In Sermon Illustrations: "Sharpening Your Ax"

Object Lesson: New Socks

Contributed by Mark Eberly on Apr 13, 2009

OBJECT LESSON: NEW SOCKS One of the things that our church does is that we give out new socks to some of the homeless men and women. You walk around and sleep here and there, and even if you take care of yourself and shower, your socks get dirty. When you’ve been wearing probably the same clothes ...read more

Tags: Born Again

Denomination: Church Of God

The Adultery Market

Contributed by Sermon Central on Apr 27, 2009

THE ADULTERY MARKET Many of us have seen the wild and funny TV ads that go along with the Super Bowl. But fans in Texas got quite a shock during the game this year. An ad by AshleyMadison.com was seen as inappropriate by the NFL and NBC. But local affiliates in Texas decided that the $250,000 for ...read more

Tags: Adultery

The Most Important Gift

Contributed by Owen Bourgaize on Jun 16, 2009

THE MOST IMPORTANT GIFT Rob Parsons, the founder of "Care for the Family," asks the question, "What is the most important gift a father can give to his child?" He always gives the same answer: it is his unconditional love and acceptance. The key to a child’s heart is to let him or her know that ...read more

Tags: Father's Day, Time

Denomination: Baptist

Forgotten How To ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Jun 25, 2009

FORGOTTEN HOW TO FISH? I read an interesting story about a group of pelicans in California. If you’ve ever seen pelicans in action, you know they’re great fishermen, or fisher-birds. These pelicans were hanging out near a fleet of fishing boats. The fishermen on the boats would pull into the ...read more

Scripture: 1 Corinthians 4:7-14

Tags: Servanthood, God's Direction

Guidance In ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Jul 14, 2009

GUIDANCE IN LIFE It makes a difference who your leader is! When we were kids going on summer vacation, I don’t ever remember my dad getting lost. -- But Eric Ritz writes: When I was a young boy, our family always vacationed together. It was my mother and father and five kids in an old Ford Falcon ...read more

Scripture: Proverbs 1:1-33

Tags: Wisdom

Discipleship Is Intentional Maintenance

Contributed by Bobby Scobey on Jul 22, 2009

DISCIPLESHIP IS INTENTIONAL MAINTENANCE Discipleship requires maintenance, which you find true in so many areas of life. Seventeen years ago we bought our present car. At the time I was working with the Rev. John Bomar on the American Family Asso. Committee. He noticed I had a new Volvo. They ...read more

Tags: Discipleship

Denomination: Pentecostal

Suffering For The Right Reasons

Contributed by Bradley Kellum on Aug 25, 2009

SUFFERING FOR THE RIGHT REASONS Richard Wurmbrand is the founder of a ministry called "Voice of the Martyrs." Some of you receive their publication. Richard Wurmbrand was a Romanian Pastor who was imprisoned by the Russians and tortured for his faith in Christ. In May of 1966 Pastor Wurmbrand ...read more

Tags: Affliction

Denomination: Baptist

The Scripture Texts We Will Be Looking At Today ...

Contributed by Michael Mccartney on Sep 11, 2009

The Scripture texts we will be looking at today continue to paint a portrait of two lives. These two life stories communicate to us today the importance of having integrity and a strong relationship with the Lord. David’s story shows how he was a man after God’s own heart. The result of this ...read more

Tags: David, Integrity

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

We Bring You Us!  PRO

Contributed by Sermon Central on Oct 19, 2009

"WE BRING YOU US!" Michael Sattler tells the story of Christmas 1930. His wife had just passed away the month before, and he was lonely and heartsick. But mostly, he worried about the type of Christmas his girls would have. When Christmas morning came, they opened their presents with unusual ...read more

Scripture: 1 Corinthians 13:4-7

Tags: Christmas Advent

Check-Out Line Deception  PRO

Contributed by Sermon Central on Oct 21, 2009

Check-Out Line Deception And in verse 7, Jeremiah is mad at God! He says "O LORD, you deceived me, and I was deceived; you overpowered me and prevailed. You tricked me!" (From a sermon by Marc Axelrod, When You Are Mad at God, 10/20/2009) This reminds me of the guy who was shopping at WalMart. ...read more

Scripture: Jeremiah 20:7-8

Tags: Fool

Ira Sankey Protected During The Civil ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Oct 21, 2009

Ira Sankey Protected during The Civil War Years ago when Ira Sankey was at the height of his ministry and traveling on a steamer in the Delaware River, he was recognized by some of the people on board. They had seen his picture in the newspaper and knew he was associated with evangelist D. L. ...read more

Scripture: Psalm 32:7

Tags: Protection, War

Machine Shop Worker Ready For Christ's ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Oct 26, 2009

Machine Shop Worker Ready for Christ’s Return Charles Swindoll once told of working in a machine shop alongside a fellow named George. George’s job was to sweep and clean out the shavings underneath the lathes and machines. Swindoll says George was born again, and he loved the teaching of Scripture ...read more

Scripture: Revelation 19:11-16

Tags: Second Coming

Office Worker Reads Bible In Secret At ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Nov 6, 2009

Office Worker Reads Bible In Secret at Work When I was a college student I worked for a time in a government office. I noticed after a while in that office that one of the engineers whose desk was back-to-back with mine would perform a little lunch hour ritual involving something in his desk ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 28:18-20

Tags: Evangelism Fear Of

Driving Very Fast  PRO

Contributed by Sermon Central on Nov 24, 2009

DRIVING VERY FAST In his book "Growing Strong in the Seasons of Life", Pastor Charles Swindoll tells a story about the 19th Century agnostic Thomas Huxley. Some of you might recognize the name Thomas Huxley as a man who promoted Darwinism and Humanism in his attacks on Christianity in Europe in ...read more

Scripture: Colossians 1:1-14

Tags: Goals

Fritz Kreisler, World Famous Violinist, Discovers ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Nov 24, 2009

Fritz Kreisler, World Famous Violinist, Discovers an Exquisite Violin Fritz Kreisler (1875-1962) was a world-famous violinist who earned a fortune with his concerts and compositions. He generously gave most of it away. So, when he discovered an exquisite violin on one of his trips, he wasn’t able ...read more

Scripture: Colossians 1:1-14

Tags: Evangelism, Christian Witness

A Lot Of Christians Have A Tendency To Think That ...

Contributed by K. Edward Skidmore on Dec 9, 2009

A lot of Christians have a tendency to think that --- even though it was God’s Grace and Mercy that saved us --- now that we are saved, it’s all up to us to get on with the business of struggling to “live the Christian life” on our own power. We rev up our own dedication, will power, grit, and ...read more

Tags: Growth In Christ

Denomination: Christian/Church Of Christ

The Legend Of A Cherokee Indian ...

Contributed by Bill Burress on Dec 28, 2009

The Legend of a Cherokee Indian Youth’s Rite of Passage? A father takes his son into the forest, blindfolds him and leaves him alone. The youth is required to sit on a stump the whole night and not remove the blindfold until the rays of the morning sun shine through it. He cannot ...read more

Tags: Trust

Denomination: Christian/Church Of Christ

Donald Grey Barnhouse Scratches A Mark On A ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Jan 1, 2010

Donald Grey Barnhouse Scratches a Mark On a Postal Box to Make a Point Some years ago Donald Grey Barnhouse was counseling a young woman on the sidewalk in front of a church following an evening service. She said she was a Christian and that she wanted to follow Christ. But she wanted to be famous, ...read more

Scripture: James 4:4-6

Tags: Worldliness

I Remember Once My Car Was Not Running Quite ...

Contributed by Aubrey Vaughan on Jan 13, 2010

I REMEMBER ONCE MY CAR WAS NOT RUNNING QUITE RIGHT - I CHOSE TO IGNORE IT THINKING IT MIGHT GO AWAY – BUT IT DIDN’T - I REMEMBER THE NEXT DAY OPENING THE BONNET FIDDLING WITH THE WIRES AND SO ON - YET THE PROBLEM STILL PERSISTED - SO I TOOK IT INTO THE GARAGE – THEY RAN A FREE ...read more

Tags: Law

Denomination: Baptist

A Rainbow Is A Beautiful Picture Of Christ. Jesus ...

Contributed by Ross Cochrane on Jan 14, 2010

A RAINBOW IS A BEAUTIFUL PICTURE OF CHRIST. Jesus is called the light of the world. A rainbow has 3 primary colours, red, green and purple. RED SPEAKS OF THE BLOOD OF CHRIST - His sacrifice on the cross for me. Genesis 8:21 says "The intent of man's heart is evil from his youth;" Jesus paid the ...read more

Tags: Noah

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational