In Sermon Illustrations: "Becoming The Church"

Many Christians Have Been Infected With The Most ...  PRO

Contributed by A. Todd Coget on Sep 21, 2001

Many Christians have been infected with the most virulent virus of modern American life, what sociologist Robert Bellah calls "radical individualism." They concentrate on personal obedience to Christ as if all that matters is "Jesus and me," but in doing so, miss the point altogether. For ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 28:16-20

Tags: Church Body Of Christ, Church Small Groups, Church Purpose Of, Renewal

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

A Winning Team  PRO

Contributed by Sermon Central on Aug 8, 2008

A WINNING TEAM Lee Iacocca once asked legendary football coach Vince Lombardi what it took to make a winning team. In the book Iacocca records Lombardi’s answer: "There are a lot of coaches with good ball clubs who know the fundamentals and have plenty of discipline but still don’t win the game. ...read more

Scripture: Galatians 6:9-10, John 13:34-35, Romans 12:10, Ephesians 4:2

Tags: Success, Church Body, Teamwork, Church Health, Church Body Of Christ  (view more)  (view less)

Spreading The Deadly Disease Of Gossip

Contributed by Dr. Larry Petton on Aug 2, 2023

In 1520, one person stepped off a Spanish ship in Mexico and caused the deaths of thousands of people. The man was a soldier under the leadership of Pánfilo de Narváez, and he had smallpox. The soldier didn't know it, but wherever he went he exposed the citizens to a new disease. As a ...read more

Scripture: Ephesians 4:28-30

Tags: Church, Lies, Gossip, Rumors, Division, Church Splits, Church Fights  (view more)  (view less)

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

I Read The Book By Robert Bellah Habits Of The ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Jun 18, 2007

I read the book by Robert Bellah Habits of the Heart: Individualism and Commitment in American Life not long after it came out in 1985. It is about the rise of radical individualism in our culture which is committed only to the self. It is even more relevant today than when it was written. He ...read more

Tags: Church Body Of Christ

Statistics On Loneliness

Contributed by Sermon Central on Aug 7, 2011

STATISTICS ON LONELINESS This week I read an article by Medical News Today about the health effects of loneliness. Quoting the article, it states that "there is evidence that the risk of developing and dying from heart disease can depend on the strength of one's social network of friends and ...read more

Scripture: Ephesians 4:1-16

Tags: Church Body Of Christ

The Insignificant Is Significant

Contributed by Peter Loughman on May 15, 2008

THE INSIGNIFICANT IS SIGNIFICANT To anyone who knows her, Joanne is not a significant person. Honestly, chances are, Joanne will never accomplish anything significant. In the town that she lives in, Joanne is never going to be someone who people in town will see as an important person. Joanne is ...read more

Tags: Church Body Of Christ

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

Several Years Ago In The Movie Hoosiers, Gene ...  PRO

Contributed by Tom Dooley on May 11, 2001

Several years ago in the movie Hoosiers, Gene Hackman played the part of Norman Dale, a former college coach with a tainted past who was hired to coach a rural high-school basketball team from Hickory, Indiana. Coach Dale leads the team all the way to the state finals. On the day of the ...read more

Tags: Church General, Church Purpose Of, What Is Evangelism?

Denomination: Baptist

One Older Pastor Gave Some Great Advise To ...  PRO

Contributed by David Fox on Nov 15, 2001

One older pastor gave some great advise to younger ministers, He said, “Trust the people in your pew’s. they are smarter ...read more

Tags: Leadership General, Church, Church Body Of Christ

Denomination: Pentecostal

Randy Frazee Has Written A Book Called "The ...  PRO

Contributed by Matthew Rogers on Feb 20, 2002

Randy Frazee has written a book called "The Connecting Church." He has a son who was born without a left hand. One day in Sunday School the teacher was talking with the children about the church. To illustrate her point she folded her hands together and said, “Here’s the church, here’s the ...read more

Tags: Church Body Of Christ, Church Small Groups

Denomination: Christian/Church Of Christ

What Difference Does It Make?  PRO

Contributed by David Salisbury on Oct 2, 2002

WHAT DIFFERENCE DOES IT MAKE? The job of the church is not to impact the church, but to impact the world. It’s like a huddle in a football game. 67,000 people don’t pay $25.00 a ticket to watch the Titans huddle. What if you went to a Titans game and for 2½ hours you watched 11 men stand in a ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 5:13-16, Matthew 5:13-16

Tags: Church Purpose Of, Church, Adversity, Outreach, Purpose  (view more)  (view less)

Denomination: Christian/Church Of Christ

Tony Campolo Wrote A Book Called "The Kingdom Of ...  PRO

Contributed by Steven Simala Grant on Feb 26, 2003

Tony Campolo wrote a book called “The Kingdom of God is a Party.” In chapter one, he tells the story of a trip to Honolulu in the mid 80’s. Having crossed far too many time zones from Philadelphia to Hawaii, he found himself awake and needing breakfast at 3:30am local time. He ended up in a ...read more

Tags: Worship Definition, Church Purpose Of, Church Practices

Denomination: Baptist

The Tree Of Hippocrates

Contributed by Kelly Mitchell on Oct 3, 2012

The Tree of Hippocrates On the island of Kos, the home of Hippocrates, the great physician from whom we get the “Hippocratic Oath”, there grows a tree that history says Hippocrates himself once gathered his students for class. Although the current tree is only about 500 years old, it is purported ...read more

Scripture: Luke 6:46-49

Tags: Revival, Restoration, Church Growth, Church Practices

Denomination: Baptist

Eusebius

Contributed by Davon Huss on Jul 25, 2015

Surely they will not put us in prison. I pray not, but even if they do there's a lot of good ministry in jails and prisons. Eusebius in his Church History written in 324 AD tells about the Great Persecution: “An imperial decree ordered that church leaders everywhere be chained and imprisoned, ...read more

Scripture: 1 Peter 4:16

Tags: Persecution, Persecute, Church Persecution, Persecuted Church

Denomination: Christian/Church Of Christ

The Book Of Re-Evaluation!!!

Contributed by Dr. Larry Petton on Feb 1, 2022

Charles Schulz consistently provided helpful and humorous insights through his Peanuts comic strip. In one run he showed Charlie Brown's sister, Sally, struggling with her memory verse for Sunday. She was lost in her thoughts trying to figure it out when she recalled, "Maybe it was ...read more

Tags: Repentance, Evaluation, Seven Churches, Church, Revival  (view more)  (view less)

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

Baptist Kittens

Contributed by Dr. Larry Petton on Mar 5, 2023

A Church of Christ minister walked past a street corner stand that was full of kittens for sale by a little boy in his neighborhood. The sign over the kittens read, "Church of Christ kittens for sale, one week old.....$5.00 each". The minister smiled and said, "My son, you are ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 16:18

Tags: Baptists, Church, Truth, Humor, Church Of Christ  (view more)  (view less)

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

Firestorms

Contributed by Sermon Central on Jun 10, 2011

FIRESTORMS I was at Boy Scout Camp when I discovered the terrible damage a fire storm could do to my life. It was a lazy afternoon very hot and dry. John and I were sent back to camp to start dinner for the guys. When I got back to camp, I discovered that the camp fire looked as if it had gone ...read more

Scripture: 1 Corinthians 3:1-22, 1 Samuel 11:3-7

Tags: Church Body Of Christ

Thoughts On The Body Of Christ

Contributed by Sermon Central on Sep 18, 2012

THOUGHTS ON THE BODY OF CHRIST Here are some thoughts on The Church from a few 30 on down in age individuals from the book "The Relevant Church": Quotes: Brian Kay, "It is impossible to be a follower of Christ and not be part of a local church!" "No one can have God as Father who does not also ...read more

Scripture: Acts 2:42-47

Tags: Church Body Of Christ

A Rabbi's Conversion  PRO

Contributed by Bruce Howell on Mar 28, 2001

Illus.: “A Rabbi’s Conversion” Rabbi Slostowski, a professor at a seminary in Tel Aviv, hated the Lord Jesus Christ. So great was his resentment that he sharply criticized a young student who was reading a Hebrew New Testament. The young man replied by giving him the copy. That night, the ...read more

Scripture: 1 Corinthians 2:7-13

Tags: Holy Spirit Attributes, Apologetics The Bible, Becoming A Christian

Denomination: Wesleyan

We Read Not That Christ Ever Exercised Force But ...  PRO

Contributed by Sermon Central on Jan 20, 2002

We read not that Christ ever exercised force but once; and that was to drive profane ones out of his Temple, not to ...read more

Tags: Becoming A Christian, Easter Palm Sunday, Lordship Of Christ

The Divine Advocacy  PRO

Contributed by Sermon Central on Dec 16, 2001

Discipleship occurs only in community. Very few people are expert in anything all by themselves. They need a supporting community. Do you know a good musician who was not trained, nurtured and sustained by the music community? Show me an athlete who achieves excellence all alone, apart from the ...read more

Tags: Kingdom Of God, Church Body Of Christ, Church Small Groups