In Sermon Illustrations: "Return of Christ"

Christ Transforms A Prisoner

Contributed by Sermon Central on May 18, 2012

CHRIST TRANSFORMS A PRISONER Chuck Colson tells story after story of men in prison who had committed crimes, but who came to Christ and were thoroughly converted. No one would have guessed that some of these men would be devout followers of Christ one day. One such story was the account of a man ...read more

Scripture: Luke 15:1-32

Tags: Parable Prodigal Son

Christ Brings Unity

Contributed by David Ward on Aug 15, 2012

CHRIST BRINGS UNITY Every three years InterVarsity Christian Fellowship sponsors the Urbana Conference, a gathering that challenges university students to get involved in world evangelization. About 16,000 students from around the world attended the 2009 conference. After the main session each ...read more

Tags: Unity

Denomination: Baptist

I Work For Christ.

Contributed by Curry Pikkaart on Sep 6, 2012

"I WORK FOR CHRIST." Howard Hendricks, sat in a plane that was delayed for takeoff. After a long wait, the passengers became more and more irritated. Hendricks noticed how gracious one of the flight attendants was as she spoke with them. After the plane finally took off, he told the flight ...read more

Tags: Workplace

Denomination: Presbyterian/Reformed

Thoughts On The Body Of Christ

Contributed by Sermon Central on Sep 18, 2012

THOUGHTS ON THE BODY OF CHRIST Here are some thoughts on The Church from a few 30 on down in age individuals from the book "The Relevant Church": Quotes: Brian Kay, "It is impossible to be a follower of Christ and not be part of a local church!" "No one can have God as Father who does not also ...read more

Scripture: Acts 2:42-47

Tags: Church Body Of Christ

People Without Christ

Contributed by Tony Abram on Oct 18, 2012

PEOPLE WITHOUT CHRIST One of the saddest verses in the Bible is Jer 8:20 KJV. The harvest is past, the summer is ended, and we are not saved. Question? What is 750,000 miles long, reaches around the earth 30 times, and grows ...read more

Scripture: Jeremiah 8:20

Tags: Evangelism Urgency

Joseph Is A Type Of Christ

Contributed by Dr. Larry Petton on Jan 27, 2014

Unforgiveness is a cancer to our souls that carries many curses. However, somehow Joseph was able to overcome that cancer and forgive his brothers when he had the chance to take their lives (Genesis 49-50). His act of forgiveness is a foreshadowing of how Christ forgave his enemies from the Cross ...read more

Scripture: Genesis 50:15-20

Tags: Typology, Patriarchs Joseph

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

The Body Of Christ Is Not Divided  PRO

Contributed by Silas Eke on Feb 26, 2015

A Baptist Pastor had a dream and found himself fully dressed with a Bible in hand at the gate of heaven. As he was about to enter, he heard so many people crying and wailing in hell. He went to the gate and met the gate-keeper. He asked the gate-keeper “Who are those crying? Is there a Baptist ...read more

Tags: Denominationalism, Unity In Christ

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

Being Crucified With Christ

Contributed by Glynda Lomax on Aug 11, 2016

As I was typing up the many pages of notes I would use for my weekly podcast sermon, I needed to replace some letters in a name in part of my document with "M-E," so it would read correctly as I recorded. I was trying to use the ’Find & Replace’ command, but it looked a little ...read more

Scripture: Galatians 2:20

Tags: Sin, Flesh, Self, Crucified With Christ, Crucify Flesh, Crucified  (view more)  (view less)

Denomination: Charismatic

Being Committed To Christ

Contributed by Richard L. Brown on Nov 2, 2016

Being Committed to Christ Matthew 4:18-25 , 1 Corinthians 1: 10-18 Last summer Becky and I visited the Biltmore mansion in Ashville North Carolina. It is the single largest home ever built in America. Let me tell you it is something to see. It proved so large and so expensive to maintain, that ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 4:18-25

Tags: Riches, Christian Values, Being Comitted

Denomination: Presbyterian/Reformed

Moving Forward For Christ

Contributed by Rick Crandall on Jan 30, 2018

*The early church kept moving ahead. And we can too! In spite of our enemies, in spite of the setbacks, we can still move forward for the Lord Jesus Christ! *In February of 2007, a deadly tornado struck central Florida. And it smashed almost everything in its path. The storm struck at the worst ...read more

Tags: Overcome, Gospel Advancing

Denomination: Baptist

Christ Emptied Himself

Contributed by Ed Vasicek on Nov 25, 2019

Kenosis: “The term kenosis comes from the Greek word for the doctrine of Christ’s self-emptying in His incarnation. The kenosis was a self-renunciation, not an emptying Himself of deity nor an exchange of deity for humanity. Philippians 2:7 tells us that Jesus “emptied Himself, taking the form of a ...read more

Scripture: Philippians 2:5-11

Tags: Christmas, Incarnation, Kenosis, Christ's Humility, Emptying  (view more)  (view less)

Denomination: Independent/Bible

Love For Christ And People

Contributed by Roy Fowler on Sep 13, 2020

In the early years, Circuit riders were most often lay preachers without formal education. They were young, poor, and, for the most part, single. Traveling thousands of miles a year. Though circuit riders eventually represented many different denominations but none were more aggressive or ...read more

Scripture: Luke 13:1-5

Tags: Service, Servant, Dedication

Denomination: Independent/Bible

Quotes On Suffering For Christ

Contributed by Dr. Larry Petton on Jan 4, 2021

There is a certain kind of maturity that can be attained only through the discipline of suffering. - D. A. Carson Do not kick against suffering, for in so doing you may be fighting against God. - Spurgeon Life without struggle and difficulty is thin and tasteless. How can a noble life be ...read more

Scripture: 2 Timothy 1:10-12

Tags: Pain, Spiritual Warfare, Discipleship, Suffering, Take Up Your Cross  (view more)  (view less)

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

Bee The Body Of Christ

Contributed by Dr. Bradford Reaves on Jan 14, 2022

My dad has bees. Today I went to his house and he showed me all of the honey he had gotten from the hives. He took the lid off of a 5 gallon bucket full of honey and on top of the honey there were 3 little bees, struggling. They were covered in sticky honey and drowning. I asked him if we could ...read more

Scripture: 1 Corinthians 12:27, Galatians 6:2

Tags: Caring, Bees, Love, Church, Family, Body Of Christ, Helping  (view more)  (view less)

Denomination: Brethren

The Humanity Of Christ In Scripture

Contributed by Dr. Larry Petton on Dec 6, 2022

The result of the virgin birth is that God became a man. He was born like a man. He lived like a man. He died like a man. In the Gospels, Jesus Christ exhibits all the signs of being human. But He was God wrapped in flesh (John 1:14). • He had a human parentage – Luke 1:31; Gal. 4:4. • He had a ...read more

Tags: Christmas, Jesus, Virgin Birth, Humanity Of Christ

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

The Deity Of Christ In Scripture

Contributed by Dr. Larry Petton on Dec 6, 2022

While Jesus was and is a man, He was and is also God. What does the Bible say? • He is omnipresent – Matt, 18:20; Matt. 28:20 • He is omnipotent – Matt. 28:18; Heb. 1:3 1. Over disease – Matt. 4:23 2. Over Satan – Heb. 2:14 3. Over demons – Matt. 8:16 4. Over men – John 17:2 5. ...read more

Tags: Virgin Birth, Deity Of Christ, Two Natures, Christmas, Jesus  (view more)  (view less)

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

The Unsearchable Riches In Christ

Contributed by Roger Hasselquist on Mar 6, 2023

There was a news story reported in July 2011 that a well known Hindu temple in southern India revealed vast treasures and hidden secrets. The temple itself was well known and previously unguarded. (The Sree Padmanabhaswamy Temple in Trivandrum, India) The temple had been there for hundreds of ...read more

Scripture: Ephesians 3:1-13

Tags: Gold, Diamond, Hidden Treasure, Unknown Riches, Mystery Revealed  (view more)  (view less)

Denomination: Christian/Church Of Christ

Face To Face With Christ

Contributed by Dr. Larry Petton on Jun 12, 2023

Fanny Crosby was one of the greatest hymn writers in the history of the Church. However, she was born blind, but never used her issue to blame God or play the victim. In fact, she once praised God for her blindness and said, "God did her a favor by making her blind" because the first ...read more

Scripture: 1 John 3:1-3

Tags: Blindness, Hymns, Fanny Crosby, Sovereignty Of God, Death, Glory, Heaven  (view more)  (view less)

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

Christ Died For You!

Contributed by John Bright on Apr 6, 2025

There’s an old saying: If you were the only one, Jesus would have still died on that cross. Here’s how a couple of folks put it: “God loves each of us as if there were only one of us.” St. Augustine of Hippo(354-430 AD) “When He died in the Wounded World He died not for men, but for each man. If ...read more

Scripture: Romans 5:8

Tags: Salvation, Personal

Denomination: Methodist

False Prophets And The Second Coming

Contributed by Dr. Larry Petton on Apr 6, 2024

Harold Camping made multiple false predictions of the return of Christ. He would have been in trouble if he had lived during Old Testament times. Among the most prolific modern predictors of end times, Harold Camping publicly predicted the end of the world as many as 12 ...read more

Tags: Deception, End Times, Prophecy, Second Coming, Last Days, Rapture, False Teaching, Confusion, False Prophets, Return Of Christ  (view more)  (view less)

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational