Sermon Central
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Jim Butcher
Contributing sermons since Nov 13, 2000
Newest Sermons
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Is It Naïve To Be Hopeful Amid All The Despair?
Contributed on Jul 7, 2020
The book of Amos contains some challenging and painful truths. Now, as the book ends, there is a word of hope. It speaks to us in our worry: is it naive for us to be hopeful amid all this world's despair?
- Set up a collapsed tent on state where the pulpit normally is. This is the image for the sermon. LIVING IN FRAUGHT TIME: Right now there is much to worry over. - Amos 9:11 – “David’s fallen tent.” - Think of all the references in the Old Testament to the “house of David.” With that in ...read more
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Trying To Escape God’s Judgment
Contributed on Jun 26, 2020
We don't like to think about the Day of Judgment. And when we do, we like to impose our own thoughts on how it will go. What does this passage tell us about our ability to get away from God's judgment?
- There are additional things going on in this passage, but I want to focus on the overarching idea: trying to escape the judgment of God. UNCOMFORTABLE TRUTHS: 1. GOD IS THE JUDGE. - Genesis 18:25. - God plays many roles – Creator, Sustainer, Father. He also plays the role of Judge. 2. HE ...read more
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Would God Ever Take Away His Word?
Contributed on Jun 24, 2020
What would it mean if God withdrew the knowledge of His Word?
- Unpack vv. 11-12 and the threat to take away the word of the Lord. - We don’t really know what to do with that. Let’s try to figure it out. WHAT MIGHT THAT LOOK LIKE? 1. Rejecting God’s truth, people do what they want. 2. Things start falling apart. 3. The consequences of their sin make ...read more
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Longing For The Good Old Days
Contributed on Jun 19, 2020
Many Christians long for a bygone era of glory - the early church, perhaps, or the 1950s. This sermon looks at that desire to go backward and where we should focus instead.
LONGING FOR THE "GOOD OLD DAYS": 1. THE EARLY CHURCH. - Acts 2:1-4, 41-47; Acts 15:1-41; 1 Corinthians 5:1-13. - Probably the first time that comes to mind is the early church as the “good old days.” - And as we look at Acts 2:1-4, 41-47, there is much to rejoice in. - But we have to ...read more
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When We Ask God To Go Away
Contributed on Jun 16, 2020
There are times when we instantly reject the message of God because it offends us and hurts us. We don't even want to consider it's true. But what happens when we ask God to go away?
- Image: a broken mirror with most of the pieces missing. - Maybe do the image as a drawing on a piece of butcher paper, with four of the ten pieces colored in blue to look like a mirror. - Discuss how little of yourself you would know if you had such a limited mirror. We look at ourselves and ...read more
Newest Sermon Series
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Amos: Hearing God Clearly Again
Contributed on Apr 14, 2020
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The Last Supper
Contributed on Feb 5, 2020
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On The Edges
Contributed on Jan 14, 2020
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Mary's Faith, Mary's Fear
Contributed on Oct 22, 2019
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Zechariah: Ready For The King
Contributed on Oct 18, 2019
Newest Sermon Illustrations
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Before The Water
Contributed on Nov 15, 2018
Scott Harrison, founder of charity:water, shares this story: "I recently had the chance to visit charity:water's very first project. It was a well that we had funded on my thirty-first birthday and then built in the IDP camp of Bobi, Uganda. "The sprawling camp of 31,000 people had cleared out, ...read more
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It’s Only A White Collar Crime?
Contributed on Oct 16, 2018
C.S. Lewis died in 1963, but a comment in one of his writings speaks directly to the current opioid crisis. Lewis wrote: “The greatest evil is not now done in those sordid ‘dens of crime’ that Dickens loved to paint. It is not done even in concentration camps and labour camps. In those we see its ...read more
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Rescue
Contributed on Oct 16, 2018
I am really struck by the lyrics of Lauren Daigle’s recent song “Rescue.” The singer is speaking from God’s perspective and says: “I hear the whisper underneath your breath I hear you whisper, you have nothing left I will send out an army to find you In the middle of the darkest night It’s true, ...read more
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What Khris Davis Did That No One Has Ever Done Before
Contributed on Oct 16, 2018
Khris Davis is an outfielder for the Oakland Athletics in the majors. In 2015, he batted .247 for the year. In 2016, he batted .247 for the year. In 2017, he batted .247 for the year. And during the last season, in 2018, he batted . . . , you guessed it, .247 for the year. He went 0-for-2 in ...read more
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What God Told Me At 4 A.m. In Guangzhou, China
Contributed on Apr 13, 2018
Note: this story is told by me - Jim Butcher of Madison WV. I want to tell you a story about an insight that God gave me into John 14:1-4, the passage where Jesus speaks of going to prepare a place for us. This is the story of something that happened to me several years ago while I was in ...read more