In Sermon Illustrations: "Church size"

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

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

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: Worship, Children, Church

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

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

Cycles Of Dying Churches

Contributed by Dr. Larry Petton on Jan 16, 2022

Almost all churches go through “lifecycles” - they start with a MAN, a visionary leader has a passion to to accomplish a God-given Vision -- then they become a MOVEMENT. At this stage the people are nearly 100% committed. They spend time together at each other’s homes and in Bible studies. Then ...read more

Scripture: Revelation 3:1-6

Tags: Church, Dying Churches, Revival, Seven Churches

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

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 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

Jehovah's Witnesses And The Church Of Jesus ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Apr 10, 2008

Jehovah's Witnesses and the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormons) reported the largest membership increases in a year, according to the National Council of Churches' 2008 Yearbook of American & Canadian Churches. Although Jehovah's Witnesses currently rank 25th in size with over ...read more

Tags: Religion

Clothes Make A Church  PRO

Contributed by A. Todd Coget on Apr 27, 2001

[Clothes Make a Church] A Methodist church tried to get a man to attend, but he never did. "Why don’t you come?" the minister asked, and the man finally admitted it was because he didn’t have proper clothes. So a member of the congregation took him to a clothing store and got him a nice suit, ...read more

Tags: Misconceptions, Church General

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational