Contributed by Ed Sasnett on Jun 15, 2010
Good Hope, Alabama is a small town with small town values. In Cullman County you can’t legally buy beer. Daystar Church, which had grown dramatically under pastor Jerry Lawson, ran up against the sensibilities of this conservative north Alabama community by focusing a month-long series on sex.
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Denomination:
Baptist
Contributed by Jeff Strite on Oct 17, 2011
based on 1 rating
| 2,733 views
THE GATES WILL NOT PREVAIL
Jesus said: "Upon this rock (of Peter's testimony that Jesus was the Christ, the Son of the Living God) I will build my church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it" Matthew 16:18
Now the odd thing about Jesus' statement was this: Gates don't attack.
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Denomination:
Christian/Church Of Christ
Contributed by Don Jones on Jan 7, 2007
There was a young pastor fresh out of seminary. Had finally gotten called to his first church and was extremely excited. He had 3 years of fresh new ideas and he couldn’t wait to take over so he could show and tell the church what to do.
The first Sunday he stood before the church and gave
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Denomination:
Baptist
based on 2 ratings
| 1,132 views
My first pastoral appointment was the Marissa and Zion United Methodist Charge in St. Clair County, Illinois, about forty miles southeast of St. Louis, Missouri. Zion had only three members and no electricity or running water. In past decades light had been provided in the sanctuary by kerosene,
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Denomination:
Methodist
Contributed by Sermon Central on Feb 11, 2009
based on 1 rating
| 1,843 views
"THAT'S JUST DENNY."
John Ortberg tells of a man in a church he once pastored whom he called Denny. Denny was not a happy man. He had attended church his whole life, but he had never been happy. Even the expression on his face was perpetually negative - so much so that one day a deacon asked him,
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Contributed by Sermon Central on Dec 28, 2008
based on 1 rating
| 2,258 views
KNOWING YOUR WAY TO HEAVEN
The little church in the suburbs suddenly stopped buying from its regular office supply dealer. So, the dealer telephoned Deacon Brown to ask why. "I'll tell you why," said Deacon Brown, "Our church ordered some pencils from you to be used in the pews for visitors to
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Contributed by Sermon Central on Feb 1, 2001
based on 242 ratings
| 3,228 views
I heard about an African-American who tried to attend a church. Sadly, the church wouldn’t even let him attend a service.
The pastor said, "You just need to pray about it."
About three weeks later the pastor saw him and asked, "Did you talk to the Lord about it?"
The man said,
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Contributed by Sermon Central on Jan 27, 2006
based on 6 ratings
| 2,736 views
Friendship Factor" A new Gallup study commissioned by Group Publishing shows that people with close friendships in their church are very satisfied with their congregation, less likely to leave their place of worship, and have a strong friendship with God. Church members who have a best friend at
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Contributed by Maurice Schaus on Feb 11, 2008
based on 1 rating
| 2,101 views
There’s a story in Greek mythology about a young man named Narcissus. He was a beautiful young man, and he knew it. One day Narcissus saw his reflection in a stream, and he instantly fell in love with the reflected image of himself. What he saw staring back at him from the water was so beautiful
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Denomination:
Lutheran
Contributed by Robert Fox on Dec 20, 2005
based on 6 ratings
| 2,322 views
The gifts of service are sometimes considered "second-rate." compared with gifts like "evangelism."
Without faithful Christians exercising their gift of service, the gifts of evangelism are powerless. It is quite true that people don’t “care how much you know until they know how much you
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Denomination:
Baptist
Contributed by Davon Huss on Nov 23, 2009
Donald Gary Barnhouse was a powerful preacher with a mind like a steel trap. One New Year’s Eve, back in the late forties or fifties, at the church’s watch night service, Barnhouse was administering a communion service when there was a noisy disturbance outside. A group of loud, drunken voices
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Christian/Church Of Christ
I remember years ago, when I was the pastor in another city, we had a man in our church that worked in a local processing plant. His name was Doug. One day, a new guy – a fellow by the name of Mike – showed up to work there, and Doug got acquainted with him and invited him to come to our
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Denomination:
Presbyterian/Reformed
Contributed by Bobby Scobey on Oct 31, 2007
I’ve been set afire by Ed Stetzer’s book, Comeback Churches. He did a study that examined 324 churches from 10 denominations that recently experienced renewed growth by conversion after a significant period of plateau and/or decline.
Not all comeback churches were contemporary. Many were blended.
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Denomination:
Pentecostal
based on 5 ratings
| 3,318 views
"EVERY MEMBER IS A SINNER"
There's a worn-out story about the preacher who was getting fired-up in his sermon. He thundered, "Every member of this church is a sinner!" When he hollered this a second time for emphasis, there was a man on the back row who had a broad smile come across his face.
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Denomination:
United Methodist