In Sermon Illustrations: "Times"

Live Like You Were Dying: The Bucket List

Contributed by Matthew Sickling on Jun 5, 2009

LIVE LIKE YOU WERE DYING: THE BUCKET LIST A couple of years ago my wife and I saw a movie entitled “The Bucket List” starring Jack Nicholson and Morgan Freeman. Both men discovered that they had incurable diseases and wound up being roommates in the hospital. They became good friends and ended ...read more

Tags: Death

Denomination: Baptist

Chuck Swindoll: Joseph's Life Story

Contributed by Michael Mccartney on Jul 2, 2009

Chuck Swindoll: In the fifty chapters of Genesis Joseph’s life story takes up one-fourth of the chapters. His life can be divided up into three sections: • Birth to Seventeen Years (Genesis 30:24-37:2) o During this time Joseph’s family was is transition-everyone was unsettled, on the move. A ...read more

Tags: Joseph

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

Hell: A Doctor's Testimony  PRO

Contributed by Sermon Central on Jul 13, 2009

HELL: A DOCTOR’S TESTIMONY Dr. Maurice Rawlings, a cardiologist and professor of medicine at the University Of Tennessee College Of Medicine, was also a devout atheist. But in 1977, while trying to resuscitate a man who had been screaming in terror, something happened that changed his thinking. He ...read more

Scripture: Luke 12:5, Luke 12:49-50, Luke 12:49-53

Tags: Hell

The Idea That Baptism Is Involved In The ...

Contributed by Brian B on Jul 29, 2009

The idea that Baptism is involved in the salvation process was universally taught for the first 1500 years…. And it was only 500 years ago … when Zwingli came along in the middle 1500s that it began to be taught as a sign and a seal only. Zwingli said, “in this matter of baptism--- if I may ...read more

Tags: Baptism

Denomination: Christian/Church Of Christ

Worthless Slaves

Contributed by Gregg Bitter on Aug 16, 2009

WORTHLESS SLAVES Rewards from God are never merited as something God owes us but come as a free gift from his grace. Jesus brought this home at another time with a short story. Suppose you had a slave plowing the fields. Now when that slave came in, would you say, "Sit down and I’ll get you some ...read more

Tags: Grace

Denomination: Lutheran

Cicadas: Spiritually Dead

Contributed by Richard Tow on Sep 16, 2009

CICADAS: SPIRITUALLY DEAD I grew up in West Texas and there were a lot of Cicada insects. They’re not technically locusts but we called them that. During the hot summer days the loud, shrill sound that the males made would fill the air. You would usually see them in the trees. At times you would ...read more

Scripture: 2 Timothy 3:5

Tags: Church Practices

Denomination: Charismatic

Faithfulness In ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Oct 19, 2009

Faithfulness in Battle John Wesley once said: "Give me a hundred men who love nothing but God and hate nothing but sin, and I will shake the whole world for Christ." It doesn’t take many… but it does take someone who decides to be faithful. In December 1944, the German army launched an unexpected ...read more

Scripture: 1 Peter 5:12

Tags: War, Snow

We Don't Need A Map; We Need The Guide

Contributed by Christian Cheong on Oct 26, 2009

WE DON'T NEED A MAP; WE NEED THE GUIDE In A Slow and Certain Light, Elizabeth Elliot tells of two adventurers who stopped by to see her, all loaded with equipment for the rainforest East of the Andes. It was the first time they are trekking the forest but they sought no advice, just a few phrases ...read more

Tags: Doing God's Will

Denomination: Independent/Bible

Limits. Write That Down. Who Do We Need To ...

Contributed by Mark Eberly on Oct 26, 2009

LIMITS. Write that down. Who do we need to accurately assess ourselves? Someone else. Regular assessment is important because our limits regular vacillate. They change according to what is on our plate and our overall well-being. They depend on the season. There are times in our lives in which we ...read more

Tags: Christian Values

Denomination: Church Of God

Gene Perrett Gave This List Of Eight Things To Be ...

Contributed by Bobby Scobey on Oct 27, 2009

Gene Perrett gave this list of eight things to be thankful for: 1 - for automatic dishwashers. They make it possible to get out of the kitchen before the family come in for their after-dinner snacks. 2 - for husbands who attack small repair jobs around the house. They usually make them big ...read more

Tags: Thanksgiving Holiday

Denomination: Pentecostal

Bride-To-Be Hosts A Banquet For ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Nov 10, 2009

Bride-to-Be Hosts a Banquet for Homeless Philip Yancey told the story of the woman who was getting married and planned a huge wedding banquet. It was going to held at the Hyatt Hotel and cost $13,000. After everything had been planned and paid for the groom dumped her. When she tried to cancel she ...read more

Scripture: 2 Corinthians 12:7-10

Tags: Compassion

A Woman From The Slums Of London Sees The Ocean ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Nov 30, 2009

A Woman from the Slums of London Sees the Ocean for the First Time Long ago, a poor woman from the slums of London was invited to go with a group of people for a holiday at the ocean. She had never seen the ocean before, and when she saw it, she burst into tears. Those around her thought it was ...read more

Scripture: Micah 7:19

Tags: Mercy

Minister Runs Ad In Local Paper To Invite ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Dec 8, 2009

Minister Runs Ad in Local Paper to Invite Straying Sheep Back into the Fold A few years ago I was reading a book by Stephen Gaukroger. He tells the story of a New York Methodist minister who saw the need to bring his ‘ninety nine righteous’ sheep back into the fold. He put an advert in the local ...read more

Scripture: John 10:1-18

Tags: Parable Lost Sheep

Sullenburger: What Makes A Hero?

Contributed by Sean Lester on Jan 27, 2010

SULLENBURGER: WHAT MAKES A HERO? What makes a person a hero? A year ago, Chesley Sullenberger ditched his airplane into the Hudson River and saved the lives of all 150 of his passengers when both engines were knocked out by a flock of geese. It was the first time that a major airliner was ...read more

Tags: Heroism

Denomination: Pentecostal

Clinker Bricks  PRO

Contributed by Sermon Central on Apr 28, 2010

CLINKER BRICKS Although at times it seems as though the church is in ruin and rubble, God sees it as a beautiful building. Clinker bricks are bricks that did not quite make it. For some reason or another, they come out of the kiln misshapen or deformed. I read about a Presbyterian Church in New ...read more

Scripture: Ephesians 2:19-21

Tags: Atonement, Redemption, New Life, Born Again, Church Body Of Christ  (view more)  (view less)

Just ...

Contributed by Tony Abram on May 1, 2010

JUST REMEMBER... The next time you feel like God can’t use you, just remember... NOAH was a drunk.... ABRAHAM was too old... ISAAC was a daydreamer.... JACOB was a liar... LEAH was ugly... JOSEPH was abused... MOSES had a stuttering problem... GIDEON was afraid... SAMPSON had long hair, and was a ...read more

Scripture: Psalm 23:1-10

Tags: Worry, Useful To The Lord

Love In The Home

Contributed by Bobby Scobey on May 3, 2010

LOVE IN THE HOME If I live in a house of spotless beauty with everything in its place, but have not love, I am a housekeeper--not a homemaker. If I have time for waxing, polishing, and decorative achievements, but have not love, my children learn cleanliness--not godliness. Love leaves the ...read more

Tags: Salvation, Mother's Day

Denomination: Pentecostal

Workplace ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Jun 3, 2010

Workplace Satisfaction Many of us here are employed in some form or another. Employment means that you have committed yourself to an occupation from which you derive your livelihood. You are selling your time to another person. The average person will spend almost 100,000 hours at work during the ...read more

Scripture: Ephesians 6:5-9

Tags: Workplace

Training In Godliness

Contributed by Isaac Butterworth on Sep 10, 2010

TRAINING IN GODLINESS Our daughter-in-law has participated at times in triathlon competitions. The triathlon is an endurance event in which you swim a certain distance, ride your bike a certain distance, and finally, and without resting, run a certain distance. It is a very demanding test of your ...read more

Tags: Disciplines General

Denomination: Presbyterian/Reformed

He's My Dad.

Contributed by Gordon Curley on Nov 24, 2010

"HE'S MY DAD." A group of scientists and botanists were exploring remote regions of the Alps, looking for new species of flowers. One day they noticed through binoculars a flower of such rarity and beauty, that its value to science was incalculable. But it lay deep in a ravine with cliffs on both ...read more

Tags: God The Father

Denomination: Brethren