In Sermon Illustrations: "Police Officers"

The Message Never Got ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Mar 17, 2009

THE MESSAGE NEVER GOT DELIVERED George Sweeting, in his book, The No-Guilt Guide for Witnessing, tells of a man by the name of John Currier who in 1949 was found guilty of murder and sentenced to life in prison. Later he was transferred and paroled to work on a farm near Nashville, Tennessee. In ...read more

Scripture: Hebrews 10:25

Tags: Evangelism Urgency

A Study In ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Mar 17, 2009

A STUDY IN SERVICE As a student in seminary, my roommate had a job as a custodian with the school. After the first day on the job, he told he had been assigned to work on the first floor of a four-story building. "Basically there are four guys responsible for their own floors. I take care of the ...read more

Tags: Servanthood

The Value Of Connecting

Contributed by Bret Toman on Jun 15, 2009

THE VALUE OF CONNECTING Larry Crabb tells the story of a man he knew that attempted suicide. His injury was so severe that he should have died, but he recovered and sought out Dr. Crabb for therapy. The two had been meeting together for some time. They covered a lot of ground. Dr. Crabb ...read more

Tags: Church Small Groups

Denomination: Baptist

A Truly Humble Man Is Hard To Find, Yet God ...

Contributed by Bobby Scobey on Dec 21, 2009

A truly humble man is hard to find, yet God delights to honor such selfless people. Booker T. Washington, the renowned black educator, was an outstanding example of this truth. Shortly after he took over the presidency of Tuskegee Institute in Alabama, he was walking in an exclusive section of town ...read more

Tags: Humility

Denomination: Pentecostal

Spiritual Depth: Icebergs, Not Trees

Contributed by Gregg Barbour on Feb 8, 2010

Spiritual Depth: Icebergs, Not Trees For lots of people, when they think of depth-they think of a tree with deep roots. The thinking is that if a tree wants to be big and strong, then it has to grow its roots deep into the soil to support its weight. I did some research on tree roots, and it's ...read more

Tags: Discipleship

Denomination: *other

Sin And Bullet Wounds

Contributed by Gordon Curley on Nov 29, 2010

SIN AND BULLET WOUNDS James Garfield was a lay preacher and principal of his denominational college. They say he was ambidextrous and could simultaneously write Greek, with one hand and Latin with the other. In l880, he was elected president of the United States, but after only six months in ...read more

Tags: Sin Wages Of

Denomination: Brethren

Happiness Is The Lord

Contributed by Rodelio Mallari on Dec 12, 2010

"HAPPINESS IS THE LORD" Ira F. Stanphill was born in Belview, New Mexico, in 1914. He has written more than 550 songs, the most popular of which are "Mansion over the Hilltop," "Room at the Cross," and, of course, "Happiness Is the Lord." On any number of occasions the Lord has given a song to a ...read more

Tags: Happiness

Denomination: *other

The Magnitude Of The Request

Contributed by Sermon Central on Jan 26, 2011

THE MAGNITUDE OF THE REQUEST Napoleon and his soldiers overcame an island in the Mediterranean Sea. They had fought for many days to take the island and finally succeeded. After the capture of the island at the price of many lives, Napoleon and his generals gathered for a celebration. As they were ...read more

Scripture: Mark 11:24

Tags: Prayer How To

When You Can't Fight, Pray

Contributed by Isaac Butterworth on Jun 14, 2011

WHEN YOU CAN'T FIGHT, PRAY Nancy told me the other day that, not too long ago, she overheard Graham praying. Here he was, near the end of his life, beset with a failing body more than nine decades old, and what was he praying for? His country. Your country. Mine. He fought for this country. He ...read more

Tags: Prayer Supplication

Denomination: Presbyterian/Reformed

Spinning A Web: Andy's Story

Contributed by Sermon Central on Aug 11, 2011

SPINNING A WEB: ANDY'S STORY Andy Fastow was a brilliant kid in the high school graduating class in New Providence, New Jersey. He was one of the really good kids. In fact, he was the student body president of his senior class. He went on to get a great education and a fantastic job. He climbed ...read more

Scripture: Luke 9:23-26

Tags: Lies

Go Back! You're Too Young

Contributed by Sermon Central on Aug 21, 2011

GO BACK! YOU'RE TOO YOUNG Wilbur E. Nelson told the story of his father who was the senior elder in his church for many years. He said: "When I was a boy, eleven years of age, an evangelist held a series of meetings in our church. One night he asked every Christian to come forward and also asked ...read more

Scripture: Deuteronomy 6:4-9

Tags: Children

Novelist Herman Wouk Has Written Of A Meeting...

Contributed by Davon Huss on May 17, 2016

Novelist Herman Wouk has written of a meeting he had with David Ben-Gurion, Israel’s first president. Ben Gurion urged him to move to the newly established nation. This was 1955, and terrorists were still bringing regular bloodshed to the citizens. Ben Gurion had left office and had begun his ...read more

Scripture: Galatians 5:1

Tags: Freedom, Free To Serve, Stop Playing It Safe, Freedom From Fear

Denomination: Christian/Church Of Christ

Being Crucified With Christ

Contributed by Glynda Lomax on Aug 11, 2016

As I was typing up the many pages of notes I would use for my weekly podcast sermon, I needed to replace some letters in a name in part of my document with "M-E," so it would read correctly as I recorded. I was trying to use the ’Find & Replace’ command, but it looked a little ...read more

Scripture: Galatians 2:20

Tags: Sin, Flesh, Self, Crucified With Christ, Crucify Flesh, Crucified  (view more)  (view less)

Denomination: Charismatic

Overcoming Evil With Good; David, Saul, And God

Contributed by Nickolas Kooi on Aug 30, 2017

King Saul tried to kill David numerous times. When Saul would be in David’s hand, David would refrain from showing him evil. Instead, he would spare Saul. He showed respect for his office of king, which led him to showing the mercy that Saul didn’t deserve. Sometimes, this led Saul to seeing ...read more

Scripture: Romans 12:17-21

Tags: Mercy, Revenge, Good, Overcome Evil

Denomination: Lutheran

The Magi -- Who Were They?

Contributed by Ed Vasicek on Nov 25, 2019

Lambert Dolphin writes: “The ancient Magi were a hereditary priesthood of the Medes (known today as the Kurds) credited with profound and extraordinary religious knowledge. After some Magi, who had been attached to the Median court, proved to be expert in the interpretation of dreams, Darius the ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 2:1-12

Tags: Wise Men, Magi, Kinds, Seers

Denomination: Independent/Bible

Surrounded By Idiots

Contributed by Ed Vasicek on Aug 10, 2021

Do you ever feel like you are surrounded by idiots? One web site collected stories… I was signing the receipt for my credit card purchase when the clerk noticed that I had never signed my name on the back of the credit card. She informed me that she could not complete the transaction ...read more

Scripture: Proverbs 29:5-7

Tags: Sense, Brains, Idiots, Dumb Things We Do, Halfwit, Stupid  (view more)  (view less)

Denomination: Independent/Bible

Staying By The Stuff

Contributed by Sermon Central on Jun 18, 2007

STAYING BY THE STUFF. A. MY GRAND MOTHER USED TO TELL US BOYS ABOUT AN OLD PERSIAN LEGEND, B. THAT TALKS ABOUT A KING WHO NEEDED A FAITHFUL SERVANT AND HAD TO CHOOSE BETWEEN TWO CANDIDATES FOR THE OFFICE. C. HE TOOK BOTH, AT FIXED WAGES, AND TOLD THEM TO FILL A BASKET WITH WATER FROM A NEARBY ...read more

Tags: Forgiveness General

They Are Known As The Forty Martyrs Of Sebaste. ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Jun 18, 2007

They are known as the forty martyrs of Sebaste. In the famed Twelfth Legion of Rome’s imperial army there were forty soldiers who professed their faith in Jesus Christ. One day their captain informed them that Emperor Licinius had sent out an edict commanding all soldiers to offer sacrifice to ...read more

Tags: Cross Agony

Every Christian Ought To Be Ready To Stand Up ...  PRO

Contributed by Sermon Central on Jun 18, 2007

Every Christian ought to be ready to stand up courageously and unashamedly for the Lord. How inconsistent that a person redeemed by the blood of Christ experiencing saving power should cower before an unbelieving world On one occasion Frederick the Great invited some notable people to his royal ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 22:1-14

Tags: Witness, Faith, Forgiveness, Boldness

The People There Were A Labor Of Love For Paul, ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Jun 18, 2007

The people there were a labor of love for Paul, and now, it looked like things might fall apart because of some insignificant argument or offense. Have you ever been there? You’ve put your heart and soul into some project or person, and something so small that it goes unnoticed or ignored gets in ...read more

Tags: Peace