In Sermon Illustrations: "The Me Generation"

Elijah Cadman

Contributed by Sermon Central on Aug 10, 2011

ELIJAH CADMAN Let me tell you about the six-year-old drunken chimney sweep who went on to become a great leader in our movement. Elijah Cadman was born in Coventry, the youngest of five children of a drunkard father who died when Cadman was three years old. Aged six, Cadman was unusually small ...read more

Scripture: 2 Corinthians 5:11-21

Tags: Becoming A Christian

Why Worry?  PRO

Contributed by Sermon Central on Aug 12, 2011

WHY WORRY? In a 2006 article in Time magazine called "Why We Worry About the Things We Shouldn’t" Jeffrey Kluger, writes: As human beings, we pride ourselves on being the only species that understands the concept of risk. Yet we have a confounding habit of worrying about mere possibilities while ...read more

Scripture: Philippians 4:6-8

Tags: Worry

John Stott, A Humble Man

Contributed by Sermon Central on Sep 7, 2011

JOHN STOTT, A HUMBLE MAN I like the way Thomas Carlyle put it some time ago. He said, "One example is worth a thousand arguments." (Thomas Carlyle, quoted in Men of Integrity, July/August 2000; www.Preaching Today.com) In difficult times, we don't need dictators and arguments. We need leaders ...read more

Scripture: 1 Peter 5:1-4

Tags: Humility

You Can't Come In...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Sep 8, 2011

"YOU CAN'T COME IN..." There was once a town drunk who gave his heart to Jesus Christ. He immediately stopped drinking and began to look for a church and had purposed in his heart that he would attend the first church he found. Determined to turn his life around he found a church and went in. He ...read more

Scripture: James 2:1-13

Tags: Hypocrisy

Our "In Jesus" Voice

Contributed by Jeff Strite on Nov 28, 2011

OUR "IN JESUS" VOICE I'm always intrigued by the phrase some parents and care-givers use with children: "Now children, we need to use our 'indoor' voices." What Ephesians 4 is saying is that when in the church (not the building) we need to use our "in Jesus" voices. Those voices need to lift up, ...read more

Tags: Encouragement

Denomination: Christian/Church Of Christ

A White Man Would Come

Contributed by Davon Huss on Dec 12, 2011

A WHITE MAN WOULD COME At 2006 when the National Missionary Convention was held in Indianapolis, IN, the invited guest for the Bible study was a man named Mont Cox, a professor at Harding University in Searcy, Arkansas. He told a story I think I will never forget. As a young man growing up he ...read more

Tags: Prayer In The Spirit

Denomination: Christian/Church Of Christ

Is He Real Or Pretend?

Contributed by Mark Stepherson on Dec 15, 2011

IS HE REAL OR PRETEND? I think George Reeves was the first actor to be Superman on TV. Back in the 50's, TV actors were not quite as "elite" as some seem to be now. They would throw out the first pitch at a Los Angeles little league game. They would fire the starting pistol for a soap box derby ...read more

Scripture: 1 Samuel 16:7, Isaiah 29:13

Tags: Hypocrisy, Sincerity

Denomination: Baptist

The Story Of The Gipper

Contributed by Charlie Roberts on Feb 2, 2012

THE STORY OF THE GIPPER It was halftime of the 1928 Army vs. Notre Dame Game that legendary head coach Knute Rockne gave his "win one for the Gipper" speech to his beleaguered players. Notre Dame was having one of its worst seasons on record and Rockne was trying to salvage what he could of the ...read more

Tags: Encouragement

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

Holy Images

Contributed by Sermon Central on May 6, 2012

HOLY IMAGES There are three true stories about holy images: A few years ago a woman in New Mexico was frying tortillas. One of the tortillas burned and the result was an image that looked like a face; she thought it looked like Jesus. She took the tortilla to her priest and he agreed it looked ...read more

Scripture: Isaiah 44:6-23

Tags: Idolatry

If ...

Contributed by Joe Bertone on Aug 1, 2012

IF ONLY There was a great Scotch writer and historian in the nineteenth century named Thomas Carlyle. He married a woman, who’d worked as his secretary named Jane Welsh. But Carlyle was dedicated to his writing so he didn’t spend much time with her. He just mostly wrote. At one point she became ...read more

Scripture: James 4:13-17

Tags: Death, Remorse, Parable Ten Virgins, Regret

Denomination: Christian/Church Of Christ

Unusual Banquet

Contributed by Davon Huss on Oct 22, 2013

Unusual Banquet Boston Globe's account in June 1990 of a most unusual wedding banquet. Accompanied by her fiance, a woman went to the Hyatt Hotel in downtown Boston and ordered the meal. The two of them poured over the menu, made selections of china and silver, and pointed to pictures of the ...read more

Scripture: Luke 14:12-14

Tags: Feed, Banquet, Repay

Denomination: Christian/Church Of Christ

God Knows How To Get Us There...

Contributed by Wade Martin Hughes, Sr on May 20, 2016

SOMETIMES LIFE KNOWS WE NEED A PIT STOP --- LIFE MAY GIVE US WHAT WE NEED --- NOT WHAT WE WANT... Did you hear about the KING that loved his people so much? This KING loved his family. The King had the most beautiful palace, and to protect his family he had a huge MOTE dug around the palace. He ...read more

Scripture: John 15:11

Tags: Trust God, God Can

Denomination: Assembly Of God

God's Tattoo

Contributed by Richard L. Brown on Nov 2, 2016

God’s Tattoo Isaiah 49: 8-16 When my grandson Isaiah was three years old he had a problem of wondering off and hiding. One day my daughter Maeghan and my wife Becky where shopping at a local mall and of course, he slipped off. All of a sudden they realized he was missing. They panicked, running ...read more

Scripture: Isaiah 49:8-16

Tags: God's Love, God's Longing, God's Love For Us

Denomination: Presbyterian/Reformed

This Is Going To Be A Wonderful Day

Contributed by Wade Martin Hughes, Sr on Nov 18, 2016

Psalm 118:24 This is the day which the LORD hath made; we will rejoice and be glad in it. I love the story of the lady that was in a terrible battle with cancer. She made a choice: THIS IS GOING TO BE A WONDERFUL DAY. She decided she was going to MAKE THE CHOICE TO BE THANKFUL and LOVE LIFE ...read more

Scripture: Psalm 118:24

Tags: Thankfulness, Positive Attitude, A Good Day

Denomination: Assembly Of God

What's Most Important To You?

Contributed by Ed Sasnett on Mar 27, 2018

Next to Billy Graham, Rick Warren and Joel Osteen are probably to most recognizable ministers in America. Warren is the author of the top selling hardcover book of all time, The Purpose Driven Life. It sold 30 million copies. Speaking about his "purpose driven" success, in 2005 Warren told U.S. ...read more

Scripture: 1 Corinthians 9:1-27

Tags: Evangelism, Priority

Denomination: Baptist

War

Contributed by Steve Kinnard on Feb 15, 2019

WAR My life fell apart in the summer of ‘68. One minute I was the happiest man in the world then wham! It was all over. My countenance changed from a look of total contentment into one filled with agony and anguish. Here I was living in total rapture, married to the woman of my dreams. It’s hard ...read more

Scripture: Ephesians 6:10-18

Tags: War, Battle

Denomination: Pentecostal

Great Endurance Produces Great Reward

Contributed by Charlie Roberts on Jun 23, 2019

I’m reminded of the story of a man born in the late 1800s. One of several children being the oldest, took care of the younger children and began to cook for them at a young age of seven yrs old. His father died when he was young leaving him even more responsibility. He worked many jobs in his ...read more

Scripture: James 1:2

Tags: Endurance, Faithfulness, Reward

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

The Man Who Made A Pet Out Of A Rattlesnake

Contributed by David Goering on Nov 1, 2019

ILLUSTRATION: the story of the man who made a pet out of a rattlesnake. The "Memphis Commercial-Appeal" tells of a man across the river in Arkansas who had a pet rattlesnake. He had found it as a baby snake, taking it, fed it, and made a pet of it. The reptile would come when he ...read more

Scripture: Romans 6:23

Tags: Death, Sin

My Little Light

Contributed by Wade Martin Hughes, Sr on Oct 26, 2021

I HAVE A COMPELLING FOCUS TO REACH MY GOD POTENTIAL… MY CANDLE? I FIND THE ROOM SO DARK… WILL MY LITTLE LIGHT MAKE A DIFFERENCE? WILL I CONSIDER MY SEEDS, MY LITTLE CANDLE, THE LIGHT… James 3:5 Even so the tongue is a little member, and boasteth great things. Behold, how great a matter a ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 5:14-16, James 3:5

Tags: Light, Consumed

Denomination: Assembly Of God

Never Quit Growing

Contributed by Wade Martin Hughes, Sr on Feb 9, 2022

GROWTH IS ESSENTIAL OR ONE WILL GET STAGNATE AND BEGIN A DECREASE. Growth is essential to long term survival. We must learn to take advantage of opportunities and take risk. GROWTH: improve, increase, develop, mature, progressive development, MATURITY, AGE, SIZE, WEIGHT, HEIGHT. 2 Peter 3:18 ...read more

Scripture: 2 Peter 3:18, Philippians 1:9

Tags: Plan, Growth

Denomination: Assembly Of God