In Sermon Illustrations: "Understanding God" showing 4,261-4,280 of 17,847

You Are The Whipping Soldier

Contributed by Bruce Howell on Mar 11, 2009

YOU ARE THE WHIPPING SOLDIER A man who was deeply troubled by his sins had a vivid dream in which he saw Jesus being savagely whipped by a soldier. As the cruel scourge came down upon Christ’s back, the dreamer shuddered, for the terrible instrument left gaping wounds upon the bleeding, swollen ...read more

Tags: Sin Hurtful To God

Denomination: Wesleyan

Phil Vischer's Fresh ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Mar 17, 2009

PHIL VISCHER’S FRESH START Phil Vischer is the creator of Veggie Tales. He is the voice of Bob the Tomato and other various characters. In 2004, Phil was one of the guest speakers at my minister’s convention that I attend each year. Phil told about his dream coming to an end. He told about Big ...read more

Tags: Mistakes, Trust God

Hope And A Grateful Heart  PRO

Contributed by Sermon Central on Mar 24, 2009

HOPE AND A GRATEFUL HEART There is an old legend of a man who found the barn where Satan kept his seeds ready to be sown in the human heart. On finding the seeds of discouragement more numerous than others, he learned that those seeds could be made to grow almost anywhere. When questioned, Satan ...read more

Scripture: Hebrews 12:27-29

Tags: God Brings Hope

Jesus' Words

Contributed by Sermon Central on Apr 8, 2009

JESUS’ WORDS There is a hopefulness in life as we hear and become empowered by Jesus’ words. A Sunday School teacher illustrated this concept of hopefulness in life by drawing on the blackboard two pathways. In the middle of one she placed a large rock, covering the entire path. At the end of ...read more

Tags: God Brings Hope

We Can Overcome

Contributed by Sermon Central on Apr 8, 2009

WE CAN OVERCOME Take for example Egyptian hieroglyphics. In seminary I had plenty of brilliant folks for classmates, just amazing people. One man, Kevin was with us on our trip to the Holy Land. Kevin finishing his M.Div at Princeton and was soon on his way to Harvard for a Ph.D. in biblical ...read more

Scripture: 1 John 5:4-5

Tags: God Brings Hope

Ralph's Ultimate Purpose

Contributed by Sermon Central on Apr 9, 2009

RALPH’S ULTIMATE PURPOSE John Matters and I visited Ralph Drennan Thursday. You know, since he came back from WWII, Ralph has run a business of re-binding books. He’s in his 90’s now, so Ralph has cut his hours back a little. He still gets work sent to him from all across the US, because there ...read more

Scripture: Psalm 138:8

Tags: God Brings Purpose

During My Undergraduate Studies Some Years Ago, I ...

Contributed by Dale Pilgrim on Apr 26, 2009

During my undergraduate studies some years ago, I interviewed a lady whose religious belief was a hybrid of different religions. She spoke of trying to climb to a higher consciousness as her spiritual guide (which was an apparition that looked like an embryo with thousands of tentacles protruding ...read more

Tags: Peace, God's Peace

Denomination: Salvation Army

Seasick Hope  PRO

Contributed by Sermon Central on Apr 28, 2009

SEASICK HOPE A passenger on an ocean liner was enduring a rough Atlantic crossing. As he leaned over the rail, his face a shade of green, a steward came along and tried to encourage him: "Don’t be discouraged, sir! No one’s ever died of seasickness yet!" The nauseous passenger looked up at the ...read more

Scripture: John 16:33

Tags: God Brings Hope

I Met A Young Girl Who Was Brought Up In The ...

Contributed by Ramon Canals on Jun 5, 2009

I met a young girl who was brought up in the church, had all the advantages of christian home, loving father and mother. But she wanted to experiment the world. She wanted to have more freedom than what her parents were giving her and so she came to NY and as she tried to board the subway somebody ...read more

Tags: Sin, Love For God

Denomination: Adventist

A Young Man Walked Into A Photography Studio With ...

Contributed by Anne Benefield on Jun 9, 2009

A young man walked into a photography studio with a picture of his girlfriend. He wanted the picture duplicated. The owner of the store noticed the inscription on the back of the picture which said, “My Dearest Tom, I love you with all my heart. I love you more and more each day. I will love ...read more

Tags: Promises Of God, Promises

Denomination: Presbyterian/Reformed

A Pastor Tells The Story Of Visiting A Refugee ...

Contributed by Rhonda Feurtado on Jun 23, 2009

A pastor tells the story of visiting a refugee camp at Eglin air force base in the 1970s just after the Vietnam war where he found hundreds of refugees huddled under tents. Some were learning English, some were filling out government forms, some being taught to cook. Children were playing games. In ...read more

Tags: Trust, Trust God

Denomination: Methodist

There's Always Hope  PRO

Contributed by Sermon Central on Jun 25, 2009

THERE'S ALWAYS HOPE Ever felt like your life was the most unlucky of all? No matter what, the human spirit can be an amazing thing. Take for example the case of Larry Hanratty, who was named by the Los Angeles Times in 2007 the most unlucky man in California. This poor man was nearly executed to ...read more

Scripture: Lamentations 3:19-30

Tags: God Brings Hope

Forgotten How To ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Jun 25, 2009

FORGOTTEN HOW TO FISH? I read an interesting story about a group of pelicans in California. If you’ve ever seen pelicans in action, you know they’re great fishermen, or fisher-birds. These pelicans were hanging out near a fleet of fishing boats. The fishermen on the boats would pull into the ...read more

Scripture: 1 Corinthians 4:7-14

Tags: Servanthood, God's Direction

You'll Never Know

Contributed by Rick Crandall on Jul 8, 2009

YOU'LL NEVER KNOW You may be going through some troubles right now. But trust in the Lord, because He will surely take care of you. He has already blessed and cared for us in countless ways. This week I thought back to one example from my life. It was over at Emmanuel Baptist Church in the ...read more

Tags: Shelter, God's Provision

Denomination: Baptist

Ray Of Light, Ray Of Hope

Contributed by Sermon Central on Jul 10, 2009

RAY OF LIGHT, RAY OF HOPE There is a story about how the caverns north of Yellowstone National Park were discovered. As the story goes, one of the original explorers was walking along the top of that mountain and fell through a hole, and he dropped down several hundred feet into this cavern and ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 5:14

Tags: God Brings Hope

Mendelssohn And Rembrandt: Artists In Christ

Contributed by Sermon Central on Jul 10, 2009

MENDELSSOHN AND REMBRANDT: ARTISTS IN CHRIST This past Tuesday we noted the 200th anniversary of the birth of the composer Felix Mendelssohn. Mendelssohn was born into a family with deep spiritual roots. His grandfather Moses Mendelssohn was a rabbi and a philosopher. But Felix’s parents, ...read more

Tags: God Brings Hope

A Reasoning ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Jul 10, 2009

A REASONING FAITH Richard Dawkins in The God Delusion says that Christian Faith is non-thinking. He believes religion was responsible for the 9/11 bombings. "Get rid of God and all religions, and you will have peace on earth." Atheists buy into the thought that the natural sciences have displaced ...read more

Scripture: 1 Peter 3:15-16

Tags: Apologetics, Apologetics God

Depression Stats

Contributed by Sermon Central on Jul 10, 2009

DEPRESSION STATS The state of depression is a very real and common affliction among people of all ages, race and culture. In January of 2005, Bob Murray, PhD and Alicia Fortinberry, MS complied some staggering statistics on depression: - Depressive disorders affect approximately 18.8 million ...read more

Scripture: Psalm 88:15

Tags: God Brings Hope

Transcending Tradition

Contributed by Sermon Central on Jul 13, 2009

TRANSCENDING TRADITION During these tough economic times, churches all across the country are seeing a sharp drop in their offerings. Thankfully, we haven’t seen that here, yet, but a lot of churches have, one of them being the Cross Timbers Community Church in Argyle, Texas. Their drop in income ...read more

Scripture: Hebrews 13:5

Tags: God Brings Hope

Liberty In ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Jul 14, 2009

LIBERTY IN LIMITS Tom Landry, former Hall of Fame Coach of the Dallas Cowboys and a great man of faith in Christ, once had this to say: "Most successful football players not only accept rules and limitations but, I believe, they need them. Players are free to perform at their best only when they ...read more

Scripture: James 1:25

Tags: Boundaries, Knowing God's Will