In Sermon Illustrations: "Take Off"

My Title Is Taken From The Story Of The African ...

Contributed by Larry Jacobs on Jun 30, 2005

My title is taken from the story of the African two horned Rhinoceros. Across the grassland of East Africa, The Two Horned Rhinoceros lives. They are magnificiant animals of tremendous speed, size and agility. He is the most dangerous and powerful animal on earth. All the rest of the animal ...read more

Tags: Friendship New Friends

Denomination: Baptist

There Is The Story Of A Young Man Who Was ...

Contributed by Bruce Ball on Aug 10, 2005

There is the story of a young man who was kayaking off the coast of New England, in some very treacherous waters. He capsized and was being swept out to ocean. He did not have the power to do fight the current, but he was able to pull his cell phone out of his pocket and call his father for ...read more

Tags: God's Provision

Denomination: *other

A Small Church In Virginia Needed To Have A New ...  PRO

Contributed by Bruce Ball on Aug 25, 2005

A small church in Virginia needed to have a new roof in the worst of ways, but there was no money in their account. Most of the congregation was very poor except for the local banker. He was an ornery old cuss, and he would be the first in church so he could always sit in the back pew by the ...read more

Tags: Giving General

Denomination: *other

Grudges And Pride Keep Us From Reconciling With ...  PRO

Contributed by Russell Brownworth on May 21, 2007

Grudges and pride keep us from reconciling with each other. They destroy the thought of forgiveness. The pastor and his wife were going to give a mid-morning garden party. They invited everyone with engraved invitations. The delightful back yard of the parsonage was manicured, tables decorated ...read more

Denomination: United Methodist

On The Nascar Circuit, They Have Their Own Form ...  PRO

Contributed by Sermon Central on Jun 18, 2007

On the NASCAR circuit, they have their own form of church called the MRO (Motor Racing Outreach). Nascar great Darrell Waltrip helped found this organization and he commented that Nascar is a dangerous commercialized place and they can’t always get away to go back to their church. He said: “If you ...read more

Tags: God's Provision

Language Is A Great Gift From God That Sets Us ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Jun 18, 2007

Language is a great gift from God that sets us apart from every other creature. But sometimes our words are misunderstood or mistranslated; for example, I found some commercial slogans that had been translation into other languages of course they didn’t translate the same: Kentucky Fried Chicken, ...read more

Tags: Ot Characters

William Engebretsen From Nebraska Writes, "For ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Jun 18, 2007

William Engebretsen from Nebraska writes, “For three years, we had a sheep ranch in western Nebraska. Each year, we sheared some sheep, sold some, and butchered a few lambs for leg-of-lamb for our family and our cattle-raising relatives. In 1990, we moved to Indiana, so I could attend seminary. One ...read more

Tags: Patriarchs Abraham

In 1991 James Patterson And Peter Kim Released ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Jun 18, 2007

In 1991 James Patterson and Peter Kim released The Day America Told the Truth, a study based on an extensive opinion survey which guaranteed the anonymity of its participants. And the truth was shocking Let me give you a brief sampling of their findings: Only 13% of Americans see all Ten ...read more

Tags: Cults

Martin Luther Had A Dream Where He Was Being ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Jun 18, 2007

Martin Luther had a dream where he was being attacked by the devil. The devil unrolled a long scroll containing a list of Luther’s sins, and held it before him. On reaching the end of the scroll Luther asked the devil, “Is that all?” The devil said, “No,” and a second scroll was placed in front of ...read more

Tags: God's Omniscience

For Centuries People Believed That Aristotle Was ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Jun 18, 2007

For centuries people believed that Aristotle was right when he said that the heavier an object, the faster it would fall to earth. Aristotle was regarded as the greatest thinker of all time, and surely he would not be wrong. Anyone, of course, could have taken two objects, one heavy and one light, ...read more

Tags: Sin Deceptive

Ray O'conner - Ultimate Night Fisherman - He ...

Contributed by Gary Kins on Jun 21, 2007

1. Ray O’Conner - Ultimate Night Fisherman - He loved to fish and he loved to teach others how to fish. Owned the home we lived in in Aurora Wisconsin when I was a boy. Ultimate Bullhead Fisherman - Knew where - Favorite sloughs (off the Menomenie River seprating Wisconsin from Michigan?) ... ...read more

Denomination: Christian/Church Of Christ

If I Don't Love This One...  PRO

Contributed by Sermon Central on Mar 17, 2009

"IF I DON’T LOVE THIS ONE..." There was a little girl who had a very large collection of dolls heaped on her bed. A guest in her room one day asked herd "Do you love dolls" Then, with tender loving care, she spread out the whole collection for the guest to inspect and admire. The guest asked her, ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 5:43-47, Matthew 5:38-48, Micah 5:2-5

Tags: Christian Love

Love Them Like Jesus

Contributed by Paul Wallace on Mar 25, 2009

LOVE THEM LIKE JESUS Dr Tom Hermiz in his book on Holiness tells of being in a motel room in Columbus Ohio before preaching three times on Sunday at a missionary conference. The people in the next room had a loud party, and at 1 am he called the front desk, and they called the room. But it was ...read more

Tags: Sermon On The Mount

Denomination: Wesleyan

Economy: Good News And Bad News

Contributed by Shane Hargrave on Aug 4, 2009

ECONOMY: GOOD NEWS AND BAD NEWS A farmer went to his banker and announced that he had bad news and good news. "First, the bad news..." "Well," said the farmer, "I can't make my mortgage payments. And that crop loan I've taken out for the past 10 years--I can't pay that off, either. Not only that, ...read more

Tags: Hardship Of Life

Denomination: Christian/Church Of Christ

Hanukkah Vs. Christmas  PRO

Contributed by Sermon Central on Nov 11, 2009

HANUKKAH VS. CHRISTMAS In his book The Jesus I Never Knew, Philip Yancey recounts an episode of the TV show Thirtysomething in which Hope, a Christian, argues with her husband Michael, a Jew, about the holidays. "Why do you even bother with Hanukkah?" she asks. "Do you really believe a handful of ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 1:17-25, Luke 2:7

Tags: Birth Of Jesus

Pastor Prays Honestly After Loss Of ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Nov 30, 2009

Pastor Prays Honestly After Loss of Son O The Beauty of Honest prayer (I think God prefers angry honesty vs. flowery fakeness) Heard a story this week of a pastor who lost his precious little son in a tragic accident. Told how he drove the freeways of Los Angeles in the grief of that loss. Said… ...read more

Scripture: 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18

Tags: Death

The Story Is Told Of Six Wwii Navy Pilots Who ...

Contributed by Dale Pilgrim on Feb 4, 2010

The story is told of six WWII Navy pilots who left their aircraft carrier on a mission. After searching for enemy submarines, they tried to return to their ship shortly after dark. But the captain ordered a blackout of all lights on the ship. The frantic pilots radioed repeatedly asking for just ...read more

Tags: Doubt

Denomination: Salvation Army

Hoping More People Do The Right Thing

Contributed by Ed Vasicek on Mar 29, 2010

HOPING MORE PEOPLE DO THE RIGHT THING A recent (March 2010) AFP article hit the presses this week: CHICAGO (AFP) – People fell onto a bag of cash like a pack of hungry piranhas after more than $100,000 tumbled out the back of an armored truck onto an Ohio street, local media reported. The bag ...read more

Tags: Character

Denomination: Independent/Bible

A Pleasing Aroma

Contributed by Curry Pikkaart on Mar 30, 2010

A PLEASING AROMA There was a factory in northern France where lavender for use in perfumes was produced. Each evening as the workers would head for home and walk the streets the little town, the whole village would be filled with the sweet aroma of lavender that had clung to the workers. That's ...read more

Tags: Christian Witness

Denomination: Presbyterian/Reformed

You May Have Read The Story Of Tom Smitheringale ...

Contributed by John Perry on Apr 18, 2010

You may have read the story of Tom Smitheringale & how he revealed how close he came to perishing in an icy grave in the last few days. The explorer survived falling through ice into freezing water during his solo expedition to the North Pole, sustaining only mild hypothermia and frostbite on some ...read more

Tags: Humility

Denomination: Pentecostal