In Sermon Illustrations: "Why Suffering"

Paul Hammons ...

Contributed by David Rumley on Apr 16, 2009

Paul Hammons says… We have a tendency to see the past as being better than what it was… The good old days really weren’t all that good. We forget about all the hardships: (The depression, no air conditioning, out houses, no running water). Back in the days before electricity, a tightfisted old ...read more

Tags: Wife

Denomination: Pentecostal

The Average American Has $9000 In Credit Card ...

Contributed by Bret Toman on Jun 8, 2009

The average American has $9000 in credit card debt. $9000, just in credit card debt. That’s not student loans, home mortgages, car payments or anything else. That’s just credit card debt. Why is it, that we who live in the wealthiest country in the world ... live in debt? Do we not have enough? Are ...read more

Tags: Money

Denomination: Baptist

Solzhenitsyn: Men Have Forgotten God  PRO

Contributed by Donnie Martin on Aug 24, 2009

SOLZHENITSYN: MEN HAVE FORGOTTEN GOD In his 1983 acceptance speech for the Templeton Prize for Progress in Religion, Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn recalled the words he heard as a child, when his elders sought to explain the ruinous upheavals in Russia: "Men have forgotten God; that’s why all this has ...read more

Tags: Apostasy

Denomination: Baptist

What Is Heaven?

Contributed by Terry Barnhill on Oct 26, 2009

What Is Heaven? By Terry Barnhill What is heaven, and why such hope upon it? Heaven is already here By faith in Christ who brought His kingdom near. "Carpe diem," said ancient Horace, "quam minimum credula postero." "Seize the day trusting not in tomorrow." Our hope is in the promises of ...read more

Tags: Heaven

Denomination: Presbyterian/Reformed

Decline Of Christianity In America  PRO

Contributed by Sermon Central on Jun 30, 2010

DECLINE OF CHRISTIANITY IN AMERICA North America is the only continent on earth where Christianity is not growing. Only 17.5% of the population of the US attends church on a regular Sunday. During the 1990’s there was a 19.4% decline in church attendance. 85% of churches in America are ...read more

Scripture: Acts 2:42-47

Tags: Church Growth

Important Lessons Are Given By This Alternation ...

Contributed by Gordon Curley on Nov 30, 2010

Important lessons are given by this alternation of the two ideas of faith and unbelief, obedience and disobedience. Disobedience is the root of unbelief. Unbelief is the mother of further disobedience. Faith is voluntary submission within a person’s own power. If faith is not exercised, the true ...read more

Tags: Unbelief

Denomination: Brethren

Johnny's One-Track Mind

Contributed by Johnny A. Palmer Jr. on Dec 7, 2011

JOHNNY'S ONE-TRACK MIND I'm like the little boy who was asked by his teacher, "Johnny what is your favorite animal?" He said, "Fried chicken!" Being a PETA supporter, she sent him to the principal's office. The next day she asked him, "Johnny, what it your favorite living animal?" He said, ...read more

Tags: Animals

Denomination: Baptist

What's Your Motivation?

Contributed by Sermon Central on Apr 26, 2012

WHAT'S YOUR MOTIVATION? Suppose someone were to offer me a thousand dollars for every soul I might earnestly try to lead to Christ. Would I endeavor to lead any more souls to him than I am endeavoring to do now? Is it possible that I would attempt to do for money, even at the risk of blunders or ...read more

Scripture: Jude 1:22-23

Tags: Great Commission

House Fire And Marshmallows

Contributed by Sermon Central on Aug 7, 2012

HOUSE FIRE AND MARSHMALLOWS As the coals from our barbecue burned down, our hosts passed out marshmallows and long roasting forks. Just then, two fire trucks roared by, sirens blaring, lights flashing. They stopped at a house right down the block. All twelve of us raced out of the back yard, down ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 7:12

Tags: Neighbor

You Can't Eat Just One  PRO

Contributed by Rick Boyne on Jan 22, 2013

YOU CAN'T EAT JUST ONE Lays® Potato Chips uses the slogan "You can't eat just one." They know a secret: most of us will lose self-control and give in to temptation if they can get us to just eat one. One gives in to two; two in to five; and before you know it, you've eaten an entire bag of chips! ...read more

Tags: Temptation Resisting

Denomination: Baptist

Going In Circles

Contributed by Spencer Miller on May 19, 2013

GOING IN CIRCLES A family who moved into a new neighborhood had a late start one morning. As a result their six-year-old missed her school bus. Though it would make him late for work her father agreed to take her to school if she gave him directions. After 20 minutes of going in circles they ...read more

Tags: Commitment To Christ

Denomination: Baptist

He's Shaving You!

Contributed by Dr. Larry Petton on Feb 9, 2014

HE'S SHAVING YOU! An influential man in town was sitting in the barber's chair having a shave and a haircut. He saw a pretty woman who was working in the office there and started flirting with her. "You're cute! How about a date tonight?" he said to her. The pretty woman smiled and said, ...read more

Scripture: James 3:1-10

Tags: Pride, Words, Tongue, Flirting

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

Pecans

Contributed by Davon Huss on Oct 9, 2015

We might be used by God to produce fruit we will never see. Takes time to take a fruit tree from a sapling to a mature, fruit producing tree. Down South, a young man, walking along a dirt path, comes upon an old man bowed to the ground planting pecan trees in a field. He stops and asks the old ...read more

Scripture: John 15:16

Tags: Bearing Fruit, Everlasting, Fruit Of The Vine

Denomination: Christian/Church Of Christ

Genesis And Revelation

Contributed by Dr. Larry Petton on Oct 15, 2019

The two books the devil hates most are Genesis and Revelation. Why? • In Genesis the devil's doom is pronounced. • In Revelation it’s carried out. It is the Devil's Obituary. Satan would tell us Genesis is myth and Revelation is mystery—don't pay attention to either one! Did you ...read more

Tags: Genesis, Revelation

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

The Help Of God

Contributed by Rev. Duraimony Dickson on Nov 20, 2020

Alex Haley, the author of "Roots," had an unusual picture hanging on his office wall. It was a picture of a turtle on top of a fence post. When asked, "Why is that there?" Alex Haley answered, "Every time I write something significant, every time I read my words and think ...read more

Scripture: Psalm 121:1

Tags: God, Help, Assistance

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

Seed Corn Parable

Contributed by Alison Bucklin on Jun 24, 2023

The kingdom of God is like a farmer who shared his award winning seed corn with his neighbors. One year a newspaper reporter asked him. “How can you afford to share your best seed corn with your neighbors when they are entering corn in competition with yours each year?” the reporter asked. “Why ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 13:31-52

Tags: Farmer, Parable, Seed

Denomination: Presbyterian/Reformed

We Don't Have Enough Bait, So You Better Go To Church!

Contributed by Dr. Larry Petton on Nov 12, 2024

A boy came late to Sunday School late. Knowing he was usually very prompt, his teacher asked, “Johnny, is there anything wrong?” “No, ma’am, not really,” he said,” I was going to go fishing, but my daddy told me that I needed to get on up and go to church.” The teacher was very impressed and ...read more

Scripture: Hebrews 10:25

Tags: Daddy, Fishing, Missing Church, Father's Day Jokes, Church, Children, Sunday School, Worship  (view more)  (view less)

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

Prayer

Contributed by Revd. Martin Dale on Oct 21, 2025

Story: A friend of mine, Alun Morris was a pastor in a Swiss Pentecostal Church for many years. One day, he went to a funeral and saw a man who he knew to be an atheist come into church and bow his head for about a minute in front of the altar as he came in. It seemed to Alun that the man was ...read more

Scripture: Luke 18:9-14

Tags: Prayer, Atheist

Denomination: Anglican

I Quit

Contributed by David Dunn on Jan 22, 2026

It was the six-year-old boy’s first day of school. His one life ambition? Have as much fun as humanly possible. He marched through the gate with the bold confidence that only a child possesses, ready to squeeze joy out of every moment. But at noon there was a knock at the front door. There ...read more

Scripture: John 16:33

Tags: Perseverance, Reality

Denomination: Seventh-Day Adventist

What Does Living By Faith Mean Today? It Means ...  PRO

Contributed by Owen Bourgaize on Oct 18, 2000

What does living by faith mean today? It means deciding what is the controlling principle in our lives. Is it luck or chance? I had just parked my car at the office and a lady came up to me and said, "That’s a nice car but I wouldn’t want to drive it!" I was rather puzzled and asked "Why not?" ...read more

Tags: Faith General

Denomination: Baptist