In Sermon Illustrations: "Becoming The Church"

Alexis De Tocqueville- Not Until I Went Into The ...

Contributed by Davon Huss on Jul 4, 2005

Alexis de Tocqueville- Not until I went into the churches of America and heard her pulpits flame with righteousness did I understand the secret of her genius and power. America is great because America is ...read more

Tags: Church Purpose Of

Denomination: Christian/Church Of Christ

Joke: I Am Reminded Of The Story Of The Fellow ...

Contributed by Larry Jacobs on Aug 12, 2005

JOKE: I am reminded of the story of the fellow that always fell asleep during the pastor’s sermon. The wife had decided to keep him awake - so she took a large hat pin with the intention of sticking him with it when he nodded off. Sure enough, right in the middle of the pastor’s message, he ...read more

Tags: Church Practices

Denomination: Baptist

Jewish Synagogues Have Their Problems Too; Many ...  PRO

Contributed by Ed Vasicek on Sep 6, 2005

Jewish synagogues have their problems too; many congregations develop their own traditions, and they can fight over tradition, which is very important to them: During a service at an old synagogue in Eastern Europe, when the Shema prayer was said, half the congregants stood up and half remained ...read more

Tags: Church Practices

Denomination: Independent/Bible

Let Me Talk To You About Ants. Not The Kind ...  PRO

Contributed by Ed Vasicek on Sep 6, 2005

1. Let me talk to you about Ants. Not the kind that marry uncles, but the kind that live outside. According to a CNN article, 2."Like humans, fungus-growing ants are true farmers and the survival of the colony depends on the food they grow. Anywhere from a few hundred to over five million ants ...read more

Scripture: Joshua 1:12-17

Tags: Church Purpose Of

Denomination: Independent/Bible

Cowboy Joe Was Had Just Come Back From Going To ...  PRO

Contributed by Bruce Ball on Oct 24, 2005

Cowboy Joe was had just come back from going to church for the first time, and was in the bunkhouse telling the other cowhands about his experience. He said, “When I got there, I parked my pick-me-up in the corral. Charlie, a worldly cowboy said, “That would be the parking lot, Joe.” Joe ...read more

Tags: Church Purpose Of

Denomination: *other

Saving Christianity  PRO

Contributed by Mark Brunner on Nov 15, 2005

A number of years ago Norman Cousins wrote an editorial in the Saturday Review in which he reported a conversation he had on a trip in India. He was talking with a Hindu priest named Satis Prasad. The man said he wanted to come to our country to work as a missionary among the Americans. Cousins ...read more

Scripture: Acts 9:15-16

Tags: Church Purpose Of

Denomination: Lutheran

Wahlstrom's Wonder  PRO

Contributed by Sermon Central on Apr 17, 2011

WAHLSTROM'S WONDER I once read about a certain Mr. Wahlstrom who purchased an old bombsight and took it apart to see what made it work. As he began to put it back together, he decided to add to it some spare parts he had from other projects. Over time, friends and neighbors took an interest in the ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 28:18-20, John 1:14-18, Jonah 3:1-10

Tags: Church Purpose Of

High On Their Huddles

Contributed by John Hamby on Apr 25, 2011

HIGH ON THEIR HUDDLES One of my favorite preachers is Dr. Tony Evans in Dallas. Some years ago I heard him give the following description of the purpose of the church service. He said, "In football they have a huddle, the goal of the huddle is to give you thirty seconds to call the play; that is ...read more

Tags: Church Practices

Denomination: Baptist

Growth In Persecution  PRO

Contributed by Sermon Central on May 19, 2011

GROWTH IN PERSECUTION I remember feeling torn and confused when Simon Guillebaud in Burundi, Central Africa reported violence against him and Christians there. In his email he said we are not asking for protection. We know that violence and threats will come. What we ask for is boldness to preach ...read more

Scripture: Acts 11:19-24

Tags: Church Growth

Improving On A Good Design...or Not

Contributed by Sermon Central on Aug 8, 2011

IMPROVING ON A GOOD DESIGN...OR NOT Years ago I bought a Chevy Caprice at a used car lot. It was a thing of beauty. It was big and stylish and it purred as I drove it down the road. Well, it purred for the first few days. Then it began to cough and sputter and I had difficulty getting above 30 ...read more

Scripture: Philippians 1:27-30

Tags: Church General

Stay Out Of The Stagnant Water

Contributed by Sermon Central on Aug 25, 2011

STAY OUT OF THE STAGNANT WATER Palmer Chinchen, in his book, True Religion, talks about traveling to the western edge of Zimbabwe with his brothers to raft the Zambezi River, starting at the base of the Victoria Falls. The falls are the largest in the world, more than a mile wide and three hundred ...read more

Scripture: 1 Peter 4:12-19

Tags: Church Practices

For Some Strange Reason We Think That The ...

Contributed by Brad Henry on Sep 2, 2011

For some strange reason we think that the righteous go to church. That is Pharisee thinking. The Pharisees were the teachers and rulers of the law. They felt that they knew more than anyone else and were also above everyone else. The church should be viewed as a hospital and not a place ...read more

Tags: Church Purpose Of

Kingdom Infrastructure

Contributed by Ed Vasicek on Oct 10, 2011

KINGDOM INFRASTRUCTURE America’s economic health is partly dependent upon infrastructure: speedy roads, bridges, trains, electrical capacity, usable water, high speed internet, trained or skilled workers, etc. Healthy churches are foundational to getting God’s work done: they support the ...read more

Tags: Church Purpose Of

Denomination: Independent/Bible

The World: A Temporary Container

Contributed by Guy Mcgraw on Jan 3, 2012

THE WORLD: A TEMPORARY CONTAINER The first garbage day after Christmas must be the biggest garbage day of the year. You can tell what most people got for Christmas by just looking at the garbage pile in front of the house. We usually throw out all the boxes--unless you have children who like to ...read more

Tags: Church Discipline

Not Enough Chapels

Contributed by Davon Huss on Jan 16, 2012

NOT ENOUGH CHAPELS An elderly woman was being conducted through a great cathedral in Europe. The guide spoke of its beauty of design, calling attention to the statues and painting. The woman was unimpressed. At the conclusion of the tour she asked the guide, "How many souls have been saved here ...read more

Tags: Church General

Denomination: Christian/Church Of Christ

Died And Rose Again

Contributed by W Pat Cunningham on Apr 7, 2012

DIED AND ROSE AGAIN "The whole story of the Church is one which imitates the story of her divine Master; she dies and she rises again. She was buried in the catacombs; she rose again with Constantine. She died in the Dark Ages; she rose again with Charlemagne. She died ...read more

Tags: Church General

Denomination: Catholic

Downward Trends In U.s. Christianity

Contributed by Sermon Central on May 15, 2012

DOWNWARD TRENDS IN U.S. CHRISTIANITY In George Barna's new book on U.S. Christians called Futurecast, he tracks annual changes from 1991 to 2011 and shows that all the major trend lines of religious belief and behavior ran downward except two: More people claim they have accepted Jesus as their ...read more

Scripture: Ephesians 4:11-16

Tags: Church Practices

The Banyan Tree

Contributed by Sermon Central on Jun 11, 2012

THE BANYAN TREE The Banyan is native to India, but they can be found in the United States and other parts of the world, especially Asia. It grows as a young tree and then, as it gets larger, the heavy limbs put forth roots which drop to the ground to form a secondary trunk to support the large ...read more

Scripture: Acts 9:31

Tags: Church General

Here Are Some Thoughts He Says To Consider Before ...

Contributed by Michael Mccartney on Aug 8, 2012

Here are some thoughts he says to consider before you bash and trash talk - The Church of Jesus Christ: 1. We have to recognize Jesus loves the church (He loved her enough to die for her!) 2. The ‘local church’ is the hope of the world. 3. The church is made up of people. 4. People hurt people – ...read more

Tags: Church Practices

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

Storage Wars. ...

Contributed by Tim Spear on Dec 6, 2012

I enjoy watching a TV show called Storage Wars. In this reality show people bid on storage units that have been abandoned after having five minutes to look at them from the doorway. I enjoy watching because many times they find some great treasures worth a lot of money buried in all the other ...read more

Tags: Church Purpose Of

Denomination: Baptist