In Sermon Illustrations: "Healthy Churches"

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

The World: A Temporary Container

Contributed by Guy Mcgraw on Jan 3, 2012

THE WORLD: A TEMPORARY CONTAINER The first garbage day after Christmas must be the biggest garbage day of the year. You can tell what most people got for Christmas by just looking at the garbage pile in front of the house. We usually throw out all the boxes--unless you have children who like to ...read more

Tags: Church Discipline

Not Enough Chapels

Contributed by Davon Huss on Jan 16, 2012

NOT ENOUGH CHAPELS An elderly woman was being conducted through a great cathedral in Europe. The guide spoke of its beauty of design, calling attention to the statues and painting. The woman was unimpressed. At the conclusion of the tour she asked the guide, "How many souls have been saved here ...read more

Tags: Church General

Denomination: Christian/Church Of Christ

The Mortal Work Of Art

Contributed by Davon Huss on Jan 16, 2012

THE MORTAL WORK OF ART Shelley Jackson is a writer. Yet, you cannot read anything she's written in a magazine, book or screen. Instead, you have to look at people. Her story is written on human skin. Her story is called "Skin." Jackson calls it "a mortal work of art." It is a fictional piece ...read more

Tags: Church Purpose Of

Denomination: Christian/Church Of Christ

Died And Rose Again

Contributed by W Pat Cunningham on Apr 7, 2012

DIED AND ROSE AGAIN "The whole story of the Church is one which imitates the story of her divine Master; she dies and she rises again. She was buried in the catacombs; she rose again with Constantine. She died in the Dark Ages; she rose again with Charlemagne. She died ...read more

Tags: Church General

Denomination: Catholic

Lord Of The Rings: Fellowship Will Protect Him

Contributed by C Jordan on Apr 29, 2012

LORD OF THE RINGS: FELLOWSHIP WILL PROTECT HIM Lord of the Rings is a story written by J.R.R. Tolkien, a devout Christian who led C.S. Lewis to the Lord. Although he made it clear that his stories are not allegories, he still wrote from a Christian worldview and you can learn good biblical ...read more

Tags: Church General

Denomination: *other

Downward Trends In U.s. Christianity

Contributed by Sermon Central on May 15, 2012

DOWNWARD TRENDS IN U.S. CHRISTIANITY In George Barna's new book on U.S. Christians called Futurecast, he tracks annual changes from 1991 to 2011 and shows that all the major trend lines of religious belief and behavior ran downward except two: More people claim they have accepted Jesus as their ...read more

Scripture: Ephesians 4:11-16

Tags: Church Practices

The Banyan Tree

Contributed by Sermon Central on Jun 11, 2012

THE BANYAN TREE The Banyan is native to India, but they can be found in the United States and other parts of the world, especially Asia. It grows as a young tree and then, as it gets larger, the heavy limbs put forth roots which drop to the ground to form a secondary trunk to support the large ...read more

Scripture: Acts 9:31

Tags: Church General

Here Are Some Thoughts He Says To Consider Before ...

Contributed by Michael Mccartney on Aug 8, 2012

Here are some thoughts he says to consider before you bash and trash talk - The Church of Jesus Christ: 1. We have to recognize Jesus loves the church (He loved her enough to die for her!) 2. The ‘local church’ is the hope of the world. 3. The church is made up of people. 4. People hurt people – ...read more

Tags: Church Practices

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

Storage Wars. ...

Contributed by Tim Spear on Dec 6, 2012

I enjoy watching a TV show called Storage Wars. In this reality show people bid on storage units that have been abandoned after having five minutes to look at them from the doorway. I enjoy watching because many times they find some great treasures worth a lot of money buried in all the other ...read more

Tags: Church Purpose Of

Denomination: Baptist

We Are Here! We Are Here!

Contributed by Michael Mccartney on Jan 23, 2013

WE ARE HERE! WE ARE HERE! From movie, "Horton Hears a Who!" Clip from movie about 5 minutes. The "Who" people with the help of Horton shouted, proclaimed, cried out and made themselves heard -- it was life and death by the way -- they did this to let the rest of the world around them know that ...read more

Tags: Church Purpose Of

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

Do Not Let Others Discourage You

Contributed by Shawn Drake on Apr 18, 2021

Over the last few Wednesdays, we have been studying how to make wise choices in who are your close friends. One of the main points is- To have a close friend, you have to be a close friend. We live in a time where people enjoy destroying other people and leave them discouraged. In our sermon ...read more

Scripture: Acts 18:1-28

Tags: Be The Church, Encourager

Denomination: Baptist

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

It All Goes Back To The Head

Contributed by Tim Smith on Feb 26, 2012

IT ALL GOES BACK TO THE HEAD Mike Slaughter tells the story of his dog Luka, a giant schnauzer. Luka had an infected toe for several months on his back leg and one of the things that he noticed is that Luka will tend to drag that back foot causing him to scrape his toe. Their vet couldn't figure ...read more

Tags: Church Body Of Christ

Denomination: Methodist

I'd Like To Share A Poem I Found. It's Called ...  PRO

Contributed by Pat Cook on May 16, 2005

I’d like to share a poem I found. It’s called “The Perfect Church,” written anonymously. It says: “I think that I shall never see A church that’s all it ought to be; A church that has no empty pews, Whose preacher never has the blues; A church whose deacons always “deke”, And none is proud but ...read more

Tags: Church Purpose Of, Church Body Of Christ

Denomination: Baptist