In Sermon Illustrations: "Parable Ten Virgins"

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

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

Leo Tolstoy Once Wrote A Story About A Successful ...

Contributed by Christian Cheong on Mar 9, 2010

Leo Tolstoy once wrote a story about a successful peasant farmer who was not satisfied with his lot. He wanted more of everything. One day he received a novel offer. For $1000, he could buy all the land he could walk around in a day. The only catch in the deal was that he had to be back at his ...read more

Tags: Greed, Parable Rich Fool

Denomination: Independent/Bible

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

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

Because He Came

Contributed by Garris Hudson on Oct 15, 2019

Here are six blessings Paul mentions in Galatians 4:4-7 that flow to us because Christ came. We are redeemed (Gal 4:5a). We are adopted into God’s family (Gal 4:5b). The Holy Spirit now lives within us (Gal 4:6a). We call God Father (Gal ...read more

Scripture: Galatians 4:4-7

Tags: Galatians, The Birth Of Christ, The Virgin Birth, Why Christ Came

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

The Deity Of Christ In Scripture

Contributed by Garris Hudson on Dec 6, 2022

While Jesus was and is a man, He was and is also God. What does the Bible say? • He is omnipresent – Matt, 18:20; Matt. 28:20 • He is omnipotent – Matt. 28:18; Heb. 1:3 1. Over disease – Matt. 4:23 2. Over Satan – Heb. 2:14 3. Over demons – Matt. 8:16 4. Over men – John 17:2 5. ...read more

Tags: Virgin Birth, Deity Of Christ, Two Natures, Christmas, Jesus  (view more)  (view less)

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

The Fear Nots Of The Christmas Story

Contributed by Garris Hudson on Nov 28, 2023

The "fear nots" used in the biblical narratives of the birth of Christ: The "fear not" of SALVATION: "And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings...which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a ...read more

Tags: Virgin Birth, Mary, Messiah, Christmas, Savior, Birth Of Christ  (view more)  (view less)

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

Thou Shalt Not Kill Thy Brother!

Contributed by Garris Hudson on Nov 20, 2022

A Sunday school teacher was discussing the 10 Commandments with her five and six year olds. After explaining the commandment to “honor” thy Father and thy Mother, she asked, “Is there a commandment that teaches us how to treat our brothers and sisters?” Without missing a ...read more

Tags: Children, Murder, Family, Siblings, Ten Commandments, Sisters, Brothers  (view more)  (view less)

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

Four Reasons For Christmas

Contributed by Garris Hudson on Dec 6, 2022

Text: Galatians 4:4 Did you ever wrestled with a problem that didn't exist? The Galatians were wrestling with a problem that had already been solved! What was the problem? The problem was, "What do we do with the Law! The Law was never meant to redeem mankind. Works were never meant to ...read more

Scripture: Galatians 4:4

Tags: Christmas, Bethlehem, Redemption, Virgin Birth, Deity Of Christ, Humanity Of Christ  (view more)  (view less)

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

When He Was Elected To The Baseball Hall Of Fame ...  PRO

Contributed by Bill Harper on Jan 23, 2001

When he was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1984, Harmon Killebrew said, “My father taught me and my brother to play ball in the front yard. One day my mother came out and told him we were ...read more

Scripture: Luke 15:11-32

Tags: Parable Prodigal Son, Parenting, Children

Denomination: Baptist

I Heard About An African-American Who Tried To ...  PRO

Contributed by Sermon Central on Feb 1, 2001

I heard about an African-American who tried to attend a church. Sadly, the church wouldn’t even let him attend a service. The pastor said, "You just need to pray about it." About three weeks later the pastor saw him and asked, "Did you talk to the Lord about it?" The man said, ...read more

Tags: Jesus Teachings, Parable General, Racism