In Sermon Illustrations: "Boring Sermons"

Mom At Home: According To The Census Bureau, ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Jan 18, 2006

Mom At Home: According to the Census Bureau, fewer mothers are heading back to work during the first year of their child’s life. 55% of the 3.9 million women age 15 to 44 who gave birth between 7/99 and 6/00 returned to work. That ...read more

Tags: Parenting

More Non-Christians: Over The Past 10 Years, The ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Jan 18, 2006

More Non-Christians: Over the past 10 years, the number of adults who identify with a non-Christian religion rose from 5.8 million to 7.7 million, according to a Graduate Center of the City University of New York report. This represents an increase from 3.3% to 3.7% of the population. The American ...read more

Tags: Evangelism Urgency

Giving Cannibalized: All Around The Nation, ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Jan 18, 2006

Giving Cannibalized: All around the nation, charities and other nonprofit organizations are confronting the same stark reality. More than $1 billion flooded into more than 100 funds set up to aid victims of the terrorist attack, those that serve ...read more

Tags: Giving General

New American Values: Since The Attacks On The ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Jan 18, 2006

New American Values: Since the attacks on the nation Americans say they are more inclined to spend more time at home with loved ones (46%); watch TV with family and friends, as opposed to alone (30%); cook meals at home (25%); and read books (22%). Activities that were found to be less appealing to ...read more

Homeschoolers Excel: A Study By The Fraser ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Jan 18, 2006

Homeschoolers Excel: A study by the Fraser Institute, an independent public policy organization based in British Columbia, found that the average child educated at home participates in a wide range of activities with other children outside the family and that 98% are involved in two or more ...read more

Tags: Children

New Megachurch Research A Major New Study Of ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Jan 18, 2006

New Megachurch Research A major new study of megachurches shows that 93% of churches with an average weekly attendance of at least 2,000 are found in the South, the West and the Midwest. The states with the largest concentration are California, Texas, Florida and Georgia. Dr. Scott Thumma, faculty ...read more

Tags: Church General

Church Wins Kids For Life: A New Barna Research ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Jan 18, 2006

Church Wins Kids For Life: A new Barna Research study finds that 71% of Americans adults had a period of time during their childhood when they regularly attended a Christian church. 61% of those who attended church as a youngster attend regularly today, while a 78% of those who didn’t still don’t ...read more

Tags: Children

Future Declin:e A New Barna Survey Discovered ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Jan 18, 2006

Future Declin:e A new Barna survey discovered that adults who attended church as a child are twice as likely to read the Bible during a typical week as are those who avoided churches when young; twice as likely to attend a church worship service in a typical week; and nearly 50% more likely to pray ...read more

Tags: Children

Religious People Are More Generous With Their ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Jan 18, 2006

Religious People Are More Generous with their time and money, according to a national survey. Independent Sector, a nonprofit coalition, found that people who attended religious services regularly gave over twice as much as others on average last year—$2,151 compared to $964. They also volunteered ...read more

Tags: Forgiveness General

Only 24% Of All U.s. Households Are Comprised Of ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Jan 18, 2006

Only 24% of all U.S. households are comprised of two parents and children today. (Foster Letter ...read more

Tags: Children

The Number Of Working U.s. Mothers Peaked In '98 ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Jan 18, 2006

The number of working U.S. mothers peaked in ’98 at 59%. In ’00 it dropped to 55%. (Foster Letter ...read more

Tags: Parenting

The Increase Of 32.7 Million People Between ‘90 ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Jan 18, 2006

The increase of 32.7 million people between ‘90 and ‘00 is the greatest numerical increase between two censuses in the history of America. ...read more

Tags: Evangelism Urgency

Denominational Loyalty Has Remained Unexpectedly ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Jan 18, 2006

Denominational Loyalty has remained unexpectedly strong among those who attended church as children. The church preferences of the adults who did not attend a Christian congregation when young are more likely to attend Baptist churches and not mainline Protestant or Catholic churches. Barna ...read more

Tags: Church General

Churched-As-Children Individuals Are Twice As ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Jan 18, 2006

Churched-As-Children individuals are twice as likely as the unchurched-as-children niche to be born again Christians (44% vs. 24%), and significantly more likely to hold an orthodox view of God’s nature (74% vs. 54%). A minority of both groups believes in the existence of the Holy Spirit and of ...read more

Tags: Church General

Kid-Influence: Last Year, Children Ages 4-12 ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Jan 18, 2006

Kid-Influence: Last year, children ages 4-12 spent $29 billion of their own money, plus they influenced an estimated $290 billion in family spending. ...read more

Tags: Children

1 Out Of Every 6 Theological Students In The U.s. ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Jan 18, 2006

1 out of every 6 theological students in the U.S. is enrolled in a Southern Baptist seminary. (Foster ...read more

Tags: Church General

In ‘99, 52% Of Students In Theological School ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Jan 18, 2006

In ‘99, 52% of students in theological school were 35 or over, up from the ‘91 figure of 45%. (Foster ...read more

Tags: Church General

Church Attendance Surge Over: For The Last Three ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Jan 18, 2006

Church Attendance Surge Over: For the last three decades, Gallup Poll has found the percentage of Americans who attend church or synagogue weekly to hover between 39% and 43%. In May ‘01, the figure was 41%, in the 10 days after 9/11, it climbed to 47%—a noticeable rise, but no more than what is ...read more

Tags: Church General

Retail Glut: Worrisome American Retailers Added 3 ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Jan 18, 2006

Retail Glut: Worrisome American retailers added 3 sq. ft. of new store space during the ‘90s for every man, woman, and child in the U.S., finds research firm F.W. Dodge. That 20% growth rate was double the rate of population growth during the decade. As space grew, the industry became less ...read more

Tags: Finding Fulfillment

Honesty Ranking: Firefighters Top The Annual ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Jan 18, 2006

Honesty Ranking: Firefighters top the annual CNN/USA Today Gallup Poll ranking the honesty, integrity and ethical standards of various professions. 90% of Americans rated them “high” or “very high.” Close behind firefighters in the ratings were nurses (84%), members of the military (81%), policemen ...read more

Tags: Faith