In Sermon Illustrations: "Scandal Of Grace"

The Evangelistic Meaning Of Your Birthday Celebration

Contributed by Joel Israel Shashikumar on Jan 26, 2015

I went to bed with a heavy heart one day. All those news and reports of death for the past few weeks. Only to wake up with a thought of birthday cake and celebration. Now why do we celebrate birthdays, blowing candles and cutting cake. I admit, I do not know the meaning that has been tagged with ...read more

Scripture: Hebrews 12:28-29

Tags: Grace, Birthday

Denomination: Assembly Of God

A Close Encounter

Contributed by Steve Kinnard on Feb 15, 2019

A Close Encounter As the great hunter stalks his prey thru the sultry jungle of Africa, the prey is running for his life; but to no avail because nothing escapes the skills of the great white hunter. The prey is trembling with fear as the hunter closes in. Can you see the evil leer in the ...read more

Scripture: Acts 4:1-13

Tags: Grace, Mercy

Denomination: Pentecostal

The Story Is Told Of A Carpenter Nailing Shingles ...

Contributed by Glenn Durham on Apr 8, 2008

The story is told of a carpenter nailing shingles when he lost his footing and started to slide off. As he was sliding he began praying, “Lord, oh, Lord, help me.” Still he kept sliding. Again the man prayed, “Lord, oh, Lord, help me.” He kept sliding until he got to the edge and a nail sticking up ...read more

Tags: Grace In Action

Denomination: Presbyterian/Reformed

Just As You Are  PRO

Contributed by Sermon Central on Sep 2, 2008

JUST AS YOU ARE Jesus affirms that many would come to Him in faith and partake of Him as the Bread of Life, because of the Father. Man’s blindness does not keep God’s grace from working. When they come, they find that God does not turn them away nor cast them away later. CHARLOTTE ELLIOTT learned ...read more

Scripture: John 6:25-40

Tags: Grace, Bread

A Prerequisite To Forgiveness

Contributed by Sermon Central on Dec 31, 2022

A pastor finished his message early one Sunday and he wanted to check his congregation’s understanding. So he asked, “Can anyone tell me what you must do before you can obtain forgiveness of sin?” There was a short pause and then, from the back of the room, a small boy spoke up, “You have to ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 18:32-35

Tags: Grace, Forgiveness

Childlike Forgiveness

Contributed by Sermon Central on Dec 31, 2022

A few months ago, I was in El Paso holding an evangelistic meeting, and the young people were serving dinner to the mothers being that it was Mother’s Day. I was seating in a chair watching what was going on, and right in front, a four-year-old girl pushed a two-year-old boy, who fell on the floor ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 6:12

Tags: Grace, Forgiveness

Amazing Forgiveness

Contributed by Sermon Central on Dec 31, 2022

A policeman recounted an incident when he and other officers shot an eighteen-year-old boy and burned the body. Eight years later the policeman returned to the same house and seized the boy's father. The wife was forced to watch as policemen bound her husband on a woodpile, poured gasoline over ...read more

Scripture: Psalm 65:3

Tags: Grace, Forgiveness

Overwhelming Forgiveness

Contributed by Sermon Central on Dec 31, 2022

A wonderful example of how to practice the lifestyle of grace comes from an incident in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, on October 2, 2006, when a man entered an Amish schoolhouse and murdered 5 girls while wounding 5 others before killing himself. As horrific as this was, the greater story was the ...read more

Scripture: Psalm 65:3

Tags: Grace, Forgiveness

Corrie Ten Boom On Forgiveness

Contributed by Sermon Central on Dec 31, 2022

Corrie Ten Boom had her entire family killed in a Nazi concentration camp for hiding Jews in their home. In her book, “The Hiding Place” she writes: It was at a church service in Munich that I saw him, a former S.S. man who had stood guard at the shower room door in the processing center at ...read more

Scripture: Colossians 3:13

Tags: Grace, Forgiveness

I Give Up!

Contributed by Sermon Central on Dec 31, 2022

Many years ago, executives of the Time-Life publishing organization discovered that the company’s profit margin had shrunk to an alarmingly low level. To cut costs, they decided to eliminate hundreds of works to be replaced with machines. The name of each subscriber was put on a separate little ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 5:7

Tags: Grace, Forgiveness

Simple Confession, Profound Forgiveness

Contributed by Sermon Central on Dec 31, 2022

In 1818 one out of six women who had children died of something called “childbirth fever.” A doctor’s daily routine back then started in the dissecting room, where he performed autopsies, and from there he made his rounds to examine expectant mothers. No one even thought to wash his hands...at ...read more

Scripture: 1 John 1:9

Tags: Grace, Forgiveness

Remember The Duck

Contributed by Sermon Central on Dec 31, 2022

A little boy visiting his grandparents was given his first slingshot. As he practiced in his Grandma’s backyard, he spied her pet duck. On an impulse, he took aim and let fly. The stone hit, and the duck fell dead. The boy panicked. Desperately he hid the dead duck in the woodpile only to look up ...read more

Scripture: Mark 11:25

Tags: Grace, Forgiveness

Redemption And Restoration In Real Life

Contributed by Sermon Central on Dec 31, 2022

Many years ago at New Life Church in Colorado Springs, there was a shooting of several people in the church parking lot and building that left three dead and three wounded. The young man, who had done the shooting, killed himself after being shot by a security guard. Earlier that day, he had ...read more

Scripture: Psalm 103:8-14

Tags: Grace, Forgiveness

Sin No Nym

Contributed by David Dunn on Sep 29, 2025

Sin No Nym Josie loved words. She liked to clap their sounds and spell them out. One day she wrote a big word on her paper: S I N N O N Y M She giggled. “Listen! It sounds like sin–no–name.” --- Word Play at Home Daddy peeked over. “That’s funny,” he said. “What do you think it ...read more

Scripture: 1 John 1:9, Psalm 103:12

Tags: Grace, Forgiveness

Denomination: Seventh-Day Adventist

Moses' Fan

Contributed by David Dunn on Nov 14, 2025

The man goes to heaven and sees thousands of clocks. Curious, he asks Peter what they represent. Peter smiles: “Each person on earth has a clock. Every time someone sins, the hand moves forward.” The man asks, “Where’s ...read more

Scripture: James 1:14-15, Ecclesiastes 12:13-14

Tags: Grace, Sin

Denomination: Seventh-Day Adventist

Newton's Story

Contributed by David Dunn on Nov 21, 2025

The story of John Newton and the hymn Amazing Grace. Newton’s hymn has grown so familiar to us that we sometimes forget the depth of the testimony behind it. Those lines were not crafted by a saint who lived an unblemished life. They were written by a man who walked through the same spiritual ...read more

Scripture: 2 Chronicles 33:12, Ephesians 2:8

Tags: Grace, Redemption

Denomination: Seventh-Day Adventist

Still Standing

Contributed by David Dunn on Dec 16, 2025

When I was in ninth grade, I was chosen to recite the Declaration of Independence in a high school patriotic play. I had the whole thing memorized. Every word. Every pause. I had practiced it until it lived in my bones. What I didn’t know — and wouldn’t discover until later — was that my zipper ...read more

Scripture: 2 Corinthians 12:9, 1 Corinthians 1:27

Tags: Grace, Weakness

Denomination: Seventh-Day Adventist

Rembrandt’s Return Of The Prodigal Son

Contributed by Austin W. Duncan on Apr 17, 2026

I was an art major in undergrad, which means I took more art history classes than any human should be required to sit through. And then, because God has a sense of humor, I spent an entire semester in seminary studying one painting. One. Rembrandt’s The Return of the Prodigal Son. Paper after paper ...read more

Scripture: James 4:10, Luke 15:20

Tags: Grace, Repentance

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

Ang Biyaya Ng Diyos

Contributed by James Dina on Oct 25, 2020

ANG BIYAYA NG DIYOS "Datapuwa't sa pamamagitan ng biyaya ng Dios ako ang aking pagkatao: at ang kaniyang biyaya na [ipinagkaloob] sa akin ay walang kabuluhan; subalit mas masagana akong gumawa kaysa sa kanilang lahat: gayon ma'y hindi ako, kundi ang biyaya ng Dios na kasama ko." ...read more

Scripture: 1 Corinthians 15:10

Tags: Grace, Grace Of God, Unmerited Favor

Denomination: Pentecostal

At The Beginning Of The World War Ii, Israel ...  PRO

Contributed by Paul Kallan on Jan 11, 2003

At the beginning of the World War II, Israel Eugenio was the chief Rabbi of Rome. The Nazis occupied Rome in September 1943. The Nazi officer Kappler demanded 50 kg of gold in place of the Jews. The Jews feverishly managed to collect 35 kg. The chief Rabbi Zolli realized his helplessness. For the ...read more

Tags: Grace, Salvation, Forgiveness In Jesus

Denomination: Catholic