In Sermon Illustrations: "Sleeping Church"

A Church Is Not An Audience

Contributed by Richard Goble on Nov 2, 2007

A Church Is Not An Audience A sharp distinction ought to be made between a church and an audience. · An audience is a group of unrelated people drawn together by a short-lived attraction. A church is a group of born again believers drawn together by a Savior. · An audience is a crowd. A church is ...read more

Denomination: Baptist

Division In The Church

Contributed by Michael Mccartney on May 20, 2008

DIVISION IN THE CHURCH We might sum up the divisions in this church this way according to Parsons: i. "I follow Paul" -- This group may have taken the attitude that Paul started this church and he will always be the leader. These are the traditionalists. 1. They always live in the past and never ...read more

Tags: Divisions

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

Church Alternatives

Contributed by Sermon Central on Jul 30, 2008

CHURCH ALTERNATIVES A Barna study finds a majority of U.S. adults believe there are biblically legitimate alternatives to participation in a conventional church. Among them are engaging in faith activities at home with one’s family (acceptable by 89% of adults); being active in a house church ...read more

Tags: Evangelism The Lost

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

Separation Of Church And ...

Contributed by Terry Laughlin on Aug 11, 2008

Separation of Church and State “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech…” (excerpt from Amendment I, U. S. Constitution) If our United States Constitution actually commands Congress to ...read more

Scripture: Isaiah 55:6-7

Tags: Politics

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

The Invisible Church  PRO

Contributed by Nathan Johnson on Sep 25, 2008

The Invisible Church Warren Weirsbe tells a story of a free-lance missionary that visited a pastor friend asking for financial support. "What group are you associated with?" his friend asked. The man replied, "I belong to the invisible church." His friend then asked, "Well, what church are you a ...read more

Tags: Church Body Of Christ

Denomination: Baptist

No Church, No America

Contributed by Gene Gregory on Dec 6, 2008

NO CHURCH, NO AMERICA This week I received a letter in the mail from the Reverend Barry W. Lynn, the executive director of the organization "Americans United for Separation of Church and State." There would no America if there was no Church. This country was discovered, founded and populated by ...read more

Tags: Government

Denomination: Baptist

The Church Is The Rope

Contributed by Sermon Central on Jan 13, 2009

THE CHURCH IS THE ROPE Years ago at Niagara Falls two men were in a boat and found themselves caught in the current. The men jumped from their boat and swam for the shore. At last minute ropes from the shore were thrown out to them. The one man grabbed the rope and was pulled to shore. The other ...read more

Tags: Church Purpose Of

The Church Is About ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Jan 13, 2009

THE CHURCH IS ABOUT FREEDOM The silkworm makes an amazing journey to becoming a moth. At one point in the journey, the worm spins about itself a remarkable cocoon. The little sack is composed of 400 to 800 yards of silk fiber which seals it from the inside as it waits for metamorphosis. When that ...read more

Scripture: John 8:36

Tags: Christian Liberty

Essential Church For ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Feb 13, 2009

ESSENTIAL CHURCH FOR YOUTH LifeWay Resources’ Thom Rainer, after his research among people who stayed in church during ages 18-22 concluded that church should have higher expectations of its younger members. He argues an essential church will expect the younger generation to have a relationship ...read more

Tags: Youth

The Treasure Of The Church  PRO

Contributed by Anne Benefield on Mar 5, 2009

THE TREASURE OF THE CHURCH St. Lawrence was martyred in 258 A.D., but we remember him not for his martyrdom. We remember him as the Archdeacon of Rome. His responsibilities included maintaining the sacred vessels of the small, struggling church and distributing alms to the poor. While he was ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 15:13-16

Tags: Poverty

Denomination: Presbyterian/Reformed

A Dying Church

Contributed by Dr. Larry Petton on Oct 13, 2019

John MacArthur tells this awesome story: There once was an old church in England. A sign on the front of the building read, ''We preach Christ crucified.'' After a time, ivy grew up and obscured the last word and it read, 'We preach Christ.'' The ivy grew some ...read more

Scripture: Revelation 3:1-10

Tags: Church, Revival, Repentance, Mission

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

Church Is Open!

Contributed by Jonathan Spurlock on May 24, 2020

As I write this, it’s late May 2020 and this has been one of the strangest years I can ever remember. Much of the year has been taken up with the Wuhan Virus (also called COVID-19, the Corona Virus, and perhaps other names) and the effect on the world’s economy. For those of you reading this in the ...read more

Scripture: Psalm 122:1, Jeremiah 36:5

Tags: David, Church Attendance, House Of The Lord

Denomination: Baptist

The Perfect Church

Contributed by David Parks on Sep 19, 2022

If you should find the perfect church Without one spot or sore For goodness sake! Don’t join that church! For it won’t be perfect anymore. If you should find the perfect church Where all anxieties cease. Then pass it by, lest you join it, And mar the masterpiece. But since no perfect church ...read more

Scripture: 1 Thessalonians 1:7, Matthew 16:18, 1 Corinthians 13:1-10

Tags: Love, Faith, Hope, Church

Denomination: Christian/Church Of Christ

Church Matters

Contributed by Dr. Fred W. Penney on Jun 1, 2024

Why do people in churches seem like cheerful, brainless tourists on a packaged tour of the Absolute? The tourists are having coffee and doughnuts on Deck C. Presumably someone is minding the ship, correcting the course, avoiding icebergs and shoals, fueling the engines, watching the radar screen, ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 16:18, Ephesians 4:11-13

Tags: Eternity, Church, Mission

Denomination: Pentecostal

Mockery Of The Church

Contributed by Ed Vasicek on Feb 22, 2025

New Zealand, Feb. 26 [2016] (UPI) -- Members of the Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster, otherwise known as Pastafarians, registered their first official marriage celebrant in New Zealand. The group announced the news on its Facebook page, although the first couple that was set to be married by ...read more

Scripture: Galatians 6:7, 1 Timothy 3:15

Tags: Mocking The Church, Mocking Christianity, Ridiculous, Religion, Mockers, Mocking  (view more)  (view less)

Denomination: Independent/Bible

U.s. Adults Average 6.9 Hours Of Sleep A Night ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Jan 27, 2006

U.S. adults average 6.9 hours of sleep a night according to the National Sleep Foundation. (Foster ...read more

Tags: Workplace Balance

Live Churches Verse Dead Churches! (Adapted, ...  PRO

Contributed by Wade Martin Hughes, Sr on Jul 10, 2003

LIVE CHURCHES VERSE DEAD CHURCHES! (adapted, WRITER UNKNOWN) Live churches constantly change, --- dead churches resist and refuse change... Live churches love to try, dead churches feel they don’t have to... Live churches have youth that are noisy and can’t be still, dead churches are very ...read more

Tags: Leadership General, Church General

Denomination: Assembly Of God

Church Finances: The Average Church Budget Size ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Jan 18, 2006

Church finances: The average church budget size is $292,790 (median: $203,590). Senior pastors earn a median base salary of $31,006 and a median housing allowance of $15,250. 66% of church treasurers are responsible for the oversight of church expenditures. 57% of churches use debt only as needed ...read more

Tags: Church Practices

Church Debt: Your Church Magazine Reports That ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Jan 27, 2006

Church Debt: Your Church magazine reports that 54% of all churches carry some kind of debt. 32% of small churches (annual budget up to $100,000) carry debt versus 69% of churches with budgets over $500,000. The median debt is 64% of the annual budget with larger churches carrying the highest ...read more

Tags: Church General