In Sermon Illustrations: "Talk"

This World Is Not Ours; Don't ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Jul 31, 2008

THIS WORLD IS NOT OURS; DON’T UNDERESTIMATE A farmer noticed that every autumn, a tragedy played out in his cornfields. All summer long, families of field mice had made their homes among the growing plants. They ate and slept, they worked and played and raised their families. The mice imagined ...read more

Tags: Second Coming

What Are You Looking For?  PRO

Contributed by Sermon Central on Sep 2, 2008

WHAT ARE YOU LOOKING FOR? A certain man went to Church one Sunday. He frowned when the organist missed a note during the opening hymn. He gave a mean stare at two teenagers talking to each other when the congregation was at prayer. During the Scripture readings, he kept looking impatiently at his ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 13:21-52

Tags: Weeds, Tares, Church General

In His Book, Building A Contagious Church, Mark ...

Contributed by Dr. George Calhoun on Oct 20, 2008

In his book, Building a Contagious Church, Mark Mittleberg asks us to join him in downtown Grand Rapids, Michigan. As you walk up to the large arena, you see a mass of young people in line for a concert. The headline act is shock-rockeer Marilyn Manson (named after Marilyn Monroe and mass murderer ...read more

Tags: Outreach

Denomination: Baptist

Actions Speak Louder  PRO

Contributed by Tim Smith on Dec 10, 2008

ACTIONS SPEAK LOUDER Andy Stanley tells the story of when he was 13 and learning the meaning of the phrase, "Actions speak louder than words." His dad was the Associate Pastor of First Baptist in Atlanta when the senior pastor was asked to resign. Charles Stanley was asked to preach on Sundays ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 4:12-23

Tags: Character

Denomination: Methodist

The More You ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Feb 10, 2009

THE MORE YOU KNOW Allen Rex Sandage, the greatest observational cosmologist in the world--who has deciphered the secrets of the stars, plumbed the mysteries of quasars, revealed the age of globular clusters, pinpointed the distances of remote galaxies, and quantified the universe’s expansion ...read more

Tags: Apologetics God

Does God Exist? Barbers Don't ...

Contributed by Charles Wallis on Feb 18, 2009

Does God exist? Barbers Don’t Exist… This is one of the best explanations of why God allows pain and suffering that I have seen. It’s an explanation other people will understand. Does God exist? A man went to a barber shop to have his hair cut and his beard trimmed. As the barber began to work, ...read more

Tags: Apologetics God

Denomination: Pentecostal

If Jesus Is Like My Daddy, I Don't Want Him In My Life.

Contributed by Garris Hudson on Jan 1, 2023

When I was pastoring in Texas, I was asked by one of our AWANA leaders to come to her group and talk to a little girl who really wanted to meet her pastor. She had a question for me. So, I paused what I was doing and found my way to where her group met in our church. The little girl was so ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 28:19-20

Tags: Evangelism, Fear, Children, Parents, Trust, Divorce, Assurance, Promises Of God, Fathers  (view more)  (view less)

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

You're Not Home Yet!

Contributed by Garris Hudson on Feb 25, 2023

An old missionary couple had been working in Africa for years, and they were returning to New York City to retire. They had no pension; their health was broken; they were defeated, discouraged, and afraid. They discovered they were booked on the same ship as President Teddy Roosevelt, who was ...read more

Scripture: Galatians 5:22-23

Tags: Missionaries, Heaven, Faithfulness, Spiritual Fruit, Rewards, Fruit Of The Spirit  (view more)  (view less)

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

Epiphany

Contributed by Richard L. Brown on Jan 11, 2025

When I was in High School, I had a teacher named Miss Mary Bartram. She taught English and Literature. One day she read a poem to us by Robert Frost, entitled “The Road Not Taken”. She read it with such commitment and passion that I believe she changed a lot of lives that day, ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 2:1-12

Tags: Faith, Choice

Denomination: Presbyterian/Reformed

[149]. A Message From A Poem – It’s The Gospel Truth

Contributed by Ron Ferguson on Jul 31, 2025

[149]. A MESSAGE FROM A POEM – IT’S THE GOSPEL TRUTH In this poem I use the word “gospel” in a wider sense than the four Gospels. It examines a number of truths from the bible. I am talking about the good news of the gospel. Each of the 8 stanzas has some truth in it from the bible, ...read more

Scripture: 2 Corinthians 4:3-5, Romans 1:16

Tags: Christian Poems, Truth, The Gospel, Gospel Truth, Not Ashamed Of The Gospel  (view more)  (view less)

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

Mercy In The Middle Of War

Contributed by Joshua Blackmon on May 2, 2026

Illustration: Mercy in the Middle of War There’s a remarkable true story from World War II that my late pastor loved to use when preaching about God’s mercy. It involves two men: Franz Stigler and Charlie Brown. Charlie Brown was flying a B-17 bomber over Germany when his plane was badly ...read more

Scripture: 2 Peter 3:8

Tags: Mercy, Longsuffering, Wwii

Denomination: Pentecostal

Washington Bureau: Terry Mattingly's Religion ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Dec 16, 2001

WASHINGTON BUREAU: Terry Mattingly’s religion column for 11/07/2001 It’s hard to miss the Big Idea when an artist puts it right on a painting in bold letters. "He That Believeth Not Shall Be Damned. Not A Crown But Hellfire And Brimstone," wrote Howard Finster, using his unorthodox spelling and ...read more

Scripture: Romans 6:1-14

Tags: Basics Of Christianity, Becoming A Christian

Shorted-Sightedness  PRO

Contributed by Dru Ashwell on Dec 16, 2001

SHORTED-SIGHTEDNESS "Computers in the future may weigh no more than 1.5 tons." --Popular Mechanics, forecasting the relentless march of science, 1949 "I think there is a world market for maybe five computers." --Thomas Watson, chairman of IBM, 1943 "I have traveled the length and ...read more

Tags: Post Easter, Memorial Day, Leadership General, Reason, Purpose, Endurance, Emmaus Road, Answer, Workplace Evangelism  (view more)  (view less)

Denomination: Christian/Church Of Christ

Dennis E. Mannering Was Teaching A Class For ...  PRO

Contributed by Sheila Crowe on Sep 27, 2002

Dennis E. Mannering was teaching a class for adults, when he did the "unpardonable." He gave the class homework! The assignment was to "go to someone you love within the next week and tell them you love them. It had to be someone you have never said those words to before or at least haven’t shared ...read more

Scripture: 1 Corinthians 13:4-8

Tags: God

Denomination: United Methodist

Bill Hybels And Soccer Coach (Across The Room ...  PRO

Contributed by Paul Wallace on Feb 22, 2007

Bill Hybels and Soccer Coach (Across the Room p30) Bill tells about his sons soccer coach (Brian). One day he felt prompted to leave the sideline and go introduce himself and help put the balls and equiptment away. He wasn’t thrilled to find out Bill was a pastor. After several months of ...read more

Denomination: Wesleyan

Compassion In An Inner-City ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Oct 18, 2009

Compassion in an Inner-City Church Feed the dogs. Touch the dumb, and find faith in places where you least expect it. This is what truly brings pleasure to our Lord, much more than any outward show of self-righteousness. There is church in the inner-city of Chicago that for me demonstrates this ...read more

Scripture: Colossians 3:12-15

Tags: Compassion

Lillie Mae And The Rookie

Contributed by Steve Kinnard on Feb 18, 2019

Lillie Mae and the Rookie (Fruit of the Spirit) Gal 5:21-25 Do you all remember Bubba and Billy Bob; I called ole Bubba down in Hazel Green this week to check on Billy Bob, Daisy and the rest of the family. I ask him how everyone was doing. He said everything is fine with everyone; but they had ...read more

Scripture: Galatians 5:21-25

Tags: Fruit Of The Spirit, Lying

Denomination: Pentecostal

Saved People Have Two Birthdays!

Contributed by Rick Crandall on Jul 4, 2019

Born Again - John 1:12-13 (Also see John 3:1-16) 12. But as many as received Him, to them He gave the (power or authority or) right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name: 13. who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. ...read more

Scripture: John 1:12-13, John 3:1-16

Tags: Born Again, Family Of God

Denomination: Baptist

Forgiveness

Contributed by Steve Malone on Feb 3, 2021

It was in a church in Munich that I saw him, a balding heavyset man in a gray overcoat, a brown felt hat clutched between his hands. People were filing out of the basement room where I had just spoken, moving along the rows of wooden chairs to the door at the rear. It was 1947 and I had come from ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 18:21-35

Tags: Hurt, Forgiveness

Denomination: Christian/Church Of Christ

The Rope Held By Adela Rogers St. Johns  PRO

Contributed by Sermon Central on Jun 18, 2007

THE ROPE HELD by ADELA ROGERS ST. JOHNS Sometimes on sunny days, when I could see my way and feel the pathway firm under my feet, I wondered--Would the rope hold if the worst happened? A bent old man brought me that telegram which in war years hung like a suspended sword over the heart of every ...read more

Tags: Easter Resurrection