In Sermon Illustrations: "Prayer How To"

Wrath On The Messenger

Contributed by Mark Schaeufele on May 26, 2011

WRATH ON THE MESSENGER I don't know about you, but one of my all-time favorite TV shows is M*A*S*H. I especially loved it when the company clerk Radar would have to give bad news to the head nurse "Hot Lips" Hoolihan. He would tell her the news and expect to have to face her wrath even though he ...read more

Tags: Prophecy

Denomination: Methodist

I Can't Tell A Lie

Contributed by Gordon Curley on Jun 5, 2011

I CAN'T TELL A LIE A grandmother was looking after her two little grandchildren, a 7-year-old girl, and a 5-year-old boy, and both these children had been very, very naughty. As the time drew near for their mother to pick them up, the little girl asked, "Are you going to tell Mummy how we ...read more

Tags: Truth

Denomination: Brethren

The Sufferings Of The Pilgrims

Contributed by Davon Huss on Jul 3, 2011

THE SUFFERINGS OF THE PILGRIMS The sufferings of these pilgrims has been a theme often repeated and yet it remains an amazing story. Within three months of the Mayflower landing in December 1620, only about fifty of the original hundred survived. Their graves had to be unmarked and grassed over to ...read more

Tags: Independence Day

Denomination: Christian/Church Of Christ

Accused

Contributed by Ed Vasicek on Oct 29, 2012

ACCUSED A Louisiana man has been released from death row, becoming the 300th prisoner nationwide to be freed after DNA evidence showed he was innocent. Of those 300 prisoners, 18 had been on death row, according to lawyers from the New York-based Innocence Project. [source: Good News Network]. It ...read more

Tags: False Teaching

Denomination: Independent/Bible

Our Solar System Is Special

Contributed by Jeff Strite on Nov 4, 2012

OUR SOLAR SYSTEM IS SPECIAL Back in 2005, five secular planetary scientists met at the American Museum of Natural History and agreed that our solar system appears special. One commented, (Fritz Benedict of the University of Texas) "The older I get, the less likely it seems to me there'd be a bunch ...read more

Tags: Creation, Solar System

Denomination: Christian/Church Of Christ

Kyle Idleman On Carrying Your Cross

Contributed by Kevin Karhoff on Mar 18, 2013

There is no comfortable way to carry a cross; I don’t care how you position it. I often talk to people who are convinced that some suffering or pain in their lives is an indication that they must not be following Jesus. After all, if they are following Jesus, the Son of God, doesn’t it follow ...read more

Scripture: Luke 9:23

Tags: Surrender, Jesus Christ, Commitment To Christ, Carrying Your Cross

Denomination: Presbyterian/Reformed

Giving

Contributed by Steve Malone on Oct 2, 2019

“I do not believe one can settle how much we ought to give. I am afraid the only safe rule is to give more than we can spare. In other words, if our expenditure on comforts, luxuries, amusements, etc, is up to the standard common among those with the same income as our own, we are probably giving ...read more

Scripture: 2 Samuel 24:24

Tags: Sacrifice, Giving

Denomination: Christian/Church Of Christ

Preach!

Contributed by Dr. Larry Petton on Jan 25, 2021

“PREACH” The word, “preach” comes from the Greek word, kerusso, and means to proclaim as a herald or make a proclamation in a public gathering. The herald may not even have liked the message he was to proclaim or the people may not have wanted to hear it and, thus, the temptation for the herald ...read more

Scripture: 2 Timothy 3:16-17, 2 Timothy 4:1-3

Tags: Preaching, Pastors, Churches, The Word Of God

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

Mom, Why Do You Have White Hair???

Contributed by Dr. Larry Petton on May 5, 2022

One day, a little girl is sitting and watching her mother do the dishes at the kitchen sink. She suddenly notices that her mother has several strands of white hair sticking out in contrast to her brunette hair. She looks at her mother and inquisitively asks: “Why are some of your hairs white, ...read more

Tags: Sermon Introductions, Aging, Humor, Mothers, Mother's Day, Grandmothers  (view more)  (view less)

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

Ham And Egg Breakfast

Contributed by John Bright on Mar 10, 2025

A chicken and a pig were talking about how people don’t truly appreciate what goes into making a breakfast of eggs and ham. The chicken spoke first: “Folks don’t appreciate me and all the hard work it takes to lay an egg. It really hurts!” The pig replied, “That’s the difference between you and ...read more

Scripture: Isaiah 53:4-6

Tags: Sacrifice, Commitment, Chicken, Ham, Pig, Eggs  (view more)  (view less)

Denomination: Methodist

The Price Of A Miracle  PRO

Contributed by David Yarbrough on Mar 24, 2003

THE PRICE OF A MIRACLE Let me tell you about Tess. Tess was a precocious eight-year-old little girl. One day she heard her mom and dad talking in a serious and somber tone about her little brother, Andrew. Tess didn’t understand everything that they were saying, but she got the gist: Her little ...read more

Tags: Change, Character, Giving General, Excitement, Joy, Miracles, Wonder, Sanctification  (view more)  (view less)

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

Jail-Time Repentance

Contributed by Sermon Central on Apr 17, 2012

JAIL-TIME REPENTANCE I want to share with you a small auto-biographical story that I believe illustrates the type of repentant heart needed to continue in getting rid of guilt. She had always been a good girl so finding herself in this place was unimaginable to her. How was she going to survive ...read more

Scripture: 2 Corinthians 7:10

Tags: Repentance

The Choice Tjbts

Contributed by Blake Henson on Jun 6, 2023

The choice shows two coaches recruiting a player to join their team. One seems like a good coach and is the obvious choice to play for. While the other seems not so great and the obvious choice not to play for. However they are really God and Satan recruiting you for their teams. So, whose team do ...read more

Scripture: Joshua 24:15

Tags: Hell, Heaven

The Moravian Brethren, 200 Years Ago, Formed One ...  PRO

Contributed by Owen Bourgaize on Oct 18, 2000

The Moravian Brethren, 200 years ago, formed one of the greatest missionary movements. Two of their members heard of a leper colony in Africa where no missionary was allowed to enter and then return home for fear that the disease might spread in Germany. They volunteered to go into that leper ...read more

Tags: Forgiveness In Jesus, God In The Hardships, Descriptions Of God, Follower

Denomination: Baptist

In The Years Of Communist Domination Of East ...  PRO

Contributed by Owen Bourgaize on Oct 18, 2000

In the years of Communist domination of East Germany there was a symbol which brought hope and comfort to believers in Jesus. A huge TV tower had been erected to broadcast atheistic propaganda. Near the top of the building was a globe-shaped structure housing a restaurant. The remarkable thing ...read more

Tags: Promises Of God, Forgiveness In Jesus, Divinity Of Christ

Denomination: Baptist

I Had A Very Animated Professor At Bible College ...  PRO

Contributed by Don Carpenter on Oct 24, 2000

I had a very animated professor at Bible college by the name of Dr. Emert. He taught us about the danger of blaspheming God’s Son by claiming that He is anything less than God. He told how for some the earth opened, for some fire fell from Heaven, and for some floods came. He told us that he had ...read more

Tags: Cults

Denomination: Baptist

Abraham Lincoln Once Said, ¡§if I Were To Try To ...  PRO

Contributed by Victor Yap on Jan 29, 2001

Abraham Lincoln once said, ¡§If I were to try to read, much less answer, all the attacks made on me, this shop might as well be closed for any other business. I do the very best I know how -¡Vthe very best I can; and I mean to keep doing so until the end. If the end brings me out all right, what is ...read more

Tags: Judgment

Denomination: Independent/Bible

A Minister Friend Of Mine Received A Christmas ...  PRO

Contributed by Melvin Newland on Feb 14, 2001

A minister friend of mine received a Christmas card with a note in it from a lady in his congregation. He said she was very complimentary about his preaching, & compared him with Billy Graham. She finished by writing, "I think you are one of the really great preachers of all time." Later that ...read more

Tags: Emotions, Humility, Temptation Pride

Denomination: Christian/Church Of Christ

Jim Wallis Writes In The Call To Conversion ...  PRO

Contributed by Alan Stokes on Mar 2, 2001

Jim Wallis writes in The Call to Conversion (HarperCollins, 1992, p. 108) his testimony: "When I was a university student, I was unsuccessfully evangelized by almost every Christian group on campus. My basic response to their preaching was, “How can I believe when I look at the way the church ...read more

Tags: Sharing My Testimony, Sharing Your Faith, Apologetics General

Denomination: Holiness

One Man Was Always Worrying. He Worried About His ...  PRO

Contributed by Gerald Cornelius on Mar 27, 2001

One man was always worrying. He worried about his children, his job, his wife, his health. One day a friend of this man noted that he was extremely calm and peaceful. "Why are you so calm?, he asked. "You always worry about every-thing. What happened?" The former worrier replied, "I just hired a ...read more

Scripture: Acts 9:10-18

Tags: God Brings Hope, Guilt, Peace

Denomination: Baptist