In Sermon Illustrations: "Psalm 65 1 8 9 13"

Stop For The Boat People

Contributed by Sermon Central on Apr 28, 2009

STOP FOR THE BOAT PEOPLE On Aug. 8, 2004, the Vietnamese community of Westminster, California, celebrated one of the kindest and bravest acts performed by a stranger on them. On Nov. 13, 1985, ninety-six Vietnamese refugees despaired for their lives and their families’ lives when the engine of the ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 5:43-48

Tags: Christian Love

A Creative Partnership

Contributed by Sermon Central on Mar 24, 2015

During the summer of 1904 an unlikely partnership was formed at the World’s Fair in St. Louis. The summer was unusually hot and people were searching the fair for something to help cool them off… A vendor named Arnold had just what they were looking for… ice cream. People lined up for what seemed ...read more

Scripture: Exodus 17:8-13

Tags: Intercession, Amalek, Partnership, Moses And Aaron

John Piper's Reading Plan

Contributed by Sermon Central on Jun 14, 2011

JOHN PIPER'S READING PLAN John Piper is a well-known Christian author and pastor. He tells about a plan that he says has changed his life. Suppose you read about 250 words a minute, and you resolved to devote just 15 minutes a day to some serious theological reading to deepen your understanding ...read more

Scripture: Deuteronomy 17:18-20

Tags: Learning

In Large Part, Jesus Has A Negative Attitude ...

Contributed by Bob Joyce on Oct 10, 2007

In large part, Jesus has a negative attitude toward wealth. Doesn’t have much of anything good to say about money (Mark 4:19; Matthew 6:19; Luke 12:13; 16:1; 19:1). Jim Bakker, of PTL fame, once the health and wealth and prosperity gospel preacher, said he was convinced by God in a dream, and he ...read more

Denomination: Baptist

Achilles' Heel

Contributed by Dr. Larry Petton on Jan 15, 2024

The ancient Greeks told a story of a warrior named Achilles. His mother had been warned that he would die of a wound, so she dipped him as an infant in the river Styx. That was supposed to make him invincible. THERE WAS ONE PROBLEM -- she held him by one heel which the protective waters did not ...read more

Scripture: James 1:9-15

Tags: Evil, Satan, Spiritual Warfare, Temptation, Trials, Lust  (view more)  (view less)

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

They've All Been Wrong  PRO

Contributed by Timothy Peck on Feb 1, 2001

THEY'VE ALL BEEN WRONG Looking back at how Christians have viewed Christ’s second coming in the past, we find many people obsessed with figuring out all the details and making predictions. Here is a quote: "The last days are upon us. Weigh carefully the times. Look for him who is above all ...read more

Scripture: John 20:19-31, 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18, Daniel 9:20-27

Tags: Second Coming

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

Next Time You’re In An Airport Notice The ...  PRO

Contributed by Timothy Peck on Feb 1, 2001

Next time you’re in an airport notice the difference between passengers who have confirmed tickets and those on standby (Hybels, Too Busy Not to Pray 113). Those who have confirmed tickets are relaxed, their confident and expectant. Those on standby hang around the ticket counter, they pace and ...read more

Scripture: John 3:1-16, Genesis 4:1, 1 John 5:11-13

Tags: Faith, Confusion, Assurance Of Salvation, Born Again, God Brings Hope, Forgiveness In Jesus, Uncertainty  (view more)  (view less)

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

God Honors Radical, Risk-Taking ...  PRO

Contributed by Mark Beaird on Nov 6, 2000

"God honors radical, risk-taking faith. When arks are built, lives are saved. When soldiers march, Jerichos tumble. When staffs are raised, seas still open. When a lunch is shared, thousands are fed. And when a garment is touched -- whether by the hand of an anemic woman in ...read more

Scripture: 2 Kings 4:8-37, 1 Samuel 1:8-16

Tags: Faith General, Faith

Denomination: Pentecostal

Jack Benny Was Rather Shy When He Was Young. One ...  PRO

Contributed by Melvin Newland on Feb 21, 2001

Jack Benny was rather shy when he was young. One day at work he saw a young lady that greatly attracted his attention. But he was too shy to speak to her. So he went to the florist & ordered one red rose to be sent to her without any card enclosed. And every day he repeated that order. Well, ...read more

Scripture: 1 Corinthians 13:5-13, Genesis 2:18-27, Ephesians 5:25-33

Tags: Power, Marriage Commitment, Marriage Obligations, Romantic Love

Denomination: Christian/Church Of Christ

Heres What Cambridge Scholar N.t Wright Has To ...  PRO

Contributed by Bob Hager on Apr 26, 2001

Heres what Cambridge scholar N.T Wright has to say about the subject, "Why did christianity arise, and why did it take the shape it did? The early Christians themselves reply: We exist because of Jesus’ resurrection…. There is no evidence for a form of early Christianity in which the resurrection ...read more

Scripture: 2 Corinthians 4:1-11, 1 Corinthians 15:12-19

Tags: Easter Resurrection

Denomination: Methodist

W. Graham Scroggie Once Said, "Pray When You ...  PRO

Contributed by Donn Heinrich on Feb 11, 2002

W. Graham Scroggie once said, "Pray when you feel like it, pray when you don’t feel like it, ...read more

Scripture: 1 Thessalonians 5:17, Ephesians 6:18, Philippians 4:6-7

Tags: Prayer, Prayer How To, Prayer General

Denomination: Baptist

What's The Use  PRO

Contributed by Wade Martin Hughes, Sr on Apr 20, 2002

WHAT'S THE USE There was an old man that lived in the mountains of eastern Kentucky. The old man had a big family. One day one of the old man’s grandsons approached him with a problem. The Grandson said, "Pap, I read the Bible and I don’t understand it, and what I understand I forget as soon as I ...read more

Scripture: Luke 11:28, Hebrews 4:12, 1 Timothy 3:16-18

Tags: Scripture, Word Of God, Family, Disciplines, Bible, Bible Study  (view more)  (view less)

Denomination: Assembly Of God

Jesus—not Hate But Hope  PRO

Contributed by Sermon Central on Mar 31, 2003

JESUS- NOT HATE BUT HOPE "Jesus. It’s a little name. A small word. Say this little name in public, however, in a way other than an obscenity, and stand back and watch the fireworks. This little name is like a tiny detonator that triggers a nuclear warhead. You can say "God," and you won’t get a ...read more

Scripture: John 14:6, 1 Peter 1:3-9, John 14:23-29

Tags: Apologetics Jesus, Universalism, Lordship Of Christ

When A Believer Considers How Much God Has ...  PRO

Contributed by Charles R. Swindoll on Sep 30, 2004

When a believer considers how much God has forgiven him, he is able to extend pardon to others no matter what they have done. A Christian husband found this to be true when his wife, who had become an alcoholic, told him of an affair she had had with his best friend 10 years earlier. She said she ...read more

Scripture: 2 Corinthians 10:23-33, 1 Corinthians 10:23-33

Tags: Forgiveness For Others, Trust

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

All The Evidence  PRO

Contributed by Sermon Central on Mar 22, 2005

ALL THE EVIDENCE Professor Thomas Arnold, for 14 years a headmaster of Rugby, author of the famous, History of Rome, and appointed to the chair of modern history at Oxford, was well acquainted with the value of evidence in determining historical facts. This great scholar said: "I have been used ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 28:1-15, 1 Corinthians 15:14-20, Luke 24:13-27

Tags: Apologetics Jesus, Easter Resurrection

True Unity  PRO

Contributed by Sermon Central on Apr 26, 2011

TRUE UNITY Unity is not simply an intellectual exercise. We can believe the same things, recite the same creeds, belong to the same denomination, but that does not mean we have unity. In his book Soul Talk, Larry Crabb writes: "Which is worse? A church program to build community that doesn’t ...read more

Scripture: Ephesians 4:1-16, Ephesians 4:1-22, 1 Samuel 25:14-35

Tags: Unity

Where's Your Security  PRO

Contributed by Ronnie Miller on Aug 11, 2011

WHERE'S YOUR SECURITY (NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- Investors lost $1 trillion in the in the stock market Monday as the debt crisis in Europe, lackluster economic news and a downgrade to the U.S. credit rating spark fears of a double-dip recession. Investors placed their wealth in the hands of a man ...read more

Scripture: John 10:28-29, Jude 1:24-25, 1 Peter 1:18-19

Tags: Holy Spirit, Salvation, Security, Promises Of God, Secure  (view more)  (view less)

Denomination: Baptist

Never Give Up  PRO

Contributed by Mark Stepherson on Oct 27, 2011

NEVER GIVE UP Have you seen that cartoon with the pelican having a frog for dinner? His dinner is not agreeing with him. The frog’s head, shoulders, and most of his body are in the pelican’s beak. His back legs are outside, kicking for all they’re worth. His front legs stick out from both sides ...read more

Scripture: Luke 18:1-8, 1 Peter 1:6-7, Luke 11:5-13

Tags: Perseverance, Prayer, Prayer Persistence

Denomination: Baptist

Basic Training

Contributed by John Telgren on Feb 11, 2017

I hated shining shoes in Basic Training. There were other things I would rather be doing instead of sitting on the floor with a brush and mounds of cotton balls stained with black Kiwi shoe polish! If our boots and dress shoes were not perfect we paid for it dearly! During one of our trips to the ...read more

Scripture: 1 Timothy 2:15, 2 Timothy 2:15

Tags: Diligence, Diligently, Diligent

Denomination: Christian/Church Of Christ

Free For The Taking: Grace

Contributed by Richard Tow on Jul 18, 2017

Joseph Cooke was a missionary to Thailand a generation ago. He illustrated grace this way. Picture a happily married couple in which both husband and wife are all that either could ever wish the other to be. The husband always respects his wife’s feelings, always treasures her individuality, is ...read more

Scripture: 1 Timothy 1:8-9, Ephesians 2:8-9, Romans 5:8

Tags: Grace, Love Of God

Denomination: Charismatic