In Sermon Illustrations: "Shaping"

God Fulfills His Promise

Contributed by Donny Granberry on Feb 2, 2008

ILUSTRATION God gave me a dream one night, I was on the platform preaching in a large church with a pie shaped auditorium, and there were people there I knew and people I didn’t know. The presence of the Lord had inhabited the place and the glory was falling. God told me, this was my pastorate. Go ...read more

Denomination: Assembly Of God

I Took A Piece Of Modeling ...

Contributed by Dave Mcfadden on Jun 16, 2008

I took a piece of modeling clay; And idly molded it one day; And as my fingers pressed it still, It moved and yielded to my will. I came again when days were past; The piece of clay was hard at last. The shape I gave it still it bore; And I could change it nevermore. I took apiece of living ...read more

Tags: Parenting

Denomination: Baptist

Yancey Noted: "Today As I Read The Accounts Of ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Dec 28, 2008

Yancey noted: "Today as I read the accounts of Jesus’ birth I tremble to think of the fate of the world resting on the response of two rural teenagers. How many times did Mary review the angel’s words as she felt the Son of God kicking the walls of her uterus? How many times did Joseph ...read more

Tags: Mary Jesus Mother

Some Time Ago I Was Reading About The 18th ...  PRO

Contributed by Tim Gibson on Nov 23, 2000

Some time ago I was reading about the 18th century German sculptor Johann Heinrich von Dannecker. His skills were impressive. He could bring stone to life with his tools. At the height of his powers, he wanted to do something special with his gifts -- he wanted to shape a statue of Christ that ...read more

Scripture: 1 Peter 2:4-8

Tags: Divinity Of Christ, Workplace Integrity

Denomination: *other

Aliteracy—capable Of Reading, But Choosing Not Do ...  PRO

Contributed by Sermon Central on Jan 16, 2006

Aliteracy—capable of reading, but choosing not do so—is on the rise. A ‘99 Gallup Poll found 7% of us read more than a book a week, and 59% read fewer than 10 books a year. We read books, magazines, and newspapers less and less. In ‘91, over 50% of all Americans read a half-hour or more every ...read more

Tags: Bible Influence

Evolution, Darwin And Natural Selection--For ...

Contributed by Bobby Scobey on Jul 8, 2009

EVOLUTION, DARWIN AND NATURAL SELECTION--FOR CARS Take a mental walk with me outside. I want us to look at some cars together. If possible, let's find a new one. While you're standing there admiring the beauty of that sparkling new automobile, let's imagine my saying to you rather quietly, "You ...read more

Tags: Creation

Denomination: Pentecostal

Last Laugh

Contributed by Owen Bourgaize on Oct 14, 2011

LAST LAUGH Religion in its highest form is a belief in a being greater than themselves. There are some people who would deny this: they are called "atheists" and say that God in any shape or form is neither necessary nor possible, and so couldn’t possibly exist. When the Russians sent a ...read more

Tags: Apologetics General

Denomination: Baptist

Truett Cathy, Founder Or Chick-Fil-A Shows He ...  PRO

Contributed by Henry Maxey on Jan 3, 2001

Truett Cathy, founder or Chick-fil-A shows he know what Jesus Would Do. Since 1948 he has lost millions of dollars because he will not have the restaurants open on Sunday. He has cared for children by developing the foster home system called WinShape Homes. His favorite truisms is "It’s easier to ...read more

Tags: Examples Of Faith, Faith

Denomination: Baptist

Mothers Are Central To The Success Of The ...  PRO

Contributed by Donnie Martin on May 11, 2003

Mothers are central to the success of the American family. Their love, dedication, and wisdom touch countless lives every day in every community throughout our land. And their love and guidance of children help to develop healthy and spiritually sound families. President John Quincy Adams once ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 11:28-29

Tags: Parenting, Mother's Day, Women

Denomination: Baptist

A Little More  PRO

Contributed by Sermon Central on Sep 12, 2004

A LITTLE MORE An interesting article appeared in the Wall Street Journal. It was an interview of six top executives, all of them making six-figure salaries. That means that they made somewhere between $100,000 and $1 million a year. Now you are probably thinking , “If I made even $100,000 a ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 13:1-23

Tags: Parable Sower And Seed

Our Solar System Bears Witness To Orderly, ...

Contributed by Bruce Montgomery on Apr 28, 2008

Our solar system bears witness to orderly, careful design. Consider the slant of our earth, tilted at a 23° angle. If it wasn't so tilted, we would lose not only our seasons, but life itself, as the vapors from the ocean would move north and south, piling up continents of ice. Or the distance to ...read more

Tags: Creation

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

Parenting "To Make My Child Happy"

Contributed by Kerry O'neill on Mar 12, 2010

PARENTING "TO MAKE MY CHILD HAPPY" Several years ago, I was part of a great church in Omaha, Nebraska that ran a Christian school. When the parents of the students were surveyed and asked "What is your main role as a parent to your child?" the number one response was "To make my child happpy." ...read more

Tags: Happiness

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

Wikipedia On Sheep

Contributed by Brad Henry on Aug 1, 2011

WIKIPEDIA ON SHEEP Wikipedia states, "Sheep have good hearing and are sensitive to noise when being handled. Sheep have horizontal slit-shaped pupils, possessing excellent peripheral vision with visual fields of approximately 270° to 320°, sheep can see behind themselves without turning their ...read more

Tags: God's Provision

A. W. Tozer In His Priceless Book The Root Of The ...  PRO

Contributed by Lynn Malone on Jun 13, 2005

A. W. Tozer in his priceless book The Root of the Righteous shares the story of Rutherford who could shout in the midst of serious and painful trials, “Praise God for the hammer, the file, and the furnace.” The hammer is a useful tool, but the nail, if it had feeling and intelligence, could ...read more

Tags: Endurance, Joy

Denomination: Methodist

Boy Survives In Wilderness By Obeying Father's ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Nov 2, 2009

Boy Survives in Wilderness by Obeying Father’s Instructions More than ninety people conducted an ALL-NIGHT SEARCH for an eight-year-old boy named Dominic. While on a skiing trip with his father, this little boy apparently had ridden a new lift and skied off the run without realizing it. They hoped ...read more

Scripture: John 15:7-11

Tags: Obedience

Tozer: God's Tools

Contributed by Sermon Central on Jan 21, 2011

TOZER: GOD'S TOOLS A.W. Tozer once talked about God's tools: "The HAMMER is a useful tool. But the nail, if it had feeling and intelligence, could present another side of the story. For the nail knows the hammer only as an opponent a brutal, merciless enemy who lives to pound it into submission, ...read more

Scripture: Jeremiah 51:20-24

Tags: Discipleship

On The Anvil

Contributed by Martin Spoelstra on Jun 26, 2022

With a strong forearm, the apron-clad blacksmith puts his tongs into the fire, grasps the heated metal, and places it on the anvil. His keen eye examines the glowing piece. He sees what the tool is now and envisions what he wants it to be - sharper, flatter, wider, longer. With a clear picture in ...read more

Scripture: 1 Peter 1:6-7

Tags: Character, Suffering, Grief, Iron Sharpens Iron

Denomination: Presbyterian/Reformed

A Gem Dealer Was Strolling The Aisles At The ...  PRO

Contributed by Sermon Central on Mar 21, 2001

A gem dealer was strolling the aisles at the Tucson Gem and Mineral Show when he noticed a blue-violet stone the size and shape of a potato. He looked it over, then, as calmly as possible, asked the vendor, "You want $15 for this?" The seller, realizing the rock wasn’t as pretty as others in the ...read more

Tags: Promises Of God, God's Omniscience

If God Intended Man To Live On Bread, Why Didn't ...  PRO

Contributed by Don Hawks on Jul 31, 2002

‘If God intended man to live on bread, why didn’t he create a bread tree?’ And the answer, in effect, is that God could have created a tree that produced crusty loaves of bread, but he prefers to offer us a grain and invite us to buy a field and plant the seed. He prefers that we till the soil ...read more

Scripture: John 6:54, John 6:51

Tags: Giving Yourself

Denomination: Methodist

Six Soviet Cosmonauts Said They Witnessed The ...

Contributed by Dennis Lawrence on Nov 16, 2005

Six Soviet cosmonauts said they witnessed the most awe-inspiring spectacle ever encountered in space- a band of glowing angels with wings as big as jumbo jets. Cosmonauts Vladimir Solovev, Oleg Atkov, and Leonid Kizim said they first saw the celestial beings during their 155th day aboard the ...read more

Tags: God's Love

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational