In Sermon Illustrations: "Academic Christianity" showing 41-60 of 8,337

Casual Christians  PRO

Contributed by Charles Wilkerson on Jul 27, 2009

CASUAL CHRISTIANS Barna defines these folks as those who perceive their Christianity as "faith in moderation. It allows them to feel religious without having to prioritize their faith. Christianity is a low-risk, predictable proposition..., providing a faith perspective that is not demanding. A ...read more

Tags: Discipleship

Denomination: Presbyterian/Reformed

Christian Home

Contributed by K. Edward Skidmore on Dec 7, 2009

CHRISTIAN HOME A family was driving home after church and they noticed little Johnny was sitting in the back seat crying his eyes out. Mom asked him several times what was wrong, but he just kept crying. Then finally he sobbed, "The pastor said ...read more

Tags: Family

Denomination: Christian/Church Of Christ

Christians And Salt

Contributed by Ross Cochrane on Dec 30, 2009

CHRISTIANS AND SALT I use a saline solution for my contact lenses. It has the same salty consistency as my tears have. Without it I could not clean my lenses and putting them in would be difficult. I’m told that too much salt is bad for you. The Bible says Christians are like salt. And we live in ...read more

Tags: Christian Witness

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

Nietzsche And Christians

Contributed by Sermon Central on Jun 6, 2010

NIETZSCHE AND CHRISTIANS Friedrich Nietzsche, the philosopher, said of Christians: "Look at whom they worship. Look at this God whom they worship. How foolish and imbecilic to follow one who died, and then to claim that that death is victory! There is foolishness and there is foolishness. There ...read more

Scripture: Psalm 14:1-3

Tags: Freedom, Israel, Atheism, Return, Zion  (view more)  (view less)

Are Christians Hypocritical?

Contributed by T. Scott Womble on Jul 27, 2010

ARE CHRISTIANS HYPOCRITICAL? A few years ago, Barna Research conducted a 3 year study about the church which was published in the book Unchristian. The results weren't shocking. In fact, we intuitively already knew the results. Barna leveled three stinging blows against Christians. They said ...read more

Tags: Hypocrisy

Denomination: Christian/Church Of Christ

Christian Heroes

Contributed by Sermon Central on Mar 6, 2011

CHRISTIAN HEROES In 1947, Thor Heyerdahl and five companions sailed from Peru on a crude boat made of balsa logs held together by hemp rope. Heyerdahl believed Polynesia was settled in pre-Columbian times by native South Americans. Using pictures drawn by Spanish Conquistadores, the Kon-Tiki ...read more

Scripture: John 15:13

Tags: Evangelism The Lost

Carnival Christians

Contributed by Major Gerardo Balmori on Apr 2, 2011

CARNIVAL CHRISTIANS What’s a "Carnival Christian?" A Carnival Christian is someone who enjoys the fun. Someone who gets caught up in the excitement of cheering for Jesus, but sometimes has a hard time taking a personal stand for him when the crowd isn’t around. Commitments for them are difficult ...read more

Tags: Commitment To Christ

Denomination: Salvation Army

No Good Christians

Contributed by Brad Henry on Jul 26, 2011

NO GOOD CHRISTIANS Have you ever been on a vacation and then felt like you need another vacation because you were so tired? That is this life. A lot of times we do things that we think will bring us peace and contentment but in the end they just make us more worn out. The more you TRY to be a ...read more

Tags: Faith Vs. Works

Dwarfish Christianity

Contributed by Sermon Central on Aug 24, 2011

DWARFISH CHRISTIANITY Charles Spurgeon, the famed pastor of the Metropolitan Baptist Tabernacle in London made this observation in the late 1800’s when he came in contact with a community of small framed men. "There was once in London a club of small men, whose qualification for membership lay in ...read more

Scripture: 1 Timothy 3:10-20, 1 Timothy 3:10-12

Tags: Growth In Christ

Cruel Christians

Contributed by Sermon Central on Aug 29, 2011

CRUEL CHRISTIANS During the Spanish conquest of Mexico under Hernando Cortez in the early 1500s, a resistance leader named Hatney was captured after a fierce battle and sentenced to be burned alive. After tying him to the stake, his captors urged him to become a Christian so that at his death his ...read more

Scripture: Titus 2:1-10

Tags: Christian Witness

Confined Christians

Contributed by Rodelio Mallari on Jan 10, 2012

CONFINED CHRISTIANS I met a young man not long ago who dives for exotic fish for aquariums. He told me that one of the most popular aquarium fish is the shark. He explained that if you catch a small shark and confine it, it will stay a size proportionate to the aquarium you put it in. Sharks can ...read more

Tags: Growth In Christ

Denomination: *other

Aristides On Christians

Contributed by Sermon Central on Jul 23, 2012

ARISTIDES ON CHRISTIANS Writing in about 125 AD, a Christian philosopher by the name of Aristides looked at Christianity and said this: "They walk in all humility and kindness, and falsehood is not found among them, and they love one another. They despise not the widow, and grieve not the ...read more

Scripture: 1 John 3:11-20

Tags: Christian Witness

True Christianity

Contributed by Gene Gregory on Aug 27, 2012

This past Wednesday, many across our country and others, went to their local churches to have ashes placed on their foreheads, as a sign of repentance. Ash Wednesday marks the beginning of Lent, a 40-day period that many “give-up” something in preparation for the coming of Easter. In the ...read more

Tags: Discipleship

Denomination: Baptist

The Opposite Of A Christian

Contributed by Fr Mund Cargill Thompson on Jan 29, 2013

THE OPPOSITE OF A CHRISTIAN What would you say was the opposite of a Christian people? would it be an atheist people? a pagan people? Perhaps even a hypocritical people, an unforgiving people. What would be your answer? When the novelist George bernanos was asked this question "What is the ...read more

Tags: Joy

Denomination: Anglican

Christian Priesthood  PRO

Contributed by Davon Huss on Oct 1, 2013

From R. Paul Stevens: Christian priesthood is not a matter of being religious and Mr. Goody two shoes but of serving God and God’s purposes in the nitty gritty everydayness of life in the world, not a matter of sacred times and sacred places but ordinary times and ordinary places, not a matter ...read more

Scripture: Romans 15:15-16

Tags: Everyday Life, Priestly

Denomination: Christian/Church Of Christ

Unchristian

Contributed by Davon Huss on May 21, 2014

In unChristian, David Kinnaman, president of the Barna Group, discusses some disheartening research concerning the failure of Christians in our day to remain distinct: "In virtually every study we conduct, representing thousands of interviews every year, born again Christians (talking about people ...read more

Scripture: Malachi 3:18

Tags: Transform, Holiness, Distinctiveness, Moral Living

Denomination: Christian/Church Of Christ

Impersonating A Christian

Contributed by Shawn Miller on Jan 16, 2015

In her recently published book “Dance with the Devil” Barbara Bentley shares her experience with former husband, John Perry, a mysterious man, whose father was supposedly portrayed by John Wayne in a World War II movie. She fell in love with him when He dazzled her and her friends with his heroic ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 7:21-23

Tags: Hypocrisy, Day Of Judgment, False Believer, Imposter

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

The Marks Of A Christian

Contributed by Dr. Larry Petton on Nov 6, 2022

Galatians 2:1-10 THE MARKS OF A CHRISTIAN BY THEODORE EPP Four marks of a Christian are set forth in Galatians 2:20: First, a Christian is one who has the living Christ living in him. "I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which ...read more

Scripture: Galatians 2:20

Tags: Resurrection, Holy Spirit, Discipleship, Christian Life, Christ  (view more)  (view less)

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

Distorted Christianity

Contributed by Alison Bucklin on Jul 7, 2023

Q: What does the Church think of God the Father? A: He is omnipotent and holy. He created the world and imposed on mankind conditions impossible to fulfill; he is very angry if these are not carried out. He sometimes interferes in an arbitrary way with judgments and miracles, distributed with a ...read more

Scripture: Mark 6:1-6, 2 Corinthians 11:2-4, 2 Timothy 3:1-6

Tags: Slander, Misconceptions, Ignorance, Distortion, Dorothy Sayers  (view more)  (view less)

Denomination: Presbyterian/Reformed

37% Of Christians Shop In Christian Stores. A New ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Jan 16, 2006

37% of Christians shop in Christian stores. A new CBA-Barna survey reveals that 34% of adults have shopped in a store that specializes in Christian products in the last 6months, up from 30% in ’91. Close to 4 in 10 Christians (37% or roughly 6 million people) visit a Christian store in a typical ...read more

Tags: Christian Values