In Sermon Illustrations: "Church leaders" showing 1,481-1,500 of 7,585

Whose Side Are You ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Jun 4, 2010

Whose Side Are You On? A story is told about a believer who was stone cold deaf. Despite this, they faithfully attended and participated in the local church of which they were a member. When asked why they bothered, they said, “I want everyone to know ...read more

Scripture: Hebrews 10:23-25

Tags: Church General

Priorities In Life And ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Jun 9, 2010

Priorities in Life and Church Several years ago, because of all the tornados in the area, a developer in Tulsa, Oklahoma, offered an optional tornado-safe room in the new homes he was selling. Nine of the first ten buyers opted to pay the extra $2,500 for the room, which can also be used as a ...read more

Scripture: Colossians 1:15-20

Tags: Church Purpose Of

Decline Of Christianity In America  PRO

Contributed by Sermon Central on Jun 30, 2010

DECLINE OF CHRISTIANITY IN AMERICA North America is the only continent on earth where Christianity is not growing. Only 17.5% of the population of the US attends church on a regular Sunday. During the 1990’s there was a 19.4% decline in church attendance. 85% of churches in America are ...read more

Scripture: Acts 2:42-47

Tags: Church Growth

How To Hug

Contributed by Sermon Central on Aug 4, 2010

HOW TO HUG A man walked by a book store, and in the window saw a book with the title How to Hug. Being somewhat of a romantic, he went in to buy the book. To his disappointment, he discovered that it was a volume of an encyclopedia covering the subjects "How" to "Hug." Everyone knows that the ...read more

Scripture: Romans 14:17-20

Tags: Church Purpose Of

Walking In A Rut

Contributed by Martin Wiles on Aug 23, 2010

WALKING IN A RUT Have you ever felt as if you were in a rut? Some years ago, me, my brother and daughter went hiking on the Appalachian Trail on the North Carolina, Tennessee border. It is an area called the Bald Mountains because you actually walk over the tops of the mountains. It is grasslands ...read more

Tags: Church Purpose Of

Denomination: Baptist

Think Steps, Not Programs

Contributed by Isaac Butterworth on Oct 5, 2010

THINK STEPS, NOT PROGRAMS In his book, Seven Practices of Effective Ministry, Andy Stanley writes: "Think Steps, Not Programs" (p. 88). The idea is this: Instead of having a strategic vision that focuses on programs, you have a strategic vision of a people-process, a pathway that takes people from ...read more

Tags: Church Practices

Denomination: Presbyterian/Reformed

Loss Of Original Purpose

Contributed by Sermon Central on Oct 23, 2010

LOSS OF ORIGINAL PURPOSE In the town of Delburne, Alberta, there was an old water tower built in 1926. Standing empty, the building was bought by two men who wanted to turn it into a dining and cocktail lounge. Plans called for a bar to be built on the second floor. Something similar has already ...read more

Scripture: Isaiah 30:1-2

Tags: Church Purpose Of

Looks Great, But What Does It Do?

Contributed by Isaac Butterworth on Dec 17, 2010

LOOKS GREAT, BUT WHAT DOES IT DO? I once read about a certain Mr. Wahlstrom who purchased an old bombsight and took it apart to see what made it work. As he began to put it back together, he decided to add to it some spare parts he had from other projects. Over time, friends and neighbors took an ...read more

Tags: Church Purpose Of

Denomination: Presbyterian/Reformed

It

Contributed by Fr Mund Cargill Thompson on Jan 15, 2011

"IT" Did any of you see a film that came out in the 90s - "The Adams Family". There's a creature named "it" that is a hand that runs around on its own [mime it]. St Paul tells us the church is the body of Christ. We are all parts of a body interconnected with each other. But if we try to be ...read more

Tags: Church Purpose Of

Denomination: Anglican

Only Copy The Original

Contributed by Allan Kircher on Feb 11, 2011

ONLY COPY THE ORIGINAL By studying the book of Acts we'll give ourselves a biblical STANDARD to follow. This is important because the sad truth is many churches don't pattern themselves after God's original design. Instead they organize themselves and operate according to the latest trend. They ...read more

Tags: Church Purpose Of

Denomination: Baptist

Anna's Stories

Contributed by Sermon Central on Apr 7, 2011

ANNA'S STORIES A thirty-four-year-old German woman named Anna Rosmus recently told the tragic story of what happened in her hometown in Germany during World War II. Speaking at Carson-Newman College in Tennessee, she told of growing up in Passau, Germany, years after the war. As a teenager, she ...read more

Scripture: Romans 13:1-7

Tags: Church Purpose Of

Wahlstrom's Wonder  PRO

Contributed by Sermon Central on Apr 17, 2011

WAHLSTROM'S WONDER I once read about a certain Mr. Wahlstrom who purchased an old bombsight and took it apart to see what made it work. As he began to put it back together, he decided to add to it some spare parts he had from other projects. Over time, friends and neighbors took an interest in the ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 28:18-20, John 1:14-18, Jonah 3:1-10

Tags: Church Purpose Of

High On Their Huddles

Contributed by John Hamby on Apr 25, 2011

HIGH ON THEIR HUDDLES One of my favorite preachers is Dr. Tony Evans in Dallas. Some years ago I heard him give the following description of the purpose of the church service. He said, "In football they have a huddle, the goal of the huddle is to give you thirty seconds to call the play; that is ...read more

Tags: Church Practices

Denomination: Baptist

Growth In Persecution  PRO

Contributed by Sermon Central on May 19, 2011

GROWTH IN PERSECUTION I remember feeling torn and confused when Simon Guillebaud in Burundi, Central Africa reported violence against him and Christians there. In his email he said we are not asking for protection. We know that violence and threats will come. What we ask for is boldness to preach ...read more

Scripture: Acts 11:19-24

Tags: Church Growth

Improving On A Good Design...or Not

Contributed by Sermon Central on Aug 8, 2011

IMPROVING ON A GOOD DESIGN...OR NOT Years ago I bought a Chevy Caprice at a used car lot. It was a thing of beauty. It was big and stylish and it purred as I drove it down the road. Well, it purred for the first few days. Then it began to cough and sputter and I had difficulty getting above 30 ...read more

Scripture: Philippians 1:27-30

Tags: Church General

Not Ashamed

Contributed by William L. Vincent on Aug 15, 2011

NOT ASHAMED No matter what you are looking for, you can find a religion or philosophy to fit your state of mind. We find this culture creating pressure on the Church of the Lord Jesus Christ. We find people church-shopping--looking for the right “fit” for their needs. And I realize that we need to ...read more

Tags: Church Practices

Denomination: Orthodox

Spiritual Consumerism

Contributed by Sermon Central on Aug 15, 2011

SPIRITUAL CONSUMERISM In February 27 2009 article from the website “Slate” titled, “Why American churchgoers like to shop around” also caught my attention. That article cited statistics from a Barna Group survey that revealed that one in seven adults changes churches each year, and another one in ...read more

Scripture: John 4:19-24

Tags: Church Practices

Stay Out Of The Stagnant Water

Contributed by Sermon Central on Aug 25, 2011

STAY OUT OF THE STAGNANT WATER Palmer Chinchen, in his book, True Religion, talks about traveling to the western edge of Zimbabwe with his brothers to raft the Zambezi River, starting at the base of the Victoria Falls. The falls are the largest in the world, more than a mile wide and three hundred ...read more

Scripture: 1 Peter 4:12-19

Tags: Church Practices

For Some Strange Reason We Think That The ...

Contributed by Brad Henry on Sep 2, 2011

For some strange reason we think that the righteous go to church. That is Pharisee thinking. The Pharisees were the teachers and rulers of the law. They felt that they knew more than anyone else and were also above everyone else. The church should be viewed as a hospital and not a place ...read more

Tags: Church Purpose Of

Kingdom Infrastructure

Contributed by Ed Vasicek on Oct 10, 2011

KINGDOM INFRASTRUCTURE America’s economic health is partly dependent upon infrastructure: speedy roads, bridges, trains, electrical capacity, usable water, high speed internet, trained or skilled workers, etc. Healthy churches are foundational to getting God’s work done: they support the ...read more

Tags: Church Purpose Of

Denomination: Independent/Bible