Sermon Illustrations on Power Of Sin

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The Strength of Catechisms

Author

Keywords

Scripture

James 1:22-24, Matthew 7:24-27, Colossians 3:16, 2 Timothy 3:16-17, Hebrews 5:12-14

I’m a huge advocate of catechisms, for example, having used this approach with my kids. I even wrote one. The strength of a catechism isn’t in memorizing the questions and answers of the catechism; th...

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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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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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Can you Grasp the Word of God?

Author

The Pastor's Workshop

Keywords

Scripture

Jeremiah 20:9 , Deuteronomy 6:4–9, Isaiah 55:10–11, Hebrews 4:12, 2 Timothy 3:16–17, Psalm 119:105

There’s a story that used to make the rounds about the German theologian Paul Tillich. Tillich’s theology was considered dangerous by many Christians in the U.S. Supposedly one time after delivering a...

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Not Getting the Message

Author

Andy Cook

Keywords

Scripture

James 1:22-24, 2 Timothy 3:16-17, 2 Timothy 2:15, Philippians 4:9, Joshua 1:8, Matthew 7:24-25, Colossians 3:16

Reading the Bible without applying it to your life can be downright dangerous. On August 3, 1996, Melvin Hitchens, sat on his front porch and read the Bible. After his Bible reading, this 66 year old ...

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A Conscience Held Captive by the Word of God

Author

R. C. Sproul

Keywords

Scripture

Jeremiah 20:7–11 , 1 Kings 22:13–28 , Exodus 32:19–26 , Acts 5:27–29, 2 Timothy 3:14–17, Psalm 119:89–93

When asked to recant of his writings, Luther replied, “Unless I am convinced by sacred Scripture or by evident reason, I cannot recant. For my conscience is held captive by the word of God and to act ...

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The Greatest Imaginable Number of Readings

Author

David Hare

Keywords

Scripture

Matthew 22:21, Isaiah 5:8-9, John 6:63, Matthew 22:15-22, John 8:1-11, Colossians 2:2-3, 2 Timothy 3:16-17

Jesus Christ was prone to making comments which seem to support an almost infinite variety of exegesis. A remark like ‘Render unto Caesar the things that are Caesars and ‘unto God the things that are ...

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Christian Persecution & The Real Power

Author

John Dickson

Keywords

Scripture

Matthew 5:10-12, John 15:18-20, 2 Timothy 3:12, Acts 14:22, Romans 8:35-37, 1 Peter 4:12-14, 2 Corinthians 12:9-10, Acts 1:8, Romans 8:11, Isaiah 41:10

What is the witness of the church in times of persecution? The historical record demonstrates that persecutions of Christians were regular and prolific in the first centuries of the church, especially...

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Take up and Read

Author

The Pastor's Workshop

Keywords

Scripture

Romans 13:13-14, Psalm 119:105, 2 Timothy 3:16-17, Hebrews 4:12, Isaiah 55:10-11

In Book Eight of Confessions , St. Augustine recounts how, in a state of deep inner turmoil, he “heard from a nearby house a voice, as of a boy or girl, I know not which, chanting repeatedly, ‘Ta...

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Not a Painting on the Wall, but a Window

Author

John Piper

Keywords

The Bible

Scripture

2 Timothy 3:16-17, Romans 15:4, Isaiah 55:11, Hebrews 4:12-13, 2 Peter 1:19-21, Matthew 4:4, Matthew 24:35

In the book A Peculiar Glory , John Piper describes how he maintained a traditional view of scripture, even after he went on to advanced theological studies in California and Germany. He describes hi...

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An Expert in Biblical Trivia

Author

Leonard Sweet

Keywords

Scripture

Psalm 118:8, Ezra 7:21, 2 Timothy 3:16-17, Romans 15:4, Isaiah 55:11, Hebrews 4:12-13, 2 Peter 1:19-21, Matthew 4:4, Matthew 24:35

The prince of Grenada, an heir to the Spanish crown, was sentenced to life in solitary confinement in Madrid’s ancient prison. The dreadful, dirty, and dreary nature of the place earned it the name, “...

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A Surprising Conversion

Author

Dietrich Bonhoeffer

Keywords

Scripture

Matthew 5:1-48, Matthew 6:1-34, Matthew 7:1-29, 2 Timothy 3:16-17, Romans 15:4, Isaiah 55:11, Hebrews 4:12-13, Matthew 4:4, Matthew 24:35

After a sojourn in the United States where he experienced the vibrancy of Black churches, Dietrich Bonhoeffer returned to Germany in 1931 to teach at the University of Berlin. His pastoral ministry co...

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Will Cain Kill Abel?

Author

The Pastor's Workshop

Keywords

Scripture

Genesis 4:1-16, Hebrews 11:4, 1 John 3:12, 2 Timothy 3:16, Psalm 119:105

Some years ago when radio was still a primary source of entertainment, a French dramatist was commissioned to write the script for the debut episode of a Bible study radio series. For the most part, ...

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Remembering the Ten Commandments

Author

Robert Jeffress

Keywords

Scripture

Psalm 119:11, Colossians 3:16, Deuteronomy 11:18, 2 Timothy 3:16

Quickly—without checking Google or your Bible—name as many of the Ten Commandments as you can. Go ahead . . . I’ll wait. How did you do? If you struggled to remember them, you’re not alone. According ...

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The Survival of Scripture

Author

The Pastor's Workshop

Keywords

Scripture

Isaiah 40:8, 2 Timothy 3:16, Joshua 1:8, Isaiah 55:11, Matthew 5:18

Nahum Sarna points out in Understanding Genesis that it is a remarkable fact that the Old Testament exists at all. Most ancient texts have not survived. Ancient Israel did not spread its works by mi...

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A Vast Geographical Basin

Author

Richard J. Foster

Keywords

The Bible

Scripture

2 Timothy 3:16-17, Psalm 119:105, Hebrews 4:12, John 4:14

The Bible is like a vast geographical basin in which tributary streams feed into the currents of a parent river on its course to the ocean. The riverbanks are interspersed with openings where the trib...

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Writing out our Faith

Author

Stuart R. Strachan, Jr.

Keywords

Scripture

2 Timothy 3:16-17, Romans 15:4, Isaiah 55:11, Hebrews 4:12-13, 2 Peter 1:19-21, Matthew 4:4, Matthew 24:35

We all desire to learn from our role models, but some take this ambition to the next level. The writer Hunter S. Thompson was so obsessed with the writings of F. Scott Fitzgerald, and specifically his...

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Seeking a Spiritual Home in the Bible

Author

Kathleen Norris

Keywords

Scripture

2 Timothy 3:16-17, Romans 15:4, Isaiah 55:11, Hebrews 4:12-13, 2 Peter 1:19-21, Matthew 4:4, Matthew 24:35

Many people these days feel an absence in their lives, expressed as an acute desire for “something more,” a spiritual home, a community of faith. But when they try to read the Bible they end up throwi...

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Haters of Humanity?

Author

Stuart R. Strachan, Jr.

Keywords

Scripture

Acts 8:1-3, 2 Timothy 3:12, 1 Peter 4:12-16, Matthew 5:10-12, Luke 6:41-42, Genesis 3:8-19, Genesis 39:6-20, Job 2:11-13, Job 42:7-9

Most of us are aware of various persecutions that took place during the first few centuries of the church’s existence. One particularly brutal local persecution took place during the reign of Nero, wh...

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When the Minister is the Skeptic

Author

James Bryan Smith

Keywords

Scripture

2 Timothy 3:5, 2 Timothy 4:3-4, Titus 1:16, Galatians 1:8, Jeremiah 2:13

I grew up as a Christmas and Easter Methodist. Our family called ourselves Christians, but it was not an important part of our lives. I found church boring. When I turned eighteen, something happened ...

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The Bible Needs to be Read in Context

Author

Vaughan Roberts

Keywords

Scripture

Psalm 119:160, Luke 24:27, Isaiah 55:11, Acts 17:11, 2 Timothy 3:16-17

With the exception of some of the Proverbs, the Bible does not contain isolated sayings. I should be wary about dipping into it at random and extracting individual verses without any regard for their ...

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Did Nietzsche say God is Dead?

Author

Brian Zahnd

Keywords

Scripture

Isaiah 29:13, Judges 2:10-13 , 1 Samuel 8:4-9, Matthew 23:27-28 , 2 Timothy 3:1-5 , Psalm 10:4

Even though it’s now associated with him, Nietzsche didn’t coin the phrase God is dead. As the son of a Lutheran pastor, he would have heard that line in a Lutheran Holy Saturday hymn. And although...

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Is the Bible More Like a Rule Book or a Compass?

Author

Jeff Myers

Keywords

Scripture

2 Timothy 3:16-17, Romans 15:4, Isaiah 55:11, Hebrews 4:12-13, 2 Peter 1:19-21, Matthew 4:4, Matthew 24:35

The Bible contains rules, but it’s not helpful to think of it as a rule book. As important as rule books are, they don’t inspire devotion. Imagine curling up with a cup of coffee and your company’s em...

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Eat This Book

Author

Eugene Peterson

Keywords

Scripture

2 Timothy 3:16-17, Romans 15:4, Hebrews 4:12-13, 2 Peter 1:19-21, Matthew 4:4, Matthew 4:4, Matthew 24:35

Christians feed on Scripture. Holy Scripture nurtures the holy community as food nurtures the human body. Christians don’t simply learn or study or use Scripture; we assimilate it, take it into our li...

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The Bible Outlives its Pallbearers

Author

Charles Colson

Keywords

The Bible

Scripture

2 Timothy 3:16-17, Romans 15:4, Isaiah 55:11, Hebrews 4:12-13, 2 Peter 1:19-21, Matthew 4:4, Matthew 24:35, Isaiah 40:8

The Bible has, amazingly—no doubt with supernatural grace—survived its critics. Thirty to sixty million copies are produced annually. The harder tyrants try to eliminate it and skeptics dismiss it, th...

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Who Knocked Down the Walls of Jericho?

Author

Vaughan Roberts

Keywords

Scripture

Joshua 6:1-27, Ephesians 4:25, Proverbs 12:22, 2 Timothy 3:16-17, Romans 15:4, Colossians 3:16

A police inspector went to visit a primary school, where he was asked to take a Scripture class. He began by asking, ‘Who knocked down the walls of Jericho?’ There was a long silence as the children s...

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What’s the Problem with Christians?

Keywords

Christians

Scripture

Philippians 1:27-28, Isaiah 29:13, Titus 1:16, 2 Timothy 3:12, Romans 12:17-18

I’ve asked strangers and casual acquaintances, “Why do Christians stir up such negative feelings?” Some bring up past atrocities, such as the widespread belief that the church executed eight or nine m...

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Thomas Jefferson’s Bible

Author

James Bryan Smith

Keywords

Scripture

Matthew 5:18, John 1:1-14, Colossians 2:9, 1 Corinthians 15:20-22, Philippians 2:9-11, 2 Timothy 3:16-17, Hebrews 4:12, 2 Peter 1:20-21

The great American statesman and president Thomas Jefferson was a man of science who did not believe in miracles but really liked Jesus. Unfortunately, right next to Jesus’ ethical teachings are stori...

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The Bible a Great Comfort

Author

Andy Cook

Keywords

Scripture

2 Timothy 3:16-17, Romans 15:4, Isaiah 55:11, Hebrews 4:12-13, 2 Peter 1:19-21, Matthew 4:4, Matthew 24:35, Isaiah 41:8-10, 2 Corinthians 1:3-4, Psalm 46:, Genesis 37:12-36, 1 Samuel 19:, 1 Samuel 20:, 2 Corinthians 11:23-30, 2 Corinthians 4:17, Acts 21:27-36

For seven years, Terry Anderson was held as a hostage of Shiite Muslim fundamentalists. The former reporter for the Associated Press had been taken captive and held as a political prisoner, and for se...

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On Heaven and Hell

Author

Source Unknown

Keywords

Scripture

Exodus 32:null, Numbers 16:null, 2 Thessalonians 1:5-10, Mark 10:15, 2 Timothy 3:16, Romans 10:9

There’s a story of a young girl on a plane who was reading her Bible, and there was a businessman sitting next to her. He looked over to her and he said, you don’t really believe that do you?” And she...

Sermon Illustrations on power of sin

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