In Sermon Illustrations: "Quick On Feet"

Serving Others

Contributed by Glynda Lomax on Dec 27, 2014

“True heroism is remarkably sober, very undramatic. It is not the urge to surpass all others at whatever cost, but the urge to serve others at whatever the cost”. - Arthur Ashe In a small, dusty town in western Oklahoma one November there lived a young single mother struggling to make ends meet. ...read more

Scripture: John 13:12-14

Tags: Humility, Christian Service

Denomination: Charismatic

The Valley Of the Shadow Of Death

Contributed by Rev Purvi Satvedi on Oct 27, 2023

An experience Peter Marshall, the great Scottish preacher, related during his ministry: On Sunday morning, December 7, 1941, Peter Marshall preached to the regiment of midshipmen in the Naval Academy at Annapolis. A strange feeling which he couldn’t shake off led him to change his announced topic ...read more

Tags: Death, Funeral, Valley

Denomination: Brethren

We Need To Understand That Our World Is A Fast ...  PRO

Contributed by Steve Malone on Sep 25, 2001

We need to understand that our world is a fast changing world. Change is not necessary bad - if fact change is normal - Change is really a sign of life. Do you know, what the medical definition of death is? a body that does not change... During my sermon your body is going to change - ...read more

Scripture: Ecclesiastes 3:1-8

Tags: Change, Creation, Growth In Christ, Workplace

Denomination: Christian/Church Of Christ

Someday Soon  PRO

Contributed by Sermon Central on Sep 22, 2002

SOMEDAY SOON You just know that some things are going to happen sooner or later. That’s the way it was with Michael Parfit, a writer for Smithsonian magazine. For a feature article on the mighty Mississippi River, Parfit rode in a twelve-foot rubber dinghy down the Mississippi from Memphis, ...read more

Scripture: 2 Timothy 2:15, Psalm 90:10-15

Tags: Jesus Teachings, Kingdom Of God, Second Coming

Alexander M. Sanders, Jr., Is The Chief Judge Of ...  PRO

Contributed by Mary Lewis on Jun 11, 2004

Alexander M. Sanders, Jr., is the Chief Judge of the South Carolina Court of Appeals. When his daughter Zoe graduated from the Univ. of South Carolina in 1992, he told this story that happened what she was just three years old. Sanders came home from work one day to find his home – and especially ...read more

Scripture: 1 Thessalonians 5:16, Philippians 4:4

Tags: Children, Commandments Murder

Denomination: Baptist

Remaining Thankful  PRO

Contributed by Sermon Central on Nov 16, 2004

REMAINING THANKFUL Boyce Mouton wrote this story when he ministered in California many years ago: “In 1954, a young missionary recruit to Alaska was stricken with a paralytic disease which left her bedfast for the last 10 years of her life. Her name was Marie Napier. The first time I met ...read more

Scripture: 1 Thessalonians 5:18

Tags: Thanksgiving Holiday, Peace

A Comfortable Emptiness!

Contributed by Mark Brunner on Jun 2, 2005

A Comfortable Emptiness! On a faded scroll framed in mahogany and hung in the hallway of an old farmhouse I chanced many years ago to read what then, in my youth, seemed important but now many years later is ingrained in my heart as one of the most profound and impacting statements I have ever ...read more

Scripture: Deuteronomy 12:12-18

Tags: Children, Parenting

Denomination: Lutheran

But, Perhaps, The Greatest Piece Is Fyodor ...

Contributed by Rodney Buchanan on Sep 5, 2005

But, perhaps, the greatest piece is Fyodor Dostoevski’s book The Brothers Karamazov. The book is possibly the finest literature ever written by human hand. In it is found a chapter entitled “The Grand Inquisitor.” Ivan Karamazov is telling his brother a story that he has just written. The ...read more

Tags: Sin Separates From God, Sin Exposed

Denomination: Methodist

Fresh Starts! (10.05.05--Beginning ...

Contributed by Mark Brunner on Oct 3, 2005

Fresh Starts! (10.05.05--Beginning Again!--Numbers 20:1) A number of years ago my wife had an opportunity to spend several days camping at a church camp with several of her friends. They kept the little ones and the family pets with them. The only thing lacking for the time was husbands. It was ...read more

Scripture: Numbers 20:1

Tags: Hardship Of Life, God In The Hardships

Denomination: Lutheran

Coil And Spring! (11.07.05--Christian ...

Contributed by Mark Brunner on Nov 3, 2005

Coil And Spring! (11.07.05--Christian Soldiers!--Ephesians 6:10-17) As I walked with her this morning in the dim morning light, she trotted obediently at my side. There was no pulling on her part. She simply walked obediently at heel anticipating each new smell that wafted through the nearby ...read more

Scripture: Ephesians 6:10-17

Tags: Leadership General

Denomination: Lutheran

The Tragic Tale Of Reginald  PRO

Contributed by George Barton on Jan 20, 2006

THE TRAGIC TALE OF REGINALD The parents of Reg, from his earliest age, Had tried in a manner more kindly than sage, To see he was stayed by no curb or taboo From doing those things that he wanted to do. “Far be it from us to forbid or deny One whim to this apple,” they said, “of our ...read more

Scripture: Proverbs 22:6

Tags: Disciplines General

Denomination: Baptist

I Am Neither A Liberal Theologian Nor A Feminist ...  PRO

Contributed by R. David Reynolds on Jan 22, 2007

I am neither a liberal theologian nor a feminist believing that God is both Father and Mother to us, but many of the finest traits of motherhood we find in Him who is our Everlasting Father. Jesus, our Everlasting Father, uses the imagery of a mother hen in describing his desire to care for the ...read more

Denomination: Methodist

Examples Of Perseverance:

Contributed by Sermon Central on Oct 29, 2009

Examples of Perseverance: George Washington, USS Squalus, Ben Hogan The tragedy of life is not the wound because life is so constituted that the wound is inevitable! The tragedy comes when we quit or give up on life because of the wound - when we fall down and we can’t get up! There are times, ...read more

Scripture: Hebrews 12:1-3

Tags: Endurance

Broken Vessels Wanted  PRO

Contributed by David Robb on Jun 1, 2011

Broken Vessels Wanted (David Robb) My tears of weeping are pleasing to the Lord. My cries of emptiness are a song to His heart. He is pleased with me when I am broken, because, what He desires most of me is a broken spirit and a humble heart. He desires that of me because, with a broken ...read more

Scripture: Luke 7:47

Tags: Humility

Denomination: Pentecostal

Airport Security And The Presence Of God

Contributed by Alison Bucklin on Jun 23, 2011

AIRPORT SECURITY AND THE PRESENCE OF GOD Airport inspections are more thorough than they used to be, and lines are longer. They also have X-ray machines for the checked baggage. Fortunately the standards aren't so stringent for that category, so you may arrive at the other end still owning a ...read more

Scripture: Isaiah 40:2

Tags: Holiness

Denomination: Presbyterian/Reformed

Simple Solutions

Contributed by Perry Greene on Dec 1, 2011

SIMPLE SOLUTIONS A toothpaste factory had a problem: they sometimes shipped empty boxes, without the tube inside. This was due to the way the production line was set up, and people with experience in designing production lines will tell you how difficult it is to have everything happen with ...read more

Scripture: Ecclesiastes 9:10

Tags: Ambition

Denomination: Christian/Church Of Christ

The Most Watched Rescue Mission In ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Aug 27, 2012

THE MOST WATCHED RESCUE MISSION IN HISTORY "Estamos bien en el refugio, los 33. " ("We are well IN THE SHELTER, the 33.") That seven-word message set off a wave of euphoria in Chile and around the world. It had been written in red letters on a scrap of paper and taped to a drill bit that penetrated ...read more

Scripture: Luke 19:10

Tags: Salvation

William Booth Our First General Was A Remarkable Man.

Contributed by Andrew Moffatt on Nov 12, 2012

William Booth our first General was a remarkable man; I have recently been reading a book that was published last year on his visions, with strangely enough the name “William Booth’s Amazing Visions”. In it the editor David Ravenhill mentions that “For far too long the Body of Christ [for the ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 21:31-46

Tags: Judgement, Grace, Sin, Heaven

Denomination: Salvation Army

The Locust Plague Described

Contributed by Thomas Cash on Jan 29, 2013

THE LOCUST PLAGUE DESCRIBED The judgment in the book of Joel centers on the warning of a plague of locusts. Now you may think, "Ah, little grasshoppers. Not much of a problem, eh." History records a similar event. Let me read to you: In 1915 a plague of locusts covered Palestine and Syria from ...read more

Scripture: Joel 1:4

Tags: God's Judgment

Denomination: Christian/Church Of Christ

The Carnival Ride

Contributed by Paul Steen on Dec 9, 2017

Some years ago, while our family was vacationing in the high Sierras, we decided to visit a small county fair near the town of Quincy. There weren't many people there that morning. In fact, we were about the only ones visiting the carnival rides. So when I climbed into the Tilt-O-Wheel with my ...read more

Scripture: James 1:14-15

Tags: Sin, Sin Cycle

Denomination: Calvary Chapel