In Sermon Illustrations: "Poetry Reading"

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

Possibilities

Contributed by Bobby Bodenhamer on Oct 17, 2008

Possibilities He was born into wealth and was raised in a mansion. Today he wears prison gray after being convicted of planting a car bomb that took the lives of two members of his family. His almost unbelievable reversal of circumstances came after he tried to get control of a $10-million family ...read more

Tags: Forgiveness In Jesus

Denomination: *other

Stealing His Glory

Contributed by Sermon Central on Dec 28, 2008

STEALING HIS GLORY Recently, we heard about what happened in the capital in Washington State. OLYMPIA, Wash. -- An atheist group unveiled an anti-religion placard/sign in the state Capitol, joining a Christian Nativity scene and "holiday tree" on display during December. The atheists' sign was ...read more

Tags: Christmas

Are You ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Jan 7, 2009

ARE YOU SERIOUS? Mr. Merv Grazinski of Oklahoma City purchased a brand new 32-foot Winnebago motor home. On his first trip home, having driven onto the freeway, he set the cruise control at 70 mph and calmly left the drivers seat to go into the back and make himself a cup of coffee. Not ...read more

Scripture: Romans 12:18

Tags: Christian Values

Today, I Would Like To Talk About, Not When We ...

Contributed by Bruce Ball on Jan 19, 2009

Today, I would like to talk about, not when we were saved, but how we continue to be saved. And I am going to do that using the analogy of a set of instructions. When I first bought my mandolin, I had never played one before. With that mandolin, I bought a couple of ‘how to play the mandolin’ ...read more

Tags: Salvation

Denomination: *other

Roy Whetstine Was A Rock Collector Who Two Sons ...

Contributed by Mark Eberly on Jun 8, 2009

Roy Whetstine was a rock collector whose two sons each had given him five dollars to buy a rock for them at a rock show. One table had a Tupperware container with a large potato-sized rock surrounded by a lot of agates. The sign read: “Any stone $15.” Roy picked up the big rock and asked, “You want ...read more

Tags: Parable Treasure

Denomination: Church Of God

Don't Stop Ringing The ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Jul 13, 2009

DON’T STOP RINGING THE BELL Understanding is the reward of faith. Therefore seek not to understand that thou mayest believe, but believe that thou mayest understand. Augustine. A man took his son to the tiny rural community where he grew up. He was disappointed to discover that the little church ...read more

Scripture: Luke 4:18-19

Tags: Revival

Stand By Your ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Jul 13, 2009

STAND BY YOUR SIGN When an individual or a congregation has the attitude of compromise in regard to spiritual values and truths, dark days are ahead. All who strive to be Christians feel a certain amount of pressure from the world. Through the strength that Christ gives, we can overcome the world ...read more

Scripture: Romans 12:2

Tags: Truth

Battlefield Away From Home

Contributed by Gregg Bitter on Sep 15, 2009

BATTLEFIELD AWAY FROM HOME He cherished every letter that came from her. His deployment had started six long months ago. No end date was in sight. These were the days before emails and webcams. Those handwritten letters from his sweetheart was his only lifeline out of those trenches to back home. ...read more

Tags: Bible Study

Denomination: Lutheran

Stealing Rampant In America

Contributed by Sermon Central on Oct 27, 2009

STEALING RAMPANT IN AMERICA Many lives have been touched by theft in our society today. Millions of dollars are lost every year in this country over the theft of goods and services. One estimate says that 1 out of every 52 shopper’s carries something out of the supermarket for which they haven’t ...read more

Scripture: Exodus 20:15

Tags: Commandments Steal

In The Trenches Of Life When Decisions Need To Be ...

Contributed by Ed Vasicek on Nov 9, 2009

In the trenches of life when decisions need to be made quickly, we often depend upon short principles that offer us immediate direction and give us spiritual instincts. C. Everett Koop is a great medical ethicist; when addressing end of life decision-making in a booklet he wrote for ...read more

Tags: Sermon On The Mount

Denomination: Independent/Bible

Gi Cook Picks Out An Enemy Infiltrator During ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Nov 22, 2009

GI Cook Picks Out an Enemy Infiltrator during World War II I read the true story of GIs stationed on Leyte in the Philippines during WW II. Although the region was secure, sometimes the enemy tried to infiltrate their food storage area. One such adversary, dressed in GI clothing, had worked himself ...read more

Scripture: Ephesians 5:20

Tags: Thanksgiving, Thanksgiving Holiday

What Is ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Feb 13, 2009

WHAT IS SIN? Sin, as defined by a new Ellison Research study, is something almost always considered wrong, particularly from a religious or moral perspective. Out the 30 behaviors studied, adultery was most often described as a sinful behavior by American respondents (81%). Next was racism (74%); ...read more

Scripture: Romans 3:9-20

Tags: Sin General

Christ's Return Is A Done ...

Contributed by Paul Carlson on Feb 17, 2009

Christ’s return is a done deal! In the May 1984 National Geographic color photos and drawings showed the swift and terrible destruction that wiped out the Roman cities of Pompeii and Herculaneum in A.D. 79. The explosion of Mount Vesuvius was so sudden; the residents were killed while in their ...read more

Tags: Preparation

Denomination: Baptist

The Wrong Kind Of Loyalty

Contributed by Sermon Central on Mar 12, 2009

THE WRONG KIND OF LOYALTY There is a story of a Japanese soldier, Lt. Hiroo Onada, left on the island Lubang in the Philippines on December 25, 1944, with the command to "carry on the mission, even if Japan surrenders." Onada continued his war alone. All efforts to convince him to surrender or to ...read more

Tags: Christian Witness

I Give Up!

Contributed by Sermon Central on Dec 31, 2022

Many years ago, executives of the Time-Life publishing organization discovered that the company’s profit margin had shrunk to an alarmingly low level. To cut costs, they decided to eliminate hundreds of works to be replaced with machines. The name of each subscriber was put on a separate little ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 5:7

Tags: Grace, Forgiveness

Do You Have This Much Self Control?

Contributed by Garris Hudson on Feb 27, 2023

I heard a funny story about a stunt pilot who was selling rides in his single engine airplane. One day he got into an argument with a pastor who insisted on taking his wife along at no extra charge. Not wanting to miss out on a chance to make some cash, the pilot said, “I’ll take you both up for ...read more

Scripture: Galatians 5:22-23

Tags: Marriage, Self Denial, Fruit Of The Spirit, Works Of The Flesh, Self Control, Character Of Christ  (view more)  (view less)

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

Have You Ever Asked God To Wake You Up In The Morning?

Contributed by Glynda Lomax on Dec 23, 2024

Be careful what you pray for. We all know the feeling of trying to wake up to a blaring alarm clock. I had been really tired from working late and had overslept several times in the past week. I was traveling at the time, not at home. It wasn’t an emergency since I work from wherever I am, but I ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 7:7, Mark 11:24, 1 John 5:14

Tags: Faith, Prayer, How To Pray, Answered Prayers

Denomination: Charismatic

Foolishness - Appearances Can Be Deceiving "the 10 Bridesmades"

Contributed by J Jeffrey Smead on Nov 19, 2025

A film crew ... was on location ... deep ... in the desert. One day ... an elderly Native American ... who had been watching the filming for several weeks ... went boldly up to the director and said, ... "Tomorrow rain." And sure enough ... The next day ... it rained. A week later, ... ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 25:1-13

Tags: Appearances, Bridesmades, Fool, Foolish, Foolishness  (view more)  (view less)

Denomination: Anglican

Mitsuo Fuchida Was The Pilot In Charge Of ...  PRO

Contributed by Melvin Newland on Jul 26, 2004

ILL. Mitsuo Fuchida was the pilot in charge of one of the most successful aerial attacks in recorded history. Under his command was a squadron of 360 specially selected pilots, & on Dec. 7, 1941, Fuchida’s squadron bombed Pearl Harbor. He quickly became one of the most highly decorated pilots ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 5:43-47

Tags: Change

Denomination: Christian/Church Of Christ