In Sermon Illustrations: "Way"

Selling What You Believe In

Contributed by Warren Whitaker on Feb 10, 2010

Selling What You Believe In My best friend in high school is now a teacher, but when we were in college, he tried his hand at selling things. He worked for Amway, Long Distance Telephone services, all sorts of those door to door, sign-you-up, pyramid-type business. I even remember him selling ...read more

Tags: Discipleship

Denomination: Christian/Church Of Christ

Capture And Control  PRO

Contributed by Sermon Central on Feb 7, 2011

CAPTURE AND CONTROL Craig Larson talks about being at a lunch party on a warm, Chicago day in early September with a dozen of his fellow workers. The windows were left open, and soon a bee found its way in. After buzzing around for a while, it landed on some food on the table. Then someone took an ...read more

Scripture: 2 Timothy 2:26, John 8:1-11

Tags: Satan

Fortified Within

Contributed by Sermon Central on Mar 23, 2011

FORTIFIED WITHIN There are two ways of handling pressure. One is illustrated by a bathysphere, the miniature submarine used to explore the ocean in places so deep that the water pressure would crush a conventional submarine like an aluminum can. Bathyspheres compensate with plate steel several ...read more

Scripture: Colossians 1:9-14

Tags: Stress

Are You Seaworthy?  PRO

Contributed by Sermon Central on Aug 3, 2011

ARE YOU SEAWORTHY? In his book, Life before Death, Ian Leitch, a Scottish preacher, talks about three luxury ocean liners, the Queen Mary, the Queen Elizabeth, and the QE2. He says, "When they built [these ocean liners], they did not test them in dry dock. They didn’t leave them in dry dock and ...read more

Scripture: James 1:1-15, James 1:2-4

Tags: Faith

The Risk Of Defeating The Enemy

Contributed by Sermon Central on Apr 26, 2012

THE RISK OF DEFEATING THE ENEMY During WWII in PNG as the Australian troops were involved in engaging the Japanese in Milne Bay and some of the regions along the North coast, the Australian troops began to realise that if they waited for all the artillery fire to cease that the Japanese in machine ...read more

Scripture: Ephesians 6:10-18

Tags: War

We Are Here! We Are Here!

Contributed by Michael Mccartney on Jan 23, 2013

WE ARE HERE! WE ARE HERE! From movie, "Horton Hears a Who!" Clip from movie about 5 minutes. The "Who" people with the help of Horton shouted, proclaimed, cried out and made themselves heard -- it was life and death by the way -- they did this to let the rest of the world around them know that ...read more

Tags: Church Purpose Of

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

People Would Have Been Familiar With Several ...

Contributed by Mark Eberly on May 27, 2008

People would have been familiar with several options for living. They could choose to collaborate with the Romans like the Sadducees and even the tax collectors. They could choose to live according to a high standard of rules and regulations designed (supposedly) to gain God’s favor by being good ...read more

Tags: Kingdom Of God

Denomination: Church Of God

The Spirit Makes The Call

Contributed by John Boquist on Jul 18, 2008

THE SPIRIT MAKES THE CALL In Colossians 3:15 we're told to let the peace of God rule in our hearts. Incidentally, the Greek word for rule is the same one used in other writings for referee. In other words, it says to let Christ make the call. Now we know what a referee is and what he does. In ...read more

Tags: Holy Spirit In Believers

Denomination: Baptist

Playing Church

Contributed by Russell Brownworth on Aug 10, 2008

PLAYING CHURCH Some years ago I met Johnny Moore. Johnny is the lead singer for "His Glory". He tells his story of how he was on his way home one night before he got serious with the Lord. He’d been kinda "playing church." He was on his way home from a Wednesday night prayer meeting, and he ...read more

Tags: Confession Of Sin

Denomination: United Methodist

I Read A Story Of A Soldier In Wwi Who Was So ...

Contributed by Bo Dunford on Jan 21, 2009

*I read a story of a soldier in WWI who was so distraught with the war that he deserted! * Tried to find his way to the coast so he could catch a boat, make his way back home to England. * In the darkness of the night he stumbled on a road sign. * It was so dark and he was so lost, he had no ...read more

Tags: Love For God

Denomination: Baptist

At Night No One Would See Him (Nicodemus). At ...  PRO

Contributed by Kevin Karhoff on Feb 18, 2013

At night no one would see him (Nicodemus). At night he would avoid awkward questions from the other religious leaders. At night he could spend time with Jesus without anyone knowing. If he could speak with Jesus at night when no one was around, maybe he could begin a relationship with Jesus ...read more

Scripture: John 3:1-18

Tags: Jesus Christ, Chain

Denomination: Presbyterian/Reformed

I'll Take Hymn!

Contributed by Garris Hudson on Feb 26, 2016

One Sunday, a pastor told his congregation that the church needed some extra money. He asked the people to consider donating a little more than usual into the offering plate. He said that whoever gave the most would be able to pick out three hymns. After the offering plates were passed, the pastor ...read more

Scripture: Genesis 2:21-23

Tags: Marriage, Dating, Husbands And Wives, Singles

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

The Train Engineer

Contributed by Daniel King, D. Min. on Jul 25, 2018

Main Idea: God the Father sacrificed His only Son so that we could live. Verse: “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life” (John 3:16 NKJV). Illustration: Once there was a train engineer who had one ...read more

Tags: Sacrifice, Sacrifice Of Christ, Sacrifice For Others

Denomination: Charismatic

Almost

Contributed by Steve Kinnard on Feb 15, 2019

Almost Story It started out with a low rumbling; then there was the sound of the explosion. It seemed like the whole world was rocking and reeling under the blow of Mother Nature. The sky was filled with smoke as dark as a midnight; the ashes from the eruption were falling like snow in a winter ...read more

Scripture: Mark 4:17

Tags: Almost, Delay

Denomination: Pentecostal

Beatitudes For Marriage

Contributed by Garris Hudson on Jan 30, 2020

We all know and love the Beatitudes for what they mean to our own personal lives, but recently I sensed the Lord leading me to write down how these guidelines for Kingdom citizens affected the lives of married couples. The results were received very powerfully by our amazing church family: Poor ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 5:1-12

Tags: Marriage, Prayer, Beatitudes, Couples

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

If Ii Were Satan...

Contributed by Garris Hudson on Nov 14, 2021

IF I WERE SATAN… I would delude their minds into thinking that they had come from man's effort, instead of God's blessings; I would promote an attitude of loving things and using people, instead of the other way around; I would convince people that character is not an issue when it comes ...read more

Scripture: 1 Peter 5:7-9

Tags: America, Satan, Spiritual Warfare, The Devil

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

Apples And The Things We Usually Miss

Contributed by Martin Spoelstra on Feb 20, 2026

I brought something with me today. (Bring out the apples.) These are apples. Nothing fancy. Not miraculous. Not smuggled out of the Garden of Eden. Just apples. But here’s what I want you to notice. An apple is sweet. An apple is useful. An apple is good. But the apple is not the point. The point ...read more

Scripture: John 15:1-8

Tags: Faithfulness, The Church, Remain, Abide, Fruitfullness, Discipleship  (view more)  (view less)

Denomination: Presbyterian/Reformed

Being Humble - Young Seminarian Story

Contributed by J Jeffrey Smead on Feb 24, 2026

A young seminarian ... was excited about preaching his very first sermon ... in the small church ... he grew up in. After three years in seminary, ... he felt adequately prepared, ... and when he was introduced to the congregation, ... he walked boldly ... to the pulpit, ...his head high, ... ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 6:1-6, Matthew 6:16-21, James 4:6, 1 Peter 5:5

Tags: Pride, Boldness, Confidence, Embarrassed, Humble  (view more)  (view less)

Denomination: Anglican

Martin Luther Many Years Ago Was Looking For A ...  PRO

Contributed by Kyle Meador on Jan 22, 2001

Martin Luther many years ago was looking for a way to help the people of his day learn to praise God in song. So he went into the pubs to find out what they were singing. He took a popular tune and set words to it… “A Mighty Fortress is ...read more

Tags: Sharing My Testimony

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

The Efficient Use Of Pain  PRO

Contributed by Sermon Central on Jan 20, 2002

THE EFFICIENT USE OF PAIN God does not waste an ounce of our pain or a drop of our tears; suffering doesn’t come our way for no reason, and He seems especially efficient at using what we endure to mold our character. If we are malleable, He takes our bumps and bruises ...read more

Tags: God In The Hardships, Endurance, Emotions