In Sermon Illustrations: "Saying Grace"

Listening To The Master's Voice  PRO

Contributed by Sermon Central on Oct 23, 2010

LISTENING TO THE MASTER'S VOICE One of the first exposes of the beliefs of our future ministers was made by Redbook magazine in August of 1961. The publishers hired one of the top pollsters in the nation to survey a full representation of our seminaries which are supposedly preparing men for ...read more

Scripture: James 1:22-25

Tags: Bible Truth

Only The Original Builder Can Restore It

Contributed by Sermon Central on Dec 30, 2010

ONLY THE ORIGINAL BUILDER CAN RESTORE IT In a remote Swiss village stands a beautiful church - Mountain Valley Cathedral. It has high pillars and magnificent stained glass windows, but what makes it special is the most beautiful pipe organ in the whole region. People would come from far off lands ...read more

Scripture: John 1:1-5

Tags: Atonement

Demolition Derby And The Surrender Stick

Contributed by Sermon Central on Jan 27, 2011

DEMOLITION DERBY AND THE SURRENDER STICK Lydia and I went to the Demolition Derby at the 4-H Fair this past week and had a blast. I loved watching drivers take aim at each other with the attempt to demolish or disable one another. We saw some great smash ups and did a lot of laughing. I don't know ...read more

Scripture: 2 Corinthians 12:7-10

Tags: Trials And Difficulties

The Legions Of The Unjazzed

Contributed by Sermon Central on May 8, 2011

THE LEGIONS OF THE UNJAZZED In Dr. David Jeremiah's book "Life Wide Open" he writes about a young man who turned the surfing world upside down in the 1950's. Killer Dana was the most notorious wave in California. When it was really ripping and roaring, the best surfers in the world gave it plenty ...read more

Scripture: Romans 12:11

Tags: Zeal

The Gospel Is Offensive

Contributed by Isaac Butterworth on Jun 24, 2011

THE GOSPEL IS OFFENSIVE There is something about the gospel that is inherently offensive. I don’t like saying that, and you may not like hearing it. But it is incontestable. The gospel puts some people off. Take David and Roland, two high school friends of mine. David was what you might call a ...read more

Tags: Truth

Denomination: Presbyterian/Reformed

Trust The Narrow, Unbeaten Path

Contributed by Sean Harder on Aug 5, 2011

TRUST THE NARROW, UNBEATEN PATH When I was younger I went hiking up Golden Ears Mountain. Several years earlier I went with my school and there was a nice rope bridge that crossed the waterfalls to keep you on the trail up the top of the mountain. The path that led to the bridge was wide, covered ...read more

Tags: Trust

It Won't Happen To Us

Contributed by Sermon Central on Aug 21, 2011

IT WON'T HAPPEN TO US We began the week with the story of the Chicago nightclub fire in which 21 people were killed as they rushed to the exit. The club had already been cited for overcrowding and other safety violations--like not enough doors and windows. What happened was that a bouncer used ...read more

Scripture: Psalm 90:1-12

Tags: Death, Life, Priorities, Choice, Death Nearness  (view more)  (view less)

The Meaning Of The Cross

Contributed by Sermon Central on Aug 25, 2011

THE MEANING OF THE CROSS In the 19th century, Armenian Christians, under a Turkish Muslim government, experienced a tremendous amount of persecution. The government lifted the ban on Muslims converting to Christianity in 1856. Then just eight years later, they began arresting these Muslim converts ...read more

Scripture: 1 Peter 4:12-19

Tags: Persecution

God's Whispers Are Ours To Hear

Contributed by Michael Mccartney on Aug 31, 2011

GOD'S WHISPERS ARE OURS TO HEAR Bill Hybels' book: The Power of the Whisper: "Throughout history God has spoken. For millennia, he has forged his children’s faith by promising parted waters, empowering unlikely leaders, declaring world-changing prophecies-and imparting last-minute sermons to ...read more

Tags: God Brings Purpose

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

Capitalism Without Christianity  PRO

Contributed by Jeff Strite on Sep 5, 2011

CAPITALISM WITHOUT CHRISTIANITY Pure Capitalism--that exists without a Christian influence--can become an empty shell. When Christianity is taken out of the picture of Capitalism...greed and selfishness take over. Capitalism without Christianity can result in all kinds or evils. You can end up ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 5:13-16

Tags: Workplace

Denomination: Christian/Church Of Christ

Moody And The Filling Of The Spirit  PRO

Contributed by Ken Pell on May 27, 2012

MOODY AND THE FILLING OF THE SPIRIT One of the great preachers in U.S. history is D. L. Moody. He pastored in Chicago and there is still a wonderful Bible College there that bears his name and values. Mr. Moody was a successful minister, but by his own admission, he lacked the power in his ...read more

Scripture: Psalm 33:1-22

Tags: Pentecost, Blessing, Esau, Isaac, Curse, Spoken Word  (view more)  (view less)

Denomination: Nazarene

The Idol Of Sexual ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Jul 27, 2012

THE IDOL OF SEXUAL IMMORALITY -The next idol hasn’t just slipped in the door, it has kicked in the door. It is the Eros problem, our society has overdosed on immoral sexual behavior. Kids in my generation had to seek out things that had sexual overtones and it was usually pretty difficult to find ...read more

Scripture: 1 Corinthians 6:9-20

Tags: Immorality

Wasting Time At Work

Contributed by Sermon Central on Aug 19, 2012

WASTING TIME AT WORK For many American workers today, time’s a wastin’ - literally. According to a new survey by America Online and Salary.com, the average worker admits to frittering away 2.09 hours per 8-hour workday, not including lunch and scheduled break-time. As a matter of practice, ...read more

Scripture: Proverbs 18:9

Tags: Workplace Integrity

Help I Cant Swim!  PRO

Contributed by Ronnie Miller on Nov 27, 2013

Help, I Can't Swim! Several years ago some friends and I would go fishing in the Yadkin River. There were 4 of us and we took 2 flat bottom aluminum boats. One friend of mine had a motor on his, but mine didn't have an engine. We would go after the sun went down and anchor upstream from the rough ...read more

Scripture: Isaiah 43:2-3

Tags: God's Help, Divine Help, Enduring Trials, Deep Water

Denomination: Baptist

An Atheist's Perspective On Evangelism

Contributed by Sermon Central on Feb 13, 2014

Perhaps you've heard of Penn and Teller the comedy team who has worked Las Vegas for years. Penn Jillette is an atheist, but he recorded a video journal a few years ago telling the story about a man who waited to speak to him after one of their shows. Penn said the man was a successful businessman ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 28:18-20

Tags: Atheist, Evangelism Urgency

Gossip: Opie's Newspaper

Contributed by Davon Huss on May 7, 2014

"Opie's Newspaper" is an episode on the Andy Griffith Show. Opie's friend, Howie, received a small printing press as a gift, and the boys decide to go into the newspaper business. They work hard and produce an initial issue of what they call the Mayberry Sun. The boys soon find that business is ...read more

Scripture: Ephesians 4:31-32

Tags: Gossip, Slander, Sins Of Tongue, Control Tongue

Denomination: Christian/Church Of Christ

Let's Go Fishing

Contributed by Richard L. Brown on Nov 3, 2016

Let’s Go Fishing Luke 5: 1-11 As you all know I am a fisherman. It is in my blood. My father taught me and my two brothers to fish when we were very young. I remember one time we were fishing from a dock in the Little Sandy River. Dad had just bought a new rod and reel and my brother Mike being ...read more

Scripture: Luke 5:1-11

Tags: Jesus, Christ's Sufficiency, Obeying Jesus

Denomination: Presbyterian/Reformed

Jesus Loves Mothers

Contributed by David Roundtree on May 13, 2017

John 19:25-27 "Now there stood by the cross of Jesus His Mother, and His mother's sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene. When Jesus therefore saw His Mother, and the disciple whom He loved standing by, He said to His Mother, 'Woman, behold your son!' Then He said to the disciple, ...read more

Scripture: John 19:25-27

Tags: Mothers Day, Mother's Day, Mothers Love, John And Jesus

Denomination: Seventh-Day Adventist

Pulling Together At Christmas

Contributed by Tim Smith on Aug 13, 2017

One morning in December 2009, Bill McDonald read in the paper that a local man, Joe Day, was sick with small-cell lung cancer. That meant Day couldn’t assemble the magnificently lit, handcrafted Christmas displays that had made his house in Versailles, Indiana, an annual holiday pilgrimage site for ...read more

Scripture: Titus 3:4

Tags: Christmas, Service, Advent, Serving

Denomination: Methodist

That Holy Communion Moment At The Hospital

Contributed by Jim Butcher on Apr 11, 2018

Note: this happened to me personally - you can reference Jim Butcher of Madison WV. Some of you have heard me share this story over the last few weeks, but I think it’s worth sharing again for those who haven’t had the chance to hear it. In early March, Patti Price asked me to bring communion to ...read more

Tags: Love, Communion, Marriage, Old Age

Denomination: Baptist