In Sermon Illustrations: "Sermon Introduction"

Preachers Who Make You Throw Up!

Contributed by Garris Hudson on Aug 12, 2019

A Pastor was doing his Children's Church sermon where all the kids come down to the front & hear a story. The Pastor was discussing the story of Jonah. He quoted the Scripture from Jonah: "The Lord spoke to the fish, and it vomited Jonah upon the dry land." When the Pastor ...read more

Scripture: Jonah 2:1-7

Tags: Jonah, Bad Preaching, Children's Church, Embarrassing Moments

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

Brother James Bryan, A Presbyterian Minister In ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Jun 18, 2007

Brother James Bryan, a Presbyterian minister in Birmingham, Alabama knew this. There were a lot of preachers who could preach better sermons from the pulpit, but none could match the sermons that Brother Bryan preached with his life. Like Jesus, Brother Bryan was known for his compassion and his ...read more

Tags: Faith General

Years Ago, I Heard A Story About A Preacher Who ...  PRO

Contributed by Sermon Central on Jun 18, 2007

Years ago, I heard a story about a preacher who went to a small town to preach a series of gospel sermons. His attempt was to evangelize that little town. He preached for two weeks. During the whole time, only one little girl responded to the invitation at the end of one of his sermons. She ...read more

Tags: Doubt

The Law Shows Us The Way Home

Contributed by Sermon Central on Jul 23, 2008

THE LAW SHOWS US THE WAY HOME During World War II American planes flew from British airbases to missions over Germany. Finding their way home to base was often difficult because of horrible weather conditions. Churches with tall, stately spires dotted the English landscape. On overcast days the ...read more

Tags: Commandments General

Fighting ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Jul 30, 2008

FIGHTING SIN Poet Carl Sandberg once said, "There is an eagle in me that wants to soar, and there is a hippopotamus in me that wants to wallow in the mud." Colorful, old-time evangelist Billy Sunday said of sin, "I’m against sin. I’ll kick it as long as I’ve got a foot. I’ll fight it as long as ...read more

Tags: Sin General

Prayer: Specific ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Jul 30, 2008

PRAYER: SPECIFIC DIRECTION The late great English writer, journalist, philosopher, poet, biographer, and Christian apologetic Gilbert Keith Chesterton (1874 - 1936) and several other literary figures were asked one evening what book they would prefer to have with them if they were stranded on a ...read more

Tags: Prayer General

Shallow ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Jul 31, 2008

SHALLOW LIVES A few statistics clarify a problem. The figures I have are from five years ago, but I believe the comparisons are still the same. Americans gave $2.9 billion dollars to overseas missions. That sounds pretty good until you find out that we spend $8.4 billion to see movies, $13 billion ...read more

Tags: Materialism

Who's Side

Contributed by Sermon Central on Jul 31, 2008

WHO'S SIDE During WWII a parade of well-trained soldiers was marching through downtown. The soldiers were trained and now preparing to leave for war. As they marched by one old lady's house she was so proud of the men. She grabbed her broom stick, placed it on her shoulder and started marching ...read more

Tags: Encouragement

Tenth Hours

Contributed by Sermon Central on Feb 16, 2009

TENTH HOURS Napoleon said that in every battle there [is] a period of ten or fifteen minutes which decides the issue of the conflict. Certainly in the battle of life there are moments and hours which, so far as we can tell, determine our history: hours when the spirit in which we lived, the step ...read more

Tags: Dealing With Conflicts

Climate At Church Compared To Jewelry Store Grand ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Nov 11, 2009

Climate at Church compared to Jewelry Store Grand Opening John Bisagno former Pastor of Houston’s First Baptist Church tells the story of his coming as a candidate for the position of pastor many years ago. He said that as he entered the auditorium it was dimly lit, with just a few people huddled ...read more

Scripture: Luke 4:14-30

Tags: Pastors

I Heard A Story One Time About A New, Cocky ...  PRO

Contributed by Sermon Central on Jun 18, 2007

I heard a story one time about a new, cocky young preacher, straight out of seminary. He was going to preach his very first sermon in a big, old Presbyterian church. The church had an elevated pulpit with a long flight of stairs leading up to it. This kid was about as prideful as he could be. All ...read more

Tags: Faith General

Set Free  PRO

Contributed by Sermon Central on Sep 2, 2008

SET FREE A man said to his pastor: “I am a miserable sinner and there is no help available for me. I have prayed to God, I have tried to be good and I have tried to do the right thing at the right time, but I always seem to fail.” The pastor asked him: “Do you believe in the life, the death, and ...read more

Scripture: Romans 8:1-17

Tags: Forgiveness In Jesus

They Don't But You Do  PRO

Contributed by Sermon Central on Sep 2, 2008

THEY DON’T BUT YOU DO Consider the story of Oswald Golter. After ten years service as a missionary in China, Oswald Golter was on His way home. His ship stopped in India, and while waiting for the connecting boat home he found a group of refugees living in a warehouse on the pier. They were ...read more

Scripture: Romans 9:1-5

Tags: Evangelism How To

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

Soul Food

Contributed by David Dunn on Oct 8, 2025

A certain man who had been absent from church for a long time received an inquiring visit from the Pastor. The man told the Pastor, "I've attended nearly every Sunday for 30 years. In that time, I have heard something like 1,500 sermons. In all of those years, people were shouting ...read more

Scripture: Psalm 103:1-5, Isaiah 40:31, John 6:35

Tags: Worship, Faithfulness, Nourishment

Denomination: Seventh-Day Adventist

One Of My Favorite Stories Is About A Young ...

Contributed by Blake Inscore on Sep 26, 2008

One of my favorite stories is about a young seminary student who was terrified of speaking in front of others. He waited until his last semester to taking his preaching class, knowing that he would have to get up and present a sermon. His professor tried to reassure him that God would give him the ...read more

Tags: What Is Evangelism?

Denomination: Baptist

Incarnation  PRO

Contributed by Sermon Central on Nov 24, 2002

INCARNATION The mystery of the humanity of Christ, that He sunk Himself into our flesh, is beyond all human understanding. Martin Luther, SOURCE: ...read more

Tags: Christmas, Humanity Of Christ

General Oglethorpe Once Said To John Wesley, "I ...

Contributed by Brian La Croix on Apr 20, 2009

General Oglethorpe once said to John Wesley, "I never forgive, and I never forget." To which Wesley replied, "Then, Sir, I hope ...read more

Tags: Forgiveness For Others

Denomination: Wesleyan

Will Rogers Said, "You Can Summarize American ...  PRO

Contributed by Sermon Central on Jul 30, 2010

Will Rogers said, "You can summarize American History into two great movements: the passing of the Buffalo and The passing of the buck." (From a ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 27:24-25

Tags: America, Others, Seeing Jesus

Os Guinness On Staying Relevant

Contributed by Sermon Central on Apr 10, 2011

OS GUINNESS ON STAYING RELEVANT Os Guinness wrote: "To be always relevant, you have to say things which are eternal." (From a ...read more

Scripture: Ephesians 6:19-20

Tags: Truth Absolute