In Sermon Illustrations: "Choose Life"

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

Strong Emotions

Contributed by Mark Brunner on Nov 16, 2005

There is nothing wrong with strong emotions; even those that center squarely upon ourselves. Witness the story of missionary Adoniram Judson. He sweated out Burma’s heat for 18 years without a furlough, six years without a convert. Enduring torture and imprisonment, he admitted that he never saw a ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 10:38

Tags: Prayer Persistence

Denomination: Lutheran

Believing Things ‘on Authority' Only Means ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Dec 12, 2005

Believing things ‘on authority’ only means believing them because you have been told them by someone you think trustworthy. Ninety-nine percent of the things you believe are believed on authority. I believe there is such a place as New York. I could not prove by abstract reasoning that there is ...read more

Tags: Apologetics The Bible, Ordinary People

Christmas Under Attack Fox News Conducted A ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Jan 3, 2006

Christmas Under Attack Fox News conducted a survey 11/29 asking: •Do you consider Christmas a religious holiday or cultural holiday? Religious: 57% ... Cultural 14% ... Both: 12% •Do you agree there is a war on Christmas in the U.S.? Agree: 42% ... Disagree: 48% •Does it seem that the public ...read more

Tags: Christmas

Born Again Beliefs: The Number Of People Born ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Jan 16, 2006

Born Again Beliefs: The number of people born again varies widely by denomination. Using this definition, “they have made a personal commitment to Christ that is important in their life today and say that when they die they know they will go to Heaven solely because they have confessed their sins ...read more

Tags: Christian Values

Optimistic About Religion For Goodness Sake: Why ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Jan 18, 2006

Optimistic About Religion For Goodness Sake: Why So Many Want Religion to Play a Greater Role in American Life, published by Public Agenda finds the following about Americans attitudes toward religion in their lives. · 85% say if more American were to become more religious, it’s likely that parents ...read more

Tags: Christian Values, Prayer

Americans Believe: A New Poll Released By ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Jan 27, 2006

Americans Believe: A new poll released by Newsweek reveals some surprising statistics on how Americans view Jesus and his birth. · 93% percent of all Americans believe Jesus really lived. · 82% see Jesus as God or the Son of God. · 73% say they believe Jesus was conceived by the Holy Spirit and was ...read more

Tags: What Is Evangelism?

Revolution, George Barna's Newest Book, Describes ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Jan 27, 2006

Revolution, George Barna’s newest book, describes what he believes will be the most massive reshaping of the nation’s faith community in more than a century. “These are people who are less interested in attending church than in being the church,” he explains. He found that while some people leave ...read more

Tags: What Is Evangelism?

Decorate To Celebrate: Consumer Purchases Of ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Feb 3, 2006

Decorate To Celebrate: Consumer purchases of Christmas and seasonal decorations have risen sharply since ‘00, according to a new research report from Unity Marketing, Gifts & Decorative Accents Report, 2003:The Market, The Competitors, The Future Trends. Over 60% percent of consumers bought ...read more

Tags: Christmas

Hybels: "Totally Devoted" To Christ  PRO

Contributed by Sermon Central on Apr 8, 2009

HYBELS: "TOTALLY DEVOTED" TO CHRIST Bill Hybels, Pastor of Willow Creek Community Church, was talking with one of his members about some of the "tough topics" he had taught on over the years—-hell, money, sex, relational confrontation, self-discipline. The man asked, "Of all the topics you’ve ...read more

Tags: Discipleship

Alec ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Apr 9, 2009

ALEC SHEAR Alec Shear has spent the last twenty-five years of his life collecting stuff. He has 6 stars and stripes lunch boxes, 400 transistor radios that look like name brand products, 10,000 match books, and countless other items of vintage Americana. When his wife divorced him over his ...read more

Tags: Materialism

In 1904 William Borden, Heir To The Borden ...

Contributed by Dale Pilgrim on May 22, 2009

“In 1904 William Borden, heir to the Borden Dairy Estate, graduated from a Chicago high school a millionaire. His parents gave him a trip around the world. Traveling through Asia, the Middle East, and Europe gave Borden a burden for the world’s hurting people. Writing home, he said, "I’m going to ...read more

Tags: Sacrifices

Denomination: Salvation Army

Odd Disciplines & Behaviors

Contributed by Ed Vasicek on May 28, 2009

ODD DISCIPLINES & BEHAVIORS What idiosyncrasies might you need to sometimes sacrifice? What rules have you made up that you will not break for anything? In ministry, you often do what needs to be done--period! Alexandre Dumas, the elder, ate an apple at 7 a.m. each morning under the Arc de ...read more

Tags: Christian Disciplines

Denomination: Independent/Bible

Trampled In The Church

Contributed by Thomas Cash on Jul 7, 2009

TRAMPLED IN THE CHURCH An African proverb says, "When elephants fight, grass gets trampled." Elephants do not throw their weight around for nothing. The average African elephant weighs 16,534 lbs. The largest elephant on record weighed about 24,000 pounds and was 13 feet tall! Wild elephants eat ...read more

Tags: Divisions

Denomination: Christian/Church Of Christ

Pocket God  PRO

Contributed by Sermon Central on Jul 13, 2009

POCKET GOD Have you heard about Pocket God? It’s one of the top-selling video game applications for Apple’s iPhone. Here’s the game description found on iTunes: "What kind of god would you be? Benevolent or vengeful? Play Pocket God and discover the answer within yourself. On a remote island, you ...read more

Scripture: Exodus 6:2

Tags: God The Father

When I Was A Senior In High School, I Took A Trip ...

Contributed by Rick Crandall on Jul 16, 2009

When I was a senior in high school, I took a trip with some friends over to Myrtle Beach South Carolina. We were headed east on the interstate, going up a long hill, when suddenly the cars started acting very strange on the other side. People were weaving, waving, yelling, flashing their lights and ...read more

Tags: Wisdom, Dangerous

Denomination: Baptist

Cicadas: Spiritually Dead

Contributed by Richard Tow on Sep 16, 2009

CICADAS: SPIRITUALLY DEAD I grew up in West Texas and there were a lot of Cicada insects. They’re not technically locusts but we called them that. During the hot summer days the loud, shrill sound that the males made would fill the air. You would usually see them in the trees. At times you would ...read more

Scripture: 2 Timothy 3:5

Tags: Church Practices

Denomination: Charismatic

Good Jealousy

Contributed by Ed Vasicek on Oct 19, 2009

GOOD JEALOUSY Dennis De Haan illustrates: Shep, the newest member of our family, is a young Shetland sheepdog who openly displays his jealousy when I kiss my wife. He doesn’t snarl or bite, but in the language of barking he seems to be saying, "Hey, Master, you belong to me!" His jealousy gives ...read more

Tags: Jealousy

Denomination: Independent/Bible

Ants: Look At Ants On An Anthill. There They Are ...

Contributed by Ray Mckendry on Oct 23, 2009

ANTS: Look at ants on an anthill. There they are working, suffering, dying, due for death and destruction. We might feel sorry for them, but we cannot save the ants...We have no way of making them live forever or of stopping their toil and suffering. What if the only way to save the ants was to ...read more

Tags: Change, Christ's Sacrifice

Denomination: Baptist

When To Relax And When To Struggle  PRO

Contributed by Sermon Central on Oct 26, 2009

WHEN TO RELAX AND WHEN TO STRUGGLE Author Sam Keen, in his provocative little book called Apology for Wonder, tells us the lesson he learned as young boy swimming in the Indian River inlet on the Delaware coast. Keen says that swimming there was very tricky, because the outgoing waters from the ...read more

Scripture: Luke 10:38-42

Tags: Anxiety