《Sermon Illustrations (D~F)》(a compilation) table of contents
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- EVIDENCE
Statistics and StuffEvangelism is communicating the gospel of Jesus Christ with the immediate intent of converting the hearer to faith in Christ, and with the ultimate intent of instructing the convert in the Word of God so that he can become a mature believer. Evangelism, A Biblical Approach, M. Cocoris, Moody, 1984, p. 14 How then should evangelism be defined? The N.T. answer is very simple. According to the N.T., evangelism is just preaching the gospel, the evangel. Evangelizing, therefore is not simply a matter of teaching, and instructing, and imparting information to the mind. There is more to it than that. Evangelism includes the endeavor to elicit a response to the truth taught. It is communication with a view to conversion. It is a matter, not merely of informing, but also of inviting. J.I. Packer, Evangelism and the Sovereignty of God, pp. 41, 50. 
A survey done by sociologists Glock and Stark found that among evangelicals, over 1/2 of their close friends are likely to belong to the same congregation, whereas among liberal churchgoers, such as Presbyterians and Congregationalists, few or none of their close friends are likely to be members of their local church. Rifkin and Howard, The Emerging Order, p. 115.
Pollsters report that 72 percent of Americans don't know their next-door neighbors. Bill McKibben, in "the Age of Missing Information", Signs of the Times, February, 1994.
In a yet-to-be-released poll, George Gallup, Jr., reported seven needs of the average American: 1. The need for shelter and food, 2. The need to believe life is meaningful and has a purpose, 3. The need for a sense of community and deeper relationships, 4. The need to be appreciated and respected, 5. The need to be listened to and be heard, 6. The need to feel one is growing in faith, 7. The need for practical help in developing a mature faith. National and International Religion Report, May 29, 1991.
Hence we find in non-Christian religions a restless sense of the hostility of the powers of the universe; an undefined feeling of guilt, and all sorts of merit-making techniques designed to get rid of it; a dread of death, and a consuming anxiety to feel that one has conquered it; forms of worship aimed at once to placate, bribe, and control the gods, and to make them keep their distance, except when wanted; an alarming readiness to call moral evil good, and good evil, in the name of religion; an ambivalent attitude of mind which seems both to seek God and to seek to evade him in the same act. Therefore in our evangelistic dialogue with people of non-Christian religions, our task must be to present the biblical revelation of God in Christ -- not as supplementing them but as explaining their existence, exposing their errors, and judging their inadequacy. James Packer, Your Father Loves You, Harold Shaw Publishers, 1986.
Nineteenth century Scottish preacher Horatius Bonar asked 253 Christian friends at what ages they were converted. Here's what he discovered: Under 20 years of age - 138 (54.5%) Between 20 and 30 - 85 (33.6%) Between 30 and 40 - 22 (8.7%) Between 40 and 50 - 4 (1.6%) Between 50 and 60 - 3 (1.2%) Between 60 and 70 - 1 (.4%) Over 70 - 0 Our Daily Bread.
PoemsReturn the Cross to Golgotha I simply argue that the cross be raised again at the center of the marketplace as well as on the steeple of the church. I am recovering the claim that Jesus was not crucified in a cathedral between two candles; But on a cross between two thieves: on a town garbage heap; at a crossroad of politics so cosmopolitan that they had to write His title in Hebrew and in Latin and in Greek... And at the kind of place where cynics talk smut, and thieves curse and soldiers gamble. Because that is where He died, and that is what He died about. And that is where Christ's men ought to be, and what church people ought to be about. Source Unknown.
For God so loved the world, not just a few, The wise and great, the noble and the true, Or those of favored class or rank or hue. God loved the world. Do you? Source Unknown. EVIDENCEA young American engineer was sent to Ireland by his company to work in a new electronics plant. It was a two-year assignment that he had accepted because it would enable him to earn enough to marry his long-time girlfriend. She had a job near her home in Tennessee, and their plan was to pool their resources and put a down payment on a house when he returned. They corresponded often, but as the lonely weeks went by, she began expressing doubts that he was being true to her, exposed as he was to comely Irish lasses. The young engineer wrote back, declaring with some passion that he was paying absolutely no attention to the local girls. "I admit," he wrote, "that sometimes I'm tempted. But I fight it. I'm keeping myself for you." In the next mail, the engineer received a package. It contained a note from his girl and a harmonica. "I'm sending this to you," she wrote, "so you can learn to play it and have something to take your mind off those girls." The engineer replied, "Thanks for the harmonica. I'm practicing on it every night and thinking of you." At the end of his two-year stint, the engineer was transferred back to company headquarters. He took the first plane to Tennessee to be reunited with his girl. Her whole family was with her, but as he rushed forward to embrace her, she held up a restraining hand and said sternly, "Just hold on there a minute, Billy Bob. Before any serious kissin' and huggin' gets started here, let me hear you play that harmonica!" Bits& Pieces, October 15, 1992, pp. 17-18. Directory: Topics Topics -> ES18 topics intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (ipcc) Working Group I Topics -> Non-Governmental Organizations And Their Relation to Transboundary Water Resources Topics -> United Nations Peacekeeping Operations and Mandatory hiv testing August 1996 Topics -> Policy Options for Connecting and Enabling the Next Billion Download 1.31 Mb. Share with your friends:
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