In Sermon Illustrations: "Sermon Thoughts"

Slow Sammy

Contributed by Sermon Central on Nov 24, 2009

"Slow Sammy" Ridiculed but Smarter than His Detractors Thought A young fellow by the name of Sammy liked to hang out at Mom and Pop’s Grocery Store. Pop didn’t know what Sammy’s problem was, but the other boys would tease him all the time, calling him "Slow Sammy", and punching him on the shoulder ...read more

Scripture: Nehemiah 4:1-6

Tags: Words

Commitment And Loyalty To Christ Likened To A ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Jun 7, 2010

Commitment and Loyalty to Christ Likened to a Trapeze Artist John Ortberg (Faith & Doubt, p. 169-170) says the word trapeze describes the bar between the ropes of a trapeze artist in the circus. It’s a Greek word, meaning table. It’s used in the New Testament when Jesus gathers his friends around ...read more

Scripture: Luke 14:26-27

Tags: Discipleship

Bangedy Bang

Contributed by Sermon Central on Apr 4, 2011

BANGEDY BANG A soldier in the heat of battle had his gun jam on him. The enemy was charging straight for him and he was defenseless, desperate! For some unknown reason he pointed his finger at the man and said "Bangedy bang" and the guy fell down dead. He looked at his hand and thought, wow! ...read more

Scripture: Ephesians 6:10-18

Tags: War

Paul Tournier On Persisting In Prayer

Contributed by Sermon Central on Apr 13, 2011

PAUL TOURNIER ON PERSISTING IN PRAYER Paul Tournier, the great psychiatrist and Christian counselor, tells in one his essays about the first time he tried to pray for a solid hour. He says that he set his watch on the table and began to pray, and after what he thought was a good while, checked the ...read more

Scripture: Ephesians 6:18

Tags: Prayer Persistence

People Matter

Contributed by Sermon Central on Aug 10, 2011

PEOPLE MATTER One woman told the time her professor in nursing school gave a pop quiz. She said "I was a conscientious student and had breezed through the questions, until I read the last one: 'What is the first name of the woman who cleans the school?'" She thought: "Surely this was some kind ...read more

Scripture: John 10:14

Tags: Christian Values

The Message Of The King  PRO

Contributed by Sermon Central on Sep 8, 2011

THE MESSAGE OF THE KING The year was 1930, and it was the year of the Naval Conference in London. King George was to address the opening session. Radio was in its infancy, but through this media the king’s message was to be carried around the world. However, just before the king was to go on the ...read more

Scripture: Acts 1:8, Acts 1:8

Tags: Christian Witness

The Three Stone-Carriers  PRO

Contributed by Davon Huss on Oct 3, 2011

THE THREE STONE-CARRIERS Many years ago in a church in England, a preacher entered the pulpit and said: "Brethren, before I preach, allow me to tell this story. Many years have passed since I was in this place. On that evening there came three young men, not only with the intention of ...read more

Scripture: 1 Corinthians 1:18, 1 Chronicles 16:22

Tags: Grace

Denomination: Christian/Church Of Christ

Prayer Before Battle  PRO

Contributed by Sermon Central on May 28, 2012

PRAYER BEFORE BATTLE During the 1800s, the French General George Muller Massena who took orders from Napoleon, arrived at a quaint and militarily important Austrian town. His 18,000 soldiers were gearing up for their invasion, as the stunned Austrian citizens were lifeless and terrified. Knowing ...read more

Scripture: 2 Chronicles 20:1-30

Tags: Prayer Supplication

Being Humble - Young Seminarian Story

Contributed by J Jeffrey Smead on Feb 24, 2026

A young seminarian ... was excited about preaching his very first sermon ... in the small church ... he grew up in. After three years in seminary, ... he felt adequately prepared, ... and when he was introduced to the congregation, ... he walked boldly ... to the pulpit, ...his head high, ... ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 6:1-6, Matthew 6:16-21, James 4:6, 1 Peter 5:5

Tags: Pride, Boldness, Confidence, Embarrassed, Humble  (view more)  (view less)

Denomination: Anglican

Fight Like A Man

Contributed by Garris Hudson on Jul 13, 2023

A man came to his pastor who had attended church for 25 years and was a respected, leader in the church, said, "Pastor, I've got something to tell you. I've never told this to a soul, extremely difficult to tell you this now, but my wife and I have had a fight every day for the past 30 ...read more

Scripture: Ephesians 5:18-31

Tags: Cowards, Quarreling, Women, Anger, Conflict Management, Husbands, Fights, Wives, Love, Fear, Marriage, Men  (view more)  (view less)

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

You Can Say Any Foolish Thing To A Dog, And The ...  PRO

Contributed by Sermon Central on Apr 12, 2007

"You can say any foolish thing to a dog, and the dog will give you a look that says, Wow, youre ...read more

Tags: Family

There Is Nothing More Remarkable In The Life Of ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Apr 12, 2007

"There is nothing more remarkable in the life of Socrates than that he found time in his old age to learn to dance and play on ...read more

Tags: Hardship Of Life

He Leadeth ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Jul 14, 2009

HE LEADETH ME When Joseph Gilmore was just out of seminary, he filled in a couple of weeks at FBC in Philadelphia, PA. And he gave this testimony: "At the mid-week service, on the 26th of March, 1862, I set out to give the people an exposition of the 23rd Psalm, which I had given before on three ...read more

Scripture: Psalm 23:2

Tags: Wisdom

Words In The Spirit

Contributed by D. Marie Hamilton on Apr 16, 2011

WORDS IN THE SPIRIT When I was asked to be the preacher for the North Little Rock Ministerial Alliance Community Thanksgiving Service, I was floored. I didn't think that anybody thought that much about me. I was honored by the gesture, but the moment I said "yes," my nerves got the best of me. I ...read more

Tags: Growth In Christ

Denomination: Methodist

Home Coming  PRO

Contributed by Sermon Central on Mar 20, 2002

HOME COMING That reminds me of the old story about an elderly missionary returning to the United States to retire. He & his wife had spent over 40 years serving in Africa. But now he was alone. His wife & two children had long since found their final resting place in the soil of Africa. As he got ...read more

Tags: Easter Palm Sunday

I Want To Know How God Created This World. I Am ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Feb 10, 2006

“I want to know how God created this world. I am not interested in this or that phenomenon, in the spectrum of this or that element. I want to know His ...read more

Tags: Evangelism The Lost

I Never Liked The Atmosphere Of ...  PRO

Contributed by Sermon Central on Apr 11, 2007

"I never liked the atmosphere of Washington...[T]he leaders were spending most of their time, thought and energy in trying to get into ...read more

Tags: America

Boy Confessing : Bless Me Father For I Have ...  PRO

Contributed by Sermon Central on Jul 13, 2004

BOY CONFESSING : Bless me Father for I have sinned... Father, I had bad thoughts... PRIEST : Did you entertain them? BOY : No Father... ...read more

Tags: Temptation Resisting

All Noise Is Waste. So Cultivate Quietness In ...  PRO

Contributed by Sermon Central on Apr 12, 2007

"All noise is waste. So cultivate quietness in your speech, in your thoughts, in your emotions. Speak habitually low. Wait attention and ...read more

Tags: Disciplines Silence

Mankind Might Be Divided Between The Multitude ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Apr 12, 2007

Mankind might be divided between the multitude who hate to be kept waiting because they get bored and the happy few who rather ...read more

Tags: Human Life