In Sermon Illustrations: "Woman At Well"

How Clara Mcbride Hale Founded Hale House In ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Jun 4, 2010

How Clara McBride Hale Founded Hale House in Harlem Do you know the story of Clara McBride Hale, also known as “Mother Hale”? She founded the Hale House in Harlem; it was a home for unwanted children and children who were born addicted to drugs. She originally opened her house as a day-care to ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 25:31-46

Tags: Compassion

Spiritual Atheist?

Contributed by Peter Loughman on Jul 27, 2010

SPIRITUAL ATHEIST? Let’s think about this. Good equals Godly? Good equals spiritual? How exactly does being good and being spiritual parallel? I give a man on the street a warm meal and a place to stay. That’s a good thing. How is giving a man a warm meal and a place to stay a spiritual ...read more

Tags: Atheism

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

Saved By Hope

Contributed by Sermon Central on Apr 17, 2011

SAVED BY HOPE An interesting item appeared in a Nashville newspaper, datelined Memphis (UPI): A woman named Hope pulled a man from chilly harbor waters after watching him drive his car off the bank in an apparent suicide attempt. Hope Phillips, thirty-eight, said Monday she was sitting in her car ...read more

Scripture: Psalm 42:1-11

Tags: God Brings Hope

The Story Of Catherine Lawes

Contributed by Sermon Central on Apr 26, 2011

THE STORY OF CATHERINE LAWES "Don’t set foot in the prison," people told her, but Catherine Lawes, whose husband was the warden at Sing Sing in 1921, went anyway. The first time there was a prison basketball game, she went, 3 daughters in tow and sat in the bleachers with the inmates. When she ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 7:12

Tags: Jesus Teachings

The Last Letter Of Karen Watson

Contributed by Sermon Central on Aug 18, 2011

THE LAST LETTER OF KAREN WATSON Our International Mission Board is working on a project called "The Last Letter." It’s actually an old tradition of soldiers and missionaries who as they boarded a ship, wrote their family and friends a letter that they think might be their final ...read more

Scripture: Mark 8:34-38

Tags: Missions

The Law, The Whole Law, And Nothing But The Law.

Contributed by Larry Turner on Jun 5, 2016

There is a story about a student at Cambridge University in England who entered the classroom on exam day and asked the proctor to bring him cakes and ale. The proctor refused, expressing astonishment at the young student’s audacity. At this point the student read from the four-hundred-year-old ...read more

Scripture: Deuteronomy 22:5-8

Tags: The Law, Bound By The Law, Judged By The Law

Denomination: Foursquare

Dont Be A Cookie Thief

Contributed by Flor Beloria on Dec 12, 2017

The Cookie Thief by Valerie Cox A woman was waiting at an airport one night, with several long hours before her flight. She hunted for a book in the airport shops, bought a bag of cookies and found a place to drop. She was engrossed in her book but happened to see, that the man sitting beside her, ...read more

Tags: Presumption, Love Of God, Thief Cookie, Thankfulness, Gratitude  (view more)  (view less)

Just A Touch

Contributed by Dr. Ronald Shultz on Dec 17, 2020

Mar 5:27 When she had heard of Jesus, came in the press behind, and touched his garment. 28 For she said, If I may touch but his clothes, I shall be whole. 29 And straightway the fountain of her blood was dried up; and she felt in her body that she was healed of that plague. 30 And Jesus, ...read more

Scripture: Mark 5:27-34

Tags: Faith, Desire, Touch, Crowds

Denomination: Baptist

In August Of 1983, I Started My Sophomore Year ...  PRO

Contributed by John Harvey on Apr 28, 2004

In August of 1983, I started my sophomore year in high school. At that time I made the conscious decision not to be the good little girl anymore. I had a crush on someone I had known for the past 3 years and I was going to date him. Well, not only did he become my boyfriend, before long he had ...read more

Tags: God's Forgiveness, God's Provision

Denomination: Baptist

The Hidden Mud And Leaves!" Ephesians 6:10-17 ...

Contributed by Mark Brunner on Oct 14, 2004

“The Hidden Mud and Leaves!” Ephesians 6:10-17 Key verse(s): 10: “Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power.” We moved to Beech Springs valley some sixteen summers ago now. We had been looking for a place that could afford us peace, quiet and some room for our growing family to ...read more

Scripture: Ephesians 6:10-17

Tags: Battle, Doubt, Enemy, Stand, Strong  (view more)  (view less)

Denomination: Lutheran

Bill Hybels Recalls A Time When Dr. Gilbert ...  PRO

Contributed by Matthew Rogers on Feb 21, 2002

Bill Hybels recalls a time when Dr. Gilbert Bilezikian was speaking for a leadership conference at Willow Creek Community Church. He writes about it like this… “Dr. Bilezikian said there’s life-changing fellowship in biblically functioning community. That was a far cry from the childhood ...read more

Scripture: Proverbs 17:17

Tags: Church Body Of Christ, Community, Church Small Groups, Friendship General, Money  (view more)  (view less)

Denomination: Christian/Church Of Christ

Some Of You Might Be Familiar With The Song, ...

Contributed by Dana Chau on Nov 13, 2002

Some of you might be familiar with the song, "Cat’s in the Cradle": (A father retracing the growing up of his son) My child arrived just the other day; He came to the world in the usual way, But there were planes to catch, and bills to pay, He learned to walk while I was away. And he was talkin’ ...read more

Tags: Giving Yourself, Workplace Balance

Denomination: *other

The Grace Gate

Contributed by Davon Huss on Oct 17, 2011

THE GRACE GATE An active, dedicated, hard-working church member dreamed that he passed away after a long and satisfying life. As he approached the heavenly gate, he noticed a sign posted which read, "ENTRANCE REQUIREMENT: 1,000 POINTS." The man looked a bit worried. He walked up to the ...read more

Tags: Grace

Denomination: Christian/Church Of Christ

Evangelism Through Fellowship

Contributed by Tim Smith on Feb 11, 2015

Charles Moore writes, “Alan and I met 20 years ago. We were both students at Cal Poly. I was a freshman and he was a junior. As a physics major, Alan was both intelligent and articulate. How Alan got on with his studies, however, is still a mystery to me. Alan was vritually blind. He could not see ...read more

Scripture: Luke 23:33-38

Tags: Evangelism, Fellowship, Community

Denomination: Methodist

Moving Forward For Christ

Contributed by Rick Crandall on Jan 30, 2018

*The early church kept moving ahead. And we can too! In spite of our enemies, in spite of the setbacks, we can still move forward for the Lord Jesus Christ! *In February of 2007, a deadly tornado struck central Florida. And it smashed almost everything in its path. The storm struck at the worst ...read more

Tags: Overcome, Gospel Advancing

Denomination: Baptist

Fishers Of Men

Contributed by Rick Palmer on Oct 15, 2018

While fishing in the dark in a very deep canyon can present very obvious problems it can produce some unexpected experiences as well. It was a warm summer night about 2:00 AM, dark would be an understatement as the moon was nonexistent at least in the bottom of our canyon. Trout was ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 4:19, 1 Corinthians 2:2-5, 1 Corinthians 2:9-14, John 16:8

Tags: Filled With The Spirit, Holy Spirit, Sin, Gospel, Righteousness, Spirit Of Truth, Gospel Presentation, Evangelism, Judgement  (view more)  (view less)

Surface Level Fellowship

Contributed by Sermon Central on Aug 3, 2022

Bill Hybels recalls a time when “Dr. Bilezikian said there’s life-changing fellowship in biblically functioning community. That was a far cry from the childhood experience of a lot of his audience! The only kind of fellowship that many of his listeners had witnessed revolved around the fifteen or ...read more

Scripture: Proverbs 17:17

Tags: Small Groups, Fellowship, Community

An Amusing Sight!

Contributed by Loyd C. Taylor on Sep 2, 2023

An Amusing Sight! Use as an Icebreaker. Ron, Billy, a Dodge Truck and a Red Lawnmower Humorous story, in which you can change the names to fit a couple of guys from your congregation. Make sure you get their permission to joke about them. We know how thin skinned some people are. Lead in... As you ...read more

Scripture: Proverbs 17:22, Job 8:21, Psalm 65:12-13, Psalm 96:12, Proverbs 15:13, Proverbs 31:25  (view more)  (view less)

Tags: Trucks, Laughter, Joy, Lighten Up, Bikes, Icebreaker, Humor, Funny Story  (view more)  (view less)

Denomination: Baptist

A Good Start Matters

Contributed by Todd Catteau on Mar 19, 2024

I can remember it like it was yesterday. It was my sixth-grade field day when all the elementary schools gathered for a series of track and field events at the town’s high school track. It was a sunny New England spring morning and I was representing Glen Forest Elementary School in the 50-yard ...read more

Scripture: 1 Thessalonians 5:17, 1 Timothy 2:8, Ephesians 5:15-17, Colossians 4:5

Tags: Prayer, Meditation

Denomination: Christian/Church Of Christ

Wearing A Fresh Shine On His Shoes, A Suit His ...  PRO

Contributed by James Wilson on Nov 23, 2000

Wearing a fresh shine on his shoes, a suit his wife gave him on graduation day and a determined look on his face, Brian stood outside his new office. It wasn’t the corner office, but it looked pretty good to him. The smell of new leather from his chair and the warm glow of sunshine streaming ...read more

Tags: Parenting, Shine, Graduation, Graduate

Denomination: Baptist