In Sermon Illustrations: "Sent"

Dostoevsky And The Firing Squad  PRO

Contributed by David Simmons on Feb 22, 2002

DOSTOEVSKY AND THE FIRING SQUAD The famous Russian novelist Fyodor Dostoevsky told the story of the time he was arrested by the czar and sentenced to die. The czar, though, liked to play cruel psychological tricks on the people who rebelled against him by blindfolding them and standing them in ...read more

Scripture: Romans 6:23

Tags: Fulfillment, Death Nearness

Denomination: Baptist

A Vacation Of Compassion  PRO

Contributed by Sermon Central on Apr 14, 2002

A VACATION OF COMPASSION In 1958, 35 year old Englishwoman Anita Goulden went on holiday to Peru to visit her brother. Anita was a widowed, single mother who owned two haberdasheries in Manchester, England. She was about to go home by way of the United States when she saw an unbelievable ...read more

Tags: Christian Love, Compassion, Poverty

A Perfect Salvation—communion Meditation  PRO

Contributed by Robert Tatum on Sep 4, 2002

A PERFECT SALVATION-COMMUNION MEDITATION Near Mobile, Alabama there was a railroad bridge that spanned a big bayou. The date was September 22, 1993. It was a foggy morning just before daybreak when a tugboat accidentally pushed a barge into the bayou. The drifting barge slammed into the bridge. ...read more

Scripture: Revelation 1:1-10

Tags: Forgiveness In Jesus, Christian Disciplines, Unconditional Love

Denomination: Baptist

More Than One Hundred And Thirty Years Ago, God ...  PRO

Contributed by James O. Davis on Nov 2, 2003

More than one hundred and thirty years ago, God called a man named John Williams to go to the South Pacific Island of Aramonda as a missionary. John Williams, and his friend Mr. Harris, set sail one day to take the Gospel message to a cannibalistic tribe that had never heard about Jesus Christ as ...read more

Scripture: Isaiah 53:5

Tags: Faith, Evangelism How To, Christian Disciplines

Denomination: Assembly Of God

A Little Boy Who Lived Far Out In The Country In ...  PRO

Contributed by Sermon Central on Dec 8, 2005

A little boy who lived far out in the country in the late 1800s had reached the age of twelve and had never in all his life seen a circus. You can imagine his excitement, when one day a poster went up at school announcing that on the next Saturday a traveling circus was coming to the nearby ...read more

Tags: Kingdom Of God

Across Nicaragua, Graffiti Plastered Houses, ...  PRO

Contributed by Sermon Central on Dec 20, 2005

Across Nicaragua, graffiti plastered houses, walls, and public buildings. The most prevalent campaign slogan everywhere was: “Daniel 5:25.” Intended to be a simple instruction on how to vote, it literally meant, “Vote for Daniel Ortega, the 5th position on the ballot, on the 25th day of ...read more

Scripture: 1 Samuel 16:1-13

Tags: Daniel

What Better Way To Show How Man Has Done This ...

Contributed by Paul Wallace on Sep 20, 2006

What better way to show how man has done this than to look at the two Voyager spacecraft, launched in 1977 and sent barreling towards the outer reaches of the solar system. On each ship is a gold-coated phonograph record, offering a message to extraterrestrial civilizations. This message includes ...read more

Denomination: Wesleyan

The News Carried The Story This Week Of A ...

Contributed by Rodney Buchanan on Dec 10, 2006

The news carried the story this week of a faithful father. James Kim was an editor for CNET. CNN reports: “On November 25 the Kims had begun a drive home to San Francisco, California, after a Thanksgiving vacation in Oregon. They missed a turn and found themselves stranded in snow and lost on ...read more

Denomination: Methodist

In The Late Winter Of 1891, The Whale-Ship 'star ...  PRO

Contributed by Peter Bines on Sep 6, 2005

In the late winter of 1891, the whale-ship ’Star of the East’ was in the area of the Falkland Islands when it sighted a whale. Two boats were sent out with harpoons to catch and kill the creature. But the whale’s lashing tail overturned one of the boats spilling the crew into the sea. All were ...read more

Scripture: Jonah 3:1-10

Tags: Fact Or Fiction, Fiction, Check, Jonah, Never Happened  (view more)  (view less)

Denomination: Independent/Bible

Hold The Fort, For I Am ...

Contributed by Dwight L. Moody on Jun 11, 2009

HOLD THE FORT, FOR I AM COMING I am told that when General Sherman went through Atlanta toward the sea, through the southern states; he left in the fort, in the Kenesaw mountains, a little handful of men to guard some rations that he brought there. And General Hood got into the outer rear and ...read more

Scripture: Revelation 19:11-21

Tags: Second Coming

Denomination: *other

Miraculous Protection Of Hutu ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Oct 26, 2009

Miraculous Protection of Hutu Preacher Psalm 91:5 goes on to say, “You will not fear the terror of the night, nor the arrow that flies by day.” And vs. 11 says, “He will command His angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways.” ILL. Tribal wars are nothing new in Central Africa. In fact, a ...read more

Scripture: Psalm 91:1-16

Tags: Miracles, Miracles General

Father Covers Overdraft For ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Nov 22, 2009

Father Covers Overdraft for Daughter In His book, Cure for the Common Life, Max Lucado talks about the time the bank sent him an overdraft notice on the checking account of one of his daughters. He says, “I encourage my college-age girls to monitor their accounts. Even so, they sometimes overspend. ...read more

Scripture: Romans 6:23

Tags: Grace, Debt

Who Is This Guy?

Contributed by Rodney Buchanan on Aug 29, 2011

WHO IS THIS GUY? Chuck Colson relates this interesting story in his book How Then Should We Live?: "In William Steig's Yellow & Pink, a delightfully whimsical picture book for children, two wooden figures wake up to find themselves lying on an old newspaper in the hot sun. One figure is painted ...read more

Tags: Creation

Denomination: Methodist

Are You Doing What You Are Called To Do?  PRO

Contributed by Brad Henry on Sep 19, 2011

ARE YOU DOING WHAT YOU ARE CALLED TO DO? Last week was a very interesting week. About a year ago, when our finances started to dwindle, I sent my resume out to an Executive Search Group (Headhunter). Now that’s a unique name! Last week, I got a call that there was a possibility of an awesome ...read more

Tags: God's Sovereign Will

Nolan Ryan Didn't Change Me  PRO

Contributed by Tim White on Feb 1, 2012

NOLAN RYAN DIDN'T CHANGE ME In 1991, Ryan, our son, age 6 at the time, played Challenger Baseball, a modified version of the game for disabled children. At the end of the season, each child received an official Challenger baseball for his or her participation. We asked Ryan what he wanted to do ...read more

Scripture: 1 John 1:6-7

Tags: Sanctification

Denomination: Baptist

Henri Dunant, Founder Of The Red Cross  PRO

Contributed by Sermon Central on Sep 20, 2012

HENRI DUNANT, FOUNDER OF THE RED CROSS Henri Dunant was a wealthy 19th century Swiss banker when the Swiss government sent him to Paris to work on a business deal with Napoleon. When he got to Paris, they told him that Napoleon was off fighting a war against the Austrians in Solferino, Italy. So ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 14:13-14

Tags: Compassion

Turn A Blind Eye  PRO

Contributed by Ken Pell on Jul 8, 2013

TURN A BLIND EYE We must obey God rather than men (Acts 5:29) Have you turned a blind eye to God’s Word? Perhaps you’ve heard the phrase "turn a blind eye," which means to ignore undesirable information. The saying comes from a 19th century British naval battle. On April 2, 1801, during the ...read more

Scripture: Acts 5:29

Tags: Obedience, Civil Obedience

Denomination: Nazarene

In The 1971 Film Willy Wonka And The Chocolat...

Contributed by Davon Huss on Aug 25, 2016

In the 1971 film Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, chocolateer Willy Wonka (played by Gene Wilder) launches a worldwide frenzy when he inserts five golden tickets into his famous Wonka Bars. Each ticket gives the owner a chance to tour the chocolate factory and win a lifetime’s supply of ...read more

Scripture: Mark 10:13-16

Tags: Childlike Faith

Denomination: Christian/Church Of Christ

Honor

Contributed by Dr. Fred W. Penney on May 28, 2020

Victor Frankl was a survivor of the holocaust. His famous book is called "Man's Search for Meaning." The reader they ask me why I did not try to escape what was in store for me after Hitler had occupied Austria. Let me answer by recalling the following story. Shortly before ...read more

Scripture: Exodus 20:12, Ephesians 6:1

Tags: Sacrifice, Honor, Family, Purpose, Meaning, Selfishness, 10 Commandments  (view more)  (view less)

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

I Told You I Was Reading A New Book By Max ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Jun 18, 2007

I told you I was reading a new book by Max Lucado called, “Come to the Sweet Spot.” This illustration was in this book. He had a daughter in college. He had set up a checking account for her so that she would have some money at school and could be responsible to pay her bills through this account. ...read more

Tags: Sin Bondage To