Sermon Illustrations on The American Dream

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The Price of the American Dream

Author

Keywords

Scripture

Matthew 6:19-21, 1 Timothy 6:6-8, Proverbs 23:4-5, Ecclesiastes 5:10, Luke 12:15

USA Today published a report in 2014 that put a price tag on the American Dream: $130,000 a year, which includes a nice six-figure salary, luxury vacations, college savings, and retirement.

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Honoring and Leaving

Author

A. J. Swoboda

Keywords

Scripture

Exodus 20:12, Jeremiah 35:18–19, Proverbs 22:1, Philippians 2:3–4, Matthew 6:1, Psalm 37:5–6

The challenge each of these faced in their deconstruction—and what we may face—is walking the tightrope between becoming our own person and honoring our past. In The Homeless Mind , sociologist P...

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When Success looks like Failure

Author

Donna Barber

Keywords

Scripture

Matthew 6:19-21, Matthew 16:26, Philippians 3:7-8, Proverbs 16:8, Luke 12:15, Proverbs 23:4-5, Ecclesiastes 4:7-8

Sometimes our successes can be more devastating than our failures. We fight, strain, and struggle in pursuit of something or someone that looks to be good, and after days or months or years, we obtain...

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Success vs. Excellence (Part II)

Author

Jon Johnston

Keywords

Scripture

Matthew 16:26, Proverbs 16:3, Matthew 6:19-21

Success offers a hoped-for future goal. Excellence provides a striven-for present standard. Success bases our worth on a comparison with others. Excellence gauges our value by measuring us against ...

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In the Midst of Abundance

Author

Adam S. McHugh

Keywords

Scripture

Deuteronomy 30:19-20, Joshua 24:15, Matthew 6:24, Luke 10:41-42, Matthew 7:13-14 , Psalm 16:11

I had a memorable lunch a few years ago with my friends Mike and Claudia, who had recently returned from Malawi, a small country in southeastern Africa. We were sitting in a booth at one of those chai...

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An Unforgettable Funeral

Author

Tony Campolo

Keywords

Scripture

Matthew 16:26, Luke 12:16-21, Ecclesiastes 5:10-15, Matthew 6:19-21, Luke 12:15, 1 Timothy 6:7, Mark 10:24-25

I heard of a funeral in California where a man requested to be buried seated behind the wheel of a brand new Cadillac, dressed in a tuxedo, with a two-dollar cigar in his mouth. He left the money to i...

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Without Applause, I die

Author

Ryan P. Tinetti

Keywords

Scripture

James 3:16, 1 John 2:16, John 5:44, Matthew 6:1, Philippians 2:3

There’s undeniably a dark side to restless ambition, however. You can see it in dramatic fashion in the documentary Conan O’Brien Can’t Stop , which follows the comedian on tour after he left the To...

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Enough

Author

John C. Bogle

Keywords

Scripture

Matthew 6:33, Ecclesiastes 4:6, Proverbs 30:8-9, Psalm 23:1, Hebrews 13:5, 1 Timothy 6:6-8, Philippians 4:11-12

At a party given by a billionaire on Shelter Island, Kurt Vonnegut informs his pal, Joseph Heller, that their host, a hedge fund manager, has made more money in a single day than Heller had earned fro...

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The #1 Disciple

Author

John Ortberg

Keywords

Scripture

Matthew 6:25-34, Galatians 1:10, Philippians 2:3-4, Matthew 23:1-12, 2 Thessalonians 1:11-12, James 4:1-10, 1 Peter 5:1-11

Harold Kushner wrote about a very bright, driven pre-med student at a very competitive college. While traveling in the East the summer before his junior year, he met a guru who said, “Don’t you see yo...

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A Pile of Stuff with A Cover

Author

Jeff Manion

Keywords

Scripture

Luke 12:15, Mark 4:19, Hebrews 13:5, Luke 16:13, Matthew 6:24, Matthew 19:21-24, Mark 10:21-25, Luke 20:22-25

In his classic monologue, comedian George Carlin riffed on the mountain of stuff we compile. His assertion is that a “house is just a pile of stuff with a cover on it.” So when you get right down to ...

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Giving Away What Wasn’t His

Author

The Chicago Tribune

Keywords

Scripture

1 John 3:17-18, Malachi 3:10, Proverbs 22:9, James 2:15-17, Matthew 6:21, Acts 20:35

When 67-year-old carpenter Russell Herman died in 1994, his will included a staggering set of bequests. Included in his plan for distribution was more than two billion dollars for the City of East St....

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A Phone Call Away

Author

D. Michael Lindsay

Keywords

Scripture

Romans 8:28, Matthew 6:34, Job 1:21, Psalm 46:1, James 4:14, Proverbs 27:1, Ecclesiastes 9:11

I interviewed Jamie Dimon, current CEO of JPMorgan Chase (the largest bank in the United States) and previous cofounder of the financial services conglomerate Citigroup (the third largest). While at C...

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Mammon: The Worst Species of Idol

Author

Andrew Carnegie

Keywords

Scripture

Matthew 6:24, 1 Timothy 6:9-10, Colossians 3:5, Psalm 115:4-8, Matthew 13:22, Mark 8:36, Ecclesiastes 2:11

Andrew Carnegie rose to become among the world's richest individuals through his steel empire. In the midst of this acquisition of massive wealth at just thirty-three years old—Carnegie conducted ...

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The Two Runners

Author

The Pastor's Workshop

Keywords

Scripture

Matthew 6:33, Colossians 3:23, Psalm 39:6, Luke 12:15, Acts 15:29, Matthew 5:14-16, Ephesians 2:10, 1 Corinthians 10:31, Jeremiah 9:23-24, Matthew 16:24, Luke 9:62, 2 Corinthians 4:8-9, James 1:12, Romans 8:16-17, Galatians 2:20

The true story of Eric Liddell and Harold Abrahams, two British sprinters who qualified for the 1924 Olympic Games, illustrates two contrasting approaches to life and identity. Abrahams was driven by ...

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What Drives Success?

Author

Donald Miller

Keywords

Scripture

Matthew 6:25-34, Galatians 1:10, Philippians 2:3-4, Matthew 23:1-12, Romans 12:2

In his book, Scary Close , Donald Miller acknowledges that over time he developed a mask, or a persona that kept even those closest to him from experiencing with him. As he began to peel back layers ...

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One Mile at a Time

Author

The Pastor's Workshop

Keywords

Scripture

Exodus 16:4, 1 Kings 17:8-16, Joshua 3:14-17 , Matthew 6:34, Philippians 4:6-7, Psalm 119:105

Journalist Eric Severeid recalls a valuable lesson he learned at seventeen while preparing for an ambitious journey. He and a friend had set out to canoe from Minneapolis to the historic fur-trading p...

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Surrounded by Possessions

Author

Jeff Manion

Keywords

Scripture

Matthew 6:19-21, Luke 12:33-34, Luke 12:15, Hebrews 13:5, 1 Timothy 6:6-8, Luke 16:13, Matthew 6:24

Members of the Natomo family sit on the flat roof of their mud house in Mali, Africa, posing for their early morning photograph. Their earthly belongings are arrayed in front of them. Two kettles, pla...

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The Big and Little Choices

Author

Michael Lewis

Keywords

Scripture

Proverbs 16:9, Psalm 37:23-24, Isaiah 30:21, Luke 16:10, Matthew 6:34, Ecclesiastes 9:11

The pioneering work of Israeli psychologists Daniel Kahneman and Amos Tversky has been popularized in recent years by the gamut of notable thinkers, including Malcolm Gladwell (Blink) and, in this cas...

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Discovering Simplicity

Author

Harvard Stephens

Keywords

Scripture

Philippians 4:11-12, Hebrews 13:5, 1 Timothy 6:6-5, Proverbs 30:8-9, Matthew 6:33

During a retreat at the Taizé compound in France, a young American shared a remarkable discovery. He said: “Back home, surrounded by all my possessions, I often feel uncertain about many things. Here,...

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The Opiate of the People?

Author

Augustus Nicodemus Lopes

Keywords

Scripture

Revelation 21:1-2, 2 Peter 3:13, Titus 2:13, Romans 8:18, Isaiah 65:17, Matthew 6:10

Some people call religion the opiate of the people. Karl Marx had Christianity and our eschatological hope in mind when he said that. Some contend that pointing to the future as the Christian’s ultima...

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What We Get Wrong About Happiness

Author

Shawn Achor

Keywords

Scripture

Proverbs 16:20, Nehemiah 8:10, Philippians 4:4, John 15:11, Psalm 37:4, Matthew 6:33

If you observe the people around you, you’ll find most individuals follow a formula that has been subtly or not so subtly taught to them by their schools, their company, their parents, or society. Tha...

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The Debt Clock

Author

The Pastor's Workshop

Keywords

Scripture

Psalm 130:3–4, Leviticus 25:10 , Nehemiah 5:1–13 , Deuteronomy 15:1–2 , Matthew 6:12 , Romans 13:8

If you are ever in the mood to feel overwhelmed, discouraged, and downright depressed, hail a cab to the corner of Avenue of the Americas and West 44th Street in New York City. There, you’ll find the ...

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Born to Give

Author

Randy Alcorn

Keywords

Scripture

Galatians 6:9-10, Ecclesiastes 11:1-2, Matthew 6:3-4, Acts 20:35, Proverbs 11:25, Luke 19:8, 1 Timothy 6:17-18

Investor T. Boone Pickens talked about how good it feels to give. He said, “I was put here to make money so I could give it away.” I heard a nearly giddy Warren Buffet, then the second or third riches...

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The Music Must Always Play

Author

Fleming Rutledge

Keywords

Scripture

Isaiah 41:10, Psalm 56:3, 2 Timothy 1:7, Deuteronomy 31:6, Matthew 6:25-34, 1 John 4:18, Luke 1:30

As Europe plunged ever deeper into a second world war, the British poet W.H. Auden composed a poem (“September 1, 1939”) that peels back our human tendency to cover up all fear and uncertainty with se...

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The Sense of an Ending

Author

James Bryan Smith

Keywords

Scripture

Colossians 3:23-24, 1 Corinthians 3:6-9, Matthew 6:19-21, 1 Corinthians 15:58, Galatians 6:9, 1 John 3:2, Romans 8:18, 2 Corinthians 4:17-18

Life is short, and we can accomplish only so much. Much of what we do will remain unfinished. For now. In one of my favorite short stories of all time, “Leaf by Niggle,” author J. R. R. Tolkien provid...

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The Empty Chest

Author

The Pastor's Workshop

Keywords

Scripture

Ecclesiastes 5:10-11, Proverbs 11:24-25, Matthew 6:19-21, Luke 12:15-21, Psalm 62:10

There is an old legend about a rich, yet selfish old man who kept all of his wealth hidden away in a secret chest in the darkest corner of his attic. Each night, when he was sure no one was watching, ...

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The Origins of “Servant Leadership”

Author

The Pastor's Workshop

Keywords

Scripture

Philippians 2:5-8, Mark 10:45, John 13:3-5, 12-15 , Matthew 25:21, Colossians 3:23-24, Matthew 6:3-4, 1 Peter 5:5-6

The Swiss-German novelist Hermann Hesse published a short story in 1932 called "Journey to the East." In it, a group of men go on a long journey. Throughout their trip, they are accompanied ...

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My Gift to You

Author

The Pastor's Workshop

Keywords

Scripture

Psalm 119:36, Acts 20:35, Luke 21:1-4, Matthew 6:1-4, Exodus 35:21

One day, the famous surrealist painter Salvador Dalí walked into a New York bookstore and asked for a copy of his own autobiography, The Secret Life of Salvador Dalí . The young clerk immediately...

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Holding on to the Extreme

Author

Linda Evans Shepherd

Keywords

Scripture

Matthew 6:19-21, 1 Timothy 6:9-10, Luke 12:15, Matthew 16:26

Have you ever seen an episode of the A&E TV show Hoarders? It’s a show about perfectly normal-looking people who live in perfectly normal-looking houses who become overwhelmed by their possessions...

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This-Sidedness and Other-Sidedness

Author

Thomas Kelly

Keywords

Scripture

Micah 6:8, Colossians 3:2, Isaiah 58:10, John 6:27, James 2:15-17, Matthew 6:33

In his excellent little book, A Testament of Devotion , written almost a hundred years ago, Thomas Kelly describes the tension that all ministries must live in; the focus on this world or the wor...

Sermon Illustrations on the american dream

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