In Sermon Illustrations: "Small Things"

Bible Illiteracy

Contributed by Don Jones on Apr 1, 2009

BIBLE ILLITERACY During my days in New England, I heard of a teacher who quizzed a group of college-bound high school juniors and seniors on the Bible. The quiz preceded a Bible-as-literature course he planned to teach at the Newton (Massachusetts) High School, generally considered one of the best ...read more

Tags: Bible Study

Denomination: Baptist

Living Poor To Give More: Excelling In Giving

Contributed by Sermon Central on Jul 14, 2009

LIVING POOR TO GIVE MORE: EXCELLING IN GIVING The richest people in the world give a huge amount of money, yet their generosity is really a very small proportion of their wealth. And apparently the vast majority of Christ’s followers are not exactly excelling their giving either. So what does ...read more

Scripture: 2 Corinthians 8:7

Tags: Giving General

When My Wife And I Lived In Florida I Had A ...

Contributed by Chris Surber on Aug 26, 2009

When my wife and I lived in Florida I had a little bitty lime tree which never produced good fruit. It was amazing. No matter what I did the tree never produced any fruit which I could use. The limes were always covered in black kind of mold or fungus or something. I would wash them off but it ...read more

Tags: Grace, Religion

Denomination: Christian Church

The Reason Behind An Unusual Hymn Singing ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Dec 8, 2009

The Reason Behind an Unusual Hymn Singing Practice is Discovered Sometime in the last decade of twentieth century, a young pastor who was a fresh graduate from a renowned seminary was assigned to shepherd an old church in a remote village. The church was founded and built sometime in the late ...read more

Scripture: Romans 12:3-8

Tags: Church Practices

Recently Julie Expressed Her Desire To Go On Our ...

Contributed by Ross Cochrane on Dec 27, 2009

Recently Julie expressed her desire to go on our Church missions trip to Cambodia. She was excited because we expected that the Government’s stimulus package of $900.00 for each person would cover the cost. All we had to do was put in our tax returns. My $900.00 came as expected, so we had more ...read more

Tags: God's Provision

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

Focus On Christ

Contributed by Sermon Central on Feb 6, 2010

FOCUS ON CHRIST This bit of strange news was released by the Associated Press this past week: RIVERTON, Wyo. -- Officials say a magnifying glass set on a stand in a sunny room started a small blaze in a Wyoming home. UPS worker Buddy Armstrong was delivering a package to 84-year-old Thomas ...read more

Scripture: 2 Peter 1:1-2

Tags: Growth In Christ

Pows In Vietnam Recall Memorized Scripture To ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on May 28, 2010

POWs in Vietnam Recall Memorized Scripture to Help Themselves Survive In the prison camps which were opened up following the terrible years of the Vietnam war, a story came out about how men endured six, seven, eight years of prison under the most terrible of conditions: rotten food, isolation, ...read more

Scripture: Psalm 119:105

Tags: Scripture, War

Size Of Congregation Doesn't Guarantee ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Jun 1, 2010

Size of Congregation Doesn’t Guarantee Fruitfulness It is important to note that large crowds do not necessarily mean that a teacher has a fruitful ministry. He may have a “successful” ministry, in the sense that the world measures success: by buildings, budgets, and bodies. But a “successful” ...read more

Scripture: Jude 1:12-13

Tags: Fruit Of The Spirit

R.c. Chapman On Psalm 68:19

Contributed by Gordon Curley on Nov 29, 2010

R.C. CHAPMAN ON PSALM 68:19 Robert Chapman is not too well known among Christians. He did not author any monumental books. His friends said he would never make a good preacher. Chapman was not a world-wide evangelist. He lead no great mission to foreign lands; instead he laboured for 70 years in a ...read more

Tags: Blessing

Denomination: Brethren

A Chicken Story

Contributed by Ovidiu Radulescu on Apr 25, 2011

A CHICKEN STORY The story is told of Joe the Butcher who had crafty ways of selling his chickens. He had one chicken left, and he didn’t want to keep it over the weekend. The priest of his church came into the store. He said, "My wife sent me to buy a good size chicken to roast for dinner. We’re ...read more

Tags: Lies

Denomination: Seventh-Day Adventist

Beholden To Money

Contributed by Sermon Central on May 13, 2011

BEHOLDEN TO MONEY In his book How Much Is Enough? Hungering For God In An Affluent Culture author and Founder of Bread for the World: Arthur Simon writes about Bryce and Ellen, "a couple in their mid-thirties. They have two sons and a daughter, and on Sundays the family attends church more often ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 6:19-34

Tags: Money

The Stranger

Contributed by Sermon Central on May 19, 2011

THE STRANGER Some time ago, a small east coast community was struggling financially, so they called an open town meeting to discuss the problem. A couple dozen people were there, including a stranger that no one seemed to know. Most assumed he was a tourist who had just dropped in on the meeting. ...read more

Scripture: Acts 13:26-43

Tags: Ignorance

God Will Lift Up Your Head

Contributed by Ken Pell on Jun 12, 2011

GOD WILL LIFT UP YOUR HEAD During the Thirty Years' War in the 17th century, German pastor Paul Gerhardt and his family were forced to flee from their home. One night as they stayed in a small village inn, homeless and afraid, his wife broke down and cried openly in despair. To comfort her, ...read more

Tags: God Brings Hope

Denomination: Nazarene

Watch Where You're Going!

Contributed by Tim Smith on May 28, 2015

I had just flown back home from attending a class for my Doctorate in Pasadena, CA. The week was filled with long days and short nights. I had an early morning flight and then flew most of the day. By the time I got home, I was exhausted. Yet I didn’t want to miss my workout so I headed to the gym. ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 7:13-14

Tags: Consequences, Watchful Servants, Direction Of Life

Denomination: Methodist

Take It First To The Lord In Prayer  PRO

Contributed by Palitha Jayasooriya on Apr 3, 2017

Take it to the Lord in prayer My mobile phone crashed a few months ago and I had to switch to my wife's old one as a temporary measure. On the first day of using the phone, there was one particularly important feature that neither I nor my wife could grasp, though we tried to figure it out for a ...read more

Scripture: John 16:24

Tags: Prayer, Trusting God, Trusting Christ

Denomination: Assembly Of God

Limited Vision

Contributed by Wade Martin Hughes, Sr on Feb 7, 2022

I once read a lesson about this man, Simeon, he was a shepherd that lived in 390 A.D. He saw how corrupt the world had become. So he decided to LIVE ABOVE ALL THE EVIL and CORRUPTION. So he built a 6 feet tall pillar to be above the evil world. He built a little area and he lived on this ...read more

Scripture: Proverbs 29:18, Joel 2:28

Tags: Vision, Dream

Denomination: Assembly Of God

Once Shaved, Always Shaved!!!

Contributed by Garris Hudson on Oct 23, 2022

After twenty years of shaving himself every morning, a man in a small southern town decided he had been doing that long enough. He told his wife that from then on he’d let the local barber shave him each day.The man went to the barbershop which was owned by the pastor of the local Baptist church. ...read more

Scripture: Romans 8:28-39, 1 John 5:10-13

Tags: Grace, Salvation, Humor, Eternal Security, Jokes  (view more)  (view less)

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

The Gossipping Preacher

Contributed by Garris Hudson on Dec 22, 2022

Three preachers from the same small town in Arkansas were out fishing together. One of the pastors said, "You know, brothers, I feel safe here with you guys. I think it might be a good time and a good place for each one of us to confess our sins to each other privately and confidentially, ...read more

Tags: Tongue, Gossip, Division, Preachers

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

Silent Night Holy Night

Contributed by Jm Raja Lawrence on Dec 20, 2023

"Silent Night" is one of the most beloved Christmas carols, known for its serene and tranquil melody. The story behind the song begins in the small Austrian village of Oberndorf bei Salzburg in 1818. The lyrics were written by Joseph Mohr, a young priest, and the music was composed by ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 1:16-25, Matthew 2:1-12, Luke 2:4-20

Tags: Silent Night Holy Night, Stille Nacht, Christmas, Christmas Season, Carols, Birth Of Jesus Christ  (view more)  (view less)

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

He Would Not Leave Mt. Saint Helens

Contributed by Garris Hudson on Apr 6, 2024

Harry R. Truman was a caretaker of a recreational lodge on Spirit Lake about five miles north of Mt. Saint Helens. For two months there had been a series of small earthquakes and steam venting episodes on the volcano located in Skamania County in Washington State. All the evidence predicted that ...read more

Tags: Signs, Return Of Christ, Days Of Noah, Warnings, End Times, Prophecy, Repentance, Second Coming, Last Days, Rapture, Revelation  (view more)  (view less)

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational