In Sermon Illustrations: "Parable Of The Lost Son"

A Young Boy Was Driving A Hayrack Down The Road ...  PRO

Contributed by Michael Mccartney on Feb 11, 2003

A young boy was driving a hayrack down the road when the wagon fell over in front of a farmer’s house. The farmer came out, saw the young boy crying and said, "Son, don’t worry about this, we can fix it. Right now dinner’s ready. Why don’t you come in and eat with us and then I’ll help you put the ...read more

Tags: Fear And Worry

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

Many Years Ago, When We Had Dug Our Potatoes, We ...  PRO

Contributed by Wade Martin Hughes, Sr on Jul 31, 2003

Many years ago, when we had dug our potatoes, we laid the potatoes on the ground and washed them. We let them dry in the sun, and then my two little sons started putting the potatoes in bags for storage. We counted the potatoes to nine, then Joshua was to pick the biggest potato he saw and place it ...read more

Tags: Giving General

Denomination: Assembly Of God

Years Ago, I Heard A Story About A Preacher Who ...  PRO

Contributed by Christian Cheong on Aug 29, 2001

Years ago, I heard a story about a preacher who went to a small town to preach a series of gospel sermons. His attempt was to evangelize that little town. He preached for two weeks. During the whole time, only one little girl responded to the invitation at the end of one of his sermons. She ...read more

Scripture: Hebrews 11:13

Tags: God's Omniscience, Faith General, Evangelism Fear Of

Denomination: Independent/Bible

Audience With The President  PRO

Contributed by John Williams Iii on Apr 12, 2002

AUDIENCE WITH THE PRESIDENT Following the Civil War, a dejected confederate soldier was sitting outside the grounds of the White House. A young boy approached him and inquired why he was so sad. The solider related how he had repeatedly tried to see President Lincoln to tell him why he was ...read more

Tags: Divinity Of Christ, Cross Agony

Denomination: United Methodist

Real Treasure  PRO

Contributed by Richard Goble on Dec 30, 2007

Real Treasure An old farmer who was about to die called his two sons to his bedside and said, "My boys, my farm and the fields are yours in equal shares. I leave you a little ready money but the bulk of my wealth is hidden somewhere in the ground, not more than eighteen inches from the surface. I ...read more

Denomination: Baptist

Holidays Get Interesting Don't They? They Bring ...

Contributed by Jim Kane on Jan 7, 2008

Holidays get interesting don’t they? They bring out the best in people and they also, unfortunately, bring out the worst in people. I’ll have you determine which is true in the following story. The day before Thanksgiving an elderly man in Phoenix called his son in New York and said to him, "I hate ...read more

Tags: Family, Manipulation

Denomination: Church Of God

Rescued Twice

Contributed by Garris Hudson on Oct 23, 2022

A wealthy English family once invited friends to spend some time at their beautiful estate. The happy gathering was almost plunged into a terrible tragedy on the first day. When the children went swimming, one of them got into deep water and was drowning. Fortunately, the gardener heard the others ...read more

Scripture: 1 Corinthians 6:19-20, Galatians 1:4

Tags: Salvation, Miracle, Sovereignty Of God, Rescued

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

Gary Smalley's Daughter Carrie Came To Him One ...

Contributed by Davon Huss on Jan 25, 2010

Gary Smalley’s daughter Carrie came to him one day and said, “Dad, I know that you love us and I know that you love Michael (one of his sons), but you are always picking on Michael, you are constantly criticizing Michael. Dad, what you are doing is like someone who is locked in a room and someone ...read more

Scripture: 1 Thessalonians 5:11

Tags: Encouragement

Denomination: Christian/Church Of Christ

My Daddy Is Here!  PRO

Contributed by Sermon Central on Aug 6, 2010

MY DADDY IS HERE! David Elkind, a psychologist, tells the story of visiting his middle son's nursery school class, at the request of his teacher. She wanted him to observe a "problem child" in the class. While he was there, he caught a conversation between his son and some other boys. There ...read more

Scripture: Ephesians 6:1-4

Tags: Father's Day

Finishing The Race

Contributed by Chris Supper on Nov 3, 2010

FINISHING THE RACE August 1992. Derrick Redmond from Great Britain was favored to win the 400-meter race during the summer Olympic Games in Barcelona, Spain, but as he powered around the backstretch, his hamstring snapped. Redmond tried desperately to finish the race, but he still had half the ...read more

Tags: Endurance

Denomination: Baptist

Surprise Gift

Contributed by Sermon Central on Apr 15, 2011

SURPRISE GIFT When Gabriel Hurles turned six a couple of years ago (January 2009), he was so focused on eating his birthday cake, that he hardly noticed the giant package in the corner of the room. When another child pointed out the large gift, Gabriel ran over and began to tear off the wrapping. ...read more

Scripture: John 1:14

Tags: Christmas

Not If Jesus Is Like Dad  PRO

Contributed by Sermon Central on Aug 21, 2011

NOT IF JESUS IS LIKE DAD Some months ago I heard a touching story about a humble, consecrated pastor whose young son had become very ill. After the boy had undergone an exhaustive series of tests, the father was told the shocking news that his son had a terminal illness. The youngster had accepted ...read more

Scripture: John 14:1-3

Tags: Father's Day

4 Spiritual Crises

Contributed by Garris Hudson on Jan 19, 2014

FOUR SPIRITUAL CRISES The spiritual experience of Abraham was marked by four great crises, each of which involved a surrender of something dear. These were: (1) LEAVE YOUR COUNTRY AND FAMILY (Gen 12:1 Mt 10:34-39 2Cor 6:14-18) - Is God asking you to go somewhere away from home, family and ...read more

Scripture: Genesis 22:1-14

Tags: Faith, Abraham, Trial, Crisis

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

It's In Your Hands

Contributed by Garris Hudson on Apr 18, 2017

A young student in China decided to play a trick on his elderly teacher one day. He caught a small bird and cupped it in his hands behind his back. He then approached the sage with this plan in mind. He would ask the old man what he had in his hand. If he answered correctly, he would then ask ...read more

Scripture: Joshua 24:15

Tags: Eternity, Decision, Commitment, Salvation

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

Charlie Browns Christmas--The Clip Is When Linus ...  PRO

Contributed by Brice Early on Nov 30, 2005

Charlie Browns Christmas--The clip is when Linus and Charlie brown are standing by the cement wall and Charlie Brown talks about how Christmas causes him to be depressed and how he doesn’t look forward to it. The draw is that not everyone looks forward to Christmas and the holidays. When the ...read more

Scripture: Daniel 3:14-25

Tags: God In The Hardships

Denomination: Methodist

Charlie Brown Is Struggling With Christmas. He ...  PRO

Contributed by Dan Waite on Dec 1, 2005

Charlie Brown is struggling with Christmas. He can’t get the kids to do the program correctly. He’s adopted a puny tree which causes the other kids to ridicule him. When it seems like all is lost, Linus takes the stage and quotes the Christmas story from Luke 2. Just when it seems that Israel ...read more

Tags: Christmas

Denomination: Free Methodist

Charles Spurgeon Had This To Say About Pride: ...  PRO

Contributed by Robert Leroe on Jul 10, 2002

Charles Spurgeon had this to say about pride: “O you self-righteous people, how can you talk about being saved? What saving do you want? You are as full of good works as you can be and your pride shines—how can you be saved? Those who are saved by Jesus are those who are in themselves lost, ...read more

Tags: Humility, Temptation Pride

Denomination: Congregational

There Was A Little Town Called Flagstaff. The ...  PRO

Contributed by Sermon Central on Jun 6, 2003

There was a little town called Flagstaff. The town was to be flooded because of a dam that would make a large lake. As the battle over the dam and flooding proceeded the citizens were sure that they had lost their battle. All improvements and repairs in the whole town were stopped. What was the ...read more

We Need Not Fear Acknowledging The Darkness ...

Contributed by Isaac Butterworth on Feb 20, 2004

We need not fear acknowledging the darkness within us. If you have read Dante’s Divine Comedy, you will remember that Dante described himself as being lost in the dark woods. After a while, he looked up and saw Paradise brilliantly crowning the crest of a nearby mountain. As you and I might have ...read more

Tags: Sin Bondage To

Denomination: Presbyterian/Reformed

It's Been Many Years Since I Played Golf, But I ...  PRO

Contributed by Charles Salmon on Apr 12, 2004

It’s been many years since I played golf, but I remember an incident that occurred when I was playing with some other preachers. I hit a tee shot and lost track of the ball. I was pretty sure it went into the rough and went there looking for it. As I searched, another golfer yelled from the ...read more

Tags: Easter Resurrection

Denomination: Christian/Church Of Christ