In Sermon Illustrations: "Problems"

Redefining Sin

Contributed by Bret Toman on Jan 4, 2011

REDEFINING SIN "In recent years, and especially since the 1960s, the democratic societies of the West have been enlarging the boundaries of acceptable behaviour, in effect redefining sin. The sexual revolution of my youth dismantled barriers against premarital sex and encouraged open marriages. ...read more

Scripture: 1 Corinthians 13:1-11

Tags: Sin Exposed

Denomination: Baptist

The Enemy Is Real  PRO

Contributed by Guy Mcgraw on Apr 6, 2011

THE ENEMY IS REAL I am learning some things about the FIRST WORLD WAR. Things like it was a TRENCH WAR in which both sides just looked at each other from trenches for most of the war. Often they did not see one another as enemies. The French would not fire on the Germans when they saw their ...read more

Tags: War

God Made Himself Understandable  PRO

Contributed by Sermon Central on Apr 15, 2011

GOD MADE HIMSELF UNDERSTANDABLE I read of a story from the famous Danish philosopher from the mid 1800s, a Christian theologian named Soren Kierkegaard. It is a familiar story, a story rewritten by many over the ages in many different forms, yet it is still relevant today. Here’s what he wrote: A ...read more

Scripture: John 1:1-14, Habakkuk 1:1-5

Tags: Christmas, Understandable

A Reggie Jackson Perspective

Contributed by Sermon Central on Aug 2, 2011

A REGGIE JACKSON PERSPECTIVE Dave Bosewell tells the story of Earl Weaver who was the manager of the Baltimore Orioles and how he handled slugger Reggie Jackson. Weaver had a rule that no one could steal a base unless the steal sign was given. This upset Jackson because he knew pitchers and ...read more

Scripture: Proverbs 11:2

Tags: Arrogance

Give God The Big Stuff, Too

Contributed by Sean Harder on Aug 5, 2011

GIVE GOD THE BIG STUFF, TOO I am mechanically inept and every once in a while I try to do some mechanical thing. Sometimes it's as simple as trying to put up a light fixture. Inevitably it fights back and doesn't go easily. I start getting frustrated and forcing the issue, usually making it worse. ...read more

Tags: Trust

The Decline Of Marriage And Children

Contributed by Michael Mccartney on Mar 9, 2012

THE DECLINE OF MARRIAGE AND CHILDREN Rutgers University Sociology Prof. David Popenoe, and Jean Bethke Elshtain, Professor of Social and Political Ethics at the University of Chicago divinity School. Concluded that the decline of marriage is mainly responsible for the deteriorating well-being of ...read more

Tags: Divorce

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

The Stress Of Uncertainty

Contributed by Sermon Central on May 10, 2012

THE STRESS OF UNCERTAINTY Daniel Gilbert (a psychologist at Harvard), citing a recent Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Index, said "that Americans are smiling less and worrying more than they were a year ago, that happiness is down and sadness is up, that we are getting less sleep and smoking more ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 6:19-34

Tags: Fear And Worry

Life ...

Contributed by Samuel Fulkerson on Aug 23, 2012

Life Choices: AT&T FIRED President John Walter after nine months, saying he lacked intellectual leadership. *He received a $26 million dollar severance package. Police in Oakland, California spent two hours attempting to subdue a gunman who had barricaded himself inside his home. After firing ten ...read more

Tags: Humor

Denomination: Pentecostal

A Boost For Not Boasting!!!

Contributed by Suresh Manoharan on Oct 21, 2016

A Boost for not Boasting!!! Probably you have heard this story before but here it goes again...a tale involving a frog prone to self-boasting and his two crane friends who planned to “live happily together ever after” inhabiting as they were a pond overflowing with rich flora and fauna but that ...read more

Scripture: Jeremiah 9:23-24

Tags: Power, Prudence, Boasting In Christ

Denomination: *other

Pardoned Fugitive

Contributed by Roger Byrd on Jul 17, 2021

He was an unlikely criminal. In the difficult days after World War I, many veterans like Robert Elliot Burns had taken to “riding the rails” in search of work. A native of New Jersey, Burns had found the times very trying so when a friend told him of a job, he immediately agreed. The problem was ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 11:28

Tags: Pardon, Historical

Denomination: Baptist

Anti-Semitic Henry Ford

Contributed by Ed Vasicek on Oct 3, 2022

It was a sweltering August day in 1937 when the Cohen brothers entered the posh Dearborn, Michigan, offices of Henry Ford, the car maker. "Mr. Ford," announced Norman Cohen, the eldest of the three. "We have a remarkable invention that will revolutionize the automobile ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 5:38-48

Tags: Love, Introduction, Friendliness, Joke, Antisemitism  (view more)  (view less)

Denomination: Independent/Bible

Just Listen Please!

Contributed by Ed Vasicek on Feb 11, 2025

Could You Just Listen? When I ask you to listen to me and you start giving me advice, you have not done what I asked. When I ask you to listen to me and you begin to tell me why I shouldn’t feel that way, you are trampling on my feelings. When I ask you to listen to me and you feel you have to do ...read more

Scripture: Job 2:11-13, James 1:19

Tags: Quietness, Listening, Grieving

Denomination: Independent/Bible

No Coasting

Contributed by John Bright on Jan 7, 2026

Whenever the price of gas goes up, people start thinking about saving gas by coasting their cars downhill. I have a vague memory of a news story from way back in the 1970s about a guy who was going downhill and decided to turn the car off to save gas. One little problem – that was when new cars ...read more

Scripture: 2 Peter 1:10-11

Tags: Assurance, Falling

Denomination: Methodist

The Empty Chair And The Full Table

Contributed by Austin W. Duncan on Apr 17, 2026

Thanksgiving can be really sweet. Good food. Laughter. Familiar traditions. A little more time with people you care about. But it can also expose what’s missing. Sometimes the empty chair hits harder than the full table. Sometimes the family tension stays quiet until someone says one sentence, and ...read more

Scripture: Mark 16:1-2

Tags: Grief, Authenticity

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

You Be The Judge?  PRO

Contributed by Sermon Central on Apr 10, 2002

YOU BE THE JUDGE? "A money belt is one thing you just can’t do without," my friend told me. ’Make sure you take travelers’ checks with you and maybe a few twenties, and tuck them in your money belt before you leave. And don’t ... DON’T go pawing through your money when you’re out on ...read more

Scripture: Luke 21:1-4

Tags: Character, Disease, Compassion, Faith, Leprosy, Obedience  (view more)  (view less)

[043] A Message From A Poem – Christ Upholds The Battling One

Contributed by Ron Ferguson on Mar 3, 2025

[043] A MESSAGE FROM A POEM – CHRIST UPHOLDS THE BATTLING ONE (Longer Introduction) Do you face battles? Do trials and opposition buffet you and make the way ahead very hard? This poem partly addresses that. Well there is good news for you. YOU ARE NOT ALONE. Your Saviour goes with you all ...read more

Scripture: John 10:2, John 10:11, John 10:14, 2 Timothy 3:12

Tags: Battling, Mary Stevenson, Comfort, Dreams, Poetry, Burdens, Footprints In The Sand, I Had A Dream, Grace  (view more)  (view less)

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

[309]. A Message From A Poem - This World Is In Deception’s Hand

Contributed by Ron Ferguson on Mar 13, 2026

[309]. A MESSAGE FROM A POEM - THIS WORLD IS IN DECEPTION’S HAND I believed deception is so common that people live with it and do not realise they are deceived. We come to accept circumstances as normal but they are not normal in Christian teaching. They are normal for the deluded ...read more

Scripture: Colossians 2:18-19, 2 Timothy 3:13, 2 Corinthians 11:3-4

Tags: Deception, Christians, Delusion, Hatred, Deceived, Satanic Deception, Delusions, Christian Poems  (view more)  (view less)

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

In The Spring Of 1940, War Between England And ...  PRO

Contributed by Tony Miano on Apr 30, 2001

In the spring of 1940, war between England and Germany was beginning to wage in the Atlantic. The allied fleets of America and England were still abiding by a disarmament treaty that limited the size of warships. But the Germans were building ships of gigantic proportions. One such ship, the ...read more

Scripture: Luke 22:20, Hebrews 9:1-30

Tags: God's Omnipotence, Faith General, Emotions

Denomination: *other

The Music Pastor At Ben Franklin Middle School  PRO

Contributed by Jim Kane on Dec 13, 2001

THE MUSIC PASTOR AT BEN FRANKLIN MIDDLE SCHOOL Jack Martens is a fifty-six year old teacher who has spent 33 years teaching music at Ben Franklin Middle School in San Francisco. “Over 50 percent of Martens’ students are from broken homes. The same number are on welfare. Nearly that many come ...read more

Tags: Christian Love, Compassion, Giving General

Denomination: Church Of God

Awl For The Good  PRO

Contributed by Sermon Central on Feb 25, 2002

AWL FOR THE GOOD In 1809, Simon Renee Braille and his wife Monique welcomed their fourth child into the world-- a lively boy named Louis. They lived in a small stone house near Paris where Braille was the local harness maker. Leather working tools are dangerous, so the toddler had been ...read more

Scripture: John 9:1-41

Tags: Grace, God's Omniscience, God In The Hardships