Sermon Central
-
God Reaches Out To Find Us PRO
Contributed by Sermon Central on Sep 3, 2002 (message contributor)
God Reaches Out to Find Us
During an Aug. 4 Sunday school class at National Presbyterian Church, National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice described how she had drifted from her Christian faith -- and how God reached out and brought her back:
"I was a preacher’s kid, so Sundays were church, no doubt about that. The church was the center of our lives. In segregated black Birmingham of the late 1950s and early 1960s, the church was not just a place of worship. It was the place where families gathered; it was the social center of the community, too.
"Although I never doubted the existence of God, I think like all people I’ve had some ups and downs in my faith. When I first moved to California in 1981 to join the faculty at Stanford, there were a lot of years when I was not attending church regularly. I was traveling a lot. I was a specialist in international politics, so I was always traveling abroad. I was always in another time zone. One Sunday I was in the Lucky’s Supermarket not very far from my house -- I will never forget -- among the spices and an African-American man walked up to me and said he was buying some things for his church picnic. And he said, ’Do you play the piano by any chance?’
"I said, ’Yes.’ They said they were looking for someone to play the piano at church. It was a little African-American church right in the center of Palo Alto. A Baptist church. So I started playing for that church. That got me regularly back into churchgoing. I don’t play gospel very well -- I play Brahms -- and you know how black ministers will start a song and the musicians will pick it up? I had no idea what I was doing and so I...
Continue reading this sermon illustration (Free with PRO)Related Sermon Illustrations
-
Bill Broadhurst Was A Great Runner And He Entered ... PRO
Contributed by Steve Malone on Jan 26, 2005
Bill Broadhurst was a great runner and he entered a 10k race in Omahu, a race that Bill Rodgers would win in less than 30 minutes. Bill Broadhurst had a handicap, he was paralyzed on his entire left side from an aneurism early in life. But he still loved to run and for him to be in the same race ...read more
-
The Covenant Of Faithfulness PRO
Contributed by Dan Cormie on Oct 25, 2002
THE COVENANT OF FAITHFULNESS In modern times we define a host of relations by contracts. These are usually for goods or services and for hard cash. The contract, formal or informal, helps to specify failure in these relationships. The Lord did not establish a contract with Israel or with ...read more
-
The Old Man And The Gulls PRO
Contributed by Dan Cormie on Oct 25, 2002
THE OLD MAN AND THE GULLS It is gratitude that prompted an old man to visit an old broken pier on the eastern seacoast of Florida. Every Friday night, until his death in 1973, he would return, walking slowly and slightly stooped with a large bucket of shrimp. The sea gulls would flock to this ...read more
-
American Tourists Mistreated, Pastors Tortured & ...
Contributed by Ed Vasicek on Sep 27, 2005
American Tourists Mistreated, Pastors Tortured & Church Ordered to Close · August 8, 2005 CHINA: House Church Pastors Tortured in Prison & Shanghai House Church Faces Forced Closure China Aid learned that more than 210 Chinese house church pastors and believers have been arrested in Hubei, ...read more
-
At A Meeting Of The American Psychological ... PRO
Contributed by Dana Visneskie on Apr 23, 2004
At a meeting of the American Psychological Association, Jack Lipton, a psychologist at Union College, and R. Scott Builione, a graduate student at Columbia University, presented their findings on how members of the various sections of 11 major symphony orchestra perceived each other. The ...read more
Related Sermons
-
Behold, I Come Quickly! Series
Contributed by Michael Blitz on Jul 19, 2013
Based on Rev 22:12-end and John 17:20-26. The invitation at the end of Revelation is made to the Great Feast, and we as a church should set aside pride and in unity reach the lost with the Gospel of Christ.
-
Plans To Prosper You Series
Contributed by Brian Bill on Jun 2, 2017
God will not always do what we desire but He will always do what He decides.
-
Choices Have Consequences Series
Contributed by David Owens on May 29, 2012
Paul encouraged the Thessalonians with praise, promises and prayer. The promises included the fact that the righteous will be rewarded and the wicked will be punished.
-
The Birth Of John The Baptist Series
Contributed by Freddy Fritz on Oct 21, 2012
In today's lesson we learn how God fulfills his promise.
-
The Possession For Victory (2 Of 9) Series
Contributed by James O. Davis on Nov 8, 2011
The Book of Joshua was written to show us victory is possible by practicing the specific principles.
