Sermon Illustrations on Debt Of Sin

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The Deepwater Horizon Crisis and Our Need for a Savior

Author

Scripture

Romans 3:21-31, 1 John 1:7, Philippians 1:6, Ephesians 2:8-9, Colossians 2:13-14

In 2010, an oil rig named “Deepwater Horizon” suffered a catastrophic failure. Due to improper installation of the cement seal, a malfunctioning blowout preventer, and cost-cutting decisions by corpor...

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“No Fishing Allowed”

Author

Jerry Bridges

Keywords

Scripture

Romans 7:15-20, 1 John 1:9, Hebrews 10:26, Romans 8:1, 1 John 1:9, Lamentations 3:22-23

He hurls our sins overboard. What a picture of the way God treats our sins. Corrie ten Boom, a dear saint of the last century, used to say, “And then God put up a sign saying, `No fishing allowed.”‘ W...

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Thirty-one New Testament Descriptions of Sinful Mankind

Author

L. Meredith

Keywords

Sin

Scripture

Ephesians 4:18, John 12:40, 2 Corinthians 4:4, 1 John 2:11, Romans 8:6, Matthew 7:17-18, 1 Timothy 6:5, Matthew 6:23, John 3:19, Romans 1:21, 1 John 1:6-7, John 5:24, Colossians 2:13, 1 Timothy 5:6, 1 John 3:14, Titus 3:3, Isaiah 64:6, Titus 1:15, 2 Peter 2:20, Revelation 22:11, Romans 1:18, Matthew 7:23, Ephesians 2:3, James 4:4, Matthew 6:22, John 3:20, Matthew 7:26, Ephesians 5:15, 1 Peter 2:25, Matthew 6:2, Romans 2:5, Hebrews 3:8, 2 Thessalonians 2:12, 2 Timothy 3:4, 1 John 2:15, Romans 1:30, 1 Timothy 6:4, James 4:6, 1 Peter 5:5, John 3:35, 2 Timothy 4:4, Acts 7:51, John 8:44, 2 Timothy 3:2, Revelation 3:17, John 3:34, Romans 6:16-17, Romans 1:25, John 8:33, Romans 7:7, 1 Corinthians 6:9

Alienated from God (Eph. 4:18). Blind (John 12:40; 2 Cor. 4:4; 1 John 2:11). Carnally or fleshly minded (Rom. 8:6, 13). Corrupt (Matt. 7:17-18; 1 Tim. 6:5). Darkened (Matt. 6:23; John 3:19; Rom. 1...

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Clearing the Path to Grace

Author

Richard J. Foster

Keywords

Scripture

Isaiah 1:18, Ezekiel 36:26 , Micah 7:18-19 , 1 John 1:9, Luke 15:20-24, Psalm 51:10

To help us in our confession we may want to picture a path littered with many rocks. Some are small pebbles, others are quite large, and still others are almost completely buried so that we cannot kno...

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You Naughty, Naughty, Naughty People

Author

The Pastor's Workshop

Keywords

Scripture

Genesis 3:8-13, Isaiah 6:5-7, Nehemiah 9:1-3, 1 John 1:8-9, Psalm 51:1-4, Luke 18:9-14

In a talk about faith and doubt, the Irish Londoner Charlie Mackesy shares a humorous anecdote from a friend. This friend was attending a traditional Anglican worship service with his wife and their y...

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Sinner and Saints

Author

Stuart R. Strachan, Jr.

Keywords

Scripture

1 John 1:9, Luke 19:1-10, 1 John 1:8-9, Luke 18:9-14, Psalm 51:3-4, James 4:6-10, Psalm 32:5, Proverbs 28:13, 2 Chronicles 7:14, 1 John 1:9

Dwight Lyman, better known as D.L. Moody was a renowned evangelist, publisher, and preacher during the late 19th century. On one occasion, he was invited to guest preach at a local church. Soon after ...

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Behavior vs. Identity

Author

Bill Tell,

Keywords

Scripture

Romans 7:19, 1 John 1:8, Romans 8:1, Romans 1:7

A number of years ago I was discipling a young man who had recently been released from the state’s juvenile detention center. As a teenager he had been hooked on drugs, and he had resorted to stealing...

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"I Don't Remember"

Author

Ron Lee Davis

Keywords

Scripture

Romans 4:7-8, Ephesians 1:7, Jeremiah 31:34, 1 John 1:9, Hebrews 8:12, Micah 7:18-19

In A Forgiving God in an Unforgiving World , Ron Lee Davis shares a powerful story of forgiveness about a priest from the Philippines. The clergyman had carried the weight of one particular sin that ...

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C. S. Lewis and Despairing in Sanctification

Author

C. S. Lewis

Keywords

Scripture

1 John 1:9, 2 Corinthians 12:9, Philippians 1:6, Psalm 51:10-12, Galatians 6:9, Jude 1:24

As we try to live a life in obedience to God, the stubbornness of our sins can discourage and frighten us. If we are supposed to have a new heart, why are we still so broken? C.S. Lewis struggled with...

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Agreeing with God’s Words

Author

Richella J. Parham

Keywords

Scripture

1 John 1:9, Romans 10:9-10, Hebrews 4:14, Matthew 10:32, 2 Samuel 12:

I missed that confession is not just a commandment, not just one of the “steps to salvation”—it is a means of God’s grace. The word confess, which means to assent or agree, is the English translation ...

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Confession is not…

Author

Max Lucado

Keywords

Scripture

John 8:1-11, Romans 5:20, Proverbs 28:13, 1 John 1:9, John 21:15-17, Luke 18:13

Confession is not telling God what he doesn’t know. Impossible. Confession is not complaining. If I merely recite my problems and rehash my woes, I’m whining. Confession is not blaming. Pointing finge...

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Disregarding God’s Prohibitions

Author

Mark D. Roberts

Keywords

Scripture

Romans 6:1-2, 1 John 1:9, 1 Corinthians 6:18, James 1:14-15, Matthew 5:27-28, Hebrews 13:4, Proverbs 6:32

Some years ago I had a pastoral relationship with a couple of people who were deeply in love with each other. They believed that God wanted them to get married so they could consummate their love. The...

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A Messenger of the Divine Mercy

Author

John H. Baumgaertner

Keywords

Scripture

Isaiah 52:7, Acts 16:25-34, 1 John 1:9, Psalm 51:12, 2 Corinthians 5:20, John 3:17, Matthew 11:28-29

In a series of sermons for the Lenten season, pastor and author John H. Baumgaertner shares one of the greatest moments that can ever happen to a pastor, though, in truth it is available to all who ha...

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The One Thing Going For Us

Author

Andy Crouch

Keywords

Scripture

1 John 1:8-9, Galatians 2:21, 2 Corinthians 12:9, Psalm 51:17, Luke 18:13-14, Isaiah 64:6, Philippians 3:9

As for Christians, well, we really have just one thing going for us. We have publicly declared… that we are desperately in need of Another to give us his righteousness, to complete us, to live in us. ...

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Grace is the Secret to Self-Forgiveness

Author

John R. Claypool

Keywords

Scripture

Isaiah 1:18, Hebrews 4:15-16, Psalm 130:3-4, 1 John 1:7, Isaiah 43:25

We all have shadows and skeletons in our backgrounds. But listen, there is something bigger in this world than we are, and that something bigger is full of grace and mercy, patience and ingenuity. The...

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The Two Conflicting Instincts with Shame

Author

Heather Davis Nelson

Keywords

Scripture

Genesis 3:7-8, Proverbs 28:13, 1 John 1:7-9, James 5:16, Galatians 6:1-2

Shame has two conflicting instincts. It needs to isolate and hide, and it needs a community in which to be transparent. Hiding, of course, usually wins. It is the easier and more natural of the two. B...

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The Enemy is Us

Author

The Pastor's Workshop

Keywords

Scripture

Galatians 5:17, 1 John 1:8, Proverbs 4:23, Romans 7:18-19, Mark 7:21-23, James 1:14-15

In a famous Earth Day 1971 Pogo comic strip by Walt Kelly, the titular Pogo and his companion Porkypine are enjoying nature when they come upon a clearing filled with trash. Pogo says the iconic line,...

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The Golden Result

Author

Ken Sande

Keywords

Scripture

1 John 1:9, Luke 6:37, Romans 12:10, Proverbs 15:1, Colossians 3:13, Ephesians 4:32, James 5:16

The Golden Result is a corollary to the Golden Rule, which calls us to do to others as we would have them do to us. The Golden Result says that people will usually treat us as we treat them. If we bla...

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“He Was Against It”

Author

Paul Tan Lee

Keywords

Scripture

Ephesians 5:11, Galatians 5:19-21, Proverbs 6:16-19, 1 John 1:8-9, James 1:14-15, Isaiah 59:2

President Calvin Coolidge returned home from attending church early one Sunday afternoon. His wife had been unable to attend, but she was interested in what the minister spoke on in the service. Cooli...

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Dirty Boots

Author

The Pastor's Workshop

Keywords

Scripture

Proverbs 13:4, Ecclesiastes 9:10, Matthew 25:14-30, Philippians 3:13-14, James 1:22-25, 1 John 1:9, James 5:16

Pope John Paul I recounted a story about Jonathan Swift and his servant. One morning at an inn, Swift asked his servant why his boots hadn’t been cleaned. The servant replied, “I didn’t see the point,...

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Hanging Out in the Dark

Author

Stuart R. Strachan, Jr.

Keywords

Scripture

Colossians 1:13-14, Matthew 5:14-16, Romans 13:12, Isaiah 9:2, 1 John 1:5-7, Ephesians 5:11

A few years ago, a journalist named Joseph Blackman wrote an Op Ed on an interesting subject, “Why Clubs are Dark.” That is, why is it when you walk into a nightclub or a bar, the lights are off, or a...

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Can Anyone Hear Me?

Author

Andy Cook

Keywords

Scripture

1 Peter 5:7, Philippians 4:6-7, Matthew 6:25-27, Psalm 37:5, Psalm 46:1, 1 John 1:

When I think of the way God allows His servants to suffer, I can’t help but remember the classic story of poor Jack, who was out jogging. As he passed a cliff, he got a little too close to the edge, a...

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I Couldn’t in Good Conscience…

Author

Stuart R. Strachan, Jr.

Keywords

Scripture

Matthew 5:37, Leviticus 6:4-5, 1 John 1:9, Philippians 2:12-13, John 16:13, Galatians 5:18, Romans 14:5

The British poet Thomas Campbell, attending a horse race with some friends, bet one of them (Thomas Wilson) £50 that the horse Yellow Cap, would come in first place. After the race ended, Campbell, th...

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The Cave

Author

William Rowley

Keywords

Scripture

1 Corinthians 12:8-12, John 1:, John 17:18, Philippians 2:6-11, 1 John 1:7, Romans 8:1, Colossians 1:13-14

The Cave One of the most famous passages in Plato's Republic is his "Allegory of the Cave," which is found at the beginning of book seven . Socrates imagines the human condition al...

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Persuading Ourselves of the Truth

Author

Stuart R. Strachan, Jr.

Keywords

Scripture

Isaiah 5:20, Galatians 6:3, 2 Timothy 3:13, Proverbs 12:15, Romans 1:21, 1 John 1:8

When we observe evil, sinful behavior from a distance, the inclination is simply to see people as acting with malicious intent. We assume they are “bad people.” But often the motivations that lead to ...

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Forgiveness & Courage in Early Christian Martyrs

Author

The Pastor's Workshop

Keywords

Scripture

Matthew 6:14-15, Colossians 3:12-13, 2 Timothy 4:7-8, Matthew 10:32-33, Ephesians 4:31-32, Mark 11:25, 1 John 1:7, Matthew 18:21-35, Matthew 5:23-24

In the second century, a priest from Antioch named Sulpicius had steadfastly refused to sacrifice to the gods, even under torture, and was being led away to be beheaded. As he walked, a Christian name...

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What is Wrong with the World Today?

Author

John Blanchard

Keywords

Scripture

James 4:8, Ecclesiastes 7:20, Romans 3:10-12, 1 John 1:8, Isaiah 53:6, Jeremiah 17:9, Romans 3:23

“What is wrong with the world today?” a Times newspaper editorial once asked. G. K. Chesterton wrote in reply, “Dear sirs, I am. Yours faithfully, G.K. Chesterton.”

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Our Problem

Author

Brant P. Hansen

Keywords

Scripture

Psalm 14:2-3, Ecclesiastes 7:20, Luke 18:9-14, 1 John 1:8, Romans 3:23, Jeremiah 17:9, Isaiah 64:6

Dear Everybody, We have a serious problem: All of us think we’re good people. But Jesus says we’re not. Sincerely, Brant P. Hansen …PS. IF YOU THINK I’M WRONG—about how we think we’re good people...

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Why Space is Dark

Author

Mia Levetan

Keywords

Scripture

1 Corinthians 6:19, 1 Peter 2:9, 2 Corinthians 4:6, Ephesians 5:8-10, Matthew 5:14-16, 1 John 1:5-7

Astrophysicist Neil Degrasse Tyson taught me why space is dark. Why does our sun not light up space? The answer is fairly simple: light needs something to reflect off of. Sunlight from our sun and oth...

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Koinonitus

Author

John Ortberg

Keywords

Scripture

Ezekiel 47:9, Galatians 6:2, Romans 12:4-5, Matthew 28:19-20, 1 John 1:7

The ancient Greek word for intimate fellowship is koinonia. In the church, we can suffer from what might be called koinonitus: fellowship turned in on itself; cliques and enclaves and tight-knit group...

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