...read more

Tags: Encouragement

Denomination: Baptist

Rocky

Contributed by Aubrey Vaughan on Dec 12, 2008

ROCKY One of the biggest movies of modern times, "Rocky" starring Sylvester Stallone, almost never got made. Stallone was struggling to find work as a screenwriter. He saw a fight against Ali and little-known Church Wepner. Wepner went 15 rounds, and it gave Stallone an idea. Three days later, ...read more

Tags: Cross

Denomination: Baptist

Dumpster-Diving God  PRO

Contributed by Sermon Central on Dec 28, 2008

DUMPSTER-DIVING GOD Being from the South, David Slaigle loves ribs. He remembered hearing about this particular restaurant that had amazing ribs, and a bunch of his friends and him drove 50 minutes to get there. The place was packed, and the food was great. It was "all you can eat rib night," and ...read more

Tags: Christmas

Richest Man In Town

Contributed by Sermon Central on Feb 16, 2009

RICHEST MAN IN TOWN In 1972, a young Egyptian businessman named Farahat lost an $11,000 watch. He was stunned when a garbage man dressed in filthy rags found it and returned it to him. Farahat asked him why he didn’t just keep the watch. The garbage man said, "My Christ told me to be honest until ...read more

Tags: Christian Witness

De-Evangelizing The Neighborhood

Contributed by Sermon Central on Aug 3, 2022

A few years ago I heard a story of a church that looked as though they were really thriving. They had about 500 people attending, had many outreach ministries reaching their community, and many people were coming to Christ and to church through their ministry. The problem was that the church was ...read more

Scripture: Hebrews 10:24-25

Tags: Fellowship, Community, Small Groups

Powerful Prayer Delivered To The Kansas State Senate

Contributed by Dr. Larry Petton on Dec 22, 2022

This prayer was delivered on January 23, 1996 by the Rev. Joe Wright in Kansas. It was said that most of those in attendance were outraged and some walked out. Without a doubt, it is a blunt and direct indictment on modern culture. Within just a few weeks, the Central Christian Church, where ...read more

Scripture: Jeremiah 33:3, 2 Chronicles 7:14

Tags: Politicians, America, Prayer, Revival, Repentance, Holiness, Government, Sin  (view more)  (view less)

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

Evidence For The Resurrection Is Reliable And True

Contributed by Timothy Lueking on Apr 3, 2023

It was the middle of the 1800s and a man by the name of Simon Greenleaf was teaching a class on evidence of law at Harvard University. Greenleaf was considered by many to be the greatest expert on evidence of law the world has ever known. He had been praised for his knowledge and when it comes to ...read more

Scripture: 1 Corinthians 15:3-8, 1 Corinthians 15:12-20, Matthew 28:1-10, 1 Peter 1:3

Tags: Reliability Of Truth, Jesus The Risen Savior, Easter, Resurrection, Evidence  (view more)  (view less)

Denomination: Christian/Church Of Christ

Extraordinary Impact Through Simple Acts Of Kindness

Contributed by Martin Spoelstra on Apr 13, 2025

In March 2020, as the COVID-19 pandemic intensified, Joanne Turner, a 56-year-old customer service representative at the Real Canadian Superstore in Kelowna, British Columbia, encountered a situation that called for compassion beyond her job description. During one of her shifts, Joanne received ...read more

Scripture: Philippians 2:6-7

Tags: Humility, Kindness, Impact, Serving

Denomination: Presbyterian/Reformed

How The Philippian Jailer Got Saved - Crisis

Contributed by Rick Crandall on Oct 2, 2025

How the Philippian jailer got saved - Crisis This Philippian jailer was saved! He was saved by God's grace through faith in Jesus Christ. And if you have never trusted in the Lord, He wants to save you the same way. But let's take a closer look at how the Lord touched the jailer's ...read more

Scripture: Acts 16:16-34

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

Denomination: Baptist

A Young Pastor Learns About Rural ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Jun 8, 2010

A Young Pastor Learns About Rural Ministry How I learned about the heartbeat of a good shepherd and how difficult it is to lead and herd sheep. This personal story is drawn from my ministry time in Grygla, Mn. It was my first pastorate – I had just recently graduated from North Central Bible ...read more

Scripture: John 10:1-21

Tags: Pastors

June 16, 2006--Planned Parenthood Celebration ...  PRO

Contributed by Sermon Central on Feb 13, 2009

June 16, 2006--Planned Parenthood Celebration Jolted by Abortion Survivor, by Ted Harvey, assistant minority leader, Colorado House She sings the anthem to applause, then her secret is revealed to stunned silence. I want to share with you an awesome experience I had in the Colorado House of ...read more

Scripture: Psalm 139:13-14

Tags: New, Peace, Abortion, Courage, Repentance  (view more)  (view less)

Scooping Up Manna

Contributed by Paul Davidson on Jan 27, 2021

I wrote the following poem titled “Scooping Up Manna” on March 3rd, 2011 as an entry in my private journal during a time of great internal struggle and turmoil over whether or not I would choose to be obedient to follow after God. This poem is based on the Biblical account found in Numbers ...read more

Scripture: Joshua 1:9

Tags: Sacrifice, Obedience, Purpose, Meaning, Regret, Struggle  (view more)  (view less)

Denomination: Baptist

Adopted By Christ  PRO

Contributed by Bruce Howell on Jul 9, 2001

Illus.: “Adopted by Christ” John was born into a family of 12 children. They were very poor. He was the youngest. He never remembered his father eating a meal with the rest of the family. He had to work long hours to feed his family. One day his father ran off with another woman, leaving his ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 15:11-20

Tags: Beauty, Ashes, Children, God's Provision, Trinity  (view more)  (view less)

Denomination: Wesleyan

Worship In Spirit And In Truth, By Leann Gabel ...  PRO

Contributed by A. Todd Coget on Aug 3, 2001

[Worship in Spirit and in Truth, by Leann Gabel of Amarillo, TX] In Jesus’ encounter with the Samaritan woman, it didn’t take long before their conversation turned to worship. I would guess that was as hot a topic then as it is today. The woman’s question was sincere, "I know there are two ways to ...read more

Scripture: Nehemiah 1:5

Tags: Church Practices, Bible Truth, Holy Spirit General, Woman At Well

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

Imagine A Group Of People Coming To Your Home And ...  PRO

Contributed by Sermon Central on Jan 27, 2002

Imagine a group of people coming to your home and interrupting your Twinkie-eating, TV-watching routine with an urgent message: “Good News! We’re from the United States Olympic Committee. We have been looking for someone to run the marathon in the next Olympics. We have statistics on every person ...read more

Scripture: Acts 20:24, 1 Corinthians 9:24, 2 Timothy 4:7, Hebrews 12:1, James 1:1-4  (view more)  (view less)

Tags: Race, Disciplines, Discipleship

I Recently Heard About A Doctor Who Seemed To ...  PRO

Contributed by Cameron Horsburgh on Feb 1, 2002

I recently heard about a doctor who seemed to have had a huge amount of success as a GP. Whilst he only had a small number of patients on his books, they all stayed in remarkable health. A journalist heard about this doctor, and decided to pay him a visit. Now this journalist, a man by the name of ...read more

Scripture: Luke 5:29-32, 2 Chronicles 7:14

Tags: God Brings Hope

Denomination: Holiness

His Name Is Bill. He Has Wild Hair, Wears A ...  PRO

Contributed by James Westervelt on Feb 5, 2002

His name is Bill. He has wild hair, wears a T-shirt with holes in it, jeans and no shoes. This was literally his wardrobe for his entire four years of college. He is intelligent. Kind of esoteric and very, very bright. He became a Christian while attending college. Across the street from the ...read more

Scripture: 1 Timothy 2:1-15, 1 Timothy 2:10, Philippians 2:5-10

Tags: Evangelism, Brotherhood, Body Of Christ, Christian Love, Compassion, Humility, Grace, Outreach, Welcome  (view more)  (view less)

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

I Needed My Past" - Keith Miller – "Habitations ...  PRO

Contributed by Gary Regazzoli on May 10, 2002

“I Needed my past” - Keith Miller – “Habitations of Dragons” I’ll never forget Alice’s face. We were in a small group of adults, and were getting acquainted by going around the room, each of us telling something about our childhood. One older lady had had a good many disappointments and seemed ...read more

Denomination: Christian Church