Mike Riley Sermon Outlines, Articles, Lessons, etc.

The story is told of a father who taught his boys a practical life lesson by tying a large bundle of wood with a cord. None of the boys could lift it, much less carry it. Then the

Our God is with us wherever we go. Of a certainty, He is in the commonplace, whether we know it or not. Jacob said of a most unlikely spot:

When Mohammed Ali was at the height of his boxing career, he was often called “The Greatest” — referring to the fact that he was considered by many, the greatest fighter in

Paul once told the brethren in Corinth that they should  “earnestly desire the best gifts” (1 Corinthians 12:31 – NKJV). They were guilty of desiring less than the best when they wanted to

In Isaiah 40:31, the inspired writer states: “But those who wait on the Lord Shall renew their strength; They shall mount up with wings like eagles, They shall run and not be weary, They shall walk and not faint.“ The phrase “wait on the Lord” in the above verse, is the Hebrew way of saying […]

An individual at my workplace recently became angry with someone over a perceived injustice. A colleague of mine listened to his grievance and sensed that his temper still ran high. He gave him the following

We know the holiday season is almost upon us when we begin to receive catalogs in the mail. Working as a mail expediter for a local school district, I am discovering that every

According to shark experts, the shark can be placed in a tonic immobility state, or a natural state of paralysis, by turning them upside down. The shark remains in this state of paralysis for an

A querist asks, “I’ve heard of John Calvin’s doctrine regarding hereditary total depravity. Proponents often refer to Psalm 51:5 and Psalm 58:3 as two of their proof texts. Is this

Preachers in generations past used to conclude every sermon or article with a strong warning against drifting away from the faith (cf. Jude 1:3 ). They had a profound love for God’s truth (John 17:17; Ephesians 4:21), and they guarded against being “tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine” (Ephesians […]

As a substitute teacher/librarian in our public schools and a Bible class instructor, I have observed that learning is a cooperative effort between the student and the instructor. This is why teachers try to get their students involved in class participation. The teacher has to do

A friend of mine has a Global Positioning System. Before we began a short journey to test the device, my friend programmed our destination into the GPS and the device did its job in plotting our

Man has always planned elaborate schemes of his own wisdom to plot out his own salvation, but God says:

The other day, a Christian friend asked me a rhetorical question, “Why didn’t we have a drug problem when you and I were growing up?” I reminded him that we did have a drug

Research has found that among employees planning to leave their companies, a majority felt they were underpaid. However, fewer than twenty percent of them were receiving less than the industry standard for their duties.

For a moment of time, let’s imagine how Judas must have felt as he watched his friend Jesus being led to trial with bound hands for only thirty pieces of silver (Matthew 27:9  – about $18.00 in today’s currency).

The story is told of a man whose neighbor had a habit of borrowing tools and not returning them. One day the neighbor stopped by the man’s house and asked whether he could borrow his axe. “No, you can’t,” replied the man. “Why not?” the neighbor asked. “I’m just about to eat some soup.” Puzzled, […]

We all love to hear a genuine compliment because it makes us feel good about ourselves to have the approval or admiration of others if only for a few moments.

If we need a weather forecast for El Paso, Texas or driving directions to a restaurant in Chicago, the answer may be just a cell-phone call away. A California-based mobile service

The term “reconciliation” indicates a restoration of friendship and harmony.  For instance, consider a long-standing family feud.  What may have started as carelessness andinsensitivity on the part of one leads to separation and ill will. When in humility, wrong is confessed,