In Sermon Illustrations: "Time Is At Hand"

Huck Finn On Prayer

Contributed by Curry Pikkaart on Apr 5, 2011

HUCK FINN ON PRAYER There’s an incident in Huckleberry Finn where Mark Twain has Huck make a very human observation. "Miss Watson took me into a closet and prayed, but nothing came of it. She told me to pray every day, and whatever I asked for, I would get. But it weren't so. I tried it. Once I ...read more

Tags: Prayer General

Denomination: Presbyterian/Reformed

Beholden To Money

Contributed by Sermon Central on May 13, 2011

BEHOLDEN TO MONEY In his book How Much Is Enough? Hungering For God In An Affluent Culture author and Founder of Bread for the World: Arthur Simon writes about Bryce and Ellen, "a couple in their mid-thirties. They have two sons and a daughter, and on Sundays the family attends church more often ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 6:19-34

Tags: Money

The Stranger

Contributed by Sermon Central on May 19, 2011

THE STRANGER Some time ago, a small east coast community was struggling financially, so they called an open town meeting to discuss the problem. A couple dozen people were there, including a stranger that no one seemed to know. Most assumed he was a tourist who had just dropped in on the meeting. ...read more

Scripture: Acts 13:26-43

Tags: Ignorance

Bold, Not Presumptuous

Contributed by Mark Stepherson on Jul 25, 2011

BOLD, NOT PRESUMPTUOUS The worst example I recall of praying presumptuously and acting like it was blessed boldness is the college student I mentioned in an earlier key. I don’t remember what we were praying about, but I remember his prayer. "Lord, in your word it says that if we ask anything ...read more

Scripture: Hebrews 4:16

Tags: Boldness, Presumption, Prayer How To

Denomination: Baptist

The Believer's Gps

Contributed by Sermon Central on Aug 22, 2011

THE BELIEVER'S GPS Last week we introduced a device known as a GPS or Global Positioning Systems. This device allows the user to know where they are and where they want to go. It works through a process known as triangulation. There are 24 Dept. of Defense satellites constantly circling our earth ...read more

Scripture: Colossians 1:27

Tags: Jesus Christ

What Are We Preaching?  PRO

Contributed by Sermon Central on Aug 31, 2011

WHAT ARE WE PREACHING? False teachings abound whenever people do not know the truth. Many of our churches today do not teach the truth because many pastors do not know the Bible. In our seminaries, almost 50 percent of professors now teach that there was no virgin birth of Jesus, and that story ...read more

Scripture: Acts 20:28-31

Tags: False Teaching

Christ And The Law Of Compound Probability

Contributed by Suresh Manoharan on Jan 1, 2012

CHRIST AND THE LAW OF COMPOUND PROBABILITY In the book, Science Speaks, Professor Peter Stoner used "the Law of Compound Probability," to assess some of the prophecies relating to Christ. Simply stated, this law is used to calculate the odds against a "chance" fulfillment of such predictions when ...read more

Tags: Prophecy

Denomination: *other

The Importance Of Friends  PRO

Contributed by Josh Hunt on Feb 29, 2012

THE IMPORTANCE OF FRIENDS One of the most thorough research projects on relationships is called the Alameda County Study. Headed by a Harvard social scientist, it tracked the lives of 7,000 people over nine years. Researchers found that the most isolated people were three times more likely to die ...read more

Scripture: John 15:12-15

Tags: Friendship General

Denomination: Baptist

Please Come Home.

Contributed by Ken Henson on Jul 5, 2012

"PLEASE COME HOME." There was a girl named Christina, who lived in a dusty village of Brazil. In her late teens she was upset with her parents because she thought she was restricted. She had this dream of going to Rio De Janeiro, but her mother knew that she will not be able to take care of ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 18:12-14

Tags: Forgiveness For Others

Denomination: *other

False Messiah—rev. Sun Myung Moon

Contributed by Sermon Central on Aug 10, 2012

FALSE MESSIAH—REV. SUN MYUNG MOON It amazes me how many religions are in stark opposition to Christianity; and they do not even have God as their leader. In fact, they are just empty philosophies being advanced by empty followers. While members of Congress looked on, Rev. Sun Myung Moon declared ...read more

Scripture: 1 John 2:18-29

Tags: Antichrist

Lord Prayer

Contributed by Don Berry-Graham on Nov 17, 2017

We have defined prayer as breathing out self and breathing in God. We breath in a God who is Abba Father Daddy. I loved to play with the kids. I love to play with the grand children. Lego never had lego as a child so love to do it with the kids I now get my lego out before they come and start to ...read more

Scripture: Luke 11:1-3

Tags: Love, Prayer

Denomination: Baptist

He Became One Of Us!

Contributed by Chris Stringer on Mar 3, 2018

It was a cold winter morning, as I prepared my coffee and sit at the kitchen table. I kept hearing this sound, as something was hitting the window. I watched as this little bird continually flew back and forth into my kitchen window. I thought to myself, "This poor little guy is going to freeze." ...read more

Tags: Love Of God, Became Flesh

Denomination: *other

Who, In Hell

Contributed by Jim Butcher on Apr 13, 2018

The business meeting at First Baptist was well into its second hour. It had been another cantankerous one. Lots of angry comments, snide remarks, and power plays. And, making it especially sad, the issue on the table wasn’t even an important one. The debate was over a relatively minor recent ...read more

Tags: Evangelism, Hell, Church, Unity, Division, Church Fights  (view more)  (view less)

Denomination: Baptist

The Girl That Was Blind

Contributed by Paul Steen on Dec 24, 2018

Once there was a blind girl named Ramona. She hated herself because she could not see. She had no eyes. The only person in the whole world that she loved was her boyfriend Daniel and he loved her. He was always there for her. He told her that he wanted to marry her. He didn’t care that she was ...read more

Scripture: 2 Corinthians 5:21

Tags: Blindness, Heartbreak, Gifts, Dreams Shattered, Love, Marriage, Rejection  (view more)  (view less)

Denomination: Calvary Chapel

The Power Of Singing

Contributed by Dr. Fred W. Penney on May 14, 2020

Its been observed that Singing Together Shapes Community. ***Songs are one way that a community has its identity and one way that individuals find their identity within a community. (therefore old songs –passed on to the next generation- help create community bonds) Baseball has a song – during ...read more

Scripture: Romans 12:1-2

Tags: Community, Church, Worship

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

The Truth Will Always Come Out.

Contributed by Garris Hudson on Apr 18, 2022

We live in a generation of government corruption and evil that is unparalleled. How long will God tolerate this? The Bible says in Luke 8:17 (NLT), "For all that is secret will eventually be brought into the open, and everything that is concealed will be brought to light and made known to ...read more

Tags: Reaping, Evil, Truth, Corruption, Last Days, Lies, Government  (view more)  (view less)

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

God Provides But We Personally Must Take Actions!

Contributed by Paul Clemente on Nov 10, 2022

Genesis 7 Was Noah righteous because he never sinned? - See Hebrews 11:7 What were God’s instructions to Noah? Go into the ark, you and your whole family Take in the ark animals (what were they?) “Clean” animals “unclean” animals Birds How many days did God give Noah to bring in the animals? – ...read more

Tags: Judgement, Love, Sin, God, Actions  (view more)  (view less)

Denomination: Independent/Bible

The Gossipping Preacher

Contributed by Garris Hudson on Dec 22, 2022

Three preachers from the same small town in Arkansas were out fishing together. One of the pastors said, "You know, brothers, I feel safe here with you guys. I think it might be a good time and a good place for each one of us to confess our sins to each other privately and confidentially, ...read more

Tags: Tongue, Gossip, Division, Preachers

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

Hatred's Bitter Fruit

Contributed by Garris Hudson on Aug 2, 2023

One of the worst cases of hatred I have ever come across is found in a will written in 1935 by a Mr. Donohoe. It says, "Unto my two daughters, Frances Marie and Denise Victoria, by reason of their unfilial attitude toward a doting father, … I leave the sum of $1.00 to each and a father's ...read more

Scripture: Ephesians 4:28-32

Tags: Love, Family, Anger, Bitterness, Hate, Unforgiveness, Anger Management, Fathers, Daughters  (view more)  (view less)

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

Do You Have One Heart?

Contributed by Garris Hudson on Aug 5, 2023

Missionary Jim Walton was translating the NT for the Muinane people of La Sabana in the jungles of Colombia. But he was having trouble with the word "peace". During this time, Fernando, the village chief, was promised a 20-minute plane ride to a location that would have taken him 3 days ...read more

Scripture: Ephesians 4:1-11

Tags: Forgiveness, Peace, Missions, Unity, Relationships, Bitterness, Bond Of Peace  (view more)  (view less)

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational