In Sermon Illustrations: "Trust In Jesus"

George Barna Wrote The State Of The Church In ...

Contributed by Paul Carlson on Feb 17, 2009

George Barna wrote The State of the Church in 2002. Barna conducted a survey of self-pronounced Christians and here’s what he found about their knowledge of the Bible. These are Christians. • 48% could not name the four Gospels. • 52% cannot identify more than two or three of Jesus’ ...read more

Tags: Learning

Denomination: Baptist

Augustine And The Bible  PRO

Contributed by Bobby Scobey on Mar 3, 2009

AUGUSTINE AND THE BIBLE For 2,000 years the Bible, often unaided by any human intervention, has transformed the lives of those who read it, many times dramatically so. St. Augustine is a good example. For most of his life he was a famed academic in the Roman Empire. He was very successful in ...read more

Scripture: Romans 13:8-19

Tags: Bible Influence

Denomination: Pentecostal

Satisfied ...

Contributed by Bill Butsko on Mar 13, 2009

“Satisfied Completely!” The daughter of a New York rabbi tells this story. “My father taught me to read the Bible in Hebrew as a young child. We began at Genesis. When we came to Isaiah, he skipped the fifty-third chapter. I asked him why. He said it was not necessary for Jews to read that ...read more

Tags: Salvation

Denomination: Christian Church

What Must I ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Mar 24, 2009

WHAT MUST I DO? Harvey Penick’s Little Red Book on golf has sold more than a million copies. It is one of the biggest things in the history of sports books. In the 1920s, Penick bought a red spiral notebook and began jotting down observations about golf. He never showed the book to anyone except ...read more

Scripture: Acts 16:29-31

Tags: Salvation

Boomerangs And Greed

Contributed by Tom Conant on Apr 3, 2009

BOOMERANGS AND GREED The world we live in says, "Grab on, hold tightly, squeeze till get what you want." Jesus teaches a paradox: "You can never touch what you grab for, and you can’t keep what you think you’re holding. As soon as you think you have piled up the good life – made your mark – it ...read more

Tags: Greed

Denomination: Pentecostal

Staring At The Gates Of Hell

Contributed by Sermon Central on Apr 28, 2009

STARING AT THE GATES OF HELL Auguste Rodin was a French impressionist sculptor. He created The Thinker. The Thinker was originally meant to sit on top of Rodin’s greatest masterpiece, the Gates of Hell. The Thinker is contemplating an eternity of judgment separated from God. Author Neil Cole ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 16:18

Tags: Church Purpose Of

Betty Crocker ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Jul 10, 2009

BETTY CROCKER SALVATION In 1952, when the Betty Crocker company first began selling cake mixes, they offered a product which only needed water, and you would get a perfectly moist cake every time. But it bombed, and they couldn’t understand why! So they commissioned a study and found that people ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 16:25

Tags: Salvation

More Time Later...?

Contributed by Mark Schaeufele on Sep 2, 2009

MORE TIME LATER...? When I returned from my trip to Europe, back in 1982, I remember a conversation I had with an high school classmate. He asked me if I heard about Vick, another classmate of ours. Vick was one of my old partying buddies from before I accepted Christ. His parents were good ...read more

Tags: Evangelism Urgency

Denomination: Methodist

An Old Preacher Wants To Die Between Two Greedy ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Nov 16, 2009

An Old Preacher Wants To Die Between Two Greedy Men from His Congregation An old preacher was dying. He sent a message for his banker and his lawyer, both church members, to come to his home. When they arrived, they were ushered up to his bedroom. As they entered the room, the preacher held out his ...read more

Scripture: Ephesians 5:3-7

Tags: Greed

Blind Man Rows On River Using A Bell As Reference ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Nov 24, 2009

Blind Man Rows On River Using A Bell As Reference Point--From "To Catch An Angel" the Autobiography of Robert Russell (From The Preacher’s Commentary) “I recently heard the story of another commuter, a traveler of sorts. To Catch an Angel, by Robert Russell, is the autobiography of a young blind ...read more

Scripture: Luke 21:25-36

Tags: Security, Blind

This Story Broke This Week From The United ...

Contributed by Ed Vasicek on Dec 14, 2009

This story broke this week from the United Kingdom: " LONDON (Reuters) – Gone are the days of shepherds in tea towels and tinsel-clad angels. Britain’s competitive parents are forking out on luxury pashmina shawls and velour dressing gowns to make their child the star of the annual nativity ...read more

Tags: Christmas

Denomination: Independent/Bible

Donald Grey Barnhouse: The Truck And Its ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Dec 14, 2009

Donald Grey Barnhouse: The Truck and Its Shadow Donald Grey Barnhouse, famous preacher of the past century wrote of driving his children to his wife, and their mother’s funeral; “I was driving with my children to my wife’s funeral where I was to preach the sermon. As we came into one small town ...read more

Scripture: Hebrews 2:14-15

Tags: Death

I Love Baptisms. I Always Love It When People ...

Contributed by Ross Cochrane on Dec 27, 2009

I love Baptisms. I always love it when people respond to Jesus in this way. I remember as a TEENAGER seeing people from our YOUTH GROUP being BAPTISED in a BAPTISMAL POOL at the FRONT of our Church. It was so STRANGE to me. I watched as people WALKED DOWN THE STEPS of a SMALL POOL at ...read more

Tags: Baptism

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

Legendary Baseball Player Jackie Robinson's ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Dec 30, 2009

Legendary Baseball Player Jackie Robinson’s Humble Act of Kindness to a Boy As a 7-year-old, Richard Bernstein admired Jackie Robinson’s athletic ability and courage as the first African-American man to play Major League baseball in the modern era. A few years later, while working at a small-town ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 20:26-28

Tags: Humility

Vance Havner On How To Reach The Masses  PRO

Contributed by Sermon Central on Feb 28, 2010

VANCE HAVNER ON HOW TO REACH THE MASSES Preacher Vance Havner used to tell this story: Years ago a convention met in Indianapolis to discuss "How to Reach the Masses." One day during that convention a young man stood on a box on a corner and began to preach. A crowd gathered, mostly workingmen ...read more

Scripture: Romans 10:14-15

Tags: Evangelism How To

The Love Of Christ Enables Believers  PRO

Contributed by Sermon Central on May 31, 2010

THE LOVE OF CHRIST ENABLES BELIEVERS I like the way one pastor put it years ago (1986) when he became overwhelmed with all the "ideals" he was collecting from church growth seminars and books. He said, "Quite frankly, I'm sick to death of ideals. I have so many ideals and I've been so frustrated ...read more

Scripture: 1 John 4:13-16

Tags: Growth In Christ

Adams, Coolidge And Roosevelt On The Bible  PRO

Contributed by Sermon Central on Jul 12, 2010

ADAMS, COOLIDGE AND ROOSEVELT ON THE BIBLE The late great 6th President of the United States of America, John Quincy Adams (1767 - 1848), once said, "The [Holy] Bible is the Book of all others to be read at all ages and in all conditions of human life...I speak as a man of the world to men [and, ...read more

Scripture: 2 Timothy 3:16-17

Tags: Bible Influence

The Key To The Spiritual Life

Contributed by Sermon Central on Apr 17, 2011

THE KEY TO THE SPIRITUAL LIFE At age 16, Madame Jeanne Guyon (1648-1717) was forced into an arranged marriage with an invalid 22 years older. She found her marriage to be one of utter humiliation. Her husband was often angry and melancholy. Her mother-in-law was a merciless critic. Even the maid ...read more

Scripture: 2 Corinthians 1:3-11

Tags: Trials And Difficulties

God's Only 'forgotten' Son

Contributed by Sermon Central on Apr 24, 2011

GOD'S ONLY 'FORGOTTEN' SON There's a true story told about a revival that was held in a small town. The crowd had dispersed, when a woman came down front and asked to speak with the preacher. She cried uncontrollably as she explained to the minister that she wanted to become a Christian, but she ...read more

Scripture: John 3:16

Tags: God's Love

Growth In Persecution  PRO

Contributed by Sermon Central on May 19, 2011

GROWTH IN PERSECUTION I remember feeling torn and confused when Simon Guillebaud in Burundi, Central Africa reported violence against him and Christians there. In his email he said we are not asking for protection. We know that violence and threats will come. What we ask for is boldness to preach ...read more

Scripture: Acts 11:19-24

Tags: Church Growth