In Sermon Illustrations: "Tear Down"

I Used To Have 1982 Volkswagen Golf. It Was Cute ...

Contributed by Eduardo Quintana on Oct 20, 2009

I used to have 1982 Volkswagen Golf. It was cute car and I liked the engineering. I am not a mechanic, so when the car broke down, I would take it to an expert. Not just a mechanic, but also a foreign car specialist. You see this car was a Wolf berg edition made in Germany and I new that a mechanic ...read more

Tags: Stewardship

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

Stowell: How People Go Astray  PRO

Contributed by Sermon Central on Oct 28, 2009

STOWELL: HOW PEOPLE GO ASTRAY Dr. Joseph M. Stowell, in his book, Following Christ, asks the question: HOW DO PEOPLE GO SO FAR ASTRAY SPIRITUALLY? The question was prompted when Dr. Stowell read an article given to him from the local paper the about Tom Wilson who died, gunned down as a member ...read more

Scripture: 1 Corinthians 10:12

Tags: Apostasy

Are You A Big-Godder Or A Little ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Oct 29, 2009

Are You a Big-Godder or a Little Godder? Many years ago, there was a learned Hebrew professor at Princeton Seminary named Robert Dick Wilson. He could read more than 30 Semitic languages! One time about twelve years after Donald Grey Barnhouse had graduated; he went back to the seminary to preach ...read more

Scripture: 2 Timothy 2:1-26

Tags: Sanctification

Basement People Vs. Balcony People

Contributed by Sermon Central on Nov 3, 2009

BASEMENT PEOPLE VS. BALCONY PEOPLE Keith Miller, in his book Passionate People, which he co-authored with Bruce Larson, describes two kinds of people -- "basement people" and "balcony people." "Basement people" are the discouragers in our lives. They may be people from our past, or present, but ...read more

Scripture: Hebrews 10:23-25

Tags: Encouragement

Chief Justice Of Supreme Court Humble Enough To ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Nov 17, 2009

Chief Justice of Supreme Court Humble Enough to Stand Next to a Chinese Laundryman As Christians, we are to trust God the Holy Spirit by being completely humble. Let me share a story which gives us a picture of humility; maybe you will see yourself in this story: When Charles Evans Hughes was ...read more

Scripture: Ephesians 4:1-6

Tags: Humility

Newsman Clarence W. Hall Sees The Impact Of ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Nov 29, 2009

Newsman Clarence W. Hall Sees the Impact of Missions on Okinawa in 1945 A newsman, named Clarence W. Hall, followed American troops through Okinawa in 1945. He and his jeep driver came upon an Okinawan village that stood out as a beautiful example of a Christian community! The entire village had ...read more

Scripture: John 12:44-46

Tags: Missions

Young Chicken Little And Panic.

Contributed by Wade Martin Hughes, Sr on May 6, 2022

THE STORY OF CHICKEN LITTLE… There is a lesson we know as YOUNG CHICKEN LITTLE… I have read how YOUNG CHICKEN LITTLE throws his whole small town into a great panic… CHICKEN LITTLE CLAIMED THE SKY WAS FALLING IN… This must be the end of the world. While CHICKEN LITTLE was hit in the head by a piece ...read more

Scripture: Psalm 73:1-3

Tags: Panic, Conclusions

Denomination: Assembly Of God

Servanthood & Father Damien

Contributed by Clarence Eisberg on Aug 4, 2022

When visiting the Hawaiian Island many tourists will visit the island of Molokai. It has quiet charm, gentle breezes and a soft surf. Father Damien came to the island for a different reason. He came to help people die. He came there because leprosy came there first. No one knows how ...read more

Scripture: Acts 6:1-4, Mark 10:42-45

Tags: Evangelism, Servanthood

Denomination: Lutheran

Amazing Forgiveness

Contributed by Sermon Central on Dec 31, 2022

A policeman recounted an incident when he and other officers shot an eighteen-year-old boy and burned the body. Eight years later the policeman returned to the same house and seized the boy's father. The wife was forced to watch as policemen bound her husband on a woodpile, poured gasoline over ...read more

Scripture: Psalm 65:3

Tags: Grace, Forgiveness

7 Ways To Build Self-Control

Contributed by Dr. Larry Petton on Feb 27, 2023

To be self-controlled is to restrain ourselves by not giving in to our depraved desires. We can say “no” when everything in us is saying “yes” for all the wrong reasons. We deny worldly lusts when we withhold our consent from them and when we refuse the delight they suggest. God will give us the ...read more

Scripture: Galatians 5:22-23

Tags: Temptation, Character, Fruit Of The Spirit, Discipline, Works Of The Flesh, Self Control, Spirit Filled Life  (view more)  (view less)

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

Ancient Christian Fable - There Is No Other Plan

Contributed by J Jeffrey Smead on Mar 13, 2023

There is an ancient Christian fable ... that tells of Jesus encounter ...as he reentered ...Heaven. As the angels spoke with him, ...Gabriel, noticed ...that Jesus bore the marks of the cross, ...and being inquisitive, ...said to Jesus: Master, ...you must have suffered terribly for those people ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 4:19, Romans 10:14, Acts 8:4-7, Acts 1:8

Tags: Plan, Salvation, You, Fisher Of Men

Denomination: Anglican

The Man Who Couldn't Kill Himself

Contributed by Dr. Larry Petton on Aug 21, 2023

Centuries after Esther lived, there lived a man named William Cowper. At the young age of thirty-two, wracked by deep depression and despair, Cowper decided finally to take matters into his own hands and kill himself. He hired a carriage to take him to the Thames River. The carriage driver, a ...read more

Tags: Hymn Stories, Mysteries, Death, Miracles, Depression, Providence, Suicide  (view more)  (view less)

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

Charles Schwab's Challenge

Contributed by David Swanger on Jan 19, 2024

Dale Carnegie tells of a mill manager whose men were not producing. The owner, whose name was Charles Schwab, asked why. The manager had no idea. "I've coaxed the men; I've punished them; I've sworn and cursed; I've threatened them with damnation and being fired. But nothing ...read more

Scripture: Ecclesiastes 9:10

Tags: Challenge, Motivation

Spit It Out!

Contributed by Loyd C. Taylor on Mar 5, 2024

Use part one to open the sermon. Part one: Spit it Out! One Sunday morning after church as I was shaking hands with a young dad, suddenly he said, “Pastor, excuse me, please.” He had noticed his little 4-year-old with something in her mouth. Fearing what she may have in her mouth, he demanded her ...read more

Scripture: Romans 1:16-17, 1 Peter 3:15, Mark 16:15, Matthew 28:18-20

Tags: Soul Winning, Winessing, Salvation, Testimony, The Gospel, Ashamed, Sharing The Gospel  (view more)  (view less)

Denomination: Baptist

Talking Dog For Sale!

Contributed by Dr. Larry Petton on Oct 13, 2024

A guy sees a sign in front of a house: "Talking Dog for Sale." He rings the bell and the owner tells him the dog is in the backyard. The guy goes into the backyard and sees an old black mutt just sitting there. "You talk?" he asks. "Yep," the mutt replies. "So, ...read more

Scripture: Proverbs 12:22, Colossians 3:9, Exodus 20:16

Tags: Sermon Introductions, Truth, Lies, Deceit, Dogs  (view more)  (view less)

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

Those Cookies Are For Your Funeral!!!

Contributed by Dr. Larry Petton on Nov 12, 2024

As an elderly man lay dying in his bed, death’s agony was suddenly pushed aside as he smelled the aroma of his favorite homemade chocolate chip cookies drifting up the stairs. Gathering his remaining strength, he lifted himself from the bed. Leaning against the wall, he slowly made his way out of ...read more

Tags: Cookies, Mean People, Marriage, Heaven, Husbands, Wives, Funerals, Cruelty, Death  (view more)  (view less)

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

Dead Man Walking

Contributed by J Jeffrey Smead on Nov 25, 2025

In some of the Maximum-Security Prisons in the United States ... when a prisoner is taken to be executed ... the guard that is leading the procession continual shouts out, ... "Dead man walking". It means, ...to clear the way ... to quiet down ... for this prisoner is on their last walk ...read more

Scripture: Hebrews 2:15, Romans 5:12

Tags: Sin, Cross, Prison, Slave, Dead, Walking, World, Death  (view more)  (view less)

Denomination: Anglican

Grandpa, The Genius

Contributed by Loyd C. Taylor on Dec 18, 2025

Grandpa, the Genius It certainly looked like this would be a terrible day! You see, I was providing my grandfatherly childcare to my grandson Dawson, who was probably 5 years old at the time. He loved bowling, but like most five-year-olds, he became extremely and easily bored. It was a rainy day, ...read more

Scripture: 2 Timothy 1:5, Proverbs 22:6, Proverbs 17:6, Proverbs 16:31, Ephesians 6:1-4  (view more)  (view less)

Tags: Grandparents, Kids, Children, Family, Humor, Relationships  (view more)  (view less)

Denomination: Baptist

[281]. A Message From A Poem – The Lord Is

Contributed by Ron Ferguson on Jan 31, 2026

[281]. A MESSAGE FROM A POEM – THE LORD IS This poem is the second shortest one I think I have written. I use lots of metaphors here – a metaphor is when you say something is another thing. A simile is saying something is like another thing. There is no rhyme scheme in the poem but there is ...read more

Scripture: Psalm 27:1, Psalm 18:2

Tags: Metaphor, Christian Poems, The Lord Is

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

Bob Russell Shared That Several Months Before ...  PRO

Contributed by Michael Demastus on Oct 22, 2001

*Bob Russell shared that several months before they moved into their new church building in 1998, their ministry staff met at the new site for a special staff meeting. Most of the building still wasn’t carpeted, and some of the rooms still had no drywall. They handed out hard hats, magic markers, ...read more

Scripture: Nehemiah 1:1-11

Tags: Bible Influence

Denomination: Christian/Church Of Christ