In Sermon Illustrations: "Preaching The Word"

No One Ever Told Hitler

Contributed by Sermon Central on Dec 27, 2008

NO ONE EVER TOLD HITLER Dr. Martin Neimoller was an outstanding German pastor during the time of Adolf Hitler's reign. Neimoller was sent to prison for preaching the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Before being sent to prison Neimoller had a 30-minute visit with Adolf Hitler. Hitler tried to persuade ...read more

Tags: Evangelism How To

Painting The Porch  PRO

Contributed by Sermon Central on Jan 5, 2009

PAINTING THE PORCH There was a lady who was preparing her Christmas cookies. There was a knock at the door. She went to find a man, his clothes poor, obviously looking for some Christmas odd jobs. He asked her if there was anything he could do. She said, "Can you paint?" "Yes," he said. "I’m a ...read more

Tags: Communication General

Be Content To Speak In A Cottage

Contributed by Sermon Central on Feb 13, 2009

BE CONTENT TO SPEAK IN A COTTAGE January 6, 1850, was bitterly cold in Colchester, England, a hard-biting blizzard keeping most worshipers at home. At the Primitive Methodist Chapel on Artillery Street, only about a dozen showed up. When it became apparent that even the pastor would not arrive, an ...read more

Tags: Evangelism How To

How To Get To Heaven

Contributed by Sermon Central on Apr 9, 2009

HOW TO GET TO HEAVEN Bishop Fulton Sheen, in his autobiography "Treasure in Clay," wrote about an experience he had when he was traveling around preaching: I stopped to ask a few boys for directions to the Town Hall where I was giving a lecture. They told me where the Town Hall was and then ...read more

Tags: Heaven

Honor Your Mother And Father

Contributed by Jim Blevins on May 15, 2009

HONOR YOUR MOTHER AND FATHER One Mother's Day I was preaching in another state and during the Sunday School class I told about one of the two times that I sassed my mother. Now my mom is about 4 foot 11 inches tall and I was approaching 6 feet so I towered over her. She had told me to do something ...read more

Tags: Commandments Parents

Denomination: Independent/Bible

Honesty Matters  PRO

Contributed by Michael Deutsch on Jul 6, 2009

HONESTY MATTERS I read about a high school golfer, Chelsee Richard, of Bloomingdale High School in Brandon, Florida. She lost her chance to win the 2004 state championship — by being honest. In the qualifier for the state finals, Chelsee hit her tee shot on the second hole into the rough. Without ...read more

Scripture: 2 Corinthians 1:1-4, 1 Thessalonians 1:1-14

Tags: Commandments Testimony

Denomination: Baptist

Rare Copy Of Declaration Of Independence ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Oct 28, 2009

Rare Copy of Declaration of Independence Discovered at Garage Sale As Stan Caffy and his fiancé prepared to get married, they cleaned out their respective garages and sold everything to Goodwill. Between the two of them, they sold an assortment of clothes, bicycles, tools, computer parts, and a ...read more

Scripture: Colossians 2:3

Tags: Discovery

At The Bottom Of Many Of His Musical Manuscripts, ...

Contributed by Bobby Mcdaniel on Apr 17, 2010

At the bottom of many of his musical manuscripts, the great organist and composer Johann Sebastian Bach often wrote the letters "INDNJC." Those letters stood for "In Nomine Domini Nostri Jesu Christi" — in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. INDNJC. They did not appear on Bach's manuscripts by ...read more

Tags: Music

A Young Boy Gets A Driving ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Aug 6, 2010

A Young Boy Gets A Driving Permit A young boy had just gotten his driving permit. He asked his father if they could discuss his use of the family car. His father took him into his study and said, “I’ll make a deal with you. You bring your grades up, study the Bible a little, get your hair cut, ...read more

Scripture: 1 Timothy 3:4-5

Tags: Parenting

Waiting Vs. Watching For Him

Contributed by Sermon Central on Jan 23, 2011

WAITING VS. WATCHING FOR HIM The Lord told us not only to wait for him but to watch for him, and he has pronounced a special blessing on those who watch. The difference between waiting and watching is illustrated in a story told of a Scotch fishing village. After days at sea, the skipper of a ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 25:1-13

Tags: Second Coming

Wahlstrom's Wonder  PRO

Contributed by Sermon Central on Apr 17, 2011

WAHLSTROM'S WONDER I once read about a certain Mr. Wahlstrom who purchased an old bombsight and took it apart to see what made it work. As he began to put it back together, he decided to add to it some spare parts he had from other projects. Over time, friends and neighbors took an interest in the ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 28:18-20, John 1:14-18, Jonah 3:1-10

Tags: Church Purpose Of

Loved, To Be Love

Contributed by Jason Bonnicksen on Apr 22, 2011

LOVED, TO BE LOVE One of the neatest gifts I've ever received was this little, hand towel. I was given this during my seminary commencement, and have cherished it ever since. The towel has a little saying on it: "Blessed to be a blessing" Isaiah 61:1. Isaiah 61:1-2 says: "The Spirit of the ...read more

Tags: Easter Maundy Thursday

Denomination: Lutheran

Repentance And Baptism  PRO

Contributed by Michael Mccartney on May 11, 2011

REPENTANCE AND BAPTISM Steve Atkerson states: "John the Baptist explicitly stated the purpose of his baptism when he said, 'I baptize you with water for repentance' (Mt 3:11). Did John baptize them so that they could repent or because they already had repented? That is, was John's baptism a means ...read more

Tags: Baptism

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

Buried Treasure

Contributed by Sermon Central on Aug 25, 2011

BURIED TREASURE In 1992 volunteers from Concordia College in Moorhead, Minnesota, excavating in Caesarea dug up 99 gold coins that had been stashed in a makeshift safe beneath the floor of what was once a private dwelling. Caesarea is considered one of Israel’s richest archaeological sites in that ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 13:44-46

Tags: Parable Treasure

A Few More Hours

Contributed by Jerry Cosper on Jan 23, 2013

A FEW MORE HOURS A young lady busied herself getting ready for a blind date. He had promised dinner at an exclusive downtown restaurant with live music and dancing. Wanting to make a good first impression she had taken the day off work. She cleaned her apartment; she went out that afternoon to ...read more

Tags: Second Coming

Denomination: Baptist

Humorous Hospital Charts

Contributed by Sermon Central on May 23, 2013

HUMOROUS HOSPITAL CHARTS I came across some notes supposedly found on hospital charts, and I thought you might enjoy them as I did: • The patient refused autopsy. • Note: Patient recovering from forehead cut. Patient became very angry when given an enema by mistake. • Patient has chest pain if she ...read more

Scripture: Exodus 18:1-27

Tags: Leadership General

Wife Died

Contributed by Davon Huss on Jul 3, 2015

Booth-Tucker preached in Chicago one day, and out from the throng a burdened laborer came and said to him, before all the audience, "You can talk like that about how Christ is dear to you, and helps you; but if your wife was dead, as my wife is, and you had some babies crying for their mother who ...read more

Scripture: 2 Timothy 1:10

Tags: Grief, God's Comfort, Christ's Sufficiency, The Comforter

Denomination: Christian/Church Of Christ

Cross Is The Attraction

Contributed by Andrew Moffatt on Sep 8, 2016

The famous first national Salvationist here in Sri Lanka, Arnolis Weerasooriya whose picture we all walk past every day said something about the cross. Can you remember reading it, it is on his picture. That’s right he said, “Cross is the attraction.” He died from cholera some years later on the ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 20:20-28

Tags: Suffering, Enduring Suffering, Proclaiming

Denomination: Salvation Army

Return Good For Evil - Martin Luther King

Contributed by Martin Spoelstra on May 11, 2025

Jesus doesn’t just ask us to avoid revenge—he calls us to actively do good in return. Not because the other person deserves it, but because he deserves our obedience. And we’ve seen it lived out—not just in Bible times, but in our own history. Perhaps one of the clearest modern examples is Dr. ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 5:38-42

Tags: Evil, Martin Luther, Doing Good

Denomination: Presbyterian/Reformed

They Will Know What Jesus Looks Like Now

Contributed by Timothy Lueking on Apr 3, 2023

Maybe you have heard the story of a young boy who was given an assignment in his elementary art class. He was asked to draw a picture of something that was priceless to him. He thought about all things he valued and then the idea came to him as to what was most important and valuable. Throughout ...read more

Scripture: John 1:18, 1 John 4:12, 1 Timothy 6:15-16, Mark 16:15

Tags: Image Of God, Share Your Faith

Denomination: Christian/Church Of Christ