Sermon Central
-
Last Year I Compiled The Index Of Leading ...
Contributed by Sermon Central on Apr 10, 2006 (message contributor)
Last year I compiled the Index of Leading Cultural Indicators, a statistical portrait of American behavioral trends of the past three decades. Among the findings: Since 1960, while the gross domestic product has nearly tripled, violent crime has increased at least 560%. Divorces have more than doubled. The percentage of children in single-parent homes had tripled. And by the end of the decade 40% of all American births and 80% of minority births will occur out of wedlock. These are not good things to get used to.
In 1940 teachers identified the top problems in America’s schools as: Talking out of turn, chewing gum, making noise and running in the hall. In 1990, teachers listed drugs, alcohol, pregnancy, suicide, rape and assault. These are not good things to get used to, either.
There is a coarseness, a callousness and a cynicism to our era. The worst of it has to do with our children. Our culture seems almost dedicated to the corruption of the young. We have become inured to the cultural rot that is setting in. People are losing their capacity for shock, disgust and outrage...
The ancients called our problem acedia, an aversion to spiritual things and an undue concern for the external and the worldly. Acedia also is the seventh capital sin--sloth--but it does not mean mere laziness. The slothful heart is stepped in the worldly and carnal, hates the spiritual and wants to be free of its demands.
When the novelist Walker Percy was asked what concerned him most about America’s future, he answered, "Probably the fear of seeing America, with all its great strength and beauty and freedom...gradually subside into decay through default and be defeated, not by the communist movement, but from within, from weariness, boredom, cynicism, greed and in the end helplessness before its great problems."
I realize this is a tough indictment. If my diagnosis is wrong, then why, amid our economic prosperity and military security, do almost 70% of the public say we are off track? I submit that only when we turn to the right things--enduring, noble, spiritual things--will life get better.
Most important, we must return religion to its proper place. Religion provides us with moral bearings, and the solution to our chief problem of spiritual impoverishment depends on spiritual renewal. The surrendering of strong beliefs, in our private and public lives, has demoralized society.
Today, much of society ridicules and mocks those who are serious about their faith. America’s only respectable form of bigotry is bigotry against religious people. And the only reason for hatred of religion is that it forces us to confront matters many would prefer to ignore.
Today we must carry on a new struggle for the country we love. We must push hard against an age that is pushing hard against us. If we have full employment and greater economic growth--if we have cities of gold and alabaster--but our children have not learned how to walk in goodness, justice and mercy, then the American experiment, no matter how gilded, will have failed.
Do not surrender. Get mad. Get in the fight.
Excerpts from What Really Ails America, condensed from a speech by William J. Bennett, delivered December 7, 1993 at the Heritage Foundation, Washington, D.C., reprinted in Reader’s Digest, April, 1994.
Related Sermon Illustrations
-
At Approximately 3:20 On The Morning Of March ... PRO
Contributed by John Hamby on Jul 15, 2002
“At approximately 3:20 on the morning of March 13, 1964, twenty-eight-year-old …(Kitty) Genovese was returning to her home in a nice middle-class area of Queens, NY…. She parked her ….(car) in a nearby parking lot, turned-off the lights and started the walk to her second floor apartment some 35 ...read more
-
If Our Greatest Need Had Been Information, God ... PRO
Contributed by Martin Kim on Dec 28, 2004
“If our greatest need had been information, God would have sent an educator. If our greatest need had been technology, God would have sent a scientist. If our greatest need had been money, God would have sent an economist. But, our ...read more
-
In Their Devotional Guide, Experiencing God ... PRO
Contributed by Jim Kane on Jul 11, 2002
In their devotional guide, Experiencing God Day-By-Day, Henry and Richard Blackaby ask the question, “Are you satisfied with merely knowing the acts of God or do you also want to know His ways? This is a question that requires an answer and the ...read more
-
It's What You Do--Not When You Do It. Ted ...
Contributed by Jerry Flury on Jul 17, 2004
It’s what you do--not when you do it. Ted Williams, at age 42, slammed a home run in his last official time at bat. Mickey Mantle, age 20, hit 23 home runs his first full year in the major leagues. Golda Meir was 71 when she became Prime Minister of Israel. William Pitt II was 24 when he became ...read more
-
Why Should I Not Forgive? PRO
Contributed by Joel Vicente on Jul 13, 2002
WHY SHOULD I NOT FORGIVE? Deweese Eunick (mother of a 6 year old girl, killed by a 12 year old boy who was wrestling with her) The boy, Lionel Tate was being sentenced for life in prison for this murder. The mother said to reporters on ABC, "It’s more that he’s a human being, you know?" ...read more
Related Sermons
-
Seeking The Face Of God
Contributed by John Quigley on Jan 12, 2013
What does it mean to seek the face of God? Listen to King David in Psalm 27.
-
Generation To Generation
Contributed by Michael Mccartney on Oct 22, 2009
We need to be committed to pass on the message of Jesus from generation to generation. We need to pass on the reigns of the church to the next generation so that they pass it on to the next generation.
-
“god Wants Us To Have A New Way Of Life”
Contributed by Carl Palatino on Dec 10, 2012
SINCE CHRIST DIED FOR US,GOD WANTS US TO HAVE A NEW WAY OF LIFE
-
"It's Shaking Time!" Haggai Pt 2 Series
Contributed by Michael Mccartney on May 1, 2008
In Haggai’s day God shook up the Heaven’s and the Earth to awaken the people to their wrong priorities and to refocus them On the building of God’s House. God is shaking up the world today so that we reprioritize our lives God’s way so as to get us to ref
-
The Pattern Of Courageous Manhood
Contributed by Ed Cole on Sep 19, 2011
The first of a series of three sermons on courageous manhood.
