In Sermon Illustrations: "The Prodigal Son"

Michael Had Been Pinching Pennies For 3 Months ...

Contributed by Davon Huss on Jan 18, 2010

Michael had been pinching pennies for 3 months since being laid off from his job. He’d promised to take his twin sons to an amusement park for the 10th birthday, and he wasn’t going to let them down. So when the day rolled around, Michael went into the cash reserves and pulled together enough to ...read more

Tags: Children, Honesty

Denomination: Christian/Church Of Christ

Hey Bob! Building Margin In Your Life

Contributed by Jim Kane on Feb 27, 2010

"HEY BOB!" BUILDING MARGIN IN YOUR LIFE In his book, The Short List: In A Life Full of Choices, There Are Only Four That Matter, Butterworth tells of the time when he came home to his family after another weekend speaking engagement when his then youngest son decided to start talking at the Monday ...read more

Tags: Father's Day

Denomination: Church Of God

Dianne Odell's Attitude Remained Positive, Even ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Jun 7, 2010

Dianne Odell’s Attitude Remained Positive, Even in an Iron Lung I read once of Dianne Odell of Jackson, Tennessee. She was quite a lady. Her life story received nation-wide attention. Dianne graduated from high school and college, she was involved with her church, and wrote her autobiography. ...read more

Scripture: John 8:34-36

Tags: Disability

War Horse: Perseverence

Contributed by Paul Barreca on Apr 8, 2012

WAR HORSE: PERSEVERENCE Last week, I watched "War Horse." It's a Steven Spielberg film about a young English boy and his horse. The family is about to lose their farm because dad bought a horse for his son. The father bears a war injury and cannot tend the farm. He spends his last money ...read more

Tags: Tenacity

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

Knowledge By Revelation

Contributed by Michael Mccartney on Apr 15, 2012

KNOWLEDGE BY REVELATION Dr. Nichols states, "There must be a difference between the knowledge that comes from the gathering of information, and that which comes by revelation. The Pharisees and Sadducees had the best information anyone could have in their day. If you asked them, they would tell ...read more

Tags: Church Body Of Christ

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

A Defensive Programming Problem

Contributed by Sermon Central on May 9, 2012

A DEFENSIVE PROGRAMMING PROBLEM In the 1982 war in the Falkland Islands between England and Argentina, the Royal Navy’s 3,500-ton destroyer HMS Sheffield was sunk by a single missile fired from an Argentine fighter jet. This caused some people to wonder if modern surface warships were obsolete. ...read more

Scripture: Hebrews 9:27-28

Tags: Judgment

Rocky Balboa: Don't Give Up

Contributed by Ted Robinson on Feb 25, 2013

ROCKY BALBOA: DON'T GIVE UP These are the words Rocky Balboa said to his son when he was ready to give up and lead a life of mediocrity: "Let me tell you something you already know. The world ain't all sunshine and rainbows. It is a very mean and nasty place and it will beat you to your knees and ...read more

Tags: Apostasy

Denomination: Pentecostal

Does Your God Bleed?  PRO

Contributed by Dr. Larry Petton on Mar 4, 2014

DOES YOUR GOD BLEED? A little boy went up to a missionary Sunday School leader in another country. The boy said, "I like what you say about the God of the Bible but I can’t see him. But if I go to the temple I can see my God." The missionary said to the little boy, "Son, may I ask you a ...read more

Scripture: Romans 5:8

Tags: Salvation, Cross, Blood Of Jesus

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

Being A Bystander

Contributed by Kelly Benton on Mar 23, 2015

Some years ago we had some friends in our apartment complex that needed some help moving. Now, no one enjoys moving and everyone usually tries to avoid this type of labor if possible. But, these people needed some help so I volunteered myself and our oldest son Zane to help them move. We began ...read more

Scripture: Luke 23:33-35

Tags: Responsibility, Laziness, Bystander

Denomination: Other

Community

Contributed by Michael Mccartney on Oct 2, 2015

Dr. B. adds, “Christ desired that his church would be the earthly community of oneness modeled after the eternal community of oneness. Jesus went on to declare that he had provided his followers with everything they needed to bring about this oneness. He prayed, “I have given them the glory that ...read more

Scripture: 1 Corinthians 12:12-27

Tags: Connection, Church Community, Christian Community

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

The Infinite Can Penetrate The Finite!!

Contributed by Dr. Larry Petton on Mar 1, 2016

Herbert Spencer, one of the popularizes of agnosticism over a century ago, observed accurately that a bird has never been known to fly out of space. Therefore, he concluded by analogy that it is impossible for the finite to penetrate the infinite. Even if God does exist, we can never know Him ...read more

Scripture: John 1:14

Tags: Jesus, Creator, Infinite, Agnosticism

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

Knowledge Vs Wisdom

Contributed by Pastor Randall Timblin on Aug 20, 2018

There is a big difference between knowledge and wisdom. First, let us understand that there is no such thing as wisdom unless it pertains to wisdom from God. All other earthly wisdom is foolishness, according to God. Now that we have that straight, what exactly is the difference. Well, my ...read more

Tags: Wisdom, Knowledge, Foolishness

Denomination: *other

Patience Is A Virtue

Contributed by Pastor Randall Timblin on Aug 20, 2018

My Mother always used to say, 'Only Fools rush in, son!' As I grew and matured, I heard that a lot less because I started to see the wisdom in what she had said and the foolishness in which I, as a young man, was a prime example. Matter-of-fact, if you had looked up foolishness, you would ...read more

Scripture: 2 Thessalonians 3:5

Tags: Patience, Rushing

Denomination: *other

Awaiting Our Full Adoption  PRO

Contributed by Aubrey Vaughan on Jul 10, 2008

AWAITING OUR FULL ADOPTION LAST WEEK I SPOKE ABOUT ROMAN ADOPTION, AND THAT A CHILD WOULD BE TREATED AS HIS OWN CHILD. THIS IS A PICTURE OF WHAT HAS HAPPENED TO US AS SONS/DAUGHTERS OF GOD: WE ARE ADOPTED INTO THE FAMILY OF GOD. THERE WAS A SECOND ADOPTION PROCESS OFTEN UNDERTAKEN IN ROMAN ...read more

Tags: Adoption

Denomination: Baptist

The Tough Questions

Contributed by Bobby Scobey on Sep 11, 2008

The Tough Questions Sandy Perry wrote me on Aug. 15, 2008: Today's paper had an article about the decision of Hope Presybterian to host a tribute to Isaac Hayes. Christians were opposed to the idea of hosting a tribute to a prominent, active Scientologist. One of my coworkers mentioned that all ...read more

Tags: Evangelism How To

Denomination: Pentecostal

Wait? -- I Don't Have To Wait!! Why Doesn't God ...  PRO

Contributed by Steve Lotze on Sep 27, 2008

Wait? -- I don't have to wait!! Why doesn't God just get up to speed? Well, what if I we're going to go under a surgeons knife to redo my face - but I wanted to stay awake during the operation so that I could freely give out my counsel to the surgeon - and tell him to hurry! Hurry! If he was to ...read more

Tags: Arrogance

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

Love As Evangelism

Contributed by Sermon Central on Oct 9, 2008

Love as Evangelism When Henry Stanley went out in 1871 and found Dr. Livingstone, (remember: "Dr. Livingstone, I presume?") he spent some months in his company, but Livingstone never spoke to Stanley about spiritual things. Throughout those months Stanley just watched the old man. Livingstone’s ...read more

Tags: Evangelism The Lost

At The Foot Of The ...

Contributed by Warren Lamb on Oct 12, 2008

“At The Foot Of The Cross” A poem by Naomi Durik The ground is level at the foot of the cross God shows no preference there, He sent His dear Son to die for all The sins of the world to bear. The ground is level at the foot of the cross It’s for all who will accept Him by grace, Salvation is ...read more

Tags: Mercy

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

Keeping The Lights Burning

Contributed by Sermon Central on Dec 28, 2008

KEEPING THE LIGHTS BURNING Robert Russell, pastor and author, tells a story of how about twenty years ago there was a house near the entrance of his subdivision that kept their Christmas lights burning long after the season was past. They burned through January. Even through the first of February ...read more

Tags: God Brings Hope

Do You Know The Poem, "If’, By Rudyard Kipling? ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Dec 31, 2008

Do you know the poem, "If’, by Rudyard Kipling? I’m sure you’ve heard it a hundred times. But let me quote just a part of "If’. "If you can keep your head when all about you are losing theirs and blaming it on you; if you can trust yourself when all men doubt you, but make allowance for ...read more

Tags: Parenting