In Sermon Illustrations: "Thorny Ground"

Christian Love Impacts A Heartless World  PRO

Contributed by Sermon Central on Oct 18, 2009

CHRISTIAN LOVE IMPACTS A HEARTLESS WORLD We live in a heartless world. The last United States census missed at least 5.7 million people who were anonymous even to the census takers. Every year thousands of unidentified and even unidentifiable bodies are found across North America. And only one out ...read more

Scripture: Ephesians 5:1-2

Tags: Christian Love

Max Lucado On Bethlehem And The Stable  PRO

Contributed by Sermon Central on Dec 30, 2009

MAX LUCADO ON BETHLEHEM AND THE STABLE "They were too busy. The day was upon them. The day’s bread had to be made. The morning’s chores had to be done. There was too much to do to imagine that the impossible had occurred. God had entered the world as a baby. "Yet, were someone to chance upon the ...read more

Scripture: Luke 2:1-7

Tags: Birth Of Jesus

Because One Teen Took Action

Contributed by Bret Toman on Jan 8, 2010

BECAUSE ONE TEEN TOOK ACTION There was a youth group where the teenagers were challenged to try to reach someone in their school for Christ. Everyone blew it off. Except for one guy. He felt compelled to take action. So he did. He knew who he wanted to see come to Christ. It wasn’t exactly someone ...read more

Tags: Evangelism The Lost

Denomination: Baptist

Flying A Plane ...

Contributed by Paul Carlson on Jan 25, 2010

FLYING A PLANE DOWN Robert and his pilot friend Wesley went for a flying trip from Indianapolis to Muncie, Indiana, in June 1998. During the flight, his pilot had a heart attack and slumped over the controls. He was dead. The Cessna 172 single-engine plane began to nosedive and Robert grabbed the ...read more

Tags: Blessing

Denomination: Baptist

Love Me First, Then Witness To Me

Contributed by Sermon Central on Feb 28, 2010

LOVE ME FIRST, THEN WITNESS TO ME In our lesson we have seen that faith without works is useless. It cannot be demonstrated, it cannot change a person, it is not perfected, and it is dead! Our faith does not help us, or others, until it causes us to act. Once a chaplain walked up to a wounded ...read more

Scripture: James 2:21-24

Tags: Christian Witness

Tougher Pastures

Contributed by Curry Pikkaart on Mar 2, 2010

TOUGHER PASTURES For our own good God will not let us stay too comfortable! As unlikely as it sounds, the birth of a giraffe teaches us a similar lesson. When a baby giraffe is born it drops 10 feet to the ground and lands on its back. Within seconds, it rolls to an upright position with its ...read more

Tags: Affliction

Denomination: Presbyterian/Reformed

Something He Didn't Do

Contributed by Josh Cougle on Apr 6, 2010

SOMETHING HE DIDN'T DO My fourth daughter Kezzi is struggling through some things lately; one of them is lying. She's an obvious liar too. A month or so ago, someone left the milk out. Not a huge thing in itself, but Kezzi isn't supposed to pour the milk. Now that complicates it. I call all of the ...read more

Tags: Easter Palm Sunday

Denomination: Baptist

Radio Personality Paul Harvey Tells The Story Of ...

Contributed by Donnie Martin on May 10, 2010

Radio personality Paul Harvey tells the story of how an Eskimo kills a wolf. The account is grisly, yet it offers fresh insight into the consuming, self-destructive nature of sin. “First, the Eskimo coats his knife blade with animal blood and allows it to freeze. Then he adds another layer of ...read more

Tags: Sin Wages Of

Denomination: Baptist

Sitting Down

Contributed by Sermon Central on Apr 5, 2011

SITTING DOWN It’s said that when Henry Ward Beecher was a boy, he had a teacher at school who asked one of the boys in class a question which the boy answered. The teacher became angry and told the boy he was wrong and commanded him to: "Sit down!" The boy was obviously confused because he’d ...read more

Scripture: Romans 10:9-13

Tags: Believe, Confess, Confidence, Saved

Testimony Of Charles Spurgeon  PRO

Contributed by Sermon Central on Aug 3, 2011

TESTIMONY OF CHARLES SPURGEON Charles Spurgeon, credited as the greatest preacher in the history of the English World, read a copy of Pilgrim’s Progress while plundering through his grandfather’s belongings. Through this book he became aware of his sinfulness and depravity. He carried this guilt ...read more

Scripture: John 3:14

Tags: Salvation

Deficiencies

Contributed by Mark Adams on Aug 13, 2011

DEFICIENCIES I want to tell you about a weird thing that used to happen a lot to sailors during the 1600s. Vessels were getting more sea worthy, and adventures were taking people farther and farther from home. You might be on the same ship with the same people, with the same person cooking for ...read more

Tags: Disciplines General

Denomination: Christian/Church Of Christ

On The Way To The Fair

Contributed by Stephen E. Trail on Aug 28, 2011

ON THE WAY TO THE FAIR A man was going to the county fair one day with a pig under one arm and a chicken under one arm, and a basket on his head. He came to a crossroads and didn’t know which way to turn. While he stood there deciding, an attractive young woman approached him, heading the same ...read more

Tags: Romantic Love

Denomination: Baptist

The Gates Will Not Prevail

Contributed by Jeff Strite on Oct 17, 2011

THE GATES WILL NOT PREVAIL Jesus said: "Upon this rock (of Peter's testimony that Jesus was the Christ, the Son of the Living God) I will build my church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it" Matthew 16:18 Now the odd thing about Jesus' statement was this: Gates don't attack. ...read more

Tags: Hell

Denomination: Christian/Church Of Christ

The Gift Of Standing By - Donald Grey Barnhouse ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Jun 18, 2007

THE GIFT OF STANDING BY - Donald Grey Barnhouse told the story (supposedly true) about Chief Justice Charles Evans Hughes. When he moved to Washington, D.C., to take up his duties as Chief Justice, he transferred his membership letter to a Baptist Church in the area. His father had been a Baptist ...read more

Tags: Doing God's Will

Let Me Give You An Example Of The Kind Of Faith ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Jun 18, 2007

Let me give you an example of the kind of faith and trust that is necessary to become a Christian. The world-famous acrobat, Blondin, was born in France in 1824. His real name was Jean Francois Gravalet. Over the years, he became famous throughout Europe and America. In London he once played a ...read more

Tags: Apologetics General

The Red Baron And Temptation  PRO

Contributed by Revd. Martin Dale on Feb 16, 2013

THE RED BARON AND TEMPTATION Manfred, Freiherr von Richthofen was a famous German First World War fighter pilot. He was better known as the Red Baron because he flew a distinctive a red Fokker aircraft. He shot down more combat planes than any one else on either side in the first World war ...read more

Scripture: 1 Corinthians 10:12-14, Daniel 1:5-16, Matthew 25:1-13, Matthew 4:1-11

Tags: Temptation General

Denomination: Anglican

Crucufixion

Contributed by Tim Smith on Feb 11, 2015

David Smith writes about crucifixion. They would take the upright beam and place it in a hole in the ground and fix it steadfast. And then they would take the victim and lay his hands on the cross beam, driving spikes into his quivering flesh and with a rope would hook it onto the cross beam and ...read more

Scripture: Luke 23:33-38

Tags: Crucifixion, Death On A Cross

Denomination: Methodist

Taste The Goodness Of The Lord

Contributed by David Simpson on Apr 17, 2018

We went out to eat the other night at Provinos and I ordered an Italian dish that was absolutely delicious, Cannelloni Genovese (pasta stuffed with ground veal, spinach, cheese, rosatella sauce and baked). It tasted so good that whenever I go back I’m ordering it again! There’s nothing like food ...read more

Scripture: 1 Peter 2:1-3

Tags: Taste, The Goodness Of The Lord, Crave Spiritual Milk

Denomination: Christian Church

Obedience

Contributed by Anitha Jabastion on Jan 2, 2021

There was a boy who went trekking on the mountain. He reached a great height when he realized that it was getting dark and he had to reach the bottom soon. He began climbing down. It was getting darker and darker, so dark that he could barely see. He was somehow managing to get down the mountain ...read more

Scripture: 1 Samuel 15:22

Tags: Obedience, Listening To God

I Got You

Contributed by Glynda Lomax on Oct 2, 2021

I like to take my dogs places with me. They have their own seats in the back seat of my pickup. I have a small elderly dog named Bambi who has always had anxiety, I think from having to survive on her own when she lived in the streets as a tiny little thing with no one to feed or care for her. A ...read more

Scripture: Psalm 54:4, 1 Peter 5:7

Tags: Adversity, Assurance, Anxious

Denomination: Charismatic