In Sermon Illustrations: "Friendship General" showing 1,501-1,520 of 7,188

Youth Pastor Burnout: The Bridges Project, A ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Jan 18, 2006

Youth Pastor Burnout: The Bridges Project, a research study of the Institute for Youth Ministry at Princeton Theological Seminary, has identified several factors common to youth pastors who experience burn-out or a lack of success in ministry: ►Inability to shape healthy work relationships ...read more

Tags: Church General

Marriage Decline: Between ‘75 And ‘02, The Share ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Jan 18, 2006

Marriage Decline: Between ‘75 and ‘02, the share of Americans who had never married increased from about 24% to 29%. ...read more

Tags: Marriage General

Public's Confidence: Gallup's Annual Measure Of ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Jan 18, 2006

Public’s Confidence: Gallup’s annual measure of public confidence in institutions reports the military is #1 followed by the police and the church. Banks are #4. While the military’s rating is lower than in ‘02, the church has been slowly recovering from the sharp decline in confidence it ...read more

Tags: Church General

Inmates 4 Times As Many Prisoners Are Released ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Jan 18, 2006

Inmates 4 times as many prisoners are released into society today as 20 years ago. An estimated 600,000 U.S. prisoners will be released in ’04 (over 1,600 are released daily). The Justice Bureau of Statistics estimates that 2 out of 3 released inmates were “rearrested within 3 years,” wreaking more ...read more

Tags: Sin General

Eharmony.com Founded By Christian Author And ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Jan 18, 2006

eHarmony.com founded by Christian author and marriage counselor psychologist Dr. Neil Clark led the Internet personals category in new subscriptions by grabbing nearly 38% of total U.S. subscription sales generated by the top 12 dating sites, reports comScore. eHarmony’s radio and television ad ...read more

Tags: Marriage General

Why People Give According To Dr. Ron L. Jones, ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Jan 18, 2006

Why People Give According to Dr. Ron L. Jones, pastor, author and VP of development at College of Biblical Studies in Houston people give: (1) Because they feel connected to the cause represented by the ministry. (2) Because they believe the ministry is producing changed lives. (3) Because they ...read more

Tags: Giving General

Religion Gap Voters Who Go To Church Every Week ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Jan 18, 2006

Religion Gap Voters who go to church every week usually vote for Republicans while those who go to church less often or not at all tend to vote Democratic. In 2000, 25% of voters said they attended church weekly. The religion gap didn’t exist ...read more

Tags: Church General

In April More Than 25 Million People (17% Of The ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Jan 18, 2006

In April more than 25 million people (17% of the U.S. online population) visited dating sites says Nielsen/NetRatings. ...read more

Tags: Marriage General

Charitable Giving Was Steady Last Year, As ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Jan 18, 2006

Charitable Giving was steady last year, as employment and the economy stabilized Americans gave an estimated $240.72 billion in ‘03, slightly up from the previous year, according to Giving U.S.A. Estimated giving in ‘03 equaled roughly 2.2% of the nation’s GDP, the 5th year since ’71 that it ...read more

Tags: Giving General

Donor Age Recent Studies Conducted By Campbell ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Jan 18, 2006

Donor Age Recent studies conducted by Campbell Research show that the median age of U.S. donors is 57, well above the national median age of 35. Depending on the charitable sector, median donor age varies from 49 to 64 years. Aging donors ...read more

Tags: Giving General

The United Methodist Church Is Losing 40,000 ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Jan 18, 2006

The United Methodist Church is losing 40,000 members a year in the U.S. as it gains roughly 100,000 a year in the 13 African nations where it is thriving. There are now 11.2 million Methodists worldwide including 8.3 million in the U.S. Africans are having a growing ...read more

Tags: Church General

The Tragic Tale Of Reginald  PRO

Contributed by George Barton on Jan 20, 2006

THE TRAGIC TALE OF REGINALD The parents of Reg, from his earliest age, Had tried in a manner more kindly than sage, To see he was stayed by no curb or taboo From doing those things that he wanted to do. “Far be it from us to forbid or deny One whim to this apple,” they said, “of our ...read more

Scripture: Proverbs 22:6

Tags: Disciplines General

Denomination: Baptist

Churches May Support The Federal Marriage ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Jan 20, 2006

Churches may support the Federal Marriage Amendment without jeopardizing their tax-exempt status, according to Liberty Counsel. Peter Sprigg, Family Research Council, says, as long as a church stops short of endorsing a specific party or ...read more

Tags: Marriage General

Fewer Protestants: A University Of Chicago Survey ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Jan 20, 2006

Fewer Protestants: A University of Chicago survey shows U.S. Protestants are now 52% of the population, down from 62% in ‘93, and may no longer be the nation’s largest religious group by year’s end. The 52% included about 2% of respondents who said they were Church ...read more

Tags: Church General

Charitable Misgivings: The Senate Finance ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Jan 20, 2006

Charitable Misgivings: The Senate Finance Committee is calling for more oversight of the nations 3 million U.S. tax exempt organizations. One likely outcome is regular review of tax-exempt status. “Charities ought to periodically justify that they are doing the job they said they were doing when ...read more

Tags: Giving General

Religious Practice Varies By Race: A New Barna ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Jan 20, 2006

Religious Practice Varies By Race: A new Barna survey examined 8 elements of religious behavior (reading the Bible, praying to God, giving money to churches and watching Christian television) and discovered that blacks are the most religiously active racial group. Blacks were also notably less ...read more

Tags: Disciplines General

Lost Trust: Recent Research By Yankelovich Finds ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Jan 20, 2006

Lost Trust: Recent research by Yankelovich finds that the determining factor in building trust is the history and quality of interaction between consumer and marketer. They have found that 66% of American consumers agree with the following statement: “If the opportunity arises, most businesses will ...read more

Tags: Church General

As High As 75% Of All Protestant Congregations ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Jan 20, 2006

As high as 75% of all Protestant congregations are either plateaued or declining. (Foster Letter ...read more

Tags: Church General

Not A Sin: Born Again Adults Are Twice As Likely ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Jan 20, 2006

Not A Sin: Born again adults are twice as likely as non-born agains (24% vs. 10%) to agree divorce without adultery is a sin, finds a new Barna Group survey. However, 52% of born agains disagree that divorce without adultery is sin. 74% of all non-born again adults disagree with the statement. 58% ...read more

Tags: Forgiveness General

Consumer Trends: Two Major Trends Of ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Jan 20, 2006

Consumer Trends: Two major trends of paradigm-shifting proportions are changing the face of the entire consumer retail market today. Every consumer business is going to feel the effects. Trend #1: Connecting replaces cocooning as dominant consumer trend. The cocooning and nesting trend that is at ...read more

Tags: Church General