In Sermon Illustrations: "Parable"

If He Was Rich…  PRO

Contributed by Jeff Strite on Nov 10, 2002

William Boice once wrote: "-- Dear Lord, I have been re-reading the record of the rich young ruler and his obviously wrong choice. But it has set me thinking. No matter how much wealth he had, he could not - ride in a car, have any surgery, turn on a light, buy penicillin, hear a pipe ...read more

Tags: Money, Parable Rich Fool, Gifts Giving

Denomination: Christian/Church Of Christ

Eye Of The Needle  PRO

Contributed by Dan Cormie on Nov 23, 2002

Ill. – Eye of the needle Jesus was not saying that it is impossible for the rich to be saved. In those days cities were walled and had huge gates, which were open in the day light hours but barred shut at night. If a trader arrived at the city after dark he would not be able to get into the city ...read more

Tags: Becoming A Christian, Kingdom Of God, Parable General

Denomination: Mennonite

In Order Of Importance  PRO

Contributed by Sermon Central on Sep 12, 2004

IN ORDER OF IMPORTANCE After months of working overtime as a financial analyst for a large corporation, I returned home one night at 12:30. As I crawled into bed, my wife awoke. "You’ve got to alphabetize," she commented. "What do you mean?" I ...read more

Scripture: Luke 8:4-15

Tags: Parable Sower And Seed, Idiot, Dumb, Come

The Real Deal?  PRO

Contributed by Sermon Central on Sep 28, 2004

THE REAL DEAL? Reaching the end of a job interview, the Human Resources Person asked a young accountant who was fresh out of school, "What starting salary were you thinking about?" The Accountant said, "In the neighborhood of 100,000 a year, depending on the benefits package." The interviewer ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 20:1-16, Romans 3:20-26

Tags: Parable Vineyard, Grace, Labor Day, Workplace

Pulled To Shore  PRO

Contributed by Sermon Central on Oct 11, 2004

PULLED TO SHORE "Prayer is surrender-surrender to the will of God and cooperation with that will. If I throw out a boat hook from the boat and catch hold of the shore and pull, do I pull the shore to me, or do I pull myself to the shore? Prayer is not pulling God to my will, but the aligning of my ...read more

Scripture: Luke 11:5-13

Tags: Parable General, Prayer Supplication, Prayer General

A Man Of Powerful Prayer  PRO

Contributed by Sermon Central on Oct 11, 2004

A MAN OF POWERFUL PRAYER George Mueller was known for his powerful prayer. In the course of his ministry to the orphans of England, he never asked for financial assistance from men - only God... and he constantly received what was needed to the penny. Once while on his way to speak in Quebec for ...read more

Scripture: Luke 11:1-13

Tags: Parable General, Prayer Supplication, Prayer General

Always Pray And Don't Give Up  PRO

Contributed by Sermon Central on Oct 11, 2004

ALWAYS PRAY AND DON’T GIVE UP Jesus taught that we should “always pray and not give up” · Not because God is hard of hearing · Not because God needs to be pestered into answering our requests · Not because God doesn’t want to answer us NO… Jesus taught us always pray and not give up because, ...read more

Scripture: Luke 11:1-18, 2 Kings 2:9, 1 Samuel 12:23-24, 1 Samuel 12:23-24, 1 Samuel 12:23  (view more)  (view less)

Tags: Prayer General, Prayer Persistence, Parable General

Welcoming Misfits  PRO

Contributed by Sermon Central on Oct 19, 2004

WELCOMING MISFITS Ryan Johnson, minister in Glen Elder, Kansas, shares this story: I was heading north out of Salina, Kansas when I saw him. His name was Charlie. Charles was sitting in the ditch with large army bags. The cold misty rain was drenching him and his bags. He wore his Vietnam ...read more

Scripture: Luke 14:12-24

Tags: Kingdom Of God, Parable Great Banquet, Compassion

Hero In Black  PRO

Contributed by Sermon Central on Oct 26, 2004

HERO IN BLACK Victor Yap tells this story: A few years ago I saw a truck in front of me roaring fiercely about to turn the corner into the freeway ramp. In the driver’s seat of the humongous truck was a man in his late 20s ramming his engine and blasting his stereo. The guy had dark glasses and ...read more

Scripture: Luke 10:25-37

Tags: Compassion, Forgiveness General, Parable Good Samaritan

Throwing A Life Away?  PRO

Contributed by Sermon Central on Oct 26, 2004

THROWING A LIFE AWAY? Lost behind the story of Seabiscuit, the most celebrated racehorse of the 20th century, and the jockey played by Spiderman’s Tobey Macguire was the story of its peculiar trainer, Tom Smith. When the rich man played by Jeff Bridges decided to turn to horse racing, he needed ...read more

Scripture: Luke 10:25-37

Tags: Parable Good Samaritan, Forgiveness General, Compassion

Defining A Neighbor  PRO

Contributed by Sermon Central on Oct 26, 2004

DEFINING A NEIGHBOR It’s been said, "One cannot define one’s neighbor; one can only be a neighbor." Haddon Robinson said, "Your neighbor is anyone whose need you see, whose need you are able to meet." A neighbor is someone who says, "What is mine is God’s and what is God’s belongs to my ...read more

Scripture: Luke 10:25-37

Tags: Compassion, Forgiveness General, Parable Good Samaritan

The Compassionate Catch  PRO

Contributed by Sermon Central on Oct 26, 2004

THE COMPASSIONATE CATCH On Aug. 8, 2004, the Vietnamese community of Westminster, California, celebrated one of the kindest and bravest acts performed by a stranger on them. On Nov. 13, 1985, ninety-six Vietnamese refugees despaired for their lives and their families' lives when the engine of the ...read more

Scripture: Luke 10:25-37

Tags: Parable Good Samaritan, Forgiveness General, Compassion

The Quitters Club  PRO

Contributed by Sermon Central on Nov 1, 2004

THE QUITTERS CLUB One of the largest organizations in America is the Quitters Club. The reason you’ve never heard of the Quitters Club is because they never meet–the members quit coming. There are no dues–the members quit paying them. The Quitters Club is comprised of people who faced a tough ...read more

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

Tags: Parable Widow, Prayer Persistence, Prayer General

The Stats On Prayer  PRO

Contributed by Sermon Central on Nov 1, 2004

THE STATS ON PRAYER A Newsweek poll several years ago titled "Is God Listening?" indicated that 54% of those the magazine surveyed prayed on a daily basis - 25% said they pray to God once a day and 29% more than once a day. 87% believed that God answers their prayers at least some of the time. ...read more

Scripture: Luke 18:1-8

Tags: Parable Widow, Prayer Persistence, Prayer General

Be ...  PRO

Contributed by Joe Bertone on Aug 1, 2012

BE PREPARED A student is taking a class in ornithology, the study of birds, and it’s a very difficult class with a very ornery professor. He walks in for the final, and he thinks he’s studied up for it, but there’s no paper and pencil questions, no little blue books. He looks above the chalkboard ...read more

Scripture: Luke 3:1-6

Tags: Preparation, Prepare, Final, Parable Ten Virgins

Denomination: Christian/Church Of Christ

If ...

Contributed by Joe Bertone on Aug 1, 2012

IF ONLY There was a great Scotch writer and historian in the nineteenth century named Thomas Carlyle. He married a woman, who’d worked as his secretary named Jane Welsh. But Carlyle was dedicated to his writing so he didn’t spend much time with her. He just mostly wrote. At one point she became ...read more

Scripture: James 4:13-17

Tags: Death, Remorse, Parable Ten Virgins, Regret

Denomination: Christian/Church Of Christ

C.s. Lewis On The Difference Between Heaven And Hell  PRO

Contributed by Sermon Central on Feb 11, 2014

LEWIS: THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN HEAVEN AND HELL C. S. Lewis once provided a powerful image of the difference between heaven and hell. He described hungry people sitting at a huge banquet loaded with delicious food. Every person had a meter-long fork and knife attached to their hands (that’s about ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 22:1-14

Tags: Jesus Parables, Wedding Banquet, Heaven And Hell

Things That Happened At Midnight In The Bible

Contributed by Garris Hudson on Mar 12, 2022

"MIDNIGHT" — Did you ever notice how many things in the Bible took place at midnight?   A. It was at midnight that the Lord God passed through Egypt, killed all the firstborn, and brought Israel out of the land of bondage with his mighty hand and stretched out arm (Ex. 11:4; ...read more

Tags: Parables, Lord's Prayer, Persistence, Midnight, Prayer  (view more)  (view less)

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

The Prodigal Son In The Key Of F

Contributed by Garris Hudson on Mar 14, 2022

Feeling footloose and frisky, a foolish fellow forced his father to fork over his fourth of the family farthings and flew far to a foreign field where he fast frittered his father's fortune feasting foolishly with faithless friends. Fleeced by his fellows and folly, and facing famine he found ...read more

Tags: Prodigal Son, Humor, Repentance, Parables, Lost  (view more)  (view less)

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

The Greedy Little Monkey

Contributed by Garris Hudson on Nov 28, 2022

I once heard about how animal catchers used to catch wild monkeys for zoos. I was told that they would set an empty glass pop bottle in an open field with a peanut dropped into it. Then they'd hide in the bushes and wait. After a while, a monkey would sneak up to the pop bottle, squeeze its paw ...read more

Scripture: Luke 14:25-35, 1 Timothy 6:10

Tags: Money, Greed, Discipleship, Riches, Kingdom, Parables  (view more)  (view less)

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational