In Sermon Illustrations: "Seeking The Kingdom First"

The Conversion Of George Whitefield

Contributed by Sermon Central on Mar 29, 2011

THE CONVERSION OF GEORGE WHITEFIELD In the 1730's in England, a young man named George Whitefield desperately wanted to be right before God. As a student at Oxford, he was part of the Holy Club, along with John and Charles Wesley. The members of that club rose early every day for lengthy ...read more

Scripture: Ephesians 2:8-9

Tags: Salvation

Alexander Maclaren On The Right Stimulus For ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Apr 10, 2011

ALEXANDER MACLAREN ON THE RIGHT STIMULUS FOR ACTION It is perfectly legitimate, although it is by no means the highest motive, to appeal to feeling as a stimulus to action. We have a right to base our urging of Christian men and women to missionary work either at home or abroad, upon the ground of ...read more

Scripture: 2 Corinthians 5:11-21

Tags: Emotions

The Reality Of Palm Sunday  PRO

Contributed by Revd. Martin Dale on Apr 19, 2011

THE REALITY OF PALM SUNDAY Pope Benedict himself in his homily last Sunday in St Peter’s Square said this about Palm Sunday: "But what are we really doing when we join this procession as part of the throng which went up with Jesus to Jerusalem and hailed him as King of Israel? Is this anything ...read more

Tags: Easter Palm Sunday

Denomination: Anglican

Wash Your Hands

Contributed by Sermon Central on May 5, 2011

WASH YOUR HANDS In 1818, Ignaz Phillip Semmelweis was born into a world of dying women. The finest hospitals lost one out of six young mothers to the scourge of "childbed fever." A doctor's daily routine began in the dissecting room where he performed autopsies. From there he made his way to the ...read more

Scripture: Mark 5:25-34, Mark 5:21-43

Tags: Unbelief

How Not To Achieve Virtue

Contributed by Michael Walther on Jul 4, 2011

HOW NOT TO ACHIEVE VIRTUE How do we move from vice to virtue? Let me tell you first of all how not to... Even ancient pagans, those who never heard the Bible, recognized that living in vice was deadly and destructive. They were far ahead of our modern culture that is foolishly accepting vices ...read more

Tags: Sin Bondage To

Denomination: Lutheran

Wellington Defeated...

Contributed by Milo Velebir on Jul 14, 2011

WELLINGTON DEFEATED... It is a story about how the news of the victory at the battle at Waterloo arrived in England. There were no telegrams or telephones in those days, nobody could send an SMS or put it up on Facebook or Youtube, of course, but everyone knew that Wellington was facing Napoleon ...read more

Scripture: 1 Corinthians 15:54-57

Tags: Mistakes

Denomination: Lutheran

Spiritual Consumerism

Contributed by Sermon Central on Aug 15, 2011

SPIRITUAL CONSUMERISM In February 27 2009 article from the website “Slate” titled, “Why American churchgoers like to shop around” also caught my attention. That article cited statistics from a Barna Group survey that revealed that one in seven adults changes churches each year, and another one in ...read more

Scripture: John 4:19-24

Tags: Church Practices

God's Glorious Creation

Contributed by Jason Bonnicksen on Aug 28, 2011

GOD'S GLORIOUS CREATION Sometimes it’s good for us to get out of our environment to see the glory of God, and to be even more thankful for all he’s done and given, for that which he is doing now, and forevermore will do for all of creation. Going on vacation last weekend t refreshed my soul. ...read more

Scripture: Isaiah 65:17-25

Tags: Glory

Denomination: Lutheran

Wear The Pants  PRO

Contributed by Sermon Central on Sep 7, 2011

WEAR THE PANTS Levi-Strauss recently ran an ad campaign that targeted men for a line of Dockers pants (June 2011). Maybe you've seen some of the ads. One of them was called a "MAN-ifesto," and the script went like this: "Once upon a time, men wore the pants, and wore them well. Women rarely had ...read more

Scripture: 1 Peter 5:1-4

Tags: Men, Leadership, Biblical, Leadership General

Greater Treasure

Contributed by Brent Long on Sep 11, 2011

GREATER TREASURE In the first week of July, 2011 reports of a discovery in poverty-filled South India crossed the news wire. The vaults of the Padmanabhaswamy temple were opened after 130 years. Temple records mention the treasure, and its existence was known to locals. However, no one knew its ...read more

Tags: Blessing

Denomination: Apostolic

Joseph Smith: If Someone Had Shared Grace...  PRO

Contributed by Mark Stepherson on Sep 19, 2011

JOSEPH SMITH: IF SOMEONE HAD SHARED GRACE... Jesus was gracious to the woman taken in adultery. Sometimes, that is what reaches people. Sometimes, Christians are like the scribes and Pharisees, choosing to be judgmental instead of gracious. In the 1820's, a young woman named Emma gave birth to ...read more

Scripture: John 8:3-11

Tags: Evangelism, Grace, Witnessing, Evangelism How To

Denomination: Baptist

Christ And The Law Of Compound Probability

Contributed by Suresh Manoharan on Jan 1, 2012

CHRIST AND THE LAW OF COMPOUND PROBABILITY In the book, Science Speaks, Professor Peter Stoner used "the Law of Compound Probability," to assess some of the prophecies relating to Christ. Simply stated, this law is used to calculate the odds against a "chance" fulfillment of such predictions when ...read more

Tags: Prophecy

Denomination: *other

The Punishment Of The Golf Addict  PRO

Contributed by Rodelio Mallari on Jan 10, 2012

THE PUNISHMENT OF THE GOLF ADDICT Once there was a man who was such a golf addict that he was neglecting his job. Frequently he would call in sick as an excuse to play. One morning, after making his usual call to the office, an angel up above spotted him on the way to the golf course and decided ...read more

Tags: Sin Punishment Of

Denomination: *other

For The Life Of An Enemy  PRO

Contributed by Derrick Tuper on Feb 14, 2012

FOR THE LIFE OF AN ENEMY A Baptist pastor named Peter Miller was from a small town in Pennsylvania who lived during the American Revolution. And there was another man who lived there named Michael Wittmann, an evil-minded sort who did all that he could to oppose and humiliate the pastor. He made ...read more

Tags: Obedience

Denomination: Christian/Church Of Christ

On Habits

Contributed by Josh Hunt on Mar 7, 2012

ON HABITS Someone Once Said... * Thoughts produce acts, acts produce habits, and habits produce character.--Anonymous * If we realize the extent to which we are mere walking bundles of habits, we would give more heed to their own formation.--William James* * First we ...read more

Scripture: Acts 17:2

Tags: Disciplines General

Denomination: Baptist

Humorous Definitions  PRO

Contributed by Sermon Central on Aug 2, 2012

HUMOROUS DEFINITIONS Definitions matter. Do you know what these words mean? ABDICATE: To give up all hope of ever having a flat stomach. ADULT: A person who has stopped growing at both ends and is now growing in the middle. ANTIQUE: An item your grandparents bought, your parents got rid of, and ...read more

Scripture: Proverbs 17:22

Tags: Words

Just Didn't Work Right  PRO

Contributed by Rick Boyne on Aug 13, 2012

JUST DIDN'T WORK RIGHT My parents bought my 16 year old daughter her first car, a 1970 VW Beetle. While it was cute and a collector car, it wouldn’t run right. Even though it had been a gift from her grandparents, it cost as much in repairs as a new car would have cost in payments. While it had ...read more

Tags: Dealing With Conflicts

Denomination: Baptist

We Are The World Was A Benefit Single For Victims ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Aug 23, 2012

We are the World was a benefit single for victims of famine in Africa. It raised over $63 million, which was distributed to Ethiopia, Sudan, and other impoverished countries. On the morning of April 5, 1985 (Good Friday of that year), "We Are the World" received worldwide coverage. At 10:25 am, ...read more

Scripture: 1 Corinthians 15:12-58

Tags: Easter Good Friday

Patton's Mistake

Contributed by W Pat Cunningham on Nov 10, 2012

PATTON'S MISTAKE On August 3, 1943, General George S. Patton entered a tent in a military hospital in Sicily to visit wounded soldiers. He had just been briefed by one of his commanders that malingering was thinning out the ranks at the front. Amid the wounded warriors was an enlisted man ...read more

Tags: Mistakes

Denomination: Catholic

Whitney Houston ...

Contributed by Bret Toman on Dec 10, 2012

Whitney Houston sang "Because the greatest love of all is happening to me I found the greatest love of all inside of me The greatest love of all Is easy to achieve learning to love yourself, it is the greatest love of all" Learning to love yourself, it is the greatest love of all. I’ll admit I’m ...read more

Tags: Love For God, Self Esteem

Denomination: Baptist