In Sermon Illustrations: "Personal Sacrifice"

Relay Team Wins Race By Yelling

Contributed by Sermon Central on Oct 27, 2009

Relay Team Wins Race by Yelling "Stop" during Final Baton Pass I ran track in High School and my thing was running the sprints, 100, 200, hurdles, relays and such. In my Junior year the School hired a new track coach. At every practice this coach would give a short talk on strategy and tactics for ...read more

Scripture: Hebrews 12:1

Tags: Sports, Finishing The Race

Car Trouble Opens An Opportunity To Be A Good ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on May 26, 2010

Car Trouble Opens an Opportunity to be a Good Samaritan This was written by a Metro Denver Hospice Physician: I was driving home from a meeting this evening about 5, stuck in traffic on Colorado Blvd., and the car started to choke and splutter and die. I barely managed to coast, cruising, into a ...read more

Scripture: Luke 10:29-37

Tags: Compassion, Angels Unaware

Who's Your Daddy?

Contributed by Sermon Central on Aug 5, 2010

WHO'S YOUR DADDY? "A seminary professor was vacationing with his wife in Gatlinburg, Tennessee. One morning they were eating breakfast in a little restaurant, hoping to enjoy a quiet, family meal. While waiting for their food, they noticed a distinguished looking, white haired man moving from ...read more

Scripture: John 1:12-13

Tags: God Brings Purpose

The Hunger And The Hunt

Contributed by Ross Cochrane on Nov 13, 2010

THE HUNGER AND THE HUNT "She was not beautiful but her eyes were magnificient. They were piercing and caught the light as jade shards and occasionally as she passed into shadows you could catch glimses of the hunger betrayed in the depths of their opalescent gaze. As the inquisitive marvelled at ...read more

Tags: Desire

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

Simon Birch: A Purpose In Life

Contributed by Sermon Central on Mar 26, 2011

SIMON BIRCH: A PURPOSE IN LIFE How many of you remember a movie by the name of Simon Birch that came out in 1998? It tells the story of a twelve-year-old boy named Simon Birch who, despite his physical disabilities, believes that God has a plan for his life. "Simon was born tiny and with an ...read more

Scripture: Psalm 138:8

Tags: Examples Of Faith

Words In The Spirit

Contributed by D. Marie Hamilton on Apr 16, 2011

WORDS IN THE SPIRIT When I was asked to be the preacher for the North Little Rock Ministerial Alliance Community Thanksgiving Service, I was floored. I didn't think that anybody thought that much about me. I was honored by the gesture, but the moment I said "yes," my nerves got the best of me. I ...read more

Tags: Growth In Christ

Denomination: Methodist

Four Chaplains

Contributed by Jason Bonnicksen on Dec 6, 2011

FOUR CHAPLAINS It was the evening of Feb. 2, 1943, and the U.S. Army Transport Ship Dorchester was crowded to capacity. Hans J. Danielsen, the ship's captain, was concerned and cautious. He knew they were in dangerous waters; German U-boats were constantly prowling these vital sea lanes, ...read more

Tags: Examples Of Faith

Denomination: Lutheran

Guardrails

Contributed by Sermon Central on Apr 30, 2012

GUARDRAILS A guardrail is actually a system designed to keep vehicles from straying into dangerous or off-limit areas. Now, nobody pays attention to guardrails unless you need one. There are all different kinds of guardrails, but guardrails are that invisible part of our driving experience. We’re ...read more

Scripture: Acts 24:15-16

Tags: Conscience

We Lost The Farm

Contributed by Sermon Central on May 8, 2012

"WE LOST THE FARM" Richard Culp worked in the hot California sun as foreman of a large ranching operation. He and his wife, Geneva, also owned their own farm, consisting of 200 acres of almond trees. Then years of bad weather and skimpy harvests forced Richard to take on additional work, but even ...read more

Scripture: James 1:2-4

Tags: God In The Hardships

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

Peanut Butter Theology

Contributed by Todd Catteau on May 27, 2015

I don’t like peanut butter. Some people get very upset when I tell them that. It’s nothing personal. It’s not a character flaw. I just don’t like it. I don’t even like the smell of it. My mother told me I ate a lot of peanut butter when I was young, so maybe I just reached my limit. My two ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 7:12

Tags: Generosity, Golden Rule, Thoughtfulness, Sympathize

Denomination: Christian/Church Of Christ

Say, "Yes"

Contributed by Tim Smith on Sep 25, 2016

Bob Goff tells of his love for playing practical jokes on his buddies. His friend Doug made the mistake of telling him where he was celebrating his 10th wedding anniversary and the penthouse suite he had prepaid for. A few days later, he and his wife checked into the hotel as Doug and his wife. ...read more

Scripture: Esther 4:1-16

Tags: Risk, Risk Taking, Say Yes To God

Denomination: Methodist

Conversion Of A Communist

Contributed by Tim Smith on Sep 25, 2016

Leonard Ravenhill tells the story of preaching an 8-day crusade in a large church in Glasgow, Scotland starting the first day of World War II. That shattered his meetings and no more than 50 people showed, so they started to meet in a side room instead. Despite this, he preached his heart out every ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 28:1-10

Tags: Resurrection, Power

Denomination: Methodist

Hearing And Making Good Choices

Contributed by Tim Baker on Jan 20, 2018

I remember so clearly my storm chase on May 13th 2009 of the Kirksville Missouri tornado. My chase started with spotting my first tornado near Novinger Missouri, where I played tag with it several times, getting some nice video clips of it, until finally it approached the city limits wrapped in ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 7:26-27, James 1:22-24

Tags: Choices, Hear And Obey, Obedience, Action, Disbelief, Decision Making, Ignore, Doers Of The Word  (view more)  (view less)

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

Jesus Doesn't Go To Church

Contributed by Coz Von on Jul 25, 2018

I met Jesus at a conference of Christian managers. But his story is a little out of the ordinary. The conference was hosted in a beautiful facility in Dallas, Texas, and the organizers had done a fantastic job at putting together a good program. We had great meetings and warm fellowship, and I ...read more

Tags: His Bride, The Bride Of Christ, Church, Body, The Body Of Christ, The Body, The House Of God, His Church  (view more)  (view less)

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

The Bible – For Mature Audiences Only

Contributed by Todd Catteau on Nov 5, 2019

Recently I have been preaching sermons on topics submitted by the members of the church. I thought that was a good idea until someone requested I preach from Genesis 38. It’s not your typical children’s bedtime Bible story. It’s more on the lines of a scandalous storyline for a daytime soap ...read more

Scripture: 1 John 1:5-10

Tags: Grace, Forgiveness, Sin, Rahab, Samson, Judah, Tamar  (view more)  (view less)

Denomination: Christian/Church Of Christ

The King's Search

Contributed by Wade Martin Hughes, Sr on Feb 15, 2020

MY HANDS AND GOD’S HEART CAN ACCOMPLISH GOD’S WORK IN SOME OF THE STRANGEST WAYS. PONDER MY STORY… There was this wonderful King that loved his people so much. This King had prayed for a son for years. But all he and the queen ever had was a DAUGHTER. She was absolutely beautiful. To add to ...read more

Scripture: John 2:1-8

Tags: New King, Do It

Denomination: Assembly Of God

Post-It Note Christianity

Contributed by Todd Catteau on Jul 6, 2021

I’m a minister and, for the most part, the people I’m around know that. But in the church I serve we don’t wear any special clerical clothing, so on occasion I find myself in conversations with people who don’t know I’m a minister. That can create some interesting situations. I golf occasionally ...read more

Scripture: Proverbs 3:3

Tags: Faithfulness, Sincerity, Faith, Commitment, Dedication  (view more)  (view less)

Denomination: Christian/Church Of Christ

Unsung Heroes: Naaman's Servants

Contributed by Jonathan Spurlock on Nov 27, 2021

Introduction: Leprosy was and is a very serious disease, affecting the skin in any number of ways. Anyone who ever came down with the disease faced a sad future. Leviticus 13 has detailed information how the people of Israel were to be examined and declared either "clean" or ...read more

Scripture: 2 Kings 5:11-14

Tags: Naaman, Elisha, Unsung Heroes

Denomination: Baptist

Doing Your Duty With A Little Faith

Contributed by Richard L. Brown on Sep 16, 2023

Don Gullett was the greatest athlete eastern Kentucky has ever seen. He excelled in all sports. He was so good that he was recruited by the University of Kentucky in all three sports….Basketball, Football, and Baseball. In Basketball he averaged 20 points and 12 rebounds a game; I personally ...read more

Scripture: Luke 17:5-10, 2 Timothy 1:3-12

Tags: Faith, Trust

Denomination: Presbyterian/Reformed