In Sermon Illustrations: "Unwanted things"

Unwanted Items-The Unwanted Salary

Contributed by Jonathan Spurlock on May 11, 2025

Unwanted items-the unwanted salary Introduction: Have you ever been so angry with your employer that you threw your pay away? Something like that happened in the Parable of the Workers in the Vineyard (Matthew 20)! (Full disclosure: Sermon Central has previously accepted a message on this text in ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 20:1-15

Tags: Jesus, Money, Unwanted Things

Denomination: Baptist

Unwanted  PRO

Contributed by Brian Mavis on Oct 30, 2000

Mother Teresea “We have drugs for people with diseases like leprosy. But these drugs do not treat the main problem, the disease of being unwanted. That’s what my sisters hope to provide. The sick and poor suffer even more from rejection than ...read more

Tags: Compassion, Church, Giving General, Poverty

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

Unwanted Items-Fresh Meat On The Street?

Contributed by Jonathan Spurlock on Apr 2, 2025

Introduction: This illustration is the first in a series about things that either aren’t wanted, left behind, or otherwise abandoned. Here’s hoping some of these illustrations will be useful! Text: 2 Kings 7:7, KJV: 7 Wherefore they arose and fled in the twilight, and left their tents, and their ...read more

Scripture: 2 Kings 7:7

Tags: Caution, Meat, Unwanted, Abandoned Things

Denomination: Baptist

Unwanted Items--The Unwanted Scroll

Contributed by Jonathan Spurlock on Apr 30, 2025

Introduction: Before the printing press was invented, all correspondence had to be written and copied by hand. Even in Old Testament times, there were scribes who made copies of various things. Needless to say, it would be a tragedy if these handwritten works were ever lost. It was even worse when ...read more

Scripture: Jeremiah 36:20-26

Tags: Jeremiah, Baruch, Roll Of A Book, Destroyed Writings

Denomination: Baptist

The World's Most Unwanted Ship

Contributed by Martin Spoelstra on Jul 2, 2021

The Pellicano is the world's most unwanted ship. Since 1986 she has been the hobo of the high seas. No one wants her. Sri Lanka doesn't. Bermuda doesn't. The Dominican Republic turned her away. So did the Netherlands, the Antilles, and Honduras. The problem is not the boat. Though ...read more

Scripture: 1 Corinthians 13:5, 2 Corinthians 10:5, Philippians 4:8

Tags: Guilt, Pessimism, Deceit, Sin, Anxiety, Transformation, Bitterness  (view more)  (view less)

Denomination: Presbyterian/Reformed

No Such Thing

Contributed by J. Brad Campbell on Nov 6, 2006

There is no such thing as a blessed curse ...read more

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

Things That Will ...

Contributed by Terry Laughlin on Aug 11, 2008

Things That Will NOT Save Your Soul 1. Church Membership 2. Baptism 3. The Lord’s Supper / Communion 4. Confirmation 5. Giving money to the poor 6. Giving money to the church 7. Saying prayers 8. Keeping the Ten Commandments 9. Obeying the “Golden Rule” 10. Doing “the ...read more

Scripture: Ephesians 2:8-9

Tags: Salvation

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

Things That Will ...

Contributed by Terry Laughlin on Aug 11, 2008

Things That Will NOT Save Your Soul 1. Church Membership 2. Baptism 3. The Lord’s Supper / Communion 4. Confirmation 5. Giving money to the poor 6. Giving money to the church 7. Saying prayers 8. Keeping the Ten Commandments 9. Obeying the “Golden Rule” 10. Doing “the ...read more

Scripture: Ephesians 2:8-9

Tags: Salvation

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

Things ...

Contributed by Stephen Funderburk on Jan 7, 2009

Things Neglected Once an ever waking thought Once an every day pursuit And then the day arrived Where it was passed by Maybe for just an instant But it’s worth diminished in that moment And in time it fell into the common ground Of those things neglected. One day the most valued thing of all In ...read more

Scripture: James 4:14

Tags: Time

Denomination: Assembly Of God

Things ...

Contributed by Stephen Funderburk on Jan 7, 2009

Things Neglected Once an ever waking thought Once an every day pursuit And then the day arrived Where it was passed by Maybe for just an instant But it’s worth diminished in that moment And in time it fell into the common ground Of those things neglected. One day the most valued thing of all In ...read more

Scripture: James 4:14

Tags: Time

Denomination: Assembly Of God

Things ...

Contributed by Stephen Funderburk on Jan 7, 2009

Things Neglected Once an ever waking thought Once an every day pursuit And then the day arrived Where it was passed by Maybe for just an instant But it’s worth diminished in that moment And in time it fell into the common ground Of those things neglected. One day the most valued thing of all In ...read more

Scripture: James 4:14

Tags: Time

Denomination: Assembly Of God

Things ...

Contributed by Stephen Funderburk on Jan 7, 2009

Things Neglected Once an ever waking thought Once an every day pursuit And then the day arrived Where it was passed by Maybe for just an instant But it’s worth diminished in that moment And in time it fell into the common ground Of those things neglected. One day the most valued thing of all In ...read more

Scripture: James 4:14

Tags: Time

Denomination: Assembly Of God

Things ...

Contributed by Stephen Funderburk on Jan 11, 2009

Things Neglected Once an ever waking thought Once an every day pursuit And then the day arrived Where it was passed by Maybe for just an instant But it’s worth diminished in that moment And in time it fell into the common ground Of those things neglected. One day the most valued thing of all In ...read more

Scripture: James 4:14

Tags: Miscellaneous

Denomination: Assembly Of God

Things ...

Contributed by Stephen Funderburk on Jan 11, 2009

Things Neglected Once an ever waking thought Once an every day pursuit And then the day arrived Where it was passed by Maybe for just an instant But it’s worth diminished in that moment And in time it fell into the common ground Of those things neglected. One day the most valued thing of all In ...read more

Scripture: James 4:14

Tags: Miscellaneous

Denomination: Assembly Of God

Some Of Us Get So Used To The Adrenaline Rush Of ...  PRO

Contributed by Sermon Central on Jan 14, 2001

Some of us get so used to the adrenaline rush of handling crises that we become dependent on it for a sense of excitement and energy. How does urgency feel? Stressful? Pressured? Tense? Exhausting? Sure. But let’s be honest. It’s also sometimes exhilarating. We feel useful. We feel ...read more

Scripture: Luke 10:16-21, Luke 10:38-42

Tags: First Things

16 Year Old] Nathan Johnson Dreamed Of Starting ...  PRO

Contributed by John Shearhart on Sep 10, 2006

“[16 year old] Nathan Johnson dreamed of starting a revolution for Christ. [He wrote in his diary, “God’s] will for me is to radically impact my school for Him." But before he could see the revolution become a reality, Johnson’s life was cut short by an automobile accident [after] striking a ...read more

Scripture: Luke 5:1-13, Colossians 3:1-7

Tags: All Things

Orphans

Contributed by Davon Huss on Oct 24, 2014

Rubel Shelly tells of his friends Rich and Patty White, who traveled to a 3rd world country to adopt a little girl named Olona. After 2 years of effort and paperwork, the Whites stood before a judge who read words from an official document: “Inasmuch as Olona Morgan is orphaned and unwanted by ...read more

Scripture: John 14:18

Tags: Chosen By God, Orphan, Unwanted

Denomination: Christian/Church Of Christ

Keeping The Main Thing The Main Thing!

Contributed by Dr. Larry Petton on Jan 2, 2023

It was a 99-degree September day in San Antonio, Texas, when a woman accidentally locked her 10-month-old baby inside a parked car. Frantically the mother ran around the auto in near hysteria, while a neighbor attempted to unlock the car with a clothes hanger. Soon the infant was turning purple ...read more

Tags: Little Things, Priorities, Evangelism, Heroes, Distractions, Vision  (view more)  (view less)

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

What Things?  PRO

Contributed by Larry Daugherty on Aug 7, 2001

"WHAT THINGS?" Luke24:16 In these two words, "What Things?" are found one of the most profound lessons of forgiveness. They are a quote from Luke, by our Lord after His crucifixion. Jesus was walking with two men going to Emmaus. Their language and languishing betrayed their disappointment. ...read more

Scripture: Luke 24:16

Tags: Forgiveness For Others, Discipleship

Denomination: Holiness

The Little Things  PRO

Contributed by Paul Fritz on May 20, 2002

Title: The Little Things A group of men were carrying on a friendly conversation. One of them remarked that he had learned to be especially careful about small things. "Would you believe," he said, "that a little thing like a pair of socks changed the entire course of my life?" "I can hardly ...read more

Tags: Faith, Repentance

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational