In Sermon Illustrations: "Parable Talents"

Please Come Back  PRO

Contributed by Sermon Central on May 6, 2011

"PLEASE COME BACK" Max Lucado tells us about a girl named Christina. She lives in a small dusty village in Brazil. She’s bored. She feels like her strict parents have cheated her out of the joys of life. She longs for the excitement of the big city of Rio. One morning her mother Maria finds ...read more

Scripture: Luke 15:11-32, Mark 4:1-9

Tags: Parable Prodigal Son, Parable Sower And Seed

A Discerning Commentator (Alexander Maclaren) ...

Contributed by Owen Bourgaize on Jul 28, 2005

A discerning commentator (Alexander Maclaren) writes: “The Parable of the Sower is both history and prophecy. It tells Christ’s ...read more

Tags: Parable Sower And Seed

Denomination: Baptist

One Day I Was Seeking To Emphasize To A Christian ...  PRO

Contributed by Davon Huss on Apr 23, 2001

One day I was seeking to emphasize to a Christian Brother the intimacy of this union. We happened to be drinking tea together, so I took a lump of sugar and stirred it into my tea. A couple of minutes later I asked, “Can you tell me where the sugar is now, and where’s the tea?” “No,” he said, ...read more

Tags: Discipleship, Parable General

Denomination: Christian/Church Of Christ

Philip Yancey Relates How A Professor Virginia ...  PRO

Contributed by Matthew Rogers on Jan 7, 2002

Philip Yancey relates how a professor Virginia Stem Owens assigned the Sermon on the Mount to her composition class at Texas A&M University. She asked her students to write a short essay on this passage of Scripture. Here is what one student wrote: “The things asked in this sermon are absurd. To ...read more

Tags: Adultery, Parable General

Denomination: Christian/Church Of Christ

Haddon Robinson Says It Best, "With Him The Calf ...  PRO

Contributed by Lisa Degrenia on Oct 7, 2002

Haddon Robinson says it best, "With Him the calf is always the fatted calf; the robe is always the best robe; the joy is always unspeakable; and the peace passes understanding. There is no grudging in God’s goodness. He does not measure His goodness by drops like a druggist filling a ...read more

Scripture: Ephesians 1:7, Psalm 31:19, Luke 11:13

Tags: Parable Prodigal Son

Denomination: Methodist

And He Was Changed  PRO

Contributed by Sermon Central on Sep 11, 2004

AND HE WAS CHANGED In 1918, a notorious criminal named Tokichi Ichii was sentenced to hang. While in prison in Tokyo, he was sent a New Testament by two missionaries, Miss West and Miss McDonald. After a visit from Miss West, he began to read the story of Jesus’ and crucifixion. When he reached ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 13:1-23

Tags: Parable Sower And Seed

What Kind Of Soil Will The Word Find?  PRO

Contributed by Sermon Central on Sep 12, 2004

WHAT KIND OF SOIL WILL THE WORD FIND? The following story speaks about the kind of soil the Word of God might find. Which woman would you be? Two women were hired by a man to make custom-tailored dresses for his clothing store. They were told that not only would they be paid a flat hourly wage ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 13:1-23

Tags: Parable Sower And Seed

The Strangle-Hold Of Wealth  PRO

Contributed by Sermon Central on Sep 12, 2004

THE STRANGLE-HOLD OF WEALTH There was an article in the Wednesday, June 26, 2002 issue of the Colorado Springs Gazette by Michelle Singletary titled “How Much is Enough in the Pursuit of Money?” She began by writing about Karen Hughes, counselor to President Bush, who decided to leave the White ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 13:1-23

Tags: Parable Sower And Seed

A Little More  PRO

Contributed by Sermon Central on Sep 12, 2004

A LITTLE MORE An interesting article appeared in the Wall Street Journal. It was an interview of six top executives, all of them making six-figure salaries. That means that they made somewhere between $100,000 and $1 million a year. Now you are probably thinking , “If I made even $100,000 a ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 13:1-23

Tags: Parable Sower And Seed

Just A Little Silver  PRO

Contributed by Sermon Central on Sep 12, 2004

JUST A LITTLE SILVER There’s an old fable about a miserable rich man who went to visit a rabbi. The rabbi took the rich man by the hand and led him to a window. "Look out there," he said. The rich man looked into the street. "What do you see?" asked the rabbi. "I see men, women, and children," ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 13:1-23

Tags: Parable Sower And Seed

Planting A Donut  PRO

Contributed by Sermon Central on Sep 12, 2004

PLANTING A DONUT When Watching the Krispy Kreme Donut machine, or as I like to call it the “Dream Machine,” I noticed something that made me very upset. At the end of the conveyer they were throwing away a bunch of the donuts. Let me describe the machine. First there is the dough plopper that ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 13:1-23, Matthew 13:1-23

Tags: Parable Sower And Seed

A Cow Gets Lost  PRO

Contributed by Sermon Central on Sep 12, 2004

A COW GETS LOST Mike Yaconelli writes in The Wittenburg Door: I live in a small, rural community. There are lots of cattle ranches around here, and every once in a while a cow wanders off and gets lost.... Ask a rancher how a cow gets lost, and chances are he will reply, “Well, the cow starts ...read more

Scripture: Luke 8:4-15

Tags: Parable Lost Sheep

Too Afraid To Plant  PRO

Contributed by Sermon Central on Sep 12, 2004

TOO AFRAID TO PLANT A Georgia farmer, ragged and barefooted, was standing on the steps of his tumbledown shack. A stranger stopped for a drink of water and just to pass the time of day he asked: "How is your cotton coming along?" he asked. "Ain’t got none," replied the farmer. "Did you plant ...read more

Scripture: Luke 8:4-15

Tags: Parable Sower And Seed

The Four Soils: A Physical Illustration  PRO

Contributed by Sermon Central on Sep 12, 2004

THE FOUR SOILS: A PHYSICAL ILLUSTRATION (The following physical illustration is taken from “Heno Head’s Simple Science Object Talks.” If you decide use it, take note that you need to carefully measure out how much baking soda you use, and how much vinegar you place in each jar. Since we have ...read more

Scripture: Luke 8:4-15

Tags: Parable Sower And Seed

A Neighbor On The Other Side Of The World  PRO

Contributed by Sermon Central on Oct 26, 2004

A NEIGHBOR ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THE WORLD Pastor David Jeremiah tells a story about Bob Pierce. Pierce had advanced leukemia. But he went to visit a friend in Indonesia before he died. As they were walking through a small village, they came upon a young girl lying on a bamboo mat next to a river. ...read more

Scripture: Luke 10:25-37

Tags: Parable Good Samaritan

When The Great American Storyteller Mark Twain ...  PRO

Contributed by Samuel Stone on Nov 22, 2004

When the great American storyteller Mark Twain was asked, “Who do you think is the best storyteller every lived?” Mark twain answered, “Jesus Christ.” “Then which story is the greatest ...read more

Tags: Parable Prodigal Son

Denomination: Presbyterian/Reformed

Too Afraid To Plant  PRO

Contributed by Sermon Central on Jan 19, 2005

TOO AFRAID TO PLANT A Georgia farmer, ragged and barefooted, was standing on the steps of his tumbledown shack. A stranger stopped for a drink of water and just to pass the time of day he asked: "How is your cotton coming along?" he asked. "Ain’t got none," replied the farmer. "Did you plant ...read more

Scripture: Mark 4:1-20

Tags: Parable Sower And Seed

Choking The Word Of Life

Contributed by Sermon Central on Jan 19, 2005

CHOKING THE WORD OF LIFE Unless we know the difference between flowers and weeds, we are not fit to take care of a garden. It is not enough to have truth planted in our minds. We must learn and labor to keep the ground clear of thorns and briars, follies and perversities, which have a wicked ...read more

Scripture: Mark 4:1-20

Tags: Parable Sower And Seed

It Was The End Of The Autumn Season, Past ...  PRO

Contributed by Tim Zingale on Jan 24, 2005

It was the end of the autumn season, past bulb-planting time. The greenhouse operator had gathered all the unsold tulip bulbs and, finding that these leftovers were mostly in inferior anyway, was bagging them for the trash bin. The good ones had been sold, so he wasn’t concerned about the loss of ...read more

Tags: Death, Parable General

Denomination: Lutheran

Dishonesty Is A Trait That Never ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Jun 18, 2007

Illustration: Dishonesty is a trait that never works well for the long haul. There was a man who came home drunk and not wanting to fuss with his wife he snuck up the stairs quietly. He looked in the bathroom mirror and bandaged the bumps and bruises he’d received in a fight earlier that night. He ...read more

Scripture: James 1:22-25

Tags: Parable Shrewd Manager