In Sermon Illustrations: "Used For Bad"

Mother Sheep Sacrifices Her Life To Save Her Lamb ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Jan 18, 2010

Mother Sheep Sacrifices Her Life to Save Her Lamb from a Tiger William Faulkner tells the story of a mother sheep who had warned her little ones, “Do not go near the river, for a bad tiger lives there, and he will kill and eat you.” One lamb kept toying with the thought that the grass near the ...read more

Scripture: Isaiah 53:6

Tags: Sacrifices

Recently I Read About A Pastor Who Had A Thorn. ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Apr 10, 2008

Recently I read about a Pastor who had a thorn. He had just started - getting involved in teaching and preaching and sensing that it might be some area of calling for him. It was on a Sunday morning at this church and five minutes into his message he started to get dizzy and woozy and the room ...read more

Paul W. Powell, "Pride Is So Subtle That If We ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Jun 18, 2007

Paul W. Powell, “Pride is so subtle that if we aren’t careful we’ll be proud of our humility. When this happens our goodness becomes badness. Our virtues become vices. We can easily become like the Sunday School teacher who, having told the story of the Pharisee and ...read more

Tags: Sin Bondage To

Blame And Self-Esteem

Contributed by Brad Henry on Jul 24, 2011

BLAME AND SELF-ESTEEM When I was an Airline Pilot I was responsible for all flight operations, whether good or bad. If you are taxing into the gate and your wing clips a baggage cart, it is the Captain's fault. It doesn’t matter if the lineman steers you the wrong way or not. What the lineman ...read more

Tags: Bitterness

Loving Discipline

Contributed by Alison Bucklin on Jun 24, 2023

My middle godson has been having some serious discipline problems. While I was visiting his family, I read the file of his interviews with the school specialists in difficult children. The thing that struck me the hardest was when they were exploring whether or not he felt loved by ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 18:15-17, Hebrews 12:8-10, Proverbs 3:12

Tags: Repentance, Correction, Discipline

Denomination: Presbyterian/Reformed

Hearing God  PRO

Contributed by Sermon Central on Feb 25, 2002

HEARING GOD The New York Times reports that during the attacks of September 11, the communication between rescue workers and their commanding officers was not good. Instead of reaching the workers by radio to warn of the imminent collapse of the Trade Center Towers, a messenger had to be sent ...read more

Scripture: Psalm 94:9

Tags: Prayer Hardship, God's Omniscience, Debt, Disciplines General

Several Years Ago There Was A Movie That Starred ...  PRO

Contributed by Richard Scoggins on Dec 29, 2004

Several Years ago there was a movie that starred Nicolas Cage. It was about a New York City Cop who didn’t have enough money for a tip. He felt bad about it so he gave her a choice. She could wait until tomorrow and he would come back and bring her a few dollars or she could have half of ...read more

Tags: Addiction, Temptation General

Denomination: Baptist

A Man Decided To Join A Monastery And One Of The ...  PRO

Contributed by David Dewitt on Aug 25, 2002

A man decided to join a monastery and one of the rules of the group was that you were only allowed to speak two words every ten years. At the end of ten years he said, "Bad food!" Ten more years went by and he said, "Hard bed!" Finally, on his 30th anniversary with the brothers, he ...read more

Scripture: Ephesians 4:29

Tags: Communication General, Disappointment, Love Of The Disciples

Denomination: Church Of God

Paul W. Powell Once Observed: "Pride Is So ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Jun 18, 2007

Paul W. Powell once observed: “Pride is so subtle that if we aren’t careful we’ll be proud of our humility. When this happens our goodness becomes badness. Our virtues become vices. We can easily become like the Sunday School teacher who, having told the story of the Pharisee and ...read more

Tags: Sin Deceptive

Paul W. Powell Once Observed: "Pride Is So ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Jun 18, 2007

Paul W. Powell once observed: “Pride is so subtle that if we aren’t careful we’ll be proud of our humility. When this happens our goodness becomes badness. Our virtues become vices. We can easily become like the Sunday school teacher who, having told the story of the Pharisee and ...read more

Scripture: Luke 18:10-14

Tags: Salvation

Two Men Were Talking One Day When A Church Lady ...

Contributed by Gene Gregory on Mar 9, 2009

Two men were talking one day when a church lady came walking up the road. One turned to the other and said, “That’s sister Brown. She has nothing bad to say about anyone.” The other one, wanting to put it to the test said, “Sister Brown, what do you ...read more

Tags: Satan

Denomination: Baptist

Humble And Proud Of It!

Contributed by Garris Hudson on Dec 8, 2020

Paul W. Powell once observed, “Pride is so subtle that if we aren’t careful we’ll be proud of our humility. When this happens our goodness becomes badness. Our virtues become vices. We can easily become like the Sunday School teacher who, having told the story of the Pharisee and ...read more

Scripture: 2 Timothy 3:1-3

Tags: Pharisees, Religion, Humility, Pride

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

A Woman And A Man Are Involved In A Car ...  PRO

Contributed by Mike Leiter on Jan 15, 2003

A woman and a man are involved in a car accident. It’s a bad one. Both of their cars are demolished but amazingly neither of them is hurt. After they crawl out of their cars, the woman says, "So, you’re a man... That’s interesting. I’m a woman. Wow, just look at our cars! There’s nothing left, ...read more

Tags: Intoxication, Relationships, Manipulation, Temptation Resisting

Denomination: Vineyard

It Has Always Been Tough To Be A Young Person ...  PRO

Contributed by James Chandler on Apr 1, 2003

It has always been tough to be a young person growing up. And it has always been tough to be a parent and raise children into adults. Consider these quotes: "I see no hope for the future for people if they are dependent on the frivilous youth of today. For certainly all youth are reckless beyond ...read more

Scripture: Psalm 18:2

Tags: Authority, Children

Denomination: Christian/Church Of Christ

Pruning With A Purpose  PRO

Contributed by Sermon Central on Feb 18, 2004

PRUNING WITH A PURPOSE I have a lilac tree in my back yard – beautiful white flowers. Well I decided it needed a little bit of pruning, so I got out some cutters and – well, the truth is I hacked it up. I didn’t really know what I was doing, but it had overgrown my clothes-line and needed to be ...read more

Tags: God In The Hardships, Love Of The Disciples

Myth Makers And Fabricators?  PRO

Contributed by Sermon Central on Mar 22, 2005

MYTH MAKERS AND FABRICATORS? Intervarsity Christian Fellowship had an interesting article written by Curtis Chang, refuting some of the claims made by Anada Gupta that the Bible, in regards to the resurrection of Jesus, was bad history and that the men who wrote it were just myth makers. Chang ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 28:1-15

Tags: Apologetics Jesus, Easter Resurrection

Andy Stanley Has Written A Great, Little Book ...  PRO

Contributed by Timothy Smith on Jan 28, 2006

Andy Stanley has written a great, little book entitled, Choosing to Cheat. He writes: “It sounds bad but it’s true, we all must choose to cheat. It’s simple, the problem is not a lack of discipline or time management, it is simply lack of time. With only 24 hours in each day, we cannot do ...read more

Tags: Disciplines General

Denomination: Christian Church

Living And Waiting To Live

Contributed by Sermon Central on Dec 31, 2008

LIVING AND WAITING TO LIVE Most of us tend to think that happiness is just around the corner. JOY will come one of these days--when things get better...when we finally get out of school...or get a better job...or get married...or get our kids raised and out of the house...or after we get that ...read more

Tags: Joy

Soap Opera ...

Contributed by K. Edward Skidmore on Sep 2, 2009

"Soap opera prayers" Too many times we pray as a LAST resort! Years ago (before she knew better) my wife used to watch a soap opera called GENERAL HOSPITAL. How many of you ever saw that … now be honest. Of course, I had NO interest in it whatsoever --- I mean who cares what Luke and Laura ...read more

Tags: Prayer, Prayer Persistence

Denomination: Christian/Church Of Christ

Bathed In The Spirit

Contributed by Chuck Sligh on Apr 14, 2011

BATHED IN THE SPIRIT I remember when I had my cancer surgery in 1979. Susan and I had a pact that when I came out from the anesthesia, no matter how bad the news, she would tell me the truth about my prognosis. When I woke up from the anesthesia, I turned to her from my bed and whispered hoarsely, ...read more

Tags: Comfort

Denomination: Baptist