Sermon and Worship Resources

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1. The Irresistible Influence Of The Holy Spirit

Acts 2:1-41

Illustration

James W. Moore

The Holy Spirit warms us and melts our cold, cold hearts. The following parable makes the point: Once upon a time there was a piece of iron, which was very strong and very hard. Many attempts had been made to break it, but all had failed. “I’ll master it,” said the axe… and his blows fell heavily upon the piece of iron, but every blow only made the axe’s edge more blunt, until it finally ceased to strike and gave up in frustration. “Leave it to me,” said the saw… and it worked back and forth on the iron’s ...

2. Never Read Any of His Books

John 20:1-18; Luke 24:36-49

Illustration

James W. Moore

Let me tell you a true story that happened some time ago: A young boy's father died in a car wreck when he was twelve years old. He read it in the newspaper before anyone got word to him to tell him about it. When he saw that picture of the family car smashed-up on the front page of the newspaper… and read that his dad had died in that accident, he was thrust immediately and painfully into the shocked numbness of deep grief. Strangely, one of his very first feelings were those of guilt. He had remembered ...

3. Life's Little Fragments

Illustration

Max Lucado

Once there was an old man who lived in a tiny village. Although poor, he was envied by all, for he owned a beautiful white horse. Even the king coveted his treasure. A horse like this had never been seen before such was its splendor, its majesty, its strength. People offered fabulous prices for the steed, but the old man always refused. "This horse is not a horse to me," he would tell them. "It is a person. How could you sell a person? He is a friend, not a possession. How could you sell a friend?" The man ...

4. Breaking the Rules

Mark 1:40-45

Illustration

Charles Swindoll

Charles Swindoll, in his book "The Grace Awakening," tells about one of his youth workers many years ago who was a member of an ethnic church. It was Scandinavian. Being a rather forward-looking and creative young man, he decided he would show the youth group a missionary film. We're talking about a simple, safe, black-and-white religious-oriented movie documentary. That film projector hadn't been off an hour before a group of the leaders in the church called him in and asked him about what he had done. ...

5. Breaking the Bad News

Illustration

Editor James S. Hewett

A man was out of town on a trip and he asked his brother to take care of his cat for him while he was away. The cat was a beautiful Siamese and meant a great deal to the man, although the brother who was caring for the cat didn't like cats at all. When he got back from the trip he called his brother's house and asked about his cat. The brother was very curt, and replied, "Your cat died." And then he hung up. For days the man was inconsolable. Finally, he phoned his brother again to point out, "It was ...

6. Stronger after the Struggle

Matthew 14:22-33

Illustration

Leonard Sweet

British naturalist Alfred Russell Wallace was without peer in the 19th century except for one name: Charles Darwin. One of Wallace's most astute observations about nature has gotten totally forgotten in the whole debate over the "survival of the fittest." Wallace made a surprising discovery about the saving nature of struggle. One day Wallace was observing moths struggling to hatch out from their cocoons. One of the larger insects seemed to be having a particularly hard time getting out. After hours of ...

7. Plow Through It

Illustration

An old farmer had plowed around a large rock in one of his fields for years. He had broken several plowshares and a cultivator on it. After breaking another plowshare one fall, and remembering all the trouble the rock had caused him through the years, he finally determined to do something about it. When he put his crowbar under the rock, he was surprised to discover that it was only about six inches thick and that he could break it up easily. As he was carting it away he had to smile, remembering all the ...

8. Know Your Weeds

Matt 13:24-30, 36-43

Illustration

Todd Weir

Pastor Todd Weir knows a lot about weeds. He says: I learned more about weeds than I ever wanted to know as a boy in Iowa. Walking through the soybean feels to cut out the weeds was my summer job from age 13. A wise farmer once taught me that all weeds were not the same and could not be destroyed in the same way. A cockle burr had shallow but widespread roots and had to be pulled out to get all the roots. If you hacked it off at the ground level with a hoe it would be back in a week. A milkweed had a very ...

9. Why Did The Cheering Stop? - Sermon Starter

Matthew 21:1-11

Illustration

Brett Blair

Some years ago a book was written by a noted American historian entitled “When The Cheering Stopped.” It was the story of President Woodrow Wilson and the events leading up to and following WWI. When that war was over Wilson was an international hero, There was a great spirit of optimism abroad, and people actually believed that the last war had been fought and the world had been made safe for democracy. On his first visit to Paris after the war Wilson was greeted by cheering mobs. He was actually more ...

10. A Haven for Troubled Hearts - Sermon Starter

John 14:1-4

Illustration

Brett Blair

Eric Clapton, arguably the greatest living rock guitarist, wrote a heart wrenching song about the death of his four year old son (March 20, 1991). He fell from a 53rd-story window. Clapton took nine months off and when he returned his music had changed. The hardship had made his music softer, more powerful, and more reflective. You have perhaps heard the song he wrote about his son's death. It is a song of hope: Would you know my name if I saw you in heaven? Would it be the same if I saw you in heaven? I ...

11. My Mother Taught Me…

2 Timothy 1:5

Illustration

My mother taught me TO APPRECIATE A JOB WELL DONE. "If you're going to kill each other, do it outside. I just finished cleaning." My mother taught me RELIGION. "You better pray that will come out of the carpet." My mother taught me about TIME TRAVEL. "If you don't straighten up, I'm going to knock you into the middle of next week!" My mother taught me LOGIC. "Because I said so, that's why." My mother taught me MORE LOGIC. "If you fall out of that swing and break your neck, you're not going to the store ...

12. A Cup of Cold water

Matthew 10:40-42

Illustration

Larry Klaarn

You may have heard the story, a very old story, behind the Wall Drug Store in Wall, South Dakota. The owners, Ted and Dorothy were having trouble keeping the store afloat. Five years earlier they had moved from another state to buy the store, and now it was going under. That was not unusual in 1936. One day Ted said to Dorothy, what could we do to get some people to stop here and buy something? The only thing Dorothy thought of was to give them a cup of ice-cold water. That might be a nice treat in the ...

13. What Are You Looking For?

John 1:38

Illustration

Susan R. Andrews

Chaim Potok, the American author and Rabbi, was an intensely religious man; a Jew who explored the dimensions of faith in our lives. From an early age, Potok knew he wanted to be a writer. But his mother wasn't so sure. When he went away to college she said, "Son, now I know you want to be a writer. But I want you to think about brain surgery. You'll keep a lot of people from dying. And you'll make a lot of money." To which Potok responded, "No, Mama, I want to be a writer." But, "No," is not what Mama ...

14. Humor: We're Getting a Divorce

Mark 10:1-12

Illustration

Morris calls his son in NY and says, "Benny, I have something to tell you. However, I don't want to discuss it. I'm merely telling you because you're my oldest child, and I thought you ought to know. I've made up my mind, I'm divorcing Mama." The son is shocked, and asks his father to tell him what happened. "I don't want to get into it. My mind is made up." "But Dad, you just can't decide to divorce Mama just like that after 54 years together. What happened?" "It's too painful to talk about it. I only ...

15. Do You Love Me? - Sermon Starter

John 21:1-14

Illustration

Brett Blair

Let's begin with Simon out on his boat fishing alongside the other disciples. He is brooding, thinking deep thoughts not quite sure what to make of all that had happened. Then there is a flashback. He recalls how some months earlier he left his fishing nets at the seashore to become a follower of Jesus and how Jesus liked him and included him and changed his name from Simon to Peter (Petros, the Rock) because Jesus felt that Simon was strong, stable, and solid like a rock. But then all of a sudden, things ...

16. Some Not So Bright Thieves

Lk 23:33-43

Illustration

King Duncan

Not everybody who takes up a life of crime is all that smart. Sometimes movies or television glorify criminals. They make them appear sophisticated, even cool. Most criminals do not fall in that category. Like the guy who walked into a little corner store in England with a shotgun and demanded all the cash from the cash drawer. After the cashier put the cash in a bag, the robber saw a bottle of scotch that he wanted behind the counter on the shelf. He told the cashier to put it in the bag as well, but the ...

17. The Sobering Effect of Truth

John 4:26

Illustration

Brett Blair

When President Kennedy's assassination took place in 1963, British novelist David Lodge, was in a theater watching the performance of a satirical play he had helped write. In one sketch, a character demonstrated his nonchalance in an interview by holding a transistor radio to his ear. The actor playing the part always tuned in to a real broadcast. Suddenly, filling the theartre was the announcement that President Kennedy had been shot. The actor quickly switched it off, but it was too late. Reality had ...

18. Forty Martyrs for Christ

Illustration

Lieghton Ford

Many have heard the story about the forty martyrs of Sabaste. These forty soldiers, all Christians, were members of the famed Twelfth Legion of Rome's imperial army. One day their captain told them Emperor Licinius had sent out an edict that all soldiers were to offer sacrifice to the pagan gods. These Christians replied, "You can have our armor and even our bodies, but our hearts' allegiance belongs to Jesus Christ." It was midwinter of A.D. 320, and the captain had them marched onto a nearby frozen lake ...

19. Give Yourself Some Slack

Genesis 2:3

Illustration

According to a Greek legend, in ancient Athens, a man noticed the great storyteller Aesop playing childish games with some little boys. He laughed and jeered at Aesop, asking him why he wasted his time in such frivolous activity. Aesop responded by picking up a bow, loosening its string, and placing it on the ground. Then he said to the critical Athenian, "Now, answer the riddle, if you can. Tell us what the unstrung bows implies." The man looked at it for several moments but had no idea what point Aesop ...

20. The Coffee Break

Matthew 20:1-16

Illustration

Brett Blair

The coffee break, where did that come from? It was a necktie manufacturer out of Denver called Wigwam Weavers. Wigwam Weavers made these very intricate silk neckties and during World War II they lost all their best loom operators to the war effort, all men of course. Then they hired women to do it and they could do it beautifully, and these were very intricate patterns, very complicated looms. The women could do it really well but only for about four or five hours. So they called a meeting. The owner said ...

21. And Their Eyes Were Opened

Luke 24:13-35

Illustration

Larry Powell

Some years ago, a movie titled Zapata depicted the engaging story of the famous Mexican hero, Zapata. He was to the Mexicans what "El Cid" was to the Spanish: a redeemer of his people. Those who loved Zapata were radically devoted to him and his cause. At the end, when Zapata was ambushed by government troops, the white horse upon which he had led countless charges, escaped into the hills. The peasants violently refused to believe that their leader would have allowed himself to be ambushed and killed, and ...

22. Time's Up

Matthew 24:36-51

Illustration

John Jamison

If it kept up like this he wasn't going to get anything done all morning. After the telephone calls, that paper-jam in the copier, and now this, he was beginning to feel that it was pointless to try. She stepped into his office, "Sorry to interrupt you Reverend, I know you are busy, but I need to talk to you!" She went on to tell him about a problem a dear friend of hers was having, and how it would be really "nice" if the pastor could stop by for a visit sometime. Soon. He wanted to say that if people ...

23. Labor Day

Mark 9:14-32

Illustration

King Duncan

Eiton Mayo, a professor at Harvard, once did a five-year study at the Western Electric Hawthorne Works in Chicago to find out what effect fatigue and monotony had on productivity. He stumbled onto a motivation principle that revolutionized the theory and practice of management. Mayo took five workers off the assembly line and put them under the watchful eye of a friendly supervisor. Then he started to make frequent changes in their work conditions. But he always discussed the changes in advance. He changed ...

24. Walking in Circles

John 6:1-15

Illustration

King Duncan

You may know the famous story of Jean Henri Fabre, the French naturalist, and his processional caterpillars. He encountered some of these interesting creatures one day while walking in the woods. They were marching in a long unbroken line front to back, front to back. What fun it would be, Fabre thought, to make a complete ring with these worms and let them march in a circle. So, Fabre captured enough caterpillars to encircle the rim of a flowerpot. He linked them nose to posterior and started them walking ...

25. Our Hope, Our Terror

Matthew 22:1-14

Illustration

Barbara Brown Taylor

Several summers ago I spent three days on a barrier island where loggerhead turtles were laying their eggs. One night while the tide was out, I watched a huge female heave herself up on the beach to dig her nest and empty her eggs into it. Afraid of disturbing her, I left before she had finished. The next morning I returned to see if I could find the spot where her eggs lay hidden in the sand. What I found were her tracks leading in the wrong direction. Instead of heading back out to sea, she had wandered ...

26. Vines of Habit

Illustration

Michael P. Green

Have you ever noticed vines growing and spiraling around a chain-link fence? The fresh greens vines, the young ones, are easy to remove with a simple twist of your wrist. But the old think brown ones are very difficult to remove. It takes a lot of time and effort to break it off, and sometimes it won’t come off unless we are willing to also remove part of the fence itself. Bad habits are like a vine on a chain-link fence. The sooner we get after them, the easier they are to remove. But the old ones, the ...

27. Parable of Jealousy and Jeopardy

Illustration

"Why does Tommy have so many fine toys and I have only a few?" asked Richard. "We have tried to see that both you boys receive equally from all that we can give you," answered the mother, "but you seem to break up your toys, and never pick them up or take care of them." "But his toys look better than mine, and they last longer," argued Tommy. "I throw mine around because they are not very good anyhow." "Just like that Walt Disney tune says, 'it's what you do with what you've got, that pays off in the end ...

28. One’s Proper Service

Isaiah 58:1-14

Illustration

Larry Powell

I read that a member of a United Methodist church in North Carolina was once convicted in court for disrupting church services because of his atrocious singing. It was in 1873 that William Linkhaw was hauled into county court in Lumberton, Robeson County, N.C., by fellow Methodists who charged that Linkhaw’s singing repeatedly created havoc during worship services. Not only was his voice offensive to the ear, but he was given to singing long after the rest of the congregation had stopped. Things had become ...

29. A Class Act

Illustration

John Berendt

In 1956, songwriter Johnny Mercer received a letter from Sadie Vimmerstedt, a widowed grandmother who worked behind a cosmetics counter in Youngstown, Ohio. Vimmerstedt suggested Mercer write a song called "I Want to Be Around to Pick Up the Pieces When Somebody Breaks Your Heart." Five years later, Mercer got in touch to say he'd written the song and that Tony Bennett would record it. Today, if you look at the label on any recording of "I Wanna Be Around," you'll notice that the credits for words and ...

30. A List of Murphy's Laws

Illustration

Staff

If anything can go wrong, it will. Nothing is ever as simple as it seems. Everything takes longer than you expect. If there is a possibility of several things going wrong, the one that will go wrong first will be the one that will do the most damage. Left to themselves, all things go from bad to worse. If you play with something long enough, you will surely break it. If everything seems to be going well, you have obviously overlooked something. If you see that there are four possible ways in which a ...

31. The Freedom Fall

Illustration

Michael P. Green

When a man decides to exercise his freedom to break God’s laws, he is like a person who ascends to the top of a tall building and jumps off. For the first several stories he feels great. There are no restraints, no restrictions, no hang-ups. But suppose, ten stories from the ground, he realizes that a sudden stop awaits him and that he doesn’t want to endure its consequences. Can he reverse the falling process? Can you or he stop the fall? Of course not. Thus, in the final ten stories, our tragic character ...

32. The End Is Near

Luke 21:5-19

Illustration

Lewis Grizzard

Humorist Lewis Grizzard wrote about a man in his hometown named Luther Gilroy. Luther claimed he was out plowing his field and saw a sign in the sky that said THE END IS NEAR. So Luther let his mule and his cow out of their pens, gave all his chickens away, and climbed on top of his house to await the end. When it didn't come, he pouted and refused to come down off the roof. Finally, his wife called the deputy sheriff, who came over and said, "Luther, you idiot, I saw that same sign. It didn't say, `The ...

33. Is There Any Hope?

1 Cor 15:14

Illustration

Staff

This is a long illustration and a sad story, but a remarkable story worth the read. It can be found here: https://www.ussnautilus.org/the-loss-of-uss-s-4-ss-109. On 17 December 1927, USS S-4 (SS-109), an eight-year-old S-class submarine, was running submerged just off the coast of Provincetown, MA, conducting speed and maneuverability tests between the two white buoys that marked the beginning and end of a measured nautical mile. Meanwhile, on the surface, the Coast Guard destroyer USCGC PAULDING (CG-17) ...

34. Being Hello People

Illustration

Maxie Dunnam

Herb Gardner's most famous play is "A Thousand Clowns." One of his other plays which only lasted about three weeks on Broadway was entitled, "The Goodbye People." There's a marvelous scene in that play where the lead character is trying to get financial help for his failing business. He calls his friends one after the other. As soon as they discover what he's after they grow very cagey. They back off, get cool, and say goodbye. After several such goodbyes, he says to one of them, "You're so much better at ...

35. CHARIOTEER

Jeremiah 51:21; 1 Kings 9:22

Illustration

Stephen Stewart

Jeremiah 51:21 - "... with you I break in pieces the chariot and the charioteer." 1 Kings 9:22 - "But of the people of Israel Solomon made no slaves; they were the soldiers, they were his officials, his commanders, his captains, his chariot commanders and his horsemen." A chariot was a two-wheeled vehicle used mainly in war, although at first this was true of the other nations rather than Israel. Actually, because of its terrain, chariots were largely unsuited for use in Palestine, and for that reason, the ...

36. Opening the Door to Jesus

Matt 25:40; Rev 3:20

Illustration

Jimmy Carter

Is there any parallel between the experience of the followers on the road to Emmaus and our lives? Yes, there are times when each of us fails to recognize the presence of Christ or the Holy Spirit. Remember that the Scriptures promise us that Christ is with us—at least potentially—not just as an occasional, miraculous event but at all times. In Revelation 3:20, he tells us, "Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If any-one hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with ...

37. Fill In the Gaps

Illustration

Staff

I stood on a grassy sward, and at my feet a precipice broke sheer down into infinite space. I looked, but saw no bottom; only cloud shapes, black and furiously coiled, and great shadow-shrouded hollows, and unfathomable depths. Back I drew, dizzy at the depth. Then I saw forms of people moving single file along the grass. They were making for the edge. There was a woman with a baby in her arms and another little child holding on to her dress. She was on the very verge. Then I saw that she was blind. She ...

Showing 1 to 37 of 37all results

Showing all results

1. The Irresistible Influence Of The Holy Spirit

Acts 2:1-41

Illustration

James W. Moore

2. Never Read Any of His Books

John 20:1-18; Luke 24:36-49

Illustration

James W. Moore

3. Life's Little Fragments

Illustration

Max Lucado

4. Breaking the Rules

Mark 1:40-45

Illustration

Charles Swindoll

5. Breaking the Bad News

Illustration

Editor James S. Hewett

6. Stronger after the Struggle

Matthew 14:22-33

Illustration

Leonard Sweet

7. Plow Through It

Illustration

8. Know Your Weeds

Matt 13:24-30, 36-43

Illustration

Todd Weir

9. Why Did The Cheering Stop? - Sermon Starter

Matthew 21:1-11

Illustration

Brett Blair

10. A Haven for Troubled Hearts - Sermon Starter

John 14:1-4

Illustration

Brett Blair

11. My Mother Taught Me…

2 Timothy 1:5

Illustration

12. A Cup of Cold water

Matthew 10:40-42

Illustration

Larry Klaarn

13. What Are You Looking For?

John 1:38

Illustration

Susan R. Andrews

14. Humor: We're Getting a Divorce

Mark 10:1-12

Illustration

15. Do You Love Me? - Sermon Starter

John 21:1-14

Illustration

Brett Blair

16. Some Not So Bright Thieves

Lk 23:33-43

Illustration

King Duncan

17. The Sobering Effect of Truth

John 4:26

Illustration

Brett Blair

18. Forty Martyrs for Christ

Illustration

Lieghton Ford

19. Give Yourself Some Slack

Genesis 2:3

Illustration

20. The Coffee Break

Matthew 20:1-16

Illustration

Brett Blair

21. And Their Eyes Were Opened

Luke 24:13-35

Illustration

Larry Powell

22. Time's Up

Matthew 24:36-51

Illustration

John Jamison

23. Labor Day

Mark 9:14-32

Illustration

King Duncan

24. Walking in Circles

John 6:1-15

Illustration

King Duncan

25. Our Hope, Our Terror

Matthew 22:1-14

Illustration

Barbara Brown Taylor

26. Vines of Habit

Illustration

Michael P. Green

27. Parable of Jealousy and Jeopardy

Illustration

28. One’s Proper Service

Isaiah 58:1-14

Illustration

Larry Powell

29. A Class Act

Illustration

John Berendt

30. A List of Murphy's Laws

Illustration

Staff

31. The Freedom Fall

Illustration

Michael P. Green

32. The End Is Near

Luke 21:5-19

Illustration

Lewis Grizzard

33. Is There Any Hope?

1 Cor 15:14

Illustration

Staff

34. Being Hello People

Illustration

Maxie Dunnam

35. CHARIOTEER

Jeremiah 51:21; 1 Kings 9:22

Illustration

Stephen Stewart

36. Opening the Door to Jesus

Matt 25:40; Rev 3:20

Illustration

Jimmy Carter

37. Fill In the Gaps

Illustration

Staff

Showing 1 to 37 of 37all results