In Sermon Illustrations: "Run Your Race"

Expect To Lose 1/3 To 1/2 Half Of Your E-Mail ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Apr 10, 2008

Expect to lose 1/3 to 1/2 half of your e-mail database every year due to list churn. For many, a significant portion of this churn results from a poorly implemented e-mail address change procedure. Or worse yet, none at all! When you don't help subscribers change addresses, not only will you lose ...read more

Tags: Technology

Have You Hugged Your Child Today? How Can You Hug ...

Contributed by Aurora Alonso on Sep 14, 2010

Have you hugged your child today? How can you hug someone if he or she is not close to you? You need to be close up in order to give them a hug, right? Well , God wants to give us a BIG BIG Hug, but i ask you Has God Hugged You today? If not Why? Is it because you have not gotten close enough to ...read more

Tags: Prayer How To

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

Life With God On Your Side Should Get Better, Shouldn't It?

Contributed by Gordon Mcculloch on Aug 31, 2017

5 Storms in my life changed me intensely. Sometimes a storm will follow a great spiritual event just like these disciples had witnessed. … Many years ago, I was having great difficulties, and that is when I turned to Christ, and then I knew that everything in the bible was true, that Jesus was ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 14:22-33

Tags: Doubt, Storm, Difficulties, Confusion, Trials, Doubt And Fear  (view more)  (view less)

Denomination: Episcopal

Don't End Your Life --- Start It All Over Again!

Contributed by Dr. Larry Petton on Apr 7, 2022

A student at Penn State University went out on a ledge of a tall building on campus and threatened to take her life by jumping off. The campus chaplain was called in to bring calmness while awaiting the emergency team from nearby. When the chaplain found the young woman, her threats seemed very ...read more

Scripture: John 3:1-7

Tags: Counseling, Crises, Chaplains, Emergencies, Evangelism, New Life, Born Again, New Birth, Witnessing, Suicide  (view more)  (view less)

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

Where Does Your Ministry Rely Upon God's Power?

Contributed by Dr. Larry Petton on Nov 15, 2023

David Platt in his book Radical has a chapter entitled "Beginning at the End of Ourselves -- The Importance of Relying on God's Power (Subsection entitled - “Dependent on Ourselves or Desperate for His Spirit”) Platt went on to say, "This is where I am most convicted as a pastor. I ...read more

Scripture: Acts 1:8-11, Ephesians 5:18

Tags: Power, Repentance, Pastors, Church, Holy Spirit, Pentecost  (view more)  (view less)

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

How Do You Use Your 18,000 Words Per Day?

Contributed by Dr. Larry Petton on Feb 6, 2024

Do you have any idea how many words you use in the course of an ordinary day? To illustrate, let’s take the books of Tom Clancy. I’m sure you have read or heard of those techno-thrillers: “Hunt for Red October,” “Cardinal of the Kremlin,” “Clear and Present Danger,” “The Sum of All Fears,” “Without ...read more

Tags: Conversation, Mouth, Words, Tongue, Talk  (view more)  (view less)

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

By The Seeds You Plant  PRO

Contributed by Dru Ashwell on Dec 16, 2001

BY THE SEEDS YOU PLANT "Don’t judge each day by the harvest you reap, but by the seeds you ...read more

Scripture: Genesis 1:1

Tags: Parable Sower And Seed, Sharing Your Faith, What Is Evangelism?

Denomination: Christian/Church Of Christ

In 1950 2/3 Of The World's Population Lived In ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Jan 19, 2002

In 1950 2/3 of the world’s population lived in rural areas. Today, nearly half of the world’s 6 billion people live in cities. By 2030 the urban population will reach 4.9 billion—60% of the world’s population. Nearly all population growth will be in the cities of developing countries, whose ...read more

Tags: Great Commission, Sharing My Testimony, Sharing Your Faith

A Couple Of Weeks Ago, Our Small Group Got ...  PRO

Contributed by Sermon Central on Jan 19, 2002

A couple of weeks ago, our small group got together for a movie night. We watched “Unbreakable,” the latest movie from the writer and director of “The Sixth Sense.” In this movie, Bruce Willis discovers that he has a special gift, but he doesn’t yet know how to use it. So his new friend, played by ...read more

Tags: Sharing My Testimony, Sharing Your Faith, Kingdom Of God

Bill Stopped In At Abie's Little General Store, ...  PRO

Contributed by Paul Fritz on Oct 27, 2002

Bill stopped in at Abie’s little general store, looking for a bottle of mustard. The shelves were loaded with salt -- bags and bags of salt. Abie said he had some mustard, but that he would have to go down to the cellar to find it. Bill went down with him, and there to his surprise were still more ...read more

Tags: Sharing Your Faith, Sharing My Testimony, Love Of The Disciples

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

A Number Of Years Ago Orel Hirschheiser Was ...  PRO

Contributed by Dan Cormie on Oct 27, 2002

A number of years ago Orel Hirschheiser was pitching for the Los Angeles Dodgers. They had just won the World Series, & Orel had been named “The most valuable player of the series.” One of the TV shows about the series showed him in the dugout just before the 9th inning started. He was leaning ...read more

Tags: Giving Yourself, Sharing My Testimony, Sharing Your Faith

Denomination: Mennonite

With Our Arms About Their Knees  PRO

Contributed by Joseph Colebank Ii on Jan 19, 2005

WITH OUR ARMS ABOUT THEIR KNEES “Have you no wish for others to be saved? Then you are not saved yourself. Be sure of that…. The saving of souls, if a man has once gained love to perishing sinners and his blessed Master, wil be an all-absorbing passion to him. It will so carry him away, that he ...read more

Tags: Evangelism Urgency, Parable Sower And Seed, Sharing Your Faith

Denomination: Baptist

When The Members Walk With The Fear Of The ...  PRO

Contributed by John Hamby on Jan 8, 2001

“When the members walk with the fear of the Lord before their eyes and with the Spirit’s encouraging voice in their hearts, the church will be strong and will also surely multiply.” [R.C.H. Lenski. The Interpretation ...read more

Tags: Church Purpose Of, Holy Spirit Attributes, Sharing Your Faith

Denomination: Baptist

One Sunday As They Drove Home From Church, A ...  PRO

Contributed by Kyle Meador on Jan 15, 2001

One Sunday as they drove home from church, a little girl turned to her mother and said, "Mommy, there’s something about the preacher’s message this morning that I don’t understand." The mother said, "Oh? What is it?" The little girl replied, "Well, he said that God is bigger than we are. He said ...read more

Tags: Sharing Your Faith, Sharing My Testimony, Love Of The Disciples

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

In Streams Of Living Water, Richard Foster Told ...  PRO

Contributed by Steven Chapman on Feb 8, 2001

In Streams of Living Water, Richard Foster told of Billy Graham preaching at Cambridge in 1955. For three nights he tried to make his preaching academic and enlightened, but with no effect. Graham finally realized that presenting the intellectual side of faith was not his gift and began preaching ...read more

Scripture: 1 Corinthians 2:1-5

Tags: Apologetics General, Sharing My Testimony, Sharing Your Faith

Denomination: Christian/Church Of Christ

A Couple Of Years Ago, Tim Forneris, A 22 Year ...  PRO

Contributed by James Wilson on Mar 2, 2001

A couple of years ago, Tim Forneris, a 22 year old groundskeeper gave Mark McGwire, a million dollar ball, saying “I think I have something that belongs to you.” McGwire in turn gave it to the Hall of Fame to display beside Ruth’s and Marris’ record breaking balls. Why? He said it didn’t belong ...read more

Tags: Great Commission, Sharing My Testimony, Sharing Your Faith

Denomination: Baptist

Jim Wallis Writes In The Call To Conversion ...  PRO

Contributed by Alan Stokes on Mar 2, 2001

Jim Wallis writes in The Call to Conversion (HarperCollins, 1992, p. 108) his testimony: "When I was a university student, I was unsuccessfully evangelized by almost every Christian group on campus. My basic response to their preaching was, “How can I believe when I look at the way the church ...read more

Tags: Sharing Your Faith, Sharing My Testimony, Apologetics General

Denomination: Holiness

Florencio Varela, Argentina Is One Of The Poorest ...  PRO

Contributed by Greg Waddell on Mar 5, 2001

Florencio Varela, Argentina is one of the poorest townships of the greater Buenos Aires, metropolitan area. The streets are unpaved and strewn with garbage and sleeping dogs. I approached the home of Raul, a young man who had attended our services a couple of times. I was nervious. I had heard of ...read more

Tags: Sharing Your Faith, Friendship New Friends, Evangelism How To

Denomination: Christian/Church Of Christ

Here Are The Results From A New Gallup Survey ...  PRO

Contributed by Tj Tipton on Mar 31, 2001

Here are the results from a new Gallup survey called, The Unchurched American. Findings from the Gallup survey of 2,556 adults who were not church-goers: 1. The survey reports that 44% of U.S. adults are "unchurched", defined as neither belonging to a church nor visiting one within the last six ...read more

Tags: Sharing My Testimony, Sharing Your Faith, Church General

Denomination: Pentecostal

In His Book The Crisis In The University, Sir ...  PRO

Contributed by Evie Megginson on Apr 17, 2001

In his book The Crisis in the University, Sir Walter Moberly cites the failure of evangelicals to penetrate university campuses with the gospel. To those who claim to follow Christ he says, "If one-tenth of what ...read more

Tags: Great Commission, Sharing My Testimony, Sharing Your Faith

Denomination: Baptist