Sermons on Story Parables:

Can't See The Forrest For The Trees....

Contributed by Thomas Wilson on Jul 16, 2008

Sermon based on the high ideals of church but the realities are so often different.

Preaching from the lectionary as I do has its limitations. After all, the there are various forms of lections, RC, Episcopalian but I have always used the Reformed Lectionary. It has its limitations and quite often we re-hash the old things of the past, years a, b and c come around so often that ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 13:24-43

Denomination: Congregational

Laboring With The Gospel (Part Ii)

Contributed by Fred Smith on Jul 13, 2007

A continuation of a study of the parable of the minas

“I tell you that to everyone who has, more will be given, but as for the one who has nothing, even what he has will be taken away.”—Luke 19:26 LABORING WITH THE GOSPEL (Part II) In our Early Morning Worship, we began a discussion of Jesus’ Parable of the Minas or the Pounds. We said that this ...read more

Scripture: Luke 19:11-28

Denomination: Baptist

Seeds On The Rocky Soil Series

Contributed by Eric Lenhart on Aug 13, 2010

Differences between growing deep roots in the faith and having a shallow faith.

Seeds on the Rocky Soil (Matthew 13:1-23) 2nd in a series on: “The Parable of the Soils” Introduction: Over the past couple weeks I’ve been watching grass grow here at the New Song. Around the building, just like the Sower in the Parable of the Soils, I planted 120 pounds of grass seed. ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 13:1-23

Denomination: Church Of God

Finding What We’ve Lost Series

Contributed by Tim Smith on May 11, 2014

This sermon focuses on the question of “How do you find something that’s lost, especially if you’re the one that’s lost?

Finding What We’ve Lost Luke 15:11-32 A couple of years ago, I was blessed to win tickets to the practice round of The Master’s golf tournament. The Masters is one of four majors in professional golf and is considered to be hallowed ground to golfers. It’s in Augusta, GA in the ...read more

Scripture: Luke 15:11-32

Denomination: Methodist

Are You Listening #6 Series

Contributed by David Swanger on Jan 9, 2024

Like a parent who has an important message, does our Father ever wonder if we are listening?

Great Lessons from the Life of Christ #6 ARE YOU LISTENING (Mark 4:1-20) How many parents have taken their child’s face in their hands and asked “Are you listening to me? Do you hear what I am saying?” And how many children have completely closed out what their parents were saying, but for safety ...read more

Scripture: Mark 4:1-20

Why Does God Search For Us?

Contributed by Martin Wiles on Sep 22, 2010

God is actively searching for lost people, and believers should as well.

Why God Searches for Us? Luke 15:1-10 INTRODUCTION A. The game of Hide and Seek. B. The example of deer hunting in the Low Country and how the dogs pursued the deer (also other sports where dog are used to run animals). C. The diligent pursuit American and other countries made for Osama bin Laden ...read more

Scripture: Luke 15:1-10

Denomination: Baptist

The Danger Of Comparative Righteousness Series

Contributed by Roshelle Brenneise on Jun 6, 2021

Thank God I Am NOT LIKE............

February 06, 2021 The Context: “To some who were confident of their own righteousness and looked down on everybody else, Jesus told a story”: The Parable {Luke 18:10-14}: "Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee stood up and ...read more

Scripture: Luke 18:9-14

Denomination: Seventh-Day Adventist

Jesus’ Warning Series

Contributed by D Marion Clark on Oct 30, 2012

Anytime I, or you, pare Jesus down to a figure that we can be comfortable with, we are guilty of murdering him.

Introduction There was one club in college that never enticed me to join; that was the Debate Club. My heart beats rapidly enough raising an objection in a meeting! The excitement of public debate is not the kind I care for. I am the kind of person who thinks best at least two days after ...read more

Denomination: Presbyterian/Reformed

Thy Kingdom Come

Contributed by Mary Erickson on Jul 31, 2023

A sermon for the Sunday following Pentecost, Year A, Lectionary 17

July 30, 2023 Rev. Mary Erickson Hope Lutheran Church Matthew 13:31-33, 44-52; 1 Kings 3:5-12; Romans 8:26-39 Thy Kingdom Come Friends, may grace and peace be yours in abundance in the knowledge of God and Christ Jesus our Lord. One summer during college I lived at the home of my college ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 13:31-52, 1 Kings 3:5-12, Romans 8:26-39

Denomination: Lutheran

Don't Let The Lord Have To Cut You Down

Contributed by John Johnson on Nov 10, 2008

This is a parable of the unbarren fig tree

Last Week we spoke about the parable of the weeds. This week we will be talking about the parable of fig tree. How many of you remember what we said a parable was last week? A parable is a earthly story with a heavenly meaning. The reason Jesus spoke in parables so that we might get a better ...read more

Scripture: Luke 13:6-9

Denomination: Baptist

Day By Day - Time Management Series

Contributed by Michael Mccartney on Jan 4, 2026

Every day (Day by Day) spiritual seeds are being planted in us by the Holy Spirit but the key to spiritual growth is found in discerning what type of heart or soil those seeds are falling on to? Our hearts are either: hard, shallow, entangled or fertile for spiritual growth.

Theme: Day by Day - Time Management Opening Video: Sermoncentral.com “We need to run again!” Introduction to Theme: “Desire that your life count for something great! Long for your life to have eternal significance. Want this! Don’t coast through life without a passion.” ? John Piper, Don't ...read more

Scripture: Mark 4:1-20, Mark 4:30-34

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

The Sower

Contributed by I. Grant Spong on Mar 6, 2024

Jesus often spoke in parables, stories or allegories that illustrate a moral or spiritual lesson. With the natural amplification of His voice reflecting off the water, did Jesus hold a large meeting? Let’s find out in Matthew 13.

Jesus often spoke in parables, stories or allegories that illustrate a moral or spiritual lesson. With the natural amplification of His voice reflecting off the water, did Jesus hold a large meeting? Let’s find out in Matthew 13. On the same day Jesus went out of the house and sat by the sea. And ...read more

Denomination: Baptist

Things Aren’t Always What They Seem To Be

Contributed by Craig Condon on Apr 9, 2015

God is waiting in the weeds of our lives to bind up our wounds and mend the disease that separates us from ourselves and one another and from all that is holy.

Have you ever tried to describe a difficult or abstract concept to someone, especially when you know that the person you are speaking to doesn’t know anything about what you are talking about? If you have, you know what Jesus is trying to do in these five parables from Matthew’s Gospel ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 13:44-52

Denomination: Anglican

What's Your Excuse?

Contributed by Esther Collins on Mar 20, 2023

When God calls us for a task, do we accept it joyfully or do we give excuses? Here are some common excuses that we should avoid so God can fulfill His great purposes through us.

The Lord wants to use each one of us, and only if we are available and seriously desire to do so can He use us. Every believer in Jesus has a purpose to fulfill and sometimes we miss out because of some excuses that we make. Interestingly, the bible gives us many examples of those who made such ...read more

Scripture: Exodus 4:10-14, 1 Corinthians 1:27, Judges 6:14-15, 1 Corinthians 1:26, Acts 4:13, 2 Timothy 1:7, Luke 14:16-24, Matthew 25:14-30, Matthew 25:31-46  (view more)  (view less)

What Is The Kingdom Like?

Contributed by Reuben Bredenhof on Feb 2, 2021

Beyond the self-denial of following Christ, beyond the daily discipline, beyond the cross to be carried, lies the most precious thing, a thing of supreme and unsurpassed beauty: life in the Kingdom, under God and for God and with God!

When you open the gospel accounts of Matthew, Mark and Luke, it seems that more often that not, Jesus is speaking in some parable. With colourful language, Jesus places things “side by side,” comparing and contrasting, and drawing out from the picture he paints some truth or teaching. Sometimes the ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 13:24-52, Matthew 13:44-46

Denomination: Presbyterian/Reformed