In Sermon Illustrations: "Take Off"

And We Were Afraid  PRO

Contributed by Sermon Central on Dec 16, 2002

AND WE WERE AFRAID Writer and naturalist Anne Dillard tells of a cold Christmas Eve when she, then a young girl, and her family had come home from a late dinner out. Ginger ale and a plate of cookies sat on a special table. Dillard had taken off her winter coat and was warming herself on the ...read more

A Missionary On Furlough Told This True Story ...  PRO

Contributed by Richard Crow on Sep 2, 2003

A missionary on furlough told this true story while visiting his home church in Michigan, "While serving at a small field hospital in Africa, every two weeks I traveled by bicycle through the jungle to a nearby city for supplies. It was a journey of two days and required camping overnight at the ...read more

Scripture: Revelation 19:1-10

Tags: Prayer Adoration, Prayer Answered

Denomination: Baptist

Don't Look Back  PRO

Contributed by Tylor Cates on Jan 24, 2004

DON'T LOOK BACK And Jesus said unto him, No man, having put his hand to the plow, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God. - Luke 9:62 Text: Genesis 19:26; Luke 17:32,33 Summary: Once we start to follow Jesus we must never look back. We must give up our old way of life to find new life ...read more

Scripture: Genesis 19:26, Luke 17:32-33, Luke 9:62

Tags: Call Of The Disciples, Desire

Denomination: Baptist

Receiving Signal  PRO

Contributed by Tylor Cates on Jan 24, 2004

Receiving Signal Prop: A cell phone In our church we have a 5-minute kid story in the big church before we take the kids over to the Junior Church so I’ll tell you how I did it and you can adapt it to your needs. Good morning boys and girls today I’m going to teach you an important lesson. (I ...read more

Tags: Holy Spirit Attributes

Denomination: Baptist

Tony Campolo, Who For Years Was A Professor At ...  PRO

Contributed by Sermon Central on Mar 22, 2004

Tony Campolo, who for years was a professor at the University of Pennsylvania and now teaches at Eastern College, says that every year, usually in May, students come into his office, look at him across the desk, and say, “Doc, I’m not coming back next semester.” Campolo then whips off his ...read more

As An Infantry Company Commander In Vietman In ...  PRO

Contributed by Brad Bailey on Aug 3, 2004

As an infantry company commander in Vietman in 1967, I saw Viet Cong soldiers surrender many times. As they were placed in custody, marched away, and briefly interrogated, their body language and facial expressions always caught my attention. Most hung their heads in shame, staring at the ground, ...read more

Tags: Evangelism The Lost, God's Provision

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

The Compassionate Catch  PRO

Contributed by Sermon Central on Oct 26, 2004

THE COMPASSIONATE CATCH On Aug. 8, 2004, the Vietnamese community of Westminster, California, celebrated one of the kindest and bravest acts performed by a stranger on them. On Nov. 13, 1985, ninety-six Vietnamese refugees despaired for their lives and their families' lives when the engine of the ...read more

Scripture: Luke 10:25-37

Tags: Parable Good Samaritan, Forgiveness General, Compassion

Counting The Cost - Paying The Price By Bobby ...  PRO

Contributed by Richard Mcnair on Nov 4, 2004

Counting the Cost - Paying the Price by Bobby Welch-----Bakari was born and grew up in a Muslim tribe near the Indian Ocean in Southern Kenya. On a Wednesday night last March, Bakari was persuaded to attend a Baptist church. Bakari was only willing to go to a church because of personal illness, and ...read more

Tags: Savior, Evangelism Urgency

Denomination: Baptist

Make A Friend, Find A Friend!" Proverbs 18: 24 ...  PRO

Contributed by Mark Brunner on Nov 11, 2004

“Make a Friend, Find a Friend!” Proverbs 18: 24 Key verse(s): 24: “A man of many companions may come to ruin, but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother.” I am reminded of the story of the great patriot John Randolph of Virginia. Known for his intelligence and generosity, ...read more

Scripture: Proverbs 18:24

Tags: Friendship New Friends

Denomination: Lutheran

A Man Named Jacob Had Hit A Low Point In His ...  PRO

Contributed by David Elvery on Nov 14, 2004

A man named Jacob had hit a low point in his life. He had thought about killing himself but he was too poor and too tired to secure the means to do it. He found a park bench and just lay down to die. He did not eat, because there was nothing to eat. All he thought about was his death. A couple ...read more

Tags: God In The Hardships, Poverty

Denomination: Baptist

Christmas: A Season Of Stress?  PRO

Contributed by Sermon Central on Dec 2, 2004

Christmas: A Season of Stress? The picture the Bible gives us of the first Christmas is one of peace and serenity. You can see it with your mind’s eye: There are the shepherds, gathered around a campfire under a clear, starlit sky, quietly talking among themselves about their flocks, their ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 3:1-12

Tags: Christmas

Our Spiritual Heritage In Missions Traces Back To ...  PRO

Contributed by Ed Sasnett on Apr 5, 2006

Our spiritual heritage in missions traces back to Adoniram Judson who lived from 1788-1850. Years ago I read his biography. Judson lived the suffering life of the apostle Paul. He was one of the first to bring the Christian message to the Burmese. When war broke out with England, the Burmese ...read more

Tags: Endurance

Denomination: Baptist

Do All The Good You Can", In Other Words, Help ...

Contributed by Scott Bradford on Jan 11, 2007

"Do all the good you can", In other words, help thy neighbor. I just got off the phone with our daughter in law to see how she’s feeling with the radiation treatments. She’s tired now and feels sore but her skin is not burned. She told me about our grandson Patrick who is nine years old and what ...read more

Denomination: United Methodist

Stop For The Boat People

Contributed by Sermon Central on Apr 28, 2009

STOP FOR THE BOAT PEOPLE On Aug. 8, 2004, the Vietnamese community of Westminster, California, celebrated one of the kindest and bravest acts performed by a stranger on them. On Nov. 13, 1985, ninety-six Vietnamese refugees despaired for their lives and their families’ lives when the engine of the ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 5:43-48

Tags: Christian Love

Character: Prototype Plus Pneumatic Force  PRO

Contributed by Johnny Wilson on Aug 14, 2009

CHARACTER: PROTOTYPE PLUS PNEUMATIC FORCE Jesus is the very imprint or prototype of God’s essential reality. The word used in the Greek here is pronounced "kah-rahk-TEER" (sometimes "kah-rahk-TAYR") and it is the word from which we get "character." In the original Greek usage, it meant an imprint ...read more

Scripture: Romans 5:1-6

Tags: Jesus Christ, Potter, Fix, Who Is Jesus

Denomination: *other

Dwight L. Moody Talked About The Greatest Reg...

Contributed by Christian Cheong on Aug 31, 2009

Dwight L. Moody talked about the greatest regret of his life. 22 years after the event in 1871, he recounted what had happened. "I was preaching on the life of Christ. I had spent 4 Sunday nights on the subject and had followed Christ from the manger along through his life to his arrest and ...read more

Tags: Evangelism Urgency

Denomination: Independent/Bible

Can't Win For Losing  PRO

Contributed by Sermon Central on Nov 5, 2009

CAN'T WIN FOR LOSING A man named Fred inherited a huge land grant, but the will provided that he could choose land in either Chile or Brazil. He chose Brazil. Unhappily, if he had chosen Chile, he would have received his inheritance in land on which they had recently discovered uranium, gold and ...read more

Scripture: Mark 8:27-29, Mark 8:27-33

Tags: Hardship Of Life

A Parable Of Parables  PRO

Contributed by Sermon Central on Oct 23, 2010

A PARABLE OF PARABLES The content of belief is important: Jonathan Whitfield was preaching to coal miners in England. He asked one man, "What do you believe?" "Well, I believe the same as the church." "And what does the church believe?" "Well, they believe the same as me." Seeing he was ...read more

Scripture: 2 Timothy 2:15, Luke 22:24-27

Tags: Doctrine

The Beatitudes: An Instrument Panel

Contributed by Rodney Buchanan on Jan 31, 2011

THE BEATITUDES: AN INSTRUMENT PANEL On July 16, 1999, John F. Kennedy, Jr. was killed when the Piper Saratoga light aircraft he was piloting crashed into the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Martha’s Vineyard, Massachusetts. His wife, Carolyn Bessette, and sister-in-law, Lauren Bessette, were also ...read more

Tags: Kingdom Of God

Denomination: Methodist

Fan Or Follower?

Contributed by Tim Smith on Mar 17, 2011

FAN OR FOLLOWER? Kyle Idelman writes: It was a Thursday afternoon, and I was sitting in our sanctuary where 30,000 people would soon be coming to one of our Easter services. I had no idea what I was going to say to them. I could feel the pressure mounting. I sat there hoping that a sermon would ...read more

Tags: Commitment To Christ

Denomination: Methodist