In Sermon Illustrations: "Christ Centered Preaching"

What Makes A Good Church?  PRO

Contributed by Al Edmonds on Dec 27, 2005

"WHAT MAKES A GOOD CHURCH?" If all the lazy folks will get up, And all the sleeping folks will wake up, And all the discouraged folks will cheer up, And all gossiping folks will shut up, And all the dishonest folks will confess up, And all the estranged folks will make up, And all the ...read more

Scripture: 2 Corinthians 4:6

Tags: Church Body Of Christ

Denomination: Apostolic

A Man Called A Pastor's Office At A Church One ...  PRO

Contributed by Toby Powers on Dec 20, 2005

A man called a pastor’s office at a church one day to inquire into membership in the church. He stated that he would not be able to get involved or anything, but he felt it was important to have some religious affiliation. The pastor advised this man that the church he pastored might not be the ...read more

Tags: Church Body Of Christ

Denomination: Baptist

The Church & Education: The Average Protestant ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Jan 5, 2006

The Church & Education: The average Protestant church offers classes, or education on 4.6 different topics in a typical year. The most common topics taught are for new members (60%) followed by basics of Christianity (47%) how to study the Bible (43%), evangelism (39%), spiritual ...read more

Tags: Beatitudes, Growth In Christ

The Barna Research Group Recently Asked 324,000 ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Jan 6, 2006

The Barna Research Group recently asked 324,000 Protestant pastors to define their churches. They responded like this: · Evangelistic 84% · Theologically ...read more

Tags: Church Body Of Christ

Return To Roots: Mainline Denominations Are ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Jan 13, 2006

Return To Roots: Mainline denominations are casting off generic texts and hymns and reasserting sectarian beliefs to stem declining memberships. Methodists, Presbyterians Lutherans and Episcopalians all too often don’t know their denomination’s historic distinctives. Frequently less than 25% of ...read more

Tags: Church Body Of Christ

Significant Finds: Researcher George Barna Lists ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Jan 13, 2006

Significant Finds: Researcher George Barna lists the fol-lowing as his most notable findings in ’00. (1) Only 4% of born again adults are certain of the existence of absolute moral truth. (2) 94% of black adults rank having a close, personal relationship with God as a top life priority, com-pared ...read more

Tags: Church Body Of Christ

Good News/Bad News: Researcher Thomas Rainer Has ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Jan 18, 2006

Good News/Bad News: Researcher Thomas Rainer has found that people over 50 years of age are more likely to go to church, but they’re also more “resistant” to the gospel. He says younger people are “much more likely to have an interest in spiritual ...read more

Tags: Church Body Of Christ

Small Groups Grow Participation In Small Groups ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Jan 18, 2006

Small Groups Grow Participation in small groups that meet during the week for prayer, Bible study or spiritual fellowship (excluding Sunday school or other church classes) increased from 12% in ’94 to 20% today. Men’s participation ...read more

Tags: Church Body Of Christ

Barna Research Reports U.s. Adult Church ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Jan 18, 2006

Barna Research reports U.S. adult church attendance in the Western states has risen 27% in the last decade. At the same time small group participation has grown ...read more

Tags: Church Body Of Christ

Cultural Trends Alan Andrews, Director – U.s. ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Jan 20, 2006

Cultural Trends Alan Andrews, Director – U.S. Navigators, pointed out in a recent message on the state of American culture 4 cultural trends that the Church must face when sharing the Gospel: •Globalization; an essentially secular trend that promises materialism, affluence and pleasure through a ...read more

Tags: Church Body Of Christ

New Alliance: Church Leaders From 30 ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Jan 27, 2006

New Alliance: Church leaders from 30 denominations have agreed on a proposal to create the broadest alliance of Christians ever formed in the U.S. It would represent 5 segments of U.S. Christianity (Evangelical/ Pentecostal, Historic Protestant, Orthodox, Racial/Ethnic and Roman Catholic). The ...read more

Tags: Church Body Of Christ

The First Thing I Ask Is That People Should Not ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Feb 8, 2006

"The first thing I ask is that people should not make use of my name, and should not call themselves Lutherans but Christians. What is Luther? The teaching is not mine. Nor was I crucified for anyone...How did I, poor stinking bag of maggots that I am, come ...read more

Tags: Church Body Of Christ

After World War Ii, A Group Of ...

Contributed by D. Greg Ebie on Feb 26, 2006

ILLUSTRATION: After World War II, a group of German students volunteered to help rebuild an English cathedral that had been severely damaged by German bombs. As work progressed, they became concerned about a large statue of Jesus, whose arms were outstretched and beneath which was the inscription: ...read more

Tags: Church Body Of Christ

Denomination: Assembly Of God

Jesus Never Called The Church To Reflect The ...

Contributed by John Shearhart on Mar 4, 2006

“Jesus never called the church to reflect the world’s culture, but to change the culture of the world. Therefore, you cannot ...read more

Tags: Church Body Of Christ

One Can Acquire Everything In Solitude -- Except ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Apr 17, 2006

One can acquire everything in solitude -- except character. - Stendhal in "Fragments, I", ...read more

Tags: Church Body Of Christ

No Wall Of Separation "This Extra-Constitutional ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Feb 20, 2007

No Wall Of Separation “This extra-constitutional construct has grown tiresome,” reads the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals 4/24/06 decision to uphold a lower court’s opinion that “The First Amendment does not ...read more

Tags: Church Body Of Christ

A Mouse Looked Through The Crack In The Wall To ...  PRO

Contributed by Bobby Scobey on Mar 20, 2007

A mouse looked through the crack in the wall to see the farmer and his wife open a package. "What food might this contain?" The mouse wondered - he was devastated to discover it was a mousetrap. Retreating to the farmyard, the mouse proclaimed the warning. "There is a mousetrap in the house! There ...read more

Tags: Church Body Of Christ

Denomination: Pentecostal

The Minister Should Have Access To A Good ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Jun 18, 2007

The minister should have access to a good personal library or to a convenient source for good study materials. There are those who object to commentaries or information available from sources other than the Bible. It was Spurgeon who appropriately said, "Me thinks it rather ...read more

Tags: Church Body Of Christ

Six Hundred Students At A University Were Asked ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Jun 18, 2007

"Six hundred students at a university were asked to write on a piece of paper the most beautiful word in the English language: 112 wrote the word home." Probably the most popular place for families to gather is the table. One thing you learn very quickly from Italians is that sitting around the ...read more

Tags: Church Body Of Christ

A. I Was Reading In Astronomy Magazine, That The ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Jun 18, 2007

A. I WAS READING IN ASTRONOMY MAGAZINE, THAT THE STAR OF BETHLEHEM, WHICH SOME SCHOLARS BELIEVE WAS THE NORTH STAR, IS 30 LIGHT YEARS AWAY, AND THE LIGHT FROM IT TAKES 30 YEARS TO REACH OUR EYES. 1. THE ARTICLE ALSO SAID THAT IF THE NORTH STAR DIED, IT WOULD BE DEAD 30 YEARS BEFORE WE WOULD KNOW ...read more

Tags: Church Body Of Christ