In Sermon Illustrations: "Purpose Of Giving"

You’d Have To Be Living Under A Rock Not To ...  PRO

Contributed by Timothy Smith on Sep 27, 2002

You’d have to be living under a rock not to have heard of Star Wars, but if you are not “into” the Star Wars saga you may not know that the two-foot tall, 800+year old character you just saw is Yoda. Now, it’s true, Yoda can’t speak a straight forward English sentence. “Totally backward his ...read more

Tags: Television And Movies, God The Father, Descriptions Of God

Denomination: Christian Church

How's Your Faith?  PRO

Contributed by Clarence Clough on Jan 29, 2005

"How’s Your Faith?" by Victor Knowles-- Paul was concerned about their faith. Five times in ten verses he mentions their faith. How is yours? Notice the different degrees of faith. Which is yours? I. Dead Faith (James 2:17,20,26), II. Little Faith (Matthew 6:30), III. Weak Faith (Rom. ...read more

Scripture: 1 Thessalonians 3:1-10

Tags: Faith General

Denomination: Church Of God

The Apathy Club  PRO

Contributed by Dean O'bryan on Aug 25, 2008

The Apathy Club Did you hear about the college students who wanted to form a new organization on their campus? They called it the "Apathy Club"? Their "Apathy Club" wasn't going to be like any other student group. Where most organizations have a purpose or goal -- or some common interest to unify ...read more

Scripture: Philippians 4:10-19

Tags: Path, Promise, Apathy, Performance, Commitment To Christ  (view more)  (view less)

Denomination: Baptist

Scientists At Nasa Have Developed A Gun For The ...

Contributed by Charles Wallis on Jan 14, 2009

Scientists at NASA have developed a gun for the purpose of launching dead chickens. It is used to shoot a dead chicken at the windshield of airline jet, military jet, or the space shuttle, at that vehicle’s maximum traveling velocity. The idea being, that it would simulate the frequent incidents of ...read more

Tags: Mistakes

Denomination: Pentecostal

Have You Ever Experienced The Power Of Healing ...

Contributed by John Williams Iii on Feb 3, 2009

Have you ever experienced the power of healing words that were either spoken to you or that you spoke to another? We must admit that there are also times when our actions speak louder than words. “Author and lecturer Leo Buscaglia once told about a contest he was asked to judge. The ...read more

Tags: Suffering Loneliness

Denomination: United Methodist

We Recently Watched A Dvd About Prestidigitation. ...

Contributed by Johnny Wilson on Feb 9, 2009

We recently watched a DVD about prestidigitation. It was called The Prestige and was based on the idea that every illusion has three acts. The first act is "The Pledge" where the magician shows you something very simple and ordinary, though it rarely is. The second act is "The Turn" where something ...read more

Tags: Jesus Christ

Denomination: *other

1 Corinthians ...

Contributed by Russell Brownworth on Feb 12, 2009

1 Corinthians 9:24-27 Paul said run to win as if winning is everything. It is, but not in the sense that you find in the sports arena. Running to win only makes sense if you’re chasing the right prize. My daughter, Jen, has a fur-ball with whiskers named Fred. Fred will chase anything that ...read more

Tags: Materialism

Denomination: United Methodist

Unchurched Don't Visit In Person

Contributed by Sermon Central on Feb 13, 2009

UNCHURCHED DON’T VISIT IN PERSON Unchurched adults interested in finding a church home aren’t nearly as likely to visit one in person as a church member who is shopping for a new congregation, claims LifeWay Research. Only 49% of unchurched adults would visit in-person if they were looking for a ...read more

Tags: Evangelism The Lost

Watch Out For The Weeds  PRO

Contributed by Christian Cheong on Feb 23, 2010

WATCH OUT FOR THE WEEDS Watch out for the weeds in your life – the things that come between you and God; between you and serving God. I like the way Rick Warren illustrates weeds. • You don’t have to plan for weeds to grow; it just grows. • The difference between a plant and a weed is this. ...read more

Tags: Parable Sower And Seed

Denomination: Independent/Bible

Importance Of Church Friendships  PRO

Contributed by Sermon Central on Apr 9, 2010

IMPORTANCE OF CHURCH FRIENDSHIPS A new Gallup study commissioned by Group Publishing shows that people with close friendships in their church are very satisfied with their congregation, less likely to leave their place of worship, and have a strong friendship with God. Church members who have a ...read more

Scripture: Acts 2:42

Tags: Church Body Of Christ

Tying Off The Tap Root  PRO

Contributed by Sermon Central on Aug 3, 2011

TYING OFF THE TAP ROOT The Japanese introduced a tree to the world that is called a Bonsai tree. It is measured in inches instead of feet as other trees are measured. It is not allowed to reach anywhere near its full growth potential but instead grows in a stunted miniature form. The reason for ...read more

Scripture: Colossians 2:1-7

Tags: Prayer General

The Lonely Frog

Contributed by Isaac Butterworth on Dec 8, 2014

You’ve heard the one, I ‘m sure, about the lonely frog who goes to see a fortune-teller. He’s told not to worry. She says, “You’re going to meet a beautiful young girl, and she will want to know everything about you.” “That’s great!” the excited frog says. “When will I meet her?” And the psychic ...read more

Scripture: Ruth 2:1-13

Tags: Fate, Providence

Denomination: Presbyterian/Reformed

Community

Contributed by Michael Mccartney on Oct 2, 2015

Dr. B. adds, “Christ desired that his church would be the earthly community of oneness modeled after the eternal community of oneness. Jesus went on to declare that he had provided his followers with everything they needed to bring about this oneness. He prayed, “I have given them the glory that ...read more

Scripture: 1 Corinthians 12:12-27

Tags: Connection, Church Community, Christian Community

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

Inspect Versus Expect

Contributed by Jerry Cosper on Feb 13, 2023

There was a young boy who was notorious for cleaning according to what his parents would inspect, but not necessarily what they would expect. In other words, he would do things like fold and put away the dirty laundry, and put away the dirty dishes thinking they were clean. Things looked tidy on ...read more

Scripture: Luke 10:25-37

Tags: Expectations, Cover Up

Denomination: Baptist

We Are Sinners. (The Ache In The Human Heart)

Contributed by Dr. Fred W. Penney on Jul 4, 2023

There is in each of us a dis-ease, a sense of unfulfillment of some high destiny unmet, of some lofty vow broken and shattered. We are sinners! We long for some word of forgiveness which will make us whole. We sense we have a homeland, but we are exiles. We perceive that we are of royal ...read more

Scripture: 1 Peter 1:1

Tags: Depravity, Disobedience, Sin

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

Homosexuality In First Century Greek Culture

Contributed by Ed Vasicek on Sep 24, 2019

Craig Keener writes, “Greek men were commonly bisexual; not only was homosexual behavior approved…but elements of the culture socialized boys in this direction. Men and women were segregated growing up, and male bonds became close. Apparently due to a deficiency in the number of women (which many ...read more

Scripture: Romans 1:24-32

Tags: Gay, Homosexuality, Lesbian, Gender, Bisexuality  (view more)  (view less)

Denomination: Independent/Bible

God Wants To Trade

Contributed by Steve Kinnard on Feb 7, 2019

God wants to trade your dry barren ground for a fertile garden ; He wants to trade your weeds for beautiful flowers ; He wants to take our anxiety and give us assurance (everything is all right) ; He wants to give us faith instead of fear ; He wants to take your curses and give you blessings ; He ...read more

Scripture: Isaiah 41:8-20

Tags: Trade, Blessings

Denomination: Pentecostal

C.s. Lewis Said, "I Do Not Believe One Can Settle ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Apr 10, 2008

C.S. LEWIS SAID, "I DO NOT BELIEVE ONE CAN SETTLE HOW MUCH WE OUGHT TO GIVE. I AM AFRAID THE ONLY SAFE RULE IS TO GIVE MORE THAN WE CAN ...read more

The Heart

Contributed by Charles Wallis on Jun 24, 2009

THE HEART We say "I give you my heart..." Maybe we should say, "God, give me Your heart." Let my heart beat with the heartbeat of God...Let my heart be broken by what breaks his heart..." God is chasing you...will you come to Him? You need a heart transplant - He ...read more

Tags: Heart

Denomination: Pentecostal

Being Nice Does Have Its Rewards

Contributed by James Snyder on Nov 21, 2020

It was one of those weeks. It seems that every week of mine is "one of those weeks." Just when I think everything was looking fine, I discovered I was looking in the wrong direction. I should know better than thinking. Several problems developed with my vehicle, and I had to take it to ...read more

Scripture: Luke 6:38

Tags: Nice, Relationship

Denomination: Christian Missionary Alliance