In Sermon Illustrations: "Shining Face"

A Wise Bible Teacher Once Said, "Sooner Or Later ...

Contributed by Ajai Prakash on Mar 12, 2009

A wise Bible teacher once said, “Sooner or later God will bring self-sufficient people to the place where they have no resource but Him – no strength, no answers, nothing but Him. Without God’s help, they are sunk.” He then told of a despairing man who confessed to his pastor, “My life is really ...read more

Tags: Ot Kings

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

On Excellent ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Mar 13, 2009

ON EXCELLENT WORK A year or so ago, on the cover of the New York "Herald Tribune" Sunday magazine, I saw a picture of the Statue of Liberty taken from a helicopter. It showed the top of the statue’s head. I was amazed to see the detail there. The sculptor had done a painstaking job with the ...read more

Scripture: Colossians 3:23

Tags: Christian Values

Does He Show Through?

Contributed by Melvin Newland on Sep 3, 2009

DOES HE SHOW THROUGH? One Sunday as they drove home from church, a little girl turned to her mother & said, "Mommy, there’s something about the preacher’s message this morning that I don’t understand." The mother said, "Oh? What is it?" The little girl replied, "Well, he said that God is ...read more

Tags: Christian Witness

Denomination: Christian/Church Of Christ

Deceptive Flowers

Contributed by Peter Loughman on Sep 22, 2009

DECEPTIVE FLOWERS I have a friend who is a pastor at a church in the lower 48 who was telling me about the flowers in his church. His church, like ours, will take the flowers that were in the worship service that morning, and give them to shut ins or someone who is in the hospital. He said he ...read more

Tags: Lies

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

Remember Jonah? He Fought The Will Of God. He ...

Contributed by Tim Adams on Dec 1, 2009

Remember Jonah? He fought the will of God. He was miserable in his hometown when he heard the will of God. He ran away to Tarshish and was miserable on the whole trip. When you have to hide in a belly of a ship to get away from the storm you brought upon yourself by disobedience you’re always ...read more

Tags: Jonah

Denomination: Baptist

Anthropology And Jesus' Appearance

Contributed by Jim Kane on Feb 27, 2010

ANTHROPOLOGY AND JESUS' APPEARANCE This past week I attended a series of lectures at Anderson University in which the presenter, Dr Rodney Sadler, Jr from Union Seminary in Charlotte, North Carolina showed this picture. (Slide 2) Source: ...read more

Tags: Jesus Christ

Denomination: Church Of God

Vance Havner On How To Reach The Masses  PRO

Contributed by Sermon Central on Feb 28, 2010

VANCE HAVNER ON HOW TO REACH THE MASSES Preacher Vance Havner used to tell this story: Years ago a convention met in Indianapolis to discuss "How to Reach the Masses." One day during that convention a young man stood on a box on a corner and began to preach. A crowd gathered, mostly workingmen ...read more

Scripture: Romans 10:14-15

Tags: Evangelism How To

Its Like This Story Of A Man Racing Through The ...

Contributed by Guy De Swardt on Apr 1, 2010

Its like this story of a man racing through the airport to catch his flight. He passed through security in record time and reached the gate with only moments to spare. Hurrying aboard the aircraft, he found his seat, opened his laptop computer and tried to work. ...read more

Tags: Direction, Sermon On The Mount

Denomination: Baptist

It's Better Higher Up  PRO

Contributed by Jesse Roncales on Apr 15, 2010

IT'S BETTER HIGHER UP There was an old woman who was always bright, cheerful, and optimistic, even though she was confined to her room because of illness. She lived in an attic in the fifth floor of an old building. A friend decided to visit her one day and brought with her a wealthy woman. Since ...read more

Tags: Assurance Of Salvation

Denomination: Assembly Of God

Cruel Grace  PRO

Contributed by Bret Toman on Jan 4, 2011

CRUEL GRACE "Thirty years ago, many people chose churches based on whether the church believed and taught the truth. Today, many choose churches based on whether the church makes them feel comfortable. If a church tells the truth, it will gain some people but lose others. One out of five women ...read more

Scripture: 1 Corinthians 13:6

Tags: Grace

Denomination: Baptist

Held Up By Our Father

Contributed by Chuck Sligh on Apr 17, 2011

HELD UP BY OUR FATHER 3-year old Tyler felt secure in his dad's arms as Dad stood in the middle of the pool. But Dad, for fun, began walking slowly toward the deeper end, gently chanting, "Deeper and deeper and deeper," as the water rose higher and higher on Tyler. Tyler's face registered ...read more

Tags: Security

Denomination: Baptist

Pretender Dr. Nick

Contributed by Michael Walther on May 24, 2011

PRETENDER DR. NICK What does it take to be turned around if you are a pretender? Dr. Nick Yphantides can help us. Although he was a true Christian he was living part of his life in a purely hypocritical manner. Dr. Nick’s specialty was preventative medicine. Every day he was trying to help ...read more

Tags: Hypocrisy

Denomination: Lutheran

No Other Plan

Contributed by Isaac Butterworth on Jun 17, 2011

NO OTHER PLAN An old legend imagines Jesus arriving in heaven right after the Ascension, welcomed by all the angels. Then the angel Gabriel asks Jesus, "You suffered much, dying for the sins of mankind. Does everyone down on earth know it?" "Oh, no," replied the Savior, "just a handful of folks ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 28:16-20

Tags: Evangelism Urgency

Denomination: Presbyterian/Reformed

J. Oswald Sanders On Loneliness  PRO

Contributed by Sermon Central on Aug 9, 2011

J. OSWALD SANDERS ON LONELINESS J. Oswald Sanders once pointed out: "The round of pleasure or the amassing of wealth are [often] but vain attempts to escape from the persistent ache. The millionaire is usually a lonely man and the comedian is often more unhappy than his audience." In his book, ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 6:19-34

Tags: Goals, Suffering Loneliness

I Am A Horrible Public Speaker. I Stutter When I ...

Contributed by Kelly Benton on Nov 1, 2011

I am a horrible public speaker. I stutter when I am nervous, I am self-conscious over a lisp I have. In elementary school I had to take speech classes. I freeze when I am in front of several people. But most would not know this of me. I stand here before you today as I do each week, facing my ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 19:26

Tags: Encouragement, All Things Possible

Denomination: Other

Jesus Freaks

Contributed by Joe Bertone on Jul 23, 2012

JESUS FREAKS In the book, Jesus Freaks, is the story of the Hine family. They lived in Cambodia during the Vietnam War. At that time it was very dangerous to be Christian in Cambodia. They were arrested one day for being Christians and thus enemies of the revolution and bad blood. One morning ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 7:13-14, Hebrews 11:1-40

Tags: Sacrifice, Paradise, Dying, Sacrifices, Martyr  (view more)  (view less)

Denomination: Christian/Church Of Christ

Light In The Darkness

Contributed by David Simpson on Jan 15, 2013

LIGHT IN THE DARKNESS Have you ever been in on one of those guided tours of any of a number of caves around our country ... like Ruby Falls, or Carlsbad Caverns or another one. Our family went to the Carlsbad Caves in New Mexico years ago. And as they do in so many places, they’ll turn out the ...read more

Tags: Light, Outreach, Darkness

Denomination: Christian Church

Martyrdom Of John ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on May 1, 2013

MARTYRDOM OF JOHN DENLEY One day, on the way to visit some friends, John Denley was stopped and searched by the authorities, who found his written confession of faith. Denley believed the Church was built upon the apostles and prophets, with Christ as its head, and that the present state church, ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 5:10-12

Tags: Faith, Persecution, Martyr

Daddy, What Does It Feel Like To Die?  PRO

Contributed by Dr. Larry Petton on Feb 19, 2014

Years ago I heard the compelling story of a young pastor whose son was very sick and not expected to live long. Night after night the pastor and his wife would put their boy to bed and say a prayer hoping for a miracle. One evening, the boy looked at his father and said, "Daddy, what does it feel ...read more

Scripture: John 14:1-6, 2 Timothy 3:1-9

Tags: Death, Children, Heaven, Grief

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

Trials

Contributed by Tim Smith on May 28, 2015

Sam Dixon was the General Secretary of the United Methodist Committee on Relief. He died under the rubble in the Montana Hotel of Haiti, serving God while meeting with other relief agencies to work together to better help the Haitian people. When one serves God so faithfully and suddenly is killed, ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 7:13-16

Tags: God's Sovereignty, Serving, Choices, The Price To Follow

Denomination: Methodist