In Sermon Illustrations: "Church General" showing 661-680 of 12,097

A Church Moves On

Contributed by Michael Walther on Jul 29, 2011

A CHURCH MOVES ON "Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good" (Romans 12.21). A church that was already struggling financially suffered a loss of $5,000 which one of its members had embezzled. This put the church in even greater peril because of its difficulty in meeting financial ...read more

Tags: Forgiveness For Others

Denomination: Lutheran

Ineffective Churches

Contributed by Sermon Central on Aug 5, 2011

INEFFECTIVE CHURCHES Chuck Colson makes an interesting observation. He points out that when the Communists took over Russia in 1917, they did not make Christianity illegal. The Soviet constitution guaranteed freedom of religion. What they did do is make it illegal for the churches to do any "good ...read more

Scripture: Titus 3:14

Tags: Christian Witness

Mom's Church  PRO

Contributed by Sermon Central on Aug 6, 2011

MOM'S CHURCH Four scholars were arguing over Bible translations. One said he preferred the King James Version because of its beauty, eloquent old English. Another said he preferred the American Standard Bible for its literalism, the way it moves the reader from passage to passage with confident ...read more

Scripture: 2 Timothy 1:5

Tags: Mother's Day

A Dying Church

Contributed by Dr. Larry Petton on Oct 13, 2019

John MacArthur tells this awesome story: There once was an old church in England. A sign on the front of the building read, ''We preach Christ crucified.'' After a time, ivy grew up and obscured the last word and it read, 'We preach Christ.'' The ivy grew some ...read more

Scripture: Revelation 3:1-10

Tags: Church, Revival, Repentance, Mission

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

Church Is Open!

Contributed by Jonathan Spurlock on May 24, 2020

As I write this, it’s late May 2020 and this has been one of the strangest years I can ever remember. Much of the year has been taken up with the Wuhan Virus (also called COVID-19, the Corona Virus, and perhaps other names) and the effect on the world’s economy. For those of you reading this in the ...read more

Scripture: Psalm 122:1, Jeremiah 36:5

Tags: David, Church Attendance, House Of The Lord

Denomination: Baptist

Sleeping Church

Contributed by Rev. Duraimony Dickson on Sep 26, 2020

Martin Luther once dreamed that the devil was listening to reports from his agents on the progress they were making against the Kingdom of God. One reported, "A company of Christians were crossing the desert, and I loosen the lions on them, and all were lost." The devil replied, ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 25:5

Tags: Against The Kingdom Of God, Sleeping Church

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

Arthritic Church

Contributed by Gene Gregory on Mar 30, 2009

ARTHRITIC CHURCH Dennis is suffering from Rheumatoid arthritis. Many of you are familiar with the disease. The body attacks itself causing pain, disfigurement, and an inability for the body to function as it should. My friends, the Bible says that we are the Body of Christ. This church and our ...read more

Tags: Church Body Of Christ

Denomination: Baptist

Diversity In The Church  PRO

Contributed by Sermon Central on Apr 8, 2009

DIVERSITY IN THE CHURCH Philip Yancey put it this way in an article in Christianity Today just this last November. He writes, "As I read accounts of the New Testament church, no characteristic stands out more sharply than [diversity]. Beginning with Pentecost, the Christian church dismantled the ...read more

Scripture: Galatians 3:28

Tags: Church Body Of Christ

Dead Churches  PRO

Contributed by Sermon Central on Apr 8, 2009

DEAD CHURCHES In the town of Sedlec in the Czech Republic, there is a famous cemetery that dates back to the 13th century. Some 40,000 people who died from the Black Plague in the 14th century and in the Hussite wars in the beginning of the 15th century were buried there. Around 1400 a Gothic ...read more

Scripture: Revelation 3:1-6

Tags: Church Purpose Of

Church Is Good For ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Apr 14, 2009

CHURCH IS GOOD FOR MARRIAGE Married couples who attend church services frequently are happier and more likely to succeed in their marriages than those who don’t attend church often or not at all, finds a Univ. of Virginia study. 70% of husbands who attend church regularly are “very happy” in their ...read more

Tags: Marriage Struggle

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

Be Quiet In Church

Contributed by John Bright on Apr 27, 2021

One Sunday School teacher asked her class, “Why do we have to be quiet in church?’ A little boy quickly ...read more

Scripture: Acts 2:46-47

Tags: Church, Children, Worship

Denomination: Methodist

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

We All Like The Reputation Of Being Generous, ...  PRO

Contributed by Davon Huss on Oct 21, 2002

We all like the reputation of being generous, and we’d all ...read more

Tags: Giving General

Denomination: Christian/Church Of Christ

Bill Stopped In At Abie's Little General Store, ...  PRO

Contributed by Paul Fritz on Oct 27, 2002

Bill stopped in at Abie’s little general store, looking for a bottle of mustard. The shelves were loaded with salt -- bags and bags of salt. Abie said he had some mustard, but that he would have to go down to the cellar to find it. Bill went down with him, and there to his surprise were still more ...read more

Tags: Sharing Your Faith, Sharing My Testimony, Love Of The Disciples

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

George Burns A Comedian From Another Generation ...  PRO

Contributed by Mark Hensley on Mar 13, 2003

George Burns a comedian from another generation once sang a song titled I wish I was 18 again At a restaurant in Dallas an old man chimed in, And I thought he was out of his head. Just being a young man I just laughed it off When I heard what that old man had said. He said I’ll never again ...read more

Tags: Hardship Of Life

Denomination: Baptist

Robert E. Lee, The Southern General In The Civil ...  PRO

Contributed by Keith Davis on May 5, 2003

Robert E. Lee, the Southern general in the Civil war, was visiting a Kentucky lady. She took him to the remains of a grand old tree at the front of her formerly great mansion. The north and the south had fought a bitter battle right over her front porch, and the limbs and the trunk of that tree had ...read more

Tags: Forgiveness General, Forgiveness For Others, Growth In Christ

Denomination: Christian/Church Of Christ

Generosity Isn't Always As Generous As It Might ...  PRO

Contributed by Charles Wilkerson on Nov 14, 2003

Generosity isn’t always as generous as it might seem. There is a story out of Miami, Florida about six Royal Palm trees that had been vandalized and cut down along Miami’s Flager Street. Due to the expense involved in replacing them Dade County wasn’t sure how soon, if ever. they would be ...read more

Scripture: Isaiah 1:8, Isaiah 12:1-8, Isaiah 12:1-8

Tags: Gifts Giving, Giving Yourself

Denomination: Presbyterian/Reformed

When I Was Research Head Of General Motors And ...  PRO

Contributed by Bruce Howell on Mar 20, 2004

When I was research head of General Motors and wanted a problem solved, I’d place a table outside the meeting room with a sign: Leave slide rules here. If I didn’t do that, I’d find someone reaching for his slide rule. Then he’d be ...read more

Tags: Doubt

Denomination: Wesleyan