In Sermon Illustrations: "Church Attendance"

There Was A Little Old Church Out In The ...

Contributed by Jerry Hillyer Ii on Jul 7, 2008

There was a little old church out in the countryside: painted white and with a high steeple. One Sunday, the pastor noticed that his church needed painting. He checked out the Sunday ads and found a paint sale. The next day, he went into town and bought a gallon of white paint. He went back out to ...read more

Tags: Sin General

Denomination: Christian/Church Of Christ

The Church Is Not A Place Where The Perfect ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Jul 30, 2008

"The church is not a place where the perfect dwell, but rather a hospital where sick sinners get well." (SOURCE: St. Augustine. From a sermon by Monty Newton, ...read more

Tags: Church Purpose Of

40% Of Pastors Of Conventional Churches In The ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Jul 30, 2008

40% of pastors of conventional churches in the U.S. say they would recommend a house church to ...read more

Tags: Church General

The Church Can Still Strike ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Aug 11, 2008

THE CHURCH CAN STILL STRIKE FEAR In 1988, Wally Magdangal was pastoring an underground church in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. He was a Filipino lay pastor of Christian foreign workers wishing to gather for worship. In 1992, soon after the conclusion of the Gulf War, the house church had grown to over ...read more

Tags: Persecution

Selflessness Sparks A Whole Church  PRO

Contributed by Sermon Central on Dec 28, 2008

SELFLESSNESS SPARKS A WHOLE CHURCH When Yoido Full Gospel Church in South Korea was building its prayer mountain, they struggled in raising the funds for its construction. Pastor David Cho challenged the people again and again and still they could raise the funds they needed for the project. Then, ...read more

Tags: Holy Spirit In Believers

The Rich Family In Church By Eddie ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Feb 11, 2009

THE RICH FAMILY IN CHURCH by Eddie Ogan I’ll never forget Easter 1946. I was 14, my little sister Ocy was 12, and my older sister Darlene 16. We lived at home with our mother, and the four of us knew what it was to do without many things. My dad had died five years before, leaving Mom with seven ...read more

Tags: Money

How People Find A Church

Contributed by Sermon Central on Feb 16, 2009

HOW PEOPLE FIND A CHURCH 55% of unchurched people and 64% of church switchers find a church through recommendation from friends or family. 49% of unchurched people and 83% of church switchers do so from an in-person visit. 25% of unchurched and 21% of church switchers find or visit a churches ...read more

Tags: Evangelism How To

The Preacher Of An Underground Chinese Church ...

Contributed by Mitchell Skelton on Mar 22, 2009

The preacher of an underground Chinese church tells others of the precautions they must take to avoid government persecution. Each time their church reaches ten to fifteen members, they split to reduce attention. They also alternate meeting places for the same reason. Because phone lines are ...read more

Tags: Persecution

Denomination: Christian/Church Of Christ

A Church's Mission Drives Its ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Apr 7, 2009

A CHURCH’S MISSION DRIVES ITS MORALE John Polak in his book, The Future in Past Tense, says: "A study of the history of the people of God reveals an interesting fact--the wellbeing of the believing community was directly proportional to their obedience to God’s mission for them. When the people of ...read more

Tags: Servanthood

32% Of Evangelical Protestant Churches Are In A ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Apr 14, 2009

32% of evangelical Protestant churches are in a strong financial position vs. 13% ...read more

Tags: Church Growth

The Church Is The Ekklesia: The Group Of Elders ...

Contributed by Jim Kane on May 18, 2009

"The church is the ekklesia: the group of elders who sit at the city gates, discussing how they ...read more

Tags: Church Purpose Of

Denomination: Church Of God

The Church Is Called To Minister In The Marketplace.

Contributed by Garris Hudson on Apr 4, 2022

Return the Cross to Golgotha I simply argue that the cross be raised again at the center of the marketplace as well as on the steeple of the church. I am recovering the claim that Jesus was not crucified in a cathedral between two candles; But on a cross between two thieves: on a town garbage ...read more

Tags: Evangelism, Church, Gospel, Cross, Great Commission, Marketplace, Wintessing  (view more)  (view less)

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

Ten Rules For Improving The Church

Contributed by David Parks on Jun 3, 2022

TEN RULES FOR IMPROVING THE CHURCH 1. Tell yourself over and over that since you are not perfect you would not fit into a perfect congregation, if one existed. 2. Instead of picking out the worldly members to point to, pick out the sincere, dedicated, spiritual members and thank God for them. You ...read more

Scripture: Galatians 6:1-2, 1 Peter 4:8, Matthew 7:1-5

Tags: Church, Encouragement, Judgementalism

Denomination: Christian/Church Of Christ

The Church Is A Battleship, Not A Cruise Ship!

Contributed by Garris Hudson on Jan 2, 2023

Adrian Rogers said "We are in a spiritual war! And the Church is not a cruise ship with the Senior Pastor as the Master of Ceremonies! Indeed, the Church is not a showboat…...it is a battleship. We, in the Body of Christ, are called to see Satan's strongholds crumble under the ...read more

Tags: Satan, Spiritual Warfare, Prayer, Revival, Victory, Demons, Strongholds  (view more)  (view less)

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

When A Thief Was Surprised At Church!

Contributed by Garris Hudson on Nov 13, 2023

When I was pastoring in Texas, something strange happened one Christmas that I will never stop laughing about. Because it was a Christmas holiday, we were at home with our family taking a break from our normal ministry schedule. We did not go to the church campus for the weekend. But, while we ...read more

Scripture: Malachi 3:10-11, Proverbs 3:9-10, 1 Timothy 6:10, 1 Corinthians 16:1-2

Tags: Pastors, Tithing, Robbing God, Stealing, Surprises, Church, Giving, Humor  (view more)  (view less)

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

The Church That Voted God Out!

Contributed by Garris Hudson on Jan 28, 2024

The story is told about a poor woman who lived across the tracks and wanted to join a very fashionable church. She talked to the pastor about it, but he sought to discourage her. He suggested she go home and think about it carefully for a week. At the end of the week she came back. He said, “Go ...read more

Scripture: James 2:1-12

Tags: Church, Revival, Favoritism, Pastors, Membership, Partiality  (view more)  (view less)

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

Church Loyalty: What Keeps Members And Seekers ...  PRO

Contributed by Sermon Central on Jan 10, 2006

Church Loyalty: What keeps members and seekers attending their church on a regular basis? Currently 1 out of 7 adults changes churches each year while 1 out of 6 attends a handful of churches on a rotating basis. Ranked by importance, Barna Research says these are the 10 critical factors in ...read more

Tags: Church General

Church Influence On Teens Nominal: New Barna ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Feb 3, 2006

Church Influence On Teens Nominal: New Barna research finds that 56% of teens say they attended church-related activities an average of two or more times per month prior to turning 13. Most likely attendees were those living in the South or Midwest. 26% received general information about God, such ...read more

Scripture: Ephesians 6:1, 1 Timothy 4:12-13

Tags: Children, Obedience

Mega-Churches (1,000+ Members) Account For ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Jan 18, 2006

Mega-churches (1,000+ members) account for between 5% and 10% of all U.S. churches and attract between 2 and 5 million attenders. ...read more

Tags: Church General

More Than 50% Of The Churches With 100 Or More In ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Jan 20, 2006

More than 50% of the churches with 100 or more in attendance offer classes for new believers and youth outreach activities compared to 33% with less than ...read more

Tags: Church Purpose Of