In Sermon Illustrations: "translating"

Remember Robin Williams In That Hilarious Movie, ...

Contributed by Bud Rose on Nov 26, 2005

Remember Robin Williams in that hilarious movie, "Mom Forever?" What? Don’t remember that one? Well, that’s what they call it in Italy, anyway. We know it better as Mrs. Doubtfire. Some American-made movies and TV shows end up with very different names by the time they reach foreign turf. Often, ...read more

Tags: Dealing With Conflicts

Denomination: Pentecostal

Clarence Jordan, Author Of The "Cotton Patch" New ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Dec 22, 2005

Clarence Jordan, author of the “Cotton Patch” New Testament translation and founder of the interracial Koinonia farm in Americus, Georgia, was getting a red-carpet tour of another minister’s church. With pride the minister pointed to the rich, imported pews and luxurious decoration. As they stepped ...read more

Tags: Humility

The Most Common Reasons Donors Discontinue ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Jan 6, 2006

The most common reasons donors discontinue giving: · 53% Don’t have the money · 30% Don’t know how the money is used · 27% Don’t know the ministry accomplishments · 23% Ministry spends too much on fund raising · 22% Don’t understand the ministry’s purpose Of course every reason has a reason behind ...read more

Tags: Giving General

Evangelism?

Contributed by Sermon Central on Apr 14, 2009

EVANGELISM? A 4-year study funded by the Lily Endowment designed to identify and analyze highly effective examples of evangelism by congregations in 7 mainline denominations reached two primary findings: (1) Of the 30,000 churches that qualified for the Mainline Evangelism Project, only 1/2 of 1% ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 28:16-20

Tags: Evangelism The Lost

That Cross Alone

Contributed by Rodney Buchanan on May 29, 2011

THAT CROSS ALONE Clarence Jordan, author of the "Cotton Patch" New Testament translation, and founder of the interracial Koinonia farm in Americus, Georgia, was getting a red-carpet tour of another minister's church. With pride the minister pointed to the rich, imported furnishings and luxurious ...read more

Tags: Cross

Denomination: Methodist

William Carey Was An Impoverished English ...

Contributed by Paul Carlson on Feb 21, 2009

William Carey was an impoverished English shoemaker. . After William Carey (1761-1834) was well established in his pioneer missionary work in India, his supporters in England sent a printer to assist him. Soon the two men were turning out portions of the Bible for distribution. Carey had spent ...read more

Tags: Trials And Difficulties

Denomination: Baptist

Revelation And Ovaltine

Contributed by Johnny Wilson on Jun 27, 2009

REVELATION AND OVALTINE The word often translated "revelation" or as I translated it, "unveiling," could also be understood as "decoding." Ever heard of those Ovaltine Decoder Rings in the '40s? Ovaltine drink advertisements used to have a coded message on them (as did some of the Ovaltine radio ...read more

Tags: Holy Spirit In Believers

Denomination: *other

Joanne Shetler Spent Years In The Philippines ...

Contributed by Tim Spear on Dec 3, 2012

Joanne Shetler spent years in the Philippines with the Balangao people, translating the Bible into their language and trying to tell them the good news of the Savior. But it was slow going. One day Ama, a man who had “adopted” her as his Balangao daughter, picked up an English New Testament from ...read more

Tags: Missions

Denomination: Baptist

Child-Speak

Contributed by Sermon Central on Aug 6, 2010

CHILD-SPEAK Someone had noticed that the word "father" appears in the dictionary just before the word "fatigued" and just after the word "fathead." So to all us fatigued, fathead fathers, Happy Father's Day! *** One time a little boy was asked to define Father's Day and he said, "It's just like ...read more

Scripture: Proverbs 22:6

Tags: Father's Day

My Resolve For This Vision Is Reflected In The ...  PRO

Contributed by Michael Mccartney on Dec 23, 2003

My resolve for this vision is reflected in the prayer below: More than anything else in heaven or on earth, I pray for the power to love my fellow person, to break through the condemning bigotry, the crippling prejudice, the stifling self-centeredness that smothers God’s Spirit within me, and to ...read more

Scripture: John 16:24

Tags: Prayer Adoration, Prayer Supplication

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

With One Accord

Contributed by Marianne Unger on May 28, 2009

WITH ONE ACCORD But notice one very important phrase that some of the translations left out: "They were all with one accord in one place." This word in the Greek, "Homothumadon" has two parts to it--a sense of coming together, but in unison, in one accord. This word in the T.R., Homothumadon, ...read more

Scripture: Acts 1:14

Tags: Church Body Of Christ

Denomination: *other

Making Lemonade

Contributed by Perry Greene on Jan 13, 2012

MAKING LEMONADE Charles Goodyear went to jail for a contempt of court citation. Imprisoned, he went to work in the kitchen and worked on an idea in which he developed the method for vulcanizing rubber. Martin Luther was forced to stay in Wartburg Castle and his lemonade was his translation of the ...read more

Tags: Trials And Difficulties

Denomination: Christian/Church Of Christ

Bible Facts  PRO

Contributed by Brian Mavis on Jun 6, 2001

BIBLE FACTS: The system of chapters was introduced in A.D. 1238 by Cardinal Hugo de S. Caro, while the verse notations were added in 1551 by Robertus Stephanus, after the advent of printing. According to statistics from Wycliffe International, the Society of Gideons, and the International Bible ...read more

Tags: Bible Influence

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

Reformed Pastor Michael Horton, In His Book, "A ...  PRO

Contributed by Ed Vasicek on Jun 30, 2004

Reformed Pastor Michael Horton, in his book, "A Better Way: Rediscovering the Drama of God-Centered Worship writes: We are repeatedly told these days that music is the most important thing we do in worship. In fact, "worship" usually means singing or enjoying the singing of others. "Let’s just ...read more

Scripture: Psalm 100:1-5, Nehemiah 8:1-18, Nehemiah 8:1-18

Tags: Worship Definition, Worship Purpose

Denomination: Independent/Bible

There Was A Time When Anyone Who Read The Bible ...

Contributed by Ed Wood on Jun 10, 2005

There was a time when anyone who read the Bible in England did so at great risk. But a man by the name of Wycliffe saw in the Bible the remedy for the ills of his country. There was no English Bible in existence , so in the face of bitter opposition, he translated the Bible into English. People ...read more

Tags: Bible Influence

Denomination: Baptist

The Greek Origin Of The Word "Compassion" Is ...

Contributed by Brian Stevenson on Nov 24, 2006

The Greek origin of the word “compassion” is splangkh-nid’-zom-ahee (Splagchnizomai – Splagchnon means bowels or intestines). German Theologian, Karl Barth gives us a revealing look at to what this Greek word means: “The term obviously defies adequate translation. What it means is that the ...read more

Denomination: Vineyard

The Point: To Get Serious Results To Prayer, Get ...  PRO

Contributed by Sermon Central on Sep 8, 2007

[The Point: To get serious results to prayer, get serious about prayer.] Acts 12:1-19 (Herod imprisons Peter; prayer releases him.) Here are various translations of verse 5: "Peter therefore was kept in prison: but prayer was made without ceasing of the church unto God for him." (KJV) "So Peter ...read more

The £1.50 Hearing Aid

Contributed by Gordon Curley on Nov 15, 2010

THE £1.50 HEARING AID An elderly man stopped at a hearing aid centre and asked about prices. The salesman said, "We have them from £25,000 down to £1.50." "What's the £25,000 one like?" The salesman said, "Well, it translates three languages." "And what about the one for £1.50?" "It's this ...read more

Tags: Aging

Denomination: Brethren

Relationships Inside And Out

Contributed by Kevin Karhoff on Mar 5, 2013

RELATIONSHIPS INSIDE AND OUT If I saw our relationship (with his wife) as a bunch of rules I had to keep, I would quickly become bitter and miserable. I would likely rebel and break the rules when she wasn’t paying attention. But I am passionately in love with my wife and that translates into a ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 23:13-36

Tags: Jesus Christ

Denomination: Presbyterian/Reformed

Ignoring The Warnings  PRO

Contributed by David Parks on Feb 24, 2005

Ignoring the Warnings. Several years ago, a close frind gave me a old hand bill. It was one of thousands that were supposed be dropped over Japan before the first Atomic bombs were droped. One side was a picture of bombers dropping thier deadly cargo. The other side was in Japanese and the third ...read more

Scripture: 2 Peter 3:9-14

Tags: Second Coming

Denomination: Christian/Church Of Christ