In Sermon Illustrations: "Unrealized Dreams"

The Good Old ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Jan 18, 2010

The Good Old Days A girl who went to college, but she just hated it. She told herself, “If I can ever get out of college, get married and have children, I know I’ll finally be able to enjoy life.” So she stuck with it. She went to classes every day and finally graduated from college. Then she got ...read more

Scripture: Ephesians 5:15-17

Tags: Age, Aging

God's Word Has Power

Contributed by Sermon Central on May 3, 2011

GOD'S WORD HAS POWER In an interview about his book The Folly of Prayer (IVP, 2009), author and pastor Matt Woodley shared a story about his friend Theresa. She had married the man of her dreams, but soon after that dropped into the pit of a deep depression. Everything went dark in her mind and ...read more

Scripture: Romans 8:26-27

Tags: Bible Influence

God Stands By His Promises

Contributed by Curry Pikkaart on Jul 28, 2011

GOD STANDS BY HIS PROMISES Oswald Chambers once wrote, "Faith is unutterable trust in God, trust that never dreams that He will not stand by us." Missionaries Dick and Margaret Hillis found themselves caught in China during the Japanese invasion. The couple lived with their two children in an ...read more

Tags: Promises Of God

Denomination: Presbyterian/Reformed

Toxic Waste Burial  PRO

Contributed by Herman Abrahams on Aug 16, 2007

ILLUSTRATION A few decades ago, several American companies authorized by the U.S. government attempted to bury toxic waste products underground. They filled large metal containers with chemical waste and other life-threatening products, sealed the drums tightly, and buried them deep down below the ...read more

Denomination: Charismatic

Why Do We Sometimes Hold On So Tightly To Things ...

Contributed by Mark Opperman on Jan 3, 2008

-Why do we sometimes hold on so tightly to things God is asking us to let go of? God really does want to bless us with His very best, but we can get so attached to the things of this life that we aren’t willing to release them to Him. -One little girl saved up her money for weeks and weeks. She ...read more

Denomination: Assembly Of God

Star Wars Episode Iii: Revenge Of The Sith

Contributed by Aubrey Vaughan on Apr 27, 2008

Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith The film takes place three years after the onset of the Clone Wars; the noble Jedi knights are spread out across the galaxy leading a massive clone army in the war against the separatists. After Chancellor Palpatine is kidnapped, Jedi master Obi-Wan ...read more

Tags: Sin Exposed

Denomination: Baptist

Walking In The Confidence Of God  PRO

Contributed by Terry Laughlin on Aug 11, 2008

Walking in the Confidence of God "Personal God" Christians can walk in confidence because the Lord is a personal God: Psalm 147:11 says, "the LORD delights in those who fear Him, who put their hope in His unfailing love." Song of Solomon 7:10 presents a wonderful truth in regard to our ...read more

Scripture: Psalm 7:10

Tags: Confidence

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

Vacation: Willing To Follow

Contributed by Sermon Central on Dec 11, 2008

VACATION: WILLING TO FOLLOW In a movie classic - National Lampoon's Vacation - Chevy Chase - otherwise known as Clark Griswold - leads his family across the country to their dream vacation at Wally World. Along the way, Clark gets lost several times. One time happened to be in St. Louis. As time ...read more

Tags: Discipleship

Steven Curtis Chapman Talks About His Tragedy

Contributed by Sermon Central on Feb 12, 2009

STEVEN CURTIS CHAPMAN TALKS ABOUT HIS TRAGEDY Two months after the tragic accident that claimed the life of his five-year-old daughter Maria Sue, Steven Curtis Chapman appeared with his wife and three oldest children on CNN’s "Larry King Live" Aug. 7 to testify to the solid hope believers have in ...read more

Scripture: 2 Corinthians 1:3-4

Tags: Comfort

From Rags To Riches. These Kinds Of Stories ...  PRO

Contributed by Sermon Central on Jun 18, 2007

From rags to riches. These kinds of stories always excite us somewhat. They are feel-good stories and they always offer to the common person a bit of encouragement to make something of ourselves in life. HAVEN’T WE ALL DREAMED AT ONE TIME OF PERHAPS DOING SOMETHING GREAT OR EXTRA-ORDINARY? Perhaps ...read more

Tags: Forgiveness General

Quotes From Napoleon On Jesus

Contributed by Garris Hudson on Mar 8, 2016

QUOTES FROM NAPOLEON ON JESUS I know men; and I tell you that Jesus Christ is no mere man. Between Him and every person in the world there is no possible term of comparison. Alexander, Caesar, Charlemagne, and I have founded empires. But on what did we rest the creations of our genius? Upon force. ...read more

Scripture: John 14:6

Tags: Jesus, World Religions, Universalism

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

Broken

Contributed by Dr. Fred W. Penney on May 6, 2019

Broken Windows … (Little improvements can make a big difference) Social psychologists and police officers tend to agree that if a window in a building is broken and is left unrepaired, all the rest of the windows will soon be broken. This is as true in nice neighborhoods as in rundown ones. One ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 5:13

Tags: Community, Hope

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

The Hidden Mud And Leaves!" Ephesians 6:10-17 ...

Contributed by Mark Brunner on Oct 14, 2004

“The Hidden Mud and Leaves!” Ephesians 6:10-17 Key verse(s): 10: “Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power.” We moved to Beech Springs valley some sixteen summers ago now. We had been looking for a place that could afford us peace, quiet and some room for our growing family to ...read more

Scripture: Ephesians 6:10-17

Tags: Battle, Doubt, Enemy, Stand, Strong  (view more)  (view less)

Denomination: Lutheran

I Think You've Seen Jesus.

Contributed by D Marion Clark on Nov 15, 2010

"I THINK YOU'VE SEEN JESUS." The real putting off and putting on is not so much about our determination to make improvements but about giving ourselves over to our Lord to do the real work in our lives. In the children's book The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, there is a particularly bad boy named ...read more

Tags: Becoming A Christian

Denomination: Presbyterian/Reformed

Adopted By Christ  PRO

Contributed by Bruce Howell on Jul 9, 2001

Illus.: “Adopted by Christ” John was born into a family of 12 children. They were very poor. He was the youngest. He never remembered his father eating a meal with the rest of the family. He had to work long hours to feed his family. One day his father ran off with another woman, leaving his ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 15:11-20

Tags: Beauty, Ashes, Children, God's Provision, Trinity  (view more)  (view less)

Denomination: Wesleyan

Imagine A Group Of People Coming To Your Home And ...  PRO

Contributed by Sermon Central on Jan 27, 2002

Imagine a group of people coming to your home and interrupting your Twinkie-eating, TV-watching routine with an urgent message: “Good News! We’re from the United States Olympic Committee. We have been looking for someone to run the marathon in the next Olympics. We have statistics on every person ...read more

Scripture: Acts 20:24, 1 Corinthians 9:24, 2 Timothy 4:7, Hebrews 12:1, James 1:1-4  (view more)  (view less)

Tags: Race, Disciplines, Discipleship

What We Can Learn From The "Lesser Knowns"

Contributed by Tom Mccrossan on Jan 21, 2004

What We Can Learn From the "Lesser Knowns" The media makes note of the well-known celebrities who die, and this year there is quite a long, sad list: John Ritter. Fred Rogers. Johnny Cash. June Carter Cash. Bob Hope. David Brinkley. Gregory Peck. Katharine Hepburn. Buddy Hackett. Buddy Ebsen. But ...read more

Tags: Christian Disciplines, Funerals Christian, Forgiveness General

Denomination: Presbyterian/Reformed

Choosing To Love!" 1 John 2:7-11 Key Verse(S): ...  PRO

Contributed by Mark Brunner on Feb 2, 2005

“Choosing To Love!” 1 John 2:7-11 Key verse(s): 9-10:“Anyone who claims to be in the light but hates his brother is still in the darkness. Whoever loves his brother lives in the light, and there is nothing in him to make him stumble.” We live in a choice culture. In fact, we live in a culture ...read more

Scripture: 1 Samuel 26:1-25, 1 John 2:7-11

Tags: Christian Love

Denomination: Lutheran

In His Book In The Eye Of The Storm, Max Lucado ...  PRO

Contributed by Jeremy Houck on Jun 4, 2005

In his book In the Eye of the Storm, Max Lucado tells about something that happened to him while he was in high school. Every year, he and his family used to go fishing during spring break. But one year, his brother and his mom couldn’t go, so his dad let him invite a friend. They looked forward ...read more

Tags: Evangelism Urgency, What Is Evangelism?

Denomination: Christian/Church Of Christ

In The 18th Century, Archibald Boyle Was The ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Dec 20, 2005

In the 18th century, Archibald Boyle was the leading member of an association of wild and wicked men known as “The Hell Club” in Glasgow, Scotland. After one night of carousing at the Club’s notorious annual meeting, Boyle dreamed he was riding home on his black horse. In the darkness, someone ...read more

Tags: Hell