In Sermon Illustrations: "Pit"

In 1987, All Of America Stopped To Watch A ...

Contributed by David Dykes on Oct 9, 2006

In 1987, all of America stopped to watch a real-life drama unfolded in Midland, Texas. Eighteen month old Jessica McClure fell down an abandoned well and was trapped. Millions of Americans watched the story of Baby Jessica unfold. To the relief of everyone, Jessica came out of the well on October ...read more

Tags: Grace

Denomination: Baptist

A Curious Fellow Died One Day And Found Himself ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Jun 18, 2007

A curious fellow died one day and found himself waiting in the long line of judgment. As he stood there he noticed that some souls were allowed to march right through the pearly gates into heaven. Others, though, were led over to Satan who threw them into the burning pit. But every so often, ...read more

Tags: Money

Accepting Forgiveness Can Be Difficult

Contributed by Greg Bond on Dec 28, 2009

ACCEPTING FORGIVENESS CAN BE DIFFICULT I’m sure that many of you, just looking at this title, already have emotions running through your mind. Maybe accepting forgiveness from God and acceptance into His fellowship, is something you have struggled with personally, or you know one person, or ...read more

Tags: Forgiveness In Jesus

Denomination: Pentecostal

Jumping The Grand Canyon

Contributed by Daniel King, D. Min. on Jul 25, 2018

Main Idea: No matter how good you are, you cannot make it to heaven through your own effort. Verse: “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast” (Ephesians 2:8-9 NKJV). Illustration: Once, two men had ...read more

Scripture: Ephesians 2:8-9

Tags: Sin, Need For Christ, Need For Salvation

Denomination: Charismatic

Building Bridges

Contributed by Wade Martin Hughes, Sr on Jan 8, 2026

WILL ALLEN DROMGOOLE, 1860 TO 1934. She wrote over 7,500 poems and 5,000 essays. Her works are recorded in 13 books. My Dad, Wade M. Hughes (1931) committed this poem to memory and would often use it when speaking to leaders. I love this poem. ***THE BRIDGE BUILDER AN OLD MAN, GOING DOWN A LONE ...read more

Scripture: 2 Corinthians 12:6-12, Philippians 4:11-13

Tags: Bridge, Build

Denomination: Assembly Of God

The Learning Channel (You Know, The Other Tlc), ...  PRO

Contributed by Jim Luthy on Jan 29, 2002

The Learning Channel (you know, the other TLC), has a show that airs on Wednesday nights called "Junkyard Wars." Have you seen it? This is how they describe their show on their web site: "If you locked Tim Allen, Mad Max and Monty Python in a garage, you’d end up with Junkyard Wars — the ...read more

Tags: God's Provision, God's Forgiveness, Promises Of God

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

Sara Hughes Illustration: The Women's' Ice ...  PRO

Contributed by William Yates on Jun 12, 2002

Sara Hughes Illustration: The Women’s’ Ice Skating Competition in the 2002 Winter Olympics was supposed to be a clash of the Titans for the gold with U.S. skater Michelle Kwan pitted against Irina Slutskaya. Sara Hughes, a 16-year-old fourth place contender, however, stunned the world when she took ...read more

Tags: Giving Yourself

Disaster Struck Me One Day When I Was A Boy. I ...

Contributed by Ovidiu Radulescu on Oct 16, 2008

Disaster struck me one day when I was a boy. I don’t know where in the world my little sister came back to the house real dirty and smelly. Some type of dark sticky slimy stinky substance was all over her and she was crying up loud. She had tried to get rid of it by using her dirty hand and as you ...read more

Tags: Lord's Supper

Denomination: Seventh-Day Adventist

Nazarene

Contributed by Clark Tanner on Sep 28, 2009

NAZARENE God could have come to the earth and assumed immediately the role of King of the World, and who could have resisted Him? He could have come with great pomp and ceremony. He could have entered the world a Man full-grown with rings on every finger, wrapped in robes spun in the halls of ...read more

Tags: Jesus Life

Denomination: Orthodox

Lot And Corruption

Contributed by Ross Cochrane on Jul 21, 2010

LOT AND CORRUPTION Her father gently tries to persuade her with promises of a better life. She cries and shudders but does not move. As tears stream down her face He becomes angry and manhandles her out the door. She becomes hysterical. A sharp slap across her faces shocks her into silence and she ...read more

Tags: Family

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

How Far Was Jonah Running Away?

Contributed by Brad Henry on Oct 14, 2011

HOW FAR WAS JONAH RUNNING AWAY? Let me give you a little perspective on how far Jonah was running away. Joppa was on the far eastern side of the Mediterranean Sea. Tarshish was on the western side of the coast of Spain bordering the Atlantic Ocean. That is approximately 2,200 miles away. That ...read more

Tags: Doing God's Will

A Reason To Give Thanks

Contributed by Roger Hasselquist on Nov 24, 2024

Do you remember Erma Bombeck, the homemaker who spun humorous anecdotes about suburban family life into a column syndicated to about 700 newspapers, television commentary, speeches across the country and books with titles such as “The Grass Is Always Greener Over the Septic Tank,” “Just Wait Till ...read more

Scripture: 1 Thessalonians 5:18

Tags: Thankfulness, Assurance, Erma Bombeck

Denomination: Christian/Church Of Christ

Jesus The Explorer, Citation: D. James Kennedy, ...  PRO

Contributed by A. Todd Coget on Aug 3, 2001

[Jesus the Explorer, Citation: D. James Kennedy, "Message from an Empty Tomb," Preaching Today, Tape No. 66.] For many centuries the men and women in Europe looked out upon the western sea, what we call the Atlantic Ocean, and they saw the sun coruscating upon the glittering surface of the waters ...read more

Tags: Easter Resurrection, Miracles Of Jesus

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

The Miraculous Human Body, Citation: Jeff ...  PRO

Contributed by A. Todd Coget on Sep 7, 2001

[The Miraculous Human Body, Citation: Jeff Arthurs; references Dr. John Medina, genetic engineer, University of Washington, in 1995 lecture at Multnomah Bible College, Portland, Oregon] The average human heart pumps over 1,000 gallons a day, over 55 million gallons in a lifetime. This is enough to ...read more

Tags: Creation, Evolution

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

Faithful To The Finish  PRO

Contributed by Sermon Central on Aug 24, 2003

FAITHFUL TO THE FINISH In the 1992 Barcelona Olympics, Derek Redmond of Great Britain was considered a favorite contender for a medal. It was the evening of August 3, 1992 as Redmond was pitted against seven others in a semi-final in the 400 meters. Redmond knelt poised, waiting for the race to ...read more

Scripture: Jude 1:1-4

Tags: God's Provision, Faith, Promises Of God

Henri Nouwen Was Also A Person Whose Heart Was To ...  PRO

Contributed by Amanda Wilson on May 6, 2004

Henri Nouwen was also a person whose heart was to serve the Lord. And as a world-renown Catholic educator and teacher he had a great deal of success in encouraging others in their faith. Yet one day, God asked him to leave that and become a house parent in the Le Arche community, an organization ...read more

Scripture: Joshua 1:6, Joshua 1:6-9

Tags: Christian Disciplines, Faith

Denomination: Independent/Bible

The Miraculous Human Body  PRO

Contributed by Sermon Central on Jun 2, 2004

THE MIRACULOUS HUMAN BODY The average human heart pumps over 1,000 gallons a day, over 55 million gallons in a lifetime. This is enough to fill 13 super tankers. It never sleeps, beating 2.5 billion times in a lifetime. The lungs contain 1,000 miles of capillaries. The process of exchanging ...read more

Tags: Descriptions Of God, Creation, Apologetics God

Listen To How Bill Hybels Described What Hell ...  PRO

Contributed by K. Edward Skidmore on Dec 13, 2005

Listen to how Bill Hybels described what Hell might feel like: “The bottomless pit…conjures up dreamlike feelings of falling away -- falling, falling, falling. You’ve all had dreams like that; where when you woke your heart was beating because you were falling. Picture in your mind hanging over a ...read more

Tags: Hell

Denomination: Christian/Church Of Christ

Faithful To The Finish

Contributed by Efrain Perez on Oct 9, 2011

FAITHFUL TO THE FINISH In the 1992 Barcelona Olympics, Derek Redmond of Great Britain was considered a favorite contender for a medal. It was the evening of August 3, 1992 as Redmond was pitted against seven others in a semi-final in the 400 meters. Redmond knelt poised, waiting for the race to ...read more

Tags: God In The Hardships

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

"worst Day - Best Day - Begins And Ends With Me"

Contributed by Terry Miller on Mar 24, 2022

No note was written. There was no obvious clue to why I had reached the depths of a horrible pit of desperation. How could life for a forty-something get any worse than that? My Worst Day had brought me to contemplating suicide! A feeling of reaching life’s dead-end road had overpowered any ...read more

Scripture: Psalm 56:3

Tags: Motivational, Inspirational