Sermon Central
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Jim Butcher
Contributing sermons since Jan 1, 2000
Newest Sermons
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Trying To Change Society By Moral Improvement
Contributed on Oct 22, 2025
This is a difficult passage but at its core it's one that posits what happens when someone tries to bring transformation without God.
WHAT'S THE POINT OF THE STORY? It is about moral improvement without God. - Luke 11:24-26. - Let’s begin by acknowledging that this is a difficult passage. It comes across a little obscure. It’s easy to read it and think it’s either just a weird saying or something with no application to our ...read more
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A Rebuke To Forgiveness-Only Salvation
Contributed on Sep 30, 2025
This is a challenging passage. Surely Paul doesn't mean that we have to actually live like that?! What it all points us to is a false gospel that is too often preached today - "forgiveness-only" belief. What does this passage tell us about what real salvation looks like?
A COMMON BELIEF TODAY: I am “saved” and unchanged. - Matthew 7:15-20; Matthew 7:24-27; Luke 13:6-9; John 15:8. - This passage makes us uncomfortable. It sounds harsh and unrealistic. We will delve into how we are to understand it as we move forward. - A good place to start is a major reason why ...read more
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What The Kingdom Is Not
Contributed on Aug 12, 2025
Three stories show us ways that the disciples misunderstood the nature of the Kingdom and how Jesus pointed them in the right direction.
“THEY DIDN'T UNDERSTAD”: The disciples still had some questionable ideas about what the Kingdom of God was like. - Luke 9:45. - Luke 9:46-56. - This is an eventful chapter. We have the Transfiguration - an amazing event. We have an exorcism so difficult that the disciples couldn’t do it - an ...read more
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Did Judas Believe In Jesus As Lord?
Contributed on Aug 7, 2025
This passage provides us with an interesting insight into the nature of Judas' faith (or lack thereof).
DID JUDAS BELIEVE IN JESUS AS LORD? Judas refers to Jesus as “Rabbi,” not “Lord.” - Matthew 26:22, 25. - It’s long been a source of contention what exactly the nature of Judas’ belief or disbelief in Jesus was. He was a disciple, saw the miracles, heard the teaching. Yet he ends up betraying ...read more
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Why Does Jesus Tell His Disciples Not To Tell People That He Is The Christ
Contributed on Jul 1, 2025
This passage provides an interesting insight into why Jesus told His disciples not to tell anyone He was the Christ.
KEEP QUIET: Proclaiming that Jesus was the Christ would create a lot of wrong expectations. - Luke 9:18-21. - It’s an odd thing to hear Jesus telling His disciples to not tell people that He is the Christ. You would generally think that He would want it proclaimed often and loudly from every ...read more
Newest Sermon Series
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How You Should Pray: Embracing The Lord's Prayer
Contributed on Apr 9, 2025
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Ezekiel
Contributed on Mar 11, 2024
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Re-Creation
Contributed on Jan 24, 2024
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The Greatest Gospel Explanation Ever
Contributed on Nov 7, 2023
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How To Disagree
Contributed on Sep 15, 2023
Newest Sermon Illustrations
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Before The Water
Contributed on Nov 15, 2018
Scott Harrison, founder of charity:water, shares this story: "I recently had the chance to visit charity:water's very first project. It was a well that we had funded on my thirty-first birthday and then built in the IDP camp of Bobi, Uganda. "The sprawling camp of 31,000 people had cleared out, ...read more
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It’s Only A White Collar Crime?
Contributed on Oct 16, 2018
C.S. Lewis died in 1963, but a comment in one of his writings speaks directly to the current opioid crisis. Lewis wrote: “The greatest evil is not now done in those sordid ‘dens of crime’ that Dickens loved to paint. It is not done even in concentration camps and labour camps. In those we see its ...read more
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Rescue
Contributed on Oct 16, 2018
I am really struck by the lyrics of Lauren Daigle’s recent song “Rescue.” The singer is speaking from God’s perspective and says: “I hear the whisper underneath your breath I hear you whisper, you have nothing left I will send out an army to find you In the middle of the darkest night It’s true, ...read more
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What Khris Davis Did That No One Has Ever Done Before
Contributed on Oct 16, 2018
Khris Davis is an outfielder for the Oakland Athletics in the majors. In 2015, he batted .247 for the year. In 2016, he batted .247 for the year. In 2017, he batted .247 for the year. And during the last season, in 2018, he batted . . . , you guessed it, .247 for the year. He went 0-for-2 in ...read more
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What God Told Me At 4 A.m. In Guangzhou, China
Contributed on Apr 13, 2018
Note: this story is told by me - Jim Butcher of Madison WV. I want to tell you a story about an insight that God gave me into John 14:1-4, the passage where Jesus speaks of going to prepare a place for us. This is the story of something that happened to me several years ago while I was in ...read more