In Sermon Illustrations: "Prosperity Gospel"

Who Among Us Hast Not Feared Death At One Time Or ...

Contributed by R. David Reynolds on Mar 23, 2008

Who among us hast not feared death at one time or another? The chorus of a Bluegrass Gospel Song recorded by such artists as Loretta Lynn and Decatur, Illinois’, Alison Krauss sums it up so well: Everybody wants to go to Heaven, but nobody wants to die. Lord I wanna go to Heaven, but I don’t ...read more

Tags: Apostles General

Denomination: Methodist

Playing Church

Contributed by Russell Brownworth on Aug 10, 2008

PLAYING CHURCH Some years ago I met Johnny Moore. Johnny is the lead singer for "His Glory". He tells his story of how he was on his way home one night before he got serious with the Lord. He’d been kinda "playing church." He was on his way home from a Wednesday night prayer meeting, and he ...read more

Tags: Confession Of Sin

Denomination: United Methodist

Mourner's Bench

Contributed by Jeff Strite on Jun 26, 2006

MOURNER'S BENCH In the late 1700’s there was something called the “mourner’s bench.” An altar call would be given, and people who desired to become Christians would come down front to a bench at the front and pray until they “felt” saved. They would be seeking a “strange warming of the heart” as ...read more

Denomination: Christian/Church Of Christ

Righteousness Credit

Contributed by Matthew Kratz on Nov 16, 2008

RIGHTEOUSNESS CREDIT The meltdown in world wide economic markets is seen by many economists over the issue of the sub-prime mortgage failure in the United States. Basically, it revolves around giving credit to those who did not deserve it. You may have received in the mail those tantalizing ...read more

Tags: Justification

Denomination: Other

Some Of You Will Have Met My Friend Chris Page. ...

Contributed by Warner Pidgeon on Dec 19, 2008

Some of you will have met my friend Chris Page. He preached here at Christ Church about two years ago and it was a joy to meet up with him in Rwanda in November 2007. About eight years ago Chris firmly believed that God was asking him to go and live in Rwanda to work amongst orphans and to start-up ...read more

Tags: Obedience

Denomination: Anglican

Imitating ...

Contributed by Bill Butsko on Mar 13, 2009

“Imitating Christ” At the close of a Gospel service an intelligent-looking man came to the minister and said, “I do not see any necessity for the Blood of Christ in my salvation. I can be saved without believing in His shed Blood.” “Very well,” said the minister, “how then do you propose to be ...read more

Tags: Salvation

Denomination: Christian Church

Jesus Was Not Just Another Rabbi Among Thousands. ...

Contributed by K. Edward Skidmore on Apr 27, 2009

Jesus was not just another rabbi among thousands. He was unique in so many ways, And here in Matthew’s gospel he reveals his ability to cut through the fog of legalism to give the essence of all law by boiling everything down to its most basic parts. He was able to take the Decalogue (10 ...read more

Tags: Law

Denomination: Christian/Church Of Christ

Beginning And Ending

Contributed by Johnny Wilson on Aug 11, 2009

BEGINNING AND ENDING A Connecticut Baptist named A. Roger Williams (a modern pastor, not the one who founded Rhode Island) once preached, "It is true that if religion begins with the individual--it begins, but if it ends with the individual--it ends." [A. Roger Williams, "The Kingdom of God," in ...read more

Tags: Church Body Of Christ

Denomination: *other

Miraculous Protection Of Missionary John G. ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Nov 17, 2009

Miraculous Protection of Missionary John G. Paton John G. Paton was a missionary to the New Hebrides. He had aroused the enmity of the local native chief by his successes in the Gospel, the chief hired a man to kill the missionary. The man went to the missionary’s house, but instead of murdering ...read more

Scripture: Psalm 91:1-16

Tags: Missions, Angels

Martha Ballard: Revolutionary Helper

Contributed by Sermon Central on Dec 30, 2009

MARTHA BALLARD: REVOLUTIONARY HELPER Historian Laurel Ulrich received a Pulitzer Prize for her book The Midwife's Tale. The book was based on the diary of Martha Ballard, who lived during the American Revolution. Martha was a midwife who traveled by canoe, horse, or sometimes on foot to assist ...read more

Scripture: John 3:5-8

Tags: Holy Spirit In Believers

On November 26, 19977 I Was Given A Wonderful ...

Contributed by Paul Carlson on Jan 25, 2010

On November 26, 1977 I was given a wonderful gift by God, my wife Jan. Those early years of marriage we felt we were living ‘the abundant life’. But on August 17, 1981 I was given the greatest gift, this gift was priceless in nature. It was far greater than a promise to “go to heaven”. This ...read more

Tags: Salvation

Denomination: Baptist

Tithing

Contributed by Fr Mund Cargill Thompson on Oct 21, 2010

I am very grateful for the people who (when I was an 18 year old student) taught me to tithe. At the time they had very little to get out of it - it was a church full of students. Students don’t have very much money - and 10% is not very much, not at all very much. Coupled with that, we were ...read more

Tags: Tithes

Denomination: Anglican

Following Garibaldi And Following Jesus

Contributed by Sermon Central on Apr 6, 2011

FOLLOWING GARIBALDI AND FOLLOWING JESUS Garibaldi, the great Italian military hero from the 19th century, raised an incredibly committed volunteer army. His appeal for recruits was rather unique as he offered only these terms: "I offer neither pay, nor quarters, nor provisions; I offer hunger, ...read more

Scripture: Mark 8:34-38

Tags: Discipleship

Don't Waste Your Life

Contributed by Sermon Central on Apr 20, 2011

DON'T WASTE YOUR LIFE In his book Don’t Waste Your Life, John Piper recounts a story his father often told of his days as a fiery Baptist evangelist. It is the story of a man who came to saving faith in Jesus Christ near the end of his earthly existence. Piper writes: "The church had prayed for ...read more

Scripture: Acts 20:24

Tags: Conscience

The Impact Of A Mother's Prayer

Contributed by Sermon Central on Aug 6, 2011

THE IMPACT OF A MOTHER’S PRAYER Picture an old woman with a halo of silvered hair--the hot tears flowing down her furrowed cheeks--her worn hands busy over a washboard in a room of poverty--praying--for her son John--John who ran away from home in his teens to become a sailor--John of whom it was ...read more

Scripture: James 5:16-20

Tags: Die, Mother's Day

Korean Cell Churches

Contributed by Dale Pilgrim on Nov 9, 2011

KOREAN CELL CHURCHES Assemblies of God Church in Seoul, Korea: It started in 1958 when Paul Yonggi Cho (later David) held a service in his friend’s home with her three children. Passionate desire to share Christ by inviting other people to their home church soon resulted in exponential growth. ...read more

Tags: Church Growth

Denomination: Salvation Army

Matt Mikalatos Has Identified Several Imagina...

Contributed by Tim Smith on May 28, 2015

Matt Mikalatos has identified several Imaginary Jesus’ we hold. There’s TV Jesus, who says: "If you follow me, you will have the life you always wanted. Money! Wealth! Big house! Fancy plane! Unending health!" There’s Hollywood Jesus who is mild and kind and never asks for anything difficult. ...read more

Scripture: Mark 8:27-35

Tags: Barriers To Growth, Potholes

Denomination: Methodist

Legalism, Rules And Judging Others

Contributed by Martin Spoelstra on Nov 12, 2018

Charles Price (pastor of The Peoples Church in Toronto) tells the story of a friend of his who went to the Netherlands to share the gospel with Dutch people and became friends with many Dutch Christians. He was amazed to find out how distressed Dutch Christians were with the state of American ...read more

Scripture: Romans 6:1

Tags: Legalism Vs Liberty, Rules

Denomination: Presbyterian/Reformed

The Census At The Birth Of Jesus

Contributed by Martin Spoelstra on Dec 9, 2023

Historians have been puzzled about the census. The one taken when Quirinius was governor of Syria. While all this begins to explain why Mary and Joseph were in Bethlehem, Luke is making a point. The birth of this little boy is the beginning of a confrontation between the kingdom of God - in all its ...read more

Scripture: Luke 2:1-2

Tags: Mary And Joseph, Quirinus, Caeser Agustus, Bethlehem, Birth, Census  (view more)  (view less)

Denomination: Presbyterian/Reformed

Trouble In The Church  PRO

Contributed by Douglas Duvall on Dec 3, 2006

Trouble in the Church ACTS 15:1-12 I. Decision 15:1-4 A. Men 15:1 B. Method 15:2 C. Messages 15:3-4 II. Demand 15:5-6 A. Demands 15:5 B. Deliberations 15:6 III. Declaration 15:7-12 A. Choice 15:7 B. Comparison 15:8-9 C. Conversion 15:10-12 Introduction Peter had ...read more

Scripture: Exodus 12:24-27

Denomination: Baptist