In Sermon Illustrations: "Second Chair"

Years Ago A Young Black Child Was Growing Up In ...

Contributed by Rev. Richard Norman on Oct 6, 2009

Years ago a young black child was growing up in Cleveland, in a home which he later described as “ materially poor but spiritually rich.” One day a famous athlete, Charlie Paddock, came to his school to speak to the students. At the time Paddock was considered “ the fastest human being ...read more

Tags: Sports

Denomination: Nazarene

Circus At The Cross: The Nature Of Executions

Contributed by Davon Huss on Mar 10, 2010

CIRCUS AT THE CROSS: THE NATURE OF EXECUTIONS During his 21 years on the bench at Fort Smith, Arkansas, Judge Parker sentenced 160 men to die and hanged 79 of them. It didn't take Parker long to get going. On May 10, 1875 -- only 8 days after he arrived at Fort Smith -- he opened his first term of ...read more

Tags: Cross

Denomination: Christian/Church Of Christ

It's Better Higher Up  PRO

Contributed by Jesse Roncales on Apr 15, 2010

IT'S BETTER HIGHER UP There was an old woman who was always bright, cheerful, and optimistic, even though she was confined to her room because of illness. She lived in an attic in the fifth floor of an old building. A friend decided to visit her one day and brought with her a wealthy woman. Since ...read more

Tags: Assurance Of Salvation

Denomination: Assembly Of God

Make A Wish

Contributed by Sermon Central on Jun 10, 2010

MAKE A WISH Have you ever dreamed of finding a genie in a lamp where you could get three wishes? Our Pastor, who is in charge of the prison ministry, always tells the same joke, because the prisoner population has a new turnover each time he visits. He always sets them up by asking if they had ...read more

Scripture: Proverbs 13:16

Tags: Fool

I Tithe—he'll Find Me.  PRO

Contributed by Denn Guptill on May 1, 2011

"I TITHE--HE'LL FIND ME." Two men have ended up marooned on an island in the South Pacific. You can fill in the blanks as to how they got there. So they are on the clichéic deserted island, one palm tree, nothing to see but the ocean. One guy is in a complete panic, pacing back and forth, ...read more

Scripture: Colossians 3:5-21, Matthew 23:23

Tags: Offering, Tithe, Tithes

Denomination: Wesleyan

Stop Or Slow Down  PRO

Contributed by Akinsanya Adubi on May 6, 2011

STOP OR SLOW DOWN Pastor John Hagee told us a story of a driver that refused to stop at a STOP sign; he was then pulled over by a cop. The cop told him that the reason he pulled him over was because he refused to stop at a STOP sign. He replied that he slowed down, the cop then explain to him that ...read more

Scripture: Luke 6:38

Tags: Sin Bondage To

Denomination: Pentecostal

Because You Did, Dad  PRO

Contributed by Sermon Central on May 14, 2012

"BECAUSE YOU DID, DAD." James Bryan Smith begins this chapter of his book by telling a story about taking his six year old son to an amusement park. While at the park, he and his son got on a ride. A teenage boy buckled them into their seats and then started the ride. The entire time during the ...read more

Scripture: Genesis 22:6-18

Tags: Father's Day

Listening To God Compared To Listening To The ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Aug 4, 2012

LISTENING TO GOD COMPARED TO LISTENING TO THE DOCTOR We should treat prayer for what it is, a two way conversation with God, and learn to be quiet long enough for him to get a word in edge ways. Nicky Gumbel, in his book Questions of Life compares it to a visit to the doctor, he writes “Suppose I ...read more

Scripture: 1 Samuel 3:10

Tags: Prayer How To

Guiding Light

Contributed by Joe Bertone on Aug 20, 2012

GUIDING LIGHT Do you remember this intro? “And now, The Guiding Light.” It is an old one. According to Guinness Book of World Records The Guiding Light was the longest running drama of all time. It came on the air in January 25, 1937 five days after President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s second ...read more

Scripture: John 8:12

Tags: Darkness, Change, Soap, Jesus Life, Guiding Light  (view more)  (view less)

Denomination: Christian/Church Of Christ

Getting Too Far From The Source  PRO

Contributed by Choe Sergent on Apr 17, 2013

GETTING TOO FAR FROM THE SOURCE The county hired a new person to paint fresh yellow lines down the middle of all the county roads. The first day this man painted an astonishing 10 miles of road with new double yellow lines down the middle. This was a record! No one had ever painted ten miles of ...read more

Scripture: Ezekiel 47:1-23

Tags: Christian Disciplines

Denomination: Baptist

A Teacher With Morals

Contributed by Sermon Central on Jun 8, 2013

A TEACHER WITH MORALS It's a true story; only the names have been changed to protect the embarrassed. Little Tommy attended first grade Sunday School faithfully. He loved his teacher, Mrs. Smith. Mrs. Smith told great Bible stories, and she would always end the story by saying, "And, boys and ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 13:1-23

Tags: Morality, Parable Sower And Seed

God Communicates Through Dreams

Contributed by Tim Smith on May 28, 2015

God still speaks in dreams today. In the second year of serving at Gretna, I had a dream that the 2 acres next door where a pediatrician’s office was located was going to be sold and become townhouses. The owner Dr. Jerry Fortino attended the WestBank Rotary Club which met at the church every ...read more

Scripture: Acts 16:1-10

Tags: Holy Spirit, Dreams, God's Leading

Denomination: Methodist

A Lesson In Hope

Contributed by Thomas Clawser on Apr 1, 2017

They still tell the story at William and Mary College of daffy, magnificent President Ewell. For a century and a half, this prestigious Virginia school had been a leader among American universities. Then came the Civil War. In the hard days of reconstruction that followed, William and Mary went ...read more

Scripture: John 11:38-44

Tags: Hope, New Life, Lent

Denomination: Other

Let God's Grace Find You

Contributed by Steve Kinnard on Mar 1, 2019

LET GOD’S GRACE FIND YOU, IT WILL COME WHERE YOU ARE 1.GOD’S Grace went to the mountain top for Abraham when he was about to sacrifice Isaac; GOD provided a ram 2.GOD’S Grace went to the prison where Joseph was; Found Him and made Him second in command in all Egypt 3.GOD’S Grace went to the ...read more

Scripture: Ephesians 2:8-9

Tags: Grace, Mercy

Denomination: Pentecostal

Children Need To Be Loved

Contributed by Garris Hudson on Jul 17, 2023

No more convincing evidence of the absence of parental affection exists than that compiled by Rene Spitz. In a South American orphanage, Spitz observed and recorded what happened to 97 children who were deprived of emotional and physical contact with others. Because of a lack of funds, there was ...read more

Scripture: Ephesians 6:1-5

Tags: Nurture, Touching, Love, Children, Marriage, Parents, Family, Home  (view more)  (view less)

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

When Church Makes You Throw Up!

Contributed by Garris Hudson on Nov 12, 2024

Marty, a little boy, was in church one Sunday with his mother Doris, when he started feeling sick. 'Mummy,' he inquired, 'can we leave now?' 'No,' his mother replied, 'the service isn't over yet.' 'Well, I think I'm about to throw up.' Marty ...read more

Tags: Church, Children, Mothers, Sick

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

Do Not Love The World

Contributed by Ken Mckinley on Jan 7, 2025

Now imagine this with me for a second. Let’s say you have a pillow and let’s say the family dog got ahold of that pillow and used it for a litter box… so you took it out and put it in the dumpster, and a family of rats moved into it and used it for a bed. And just before the day the trash truck ...read more

Scripture: 1 John 2:15

Tags: Love Of Jesus, Desire, Love Of The World

Denomination: Independent/Bible

Weaknesses Among The Best

Contributed by Ed Vasicek on Feb 11, 2025

A British man named Steve Cleary was in his early 50's, retired from the Royal Navy, and had started a second career. However, he just couldn't seem to get to work on time. Every day he was 5, 10, 15 minutes late. However, he was a good worker, really clever, so the owner was in a quandary ...read more

Scripture: James 3:2, Romans 3:23

Tags: Weaknesses, Perfection, Bad Habits, Flaws, Failings  (view more)  (view less)

Denomination: Independent/Bible

Resisting A False Culture

Contributed by Martin Spoelstra on Mar 6, 2026

In the late 1980s, the world witnessed the collapse of communist regimes across Eastern Europe. One of the central figures in the Velvet Revolution of Czechoslovakia was Václav Havel. Havel had been a playwright and dissident long before he became president. He spent years imprisoned because ...read more

Scripture: Acts 2:42-47, Colossians 4:2-6

Tags: Culture, Scattered, Resisting, Gathered

Denomination: Presbyterian/Reformed

I Can Remember My Cousin Jenny As A Joyful, ...  PRO

Contributed by Warren Lamb on Jul 29, 2007

I can remember my cousin Jenny as a joyful, delighted-with-life little girl who wasn’t like the rest of us, but could make the grumpiest of grumps smile because her love of life and underlying happiness was so infectious. The message here is that all of us have opportunity to give sacrificially to ...read more

Scripture: Mark 2:1, 1 Corinthians 13:5

Tags: Love, Worship, Give, Life, Thanks, Life Situations, Always, Giving Yourself, Ups And Downs, End Of The World, End Times, Eschatology, Last Days, Guidance, Hypocrite, Impossible  (view more)  (view less)

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational