Sermons on Hard Rain:

Receiving The Infilling Of The Holy Spirit Series

Contributed by Ajai Prakash on Apr 1, 2011

The reason why many in the body of Christ are complacent and don’t pursue to seek to receive the Holy Spirit knowing that He is going to shake them up and even rattle them so hard ... they miss out on the unbelievable empowerment and joy of the Lord.

Opening illustration: The story is told of an elderly woman named Norena, who lived in southern Florida. When a hurricane hit that area, her home was one of many that was severely damaged. Norena received an insurance settlement, and the repair work began. However, when the money ran out, so did ...read more

Scripture: Acts 8:14-21

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

Putting First Things First

Contributed by Rodelio Mallari on Jan 1, 2011

One of the most common faults among those who claim to be Christians is that of having wrong priorities in this life. The truth is, we are amiss when it becomes our habit to put secondary things primary, and primary things secondary. It is hard to believ

Intro: One of the most common faults among those who claim to be Christians is that of having wrong priorities in this life. The truth is, we are amiss when it becomes our habit to put secondary things primary, and primary things secondary. It is hard to believe and yet so true that we sin and do ...read more

Scripture: 2 Corinthians 4:17-18

Denomination: *other

Picture This! Weeds Series

Contributed by John Braland on Apr 3, 2007

Weeds come in all kinds of shapes and sizes. Some of them flower and look absolutely beautiful and others will poke you and make you bleed. Some weeds are hard to identify as tender shoots but as they age their identity will become clear. Jesus kne

Last summer my daughters Katie and Sara asked if they could take our dogs Shadow and Reba for a walk. Now Shadow is a black lab and he needs to walk because he has a bit of a weight problem. Reba is 12 and is deaf but always willing to take a spin. I live on a gravel road that is surrounded by ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 13:24-30

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

Samuel - Speaking The Words Of God Series

Contributed by Warner Pidgeon on Jul 18, 2009

A short talk given at an early morning communion service. Samuel was young, but his first task after coming to know the Lord was to speak hard words from God to Eli (his mentor!) Will we also speak the truth, in love, to others?

Samuel was a child, with priestly responsibilities (an interesting fact!) and he was being mentored by Eli in the Temple. Jesus primarily focused upon 12 men. Who has God entrusted to you, to teach and train in the ways of the Lord? “In those days the word of the Lord was rare; there were not many ...read more

Scripture: 1 Samuel 3:1-21

Denomination: Anglican

The Drama Of Christma

Contributed by Steven Chapman on Feb 6, 2007

Matthew presents what Fred Craddock calls "the hard side of Christmas." But in a world that is getting increasing smaller and tremendously more urban, its message may be more relevant to us than the others for Matthew has a Christmas message for the city.

The Drama of Christmas Matthew 1-2 In our day there is a cultural and social battle over the meaning of Christmas. The battle has extended from the schoolyard to the courtyard. However, the battle over Christmas has not only impacted schools and public places. The struggle over the meaning of ...read more

Denomination: Christian/Church Of Christ

The Fear Of Failure

Contributed by Thomas Miller on Feb 21, 2008

Being negative is easy; it requires no work because it comes natural. All you have to do to fail is nothing. On the other hand being positive isn’t as easy; it requires work. Optimism in the face of adversity is difficult and is hard to find in this day a

The Fear of Failure Diamonds in the rough often go unrealized because they don’t think they are diamonds, they don’t have an advocate to encourage them, so the fear of failure ruins the confidence that leads to success. The greatest days and moods are quickly forgotten with one ...read more

Scripture: 1 John 4:18

Denomination: Assembly Of God

Generosity In Giving Series

Contributed by Dennis Davidson on Apr 19, 2012

People who believe that the whole earth & every thing in it belongs to their Lord (Ps. 24:1) readily recognize that the resources of their own lives, which, no matter how hard they toiled and how judiciously they spent, were utterly dependent on God's gra

Proverbs 11:24–26 GENEROSITY IN GIVING [2 Kings 4:1–7] Proverbs offers practical instructions on the use of money, although sometimes it's advice we would rather not hear. It is more comfortable to continue in our habits than to learn how to use money more wisely. Money is ...read more

Scripture: Proverbs 11:24-26, Proverbs 11:24-28

Denomination: Baptist

Does Your Life Speak Well Of God? Romans 15:1-13 (Lesson)

Contributed by Ronnie Miller on Nov 27, 2011

I believe a lot of times the reason it's hard to witness to others is because they have had a bad experience with a Christian before. Maybe in a business deal or a friend backslid after trying to get their friend to come to Christ...and they were thinkin

11-27-2011 Does your life speak well of God? Romans 15:1-13 I believe if our life speaks well of God then it must be spoken well of by others. We should be spoken well of by church members, co workers, friends, family members...because when we represent Jesus we are to be Christ like. We may just ...read more

Scripture: Romans 15:1-13

Denomination: Baptist

Marijuana Use: Willingly Walking Into Bondage

Contributed by Terry Frazier on Feb 1, 2014

What's really behind the movement in America to legalize marijuana? Why do we want to sanction people being put into bondage to a substance and in a broader sense sin? This is very troubling as Christians seem to be having a hard time standing against sin

A couple of weeks ago I preached a message on the Christian views on legalizing marijuana in America. If you’ll recall, I wasn’t very supportive of the idea. The notion that we can legalize sin and somehow make state sanctioning of sin a good thing despite the fact that legalizing ...read more

Scripture: Galatians 4:9-11

Denomination: Baptist

The Christmas Blues, As Witnessed By Joseph

Contributed by Gordon Mcculloch on Jan 3, 2014

When Christmas is all over and done with, life will return to normal; what ever normal is these days but if you think that is hard for us, look at Mary and Joseph, after the Nativity, the part we choose to ignore with Roman soldiers and dead babies.

Title: The Christmas Blues, as witnessed by Joseph Keywords: Joseph, Holy Innocents, “Christmas 1 Year A RCL” Word Count: 2723 This sermon was delivered to St John's in Girvan and St Oswald’s in Maybole, Ayrshire, Scotland on the 29th December 2013: (both are ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 2:13-18

Denomination: Episcopal

Superlatives Of The Easter Story

Contributed by Chuck Sligh on Apr 20, 2014

It's hard not to use superlatives when discussing the Easter story. In this story we see...1) the darkest hour in all scripture; 2) the biggest discovery in all scripture; and 3) the loveliest word in all scripture (for one of it's characters).

Superlatives of the Easter Story Chuck Sligh April 20, 2014 (A PowerPoint presentation is available for this sermon upon request at chucksligh@hotmail.com). TEXT: Please turn in your Bibles to John 20. INTRODUCTION Illus. – A little boy had a tendency to exaggerate things in order to get ...read more

Scripture: John 20:1-16

Denomination: Baptist

Trans-Generational Value

Contributed by Larry Wilson on Jun 26, 2014

Though necessary, I often find it hard to preach sermons to the women of our church in relation to their role as wives and mothers. Paul had a better idea. Much of such preaching could be done without the pastor. The aged women were to teach the younger!

Trans-Generational Values Mother’s Day Sermon 2014 May 11, 2014 Titus 2:3-5 Titus 2:3-5 The aged women likewise, that they be in behaviour as becometh holiness, not false accusers, not given to much wine, teachers of good things; 4 That they may teach the young women to be sober, to love ...read more

Scripture: Titus 2:3-5

Denomination: Baptist

Seven Steps To Forgiving Someone Who Really Hurt You

Contributed by Glynda Lomax on Feb 10, 2018

Forgiving someone who hurt you is hard work. It is easier to stay wounded and go around talking bad about them. It is easier to let bitterness put down roots and let our hearts get hardened, but Jesus said to forgive...

A preacher tells the story of inviting a guest lecturer to speak to a counseling class he was teaching and asked him to specifically discuss the topic forgiveness. He told a powerful story from his own life that day to illustrate his point that we should forgive. His brother had many struggles, ...read more

Denomination: Charismatic

Guardrails Part 5 Guard Your Heart

Contributed by Rick Gillespie- Mobley on Mar 26, 2018

This is part 5 in our series Guardrail adopted from Andy Stanley's series. The message is written from a Palm Sunday viewpoint and deals with why the Pharisees had hard hearts toward Jesus. We all need to protect our hearts.

Guardrails Part 5 Guard Your Heart Proverbs 4:23-27 Luke 19:28-40 How many of you have ever had a crush on somebody and thought they were the greatest, but when you finally got to know the person, you didn’t think they were all that after all. As a matter of fact, you were surprised that ...read more

Scripture: Proverbs 4:23-27, Luke 19:28-40

Denomination: Presbyterian/Reformed

Agony In Gethsemane Series

Contributed by Christopher Benfield on Oct 31, 2018

It is hard for us to comprehend the dual nature of Christ - being fully God and fully man. As He endured the agonies of Gethsemane, His humanity cried out regarding the physical suffering, while His deity cried out regarding the sin and separation.

Agony in Gethsemane Mark 14: 32-42 As we continue to follow Jesus on this faithful night, His impending betrayal and crucifixion are drawing closer with each passing moment. Supper had ended, and along with the eleven, Jesus made His way from Jerusalem toward the Garden of Gethsemane. As they ...read more

Scripture: Mark 14:32-42

Denomination: Baptist