In Sermon Illustrations: "Stop Playing It Safe"

A Man's Skin Changes After Being Swallowed By ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Nov 10, 2009

A Man’s Skin Changes After Being Swallowed by Fish Dr Harry Rimmer told of a man in 1926 who was swallowed by a fish and spent two days inside the fish and lived to tell the story. He was displayed in London as “the Jonah of the twentieth century.” Dr. Rimmer interviewed him two years later after ...read more

Scripture: Jonah 3:1-5

Tags: Jonah

Let Me Share With You My Story Of The ...

Contributed by Vera Hughes on Jan 20, 2010

Let me share with you my story of the “Great Cake Bake”. The great cake bake is the story of the day I was to prepare the ultimate cake for Thanksgiving dinner with my new in-laws. I mean this cake was going to be better than Betty Crocker could imagine. I remember waking up on Thanksgiving Day ...read more

Tags: Endurance

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

God's Unexpected Answer To Prayer Protects From ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Feb 6, 2010

God’s Unexpected Answer to Prayer Protects from Bomb But God provides in a variety of ways. A Messianic Jewish brother relates: "I was part of a singing group once that was scheduled to do a series of "peace" concerts in war-torn Northern Ireland. As Jews, we went with the message that Catholics ...read more

Scripture: Psalm 17:6-9

Tags: Prayer General, God's Protection

Your Best Isn't Good Enough

Contributed by Sermon Central on Feb 28, 2010

YOUR BEST ISN'T GOOD ENOUGH A pastor once went to a barber to get a haircut. All through the haircut, the pastor wanted to witness to the barber, but the barber kept talking non-stop and gave the pastor no chance to interrupt. Later, when the pastor was paying for the haircut, he asked the barber ...read more

Scripture: Ephesians 2:8-9

Tags: Faith Vs. Works

Gui—dance

Contributed by Curry Pikkaart on Mar 9, 2010

GUI--DANCE Robert Smith wrote in "Doctrine That Dances": "When I meditated on the word 'Guidance,' I kept seeing 'dance' at the end of the word. I remember reading that doing God's will is a lot like dancing. When two people try to lead, nothing feels right. The movement doesn't flow with the ...read more

Tags: Doing God's Will

Denomination: Presbyterian/Reformed

Cowardice Never Wins Against Temptation, Only ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on May 27, 2010

Cowardice Never Wins Against Temptation, Only Courage On May 21, 1946 in Los Alamos, NM, a young and daring scientist, Louis Slotin, was carrying out a necessary experiment in preparation for the atomic test to be conducted in the waters of the South Pacific. He had successfully performed the ...read more

Scripture: 1 Corinthians 16:13

Tags: Heroism, Self-Sacrifice

Hearing The Crickets

Contributed by Chris Kelly on Sep 29, 2010

HEARING THE CRICKETS An American Indian left the reservation to visit downtown New York. Walking down a busy street with his friend, he suddenly stopped and said, "I hear a cricket". His friend said, "You're crazy! There's no way you could hear a cricket in all this noise!" The Indian ...read more

Tags: Doing God's Will

Denomination: Wesleyan

The Seven Stages Of A Cold—for Married Couples

Contributed by Christopher Gregas on May 16, 2011

THE SEVEN STAGES OF A COLD--FOR MARRIED COUPLES Though marriages are meant to last a lifetime, they can deteriorate rather quickly. I like what someone calls the seven stages of a cold for a married couple. The First year of marriage, the husband says, "Honey, I’m worried about my little girl. ...read more

Tags: Marriage General

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

Set Free

Contributed by Alison Bucklin on Jul 2, 2011

SET FREE Ray Bakke, the Executive Director of International Urban Associates, tells a great story from World War II. An airman named MacDonald and a Scottish chaplain bailed out behind German lines, were captured and put into a prison camp, with MacDonald in the American barracks and the chaplain ...read more

Tags: Restoration

Denomination: Presbyterian/Reformed

Bury It Right!  PRO

Contributed by Sermon Central on Aug 1, 2011

BURY IT RIGHT! The story is told of a teenage son who wanted to be Scripturally baptized. His father told him that the sprinkling he got as a baby was sufficient. The son tried to explain that you can only picture the idea of burial by completely being submerged. Angry, the father told him to ...read more

Scripture: Acts 8:36-39

Tags: Baptism

The Maker

Contributed by Sermon Central on Aug 6, 2011

THE MAKER An old Model T Ford was pulled off to the side of the road with its hood up, and a young man was trying desperately to get it running. He had been working at it for a long time without any success when a beautiful, chauffeur-driven limousine stopped behind him, and a well-dressed man got ...read more

Scripture: Proverbs 3:5-6

Tags: Knowing God's Will

Your First Love

Contributed by Chuck Sligh on Oct 28, 2011

YOUR FIRST LOVE Jesus' first remedy for the Church in Ephesus was too "REMEMBER." Rev. 2:5 says, "Remember therefore from where you are fallen..." Remember what it was like during the honeymoon stage? Go back in your mind to a time when passion prevailed in your spiritual life. Relive it and ...read more

Tags: Love For God

Denomination: Baptist

Once Shaved  PRO

Contributed by Davon Huss on Nov 7, 2011

ONCE SHAVED A fellow got up one morning and decided he no longer was going to shave himself; he was instead going to the barber for his morning shave. The town barber also happened to be the local preacher in town. When the guy walked into the barber shop the barber/preacher was not there, he was ...read more

Tags: Calvinism

Denomination: Christian/Church Of Christ

The Silent Sermon  PRO

Contributed by Bishop Johnathan Hester on Nov 17, 2011

THE SILENT SERMON A member of a certain church, who previously had been attending Services regularly, stopped going. After a few weeks, the preacher decided to visit him. It was a chilly evening. The preacher found the man at home alone, sitting before a blazing fire. Guessing the reason for ...read more

Scripture: Psalm 23:1-6

Tags: Encouragement

Denomination: Apostolic

The Gift Of A Cross

Contributed by Michael Mccartney on Nov 29, 2011

THE GIFT OF A CROSS Story: Woman Led to Christ through an Act of Kindness Craig Groeschel, The Christian Atheist (Zondervan, 2011). p. 210 It's amazing what a difference the little things will make. For example, years ago when I was a new believer, I always wore a tiny cross pin on my shirts. ...read more

Tags: Evangelism The Lost

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

A Darkened Mind

Contributed by Andy Grossman on Feb 15, 2012

A DARKENED MIND The god of this age, Satan, wants people to be blinded to the Truth. He loves a darkened mind. Sean Sellers was a willing mind. His parents were long haul truckers from Colorado. Sean filled the empty hours with the occult. He began with Dungeons and Dragons. The he began ...read more

Tags: Cults

Denomination: Holiness

The Ram And The Cowboy

Contributed by Perry Greene on Apr 4, 2012

THE RAM AND THE COWBOY A couple of years ago in the Rocky Mountains a bighorn ram approached the home of a man named Ed Bailey while he was watching football on television. The bighorn stopped suddenly, seeing its reflection in a plate glass window. Thinking it was another ram, the bighorn bowed ...read more

Tags: Self

Denomination: Independent/Bible

Love Your Neighbor

Contributed by Josh Hunt on Apr 16, 2012

LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR I stepped outside my hotel room yesterday and saw a thin elderly woman taking small steps in a circle. She seemed to be mumbling. Our eyes connected. She said, "They left me here and I don't know where they have gone. I don't know what room I am in." I held out my hand. She ...read more

Scripture: Exodus 23:4-5

Tags: Neighbor

Denomination: Baptist

Horse Sense

Contributed by Ed Vasicek on May 7, 2012

HORSE SENSE I like horses okay, but I am not a horse-person. But for much of history, horses were crucial. As a result, we have developed a lot of idioms involving horses. "Many terms and phrases in the English language harken back to a time not so long ago when horses were of extreme ...read more

Tags: Wisdom

Denomination: Independent/Bible

A Salesman Meets The Inventor

Contributed by Sermon Central on May 17, 2012

A SALESMAN MEETS THE INVENTOR In 1969, in a science lab in New Jersey, Canadian physicist Willard Boyle and his colleagues invented the concept of an electronic eye. Using their knowledge of mathematics and the behavior of light, they provided the science behind digital cameras known as a ...read more

Scripture: Romans 12:3

Tags: Arrogance