In Sermon Illustrations: "Serving Others"

Back In The Fifteenth Century, In A Tiny Village ...  PRO

Contributed by Dave Mcfadden on Oct 20, 2004

Back in the fifteenth century, in a tiny village near Nuremberg, lived a family with eighteen children. To keep food on the table the father, a goldsmith by profession, worked almost eighteen hours a day at his trade and any other paying chore he could find in the neighborhood. Despite their ...read more

Scripture: Colossians 4:12

Tags: Christian Love

Denomination: Baptist

But You Don't Have To Deliberately Break The ...

Contributed by Doug Lyon on Jan 17, 2005

But you don’t have to deliberately break the rules to be disqualified. It’s possible to unintentionally break the rules and still be disqualified. At the ’88 Summer Olympics there was an American boxer named Anthony Hembrick. He was disqualified from competition because he didn’t show up at the ...read more

Tags: Discipleship

Denomination: Independent/Bible

Does God Calls Everybody To Sacrifice Greatly To ...

Contributed by Mark Eberly on Jun 8, 2009

Does God calls everybody to sacrifice greatly to follow Jesus? I believe that God does and that we often rationalize in order to justify our choices. You might not see it that way. But I can share with you our experience and I do this not to boast because if I boast it is in the Lord and what Jesus ...read more

Tags: Sacrifices

Denomination: Church Of God

On The Weekend Of June 7 My Honey And I Went To ...

Contributed by Bobby Scobey on Jun 16, 2009

On the weekend of June 7 my Honey and I went to Cookeville, TN, to observe the move in 1809 of one of her ancestors over the mountains from Virginia to the White Plains area of Tennessee. He was William Pennington Quarles, a lieutenant in the Revolutionary War. His daughter married a Burton, so my ...read more

Tags: Patriotism

Denomination: Pentecostal

What Would It Mean To Obey This Command? Jerry ...

Contributed by Rickey Bennett on Aug 17, 2009

What would it mean to obey this command? Jerry Bridges helps us think through what that looks like in his book, The Gospel for Real Life. Here are just a few points he lists. To love the Lord your God with all your heart … soul and… mind means… • Your love for God transcends all other desires ...read more

Tags: Righteousness

Denomination: *other

Years Ago I Was Working Two Jobs Trying To Get ...

Contributed by Sean Harder on Dec 18, 2009

Years ago I was working two jobs trying to get into professional golf. One of those was a courier job where you had to use your own vehicle. I had a very reliable Honda civic hatchback, great for driving in the city, a fair bit of space in the back with the seat folded down. It was the best car I ...read more

Tags: Mistakes

Growing A Beard At The School I Attended Was Not ...

Contributed by Ross Cochrane on Mar 28, 2010

GROWING A BEARD at the school I attended was not an option. It was written into the rules and policies - don’t grow one or be suspended or expelled. I decided at 14 that I would grow a beard to test this policy (I know, your opinion of me has been damaged but you’ll eventually get over it). I was ...read more

Tags: Obedience, Rebellion

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

Carrying Us Back To Our Room

Contributed by Curry Pikkaart on Apr 7, 2010

CARRYING US BACK TO OUR ROOM In a home of which I know, a little boy, the only son, was ill with an incurable disease. Month after month, the mother had tenderly nursed him, read to him and played with him, hoping to keep him from the dreadful finality of the doctor's diagnosis...the little boy ...read more

Tags: Death

Denomination: Presbyterian/Reformed

British Clergyman Repudiates The ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Jun 6, 2010

British Clergyman Repudiates the Church’s Traditional Understanding of the Cross The Very Reverend Dr. Jeffrey Philip Hywel John believes that the church’s traditional understanding of the cross of Christ is both “repulsive” and “insane.” His comments in the spring of 2007 about the cross ignited a ...read more

Scripture: 1 Corinthians 1:18-31

Tags: Cross, False Doctrine

Before I Became A Counsellor, While I Was Still ...

Contributed by Sean Harder on Jun 16, 2010

Before I became a counsellor, while I was still going to school, I worked as a family support worker. Essentially I would pick up kids from troubled homes who social workers were involved with but hadn’t taken the children away yet, and I would spend a couple hours with them and take them back ...read more

Tags: Parenting

B.c. = Bad Communication

Contributed by Louis Gibson on Jun 28, 2010

B.C. = BAD COMMUNICATION Poor communication can led to all kinds of misunderstandings. A rather old fashioned lady was planning a couple of weeks vacation in Florida. She also was quite delicate and elegant with her language. She wrote a letter to a particular campground and asked for ...read more

Tags: Doubt, Communication General

Denomination: Baptist

Eileen's Story  PRO

Contributed by Sermon Central on Mar 25, 2011

EILEEN'S STORY "In an article in Campus Life a young nurse writes of her pilgrimage in learning to see in a patient the image of God beneath a very 'distressing disguise.' "Eileen was one of her first patients, a person who was totally helpless. 'A cerebral aneurysm (broken blood vessels in the ...read more

Scripture: Luke 9:10-17, Luke 18:18-30, Mark 12:38-44

Tags: Compassion, Sanctification, Impossible

The Lost Son

Contributed by Brent Kirby on May 27, 2011

THE LOST SON A young boy, around the age of eight, lived in Alaska with his parents. His dad was the Boy Scout leader of the area. The troop of the young boy decided to go mountain climbing up a two mile high mountain called Bald Eagle. The boy loved to climb and made a competition with the other ...read more

Tags: Parable Prodigal Son

Denomination: Wesleyan

Hybels' Evangelism Formula For Maximum Impact  PRO

Contributed by Sermon Central on May 21, 2012

HYBELS' EVANGELISM FORMULA FOR MAXIMUM IMPACT We call this relational evangelism, and I have spoken of this many times before. It is showing people that we care, it is about building relationships with people who may not know Jesus and in that relationship, bringing them to a place where they can ...read more

Scripture: Luke 5:27-32

Tags: Evangelism How To

Encouragement From A Friend

Contributed by Sermon Central on Aug 29, 2012

ENCOURAGEMENT FROM A FRIEND There are times when you will be pushed out or pushed aside. You can be on the right road and still find yourself in a situation that is so severe that you cannot survive it on your own. Mark it down: You are not exempt from times of suffering, rejection, or ...read more

Scripture: Ecclesiastes 4:9-12

Tags: Friendship General

Using The Resources You Have  PRO

Contributed by Sermon Central on Sep 18, 2012

USING THE RESOURCES YOU HAVE At 12:55 pm the mayday call crackled through the speakers at the Flight Service Station on Alaska’s Kenai Peninsula. The desperate pilot of a Piper A22, a small single-engine plane, was reporting that he had run out of fuel and was preparing to ditch the aircraft in ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 25:14-30, Ruth 1:1-5

Tags: Grace, Stewardship, Investment, Value, Give Back  (view more)  (view less)

A Lesson From A Pair Of Mildewed Shoes

Contributed by Jonathan Spurlock on Mar 22, 2020

A number of years ago I received a three-year assignment to Okinawa, Japan, as part of my Air Force experience. Hardly anybody I knew had much knowledge of that part of the world, so we really had no idea what to expect. We were in for a number of surprises! We lived in a motel, basically, for a ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 6:33-34

Tags: Shoes, Life's Problems

Denomination: Baptist

What Will Follow You When You're Gone?

Contributed by Garris Hudson on Aug 17, 2020

You make a choice of which will one you leave behind to others - Blessings or Curses. Jonathan Edwards, was a Puritan Preacher in the 1700s. He was one of the most respected preachers in his day. He attended Yale at the age of thirteen and later went on to become the president of Princeton ...read more

Scripture: Psalm 23:1-6

Tags: Blessings, Curses, Generational Sins

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

I Am Not But I Shall Be

Contributed by Dr. Ronald Shultz on Aug 22, 2021

Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is. (1 John 3:2) The one thing about getting older is that you get to look back on more things each year and have more to ...read more

Scripture: 1 John 3:2

Tags: Forgiveness, Change, Transformation, Failure

Denomination: Baptist

Unsung Heroes-Those Who Made Copies Of The Scriptures

Contributed by Jonathan Spurlock on Sep 30, 2021

Introduction: sometimes we forget, or take for granted, the easy availability of God’s Word. Retail stores (not just Christian bookstores) sometimes have copies of the whole Bible for a dollar per copy! Secondhand or thrift stores occasionally have donated Bibles and other portions for a very ...read more

Scripture: Daniel 9:1-2

Tags: Jeremiah, Word Of God, Scribes, Baruch, Daniel  (view more)  (view less)

Denomination: Baptist