In Sermon Illustrations: "sermon opener" showing 1,461-1,480 of 26,968

There Was Once A Pastor Who Had A Little ...  PRO

Contributed by Dan Cormie on Oct 23, 2002

There was once a pastor who had a little five-year-old daughter. Now the little girl notice that every time her dad stood behind the pulpit, and was getting ready to preach he would bow his head for moment before he began to preach. The little girl noticed that he did this every time. So one day ...read more

Scripture: Acts 12:1-19

Tags: Prayer Answered, Prayer General

Denomination: Mennonite

17 Words  PRO

Contributed by Sermon Central on Oct 17, 2003

17 WORDS According to the Atlanta Journal "The Ten Commandments contain 297 words. The Bill of Rights is stated in 463 words. Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address contains 266 words. A recent federal directive to regulate the price of cabbage contains 26,911 words." In the Greek, John 1:1 contains 17 ...read more

Tags: Christmas, Humanity Of Christ, Jesus Teachings

James Duncan, Preaching With Great Unction And ...  PRO

Contributed by Scott Malone on Mar 1, 2005

James Duncan, preaching with great unction and power, was asked what was the secret of such powerful preaching. "The secret," he said, was "thirteen hours of consecutive prayer." When asked the secret of his spiritual power, Charles Spurgeon said: "Knee work! Knee work!" Livingston of Shotts, on ...read more

Scripture: Isaiah 59:6-12

Tags: Prayer Adoration

Denomination: Baptist

Many Years Ago A Farmer Had An Unusually Fine ...

Contributed by Gene Gregory on Jan 28, 2006

Many years ago a farmer had an unusually fine crop of wheat. Just a few days before the wheat was to be harvested, a terrible hail and wind storm came. The entire crop was destroyed. After the storm was over, the farmer, with his little son, went out on the porch. The little boy looked at what ...read more

Tags: Parenting

Denomination: Baptist

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

Tenth Hours

Contributed by Sermon Central on Mar 24, 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: Doing God's Will

Sleeping The Night Before Your ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Jun 25, 2009

SLEEPING THE NIGHT BEFORE YOUR EXECUTION In 1555, Nicholas Ridley was burned at the stake because of his witness for Christ. On the night before Ridley’s execution, his brother offered to remain with him in the prison chamber to be of assistance and comfort. Nicholas declined the offer and replied ...read more

Scripture: Philippians 4:7

Tags: Peace

Preachers Who Make You Throw Up!

Contributed by Dr. Larry Petton 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

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

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