In Sermon Illustrations: "Thoughtfulness"

The Secret Of Happiness

Contributed by Sermon Central on Jun 25, 2009

THE SECRET OF HAPPINESS Christopher Parkening is regarded as the world’s greatest classical guitarist, and he’s played guitar with orchestras the world over, even for several presidents in the White House. He’s also a world-class fly-fishing champion. By his own testimony, he writes, "By age 30, ...read more

Scripture: 1 Corinthians 10:31

Tags: Joy

The Census Taker From Rome  PRO

Contributed by Dorothy Napier on Sep 21, 2009

THE CENSUS TAKER FROM ROME I am reminded of a story told of a cesus taker from Rome, who went to Galilee around 28 A.D. As he entered the region he came upon a man sitting on a donkey. he man had long hair and a flowing beard. He wore an old cloak, sandals, and beads. Pardon me the census taker ...read more

Tags: God Brings Hope

Denomination: Baptist

Misunderstood  PRO

Contributed by Sermon Central on Oct 21, 2009

MISUNDERSTOOD It's easy to be misunderstood. Misunderstanding happens all the time. It is very, very easy to be misunderstood. One way to be misunderstood is to be vague and hazy. Just mumble under your breath and utter ambiguities, and I guarantee that you will be misunderstood. Some of you are ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 11:2-19

Tags: Communication Speech

The Country Of The Blind By H.g. ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Oct 28, 2009

The Country of the Blind by H.G. Wells DON’T BE LIKE THOSE WHO WON’T SEE. Don’t be like those who don’t want to be confused with the facts, because they think they know it all already. H. G. Wells, who wrote The War of the Worlds, once wrote a short story called The Country of the Blind. It’s ...read more

Scripture: Galatians 6:7-8

Tags: Sin Deceptive

Examples Of Perseverance:

Contributed by Sermon Central on Oct 29, 2009

Examples of Perseverance: George Washington, USS Squalus, Ben Hogan The tragedy of life is not the wound because life is so constituted that the wound is inevitable! The tragedy comes when we quit or give up on life because of the wound - when we fall down and we can’t get up! There are times, ...read more

Scripture: Hebrews 12:1-3

Tags: Endurance

Man Learns To Forgive His ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Nov 14, 2009

Man Learns to Forgive His Enemy The apostle Paul said, “Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you” (Ephesians 4:32). We don’t serve in order to merit God’s forgiveness. We serve because we have already received God’s forgiveness. And our service is ...read more

Scripture: Ephesians 4:32

Tags: Forgiveness, Forgiveness For Others

The Tin—untold Riches

Contributed by Sermon Central on Dec 7, 2009

THE TIN--UNTOLD RICHES In the late nineteenth Century in South Africa, an old man was digging for gold in a river bed. He had been at it for many years. Every now and then he found a little bit of gold, not enough to make him rich – but just enough to maintain his interest. The part of river in ...read more

Scripture: Colossians 2:2-3

Tags: Christmas

Miss Bettye And Her All-Night Prayer Kitchen  PRO

Contributed by Sermon Central on Jan 1, 2010

MISS BETTYE AND HER ALL-NIGHT PRAYER KITCHEN Just this last September (2009), the Chicago Tribune ran a story about Bettye Tucker, a Christian cook who works the night shift at Children's Memorial Hospital in Chicago. She has been doing her job for 43 years -- 28 of them on the night shift. On ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 5:14-16

Tags: Christian Witness

Growing A Beard At The School I Attended Was Not ...

Contributed by Ross Cochrane on Mar 28, 2010

GROWING A BEARD at the school I attended was not an option. It was written into the rules and policies - don’t grow one or be suspended or expelled. I decided at 14 that I would grow a beard to test this policy (I know, your opinion of me has been damaged but you’ll eventually get over it). I was ...read more

Tags: Obedience, Rebellion

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

Missionary Paralyzed Learns How To Thrive In ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on May 1, 2010

Missionary Paralyzed Learns How To Thrive in Suffering Scott Larson shared a personal encounter. “Annette and her husband were missionaries in Western Europe when she began to have pain in her back. When the pain became so unbearable that she could no longer function, even with muscle relaxants, ...read more

Scripture: Psalm 23:1-6

Tags: Suffering Joy In, Joy In Trials

Imagine With Me For A Moment, If You Had A ...

Contributed by Rick Gillespie- Mobley on May 7, 2010

Imagine with me for a moment, if you had a beautiful picture in your home that was worth over a hundred thousand dollars because of the artist who had painted it. It was a one of a kind masterpiece. The artist had put excellence into every stroke of his work The colors were awesome. The depth ...read more

Tags: Mother's Day, Respect

Denomination: Presbyterian/Reformed

British Clergyman Repudiates The ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Jun 6, 2010

British Clergyman Repudiates the Church’s Traditional Understanding of the Cross The Very Reverend Dr. Jeffrey Philip Hywel John believes that the church’s traditional understanding of the cross of Christ is both “repulsive” and “insane.” His comments in the spring of 2007 about the cross ignited a ...read more

Scripture: 1 Corinthians 1:18-31

Tags: Cross, False Doctrine

B.c. = Bad Communication

Contributed by Louis Gibson on Jun 28, 2010

B.C. = BAD COMMUNICATION Poor communication can led to all kinds of misunderstandings. A rather old fashioned lady was planning a couple of weeks vacation in Florida. She also was quite delicate and elegant with her language. She wrote a letter to a particular campground and asked for ...read more

Tags: Doubt, Communication General

Denomination: Baptist

Black Market Sacrifices (Plagiarism)

Contributed by Christopher Lanham on Jul 19, 2010

After choosing the title of this sermon I began looking for an illustration that captured the sense of what I meant by a “black market sacrifice.” And to my great distress I found one – kind of. The search for an illustration became the illustration. Confused? Let me explain. When I prepare ...read more

Tags: Preaching, Workplace Integrity

Denomination: Presbyterian/Reformed

Big Ed

Contributed by Christopher Lanham on Jul 19, 2010

BIG ED When I was in high school, there was this girl -- let's call her "Edith". Everyone called her Big "Ed" because she was on the heavy side. She was the youngest of four sisters, the three older ones being very attractive. Edith accepted the nickname, showed no real signs of being injured ...read more

Tags: Friendship General, Misfit

Denomination: Presbyterian/Reformed

Man-Speak  PRO

Contributed by Sermon Central on Aug 6, 2010

MAN-SPEAK Men don't always say what they mean. When a man says "IT WOULD TAKE TOO LONG TO EXPLAIN." He means: "I have no idea how it works." When a man says "TAKE A BREAK, HONEY. YOU ARE WORKING TOO HARD." He means: "I can't hear the game over the vacuum cleaner." When a man says "THAT'S ...read more

Scripture: Proverbs 16:23

Tags: Father's Day, Interpretation

A Good Name I Never Met

Contributed by Davon Huss on Feb 14, 2011

A GOOD NAME I NEVER MET In his book, I Almost Missed The Sunset, Bill Gaither writes: Gloria and I had been married a couple of years. We were teaching school in Alexandria, Indiana, where I had grown up, and we wanted a piece of land where we could build a house. I noticed the parcel south of ...read more

Scripture: Proverbs 22:1

Tags: Character, Armor Of God

Denomination: Christian/Church Of Christ

The Voice Of The Shepherd  PRO

Contributed by Sermon Central on Mar 22, 2011

THE VOICE OF THE SHEPHERD There once was a shepherd that lived in the Scottish highlands. This shepherd had a daughter and he would take her with him when he went out on the moors to take care of the sheep. The thing that the little girl liked best was to hear the call of shepherd. His voice ...read more

Scripture: John 10:1-18, Mark 4:26-34

Tags: Parable Lost Sheep

God: "I Have Time For You"

Contributed by Sermon Central on Mar 28, 2011

GOD: "I HAVE TIME FOR YOU" There’s a great story about a California lady named Francis Green. She was 83 years old. She lived on Social Security. She had little money, but for eight years she’d been sending one dollar a year to the Republican National Convention. Then one day Frances got an RNC ...read more

Scripture: 1 Corinthians 12:14-26

Tags: Gratitude

Broken Vessels Wanted  PRO

Contributed by David Robb on Jun 1, 2011

Broken Vessels Wanted (David Robb) My tears of weeping are pleasing to the Lord. My cries of emptiness are a song to His heart. He is pleased with me when I am broken, because, what He desires most of me is a broken spirit and a humble heart. He desires that of me because, with a broken ...read more

Scripture: Luke 7:47

Tags: Humility

Denomination: Pentecostal