In Sermon Illustrations: "Small Groups"

Don't Split Over Coffee

Contributed by Timothy Craver on Aug 11, 2008

DON'T SPLIT OVER COFFEE Chuck Swindoll, in his book The Grace Awakening, writes of a church that had a vibrant ministry and was having a powerful impact on their community. But then, a disagreement began to form. While it seemed small and insignificant at first, it grew and grew until the church ...read more

Tags: Dealing With Conflicts

Denomination: Brethren

Leadership Confidence Levels ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Feb 13, 2009

LEADERSHIP CONFIDENCE LEVELS FALLING The 2008 Harris Poll of American leadership confidence has measured the confidence finds 15 of the 16 items listed show a fall in confidence from 2007. They are leadership in medicine down from 35% to 28%, the White House down 22% to 15% and small business ...read more

Scripture: Romans 12:8

Tags: Leadership General

Years Ago There Was A Valley In New England That ...  PRO

Contributed by Sermon Central on Jun 18, 2007

Years ago there was a valley in New England that was going to be dammed up for a hydro-electric plant. There was a small town in the bottom of the valley, and that town fell into disrepair. Someone asked why? The answer came ...read more

Tags: Easter Resurrection

When I Grow Up

Contributed by Kelvin Mckisic on Jun 26, 2023

A photographer was snapping pictures of first graders at an elementary school, making small talk to put his subjects at ease. “What are you going to be when you ...read more

Scripture: Genesis 2:1-3, Ecclesiastes 2:17, Matthew 11:28-30

Tags: Busyness, Stress, Rest, Responsibility, Work, Weariness  (view more)  (view less)

Denomination: Christian/Church Of Christ

Persecution In Uganda, Story Of Kefa ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Nov 2, 2009

Persecution in Uganda, Story of Kefa Sempangi Kefa Sempangi (whose story is told in the book A Distant Grief, Regal Books) was a national pastor in Africa and barely escaped with his family from brutal oppression and terror in his home country of Uganda. They made their way to Philadelphia, where ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 10:16-24

Tags: Persecution

Golfers Have A Change Of Heart

Contributed by Sermon Central on May 21, 2013

GOLFERS HAVE A CHANGE OF HEART When you willingly give Jesus all that you are and all that you have, you receive so much more in return. I heard a story once about a group of guys who were returning from playing golf in rural Georgia. As they drove down a two-lane road they came up on a ...read more

Scripture: 1 John 3:16-20, 1 Timothy 6:6-19

Tags: Compassion

Satan Want's To Fill You With Sin

Contributed by Steve Kinnard on Feb 15, 2019

Deep Implanted Sin (Eph.:10-13) Illus. The enemy leader is in his command center discussing his battle strategy with those under his command. The enemy is very upset about the latest move by the rebellion forces. They have been attacking in vital areas. Never in this struggle has the rebellion ...read more

Scripture: Ephesians 1:10-13

Tags: Sin, Deception

Denomination: Pentecostal

The Prominent Psychiatrist Karl Menninger Was ...  PRO

Contributed by Joel Santos on Sep 24, 2004

The prominent psychiatrist Karl Menninger was featured in an article carried by the "Chicago Daily News" entitled, "Love working miracles for the mentally Ill in Kansas." Dr. Menninger contended that love is one of the most effective cures in healing mental illness. When reporters asked Menninger ...read more

Tags: Christian Love, Compassion, Unconditional Love

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

Neal Alexander, Publisher And President Of ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Jan 5, 2006

Neal Alexander, Publisher and President of United Methodist Publishing House/Abingdon says, "What is clear is that the yearning and need for spiritual resources is growing. Contemporary life doesn’t make religious experience irrelevant, it makes it indispensable. The further segmentation of our ...read more

Tags: God Brings Hope

Bible Revision: Authorized A Team Of Vatican ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Jan 18, 2006

Bible Revision: Authorized A team of Vatican scholars has been authorized to review the Dead Sea Scrolls with the intention of revising the Bible. The Guardian says, “The influence of radical Jewish groups who wanted to overthrow Roman rule is likely to be featured in the new Bible, bolstering ...read more

Tags: Bible Influence

Successful Life: 50% Of Teens Believe Having An ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Jan 20, 2006

Successful Life: 50% of teens believe having an active spiritual life is a “very important” part of having a successful life according to The State of Our Nation’s Youth 2003-2004 by the Horatio Alger Assoc. Other factors teens consider “very important” to success are having a close family ...read more

Tags: God Brings Hope

Dr's Believe In Miracles: 3 Out Of 4 American ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Jan 27, 2006

Dr’s Believe In Miracles: 3 out of 4 American doctors believe in miracles, finds a the survey conducted by HCD Research and the Louis Finkelstein Institute for Religious and Social Studies of the Jewish Theological Seminary in NYC. Perhaps the most surprising finding is that 55% of doctors have ...read more

Tags: God In The Hardships

Teen Faith: A New Study By Scholars At The ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Jan 27, 2006

Teen Faith: A new study by scholars at the university of North Carolina at chapel Hill, finds that teens are really quite traditional faith. Only 3% say they don’t believe in God vs. 80% that say faith is important in their lives. Overall, kids prefer their parents religious groups. More than half ...read more

Tags: Children

New Alliance: Church Leaders From 30 ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Jan 27, 2006

New Alliance: Church leaders from 30 denominations have agreed on a proposal to create the broadest alliance of Christians ever formed in the U.S. It would represent 5 segments of U.S. Christianity (Evangelical/ Pentecostal, Historic Protestant, Orthodox, Racial/Ethnic and Roman Catholic). The ...read more

Tags: Church Body Of Christ

Christians Aren't Any Different

Contributed by Dr. Larry Petton on Mar 5, 2016

CHRISTIANS AREN’T ANY DIFFERENT “We find there is very little difference in ethical behavior between churchgoers and those who are not active religiously. The levels of lying, cheating, and stealing are similar in both groups. Eight out of ten Americans consider themselves Christians, Gallup ...read more

Scripture: 1 John 2:15-16

Tags: Morality, Ten Commandments, Church In America

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

The 60's Were Very Difficult Times In America. ...

Contributed by Charles Wallis on Nov 20, 2008

The 60’s were very difficult times in America. Morals were declining rapidly, Vietnam was an unpopular war. Many were advocating free love, drugs, and a sexual revolution. Out of those days of spiritual decay, God raised up a group called the "Jesus People." One man who was saved was Greg Laurie ...read more

Tags: Revival

Denomination: Pentecostal

Simplicity Brings Clarity To Our Lives And ...

Contributed by Jim Kane on Dec 3, 2008

Simplicity brings clarity to our lives and hearts. Worry begins to drop away because we stop worrying about things that cause us worry and focus on accomplishing God’s purposes in us. (Think: loving God and neighbor and helping others become disciples.) Simplicity narrows our focus from many ...read more

Tags: Materialism

Denomination: Church Of God

Stds ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Feb 13, 2009

STDs RAMPANT More than three million girls aged 14 to 19 have an STD. A new Center for Disease Control and Prevention study finds at least one in four U.S. teen girls has a sexually transmitted disease. Pro-family groups say sex-ed programs and the morning after pill ...read more

Tags: Sexuality

Bill Hybels And Soccer Coach (Across The Room ...  PRO

Contributed by Paul Wallace on Feb 22, 2007

Bill Hybels and Soccer Coach (Across the Room p30) Bill tells about his sons soccer coach (Brian). One day he felt prompted to leave the sideline and go introduce himself and help put the balls and equiptment away. He wasn’t thrilled to find out Bill was a pastor. After several months of ...read more

Denomination: Wesleyan

Mother Teresa, When Asked How She Had ...  PRO

Contributed by Mary Lewis on May 10, 2001

Mother Teresa, when asked how she had accomplished such great things in her life said this, "None of us can do anything great on our own, ...read more

Tags: Leadership General, Christian Love

Denomination: Baptist