In Sermon Illustrations: "Real Phony"

Judging By Comparison

Contributed by Gaither Bailey on Nov 20, 2008

JUDGING BY COMPARISON How many people in this room would like to lose 20 pounds? How many people in this room would like to be taller? Do you know someone who sees themselves as an old alley cat while others see them as a prize Persian? Can you think of someone who thinks they are a prize poodle ...read more

Tags: Judgment

Denomination: Presbyterian/Reformed

Idolatry Is Like Poisoning

Contributed by Johnny Wilson on Mar 2, 2009

IDOLATRY IS LIKE POISONING More than 25 years ago (1982), seven residents of the Greater Chicago area made an assumption that proved fatal. They all took a dose of Extra Strength Tylenol® that had been laced with potassium cyanide. What they thought was medicine proved to be poison. This crime, ...read more

Tags: Idolatry

Denomination: *other

Commitment Or Contentment?

Contributed by Don Jones on Mar 10, 2009

COMMITMENT OR CONTENTMENT? Four masked men came in with assault rifles screaming at the preacher and members during the worship service. They said that anyone who would deny their faith could leave safely, but the pastor had to stay and face the outcome. Silence fill the church, and finally, ...read more

Tags: Commitment To Christ

Denomination: Baptist

If I Didn't Love Them...  PRO

Contributed by Terry Blankenship on Mar 31, 2009

"IF I DIDN'T LOVE THEM..." A man visited a home where there were five children. He was supposed to be a kind of "godfather" to them and was trying to get involved with them on their level. He asked one of the little girls about her doll collection: "Which one is your favorite?" "Promise you ...read more

Tags: Grace, Love, Mercy, God

Denomination: Baptist

Hell: A Doctor's Testimony  PRO

Contributed by Sermon Central on Jul 13, 2009

HELL: A DOCTOR’S TESTIMONY Dr. Maurice Rawlings, a cardiologist and professor of medicine at the University Of Tennessee College Of Medicine, was also a devout atheist. But in 1977, while trying to resuscitate a man who had been screaming in terror, something happened that changed his thinking. He ...read more

Scripture: Luke 12:5, Luke 12:49-50, Luke 12:49-53

Tags: Hell

Pocket God  PRO

Contributed by Sermon Central on Jul 13, 2009

POCKET GOD Have you heard about Pocket God? It’s one of the top-selling video game applications for Apple’s iPhone. Here’s the game description found on iTunes: "What kind of god would you be? Benevolent or vengeful? Play Pocket God and discover the answer within yourself. On a remote island, you ...read more

Scripture: Exodus 6:2

Tags: God The Father

In 1986 We Moved From Kalamazoo To Grand Rapids. ...

Contributed by Curry Pikkaart on Dec 24, 2009

In 1986 we moved from Kalamazoo to Grand Rapids. Sometime later we wanted those slides and began to look for them. They were nowhere to be found. We looked in every box and closet in our house; we went back to Kalamazoo and looked in every closet in the parsonage and the church; we ran ...read more

Tags: Evangelism The Lost

Denomination: Presbyterian/Reformed

Rest In Peace  PRO

Contributed by Major Gerardo Balmori on Apr 2, 2011

REST IN PEACE Six-year-old and his four-year-old sister presented their mom with a Mother’s Day present: a small, spindly house plant. While it wasn’t the finest looking specimen, they had bought it with their own money and Mom was thrilled. She hugged and kissed her children and told them ...read more

Tags: Mother's Day

Denomination: Salvation Army

Sowing And Reaping

Contributed by John Bright on Mar 20, 2026

I want to remind you of a basic truth of Scripture - the Law of Sowing and Reaping that we read about in Galatians 6:7: “Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap.” I always illustrate this with the same example: if I plant an apple tree, can I expect ...read more

Scripture: Galatians 6:7

Tags: Peace, Sowing, Reaping

Denomination: Methodist

Kick Me!" Matthew 28:1-10 Key Verse(S): 6:"He Is ...  PRO

Contributed by Mark Brunner on Mar 24, 2005

“Kick Me!” Matthew 28:1-10 Key verse(s): 6:“He is not here; he has risen, just as he said.” Getting pulled into a practical joke is not much fun; especially when you walk in so innocently and depart with egg all over your face. I remember that my two brothers and I always had a pretty good time ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 28:1-10

Tags: Easter Resurrection

Denomination: Lutheran

How Much Coffee Is Too Much Coffee?

Contributed by James Snyder on Oct 15, 2022

I will be the first to confess that I love my coffee, especially in the morning. When anybody asks how much coffee is enough, I usually say, “Just one more cup.” My day cannot get started until I’ve had a sufficient amount of coffee. If I don’t have enough coffee when I meet somebody, they will ...read more

Scripture: Psalm 34:8

Tags: Coffee, Serial

Denomination: Christian Missionary Alliance

Comfortable Out-On-A-Limb!" Romans 11:33-36 Key ...

Contributed by Mark Brunner on May 23, 2005

“Comfortable Out-On-A-Limb!” Romans 11:33-36 Key verse(s) 11:“For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be the glory forever! Amen.” Get real! When as a youth I heard this phrase, it often gave me reason to pause. If someone was insisting that I was caught up in a fantasy and ...read more

Scripture: Romans 11:33-36

Tags: Trinity

Denomination: Lutheran

The One Who Came Back: A Thanksgiving Lesson In Gratitude

Contributed by Todd Catteau on Nov 21, 2025

This Thanksgiving, as 82 million Americans travel to celebrate with family, we can learn something profound from another holiday road trip. In Luke 17:11-19, Jesus is traveling to Jerusalem from Galilee to celebrate Passover and finds himself along the border between Samaria and Galilee when ten ...read more

Scripture: Luke 17:11-19

Tags: Leper, Lepers, Samaritans, Thanksgiving, Healing, Thanks  (view more)  (view less)

Denomination: Christian/Church Of Christ

The World Wide Web Is Amazing All That ...

Contributed by Aubrey Vaughan on Jun 24, 2007

The world wide web is amazing all that information being passed down phone lines coming down onto our screens from all over the world right into our homes, I don’t really know how it works, its mind boggling, But I know it does work and I enjoy it. Over the last few months in our house the ...read more

Denomination: Baptist

Preparing For Death

Contributed by Warren Lamb on Jan 7, 2008

Preparing For Death Several years ago, I was on staff with a fellow pastor who had been suffering with diabetes and its ill effects for most of his life. He was a single dad with two sons who were the same ages as two of my boys. His name was Mike, and we were close in age. Mike had lost an eye ...read more

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

Easter: New Creation  PRO

Contributed by Terry Laughlin on Aug 11, 2008

Easter: New Creation The Easter Story is God taking a life which was being spent on self, the pleasures of this world, blinded by the devil, and turning it around to achieve all of His good purposes. The Word of God has some good news. The "New Creation" is living as a new man in Christ which ...read more

Scripture: Romans 8:11

Tags: Easter Resurrection

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

I've Been Reading A Very Powerful Book, Tortured ...

Contributed by Mark Eberly on Jun 2, 2009

I’ve been reading a very powerful book, Tortured for Christ, which is a testimony from a follower of Jesus who suffered immensely in Romania after the communist takeover. Originally published 30 years ago, it is still very powerful. Richard Wurmbrand was a faithful servant of Christ in the ...read more

Tags: Persecution

Denomination: Church Of God

Mom's Chicken Soup Coupled With Forgiveness Wins ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on May 10, 2010

Mom’s Chicken Soup Coupled with Forgiveness Wins Over Disgruntled Church Member A lady tells as story that is a real picture of forgiveness. She says my mom, now in heaven, was a good cook. She was a good forgiver too and the combination of these two qualities resulted one day in an incident I love ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 5:43-48

Tags: Forgiveness For Others

The Wizard Of Oz: Getting Home

Contributed by Rodney Buchanan on Jul 10, 2011

THE WIZARD OF OZ: GETTING HOME I remember watching the Wizard of Oz. Dorothy is trying to find her way home, and along the way she runs into a scarecrow with no brain, a tin man with no heart, and a lion with no courage. But they learn that there is a wizard in the land of Oz who can help them ...read more

Tags: Growth In Christ

Denomination: Methodist

Body Of Christ, Citation: Billy Waters, Teacher ...  PRO

Contributed by A. Todd Coget on Jul 5, 2001

[Body of Christ, Citation: Billy Waters, Teacher Touch (Colorado Springs: Cook, 1999)] After an accident in which she lost her arm, a girl named Jamie refused to go to school or church for an entire year. Finally the young teen thought she could face her peers. In preparation, her mother called ...read more

Tags: Church Body Of Christ, Children

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational