In Sermon Illustrations: "Surprise"

Responsibility Comes With The Gift

Contributed by Sermon Central on Dec 16, 2008

RESPONSIBILITY COMES WITH THE GIFT As Clayton J. Schmit put it in his commentary on our text: The moment of birth is one of unspeakable joy. Yet, if parents stopped to count the cost of taking a child home (which, fortunately, they never do) they might be tempted to turn the gift down. The cost ...read more

Tags: Church Body Of Christ

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

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

The Church Doesn't Need Squirts

Contributed by Bret Toman on Jun 7, 2009

THE CHURCH DOESN'T NEED SQUIRTS Soren Kierkegaard once wrote about a town where a fireman lived. Everyone liked the fireman because he was a nice guy. He made it a habit to be gentle and kind, which was unusual for firemen, who were supposed to be tough. There was a fire one day, and the fireman ...read more

Tags: Church Purpose Of

Denomination: Baptist

Chargers Vs. Broncos

Contributed by Sean Harder on Jun 16, 2009

I was looking for modern day example of Paul’s heart, and I found it to some degree in an NFL football player. In a game between the San Diego Chargers and the Denver Broncos on December 10, 2006, Chargers running back LaDainian Tomlinson (known as L.T.) took his position the same way he had done ...read more

Tags: Humility, Sports

We Bring You Us!  PRO

Contributed by Sermon Central on Oct 19, 2009

"WE BRING YOU US!" Michael Sattler tells the story of Christmas 1930. His wife had just passed away the month before, and he was lonely and heartsick. But mostly, he worried about the type of Christmas his girls would have. When Christmas morning came, they opened their presents with unusual ...read more

Scripture: 1 Corinthians 13:4-7

Tags: Christmas Advent

What Really Matters?

Contributed by Wade Martin Hughes, Sr on Nov 19, 2014

A young woman woke up early one day, she was so excited. She said: THIS WILL BE A WONDERFUL DAY. She looked in the mirror to discover she ONLY HAD THREE HAIRS ON HER HEAD. She thought for a while and decided she would BRAID her hair. She thought her BRAID WITH THE Three HAIRS was so pretty. SHE ...read more

Scripture: Psalm 103:1-2

Tags: Vanity, Attitude

Denomination: Assembly Of God

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

Death Of An Eagle

Contributed by Wade Martin Hughes, Sr on Dec 29, 2020

There was a talented young Indian boy that loved hunting. One of his goals was to get an eagle. He so needed the eagle to build his elaborate head dress. All the eagles would fly around the young boy and mock him. He could never be the chief without a beautiful eagle feather head dressing. The ...read more

Scripture: Isaiah 40:26-30, Isaiah 54:17

Tags: Weapon, Effective

Denomination: Assembly Of God

Great Funeral Illustration

Contributed by Dr. Larry Petton on Jan 31, 2022

A certain nobleman had a garden which he left to the care of a faithful servant, whose delight it was to water the seeds, support the stalks of tender plants, and to do everything he could to make the estate a paradise of flowers. One morning the gardener rose expecting to find his favorite blooms ...read more

Tags: Dying, Funerals, Death, Heaven

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

The Truth Will Always Come Out.

Contributed by Dr. Larry Petton on Apr 18, 2022

We live in a generation of government corruption and evil that is unparalleled. How long will God tolerate this? The Bible says in Luke 8:17 (NLT), "For all that is secret will eventually be brought into the open, and everything that is concealed will be brought to light and made known to ...read more

Tags: Evil, Truth, Corruption, Last Days, Lies, Government, Reaping  (view more)  (view less)

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

Lesson On Kindness

Contributed by Wade Martin Hughes, Sr on May 11, 2022

WHAT LESSONS ARE WE TEACHING ON KINDNESS? I love the story of a women’s softball game between CENTRAL OREGON and WESTERN OREGON. Central Oregon had the lead and Western Oregon had scored and made the game much closer. A freshman player girl from Western Oregon stepped to the plate. Her name ...read more

Scripture: Ephesians 4:32, John 15:13

Tags: Help, Kindness

Denomination: Assembly Of God

Once Shaved, Always Shaved!!!

Contributed by Dr. Larry Petton 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

Lessons From A Tavern, Citation: Charles ...  PRO

Contributed by A. Todd Coget on Jul 5, 2001

[Lessons from a Tavern, Citation: Charles Swindoll, Leadership, Vol. 4, no. 1.] An old Marine Corps buddy of mine, to my pleasant surprise, came to know Christ after he was discharged. I say surprise because he cursed loudly, fought hard, chased women, drank heavily, loved war and weapons, and ...read more

Scripture: Romans 1:1

Tags: Church Body Of Christ, Church Small Groups, Compassion, Fellowship, Friendship General, Understanding  (view more)  (view less)

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

A Letter To Santa  PRO

Contributed by Darren Ethier on May 21, 2002

A LETTER TO SANTA: Dear Santa Claus: You’ll probably be surprised to receive this letter from an adult. You may be even more surprised as you read it to find that the writer is neither a maiden aunt nor a disgruntled bachelor. I’m a young mother. It isn’t my intention, Santa, to hurt your ...read more

Scripture: Jeremiah 29:11

Denomination: Pentecostal

Where Did That Come From?

Contributed by Rick Palmer on Oct 21, 2018

As a Police Officer we were required to use radar to influence drivers to slow down and obey the laws. One evening I parked at a T-intersection where Main Street intersected a major highway.This intersection was very well lite up because of the businesses located there, a restaurant with a gas ...read more

Scripture: Luke 14:23, Matthew 28:14, 2 Peter 2:12-15, 1 John 2:15-16, John 15:19, Galatians 3:23-24, 1 Corinthians 2:14, John 16:8  (view more)  (view less)

Tags: Reprove The World, Gospel Of Jesus Christ, Evangelism, Gospel, Jesus On The Cross, Preach The Gospel, Go Into All The World  (view more)  (view less)

The Boss Of A Big Company Needed To Call One Of ...  PRO

Contributed by Christian Cheong on Oct 10, 2001

The boss of a big company needed to call one of his employees about an urgent problem with one of the main computers. He dialled the employees home telephone number and was greeted with a child’s whispered, "Hello?" Feeling put out at the inconvenience of having to talk to a youngster, the boss ...read more

Scripture: Luke 15:1-32

Tags: Evangelism The Lost, Jesus Teachings, Parable Lost Coin

Denomination: Independent/Bible

When Joseph Ton Was A Pastor In Romania He Was ...  PRO

Contributed by Sermon Central on Apr 6, 2002

When Joseph Ton was a pastor in Romania he was arrested by the secret police for publishing a sermon calling for the churches to refuse to submit to the Communist government’s demand for control over their ministries. When an official told him he must renounce his sermon, he replied, "No, sir! I ...read more

Tags: Endurance

Not The Gift, But The Giver  PRO

Contributed by Darren Ethier on Apr 9, 2002

NOT THE GIFT, BUT THE GIVER A man told a story about the time his son’s sixth birthday was approaching. He had mentioned he wouldn’t mind a party, and as his son usually was very specific about the kind of presents he liked. The dad asked him what he could get him. Bill expected a well-planned ...read more

Tags: Father, Father's Day, Giving, Church Practices, Blessing, Worship God, Relationships, Parenting  (view more)  (view less)

Denomination: Pentecostal

A Mother Of A 9-Year-Old Boy Named Mark Received ...  PRO

Contributed by Sermon Central on Jan 19, 2004

A mother of a 9-year-old boy named Mark received a phone call from his teacher in the middle of the afternoon. Marks teacher said Mrs. Smith; your son did something that surprised me so much that I thought you should know about it immediately." The mother was uneasy and nervous by such a ...read more

Scripture: Proverbs 6:6

Tags: Sacrifice, Love