In Sermon Illustrations: "The Samaritan Woman"

Love Her Or Loathe Her, Winfrey Has Become Proof ...

Contributed by Paul Wallace on Sep 20, 2006

Love her or loathe her, Winfrey has become proof that you can’t be too rich, too thin or too committed to rising to your place in the world. With 49 million viewers each week in the USA and more in the 122 other countries to which the show is distributed, Winfrey reaches more people in a TV day ...read more

Denomination: Wesleyan

Tony Campolo Relates The Time His Mother Called ...

Contributed by Timothy Smith on Oct 20, 2006

Tony Campolo relates the time his mother called him and told him that Mrs. Kilpatrick had died. He said, this dear woman, Mrs. Kilpatrick, had lived on his street in W. Philly as he was growing up. She had taken him to museums, concerts, social functions. So, Tony’s mom called and said, "Now, Tony ...read more

Denomination: Christian Church

God Just Needs A Voice  PRO

Contributed by Sermon Central on Jul 13, 2009

GOD JUST NEEDS A VOICE John Stott, a well-known British pastor and theologian, was invited to preach at the University of Sydney in Australia; but after he got there, he lost his voice. He describes his experience as follows: "What can you do with a missionary who has no voice? We had come to ...read more

Scripture: Luke 21:14-15, Matthew 1:18-24

Tags: God Brings Purpose

The Power In Touching The Untouchable  PRO

Contributed by Sermon Central on Jul 14, 2009

THE POWER IN TOUCHING THE UNTOUCHABLE Jesus, the Christ, is still in the business of touching the untouchable! You may feel like you are too dirty or too wicked for Jesus, the Christ, to touch you with His forgiveness today! As an illustration, you may remember the move enitled "The Elephant ...read more

Scripture: Romans 5:8

Tags: Grace

Soldier Lies To Napoleon About Heroism, Israeli ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Nov 8, 2009

Soldier Lies to Napoleon About Heroism, Israeli Woman Lies About Age Napoleon often told this story: Once, while visiting a province he came on an old soldier with one arm severed, dressed in full uniform. On his uniform the proud fighter displayed the coveted Legion of Honor. “Where did you lose ...read more

Scripture: Proverbs 12:17

Tags: Lies

Loving The Outcasts  PRO

Contributed by Sermon Central on Dec 7, 2009

LOVING THE OUTCASTS One of the more remarkable movements of modern times is Alcoholics Anonymous or AA, a fellowship of men and women who share their experience, strength and hope with each other that they might solve their common problem and help others to recover from alcoholism. Although it is ...read more

Scripture: John 4:9

Tags: Action, Thirst, Common Ground, Christian Love

Homeless Man Comes Home To His ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Jan 1, 2010

Homeless Man Comes Home to His Mother In 1988 there was a story in the LA Times entitled “A Mother’s Search for Russell Love.” It told of a woman in Houston named Beverly Elliott. She had not seen her son, Russell Love, for four years and had not heard from him in two years; but she knew he was ...read more

Scripture: Luke 15:11-32

Tags: Parable Prodigal Son

Tending Your ...

Contributed by Christian Cheong on Jan 9, 2010

TENDING YOUR GARDEN Suppose 2 women were planting a vegetable garden. On the same day, they prepared the earth and planted their seeds. One then neglected her garden and waited for her vegetables to grow. The other woman worked in her garden regularly. She put cages around the young tomato ...read more

Tags: Growth In Christ

Denomination: Independent/Bible

Tending Your ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Feb 1, 2010

Tending Your Garden Suppose 2 women were planting a vegetable garden. On the same day, they prepared the earth and planted their seeds. One then neglected her garden and waited for her vegetables to grow. The other woman worked in her garden regularly. She put cages around the young tomato plants, ...read more

Scripture: 2 Peter 1:5-9

Tags: Disciplines General

The In-Laws: "Are You A Praying Man?"

Contributed by Isaac Butterworth on Nov 19, 2010

THE IN-LAWS: "ARE YOU A PRAYING MAN?" Sheldon Kornpett was a quiet, reserved man with a successful dental practice in Manhattan, that is, until he met his future in-laws, Mr. and Mrs. Vince Ricardo. Sheldon’s daughter was soon to be married to their son, so Sheldon’s wife hosted a dinner party at ...read more

Tags: Prayer General

Denomination: Presbyterian/Reformed

Anna's Stories

Contributed by Sermon Central on Apr 7, 2011

ANNA'S STORIES A thirty-four-year-old German woman named Anna Rosmus recently told the tragic story of what happened in her hometown in Germany during World War II. Speaking at Carson-Newman College in Tennessee, she told of growing up in Passau, Germany, years after the war. As a teenager, she ...read more

Scripture: Romans 13:1-7

Tags: Church Purpose Of

A Peacemaking Church  PRO

Contributed by Sermon Central on Aug 25, 2011

A PEACEMAKING CHURCH I can tell this story because one neighbor has died and the other neighbor no longer lives across the street from our church. Our neighbors endured the disruption of their lives as we built on to our church. I'm sure that contributed to their lack of patience with us. We put ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 5:9, Exodus 32:1-14, Isaiah 32:15-20

Tags: Jesus Teachings

The "Regard For Others" Ethic

Contributed by Don Berry-Graham on Jan 24, 2012

THE "REGARD FOR OTHERS" ETHIC John Sommerville currently teaches history at the University of Florida. He has been carrying out an exercise with his students for years. He challenges his students with the following thought experiment. Imagine that you see a little old lady coming down the ...read more

Scripture: Luke 10:25-37

Tags: Neighbor

Denomination: Baptist

Follow Instructions: Rafting The Rio Grande

Contributed by Sermon Central on May 5, 2012

FOLLOW INSTRUCTIONS: RAFTING THE RIO GRANDE A few years ago, my family climbed aboard a rubber raft for a ride down the rapids of the Rio Grand River. We had never been on such an adventure, but all of us were experienced swimmers, and the river seemed to be fairly shallow. It seemed to be a ...read more

Scripture: Proverbs 4:20-27

Tags: Obedience

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

Jesus In Every Book Of The Bible

Contributed by Dr. Larry Petton on May 19, 2016

JESUS IN EVERY BOOK OF THE BIBLE In Genesis – He is the seed of woman. In Exodus - He is the Passover Lamb. In Leviticus- He is Our High Priest. In Numbers- He is the Cloud by day and a Pillar of Fire by night. In Deuteronomy- He is the Prophet like unto Moses. In ...read more

Scripture: Colossians 2:1-7

Tags: Bible, Jesus, Salvation

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

Lo Ruhamah

Contributed by Sam Mccormick on Dec 15, 2016

Lo-Ruhamah There is no Old Testament story more fascinating than that of the prophet Hosea, who at commands of the Lord, acted out a parallel of God’s love, yet severe warnings for his unfaithful people, the kingdom of Israel. Contrary to every healthy instinct and cautionary impulse, Hosea was ...read more

Tags: Hosea, Name, Pity

Denomination: Christian/Church Of Christ

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: Battle, War

Denomination: Pentecostal

Breathtaking

Contributed by Todd Catteau on Nov 19, 2019

I recently had a conversation with a woman who is a double lung transplant recipient. The transplant took place over 20 years ago and I had known part of her story, but there was a detail she included in this retelling that stopped me in my tracks. She gave some facts about the disease, when she ...read more

Tags: Thanksgiving, Thanks, Grateful, Gratefulness, Blessings  (view more)  (view less)

Denomination: Christian/Church Of Christ