In Sermon Illustrations: "Spiritual Encounter"

Blackaby: What Does A Calling Look Like?  PRO

Contributed by Michael Mccartney on Jan 3, 2013

BLACKABY: WHAT DOES A CALLING LOOK LIKE? Henry Blackaby shares from his book "The Power of the Call" pages 10-14 a clear picture of what one looks like who is called by God into pastoral ministry: 1. The pastor is chosen 2. He is chosen by God 3. He is chosen by God to be His servant 4. He is ...read more

Scripture: 1 Peter 5:1-4, 1 John 4:7-10

Tags: Pastor, Leadership General, Elder, Shepherd

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

What Does It Mean To Have Joy?

Contributed by Dr. Larry Petton on Feb 2, 2023

Joy is God’s gift to believers. Paul speaks of more than just a mood. This is a deep confidence that was rooted in God’s sovereign control of the universe, His on unchanging divine promises and eternal spiritual realities including the assurance of ultimate victory for those in ...read more

Scripture: Galatians 5:19-22, Philippians 4:4

Tags: Spirit Filled Life, Happiness, Joy, Fruit Of The Spirit

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

The Devil Never Takes A Day Off

Contributed by J Jeffrey Smead on Aug 7, 2023

Not long ago, ... a minister shared... a conversation ...he had ... with one of his ...parishioners. He said that one day ... a church member ... called him up on the telephone, ... and angrily said ... I phoned you Saturday, ... but I could not get you. The pastor explained that it was his day ...read more

Scripture: Hebrews 4:9-10, Mark 2:23-28, Exodus 34:21, Matthew 11:28

Tags: Sabbath, Rest

Denomination: Anglican

Humble Confidence

Contributed by Suresh Manoharan on Aug 11, 2014

At the outset, I desire to bring to the fore, a ‘juicy’ tale adorning Science history. When, the invention-coal miner’s lamp- of Sir Humphrey Davy began to pale relatively before the astounding discoveries of his far more illustrious pupil Michael Faraday (in the field of electro-magnetism and ...read more

Scripture: Mark 10:31

Tags: Work, Hardened, Softened

Denomination: *other

Expectation Vs Experience little Israel Eh...

Contributed by Suresh Manoharan on Nov 28, 2015

Expectation vs Experience Little Israel eh…Boy, it packs a punch in the spiritual realm!!! Do not we owe it a Saviour, Salvation and Scriptures!!! Add to this fact that one of it’s cities (Jerusalem) would be the future World capital and at once, there is a ring of sanctity about this Nation. Even ...read more

Scripture: Romans 14:17

Tags: Symbol, Selection, Supremacy, Sign

Denomination: *other

World Evangelism Statistics

Contributed by Dr. Larry Petton on Mar 5, 2022

If you say that Jesus is waiting on the Church to get the Gospel out before His return, let me give you a few statistics on the challenge the Church faces. We have almost 8 billion people on our planet right now. There are almost 2.4 Christians in the world today. If 500,000 people were ...read more

Scripture: Acts 1:8, Matthew 28:19-20

Tags: Salvation, Gospel, Missions, Witnessing, Lost, Great Commission, Evangelism  (view more)  (view less)

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

An Obstetrician Approached An Anxious Father In ...

Contributed by Bruce Howell on Dec 10, 2008

An obstetrician approached an anxious father in the waiting room of a New York City hospital and said, “I am sorry to inform you, but your baby lived but two hours after his birth. We did everything we could to save his life.” As the sympathetic doctor was about to leave, the quick thinking ...read more

Tags: Revelation

Denomination: Wesleyan

Selflessness Sparks A Whole Church  PRO

Contributed by Sermon Central on Dec 28, 2008

SELFLESSNESS SPARKS A WHOLE CHURCH When Yoido Full Gospel Church in South Korea was building its prayer mountain, they struggled in raising the funds for its construction. Pastor David Cho challenged the people again and again and still they could raise the funds they needed for the project. Then, ...read more

Tags: Holy Spirit In Believers

A Vision Changes Everything  PRO

Contributed by Sermon Central on Feb 13, 2009

A VISION CHANGES EVERYTHING Donald S. Whitney in his book, "Spiritual Disciplines For The Christian Life" has said: "Discipline without direction is drudgery." He gives an example of a six-year-old boy named Kevin sitting one afternoon at guitar lessons. Outside are the other boys laughing and ...read more

Tags: Disciplines General

John Piper Wrote A Paper--Written Years Ago ...  PRO

Contributed by Philip Harrelson on Dec 28, 2006

-John Piper wrote a paper--written years ago (1995)--on how Christian leaders should avoid sexual sin. Piper lists ten potential pitfalls and proposes ten protections against them: • PITFALL: Falling in love with the present world. PROTECTION: Think long and hard about the deadly poison of ...read more

Scripture: Genesis 1:1

Tags: Love For God, Obedience, Glory Of God, Relationships

Denomination: Pentecostal

The Apostles Were A Great Example Of The ...

Contributed by Austin Mansfield on Jun 3, 2007

The apostles were a great example of the difficulties of loving one another, and Jesus knew it. There’s a scene in the epic Franco Zefferelli movie, Jesus of Nazareth, in which Jesus arrives at the house of Matthew, the tax collector, for dinner as he told Matthew he would. Peter and the other ...read more

Denomination: Episcopal/Anglican

Stable Stabilizing

Contributed by Terry Laughlin on Aug 11, 2008

Stable Stabilizing Luke 2:12 says, "Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; He is Christ the Lord... You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger." Just as Christ was humble enough to be born in a stinky stable and all stables have a bad smell, no matter how ...read more

Scripture: Luke 2:12

Tags: Christmas

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

Deer Are Creatures Of Consistency. This Species ...

Contributed by Paul Dietz on Sep 20, 2008

Deer are creatures of consistency. This species of the animal kingdom pretty well knows its territory. It knows where it can always find a good meal of a few apples, acorns or grain. As for finding a source for water, this creature always seems to know of most of the local streams, ponds or lake. ...read more

Scripture: Psalm 42:1

Tags: Prayer Supplication

Denomination: *other

Who Has Your ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Jun 4, 2010

Who Has Your Back? Pastor and author John Ortberg tells the story of an evening when he was walking with some friends in Newport Beach, California. As they walked they passed one of the local bars just as a fight spilled out onto the street, like a scene from the old west. As they watched, three ...read more

Scripture: Acts 1:1-8

Tags: Holy Spirit General

The Impact Of Fatherlessness  PRO

Contributed by Sermon Central on Jun 11, 2011

THE IMPACT OF FATHERLESSNESS Several years ago the TV show 60 Minutes ran a segment that tells us something important about fatherlessness. The park rangers at a South African wildlife preserve were concerned about the slaughter of 39 rare white rhinos in their park. It turned out that the rhinos ...read more

Scripture: 1 Corinthians 4:14-21

Tags: Father's Day

Simeon The Pillar Hermit

Contributed by Martin Spoelstra on Aug 28, 2024

Simeon was probably like most boys his age in A.D. 403. The 13-year-old spent much of his time caring for his father's flocks on the hillside of Cilicia. But one day, while listening to a sermon on the beatitudes, stirred and changed he left his home and family and began a lifelong pursuit of ...read more

Scripture: Revelation 3:20

Tags: Finding God, Monks, Intimacy With God, Separation, Holiness  (view more)  (view less)

Denomination: Presbyterian/Reformed

[124]. A Message From A Poem – He’s Leading As My Head

Contributed by Ron Ferguson on Jul 8, 2025

[124]. A MESSAGE FROM A POEM – HE’S LEADING AS MY HEAD How many are lost in this world? I don’t mean unsaved, but I mean who don’t know where they are going or what lies ahead, or what life is about; those who feel life is meaningless and has no purpose? I know it is a lot of people. The ...read more

Scripture: 1 Timothy 1:15, John 10:10, John 12:46

Tags: Christian Poetry, Christian Poem, Direction, Leader, Guide, Life, Meaningless, Leading, Jesus  (view more)  (view less)

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

Several Months Back As I Was Traveling Along One ...

Contributed by Paul Dietz on Sep 20, 2008

Several months back as I was traveling along one of the interstate routes I noticed a sign that was kind of a play off of an older advertisement scheme of the dairy industry. It was nothing more than a solid black background with a two word question in bold white lettering: “Got Prayer?” This ...read more

Tags: Prayer Persistence

Denomination: *other

Popular Ideas Of Jesus  PRO

Contributed by Sermon Central on Nov 5, 2009

POPULAR IDEAS OF JESUS As we consider the risk of following Jesus, we must acknowledge the same thing; we must acknowledge that Jesus is THE Christ, not some popularized version we hear about today. In a posting just this last June, Kevin DeYoung, in his Restless and Reformed blog, describes ...read more

Scripture: Mark 8:27-29

Tags: Faith, Christ, Jesus, Culture, Jesus Christ  (view more)  (view less)

The Fog

Contributed by Michael Mccartney on Apr 12, 2024

The Fog! Romans 12:2 CEV: “Don’t be like the people of this world, but let God change the way you think. Then you will know how to do everything that is good and pleasing to him.” Colossians 2:8 CEV: “Don’t let anyone fool you by using senseless arguments. These arguments may sound wise, but ...read more

Scripture: Romans 12:2, Colossians 2:8

Tags: Danger, Blind, Fog, Rushing

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational