In Sermon Illustrations: "Playing Favorites"

A Number Of Years Ago Jim Carry Stared In A Movie ...

Contributed by Paul Carlson on Feb 20, 2009

A number of years ago Jim Carry stared in a movie that considered this very idea. In the movie “Liar, Liar”, Jim Carry plays a lawyer who is particularly good at stretching the truth. After promising, and then breaking his promise, to show up at his five-year-old son’s birthday party, the son ...read more

Tags: Lies

Denomination: Baptist

All Hail The Power

Contributed by Guy Mcgraw on May 7, 2009

ALL HAIL THE POWER E. P Scott was a pioneer missionary to India who One day found himself surrounded by a murderous band of tribesmen. On impulse, he took out his violin and began to play and sing, "All Hail The Power Of Jesus Name." When he reached the stanza "let every kindred and every tribe" ...read more

Tags: Faith General

John Ortberg's Quote,

Contributed by Michael Mccartney on Sep 11, 2009

John Ortberg’s quote, “Prayer involves an old paradox in our day. Almost everyone talks to God. Newsweek magazine noted that in a recent survey more Americans said they pray in a given week than work, exercise, or have sexual relations. Of the 13 percent of Americans who claim to be atheist or ...read more

Tags: Prayer, Prayer General

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

In The 1988 Film Rain Man, Dustin Hoffman's ...

Contributed by Thomas Cash on Dec 17, 2009

In the 1988 film Rain Man, Dustin Hoffman’s character is based on a real-life autistic man named Kim Peek. Peek has total recall of more than 9,000 books. When he attended a performance of Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night, he stood up near the end and loudly ordered, “You’ve got to stop it, stop it, ...read more

Tags: Truth

Denomination: Christian/Church Of Christ

¿desanimarme Yo...por Qué? — Why Be Discouraged?  PRO

Contributed by Luis Marquez on Jan 17, 2010

¿Desanimarme yo...por qué? Un niño está viendo su equipo jugar beisbol, el recién llegado le pregunta: ¿Cómo va el juego?, él contesta: Vamos perdiendo 18 a 0. Oh, no te desanimes, le dice el espectador a lo que el niño contesta: ¿Desanimarme yo...por qué? Mi equipo aun no ha ido a ...read more

Tags: Encouragement

Denomination: Baptist

The Impact Of Imitating ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Jan 18, 2010

The Impact of Imitating Christ The Christian walk of Will Houghton, a preacher who became the president of Moody Bible Institute during the 1940s, played a large role in the conversion of an agnostic who was contemplating suicide. The skeptic was desperate, but he decided that if he could find a ...read more

Scripture: 1 Corinthians 11:1

Tags: Christian Witness

Listeners Must Act

Contributed by Bobby Scobey on Apr 28, 2010

LISTENERS MUST ACT The address is not given for the speaker’s sake, in order that men may praise or blame him. The listener’s repetition of it is what is aimed at. If the speaker has the responsibility for what he whispers, then the listener has an equally great responsibility not to fall short in ...read more

Tags: Preaching

Denomination: Pentecostal

Right Under His Nose  PRO

Contributed by Derrick Tuper on Jun 11, 2010

RIGHT UNDER HIS NOSE Sometimes we probably feel like the man whose grandchildren played a practical joke on him. Each afternoon, Grandpa would lie down for a nap. One day, the kids decided to put limburger cheese in his moustache. Quite soon afterward, he awoke sniffing. "This room stinks," he ...read more

Tags: Responsibility, Attitude General

Denomination: Christian/Church Of Christ

Striking The Last Note

Contributed by Charles Wallis on Aug 10, 2010

STRIKING THE LAST NOTE It is said of one of the famous composers that he had a rebellious son who used to come in late at night after his father and mother had gone to bed. And before going to his own room, he would go to his father's piano and slowly, as well as loudly, play a simple scale, all ...read more

Tags: Rebel, Rebellious, God Brings Purpose

Denomination: Pentecostal

Old-School Church Discipline

Contributed by Sermon Central on Oct 23, 2010

OLD-SCHOOL CHURCH DISCIPLINE The Amish practice shunning – ignoring, turning away from, avoiding. When a person is disciplined by the community, relationships are severed between parents and children, or brother and sister, or even husbands and wives. Because the Amish are so isolated from those ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 18:15-17

Tags: Church Discipline

The Public Scavenger

Contributed by Sermon Central on Mar 21, 2011

THE PUBLIC SCAVENGER A long time ago in Greece, some politicians decided to play a joke on a fellow politician in their group. They got him appointed to the post of Public Scavenger. It was a dirty, lowly post. But instead of being humiliated, the man decided he would show everybody what he could ...read more

Scripture: Proverbs 12:24

Tags: Leadership General

Higher Ground

Contributed by John Putty on Apr 5, 2011

HIGHER GROUND The old hymn, “Higher Ground” is a spiritual declaration of one determined man Johnson Oatman, Jr. put to music! While some refuse to believe that our personal faith plays any real role in our spiritual growth and in experiencing Christian victory, in all my 20 years of preaching ...read more

Tags: Faith General

Denomination: Assembly Of God

The Occult, The Supernatural, And Teenagers

Contributed by Sermon Central on Apr 6, 2011

THE OCCULT, THE SUPERNATURAL, AND TEENAGERS In 2006, researcher George Barna came out with the top 12 most significant or surprising faith findings for that year. Coming in second was this report: "Three out of every four teenagers have engaged in at least one type of psychic or witchcraft-related ...read more

Scripture: Deuteronomy 18:9-13

Tags: Supernatural

Winning In Losing  PRO

Contributed by Sermon Central on Aug 11, 2011

WINNING IN LOSING Both teams that play in the Super Bowl think they will win, so both teams have special t-shirts and hats designed that declare them the victors. It costs about $2 million to have the apparel made--which means for the losing team, $2 million goes to waste, right? Wrong. A recent ...read more

Scripture: 1 Corinthians 9:19-23

Tags: Giving General

The World: A Temporary Container

Contributed by Guy Mcgraw on Jan 3, 2012

THE WORLD: A TEMPORARY CONTAINER The first garbage day after Christmas must be the biggest garbage day of the year. You can tell what most people got for Christmas by just looking at the garbage pile in front of the house. We usually throw out all the boxes--unless you have children who like to ...read more

Tags: Church Discipline

The Substance Of Faith

Contributed by Antonio Silveira on Mar 1, 2012

THE SUBSTANCE OF FAITH Example: Give some play-doh to 2 people and ask them to create something out of that "substance" In the millennia-old Aristotelian tradition, as well as early modern traditions that follow it, substances or ousia are treated as having attributes and modes or things. This ...read more

Tags: Faith

Denomination: Baptist

A Little Boy Told His Father, "I Want A New ...  PRO

Contributed by Phillip Parkin on Nov 24, 2012

A little boy told his father, "I want a new bike". The father said, "In this house we pray and ask God for the things we want and need". That night the little boy prayed, " Dear God, I need a new bike". The next morning the little boy woke up and ran to the garage but there was no bike. The little ...read more

Scripture: John 16:23, Matthew 7:7-11

Tags: Provision, Men's Day, Prayer

Denomination: Independent/Bible

Wild Bill Resurrected?

Contributed by Perry Greene on Apr 15, 2013

WILD BILL RESURRECTED? In 1876, Wild Bill Hickock was killed in Deadwood, SD by Jack McCall while playing poker at the Nuttal and Mann's Saloon. You may recall that he was holding what has been referred to as the "Dead Man's Hand" (2 8s and 2 Aces -- all black with an unknown 5th card). He was ...read more

Tags: Easter Resurrection

Denomination: Christian/Church Of Christ

Standing Up On The Inside  PRO

Contributed by Perry Greene on Sep 17, 2013

STANDING UP ON THE INSIDE A five year old girl was having one of those trouble-filled days with her mother. It seemed they spent the day arguing back and forth. Finally the mom had enough. "Jenny, go sit in the corner, right now! Don’t get up until I tell you to!" Jenny went to the corner and sat ...read more

Tags: Evil, Rebellion, Defiance, Compliance

Denomination: Christian/Church Of Christ

Casualties Of War

Contributed by Davon Huss on Jan 13, 2014

In the movie Casualties of War, Michael J. Fox plays Private Erikson, a soldier in Vietnam who is part of a squad that abuses a young Vietnamese girl. Though Private Erikson doesn’t participate in the crime, he still struggles with what has happened. He tells "Just because each of us might at any ...read more

Scripture: Ecclesiastes 12:14

Tags: Death, Judgment

Denomination: Christian/Church Of Christ