In Sermon Illustrations: "Trials Mature Us"

Sing A New Song

Contributed by Jason Bonnicksen on Mar 21, 2011

SING A NEW SONG Boom! Boom! The two-fold pounding of the avalanche cannon awoke me from my slumber. No, we didn't get snow last night, I mused. But sure enough, God dumped nine inches of fresh snow onto the mountains above. Now, I love winter; it's great skiing on fresh powder. However, I ...read more

Tags: Joy

Denomination: Lutheran

5 Ways To Praise

Contributed by Davon Huss on Mar 28, 2011

5 WAYS TO PRAISE There are 5 ways that you can praise employees: personal praise, written praise, electronic praise, public praise and indirect praise. Personal praise- is considered the most important type of praise by employees. It consists of being verbally thanked one on one for doing good ...read more

Tags: Workplace

Denomination: Christian/Church Of Christ

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

Alexander Maclaren On The Right Stimulus For ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Apr 10, 2011

ALEXANDER MACLAREN ON THE RIGHT STIMULUS FOR ACTION It is perfectly legitimate, although it is by no means the highest motive, to appeal to feeling as a stimulus to action. We have a right to base our urging of Christian men and women to missionary work either at home or abroad, upon the ground of ...read more

Scripture: 2 Corinthians 5:11-21

Tags: Emotions

The Face Of God

Contributed by Sermon Central on Apr 26, 2011

THE FACE OF GOD I heard the story once of a great Cherokee wood carver. He took logs and sat them on a stump outside his back door and sat in front of that log sometimes for hours just staring at it. Finally, he would pick up his carving tools and start carving the most beautiful of things out of ...read more

Scripture: Luke 2:1-20

Tags: Birth Of Jesus

Junk-Food Addictions  PRO

Contributed by Sermon Central on Aug 10, 2011

JUNK-FOOD ADDICTIONS If we’re going to get our appetite back for the pure, spiritual milk of God’s Word, then we need to get rid of the junk food of broken relationships. We need to put away those wrong attitudes of the heart that keep us from loving each other. The five things listed here are ...read more

Scripture: 1 Peter 2:1-3

Tags: Growth In Christ

God Knows

Contributed by Brad Henry on Oct 7, 2011

GOD KNOWS The receiving line at the memorial was very long as Jim and Steph had many family members that came from Texas and Georgia. Halfway through the line, I was introduced to Jim's sister, brother and nephew. They said "Are you the Brad Henry that wrote the devotional about my brother?" I ...read more

Tags: Miracles General

Faithful To The Finish

Contributed by Efrain Perez on Oct 9, 2011

FAITHFUL TO THE FINISH In the 1992 Barcelona Olympics, Derek Redmond of Great Britain was considered a favorite contender for a medal. It was the evening of August 3, 1992 as Redmond was pitted against seven others in a semi-final in the 400 meters. Redmond knelt poised, waiting for the race to ...read more

Tags: God In The Hardships

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

God's Promises And Urban Legends  PRO

Contributed by Scott Carson on Nov 20, 2011

GOD'S PROMISES AND URBAN LEGENDS Do you really believe that being godly is great gain and not financial gain, but something that really matters and lasts? If you believed that, wouldn’t it change your life? Most people believe that if you smoke, you’ll get lung cancer. Many of you quit smoking ...read more

Tags: Christian Values

Denomination: Independent/Bible

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

If You Want To Walk On Water…  PRO

Contributed by Michael Mccartney on May 2, 2012

John Ortberg states: "The decision to grow always involves a choice between risk and comfort. This means that to be a follower of Jesus, you must renounce comfort as the ultimate value of your life. And that’s sobering news to most of us, because we’re into comfort...but water walkers master ...read more

Scripture: Romans 4:18-22, Romans 4:3

Tags: Faith

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

What Happens At Home

Contributed by Sermon Central on May 2, 2012

WHAT HAPPENS AT HOME Howard Hendricks used to say to us men in seminary preparing to lead churches, "If your Christianity isn't working at home, don't export it." It was his way of saying, "If you can't make your faith work in your own family, then please don't try to make it work in the family of ...read more

Scripture: 1 Timothy 3:4-5

Tags: Parenting

Missions ...

Contributed by Michael Mccartney on Aug 8, 2012

Missions quotes: "I have but one candle of life to burn, and I would rather burn it out in a land filled with darkness than in a land flooded with light" — John Keith Falconer "God's work done in God's way will never lack God's supply" — Hudson Taylor [ video ] "God isn't looking for people of ...read more

Tags: Missions

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

Child Of A King

Contributed by Dwight Clough on Dec 29, 2012

Imagine for a moment that you were a child in a super rich family. If you wanted a new car, it’s yours. If you wanted a week in Europe or in the South Pacific, no problem. For you, money is no object. Whatever you want is yours. Most of us will never be in that situation. But, in reality, we are in ...read more

Scripture: Ephesians 3:20

Tags: Identity, Prayer How To

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

On Fasting  PRO

Contributed by Gordon Curley on Apr 20, 2013

ON FASTING The Didache, is a first or second century document that relates to us outside the New Testament the teaching of the early church. This document "prescribed two fast days a week: Wednesday and Friday." For early Christians; this was seen as a regular part of daily discipleship. John ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 6:16, Matthew 9:14-15

Tags: Fast

Denomination: Brethren

United We Stand

Contributed by Sermon Central on Feb 16, 2014

Let me read one of Aesop’s Greek fables; In the forest, there lived four oxen. They were very good friends and always went together to graze in the fields. However, every time they went, a hungry lion tried to attack them. The lion longed for their meat. But they withstood his attack by fighting ...read more

Scripture: Ephesians 4:1-6

Tags: Unity, Divisions

Given The Farm  PRO

Contributed by Sermon Central on Apr 10, 2014

The story is told of a farmhand who had worked for a married couple for several years. As time went on, the couple grew older and older and they couldn't do as much they had and the farm was beginning to look a little shabby. The paint on the barn was peeling. The fences had holes in them and slats ...read more

Scripture: Romans 8:14-17, Romans 8:14

Tags: Servanthood, Attitude General, Heirs Of God, Co-Heirs With Christ

Is Heaven Real?

Contributed by Tim Smith on May 11, 2014

The Bible uses the word heaven 532 times in the Bible. The Hebrew word for "heaven" is shamayim and is plural meaning "heights," "elevations." It is found in the first verse of the Bible. "In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth" and in Gen 2:1 "Thus the heavens and the earth were ...read more

Scripture: John 14:1-7

Tags: Heaven

Denomination: Methodist

Dugger's

Contributed by Davon Huss on Oct 24, 2014

We see something similar when an only child has a new baby brother or sister in the house. Not getting attention sothey cause trouble. Parents try to reassure the child that they love him because the child thinks that the parents will love her less because of the new baby. Think about the ...read more

Scripture: 1 John 3:1

Tags: God The Father, Heavenly Father

Denomination: Christian/Church Of Christ

Joni Eareckson Tada's Wedding

Contributed by Davon Huss on Nov 16, 2014

Joni Eareckson Tada, who since a diving accident as a teenager has lived from a wheelchair, wrote about the day of her wedding: “I felt awkward as my girlfriends strained to shift my paralyzed body into a cumbersome wedding gown. No amount of corseting and binding my body gave me a good shape. ...read more

Scripture: Revelation 19:7-9

Tags: Wedding Supper, Wedding Ceremony, Jesus As Bridegroom

Denomination: Christian/Church Of Christ