In Sermon Illustrations: "Receiving Christ"

Christmas Night 2002, Jack Whittaker Had Five Out ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Dec 27, 2008

Christmas night 2002, Jack Whittaker had five out of five numbers in the West Virginia Power ball drawing. Jack Whittaker had just won $314 million, the largest undivided lottery jackpot in history. He took the one lump payment and received $113 million after taxes. Listen closely to this part. ...read more

Tags: Money

You Can Trust ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Apr 7, 2009

YOU CAN TRUST GOD A Canadian pastor, in a period of great turmoil, received the faithful help of God he needed from reading about the following true incident. In his town the local parks commission had been ordered to remove the trees from a street they were going to widen. As they were about to ...read more

Scripture: Isaiah 26:4

Tags: Trust

Get On With It, You Old Goat

Contributed by Sermon Central on Apr 28, 2009

"GET ON WITH IT, YOU OLD GOAT." I heard the story about a college choir which was all set to present a concert in a large church which was to be carried live by a local radio station. When everything appeared to be ready, the announcer made his final introduction and waited for the choir director ...read more

Scripture: James 1:22-24

Tags: Action

Soil And Spiritual Seasons  PRO

Contributed by Mark Eberly on May 19, 2009

SOIL AND SPIRITUAL SEASONS Jesus says these people resemble the soil next to the path which in Palestine could look like decent soil but only an inch deep. Because the soil has settled there maybe blown by the wind or pushed there by the run off from the rain, it can be very fertile. People are ...read more

Tags: Parable Sower And Seed

Denomination: Church Of God

Don't Get Tangled ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Jul 10, 2009

DON’T GET TANGLED UP A few years ago, at the 2002 Winter Olympics, there were five finalists for the Men’s 1000 Meter Speed Skating Race. During the final lap, the American and Chinese were out front with the Canadian and Korean skaters hot on their heels. Australia trailed behind obviously ...read more

Scripture: 1 Peter 5:8-10

Tags: Temptation, Temptation Resisting

Hymn Story: Precious Lord, Take My Hand By Thomas ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Nov 1, 2009

Hymn Story: Precious Lord, Take My Hand by Thomas Dorsey Thomas Dorsey was a black jazz musician from Atlanta who was known in the early 1920’s for the suggestive lyrics he combined with original music. Then God touched his life and in 1926 he gave up the suggestive music and began to write ...read more

Scripture: 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18

Tags: Death

Two Choices: The Real God Or A False God, Richard ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Nov 22, 2009

Two Choices: The real God or a false god, Richard Lovelace on How Some Churches Want Ministers To Protect Them from the Real God Richard Lovelace wrote: "The whole church was...avoiding the biblical portrait of the sovereign and holy God who was angry with the wicked every day and whose anger ...read more

Scripture: Deuteronomy 30:15-20

Tags: Idolatry

Have You Ever Been Told Something So Thrilling ...

Contributed by Thomas Cash on Dec 10, 2009

Have you ever been told something so thrilling that you could not be quiet? There had to be a party going on in heaven! Angels by their nature worship, serve, and represent God. Now the promise of the ages to all mankind had come. They could not shut up about it! The celebration overflowed, ...read more

Tags: Joy

Denomination: Christian/Church Of Christ

One Of The Great Paradoxes Of The Christian Faith ...

Contributed by Donnie Martin on Jul 7, 2010

One of the great paradoxes of the Christian faith is that God wants us to talk to Him about everything that is going on in our lives, even though He already knows everything. So why pray? If you’ve ever wrestled with that question, perhaps the thoughts of the 19th-century preacher, R. A. Torrey, ...read more

Tags: Prayer General

Denomination: Baptist

The Magnitude Of The Request

Contributed by Sermon Central on Jan 26, 2011

THE MAGNITUDE OF THE REQUEST Napoleon and his soldiers overcame an island in the Mediterranean Sea. They had fought for many days to take the island and finally succeeded. After the capture of the island at the price of many lives, Napoleon and his generals gathered for a celebration. As they were ...read more

Scripture: Mark 11:24

Tags: Prayer How To

A Light In The Darkness  PRO

Contributed by Sermon Central on May 4, 2011

A LIGHT IN THE DARKNESS In 1963, my grandfather was serving as the Senior Minister of West End United Methodist Church in Nashville. West End is situated right across the street from Vanderbilt University, and has always been a wealthy, predominately white church. One communion Sunday, a black ...read more

Scripture: Mark 11:17

Tags: Racism

How Many Will Be Saved?

Contributed by Michael Walther on May 20, 2011

HOW MANY WILL BE SAVED? There was a debate between two famous rabbis about this. One said that the number saved would be one third of the world. To support this he pointed to the ancient Flood in which Noah and his three sons and their families were saved. But of these three sons, Shem, the ...read more

Tags: Salvation

Denomination: Lutheran

An Unforgettable Moment

Contributed by Sermon Central on Jun 9, 2011

AN UNFORGETTABLE MOMENT In those times in our lives when we receive big news, whatever that might be, our minds are forever imprinted with the emotion and excitement captured in that moment. We hear of an upcoming marriage, a baby on the way, an acceptance to school, whatever it might be – and ...read more

Scripture: Luke 2:28-32

Tags: Birth Of Jesus

Pennies From Heaven  PRO

Contributed by Michael Walther on Jul 11, 2011

PENNIES FROM HEAVEN Many of the farms in the state of Nebraska are right on the edge of the fertile plains that receive enough rainfall to produce abundant crops. Some years the yields can be a little lower simply because they are not blessed with as much rain as other farmers. Being so dependent ...read more

Tags: Bible Truth

Denomination: Lutheran

Haven: The Real You

Contributed by Ken Pell on Sep 25, 2011

HAVEN: THE REAL YOU What is in you is what comes out and always reveals the REAL you. In fact, that which you say yes to is the tell-tale sign of what is inside you. It is the litmus test of whether you are walking in the Spirit or in the "flesh. What's inside comes out. My wife and I watch a ...read more

Tags: Self

Denomination: Nazarene

The Rhythm Of Our Brain

Contributed by Antonio Silveira on Feb 25, 2012

THE RHYTHM OF OUR BRAIN Studies of mechanisms in the brain that allow complicated things to happen in a coordinated fashion have produced some of the most spectacular discoveries in neuroscience. Our brain uses different rhythms in order to do complex operations like memorizing or remembering ...read more

Tags: Heart

Denomination: Baptist

The Wedding Cake On The First ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Aug 5, 2012

THE WEDDING CAKE ON THE FIRST ANNIVERSARY One of the many pieces of advice we received before our wedding was to save the top tier of your wedding cake and eat and eat it on your first anniversary. We had a tiny little freezer. For one full year, this box of wedding cake sat in our freezer, denying ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 23:25-28

Tags: Character

Bitter Rivalry Between Artists

Contributed by Sermon Central on Aug 21, 2012

BITTER RIVALRY BETWEEN ARTISTS In 1503, Julius II became Pope of the Roman Catholic Church. He immediately began a building program to beautify the Vatican. In 1509, he commissioned Michelangelo to paint the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel. Michelangelo reluctantly agreed to paint the fresco, though ...read more

Scripture: Ecclesiastes 4:4

Tags: Envy

The Umpire's Revenge  PRO

Contributed by Josh Hunt on Mar 6, 2013

THE UMPIRE'S REVENGE Forgiveness begins when we give up the quest to get even. This is difficult, because getting even is the natural obsession of the wounded soul. Stories about getting even always capture our attention. It wouldn’t surprise me if revenge is the theme of as many as half the ...read more

Scripture: Ephesians 4:32

Tags: Forgiveness General

Denomination: Baptist

Rain Man Doesn't Understand Inheritance

Contributed by David Ward on Feb 25, 2016

"Rain Man" was the top moneymaking film of 1988, and also won the Oscar for Best Picture. It tells the story of an abrasive and selfish wheeler-dealer named Charlie (Tom Cruise), who discovers that his estranged father has died and bequeathed all of his multimillion-dollar estate to his other son, ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 6:19-34

Tags: Priorities, Wealth And Riches, Eternal Inheritance, Treasures In Heaven

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational