In Sermon Illustrations: "Prayer How To"

He Comes To Us

Contributed by Charles Wallis on Dec 22, 2008

He Comes to Us During a Christmas program, the children's choir sang. A girl had a solo part and a pretty red dress that she could not wait to wear. When her time to sing came, she forgot the words and fell apart in tears. She walked back to the choir sobbing. Soon, the other children were ...read more

Tags: God's Love

Denomination: Pentecostal

The Church Is Dark When You're Not There

Contributed by Sermon Central on Jan 26, 2009

THE CHURCH IS DARK WHEN YOU’RE NOT THERE In a certain mountain village in Europe several centuries ago, a nobleman wondered what legacy he should leave to his townspeople. At last he decided to build them a church. No one saw the complete plans for the church until it was finished. When the people ...read more

Tags: Church Body Of Christ

Little ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Feb 10, 2009

LITTLE THINGS This leads us to a simple but important principle: Our faithfulness in the little things will determine how faithful we will be with bigger things. There is a story about a huge bank where one of the employees was up for a significant promotion. He lost that promotion one day in ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 25:14-30

Tags: Obedience

Take Up Your Cross

Contributed by John Tung on Feb 12, 2009

TAKE UP YOUR CROSS Christiana Tsai was a Christian woman who developed an eye disease that made it impossible for her to see light directly and was virtually blind. She had to wear very dark glasses. Yet, she did not withdraw into her own room and say how tough she has it. No, she used her ...read more

Tags: Cross

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

Stepping Out-Of-Bounds

Contributed by Sermon Central on Feb 12, 2009

STEPPING OUT-OF-BOUNDS I had missed a game winning free-throw. I swore that would never happen again. So I practiced until I became excellent at free-throws. In the next big tournament, I swished two free-throws. On the last one, I heard an ear-splitting whistle in my ear. I had stepped over the ...read more

Tags: Holy Spirit In Believers

Use Money Visually During This Illustration. The ...

Contributed by Paul Carlson on Feb 17, 2009

Use money visually during this illustration. The Barna Research Group asked Americans about the importance of religion. The results say something significant about where people find security. Here is how many people of various income brackets answered “yes” to the question, “Is religion very ...read more

Tags: Security

Denomination: Baptist

A Seminar Leader Wanted To Make An Important ...

Contributed by Ajai Prakash on Feb 18, 2009

A seminar leader wanted to make an important point, so he took a wide mouth jar and filled it with rocks. “Is the jar full?” he asked. “Yes,” came a reply. “Oh, really?” he said. Then poured smaller pebbles into the jar to fill the spaces between the rocks. “Is it full now?” “Yes,” said someone ...read more

Tags: Worry

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

Chicago - A 15-Year-Old Boy Who Lay Bleeding From ...

Contributed by Bruce Howell on Feb 26, 2009

CHICAGO - A 15-year-old boy who lay bleeding from a head wound just steps away from a hospital could not be rescued -- because rules required that ambulances bring in patients. Frustrated police officers finally carried the fatally wounded Christopher Sercye into Ravenswood Hospital, but he died a ...read more

Tags: Compassion

Denomination: Wesleyan

Here's An Interesting Thing: What Often ...

Contributed by Anne Benefield on Mar 4, 2009

Here’s an interesting thing: What often irritates us in someone else is what we do ourselves. You know that I am very close to my younger sister Jean, who is also a pastor. Years ago, I noticed that when we were on the phone, she would sometimes “checkout” of the conversation. I would know ...read more

Tags: Mistakes

Denomination: Presbyterian/Reformed

I've Got To Get Grandma On One Of These Machines!

Contributed by Dr. Larry Petton on Nov 29, 2022

Grandpa was way up in years before he ever had the opportunity to go to an airport. He also had never seen an escalator in his life. He stood in amazement watching the escalator go up and down for the longest tme. Then, just as he was about to leave, he saw a whole bus-load of ladies from the ...read more

Tags: Christmas, Love, Marriage, Agape, Humor, Spouses  (view more)  (view less)

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

Four Reasons For Christmas

Contributed by Dr. Larry Petton on Dec 6, 2022

Text: Galatians 4:4 Did you ever wrestled with a problem that didn't exist? The Galatians were wrestling with a problem that had already been solved! What was the problem? The problem was, "What do we do with the Law! The Law was never meant to redeem mankind. Works were never meant to ...read more

Scripture: Galatians 4:4

Tags: Christmas, Bethlehem, Redemption, Virgin Birth, Deity Of Christ, Humanity Of Christ  (view more)  (view less)

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

Getting "me" Out Of The Way

Contributed by Jerry Cosper on Feb 13, 2023

If we were all honest, we would probably have to admit that we are all guilty of reading a text while we're driving. We see it all the time. People are swerving from their lane into our lane and almost hitting other cars. It can be a serious situation. The way we live can also impact those ...read more

Scripture: 1 Corinthians 10:23-33

Tags: Selfishness, Selflessness

Denomination: Baptist

Your Unsaved Friends Want You To Talk About Jesus!

Contributed by Dr. Larry Petton on Mar 19, 2023

73% of Christians believed it was their responsibility to share their faith. Yet only 52% of them had actually shared their faith at least once with someone in the last year. Millennials were the only age group where the percentage of those evangelizing was increasing. Only 29% of ...read more

Scripture: Romans 3:23

Tags: Evangelism, Unchurched, Roman Road, Sin, Salvation, Cross, Justification, Witnessing, Lost  (view more)  (view less)

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

Have To Die To Go To Heaven

Contributed by John Bright on Apr 17, 2025

Remember, all the bodies are going to die. Jesus had a body. What happened on the cross? He died. So will we. Amen – the end. That would be a terrible place to end a sermon but it reminds me of a Sunday School story. The teacher asked the children, “If I sold my house and car and gave all my ...read more

Scripture: Ecclesiastes 9:2, Matthew 7:13-14

Tags: Heaven, Sunday School

Denomination: Methodist

Stuck In A Rut

Contributed by David Dunn on Nov 14, 2025

The U.S. standard railroad gauge—the width between the rails—is 4 feet, 8 ½ inches. Strange number, isn’t it? You’d think something so crucial would be more logical. So why that width? Because American railroads were built by British expatriates, and that’s how they did it in England. Why ...read more

Scripture: Romans 12:2, 1 Peter 1:18-19

Tags: Tradition, Transformation

Denomination: Seventh-Day Adventist

History Of Father's Day - Sonora Smart Dodd

Contributed by J Jeffrey Smead on Nov 25, 2025

Indeed ... It is Father's Day, ... and the very first national celebration ... of this day .... was on June 19, 1924, ... via a proclamation ... of President Calvin Coolidge. But it all came about ... due to the efforts of a woman named ... "Sonora" Smart Dodd. Sonora was sitting ...read more

Scripture: 1 John 4:19, Romans 8:38-39, Joshua 1:9, Hebrews 12:10-11, Ephesians 6:1-3, Colossians 3:21  (view more)  (view less)

Tags: Father's Day, Celebrate, Fathers, Remembrence, Love  (view more)  (view less)

Denomination: Anglican

Kay Arthur Writes: If Only… If Only He Had ...  PRO

Contributed by Greg Nance on May 3, 2001

Kay Arthur writes: If only… if only he had known… If only I had known! He had been summoned. What could he do? There was no higher authority to appeal to, no one to mediate. He had been bidden to come – and go he must. Most people looked on him with contempt because of his physical ...read more

Tags: God's Provision, Lodebar, Forgiveness For Others, Forgiveness General

Denomination: Christian/Church Of Christ

Mommy, What Does God Look Like?" Asked ...  PRO

Contributed by Melvin Newland on Nov 9, 2001

ILL. "Mommy, what does God look like?" asked 5-year-old Timmy. He put down his peanut butter sandwich & took a big swallow of milk. "Well, God is a Spirit & we can’t see Him in the same way that we see people," his mother began, not knowing quite where to go from there. "But if we can’t see ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 1:23

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

Denomination: Christian/Church Of Christ

Buddha's Finger  PRO

Contributed by Rodney Buchanan on Mar 30, 2002

BUDDHA'S FINGER In 1981 there was a devastating flood in central China. During the flood an ancient pagoda collapsed at Famen Temple. A few years later, archaeologists were digging through the rubble when they made a startling discovery. Sealed in a miniature stone casket, they found what ...read more

Tags: World Religions, Easter Resurrection

Denomination: Methodist

I Love The Story Of A King That Wanted To Show ...  PRO

Contributed by Wade Martin Hughes, Sr on May 30, 2002

I love the story of a king that wanted to show his people how much he loved them. So, he decided to pay for a great feast for his kingdom. He decided to have a great meal and invite every family. The king would provide all the meat, all the vegetables, all the desserts ... everything, the ...read more

Tags: Surprise

Denomination: Assembly Of God