In Sermon Illustrations: "Church Discipline"

Separation Of Church And ...

Contributed by Terry Laughlin on Aug 11, 2008

Separation of Church and State “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech…” (excerpt from Amendment I, U. S. Constitution) If our United States Constitution actually commands Congress to ...read more

Scripture: Isaiah 55:6-7

Tags: Politics

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

The Invisible Church  PRO

Contributed by Nathan Johnson on Sep 25, 2008

The Invisible Church Warren Weirsbe tells a story of a free-lance missionary that visited a pastor friend asking for financial support. "What group are you associated with?" his friend asked. The man replied, "I belong to the invisible church." His friend then asked, "Well, what church are you a ...read more

Tags: Church Body Of Christ

Denomination: Baptist

No Church, No America

Contributed by Gene Gregory on Dec 6, 2008

NO CHURCH, NO AMERICA This week I received a letter in the mail from the Reverend Barry W. Lynn, the executive director of the organization "Americans United for Separation of Church and State." There would no America if there was no Church. This country was discovered, founded and populated by ...read more

Tags: Government

Denomination: Baptist

The Church Is The Rope

Contributed by Sermon Central on Jan 13, 2009

THE CHURCH IS THE ROPE Years ago at Niagara Falls two men were in a boat and found themselves caught in the current. The men jumped from their boat and swam for the shore. At last minute ropes from the shore were thrown out to them. The one man grabbed the rope and was pulled to shore. The other ...read more

Tags: Church Purpose Of

The Church Is About ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Jan 13, 2009

THE CHURCH IS ABOUT FREEDOM The silkworm makes an amazing journey to becoming a moth. At one point in the journey, the worm spins about itself a remarkable cocoon. The little sack is composed of 400 to 800 yards of silk fiber which seals it from the inside as it waits for metamorphosis. When that ...read more

Scripture: John 8:36

Tags: Christian Liberty

Essential Church For ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Feb 13, 2009

ESSENTIAL CHURCH FOR YOUTH LifeWay Resources’ Thom Rainer, after his research among people who stayed in church during ages 18-22 concluded that church should have higher expectations of its younger members. He argues an essential church will expect the younger generation to have a relationship ...read more

Tags: Youth

The Treasure Of The Church  PRO

Contributed by Anne Benefield on Mar 5, 2009

THE TREASURE OF THE CHURCH St. Lawrence was martyred in 258 A.D., but we remember him not for his martyrdom. We remember him as the Archdeacon of Rome. His responsibilities included maintaining the sacred vessels of the small, struggling church and distributing alms to the poor. While he was ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 15:13-16

Tags: Poverty

Denomination: Presbyterian/Reformed

The Perfect Church

Contributed by David Parks on Sep 19, 2022

If you should find the perfect church Without one spot or sore For goodness sake! Don’t join that church! For it won’t be perfect anymore. If you should find the perfect church Where all anxieties cease. Then pass it by, lest you join it, And mar the masterpiece. But since no perfect church ...read more

Scripture: 1 Thessalonians 1:7, Matthew 16:18, 1 Corinthians 13:1-10

Tags: Love, Faith, Hope, Church

Denomination: Christian/Church Of Christ

Church Matters

Contributed by Dr. Fred W. Penney on Jun 1, 2024

Why do people in churches seem like cheerful, brainless tourists on a packaged tour of the Absolute? The tourists are having coffee and doughnuts on Deck C. Presumably someone is minding the ship, correcting the course, avoiding icebergs and shoals, fueling the engines, watching the radar screen, ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 16:18, Ephesians 4:11-13

Tags: Eternity, Church, Mission

Denomination: Pentecostal

Mockery Of The Church

Contributed by Ed Vasicek on Feb 22, 2025

New Zealand, Feb. 26 [2016] (UPI) -- Members of the Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster, otherwise known as Pastafarians, registered their first official marriage celebrant in New Zealand. The group announced the news on its Facebook page, although the first couple that was set to be married by ...read more

Scripture: Galatians 6:7, 1 Timothy 3:15

Tags: Mocking The Church, Mocking Christianity, Ridiculous, Religion, Mockers, Mocking  (view more)  (view less)

Denomination: Independent/Bible

Pick One

Contributed by Kelly Mitchell on Oct 7, 2012

Pick One The purpose and intent of the church, according to Ezekiel 36:23 is to be used to prove the Lord Holy to the nations. I can only think of two ways which God can use the church to prove the He is Holy to the Community: 1 - When He provides great happiness, peace, and success because of ...read more

Scripture: Ezekiel 36:22-23

Tags: Obedience, Church Growth, Righteousness, Church Discipline, Church Body Of Christ, Church Practices, Church Purpose Of, Sin Wages Of  (view more)  (view less)

Denomination: Baptist

Live Churches Verse Dead Churches! (Adapted, ...  PRO

Contributed by Wade Martin Hughes, Sr on Jul 10, 2003

LIVE CHURCHES VERSE DEAD CHURCHES! (adapted, WRITER UNKNOWN) Live churches constantly change, --- dead churches resist and refuse change... Live churches love to try, dead churches feel they don’t have to... Live churches have youth that are noisy and can’t be still, dead churches are very ...read more

Tags: Leadership General, Church General

Denomination: Assembly Of God

Church Finances: The Average Church Budget Size ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Jan 18, 2006

Church finances: The average church budget size is $292,790 (median: $203,590). Senior pastors earn a median base salary of $31,006 and a median housing allowance of $15,250. 66% of church treasurers are responsible for the oversight of church expenditures. 57% of churches use debt only as needed ...read more

Tags: Church Practices

Church Debt: Your Church Magazine Reports That ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Jan 27, 2006

Church Debt: Your Church magazine reports that 54% of all churches carry some kind of debt. 32% of small churches (annual budget up to $100,000) carry debt versus 69% of churches with budgets over $500,000. The median debt is 64% of the annual budget with larger churches carrying the highest ...read more

Tags: Church General

Church Shopping Online Church Consultant Tom ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Apr 14, 2008

Church Shopping Online Church consultant Tom Bandy says that as tools for reaching potential worshipers, church Web sites are growing in number and getting more sophisticated. One sign: 5 years ago, churches made up only 5% of clientele for StreamGuys, an Arcadia, CA based provider of streaming ...read more

Tags: Church Growth

Web Churches 83% Of Churches With Web Sites Say ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Jan 10, 2006

Web Churches 83% of churches with Web sites say their use of the Internet has helped congregational life and 83% report e-mail communication from the church staff has helped ...read more

Tags: Evangelism How To

Web Churches 83% Of Churches With Web Sites Say ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Jan 13, 2006

Web Churches 83% of churches with Web sites say their use of the Internet has helped congregational life and 83% report e-mail communication from the church staff has helped ...read more

Tags: Church General

Black Churches: A Study Of 2,150 Black Churches ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Jan 27, 2006

Black Churches: A study of 2,150 black churches by C. Eric Lincoln and Lawrence H. Mamiya in their book "The Black Church in the African American Experience," report that “nearly 70% of black churches are involved with social service agencies and non-church ...read more

Tags: Church General

Video Church- About 1,000 Churches, Mostly ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Feb 20, 2007

Video Church- About 1,000 churches, mostly evangelical, use remote feeds, live or via DVD. In ‘05, 91% of mega-churches used the technology, up from 65% in ‘00, states a Hartford Seminary survey. Many Christians have taken to “godcasts” through video churches. Video technology allows leaders of ...read more

Tags: Church General

A Man Was Preaching To A Church In Australia. ...  PRO

Contributed by Sermon Central on Jun 18, 2007

A man was preaching to a church in Australia. The congregation had big black Bibles and severe expressions... And they knew their Bibles, and were proud of that. It was a smallish group, so he decided to engage them in dialogue: ’Who knows who the Pharisees were?’ They did. ’The Pharisees got a ...read more

Tags: Parable Pharisee, Jesus The Light