In Sermon Illustrations: "Parable Rich Fool"

Built By Grace  PRO

Contributed by Sermon Central on Oct 19, 2004

BUILT BY GRACE Years ago, late on a stormy night in Philadelphia, an elderly couple walked wearily into a hotel. They approached the night clerk at the desk and practically begged him for a room. Apparently there were three conventions in town, and every hotel was filled to capacity. "Are there ...read more

Scripture: Luke 14:12-24, Luke 19:11-26

Tags: Grace, Parable Great Banquet

Who's The Guy With George

Contributed by Sermon Central on Oct 19, 2004

WHO’S THE GUY WITH GEORGE George had a friend with an inflated opinion of himself. As a friend should, George decided to help his friend lose this quirk. Subtly, George mentioned that he knew Johnny Carson. The friend said, "Oh, yeah, prove it." In a few minutes, they were in front of a large ...read more

Scripture: Luke 14:12-24

Tags: Parable Great Banquet, Humility

Persistent, Tenacious Prayer  PRO

Contributed by Sermon Central on Nov 1, 2004

PERSISTENT, TENACIOUS PRAYER Our praying should be like the story of Jacob wrestling the angel in Genesis 32. They wrestled all night and toward morning, Jacob had the angel in a full Nelson grip. The angel said, “Jacob, let me go.” Now, I think it was like WWF, it was a fixed fight. The mighty ...read more

Scripture: Revelation 10:1, Luke 18:1-8

Tags: Prayer Persistence, Parable Widow

Unanswered Prayer  PRO

Contributed by Sermon Central on Nov 1, 2004

UNANSWERED PRAYER Cable television tycoon Ted Turner has often been quoted as being critical of fundamentalist Christianity. Turner made some very revealing remarks at a banquet in Orlando, Fla., in 1990, where he was given an award by the American Humanist Association for his work on behalf of ...read more

Scripture: Luke 18:1-8

Tags: Parable Widow, Prayer Persistence

Being Heard By The Judge  PRO

Contributed by Sermon Central on Nov 1, 2004

BEING HEARD BY THE JUDGE To understand the story of the persistent widow, we need to understand its New Testament setting, Wiersbe describes it this way, “The courtroom was not a fine building but a tent that was moved from place to place as the judge covered his circuit. The judge, not the law, ...read more

Scripture: Luke 18:1-8

Tags: Parable Widow, Prayer Persistence

Begging The Governor

Contributed by Sermon Central on Nov 1, 2004

BEGGING THE GOVERNOR The story of a Danish noblewoman, Baroness Blixen, was made known in the movie "Out Of Africa." She lived in Kenya as the owner of a large Coffee plantation. There was a tribe known as the Kikuyu tribe that Blixen had grown to love. Some of the Kikuyu lived on a part of the ...read more

Scripture: Luke 18:1-8

Tags: Parable Widow, Prayer Persistence

The Purpose Of The Light  PRO

Contributed by Sermon Central on Jan 19, 2005

THE PURPOSE OF THE LIGHT "There is an old story about a lighthouse keeper who worked on a rocky stretch of coastline. Once a month he would receive a new supply of oil to keep the light burning so that ships could safely sail near the rocky coast. One night, though, a woman from a nearby village ...read more

Scripture: Mark 4:1-35

Tags: Parable General, Giving Yourself

A Man Was Preaching To A Church In Australia. ...  PRO

Contributed by Sermon Central on Jun 18, 2007

A man was preaching to a church in Australia. The congregation had big black Bibles and severe expressions... And they knew their Bibles, and were proud of that. It was a smallish group, so he decided to engage them in dialogue: ’Who knows who the Pharisees were?’ They did. ’The Pharisees got a ...read more

Tags: Parable Pharisee, Jesus The Light

Robert Robinson Had Been Saved Out Of A ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Jun 18, 2007

Robert Robinson had been saved out of a tempestuous life of sin through George Whitfield’s ministry in England. Shortly after that, at the age of twenty-three, Robinson wrote the hymn Come, Thou Fount. Come, Thou Fount of ev’ry blessing, Streams of mercy, never ceasing, Call for songs of loudest ...read more

Tags: Stubbornness, Parable Prodigal Son

So If The Kingdom Of Heaven Is So Valuable, Why ...  PRO

Contributed by Sermon Central on Jun 18, 2007

So if the kingdom of heaven is so valuable, why doesn’t everybody do everything they can to be a part of it? I think it’s because value is often in the eye of the beholder. What has value and what doesn’t is really up to personal interpretation. What some people think are valuable have no value at ...read more

Scripture: Ephesians 3:1-12

Tags: Fig Tree, Parable General

College Students Fail To Be Good ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Oct 22, 2009

College Students Fail to be Good Samaritans Real compassion looks beyond the faults of people to see the pain beneath it all and to see the hunger in people’s hearts. In research done by Darley and Batson at Princeton in 1973, a group of theology students was told that they were to go across ...read more

Scripture: Luke 10:25-37

Tags: Samaritan, Parable Good Samaritan

Hannah And Michael: Finding What Was Lost  PRO

Contributed by Sermon Central on Jun 1, 2011

HANNAH AND MICHAEL: FINDING WHAT WAS LOST Let me tell you what happened to Ted Forbes back in 1984. While walking down a street in Chicago...Ted found a wallet. Being an honest Christian man he wanted to return it to its owner. So he opened it to look for identification. The wallet contained just ...read more

Scripture: Luke 15:8-10, Luke 15:11-32, 1 Corinthians 13:8, John 17:1-26

Tags: Love, Parable Lost Coin

Is Your Name In The Bible?--The Case Of A New ...  PRO

Contributed by Sermon Central on May 5, 2012

IS YOUR NAME IN THE BIBLE?--THE CASE OF A NEW YORK CITY BAG LADY Years ago, there was a bag lady in New York City who attended a preaching service at a Manhattan Rescue Mission. Afterwards in the line to receive soup, she mentioned to the preacher she was now ready to give her life to Jesus. She ...read more

Scripture: Luke 15:1-7

Tags: Sunday, Parable Lost Sheep

A Teacher With Morals

Contributed by Sermon Central on Jun 8, 2013

A TEACHER WITH MORALS It's a true story; only the names have been changed to protect the embarrassed. Little Tommy attended first grade Sunday School faithfully. He loved his teacher, Mrs. Smith. Mrs. Smith told great Bible stories, and she would always end the story by saying, "And, boys and ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 13:1-23

Tags: Morality, Parable Sower And Seed

Unsung Heroines-The "sinful Woman" At Simon's House

Contributed by Jonathan Spurlock on Aug 4, 2022

Introduction: We don’t know her name, or much of anything else about her, except for one incident where she’s featured. What she did, and to whom, qualifies her to be an unsung heroine! Text: Luke 7:36-39, KJV: 36 And one of the Pharisees desired him that he would eat with him. And he went into ...read more

Scripture: Luke 7:36-50

Tags: Forgiveness, Parables, Unsung Heroines

Denomination: Baptist

False Alarm

Contributed by Ed Vasicek on Jul 27, 2020

July 24 2020 (UPI) -- A British police department said officers responding to a report of a "large apex predator" -- a black panther -- in a public park arrived to find the supposed dangerous animal was only a stuffed toy. Hors The department said the officers who arrived at the scene ...read more

Scripture: Psalm 6:1-10

Tags: Fear, Worry, False Fears, Worry For Nothing, Fooled  (view more)  (view less)

Denomination: Independent/Bible

Powerful Illustration For A Funeral

Contributed by Dr. Larry Petton on Dec 13, 2022

There is an old story of a king and his clown or “jester” who sometimes said very foolish things. One day the jester had said something so foolish that the king handing him a staff, said to him: “Take this, and keep it till you find a bigger fool than yourself.” “Some years later, the king lay on ...read more

Scripture: Psalm 14:1

Tags: Funerals, Evangelism, Death, Salvation, Lost, Time, Fools  (view more)  (view less)

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

The World Famous Polish Piano Maestro, Ignace ...  PRO

Contributed by Rick Bartosik on May 23, 2001

The world famous Polish piano maestro, Ignace Paderewski, had been invited to appear at one of the great music centers of New York. It was a very formal evening with everyone wearing tuxedos and evening gowns. In the audience was a lady who brought her little boy along for the concert. She thought ...read more

Tags: Parable Talents, God's Omnipotence, Faith

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

Acorn Theology

Contributed by Todd Catteau on Dec 10, 2021

I love fall. I love the cooler weather. I love the changing colors. I love football. I love fall with this exception—raking leaves. I have a big oak tree out in my front hard and it is amazing how many leaves that tree can produce. I was out raking the other day and not only was I amazed at all ...read more

Scripture: Galatians 6:9, 1 Corinthians 15:58

Tags: Patience, Steadfastness, Parable, Endurance, Autumn, Sower, Seed, Parables, Evangelism  (view more)  (view less)

Denomination: Christian/Church Of Christ

I've Fallen, And No One Will Help Me Out!  PRO

Contributed by Christopher Stanley on Aug 30, 2002

I'VE FALLEN, AND NO ONE WILL HELP ME OUT! I was watching The West Wing one day and heard this story from Leo McGarrey, the Chief of Staff. I have adapted it for use in a sermon with The Good Samaritan. A man is walking down the street one day when he falls into a hole. He cries out for help ...read more

Tags: Jesus Teachings, Compassion, Parable Good Samaritan

Denomination: Methodist