In Sermon Illustrations: "Sinful Word"

The Salvation Of Karla Faye Tucker

Contributed by Tim Hinrichs on Mar 29, 2012

THE SALVATION OF KARLA FAYE TUCKER Many of you probably remember Karla Faye Tucker. She was the first woman to be executed in the US since 1984. She was an accomplice to a brutal ax murder of two people in the early eighties. Soon after being imprisoned, Tucker took a Bible from the prison ...read more

Tags: Salvation

Denomination: Lutheran

William Randolph Hearst's Fear Of Death

Contributed by Sermon Central on May 7, 2012

WILLIAM RANDOLPH HEARST'S FEAR OF DEATH William Randolph Hearst (1863-1951) was one of the wealthiest and most powerful men of the 20th century. At the height of his media career he was worth over $500 million. He built an enormous castle in the hills near San Simeon, California. At more than ...read more

Scripture: Hebrews 2:14-18

Tags: Fear And Worry

My Friend Will Find Me

Contributed by Sermon Central on May 16, 2012

MY FRIEND WILL FIND ME Sam was a great bird dog. If he pointed to a clump of bushes, there surely was a bird in there. He was much more than just a bird dog. Often we’d share together lazy lunches in an abandoned apple orchard, and the snooze that followed. Late one afternoon, Sam and I became ...read more

Scripture: 1 Timothy 4:7-9

Tags: Trust

Tarzan Story: Failure To Recognize

Contributed by Suresh Manoharan on Sep 3, 2012

TARZAN STORY: FAILURE TO RECOGNIZE Johnny Weissmuller, the champion Olympic swimmer who donned the role of Tarzan the Ape Man in the silver screen with as much aplomb in 1930s and 40s as he dominated the Olympic swimming lanes in 1920s, had "a close encounter of a different kind" with the ...read more

Tags: Second Coming

Denomination: *other

Joanne Shetler Spent Years In The Philippines ...

Contributed by Tim Spear on Dec 3, 2012

Joanne Shetler spent years in the Philippines with the Balangao people, translating the Bible into their language and trying to tell them the good news of the Savior. But it was slow going. One day Ama, a man who had “adopted” her as his Balangao daughter, picked up an English New Testament from ...read more

Tags: Missions

Denomination: Baptist

Irresponsibility

Contributed by Michael Mccartney on Dec 5, 2012

Bill Hybel’s in His book “Making Life Work” states this about this kind of mindset – he words it this way: 1. “Some way, some day my life will improve. Some way, someday I’ll drift into more satisfying circumstances. Some way, some day what I want will come to be. Built on the fantasy that rewards ...read more

Tags: Misconceptions

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

Praying To People

Contributed by Perry Greene on May 28, 2013

PRAYING TO PEOPLE Two young boys were spending the night at their grandparents. At bedtime, the two boys knelt beside their beds to say their prayers when the youngest one began praying at the top of his lungs. "I PRAY FOR A NEW BICYCLE... I PRAY FOR A NEW PLAYSTATION... I PRAY FOR A NEW VCR..." ...read more

Tags: Prayer General

Denomination: Independent/Bible

Sweet Surrender  PRO

Contributed by Garris Hudson on Jan 17, 2014

Abraham laid down his Isaac. Lay down your Isaac today and remember the words of Andrew Murray: God is ready to assume full responsibility for the life wholly yielded to Him. Bruce Larson tells how he helped people struggling to surrender their lives to Christ: "For many years I worked in New ...read more

Scripture: Genesis 22:1-18, Genesis 22:8

Tags: Surrender, Consecration, Testing Faith, Abraham And Isaac

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

Surrendering To God

Contributed by Tim Smith on May 28, 2015

Ravi Zacharias tells the amazing story of a young Christian, Hien Pham, whom he met in Vietnam who served as an interpreter with the American forces. Shortly after Vietnam fell, Hien was imprisoned on accusations of helping the Americans. His jailers tried to indoctrinate him against democratic ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 7:13-16

Tags: Grace, Persecution, Prayer, Surrender, Standing On Promises  (view more)  (view less)

Denomination: Methodist

Offering Story

Contributed by Gerald Manning on Nov 23, 2015

Words of Offering: A rich, but cynical businessman said to one of his staff, "Show me a truly unselfish act and I will give you a $100 bill." The staffer, said, "OK, walk with me at the lunch hour." They went to that part of town where there were lots of street people. The staffer said, ...read more

Scripture: 2 Corinthians 9:7

Tags: Offering, Giving, Generosity

Denomination: Nazarene

Preaching Fluff Versus Quality

Contributed by I. Grant Spong on Jun 8, 2017

I once lived in a town where there were two preachers who were polar opposites. The one was very charismatic and enthusiastic. But, he did not preach the Bible. I asked him one day why he didn't preach the Bible. His answer was that the people could read their Bibles at home. He preached ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 28:16-20

Tags: Great Commission, Preach Christ, Teach Jesus

Denomination: Baptist

The Heizer Creek Baptism

Contributed by Jim Butcher on Apr 11, 2018

Note: this story happened to me - Jim Butcher of Madison WV. One of my favorite baptism stories comes from a friend of mine who owns a house on Heizer Creek. He had a nice spot on his property to do baptisms and told the nearby country churches they were welcome to use it anytime, which a few of ...read more

Tags: Change, Transformation, Cursing, Baptism

Denomination: Baptist

When A Man's World Is Right

Contributed by Barry O Johnson on Jul 1, 2018

One Saturday morning a minister was busily trying to prepare his sermon under the most difficult conditions. It was a rainy day, and his young son was restless and bored, with little to do. Finally, in desperation, the minister picked up an old magazine and thumbed through it until he came to a ...read more

Scripture: Colossians 1:12-14, Romans 10:9-10, 1 John 2:15-17

Tags: Change, Born Again, Daughter, World, Father, Children, Son  (view more)  (view less)

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

Is Your Light Shining

Contributed by Steve Kinnard on Feb 15, 2019

IS YOUR LIGHT SHINING? Many years a missionary employed a Chinese scholar to translate the New Testament into the Chinese language. The scholar was a Confucian and had never heard of Christianity until the missionary had hired him. The scholar was a painstaking person and wanted to produce a ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 5:13-16

Tags: Reputation, Complacent

Denomination: Pentecostal

Lego Theology

Contributed by Davon Huss on Nov 23, 2019

Matt Proctor- Several years ago, two of my nephews accompanied their mom on a visit to a friend’s house. Ben was 8, Brian was 6. Their mother’s friend was a very neat lady- a place for everything and everything in its place. Though childless, she did have a few toys and handed Ben and Brian a ...read more

Tags: Church, Relationships, Synergy

Denomination: Christian/Church Of Christ

The Miracle Of The Dead Sea Scrolls

Contributed by Garris Hudson on Jan 4, 2021

In 1947, Muhammad adh-Dhib, a twelve-year-old Arab boy, made one of the greatest archaeological discoveries of all time. While looking for a lost goat in Qumran, near the Dead Sea, he threw a stone into a cave and heard the sound of shattering pottery. Curious about the noise, he entered the cave ...read more

Scripture: 2 Timothy 3:16-17, 2 Timothy 4:1-3, 2 Peter 1:21, Hebrews 4:12

Tags: Bible, Scripture, Truth, Miracles, Dead Sea Scrolls  (view more)  (view less)

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

Enticed By A False Prophet

Contributed by Richard Tow on Apr 26, 2021

Shortly after Jeanie and I were married, we were fresh out of Bible College and I was doing some teaching. The associate pastor of our church approached us in private with a very flattering word. He said that God had told him to gather an elite circle of you couples for him and his wife to mentor. ...read more

Scripture: 1 Corinthians 14:29, 1 John 2:27

Tags: Prophecy, False Prophets, Deception

Denomination: Charismatic

Praying The Alphabet!

Contributed by Garris Hudson on Mar 12, 2022

A father walked by his daughter’s bedroom door which was cracked just enough so that he could see that she was kneeling beside her bed in prayer. Interested to find out what subjects a child would bring before God, he paused and listened. He was puzzled though to hear her reciting the alphabet: ...read more

Tags: Prayer, Humor, Lord's Prayer, Jokes, Needs, Children  (view more)  (view less)

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

Not What Was Expected

Contributed by Glynda Lomax on Mar 16, 2022

Integrity is when something is the same all the way through. Pure gold is gold and only gold, all the way through. 14kt gold is less than pure, but other metals give it a hardness that allows more uses such as making beautiful jewelry from it. The bible calls the condition of being one thing ...read more

Scripture: 2 Corinthians 8:21, James 3:11, James 3:12, James 3:13, Matthew 23:27, Matthew 23:28  (view more)  (view less)

Tags: Integrity, Hypocrisy, Tongue

Denomination: Charismatic

One Minute After You Die

Contributed by Garris Hudson on Apr 19, 2022

One day I received a call from a distraught family who wanted a minister to do a quick funeral. I say “quick” because they asked me to speak for only a few minutes. “We don’t want anything religious,” the son told me, “and nothing you do will be too short.” I asked him why it was so important for ...read more

Tags: Truth, Judgment, Repentance, Lost, Evangelism, Hell, Death, Salvation, Gospel  (view more)  (view less)

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational