In Sermon Illustrations: "Quick Thinking"

Authority At The Airport

Contributed by Brad Henry on Oct 25, 2011

AUTHORITY AT THE AIRPORT Someone the other day told me they had a problem with Security at the airport from something they left in their carry on. Then it got me to thinking, which is a bad idea anyway, about my TSA encounter. I had an early morning flight and I got through security at about ...read more

Tags: Authority

Right Prayer For The Wrong Reason  PRO

Contributed by Mark Stepherson on Nov 18, 2011

RIGHT PRAYER FOR THE WRONG REASON I began teaching during the Wednesday night prayer meetings seven months ago. Suppose I prayed every day for all those months for God to make us into a praying church. Suppose I prayed morning, noon, and night for God to make us a praying church. Suppose I prayed ...read more

Scripture: James 4:1-3

Tags: Prayer, Selfishness, Prayer How To, Motives

Denomination: Baptist

The Missing Gravy Ladle

Contributed by Fred Sigle on Jan 17, 2012

THE MISSING GRAVY LADLE Brian invited his mother over for DINNER. During the course of the meal, Brian's mother couldn't help but keep noticing how BEAUTIFUL Brian's roommate, Angie, was. Brian's Mom had long been SUSPICIOUS of a RELATIONSHIP between Brian and Angie. Before Angie moved in she ...read more

Tags: Temptation Sex

Denomination: Christian/Church Of Christ

Billy Graham: Growing Old Has Been A Surprise  PRO

Contributed by Josh Hunt on Feb 7, 2012

BILLY GRAHAM: GROWING OLD HAS BEEN A SURPRISE Billy Graham, in his book "Nearing Home: Life, Faith, and Finishing Well" (pp. 1-2, Thomas Nelson), he writes: Growing old has been the greatest surprise of my life. The young live for the here and now. Thinking ahead seems to be in the form of dreams ...read more

Scripture: Proverbs 16:31

Tags: Aging

Denomination: Baptist

John D. Rockefeller's Transformation

Contributed by Sermon Central on May 14, 2012

JOHN D. ROCKEFELLER’S TRANSFORMATION John D. Rockefeller, Sr., was strong and husky when he was a youth. He early determined to earn money and drove himself to the limit. At age 33, he earned his first million dollars. At age 43, he controlled the biggest company in the world. At age 53, he was ...read more

Scripture: 2 Corinthians 9:1-15

Tags: Giving General

The Box Was Not Empty

Contributed by Perry Greene on Jul 3, 2012

THE BOX WAS NOT EMPTY "We often learn the most from our children. Some time ago a friend of mine punished his 3-year-old daughter for wasting a roll of gold wrapping paper. Money was tight, and he became infuriated when the child tried to decorate a box to put under the tree. Nevertheless, the ...read more

Tags: Children

Denomination: Independent/Bible

Literal Hell

Contributed by Joe Bertone on Jul 23, 2012

LITERAL HELL When it comes to believing in hell I think of the story of Dr. Maurice Rawlings a noted and celebrated coronary care doctor, who writes of his conversion to belief in a literal hell in Beyond Death’s Door. In 1977 he was giving a stress test to a man who was having chest pains. In the ...read more

Tags: Hell, Death, Afterlife, Demons

Denomination: Christian/Church Of Christ

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

We Hear You Now Lord!

Contributed by David Holwick on Sep 14, 2012

On July 1, 2003, a visiting evangelist at the First Baptist Church of Forest, Ohio, was conducting an evening revival. Rev. Don Hardman had just finished his sermon on repentance and was closing with prayer. Apparently he felt that he had not accomplished what he was there for. A storm was ...read more

Tags: Miracles General

Denomination: Baptist

Susie The Savior  PRO

Contributed by Ken Pell on Mar 30, 2013

SUSIE THE SAVIOR The story is told of a certain 9-year-old who is sitting at his desk in school when all of a sudden there is a puddle between his feet, and the front of his pants are wet. He thinks his heart is going to stop, because he knows when the boys find out, he'll never hear the end of ...read more

Scripture: Isaiah 53:4-5

Tags: Atonement

Denomination: Nazarene

The Final Play Of The Game  PRO

Contributed by Sermon Central on Jun 7, 2013

THE FINAL PLAY OF THE GAME It's never too late to trust Jesus. Oops, I need to qualify that. There IS a time when it's too late to trust Jesus. If you die without putting your faith in Jesus, then it's too late. Someone observed about the thief on the cross that there is one deathbed conversion in ...read more

Scripture: Luke 23:39-43

Tags: Salvation, Becoming A Christian

The Hobbit: Denying Yourself  PRO

Contributed by Ken Pell on Jun 15, 2013

The Hobbit: Denying Yourself In the movie “The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey” there is a scene where the Bilbo Baggins, the Hobbit who is accompanying 13 dwarves on a mission, unexpectedly disappears and seems to have abandoned the dwarves during a crucial battle. They were losing. Bilbo does ...read more

Scripture: Luke 9:23-25

Tags: Dying To Self, Deny Self

Denomination: Nazarene

When Your Sin Finds You Out.  PRO

Contributed by Larry Turner on Sep 16, 2013

I was 18 years old when I stole my first and only item. I was a bagger at a local grocery store. The store had some small battery operated record players that played 45s. (For those too young to remember what 45s were, they looked like bid CDs with a hole in the middle.) A lot of the record players ...read more

Scripture: Numbers 32:23

Tags: Truth, Unconfessed Sin

Denomination: Foursquare

Sleepless Dads!

Contributed by Eduardo Quintana on Oct 4, 2015

You’ll probably not get six continuous hours of good sleep ever again. And if you do, you’ll never admit it because it will make your wife mad for the broken-up sleep she got when she got up and took care of the teething child. Dads, there is nothing more comforting to your little one than to have ...read more

Scripture: Malachi 4:6

Tags: Fatherhood, Sleeplessness

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

Loving Neighbour

Contributed by Don Berry-Graham on Feb 29, 2016

A Little Pointer on Keeping a Balance Here’s a little bonus tip that I’ve found helpful to keep my wits about me as I live next to these wild Vikings we call sinners, pagans, and wacko unbelievers while keeping my vertical relationship with God strong. It’s called “whimsical holiness,” which is ...read more

Scripture: Luke 7:34

Tags: Witnessing Tools, Loving Neighbor

Denomination: Baptist

Human Ingenuity And The Genius Of God

Contributed by Jerry Stephens on Mar 26, 2016

Recently, I was watching a documentary about the top 101 inventions of all time. Pretty cool stuff. Human ingenuity is pretty amazing. We’ve figured out how to do all kinds of things. What are some of the best things human imagination has come up with? I have to tell you, they may not be very ...read more

Scripture: 1 Corinthians 1:18-29

Tags: Faith, Trusting God, Eternal Life, Human Wisdom

Denomination: Vineyard

The Law, The Whole Law, And Nothing But The Law.

Contributed by Larry Turner on Jun 5, 2016

There is a story about a student at Cambridge University in England who entered the classroom on exam day and asked the proctor to bring him cakes and ale. The proctor refused, expressing astonishment at the young student’s audacity. At this point the student read from the four-hundred-year-old ...read more

Scripture: Deuteronomy 22:5-8

Tags: The Law, Bound By The Law, Judged By The Law

Denomination: Foursquare

Dont Be A Cookie Thief

Contributed by Flor Beloria on Dec 12, 2017

The Cookie Thief by Valerie Cox A woman was waiting at an airport one night, with several long hours before her flight. She hunted for a book in the airport shops, bought a bag of cookies and found a place to drop. She was engrossed in her book but happened to see, that the man sitting beside her, ...read more

Tags: Thief Cookie, Thankfulness, Gratitude, Presumption, Love Of God  (view more)  (view less)

Tour Of The Art Museum

Contributed by Phillip Holbrook on May 29, 2019

Suppose you take a tour of an art museum that is advertising a look at the most important work in all of history. The curator points out some famous and priceless works by Picasso, Rembrandt and others. Then, he says to you, "I want you to see the most significant painting ever created", ...read more

Scripture: Romans 1:19-20

Tags: Creation, Evolution, Faith

Denomination: Christian Church

The Easy Yoke

Contributed by Garris Hudson on Jan 15, 2020

A yoke was a wooden frame which was put on the backs of animals and around their necks joining the two animals for a common task, such as plowing or pulling a load. If you were yoked with Jesus Christ, who do you think would "pull the load"? Obviously the Lord. And so in order to manifest ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 5:1-12, Matthew 11:28-30

Tags: Discipleship, Beatitudes, Christian Life, Surrender, Yoke, Following Jesus  (view more)  (view less)

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational