In Sermon Illustrations: "Ephesians 4:1-3"

Alexander Solzhenitsyn  PRO

Contributed by John Gullick on Dec 22, 2000

Alexander Solzhenitsyn was a prisoner in Russia. he was on a program of hard labour and slow salvation. One day he felt like giving up. He felt his life could not make a difference. He sat down on a bench knowing that when he was spotted by a guard he would be ordered back to work when he failed ...read more

Scripture: Ephesians 4:1-6, Ephesians 5:4-7, Job 2:9, 1 Kings 19:4

Tags: God Brings Hope, Peace

Denomination: Presbyterian/Reformed

After Church…  PRO

Contributed by Melvin Newland on Feb 20, 2001

AFTER CHURCH... There he stood, in the midst of the Golden Corral restaurant, with Thousand Island dressing dripping from his hair, over his glasses, down his face, all over his jacket, pants, & shoes. And I’m not talking about a little bit of Thousand Island dressing, I’m talking about 2 gallons ...read more

Scripture: Ephesians 4:1-17

Tags: Children, Hypocrisy

Denomination: Christian/Church Of Christ

Charles Swindoll In His Book On Grace Puts It ...  PRO

Contributed by John Hamby on May 3, 2001

Charles Swindoll in his book on Grace puts it this way, "You want to mess up the minds of your children? Here’s how - guaranteed! Rear them in a legalistic, tight context of external religion, where performance is more important than reality. Fake your faith. Sneak around and pretend your ...read more

Scripture: Ephesians 4:1-2

Tags: Parenting, Leadership General, Apologetics General

Denomination: Baptist

We Live In A Strange Community, Where It Is Not ...  PRO

Contributed by Paul Wallace on Sep 1, 2001

We live in a strange community, where it is not uncommon to see bumper stickers that say things like, I am Light, or Due to circumstances within our control Armageddon has been cancelled. But the one that really gets me is the one that reads simply, I AM. Thank God, the I AM doesn’t drive a VW ...read more

Scripture: Ephesians 4:1-16

Tags: False Teaching, Cults, Apologetics God

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

The Fellowship Of The Church  PRO

Contributed by Paul Fritz on Oct 18, 2000

THE FELLOWSHIP OF THE CHURCH Calvin, who saw that the Devil’s chief device was disunity and division and who preached that there should be friendly fellowship for all ministers of Christ, made a similar point in a letter to a trusted colleague: "Among Christians there ought to be so great a ...read more

Scripture: Ephesians 4:3-6, James 3:1-12

Tags: Leadership General, Unity

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

The ‘holy Grail' Of Super Glues!" John 17:1-5 ...  PRO

Contributed by Mark Brunner on May 15, 2005

“The ‘Holy Grail’ of Super Glues!” John 17:1-5 Key verse(s) 4:“I have brought you glory on earth by completing the work you gave me to do.” It takes a special hand to deal with glue! Some are born to handle the sticky and others not. I am one of the latter lot. While, like most men, I find the ...read more

Scripture: John 17:1-5, Ephesians 4:1-6

Tags: Holy Spirit Attributes, Holy Spirit In Believers

Denomination: Lutheran

A Teenager Noticed This In His Own Life And ...  PRO

Contributed by Tim Zingale on Oct 3, 2005

A teenager noticed this in his own life and sought out his pastor. A teenager was sitting in the pastor’s office saying,"Sometimes I don’t think I am a Christian. I don’t seem to have the same interest and excitement, or enthusiasm I once did. It isn’t easy for me to remember God, to come to ...read more

Scripture: Ephesians 4:1-6, Ephesians 4:22-24

Tags: Discipleship, Baptism Adult

Denomination: Lutheran

He Led Them Up The Steep Slope Out Of The River ...  PRO

Contributed by Todd Anderson on Dec 8, 2005

“He led them up the steep slope out of the river valley and then slightly to the right apparently by the very same route which they had used that afternoon in coming from the hill of the stone table. On and on he lead them into dark shadows out into pale moonlight. Getting their feet wet with the ...read more

Scripture: Ephesians 4:1-3

Tags: Narnia

Denomination: Lutheran

Church Tech: 9 Out Of 10 Protestant Pastors Have ...  PRO

Contributed by Sermon Central on Jan 27, 2006

Church Tech: 9 out of 10 Protestant pastors have Internet access, and about half of all Protestant churches maintain a church Web site, according to a recent Ellison Research study. While 90% of ministers are online, only a third of those use a content filter on their church office computer. 88% ...read more

Scripture: Philippians 3:12-14, Philippians 4:13, Nehemiah 8:13-18, 1 Thessalonians 4:9-12, John 10:1-30, Mark 10:45-52, James 3:1-20, James 3:1-18, Ephesians 4:1, 1 John 1:1-10, Luke 6:19-31, Joshua 1:1-30, 2 Timothy 3:10-17  (view more)  (view less)

Tags: Church General

The Enemy Is Not In Here

Contributed by Sermon Central on Mar 17, 2009

THE ENEMY IS NOT IN HERE There’s an old story of two American soldiers in Vietnam. While eating lunch in the mess hall, they exchanged harsh words. And they got into a big fight. But the sergeant was there. And he grabbed those two soldiers by the collars. He took them outside. Pointed out to ...read more

Scripture: Ephesians 4:2

Tags: Anger

The Purpose Of The Holy Spirit  PRO

Contributed by Sermon Central on Nov 16, 2009

THE PURPOSE OF THE HOLY SPIRIT N T Wright, the famous New Testament scholar talks about the task of Christians in the world. He says, "Many say, 'Oh yes, the Holy Spirit came in his place to live in us.' Yes, but for what purpose? The Holy Spirit came to empower us to be God's life in the world. ...read more

Scripture: Ephesians 2:8-10, Ephesians 4:2-10

Tags: Holy Spirit In Believers

Chief Justice Of Supreme Court Humble Enough To ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Nov 17, 2009

Chief Justice of Supreme Court Humble Enough to Stand Next to a Chinese Laundryman As Christians, we are to trust God the Holy Spirit by being completely humble. Let me share a story which gives us a picture of humility; maybe you will see yourself in this story: When Charles Evans Hughes was ...read more

Scripture: Ephesians 4:1-6

Tags: Humility

Daniel Webster's Greatest Thought  PRO

Contributed by Sermon Central on Apr 5, 2011

DANIEL WEBSTER'S GREATEST THOUGHT At one time, Daniel Webster was considered the greatest of all living Americans. He was outstanding as a statesman, lawyer, orator, and leader of men. Twenty-five national leaders attended a select banquet in his honor. One man at the banquet asked Mr. Webster, ...read more

Scripture: Ephesians 4:1

Tags: Obedience

Disunity Stories  PRO

Contributed by Sermon Central on Apr 26, 2011

DISUNITY STORIES A man was stranded on an island. Alone for a number of years. Finally he was located and some people came ashore to rescue him. Before they took him off the island, he wanted to show them around. He took them to his hut and said "This is the home I built with my own 2 hands." Then ...read more

Scripture: Ephesians 4:1-6

Tags: Divisions

True Unity  PRO

Contributed by Sermon Central on Apr 26, 2011

TRUE UNITY Unity is not simply an intellectual exercise. We can believe the same things, recite the same creeds, belong to the same denomination, but that does not mean we have unity. In his book Soul Talk, Larry Crabb writes: "Which is worse? A church program to build community that doesn’t ...read more

Scripture: Ephesians 4:1-16, Ephesians 4:1-22, 1 Samuel 25:14-35

Tags: Unity

Church As A Spectator Sport

Contributed by Sermon Central on Aug 5, 2011

CHURCH AS A SPECTATOR SPORT A British pastor and author made this observation a few years ago. I think it’s still accurate. D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones said, "Men and women no longer...exercise in sport as they used to. Instead, people tend to sit in crowds and just watch other people play. ...And I ...read more

Scripture: Ephesians 4:1-16, 1 Corinthians 12:27

Tags: Church Practices

Statistics On Loneliness

Contributed by Sermon Central on Aug 7, 2011

STATISTICS ON LONELINESS This week I read an article by Medical News Today about the health effects of loneliness. Quoting the article, it states that "there is evidence that the risk of developing and dying from heart disease can depend on the strength of one's social network of friends and ...read more

Scripture: Ephesians 4:1-16

Tags: Church Body Of Christ

The Damage Of Disunity

Contributed by Sermon Central on May 9, 2012

THE DAMAGE OF DISUNITY Dwight L. Moody once stated, "I have never yet known the Spirit of God to work where the Lord's people were divided." Notice what Phinehas said: "This day we perceive that the Lord is among us" (Jo 22:31). The Lord's presence was among His people, because they walked in His ...read more

Scripture: Ephesians 4:1-6

Tags: Divisions

We're On The Same Team  PRO

Contributed by Gaylon Clark on Dec 9, 2013

Richie Incognito and Jonathan Martin had every reason as teammates to be friends, but they were not. Incognito harassed and bullied Martin. He called him a racial slur in a voicemail played by every media outlet in the country. He threatened to kill him and his family. Incognito claimed all of this ...read more

Scripture: Ephesians 4:1-6, John 17:20-23, Colossians 3:12-17, Psalm 133:1-3

Tags: Teamwork, Christian Unity, Church Unity, Christian Friendship

Denomination: Baptist

United We Stand

Contributed by Sermon Central on Feb 16, 2014

Let me read one of Aesop’s Greek fables; In the forest, there lived four oxen. They were very good friends and always went together to graze in the fields. However, every time they went, a hungry lion tried to attack them. The lion longed for their meat. But they withstood his attack by fighting ...read more

Scripture: Ephesians 4:1-6

Tags: Unity, Divisions