In Sermon Illustrations: "Than Ksgiving"

What Do I Do When I Am Rejected?

Contributed by Wade Martin Hughes, Sr on Jan 17, 2022

REJECTED, TRY AGAIN SORRY CHARLIE? REMEMBER THE STARKIST TUNA MASCOT? CHARLIE IS THE MOST FAMOUS … TOUGH LUCK, BRO… JUST GET OVER IT… REJECTED? WE CAN HELP CHEER ON OTHERS THAT HAVE BEEN REJECTED. CARMELO ANTONY, third player picked in the NBA DRAFT,. He played 17 years and became one ...read more

Scripture: 1 Thessalonians 5:11, Philippians 2:3

Tags: Try Again, Persist, Rejection

Denomination: Assembly Of God

P-U-L-L Or Pray Until Lesson’s Learned!

Contributed by Jonathan Spurlock on Nov 30, 2023

Introduction: A lot of us might remember the acronym P-U-S-H, standing for Pray Until Something Happens! The other day, something happened to me to give a bit of a humorous slant or angle on that idea. Text: Proverbs 3:13-14, KJV: 13 Happy is the man that findeth wisdom, and the man that getteth ...read more

Scripture: Proverbs 3:13-14

Tags: Wisdom, Learning

Denomination: Baptist

Dietrich Bonhoeffer's Motives For Meditation

Contributed by Dr. Larry Petton on Mar 25, 2024

Dietrich Bonhoeffer required his seminarians to give half an hour each morning to scripture meditation. Many of the students struggled with this task, so he wrote these instructions to help them understand the importance of meditation and to help them learn how to meditate on God’s Word. Why do I ...read more

Tags: Prayer, Word Of God, Meditation, Quiet Time, Spiritual Discipline, Devotionals, Bible  (view more)  (view less)

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

Simeon The Pillar Hermit

Contributed by Martin Spoelstra on Aug 28, 2024

Simeon was probably like most boys his age in A.D. 403. The 13-year-old spent much of his time caring for his father's flocks on the hillside of Cilicia. But one day, while listening to a sermon on the beatitudes, stirred and changed he left his home and family and began a lifelong pursuit of ...read more

Scripture: Revelation 3:20

Tags: Finding God, Monks, Intimacy With God, Separation, Holiness  (view more)  (view less)

Denomination: Presbyterian/Reformed

A Marriage Confession  PRO

Contributed by Johnny Creasong on Oct 3, 2008

A Marriage Confession I have a confession to make this morning. I am really not sure how to say this to you. I am embarrassed, ashamed, and really fearful of what you might think of me once you know the truth. I must confess to you this morning that my wife, Ronda, and I have irreconcilable ...read more

Tags: Understanding, Unity

Denomination: Church Of God

A New ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Oct 22, 2008

A New Song? The preface to this radically contemporary version of the Bible included this plea from the translators for patience and acceptance: a new translation, “deserveth much respect and esteem, but yet findeth cold entertainment in the world. It is welcomed with suspicion instead of love…. ...read more

Tags: Worship General

Don't Let Me Go Back To Hell.

Contributed by Sermon Central on Jan 5, 2009

"DON’T LET ME GO BACK TO HELL." Dr. Maurice Rawlings is a cardiologist and professor of medicine at the University of Tennessee College of Medicine in Chattanooga, and his colleagues are constantly treating emergency patients, many of whom have had near-death experiences. A study of these cases by ...read more

Tags: Hell

For A Project For World Religions Class, I ...  PRO

Contributed by Christopher Kennedy on Jan 23, 2009

For a project for World Religions class, I interviewed a Muslim named Karim. Karim moved to America a couple decades ago. He worked at a restaurant and fell in love with one of the waitresses there, Susie. The two of them decided to get married. She took him home to meet her mother, a life-long ...read more

Tags: Evangelism How To

Denomination: Lutheran

Look Up

Contributed by Johnny Wilson on Mar 2, 2009

LOOK UP I love those scenes in action films, comics, or cartoons where you have one set of bad guys pursuing the hero from one end of a tunnel or corridor and another set of bad guys is converging from the other side. You know the hero is in between them, but when the groups of pursuers meet in ...read more

Tags: Fear And Worry

Denomination: *other

First The Stones; Then The Mountain!" 1 ...  PRO

Contributed by Mark Brunner on Apr 26, 2005

“First The Stones; Then The Mountain!” 1 Corinthians 9:24-28 Key verse(s) 6:“Therefore I do not run as a man aimlessly; I do not fight like a man beating the air.” One thing I have learned is that one of the primary reasons for accepting defeat too soon is that some of us, myself included, tend to ...read more

Scripture: 1 Corinthians 9:24-28

Tags: Endurance, Faith

Denomination: Lutheran

Take One Down And Pass It Around!" Acts 14:21-25 ...

Contributed by Mark Brunner on May 11, 2005

“Take One Down and Pass It Around!” Acts 14:21-25 Key verse(s) 21a:“They preached the good news in that city and won a large number of disciples . . .” “Take one down and pass it around, ninety-nine bottles of beer on the wall.” Although this wasn’t one of those endearing songs to dads on vacation ...read more

Scripture: Acts 14:21-25

Tags: Gifts Encouragement, Christian Disciplines

Denomination: Lutheran

Comfortable Out-On-A-Limb!" Romans 11:33-36 Key ...

Contributed by Mark Brunner on May 23, 2005

“Comfortable Out-On-A-Limb!” Romans 11:33-36 Key verse(s) 11:“For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be the glory forever! Amen.” Get real! When as a youth I heard this phrase, it often gave me reason to pause. If someone was insisting that I was caught up in a fantasy and ...read more

Scripture: Romans 11:33-36

Tags: Trinity

Denomination: Lutheran

You’re Probably Familiar With The Book ...  PRO

Contributed by Alan Perkins on May 9, 2001

You’re probably familiar with the book "Moby Dick". Even if you’ve never read it, you know the story: Captain Ahab goes in search of a great while whale, and is finally killed when the whale attacks and destroys his ship. But you probably didn’t know that this scene in Herman Melville’s novel was ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 5:13-20, Matthew 5:21-37, Matthew 5:38, Matthew 5:6, Matthew 22:15-22, Ezekiel 37:12-14  (view more)  (view less)

Tags: God's Omniscience, Holy Spirit In Believers, Knowing God's Will, Jehoshaphat

Denomination: Baptist

What I'll Be Doing For Memorial Day  PRO

Contributed by Sermon Central on May 19, 2002

WHAT I'LL BE DOING FOR MEMORIAL DAY Memorial Day is a rough day for me. It’s a day of remembering. Remembering can be curse when you’ve spent years trying to forget. It’s even worse when you get mad at yourself for not being able to remember. It’s strange that you forget so many things you want ...read more

Tags: Christian Disciplines, Holidays Civic

Fight Club

Contributed by Jay Winters on Feb 9, 2008

In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, the Holy Three In One who makes our lives more beautiful than what they could ever be on their own. Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ, About ten years ago, a movie came out that just about everyone saw. It was called “Fight ...read more

Denomination: Lutheran

All Things New

Contributed by Peter Loughman on Jun 16, 2009

ALL THINGS NEW Years ago, I had the classic New Jersey car accident: I was hit from behind as I stopped for someone in a crosswalk. The guy actually got out of his car threw up his hands and exclaimed, "What the blank are you stopping for?" I got out of my car and motioned to the crosswalk, "I ...read more

Tags: Born Again

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

His Last Thoughts Were Of His Children

Contributed by Sermon Central on Aug 4, 2010

HIS LAST THOUGHTS WERE OF HIS CHILDREN A Union sergeant was killed on the first day of fighting in Gettysburg. He was just one of more than 3,000 Union soldiers who died in the three-day conflict. When his body was found later that week, lying in a secluded spot in Gettysburg, he was holding a ...read more

Scripture: 1 John 3:1-2

Tags: Love, Father's Day

Meet Me At The Men's Store

Contributed by Davon Huss on Aug 29, 2011

MEET ME AT THE MEN'S STORE Paying my way through Ohio State University was demanding, but the benefit was worth the struggle. My father had died during my senior year in high school, and my mother had become blind. With her encouragement, however, I enrolled in the University on the eve of the ...read more

Tags: Grace

Denomination: Christian/Church Of Christ

Good To Great: The Level 5 ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Jan 26, 2009

GOOD TO GREAT: THE LEVEL 5 LEADER One of the books I read recently was Jim Collins’ bestselling management book, "Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap, and Others Don’t." The phenomenal bestseller came out seven years ago, and yet it still sells over 300,000 copies a year. It showcased ...read more

Tags: Leadership General

Don't Give Pain The Short Shrift!" Luke 13:10-17 ...  PRO

Contributed by Mark Brunner on Mar 9, 2005

“Don’t Give Pain the Short Shrift!” Luke 13:10-17 Key verse(s): 16:“‘Then should not this woman, a daughter of Abraham, whom Satan has kept bound for eighteen long years, be set free on the Sabbath day from what bound her?’.” Many things in this life get short shrift. Perhaps its the lot of the ...read more

Scripture: Luke 13:10-17, Luke 13:6-9

Tags: Forgiveness In Jesus, God's Creation

Denomination: Lutheran