In Sermon Illustrations: "Win"

Best Speeding-Ticket Excuse

Contributed by Davon Huss on Mar 16, 2009

BEST SPEEDING-TICKET EXCUSE A convention of Arkansas State troopers was asked to submit the best excuse they’d ever heard for someone trying to get out of a speeding ticket. The winning entry was submitted by a trooper who clocked a semi-tractor truck speeding down the interstate. The trooper ...read more

Tags: Guilt

Denomination: Christian/Church Of Christ

Honesty Matters  PRO

Contributed by Michael Deutsch on Jul 6, 2009

HONESTY MATTERS I read about a high school golfer, Chelsee Richard, of Bloomingdale High School in Brandon, Florida. She lost her chance to win the 2004 state championship — by being honest. In the qualifier for the state finals, Chelsee hit her tee shot on the second hole into the rough. Without ...read more

Scripture: 2 Corinthians 1:1-4, 1 Thessalonians 1:1-14

Tags: Commandments Testimony

Denomination: Baptist

Board Game, Sorry, Reveals Insincerity, Hypocrisy ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Nov 5, 2009

Board Game, Sorry, Reveals Insincerity, Hypocrisy and Lack of Repentance Have you ever played the BOARD GAME SORRY? You move your TOKENS around the BOARD & if you happen to land on the SAME SPOT of ANOTHER PLAYER then you say the word SORRY & you send them BACK to the very BEGINNING POINT. How many ...read more

Scripture: 2 Corinthians 7:5-11

Tags: Repentance

Scrubs Christmas Voiceover  PRO

Contributed by Charles Wilkerson on Nov 10, 2009

SCRUBS CHRISTMAS VOICEOVER The cast of the TV Show Scrubs have done a number of satirical looks at various things. The did a voice over of "Charlie Brown’s Christmas" and Dr. Cox does the Linus soliloquy which originally was the story of Christmas from the gospel. This post-modern version [IMHO] ...read more

Tags: Christmas

Denomination: Presbyterian/Reformed

How To Build A Ladder To Your ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Feb 1, 2010

How To Build A Ladder To Your Dreams Years ago a young African-American child was growing up in Cleveland, in a home which he later described as "materially poor but spiritually rich." One day a famous athlete, Charlie Paddock, came to his school to speak to the students. At the time Paddock was ...read more

Scripture: Hebrews 12:1-3

Tags: Sports

Hannibal The Great Was A Carthaginian Military ...

Contributed by Jeremy Lane on May 15, 2010

Hannibal the great was a Carthaginian military commander around the year 200 B.C. He is thought of as one of the great military leaders of all time, alongside Alexander the Great, Napoleon, and others. There is a story that says as a boy Hannibal begged his father to take him to a war overseas. ...read more

Tags: Happiness, Fighting

Denomination: Independent/Bible

Do Whatever The Champion Does

Contributed by Sermon Central on Jan 24, 2011

DO WHATEVER THE CHAMPION DOES In 1976, Finland’s Lasse Viren made Olympic history when he became the first man to win both the 5,000 and 10,000 meter races in successive Olympiads. After his victory, his coach decided to take on the record of the legendary Emil Zatopek. Earlier in the century at ...read more

Scripture: 1 Peter 5:1-5

Tags: Discipleship

The Magnitude Of The Request

Contributed by Sermon Central on Jan 26, 2011

THE MAGNITUDE OF THE REQUEST Napoleon and his soldiers overcame an island in the Mediterranean Sea. They had fought for many days to take the island and finally succeeded. After the capture of the island at the price of many lives, Napoleon and his generals gathered for a celebration. As they were ...read more

Scripture: Mark 11:24

Tags: Prayer How To

An Unforgettable Moment

Contributed by Sermon Central on Jun 9, 2011

AN UNFORGETTABLE MOMENT In those times in our lives when we receive big news, whatever that might be, our minds are forever imprinted with the emotion and excitement captured in that moment. We hear of an upcoming marriage, a baby on the way, an acceptance to school, whatever it might be – and ...read more

Scripture: Luke 2:28-32

Tags: Birth Of Jesus

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

Burn The Ships

Contributed by Brad Henry on Nov 2, 2011

BURN THE SHIPS In the 1500’s there was a commander named Cortes who was trying to conquer the Yucatan Peninsula for its gold. To prevent retreat Cortes ordered his ships to be sent to sea and scuttled so they could not retreat. How where they to get home? They weren’t--they would either win or ...read more

Tags: Goals

The Inner Need For Excellence

Contributed by Josh Hunt on Apr 3, 2012

THE INNER NEED FOR EXCELLENCE Years ago during a speaking engagement, I stayed in a hotel in Dallas. It was late at night, and after flipping channels for a while, I landed on ESPN, which is how I learned that tennis legend Martina Navratilova had just won a grueling match in Florida earlier that ...read more

Scripture: Malachi 1:7-8

Tags: Attitude General

Denomination: Baptist

Abraham Lincoln And Criticism

Contributed by Sermon Central on May 2, 2013

ABRAHAM LINCOLN AND CRITICISM A practicing lawyer loved to attack his opponents through scathing letters printed in newspapers. In 1842, he ridiculed the wrong man. James Shields did not take kindly to the anonymous writer who lampooned him in the Springfield Journal. Mr. Shields tracked down ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 7:1-5

Tags: Criticism, Tongue

Last Lap Of The Race

Contributed by Shawn Miller on Jul 4, 2014

May 29, 2011 it looked like it was destiny, the day Dale Earnhardt Jr. was rounding the last lap of the Charlotte Motor Speedway. You could just imagine the script that was being set; it was memorial day, he was being sponsored by the national guard, and He was going to finally win for the first ...read more

Scripture: 2 Timothy 4:7

Tags: Perseverance, Endurance, Finish The Race, Gas Tank

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

The Influence Of A Pastor's Wife

Contributed by Dr. Larry Petton on Aug 12, 2019

When William Booth, the founder of The Salvation Army, felt the call of the Lord to go into the streets of London and begin ministering to street people, he stood in a Methodist Conference meeting and requested permission from the presiding bishop to be released from his church to go into the ...read more

Scripture: Exodus 17:1-16

Tags: Pastor's Wives, Listening To God, Encouraging Others

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

Get Back In The Game!

Contributed by John Bright on Mar 19, 2021

What if God started telling your church to do something we had never done before? How hard would you work against it - unwilling to change? There is an old saying – do you know what they put on the tombstone in front of a closed church? “WE NEVER DID IT THAT WAY BEFORE” If that’s the case, we ...read more

Scripture: Luke 5:12-26, Ephesians 4:11-12

Tags: Laity, Sports, Pastor, Basketball

Denomination: Methodist

Obstacles To The Goal

Contributed by Wade Martin Hughes, Sr on Oct 29, 2021

COLLEGE: WHAT DO YOU DO WHEN YOU ARE HIT REAL HARD. ROY RIEGELS WILL FOREVER BE KNOWN AS “WRONG WAY ROY.” Roy played for the University of California from 1927 to 1929. Back then freshmen and sophomores never played on varsity. On January 1, 1929 Roy played in the ROSE BOWL. The GOLDEN ...read more

Scripture: Hebrews 12:12-15, Matthew 13:45

Tags: Goal, Obstacle

Denomination: Assembly Of God

Churches In Competition Against Each Other

Contributed by Dr. Larry Petton on Aug 5, 2023

Three churches, located on different corners of the same intersection, didn't get along together. One Sunday each of them opened their meeting with a rousing song service. It was a warm day and all the doors and windows were wide open. One congregation began singing the old hymn, "Will ...read more

Scripture: Ephesians 4:1-7, Philippians 2:5-11

Tags: Rivalry, Hymns, Critical Spirit, Church, Competition, Division, Enemies, Worship  (view more)  (view less)

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

A Pride Illustration

Contributed by Bruce Blythe on Dec 27, 2023

The Background My observation, after reading my Bible, Observing fellow Christians, And considering my own Christian life is: Pride is the biggest problem, For 99.9% plus of Christians! You could not tell it though. Christians don’t talk about it (much). Preachers don’t preach on it (much). But the ...read more

Scripture: Proverbs 16:18

Tags: Pride, Lesson

Denomination: Baptist

No Replacement Refs  PRO

Contributed by Tim White on Oct 6, 2012

NO REPLACEMENT REFS Matthew 7:22 On that day many will say to me, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?' And then will I declare to them, 'I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.' One week ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 7:22-23, 2 Chronicles 29:35-36

Tags: Salvation, Trusting God

Denomination: Baptist