In Sermon Illustrations: "Spirits Work"

Peace Corps Manual Explains How To Escape From An ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Nov 22, 2009

Peace Corps Manual Explains How to Escape from an Anaconda Pastor Jeff Nichols refers to a book by Gary Oliver called, Raising Kids to Love Jesus, in which he quotes from a U.S. Government Peace Corps manual for volunteers who work in the Amazon jungle. Among other things, this manual explains what ...read more

Scripture: Nehemiah 4:13-14

Tags: Satan

Trapped Coal Miners Discover Old ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Dec 14, 2009

Trapped Coal Miners Discover Old Passage In one of the coal mines of the north, the top of the pit fell in while a considerable number of the miners were down below, and the shaft was completely blocked. Those who were in the mine gathered to a spot where the last remains of air could be breathed. ...read more

Scripture: James 4:4-10

Tags: Humility

How Basketball Weighed In On Racial ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Jun 30, 2010

How Basketball Weighed in on Racial Integration On Friday we watched the film, Glory Road, the 1966 story of how the integrated Texas Western basketball team defeated Adolph Rupp’s all-white Kentucky Wildcats. At a time when schools in the Southeastern Conference refused scholarships to black ...read more

Scripture: Galatians 3:26-29

Tags: Racism, New Years

Doing The Job Alone

Contributed by Jim Mccutchen on Oct 10, 2010

FROM: Joe Smith, Bricklayer RE: My Accident Claim I am writing in response to your request concerning Block #11 on the insurance form which asks for "the cause of injuries" wherein I put "trying to do the job alone." You said you needed more information, so I trust the following will be ...read more

Tags: Disappointment

Denomination: Christian Church

Temporary Castles  PRO

Contributed by Sermon Central on Mar 28, 2011

TEMPORARY CASTLES "A little boy is on the beach. On his knees he scoops and packs the sand with plastic shovels into a bright red bucket. Then he upends the bucket on the surface and lifts it. And, to the delight of the little architect, a castle tower is created. "All afternoon he will work. ...read more

Scripture: James 4:13-17, Luke 12:15-21, Ecclesiastes 3:1-15

Tags: Death

Daughter Of A Jew-Catcher

Contributed by Sermon Central on Aug 21, 2011

DAUGHTER OF A JEW-CATCHER I recently read an article by a minister who had been invited to preach to a church Congregation in Holland. His visit coincided with the Dutch Day of Remembrance, held each year on the anniversary of Holland’s liberation from the Nazis. His talk was preceded by several ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 10:28-33

Tags: Father's Day

A Peacemaking Church  PRO

Contributed by Sermon Central on Aug 25, 2011

A PEACEMAKING CHURCH I can tell this story because one neighbor has died and the other neighbor no longer lives across the street from our church. Our neighbors endured the disruption of their lives as we built on to our church. I'm sure that contributed to their lack of patience with us. We put ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 5:9, Exodus 32:1-14, Isaiah 32:15-20

Tags: Jesus Teachings

The "Regard For Others" Ethic

Contributed by Don Berry-Graham on Jan 24, 2012

THE "REGARD FOR OTHERS" ETHIC John Sommerville currently teaches history at the University of Florida. He has been carrying out an exercise with his students for years. He challenges his students with the following thought experiment. Imagine that you see a little old lady coming down the ...read more

Scripture: Luke 10:25-37

Tags: Neighbor

Denomination: Baptist

If ...

Contributed by Joe Bertone on Aug 1, 2012

IF ONLY There was a great Scotch writer and historian in the nineteenth century named Thomas Carlyle. He married a woman, who’d worked as his secretary named Jane Welsh. But Carlyle was dedicated to his writing so he didn’t spend much time with her. He just mostly wrote. At one point she became ...read more

Scripture: James 4:13-17

Tags: Death, Remorse, Parable Ten Virgins, Regret

Denomination: Christian/Church Of Christ

Ministry In The Hard Places

Contributed by Tim Smith on Oct 21, 2012

During his first year of seminary, Alan Hirsch led a small group of newly converted Christians that included “gays, lesbians, Goths, drug addicts, prostitutes, and some relatively ordinary people.” After graduating, he and his wife were called to go to South Melbourne Church of Christ in 1989 where ...read more

Tags: Grace

Denomination: Methodist

Lesson Of The Good Samaritan

Contributed by Darian Hybl on Aug 21, 2013

Recently I read an article that convicted me of my ‘blind spots’ where I have not wanted to ‘cross the road’ or enter deeper into relationship. Alex Early penned an article entitled, “A Pastor Walked into a Gay Bar And…” At first I avoided the article because I thought this article was more a ...read more

Scripture: Luke 10:23-37

Tags: God As Judge, Real Friend, Parable Good Samaritan

Denomination: Lutheran

Man In A Hurry  PRO

Contributed by Davon Huss on Jan 7, 2014

MAN IN A HURRY On the Andy Griffith Show episode "Man in a Hurry"- Malcolm tucker is a wealthy businessman from Charlotte. One Sunday he happens to have car trouble a couple of miles outside of Mayberry. Malcolm walks the rest of the way to town and meets Andy coming out of Sunday morning ...read more

Scripture: James 1:2-4

Tags: Frustration, Trial, Unexpected, Hurry

Denomination: Christian/Church Of Christ

Selling Your Cow  PRO

Contributed by Davon Huss on May 31, 2014

Daniel Overdorf: One of my older sisters and her husband served for 12 years as missionaries to Haiti. Among various other ministries, such as church plants, a school and feeding programs, they discipled a few young men who today lead various churches and ministries. One participant in this was ...read more

Scripture: 1 John 3:16-18

Tags: Help The Needy, Christian Giving, Sharing God's Bounty

Denomination: Christian/Church Of Christ

The Living Word

Contributed by Tim Smith on Aug 13, 2017

Ravi Zacharias tells of ministering in Vietnam in 1971, and one of his interpreters was Hien Pham, an energetic young Christian. He had worked as a translator with the American forces, and was of immense help both to them and to missionaries such as myself. Hien and I traveled the length of the ...read more

Scripture: 2 Timothy 3:16

Tags: Scripture, Romans, Living Word, The Bible, Persevering Grace  (view more)  (view less)

Denomination: Methodist

Something For Nothing?

Contributed by Jonathan Spurlock on Jan 13, 2020

Several years ago, I had to make an urgent flight across the country. Because the only airport with those kinds of connections was a good ways away, I took advantage of a shuttle service. Considering the cost of fuel and parking alone, I figured I could get a ride from the northern terminal all ...read more

Scripture: John 6:25-27

Tags: Greed, Motive Or Motivation

Denomination: Baptist

In The Early 1700's A Congregation Of Some 300 ...

Contributed by Richard Francis on Mar 29, 2008

In the early 1700’s a congregation of some 300 Hussites, Anabaptists, Calvinists and various disciples of non-conforming Christian doctrines came together seeking refuge on the estate of Count Zinzindorf in Saxony, East Germany also called Moravia. Like the Count who was 27 years old at the time ...read more

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

The Loser  PRO

Contributed by Eric Ferguson on May 9, 2008

THE LOSER For Sparky, school was all but impossible. He failed every subject in the eighth grade. He flunked physics in high school, getting a grade of zero. Sparky also flunked Latin, Algebra, and English. He didn't do much better in sports. Although he did manage to make the school's golf ...read more

Tags: Confidence

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

For A Project For World Religions Class, I ...  PRO

Contributed by Christopher Kennedy on Jan 23, 2009

For a project for World Religions class, I interviewed a Muslim named Karim. Karim moved to America a couple decades ago. He worked at a restaurant and fell in love with one of the waitresses there, Susie. The two of them decided to get married. She took him home to meet her mother, a life-long ...read more

Tags: Evangelism How To

Denomination: Lutheran

Twin Brothers And A Dollar

Contributed by Sermon Central on Feb 11, 2009

TWIN BROTHERS AND A DOLLAR In his book, The Preaching Event, John Claypool tells a poignant story about identical twin brothers who never married because they enjoyed each other’s company so much. When their father died, they took over his store and ran it together in a joyful collaboration. But ...read more

Tags: Forgiveness General

Charles H. Townes, Who Won A Nobel Prize For ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Feb 16, 2009

Charles H. Townes, who won a Nobel Prize for his work in laser technology, opened a talk with a disclaimer: "It’s like the beaver told the rabbit as they stared up at the immense wall of the Hoover Dam: ’No, I didn’t actually build it myself. But it was based on an idea of mine.’" We are often ...read more

Scripture: Galatians 2:20

Tags: Humility