Plan for: Thanksgiving | Advent | Christmas

Sermon Illustrations

Money Talks

-Most of us have probably heard the saying, “Money talks.” Words are one thing, but when someone slaps down their money or writes the check, their words take on new meaning. Sometimes money produces results that seemed slow in coming with any other approach. This might be due to greed, or it might relate to how serious a person is about what they say they will do.

-A well-worn one dollar bill and a similarly distressed twenty dollar bill arrived at a Federal Reserve Bank to be retired. As they moved along the conveyor belt to be burned, they struck up a conversation.

The twenty dollar bill reminisced about its travels all over the county. "I’ve had a pretty good life," the twenty proclaimed. "Why I’ve been to Las Vegas and Atlantic City, the finest restaurants in New York, performances on Broadway, and even a cruise to the Caribbean."

"Wow!" said the one dollar bill. "You’ve really had an exciting life!"

"So tell me," says the twenty, "where have you been throughout your lifetime?"

The one dollar bill replies, "Oh, I’ve been to the Methodist Church, the Baptist Church, the Lutheran Church ...." The twenty dollar bill interrupts, "What’s a church?"

-Did you know money can be hazardous to your health? Two medical researchers at the University of Louisville have been looking into the question and have found that "13% of the coins and 42% of the paper money carry disease-producing organisms." Small denomination coins and bills are more dangerous because of their rapid turnover. Percentage of all paper money in the U.S. that contains traces of cocaine: 97%. (Don’t go sniffing your money!)

-So in today’s reading, James takes on the wealthy who have not played by the rules as they have accumulated much and shared very little.

From a sermon by Mark Opperman, If Money Could Talk..., 6/2/2010

Related Sermon Illustrations

Related Sermons

  • The Poverty Mindset

    Contributed by Jeff Van Wyk on Apr 13, 2013
    based on 4 ratings
     | 40,387 views

    One false concept is that poverty has some mysterious refining qualities. Some believe that it is spiritual to be poor. That is not the way God lives and neither does He want us to live that way. Just look how He blessed Abraham. The Bible teaches us that

  • Invest In God's Kingdom

    Contributed by Jeff Van Wyk on Feb 2, 2013
    based on 1 rating
     | 34,281 views

    To be a good steward we must not waste what has been given to us. We must invest what has been given to us and must show a return for it.We are given resources according to our individual abilities. We are all different. It is a fact that some people are

  • The Rich Fool Series

    Contributed by Jeff Strite on Nov 4, 2018
    based on 5 ratings
     | 29,647 views

    Why was God angry at the "rich farmer?" What had this farmer done wrong and what can we learn from his story about the need to being rich toward God?

  • I’m Gone Get To My Better Series

    Contributed by Charles Jones on Jun 30, 2012
    based on 1 rating
     | 28,546 views

    You may know that God wants to save you. You may know that God wants to heal you. But do you also know that God wants to prosper you?

  • True Riches Series

    Contributed by Dennis Davidson on Oct 20, 2014
    based on 4 ratings
     | 28,458 views

    Our attitude toward money & how we use it is a barometer of our spiritual state. It reveals whether we are foolishly thinking only of the present or astutely looking to eternity. What is the purpose of money anyway?