In Sermon Illustrations: "Parables"

If You Obey

Contributed by Dr. Nicholas M. Muteti on Jun 15, 2011

IF YOU OBEY Nearly thirty years ago, I was a middle school teacher in Kenya. One day I took 20 students, and I told them: "I will do my best to teach you and train you. If you obey me, you will be the best students of this school." They were excited. In a short time, I realized that only some ...read more

Tags: Parable Sower And Seed

Denomination: Baptist

Lost Alasdair

Contributed by Warner Pidgeon on Jul 10, 2011

LOST ALASDAIR In October 1984 my brother-in-law Alasdair got lost. As a family they had visited Venice – long before I knew them – Sandy and Valerie my in-Laws, Moira my wife who was 14 at the time, and Alasdair who was 11. They were at St. Mark’s square, Venice – at the same time as Queen ...read more

Tags: Parable Lost Sheep

Denomination: Anglican

My Sheep Know My Voice  PRO

Contributed by Sermon Central on Aug 9, 2011

MY SHEEP KNOW MY VOICE Do you all know much about Emperor Penguins? I was not very familiar with these birds until a few years ago when the documentary, March of the Penguins, came out. And as I watched this documentary, I learned many intriguing facts about this largest of the penguin family. ...read more

Scripture: John 10:27-29

Tags: Parable Lost Sheep

Persistent Sowers

Contributed by Sermon Central on Aug 15, 2011

PERSISTENT SOWERS During a particular drought several years ago, much of the seed that had been planted did not come up. The seed that did produced runty plants that promised a scanty yield, if any at all. Grass burned up in the intense heat, and the cattle nearly starved. Many farmers were forced ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 13:1-23

Tags: Parable Sower And Seed

The Lukewarm Sheep  PRO

Contributed by Jeff Strite on Aug 29, 2011

THE LUKEWARM SHEEP Now, for the sake of my illustration, I want to break a flock of sheep down into 3 groups. 1. The first group of sheep had DECIDED to look to Shepherd & follow Him wherever He leads. These are the "Good sheep" who follow the "Good Shepherd. Jesus said: "My sheep hear my voice, ...read more

Scripture: Revelation 3:14-22, John 10:4, John 15:1-11

Tags: Parable Lost Sheep

Denomination: Christian/Church Of Christ

The Shepherd's Voice

Contributed by Sermon Central on May 10, 2012

THE SHEPHERD'S VOICE If you know and follow Jesus as Shepherd you will be able to flee from untruth and ungodly belief systems. D.L. Moody told the following: A friend, who was traveling in the East, heard that there was a shepherd who still kept up the custom of calling his sheep by name. He ...read more

Scripture: John 10:1-18

Tags: Parable Lost Sheep

Lost And Found

Contributed by Sermon Central on May 13, 2012

LOST AND FOUND In London there is an official governmental office for lost and found items. It is the London Transports “Lost Property Office.” It is located on the side of the Baker’s Street Station, just across the street from the fictitious residence of Sherlock Holmes. It has been there since ...read more

Scripture: Luke 15:1-10

Tags: Parable Lost Coin

Christ Transforms A Prisoner

Contributed by Sermon Central on May 18, 2012

CHRIST TRANSFORMS A PRISONER Chuck Colson tells story after story of men in prison who had committed crimes, but who came to Christ and were thoroughly converted. No one would have guessed that some of these men would be devout followers of Christ one day. One such story was the account of a man ...read more

Scripture: Luke 15:1-32

Tags: Parable Prodigal Son

A Tragic Dream Fulfilled--The Case Of Robert ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Aug 1, 2012

A TRAGIC DREAM FULFILLED--THE CASE OF ROBERT BURNS Robert Burns, the famous poet, occasionally had times of serious reflection of the state of his soul. He recorded one of those times when he compared himself to the review of his past life. He wrote that he was like a lonely man walking amidst the ...read more

Scripture: Luke 8:4-15

Tags: Parable Sower And Seed

Vanishing Waves

Contributed by Sermon Central on Aug 28, 2012

VANISHING WAVES A wise man once told me to pour a glass of water. He dipped his index finger into the cup, I watched as miniature waves hit the glass only to halt seconds later. The wise man told that regardless of how important the world will ever view me or my accomplishments, history will only ...read more

Scripture: Luke 12:13-34

Tags: Parable Rich Fool

Love Your Neighbour

Contributed by Dr. Fred W. Penney on Oct 12, 2021

Canadian Folk singer (and believer) Bruce Cockburn wrote this song for his church in San Franciso. The story is told in Christianity Today, October 12, 2021. ORDERS; (Bruce Cockburn) The just the merciful the cruel The stumbling well-intentioned fool The deft the oaf the witless pawn The golden ...read more

Scripture: Luke 10:25-37

Tags: Parables, Neighbor, Love

Denomination: Pentecostal

We May Never See The End Results, But That Is The ...  PRO

Contributed by Sermon Central on Jan 20, 2002

We may never see the end results, but that is the difference between the master builder and the worker. We are workers, not master builders, ministers, not messiahs. We are prophets of a ...read more

Tags: Parable General, Parable Sower And Seed, Kingdom Of God

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

We’ve Probably All Heard The Expression, ...  PRO

Contributed by Mary Lewis on May 10, 2001

We’ve probably all heard the expression, “This separates the men from the boys!” What kinds of things separate the men from the boys? Things that involve danger and risk. Things that take courage and a willingness to sacrifice. Things that are grueling and gut-wrenching. Things that require ...read more

Tags: Character, Love Of The Disciples, Parable Good Samaritan

Denomination: Baptist

Simply Put The Person Asking For Bread In The ...

Contributed by Mark Eberly on Aug 3, 2009

Simply put the person asking for bread in the middle of the night is not admirable but is rude. He does not know or does not care about shame. By the way does everyone know what BFF is? It is part of the new lingo of texting, which is kind of like shorthand. BFF is “Best Friends Forever.” And now ...read more

Tags: Prayer, Prayer General

Denomination: Church Of God

Fail In Order To Succeed

Contributed by I. Grant Spong on Jul 15, 2017

An old axiom says that failure is the stepping stone to success. Are we afraid of failure? The road to success is paved with failures. Before the farmer in the Parable of the Sower (Matthew 13) had a successful crop he failed in three areas. We fail in these same areas. We allow the devil to snatch ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 13:1-23

Tags: Sower, Success, Failure, Parable Of Sower, Quitting  (view more)  (view less)

Denomination: Independent/Bible

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

The Budding Of The Fig Tree

Contributed by Dr. Larry Petton on Oct 16, 2023

Luke 21 records the parable of the Budding of the Fig Tree by Jesus. This parable is interpreted by many evangelical writers as a reference to the Regathering of Israel as prophesied by Ezekiel 38. It happened in 1948 as the nation was re-born miraculously as we prepare for the return of ...read more

Tags: Prophecy, Second Coming, Parables, Rapture, Return Of Christ, Regathering, Israel, End Times  (view more)  (view less)

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

The Turkish Landowner… Is Vividly Remembered As ...

Contributed by Hal Seed on Jul 27, 2007

“The Turkish landowner… is vividly remembered as corrupt, ruthless, and indifferent to any suffering he or his steward might cause his renters. [But] this scene is quite different from the one in the parable. At the very beginning, someone cares enough about the welfare of the master to report the ...read more

Scripture: Luke 16:1-13

Denomination: Baptist

Joanna Chu Told Me An Interesting Chinese ...

Contributed by Rodney Buchanan on Dec 12, 2004

Joanna Chu told me an interesting Chinese proverb this week. I didn’t know this, but all Chinese proverbs are told by speaking only four Chinese characters — four words. This parable is called “Frog-Well-Sky-World.” The parable’s meaning is that a frog in a well can only see the sky above him, ...read more

Tags: Humility

Denomination: Methodist