In Sermon Illustrations: "Reach"

Poem On Risk

Contributed by Michael Mccartney on Dec 28, 2009

POEM ON RISK This is a poem on risk from a classroom wall: To laugh is to risk appearing the fool To weep is to risk appearing sentimental To reach out for another is to risk involvement To expose feelings is to risk exposing, your true self To place your ideas, your dreams before a crowd is to ...read more

Tags: Obedience

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

Facing The Truth: Beverly Sills

Contributed by Dale Pilgrim on Apr 26, 2010

fACING THE TRUTH: BEVERLY SILLS Confession is admission of something; it is an act of disclosure. Here's a story in the Ladies’ Home Journal as once quoted in The Reader’s Digest: Being general director of the New York opera took a toll on Beverly Sills; she ballooned into obesity. "It made me ...read more

Tags: Confession Of Sin

Denomination: Salvation Army

Impact Of Prayer In The Life Of David ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Jun 9, 2010

Impact of Prayer in the Life of David Wilkerson Several years ago, a pastor of a small church in rural Pennsylvania decided to convert the two hours a night he spent watching TV into prayer time. Soon after that, there were some gang members in New York City who had been involved in a brutal, ...read more

Scripture: 1 Timothy 2:1-4

Tags: Prayer Answered

More Than A Golf Ball

Contributed by Sermon Central on Apr 27, 2011

MORE THAN A GOLF BALL Curtis Strange, one of the golfers in the Master’s Tournament, teed up on the 12th hole and hit a beautiful shot. It rolled right up and dropped in the cup for a hole-in-one. The crowd went crazy with applause and cheering. Then Curtis Strange did an interesting thing. He ...read more

Scripture: Proverbs 13:22

Tags: Character

Jehovah Is Still God

Contributed by Christian Cheong on Nov 14, 2011

JEHOVAH IS STILL GOD Gladys Aylward, missionary to China more than 50 years ago, was forced to flee when the Japanese invaded Yangcheng. But she couldn't leave her work behind. With only one assistant, she led a 100+ orphans over the mountains toward Free China. During Gladys's harrowing journey ...read more

Tags: Faith

Denomination: Independent/Bible

Overwhelming Forgiveness

Contributed by Davon Huss on Dec 12, 2011

OVERWHELMING FORGIVENESS A wonderful example of how to practice the lifestyle of grace comes from an incident in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, on October 2, 2006, when a man entered an Amish schoolhouse and murdered 5 girls while wounding 5 others before killing himself. As horrific as this ...read more

Tags: Forgiveness For Others

Denomination: Christian/Church Of Christ

The Trouble Telescope  PRO

Contributed by Perry Greene on May 8, 2013

THE TROUBLE TELESCOPE Most of you have seen the wonderful images from the Hubble Space Telescope. From the far reaches of space, we're able to see God's most breathtaking creations. Do you remember that in the beginning the Hubble Space Telescope was not the wonderful machine that it is today. ...read more

Scripture: 1 Corinthians 13:12

Tags: Self

Denomination: Christian/Church Of Christ

Too Wicked For Ministry

Contributed by Keith Foskey on Apr 16, 2014

Paul Washer is a powerful preacher and evangelist. He once had a seminary student send him a message. He was afraid that he was too bad to enter the ministry. He sent him a message that simply said, "I think I am too wicked to be in the ministry." And Paul Washer wrote him back and said, "You are ...read more

Scripture: Romans 3:19-26

Tags: Assurance, Confidence, Reliance On God

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

Mothers

Contributed by Don Berry-Graham on Feb 29, 2016

To Mama and Jesus, You and He, You gave me life and He extended it. You saved me from the cold and He from sin. You taught me hope and He defended it. From you I once was born . . . from Him again. You let me skip in fields that He had made. He bid me bless the loaves you baked for me. You ordered ...read more

Scripture: Romans 12:1-6

Tags: Death, A Mother's Heart

Denomination: Baptist

A Millionaire Decides To Throw A Massive Party ...  PRO

Contributed by Guy Mcgraw on Jan 21, 2008

A millionaire decides to throw a massive party for his fiftieth birthday. During the party he grabs the mic and he announces to his guests that down in the garden of his mansion he has a swimming pool with two great white sharks in it. “The man who dares to swim across that pool gets 1 MILLION ...read more

Charles Dickens's Tale Of Two Cities Is A Story ...

Contributed by Kenneth Mitchell on Jan 31, 2008

Charles Dickens’s Tale of Two Cities is a story woven around the events of the French revolution. Each day, a grim procession of prisoners would make its way on the streets of Paris to the guillotine. One prisoner, Sidney Carton, a brave man who had once lost his soul but had now found it again, ...read more

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

Church Shopping Online Church Consultant Tom ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Apr 14, 2008

Church Shopping Online Church consultant Tom Bandy says that as tools for reaching potential worshipers, church Web sites are growing in number and getting more sophisticated. One sign: 5 years ago, churches made up only 5% of clientele for StreamGuys, an Arcadia, CA based provider of streaming ...read more

Tags: Church Growth

A Young Man Who Had Been Raised As An Atheist Was ...

Contributed by Revd. Martin Dale on Jul 5, 2008

A young man who had been raised as an atheist was training to be an Olympic diver. The only religious influence in his life came from his outspoken Christian friend. The young diver never really paid much attention to what his friend said about Jesus. One night the diver went to the indoor pool ...read more

Tags: God's Love

Denomination: Anglican

Safe In The Burned Place

Contributed by Sermon Central on Jul 31, 2008

SAFE IN THE BURNED PLACE Some early settlers were traveling together across the western prairies of the United States. One day they were horrified to see a fire fanned by strong wind coming their way. As the flames raced closer and closer one man, to the amazement of the others, set fire to a ...read more

Tags: Forgiveness In Jesus

Preach The Right Message

Contributed by Scott Jensen on Oct 8, 2008

Preach the Right Message Take a look at the example of Pastor Carlton Pearson from Tulsa, Oklahoma. By all standards, he was a very successful preacher with a church of over 5,000 members. Well-known for being a powerful speaker, he reached many and continued to grow his church. However, one ...read more

Tags: Ignorance

Denomination: Lutheran

Sacrificial Love

Contributed by Clarence Clough on Oct 2, 2008

Sacrificial Love Years ago, a young mother was making her way across the hills of South Wales, carrying her tiny baby in her arms, when she was overtaken by a blinding blizzard. She never reached her destination, and when the blizzard had subsided her body was found by searchers beneath a mound of ...read more

Tags: Cross

Denomination: Church Of God

God's "Random" Provision

Contributed by Timothy Darling on Jan 21, 2009

God's "Random" Provision Charles Cowman and his wife were missionaries to Asia. He became fatally ill and they returned to their homeland. For six years he battled his illness. Mrs. Cowman says, "... each time when the testings had reached their utmost limit, God would illumine some old and ...read more

Tags: Hardship Of Life

Denomination: Mennonite

If You've Been Watching The Stock Market For The ...

Contributed by K. Edward Skidmore on Mar 4, 2009

If you’ve been watching the Stock Market for the last few months, you know our country is suffering from a crisis of confidence. I hope you’re not letting the news from wall street get you down. I thought it might cheer you up if I shared a stock report that hasn’t made the news: (get out your ...read more

Tags: Stewardship

Denomination: Christian/Church Of Christ

I Wonder What God Would Say To Us Today As He ...

Contributed by Lou Nicholes on Apr 22, 2007

I wonder what God would say to us today as He sees all of our so-called Christian organizations in constant activity but with little action or movement. The huge building program proclaiming astronomical figures in cost and “people reached” is indeed impressive. The mushroom growth of both churches ...read more

Scripture: Jeremiah 6:16-19

Denomination: Baptist

There Was A Man Walking With His Son Down A ...

Contributed by Fred Sigle on Apr 23, 2007

There was a man walking with his son down a country road. On the left was a beautiful country ESTATE. A big black LIMOUSINE pulled onto the circular DRIVEWAY. Out of the automobile stepped a FINELY DRESSED and WELL-GROOMED gentleman, who NODDED to the man and the boy and then went into his ...read more

Denomination: Christian/Church Of Christ