In Sermon Illustrations: "Psalm 112 1 9 10"

Jim Cymbala (As Described In His Book Fresh Wind ...  PRO

Contributed by Daniel Devilder on Oct 24, 2006

Jim Cymbala (as described in his book Fresh Wind Fresh Fire) looked around a saw a small rag tag group of church goers surrounded by a city of muggers, transvestites, drug addicts and more, and realized he was in trouble. He was overcome by his own inadequacy to lead the church, as well as his ...read more

Denomination: Christian/Church Of Christ

Invisible Christians

Contributed by Sermon Central on Apr 14, 2009

INVISIBLE CHRISTIANS More Americans are acquainted with a gay or lesbian person than an evangelical, according to a recent Ellison Research study. Only 24% of all Americans who say they are not evangelical know an evangelical person very well, and 40% have never known any evangelicals at all, even ...read more

Tags: Evangelism The Lost

Radical Revival

Contributed by Sermon Central on Apr 28, 2009

RADICAL REVIVAL Dr. J. Edwin Orr states, "I am convinced that more work for God could be done in six months of revival than in sixty years of any other kind of effort." If we as a church begin doing the work we are appointed with a touch of the radical, we will see more done in six months of ...read more

Scripture: Mark 2:1-12

Tags: Evangelism How To

Roy Whetstine Was A Rock Collector Who Two Sons ...

Contributed by Mark Eberly on Jun 8, 2009

Roy Whetstine was a rock collector whose two sons each had given him five dollars to buy a rock for them at a rock show. One table had a Tupperware container with a large potato-sized rock surrounded by a lot of agates. The sign read: “Any stone $15.” Roy picked up the big rock and asked, “You want ...read more

Tags: Parable Treasure

Denomination: Church Of God

Don't Stop Ringing The ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Jul 13, 2009

DON’T STOP RINGING THE BELL Understanding is the reward of faith. Therefore seek not to understand that thou mayest believe, but believe that thou mayest understand. Augustine. A man took his son to the tiny rural community where he grew up. He was disappointed to discover that the little church ...read more

Scripture: Luke 4:18-19

Tags: Revival

There Could Have Been Peace Instead Of War In ...

Contributed by Gregg Bitter on Aug 16, 2009

There could have been peace instead of war in 1939. Great Britain and France could have just let Hitler have Poland. That had worked the year before when they let Hitler have part of Czechoslovakia, and British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain returned from Munich declaring "peace for our ...read more

Tags: Peace, War

Denomination: Lutheran

I Was Pumping And Finally My Friend Sorin Said, ...

Contributed by Ovidiu Radulescu on Sep 11, 2009

I was pumping and finally my friend Sorin said, “You know Ovidiu, I don’t think there is any water left down there… Oh yes, still there but deep down… And the good thing about the water that is deep down at 50 feet underground, is this: the deeper the water - the purer, the sweeter, the cooler ...read more

Tags: Zeal

Denomination: Seventh-Day Adventist

Addicted To Unkind ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Oct 19, 2009

Addicted to Unkind Words Joseph Telushkin, author of Words That Hurt, Words That Heal, lectures throughout our country on the powerful and often negative impact of words. He often asks those in his audience if they can go 24 hours without saying any unkind words about or to another person. ...read more

Scripture: Ephesians 4:29

Tags: Words

Seek ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Oct 19, 2009

Seek Wisdom There’s a story about a proud young man who came to Socrates asking for knowledge. He walked up to the muscular philosopher and said, “O great Socrates, I come to you for knowledge.” Socrates recognized a pompous numbskull when he saw one. He led the young man through the streets, to ...read more

Scripture: Proverbs 4:5-7

Tags: Wisdom

Knowing Oneself Is Important For ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Oct 26, 2009

Knowing Oneself is Important for Leadership Mort Meyerson became the CEO of Perot Systems, a computer services company. Within six months, he realized that compared to other companies he had known as CEO, everything was different at this one. It wasn’t just the technology, market, and customers, ...read more

Scripture: Proverbs 28:2

Tags: Leadership General

Roll-Up-Your-Shirt-Sleeves Christianity  PRO

Contributed by Sermon Central on Oct 26, 2009

ROLL-UP-YOUR-SHIRT-SLEEVES CHRISTIANITY When DAVE THOMAS died in early 2002, he left behind more than just thousands of Wendy’s restaurants. He also left a legacy of being a practical, hard-working man who was respected for his down-to-earth values. Among the pieces of good advice that have ...read more

Scripture: James 2:14-26, Luke 10:1-10, Romans 15:1-13

Tags: Faith Vs. Works

In The Trenches Of Life When Decisions Need To Be ...

Contributed by Ed Vasicek on Nov 9, 2009

In the trenches of life when decisions need to be made quickly, we often depend upon short principles that offer us immediate direction and give us spiritual instincts. C. Everett Koop is a great medical ethicist; when addressing end of life decision-making in a booklet he wrote for ...read more

Tags: Sermon On The Mount

Denomination: Independent/Bible

Paul's Thorn In The Flesh Like Catfish With ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Nov 10, 2009

Paul’s Thorn in the Flesh Like Catfish with Codfish Years ago in the northeastern United States codfish was a big commercial business. There is a market for eastern cod all over, especially on the West Coast. The demand posed a problem to the shippers. At first they froze the cod, then shipped them ...read more

Scripture: 2 Corinthians 12:7-10

Tags: Affliction

A Man's Skin Changes After Being Swallowed By ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Nov 10, 2009

A Man’s Skin Changes After Being Swallowed by Fish Dr Harry Rimmer told of a man in 1926 who was swallowed by a fish and spent two days inside the fish and lived to tell the story. He was displayed in London as “the Jonah of the twentieth century.” Dr. Rimmer interviewed him two years later after ...read more

Scripture: Jonah 3:1-5

Tags: Jonah

Tony Campolo Confronts Congregations Lack Of ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Nov 10, 2009

Tony Campolo Confronts Congregations Lack of Compassion If you can be concerned about something as trivial as a plant, should I not be allowed to be concerned about something as important as these people-not to mention their livestock? Jonah’s resentment had distorted his perspective and it will do ...read more

Scripture: Jonah 4:1-11

Tags: Compassion

William Cowper's

Contributed by Sermon Central on Mar 22, 2010

William Cowper’s "On Opening a Place for Social Prayer" In considering the audience of prayer, properly put, it is God, yet, it is the company of others that deserves prayer. William Cowper wrote this entitled: "On Opening a Place for Social Prayer" Jesus! where’er Thy people meet, There they ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 6:5-15

Tags: Prayer, Prayer General

I Work In A Building Called The Shalom Centre In ...

Contributed by Ross Cochrane on May 14, 2010

I work in a building called THE SHALOM CENTRE in Sydney. Recently Kathryn, a Jewish girl said she found it unusual that we would call a building Shalom, since it is a Jewish term for saying HI AND GOODBYE. It literally means "PEACE BE WITH YOU". Shalom is a Biblical word. This got me thinking and ...read more

Tags: Peace, Shalom

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

A Gift Beyond Description  PRO

Contributed by Sermon Central on Jul 15, 2010

A GIFT BEYOND DESCRIPTION A few years ago, on "Good Morning, America," Joan Lunden featured some extraordinary gifts that a person might want to include on their Christmas gift list. One of them was a Jaguar automobile, the Jaguar 220. To purchase one, you first go to your Jaguar dealer and ...read more

Scripture: Luke 2:8-21

Tags: Christmas, Joseph, God The Father

Purpose In Life

Contributed by Rodelio Mallari on Dec 12, 2010

PURPOSE IN LIFE Many years before Abraham Lincoln was elected president, he was a store-keeper in Salem, Illinois. Abe had a rifle displayed in his store that was one of the most beautiful rifles ever made. The barrel was made from the finest steel, the stock from the best walnut wood; and a ...read more

Tags: God Brings Purpose

Denomination: *other

Are You A Chief Student?

Contributed by Ed Vasicek on Dec 27, 2010

ARE YOU A CHIEF STUDENT? David Friedman, in They Loved the Torah p. 61 comments about Peter (Shim'on): I see Shim'on as Yeshua's Torah-observant....talmid hakham...a Hebrew technical term meaning the leading student (of a rabbi). Every famous rabbi who daily taught the same students had a talmid ...read more

Tags: Discipleship

Denomination: Independent/Bible