In Sermon Illustrations: "Used For Bad"

The Night Before

Contributed by Ronnie Miller on Aug 1, 2011

THE NIGHT BEFORE Jesus saw what was coming by way of the cross...Jesus saw the beating of the Roman whip with the metal attached to the ends that would rip the skin from the victims back. Beaten beyond recognition and could barely see to carry an old wooden cross to die on. That night before: He ...read more

Scripture: John 17:1-26, Luke 22:44

Tags: Jesus, Blood, Prayer, Gethsemane, Forgive, Blood Of Christ  (view more)  (view less)

Denomination: Baptist

Accepting The Good News  PRO

Contributed by Sermon Central on Aug 11, 2011

ACCEPTING THE GOOD NEWS A promotion by H. R. Block Inc. in 2001 offered walk-in customers a chance to win a drawing for a million dollars. Glen and Gloria Sims of Sewell, New Jersey, won the drawing, but they refused to believe it when an H. R. Block representative phoned them with the good ...read more

Scripture: John 5:45-47

Tags: Unbelief

Deficiencies

Contributed by Mark Adams on Aug 13, 2011

DEFICIENCIES I want to tell you about a weird thing that used to happen a lot to sailors during the 1600s. Vessels were getting more sea worthy, and adventures were taking people farther and farther from home. You might be on the same ship with the same people, with the same person cooking for ...read more

Tags: Disciplines General

Denomination: Christian/Church Of Christ

He's No Longer In The Grave  PRO

Contributed by Sermon Central on Aug 15, 2011

HE'S NO LONGER IN THE GRAVE In 1887, twenty two years after the assassination of President Abraham Lincoln, his coffin was dug up and opened because there were constant rumors that his body was not in the grave. So they dug it up and the body was there. The rumors continued so 14 years later they ...read more

Scripture: John 20:1-20

Tags: Jesus Lives, Easter Resurrection

Supreme Sacrifice

Contributed by Sermon Central on Aug 21, 2011

SUPREME SACRIFICE In January 2001, Seiko Sakamoto, a Japanese plasterer in a Tokyo subway station, fell into the path of an oncoming train. Lee Su Hyun, a Korean student in Japan, leaped down on the tracks to save Sakamoto. Both Hyun and Sakamoto were killed. This selfless act by the Korean ...read more

Scripture: Hebrews 5:7-9, Hebrews 1:3-4

Tags: Forgiveness For Others

Buried Treasure

Contributed by Sermon Central on Aug 25, 2011

BURIED TREASURE In 1992 volunteers from Concordia College in Moorhead, Minnesota, excavating in Caesarea dug up 99 gold coins that had been stashed in a makeshift safe beneath the floor of what was once a private dwelling. Caesarea is considered one of Israel’s richest archaeological sites in that ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 13:44-46

Tags: Parable Treasure

They're Not Ready For Heaven

Contributed by Sermon Central on Aug 25, 2011

THEY'RE NOT READY FOR HEAVEN The movie The End of the Spear tells the true story of five missionaries who gave their lives to reach the violent Waodoni tribe in the jungles of Ecuador in the 1950s. Led by Nate Saint, the missionaries were eager to reach the Waodoni people before they all died off ...read more

Scripture: 1 Peter 4:12-19

Tags: Missions

Perseverance: Scott, Handel And Spurgeon

Contributed by Sermon Central on Sep 7, 2011

PERSEVERANCE: SCOTT, HANDEL AND SPURGEON In 1826 the London firm of Hurst and Robinson went bankrupt, involving Sir WALTER SCOTT in a personal liability of 118,000 pounds. With noble determination Scott responded: "My right hand and I against the debt." From that time on he wrote novel after novel ...read more

Scripture: Romans 5:1-5

Tags: Endurance

Redefining "Deviancy"

Contributed by Sermon Central on Sep 8, 2011

REDEFINING "DEVIANCY" Alcoholism, drug abuse, teen pregnancy, abortion, homosexuality, school violence, child abuse, pornography, rape, robbery and murder pervade our nation. America is drowning in wickedness and immorality. For example, Oregon approved legalized physician-assisted suicide in 1994 ...read more

Scripture: Isaiah 5:20

Tags: America

Nuk Nuk Nuk

Contributed by Brad Henry on Sep 27, 2011

NUK NUK NUK As you know our 12-year-old son Chase is autistic. I have introduced both our boys to a very intellectual series of programs called The Three Stooges. The problem with Chase being autistic is he can do a "Nuk Nuk" almost anywhere at anytime. So the slapstick has started at our house. I ...read more

Tags: Joy

Giving Brings Hope And Purpose

Contributed by Brad Henry on Sep 29, 2011

GIVING BRINGS HOPE AND PURPOSE I have a friend that called me last night. I have known him for many years and he has been struggling with uncertainty like most folks in his business. He was also questioning, "Is this what the Lord wants me to do?" Well, he just came back from a trip where he was ...read more

Tags: God Brings Purpose

Setting Your Faith Aside

Contributed by K. Edward Skidmore on Oct 4, 2011

SETTING YOUR FAITH ASIDE Have you ever thought you could separate from God ... just for a little while ... and then later on turn back to God? Unfortunately we all do this ... in big ways or small ways. Any time we decide to live a life INDEPENDENT of God, we run a big risk. I remember a ...read more

Tags: Faith

Denomination: Christian/Church Of Christ

God And The Rabbit

Contributed by Tim Smith on Oct 8, 2011

GOD AND THE RABBIT When I was a 4th grader, I went on a spiritual retreat. We had worship one night and the counselor sent us to go find a private spot where we could pray individually. I went by a large tree away from everyone else. As I began to pray and pour my heart out to God, I heard a ...read more

Tags: Holy Spirit General

Denomination: Methodist

R. A. Torrey--Praying, Believing, And Not ...

Contributed by Mark Stepherson on Jan 9, 2012

R. A. TORREY--PRAYING, BELIEVING, AND NOT DOUBTING After R. A. Torrey had been a Christian for more than forty years, someone asked him to visit a family and pray for one member who was dying with typhoid fever. God revealed to Torrey that the man would live. He told them that when he arrived. ...read more

Scripture: Mark 11:22-24

Tags: Faith, Prayer, Prayer Of Faith

Denomination: Baptist

The Straightest Path  PRO

Contributed by Perry Greene on Apr 12, 2012

THE STRAIGHTEST PATH Two boys were playing in the snow one day, when one said to the other, "Let us see who can make the straightest path in the snow." His companion readily accepted the proposition, and they started. One boy fixed his eyes on a tree, and walked along without taking his eyes off ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 7:13-15

Tags: Jesus Christ

Denomination: Independent/Bible

Faith Connection  PRO

Contributed by Sermon Central on Apr 18, 2012

FAITH CONNECTION Spurgeon use to tell a story about two men in a boat. They were caught in a very, very severe rapids and they were going to a place where there was a waterfall and even worse rapids and there was really no way, if they ever hit those rapids, that they would ever live. And they ...read more

Scripture: Colossians 1:3-8

Tags: Faith

The Key Called Promise

Contributed by Sermon Central on May 2, 2012

THE KEY CALLED PROMISE In John Bunyan's great allegory, Pilgrim's Progress, the incident is related of how Christian decides to leave the Main Highway and follow another Path which seemed easier. But this Path leads him into the territory of Giant Despair who owns Doubting Castle. Eventually he ...read more

Scripture: Hebrews 6:13-20

Tags: Promises Of God

Ornamentals

Contributed by K. Edward Skidmore on May 5, 2012

ORNAMENTALS Back in 1960, my family moved from Ohio to Arizona. The first time we went to the Phoenix Airport, I was impressed by the beautiful orange trees that lined the drive. It was the first time this Ohio boy had ever seen citrus trees. The oranges were big as grapefruits. They looked so ...read more

Tags: Jesus Teachings

Denomination: Christian/Church Of Christ

How Well Do You Obey?  PRO

Contributed by Sermon Central on May 7, 2012

HOW WELL DO YOU OBEY? How we admire the obedience a dog shows to its master! Archibald Rutledge wrote that one day he met a man whose dog had just been killed in a forest fire. Heartbroken, the man explained to Rutledge how it happened. Because he worked out-of-doors, he often took his dog with ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 7:21-23, Luke 9:23-27, Jeremiah 7:21-24

Tags: Obedience

Return To The Right Path

Contributed by Sermon Central on May 8, 2012

RETURN TO THE RIGHT PATH In one section of John Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress, Christian and Hopeful are walking the King's Highway to the Celestial City. The path, once smooth and easy, becomes rough and hard. Then they come to an attractive place called Bypath Meadow. They climb over a fence into ...read more

Scripture: Proverbs 4:20-28

Tags: Doubt