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
...read more
Denomination:
Baptist
based on 2 ratings
| 1,379 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,
...read more
Denomination:
Methodist
Contributed by Terry Laughlin on Aug 11, 2008
based on 34 ratings
| 4,891 views
Spiritual Health Checks
(True Devotions)
Rick Warren wrote, "The key for churches in the 21st Century will be church health, not growth." When a congregation is healthy, it will grow spiritually and enjoy the benefits of a live, vibrant relationship with Jesus Christ. A healthy Christian
...read more
Scripture:
Tags:
Denomination:
Evangelical/Non-Denominational
Contributed by Sermon Central on Feb 11, 2009
based on 1 rating
| 2,006 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,
...read more
Tags:
Contributed by Jeff Strite on Oct 17, 2011
based on 1 rating
| 3,142 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.
...read more
Tags:
Denomination:
Christian/Church Of Christ
Contributed by Scott Bayles on Jun 27, 2009
based on 4 ratings
| 4,696 views
THE REAL MIRACLE
Several years ago, a very peculiar sight could be seen at a large downtown church in England. On the first Sunday of the New Year, an ex-convict knelt to receive communion beside the judge who had sentenced him to seven years in prison. After being sentenced, the young convict was
...read more
Tags:
Denomination:
Christian Church
Contributed by Thomas Monroe on Feb 18, 2002
based on 32 ratings
| 5,150 views
Barna research shows:
That divorce in the church is just as commonas outside the church. In the church 33%, outside the church 34%.
Also, the south is second in the nation in divorce. The south has a divorce rate of 35%, just behind the west (38%), and leading the Midwest (32%) and
...read more
Scripture:
Tags:
Denomination:
Baptist
Contributed by Gerald Albers on Jun 5, 2007
Now imagine for just a moment, if before I continued to speak, a special delivery messenger came running down the aisle of the church thrusting in my hand an envelope. On the envelope it has a return address - "Jesus, Heaven". And in big bold red letters in front of the envelope:
EVALUATION OF THE
...read more
Denomination:
Independent/Bible
Contributed by Paul Decker on Oct 14, 2007
Al Dvorin, a concert announcer who traveled with Elvis throughout the performer’s career, made the phrase famous when his voice was captured on many recordings of Elvis’ performances.
"Elvis has left the building!" is a phrase that was often used following Elvis Presley concerts to disperse
...read more
Denomination:
Baptist
Contributed by Tom Conant on Apr 3, 2009
A GIVING TESTIMONY
I have experienced this both personally and in our church. As a church, when we began to support missions with faith promises – God began to pour blessings to our church. Last year we gave more to missions than ever before, and the church income was more than ever, nearly
...read more
Tags:
Denomination:
Pentecostal
Contributed by Sermon Central on Jan 13, 2006
based on 2 ratings
| 3,995 views
Many Converts-Few Disciples: This is the conclusion of George Barna after 2 years of research. Is this why church-es have lost their relevance in American culture? Not one person polled, when asked to identify their most important goal for their life, said it was to be a committed follower of Jesus
...read more
Tags:
Paul Nixon stresses that “a growing number of people will associate with organized churches only when those places ‘WORK FOR THEM’ in their personal quests for meaningful theology, community, and service.” [Paul Nixon, I REFUSE TO LEAD A DYING CHURCH (Cleveland: The Pilgrim Press, 2006), 10 ] He
...read more
Tags:
Denomination:
Methodist
Contributed by Gaither Bailey on Sep 17, 2009
There was a poor family in this little town. Brought to the attention of the Baptist minister who got the word to his congregation and provided appropriate clothing to the family asking them to come to church the next Sunday. They agreed. When Sunday came they didn’t show up at the Baptist
...read more
Tags:
Denomination:
Presbyterian/Reformed
Sermon Central