In Sermon Illustrations: "Pastoral Leadership"

Size Of Congregation Doesn't Guarantee ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Jun 1, 2010

Size of Congregation Doesn’t Guarantee Fruitfulness It is important to note that large crowds do not necessarily mean that a teacher has a fruitful ministry. He may have a “successful” ministry, in the sense that the world measures success: by buildings, budgets, and bodies. But a “successful” ...read more

Scripture: Jude 1:12-13

Tags: Fruit Of The Spirit

70 Funerals In One Day

Contributed by Gregg Bitter on Nov 24, 2010

70 FUNERALS IN ONE DAY During a forty-year ministry, I would guess that many pastors do seventy or more burials. But this wasn't over the full span of his ministry. In fact, it wasn't even a full year. In one day, Pastor Rinkart did burial rites for up to seventy people and did the same the next ...read more

Tags: Suffering Joy In

Denomination: Lutheran

Too Often Our Gratitude Is Dependent Upon The ...  PRO

Contributed by John Roy on Jan 29, 2001

Too often our gratitude is dependent upon the circumstances of life. A beautiful hymn was written by Martin Rinkart during the thirty-year war to help us look beyond our circumstances and see the hand of God. Rinkart was a pastor in Saxony, Germany as the turbulent years of the war dragged on. For ...read more

Scripture: Philippians 4:4-7

Tags: Thanksgiving Holiday, Joy

Denomination: *other

Was That Somebody You?  PRO

Contributed by Jun Tadena on Aug 25, 2006

"Was That Somebody You?" Tom Carter, the evangelist, told this in one of his messages: While he was holding meetings in a Pennsylvania town, a young man who had formerly lived next door to the parsonage committed a murder. The whole community was stirred. Mr. Carter and the pastor obtained ...read more

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

Grudges And Pride Keep Us From Reconciling With ...  PRO

Contributed by Russell Brownworth on May 21, 2007

Grudges and pride keep us from reconciling with each other. They destroy the thought of forgiveness. The pastor and his wife were going to give a mid-morning garden party. They invited everyone with engraved invitations. The delightful back yard of the parsonage was manicured, tables decorated ...read more

Denomination: United Methodist

Preacher Focuses On Baptism Regardless Of Sermon ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Oct 26, 2009

Preacher Focuses On Baptism Regardless of Sermon Text The story is told of a pastor who had just starting serving a new congregation. For eight Sundays in a row he preached about baptism. Finally, the chairman of the elders approached him and said, “Preacher, we get the point about baptism and so ...read more

Scripture: Romans 6:1-4

Tags: Baptism

The Dead Rat

Contributed by Paul Steen on Dec 11, 2017

A boy ran into his house to tell his mom something. He had a dead rat in his hand. But he didn't notice that the pastor of their church was talking to his mom. The boy said, “Mom, you'll never guess what! I was out behind the garage and there was this rat. I picked up a rock and threw it and hit ...read more

Tags: Excuses, Making Excuses

Denomination: Calvary Chapel

The Holy Spirit Had A Monopoly On Moody

Contributed by Dr. Larry Petton on Nov 13, 2022

Dwight L. Moody was a shoe salesman from Chicago who fell in love with Jesus and started sharing his faith with everyone he met. Even though he was never ordained or had formal training, God used him to reach thousands for Christ as an evangelist. There was a group of British pastors who were ...read more

Tags: Holy Spirit, Preaching, Revival, Jealousy, Moody, Critical Spirit, Preachers  (view more)  (view less)

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

Cheating

Contributed by David Parks on Jan 23, 2023

Cheating now more common Once upon a time in a tiny French village, the townspeople decided to honor their parish priest by each bringing a bottle of wine the following Sunday for the pastor’s empty wine barrel. The pastor was delighted, and he asked all in attendance to join him for a glass of ...read more

Scripture: James 5:12, Matthew 5:37

Tags: Truth, Integrity, Honesty, Cheating, Lying  (view more)  (view less)

Denomination: Christian/Church Of Christ

We Believe: According To A Recent Newsweek Poll, ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Jan 27, 2006

We Believe: According to a recent Newsweek Poll, 78% of Americans believe that Jesus rose from the dead after the crucifixion, and 75% believe He was sent to earth to absolve mankind of sin. The article, From Jesus to Christ, also reports that Christianity is now the world’s largest faith, with two ...read more

Tags: Becoming A Christian

Glory To God First

Contributed by Ken Henson on Jun 25, 2012

GLORY TO GOD FIRST A man came to Pastor Chuck, the church that I went to for several years while in California, and he said to the pastor that he wanted to make a large donation - about one million dollar donation. The pastor said to that, "Wow -- that is a lot of money. Let me go first and pray ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 15:21-39

Tags: Principles

Denomination: *other

Craig Von Buseck Tells Of Serving As An Assoc...

Contributed by Tim Smith on May 28, 2015

Craig von Buseck tells of serving as an associate pastor in Pennsylvania. After more than five years on staff, he began sensing that the Lord wanted him to leave this church to complete his ministry training. Relations were beginning to become strained between himself and the senior pastor. While ...read more

Scripture: Galatians 5:25

Tags: Holy Spirit, God's Guidance

Denomination: Methodist

Eyes And Toes

Contributed by Johnny Wilson on Aug 11, 2009

EYES AND TOES There is a terrific story I once heard in a taped message from a marvelous Baptist pastor named Ron Dunn. Dunn's parable suggested that once upon a time there was a body where the eyes convinced all of the other parts of the body that the gift of SIGHT was the only important gift. ...read more

Denomination: *other

No Answer: Barna Research Phoned 3400 Randomly ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Jan 18, 2006

No Answer: Barna Research phoned 3400 randomly selected Protestant churches from across the U.S. during December and 55% offered no human answer. Overall: 19% had neither a person nor an answering machine responding to calls; 16% had an answering machine responding; 20% had either an answering ...read more

Tags: Church General

Bacon And Eggs

Contributed by Silas Eke on Feb 26, 2015

The story is told of the pig and the chicken that went to Church and heard the Pastor was going to do his birthday. Each offered to donate towards the birthday. The Chicken offered to donate eggs and asked the pig to give bacon so that the pastor would have a good breakfast. The pig looked at the ...read more

Scripture: 2 Samuel 24:24

Tags: Sacrificial Giving, Perfect Sacrifice

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

Why They Serve Coffee  PRO

Contributed by Jim Kane on Mar 10, 2002

WHY THEY SERVE COFFEE Some of the most humorous and enlightening moments in our lives center around eating and drinking. Take for instance the interaction between a pastor and young boy in a certain congregation. It seems this particular congregation loved good fellowship and always served ...read more

Scripture: Mark 14:37

Tags: Preaching, Church, Church Practices

Denomination: Church Of God

1no Religious Affiliation: 1 Out Of Every 9 ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Jan 9, 2006

1No Religious Affiliation: 1 out of every 9 Americans do not belong to any organized religion. Among young people its 17% compared with only 7% of people over 65. William J. Murray, a D.C. based religious activist, reports, young people “identify with angels, say they believe in a superior being, ...read more

Tags: World Religions

Preaching Magazine Has Named The Top 5 Preachers ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Jan 10, 2006

Preaching magazine has named the top 5 preachers of the 20th Century. #1 James S. Stewart, a Scottish preacher and 60’s moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland; #2 Dr. Billy Graham; #3 George Buttrick, a Congregational preacher & 30 year pastor of Madison Ave. Presbyterian ...read more

Tags: Church General

Deacons And Lights

Contributed by Larry Wilson on Oct 7, 2011

DEACONS AND LIGHTS In our church, we have someone that does the maintenance and replaces light bulbs and things like that. They do not want their pastor to do this for two good reasons: 1) I know very little about maintenance, and my church knows that I know very little. 2) They don't want the ...read more

Tags: Deacons

Denomination: Baptist

In Becoming A Contagious Christian, Bill Hybels ...  PRO

Contributed by Sermon Central on Nov 11, 2001

In Becoming a Contagious Christian, Bill Hybels and Mark Mittelberg tell this story: A newly promoted colonel had moved into a makeshift office during the Gulf War. He was just getting unpacked when out of the corner of his eye, he noticed a private with a toolbox coming his way. Wanting ...read more