In Sermon Illustrations: "Real People"

We Have A Custom Of Viewing The Body, Not Just ...

Contributed by Bobby Scobey on Mar 27, 2007

We have a custom of viewing the body, not just out of curiosity or to judge the mortician’s skill but to face reality. In doing that we grieve, which ventilates our sorrow and helps to bring emotional healing and relief. A young boy in my former pastorate suffered the death of his thirty-year-old ...read more

Denomination: Pentecostal

A Man Visited His Longtime Friend, A British ...  PRO

Contributed by Jeeva Sam on Mar 20, 2001

A man visited his longtime friend, a British military officer stationed in an African jungle. One day when the friend entered the officer’s hut, he was startled to see him dressed in formal attire and seated at a table set with silverware and fine china. The visitor asked why he was all dressed up ...read more

Tags: Holiness, Church Purpose Of, Call Of The Disciples

Denomination: Methodist

John Newton, The Writer Of The Most Popular Hymn ...  PRO

Contributed by Sermon Central on Mar 30, 2001

John Newton, the writer of the most popular hymn in history, "Amazing Grace" said: "… if two angels in heaven were given assignments by God at the same time, one of them to go and rule over the greatest nation on earth and the other to go sweep the streets of the dirtiest village, each angel would ...read more

Someone Tells About A Woman Who For Many Years ...  PRO

Contributed by Dana Chau on May 14, 2003

Someone tells about a woman who for many years couldn’t sleep at night because she worried that her home would be burglarized. One night her husband heard a noise in the house, so he went downstairs to investigate. When he got there, he found a burglar. The husband said to the burglar, "Come ...read more

Tags: Worry, Guilt, Fear

Denomination: *other

The Children Of A Well-To-Do Family Decided To ...  PRO

Contributed by Dana Visneskie on Feb 13, 2004

The children of a well-to-do family decided to give their father as a birthday present a book containing their family’s history. They commissioned a professional biographer to write the book, carefully cautioning him about the family’s “black sheep”—their Uncle George had been executed in the ...read more

Tags: Faith

Denomination: Pentecostal

United States Runner Marla Runyon Has Been ...

Contributed by R. Darrel Davis on Sep 17, 2004

United States runner Marla Runyon has been legally blind for 22 years. Even so, she competed in the 2000 Summer Olympic Games in Sydney, Australia. In fact she qualified for the finals in the 1500 meter race. (Marla finished eighth, three seconds behind the medal winners.) How does she do it? ...read more

Tags: Human Body, Hardship Of Life

Denomination: Baptist

A.w. Tozer's Definition Of A Christian  PRO

Contributed by Sermon Central on Jun 18, 2007

A.W. Tozer’s Definition of a Christian A Real Christian: • He feels supreme love for One whom he has never seen, • Talks familiarly every day to Someone he cannot see, • Expects to go to heaven on the virtue of Another, • Empties himself in order to be full, • Admits he is wrong so he can be ...read more

Tags: Messianic Prophecies

A Few Years Ago There Was A Tv Show Called Early ...  PRO

Contributed by Paul Wallace on Feb 20, 2008

A few years ago there was a TV show called Early Edition. The main character in this program would receive a paper every day that showed what was going to happen the next day. He would then set out to correct the bad things before they happened. Through a series of events in which he often put ...read more

Denomination: Wesleyan

Unchurched Character & Beliefs

Contributed by Sermon Central on Jul 30, 2008

UNCHURCHED CHARACTER & BELIEFS Unchurched American adults who have not attended a church or faith community in the past year are less likely to be concerned about the U.S. moral condition, much less likely to believe they are making a positive difference in the world, less optimistic about the ...read more

Tags: Evangelism The Lost

I Don't Want To Test ...

Contributed by Charles Jones on Oct 21, 2008

I don’t want to Test God I don’t want to reject God All I want is for Him to bring me into that place where I can hear his voice. We need to be real with God. Just like God called Adam from the midst of the Garden. And asked “ Where are you?” The Savior is calling today and saying Come unto ...read more

Tags: Peace

Denomination: Pentecostal

Love Of God

Contributed by Sean Harder on Jun 16, 2010

LOVE OF GOD Let’s say you had a child who kept getting in trouble, you kept bailing him out as a child, and eventually as he grew up even you couldn’t bail him out anymore, you had to let him go live his life the way he was choosing because nothing you or anyone else did could stop ...read more

Tags: God's Love

A Third Grader's Explanation Of God  PRO

Contributed by Brian Mavis on Apr 4, 2001

A THIRD GRADERS EXPLANATION OF GOD Written by Danny Dutton, age 8, from Chula Vista, California, for his third grade homework assignment to "Explain God." One of God’s main jobs is making people. He makes them to replace the ones that die so there will be enough people to take care of things on ...read more

Scripture: Mark 7:1-23, Galatians 5:1-26

Tags: God The Father, Children

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

The Devil's Vision  PRO

Contributed by Michael Gibney on Aug 8, 2002

THE DEVIL’S VISION The devil once said, to his demons below, our work is progressing entirely to slow; The holiness people stand in our way, since they don’t believe in the show or the play; they teach that the carnival, circus and dance, the tavern and honky tonk, with games of chance, drinking ...read more

Scripture: Genesis 3:1-6

Tags: Satan, Television And Movies

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

Children's Perspective On Mom

Contributed by Bobby Scobey on May 4, 2009

CHILDREN’S PERSPECTIVE ON MOM. The following are different answers given by school-age children to the stated questions: "Why were mothers created?" 1. She’s the only one who knows where the Scotch tape is. 2. Think about it; it was the best way to get more people. 3. Mostly to clean the ...read more

Tags: Children

Denomination: Pentecostal

In The City Of Chicago A Blizzard Was Setting In. ...

Contributed by George Mansfield on Jan 18, 2008

In the city of Chicago a blizzard was setting in. A little boy was selling newspapers on the corner. The people were in and out of the cold. The little boy was so cold that he wasn’t trying to sell many papers. He walked up to the policeman and said, "Mister, you wouldn’t happen to know where a ...read more

Denomination: Christian/Church Of Christ

Law, Fulfilled In Christ

Contributed by Matthew Kratz on Oct 13, 2007

Law, fulfilled in Christ The Little Flower A story is told about Fiorello LaGuardia, who, when he was mayor of New York City during the worst days of the Great Depression and all of WWII, was called by adoring New Yorkers ‘the Little Flower’ because he was only five foot four and always wore a ...read more

Denomination: Other

Public Opinion

Contributed by Sermon Central on Jul 23, 2008

PUBLIC OPINION Some of you may have seen the joke that circulated this week on e-mail that tries to explain why Moses and the Israelites wandered in the wilderness for forty years. The punch line of the e-mail read, "Even then, men would not stop for directions." While this may not really explain ...read more

Tags: God Brings Purpose

Loving Without Agreeing  PRO

Contributed by Sermon Central on Apr 28, 2009

LOVING WITHOUT AGREEING We can love others without totally agreeing with them. Often love is worked out by agreeing to disagree. We can offer love and care for people who are different from us and people we don’t agree with. This fact is illustrated by a true story that took place in the state of ...read more

Scripture: John 13:34-35

Tags: Christian Love

You Promised Me  PRO

Contributed by Ken Pell on May 6, 2013

"YOU PROMISED ME" Love always perseveres. Love never Fails. In 1989, an 8.2 earthquake almost flattened Armenia, killing over 30,000 people in less than four minutes. Surprisingly, such tragedies often bring out the best in people. Let me show you the loving heart of a father. In the midst of ...read more

Scripture: 1 Corinthians 13:1-13, Leviticus 6:12-13

Tags: God's Love, Bearing God's Image

Denomination: Nazarene

The Power Of Presence

Contributed by Dr. Fred W. Penney on Sep 7, 2021

The Neil Diamond song, Sweet Caroline” is played at every Red Sox home game in Boston's Fenway Park before the bottom of the 8th inning. The tradition is said to date back to 1997 when the stadium DJ played it in honour of a newborn baby girl born of one of the staff members. The baby was of ...read more

Scripture: Philippians 2:5-11

Tags: Worship, Incarnation, Singing, Visiting

Denomination: Pentecostal