In Sermon Illustrations: "Supporting Each Other"

I Sat Down With Our Senior High Kids Awhile Ago ...  PRO

Contributed by Sermon Central on Jun 18, 2007

I sat down with our senior high kids awhile ago to discuss our plans for youth activities for this year. I expected to get some ideas of fun things to do, lets go bowling and to laserquest and whitewater rafting yadda yadda yadda… You know what they decided? They asked me to find two Friday night ...read more

Tags: Servanthood

The Joy Of John 3:16  PRO

Contributed by Michael Mccartney on Dec 19, 2008

The Joy of John 3:16 Max Lucado's thoughts: A twenty-six word parade of hope: beginning with God, ending with life, and urging us to do the same. Brief enough to write on a napkin or memorize in a moment, yet solid enough to weather two thousand years of storms and questions. If you know nothing ...read more

Scripture: John 3:16

Tags: Joy

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

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

I Have Never Forgotten You

Contributed by Rick Crandall on Feb 12, 2009

I HAVE NEVER FORGOTTEN YOU On Jan. 27, 2009 and I got to go to part of the state evangelism conference in Ruston, LA. Charles Thornton from Texas was one of the preachers. God is using his life in a fantastic way to help reach people in apartment complexes. Their ministry moves CARES Teams into ...read more

Scripture: Ephesians 4:25-32

Tags: Encouragement, Love Of God, Family Love

Denomination: Baptist

Loving Without Agreeing  PRO

Contributed by Sermon Central on Apr 28, 2009

LOVING WITHOUT AGREEING We can love others without totally agreeing with them. Often love is worked out by agreeing to disagree. We can offer love and care for people who are different from us and people we don’t agree with. This fact is illustrated by a true story that took place in the state of ...read more

Scripture: John 13:34-35

Tags: Christian Love

True Unity  PRO

Contributed by Sermon Central on Apr 26, 2011

TRUE UNITY Unity is not simply an intellectual exercise. We can believe the same things, recite the same creeds, belong to the same denomination, but that does not mean we have unity. In his book Soul Talk, Larry Crabb writes: "Which is worse? A church program to build community that doesn’t ...read more

Scripture: Ephesians 4:1-16, Ephesians 4:1-22, 1 Samuel 25:14-35

Tags: Unity

Our "In Jesus" Voice

Contributed by Jeff Strite on Nov 28, 2011

OUR "IN JESUS" VOICE I'm always intrigued by the phrase some parents and care-givers use with children: "Now children, we need to use our 'indoor' voices." What Ephesians 4 is saying is that when in the church (not the building) we need to use our "in Jesus" voices. Those voices need to lift up, ...read more

Tags: Encouragement

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

My First Assignment 35 Years Ago Was To An Inner ...  PRO

Contributed by Sermon Central on Mar 16, 2004

My first assignment 35 years ago was to an inner city parish in Wshington,D.C. Money was stolen from my room; the garage mechanic said my gas tank may have been sabotaged, destroying my engine; one weekend we had 34 windows broken in the school. When a new pastor was sent,the parish held a party ...read more

Tags: Christian Love, Forgiveness In Jesus, God's Love

One Day A Boy Came To His Father And Said, "Dad, ...  PRO

Contributed by Philip Harrelson on Jan 13, 2005

One day a boy came to his father and said, "Dad, it’s just six weeks before I will be going to college and I was wondering if you were going to give me a going-away present. If you are, I have a suggestion to make." The father smiling answered, ’What is your suggestion, son?" The boy’s eyes ...read more

Tags: Parenting

Denomination: Pentecostal

All The Credit Goes To Dr. Sam Luke For This ...  PRO

Contributed by Rich Wyatt on Sep 27, 2007

All the credit goes to Dr. Sam Luke for this illustration. Dr. Luke tells this story: I was taking the church through Evangelism Explosion in an effort to go out and witness for Christ. But there is an added dimension to witnessing, the Holy Spirit. I was going to teach everyone how to witness ...read more

Denomination: Church Of God

High Society: The Princeton Society Directory

Contributed by Peter Loughman on Sep 1, 2009

HIGH SOCIETY: The Princeton Society Directory When Katie and I were in Seminary years ago, we were broke. So we did whatever we could to get by. One of the things we did was housesitting for people in town when they were on vacation. What we looked for most was folks who would let us use their ...read more

Tags: God's Love

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

Love Beyond Sight

Contributed by Jm Raja Lawrence on Sep 23, 2023

Love Beyond Sight In a quaint village nestled amidst rolling hills, there lived a man whose love story would be told for generations to come. His name was Samuel, and he was known far and wide for his kindness and his love for his wife, Sarah. Samuel had met Sarah on a sunny day at the village ...read more

Scripture: 1 Corinthians 13:4, John 13:34, 1 Peter 4:8, Matthew 19:6

Tags: Kindness, Love

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

One Of The Most Disturbing And Powerful Films I ...  PRO

Contributed by Rob Short on Mar 18, 2001

One of the most disturbing and powerful films I have seen over the last couple of years is Steven Spielberg’s movie, Saving Private Ryan. The movie tells the story of an Army captain named John Miller who having survived the carnage of the D-Day invasion at Normandy Beach, portrayed in 28 minutes ...read more

Scripture: Nehemiah 1:1, Nehemiah 4:1-23, Nehemiah 4:10-23, Nehemiah 4:14

Tags: Lordship Of Christ, Forgiveness In Jesus

Denomination: Baptist

Letters To God From Children  PRO

Contributed by Greg Warren on Apr 19, 2001

LETTERS TO GOD FROM CHILDREN Dear God, Did you mean for the giraffe too look like that or was it an accident? - Norma Dear God, Instead of letting people die and having to make new ones, why don’t you just keep the ones you have now? - Jane Dear God, Who draws the lines around the ...read more

Tags: Children, Parenting

Denomination: Christian/Church Of Christ

Author Mary Ann Bird Shared This Very Personal ...  PRO

Contributed by Tony Miano on May 21, 2001

Author Mary Ann Bird shared this very personal story in The Whisper Test. She wrote, “I grew up knowing I was different, and I hated it. I was born with a cleft palate, and when I started school, my classmates made it clear to me how I looked to others: a little girl with a misshapen lip, crooked ...read more

Tags: Disappointment, Compassion, Promises Of God

Denomination: *other

Karl Barth, A Famous Theologian, Was On A ...  PRO

Contributed by Jeff Hughes on Feb 8, 2003

Karl Barth, a famous theologian, was on a streetcar one day in Basel, Switzerland, where he lectured. A tourist to the city climbed on and sat down next to Barth. The two men started chatting with each other. "Are you new to the city?" Barth inquired. "Yes," said the tourist. "Is there anything you ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 16:13-20

Tags: Lordship Of Christ, Karl Barth, Jesus Life

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

The Following Incident Took Place In 1968 On An ...

Contributed by Charles R. Swindoll on Oct 13, 2004

The following incident took place in 1968 on an airliner bound for New York. It was a routine flight, and normally a boring affair. The kind of flights I like -- uneventful. But this one proved to be otherwise. Descending to the destination, the pilot realized the landing gear refused to engage. He ...read more

Tags: Prayer Supplication

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

There Is The Story Of Four Pastors Who Gathered ...  PRO

Contributed by Sermon Central on Jun 29, 2005

[There is the story of four pastors who gathered for coffee every Monday morning for a time of reflecting together how each one’s ministry was doing. One pastor shared with the group that he was having quite a problem with bats gathering in the church bell tower and wanted help in finding ways to ...read more

Tags: Baptism, Time

One Day Out Of The Blue An Old Friend Of Mine ( I ...

Contributed by Jeff Leigh on Jul 23, 2005

One day out of the blue an old friend of mine ( I will call him Keith) phoned me to say he was in town and wanted to catch up. We hadn’t seen each other for over 15 years - I wasn’t a Christian when we were friends. Him and I were hell raisers, we were into anything and everything not good. Anyway ...read more

Tags: Evangelism How To, Sharing My Testimony

Denomination: Pentecostal