Search for sermons - 1 Thessalonians 2
Fathers Who Lead, Mothers Who Love, Children Who Obey: - 1 Thessalonians 2:7-13 - May 9, 1999 - 301
This week I read part of a book by Richard Strauss on the Christian home. In one chapter he discusses seven goals for Christian parents. I found his list so suggestive that I decided to begin my sermon by repeating it here. This is what we want to accomplish in raising our children: To lead them to ... More
Five Words on a Tombstone - 1 Thessalonians 2:1-6 - Aug 18, 1996 - 319
Several years ago my older brother took me to visit a cemetery outside Florence, Alabama, near the remains of an ante-bellum mansion called Forks of Cypress. The mansion was built in the 1820s by James Jackson, an early settler of northwest Alabama. My brother and I walked among the ruins of the m ... More
Heavenly Rewards - 1 Thessalonians 2:17-20 - Sep 15, 1996 - 321
Not long ago I received the following letter. It came as a total surprise from a person living in another state: Dear Pastor Ray,I don’t think you would expect a message from me, but I felt God directing me to. It is kind of hard to find my words and I feel a bit awkward, but here it goes a ... More
Ministry That Makes a Difference - 1 Thessalonians 2:7-12 - Sep 1, 1996 - 320
"No one cares how much you know till they know how much you care.” Yesterday we had a most amazing wedding here at Calvary involving Barry MacNamara and Uli Keyna. I first met Barry several years ago when he started attending our services. We occasionally talked after the services about his ... More
What Does It Mean to Believe the Bible? - 1 Thessalonians 2:13-16 - Sep 8, 1996 - 324
Every church has a story. Ours begins 81 years ago in a small house not very many blocks from here. A group of men and women had gathered to discuss the possibility of starting a brand-new church in our village. Most of them lived in Oak Park and nearly all of them attended one of the major churc ... More
What Does It Mean to Believe the Bible? Part 2 - 1 Thessalonians 2:13-16 - Oct 22, 2012 - 1470
Where do religious liberals come from? Several years ago Gregory Wills discussed this question in an article called What Lessons Can We Learn from the History of Liberalism? We make a mistake when we assume that liberalism starts outside the church, as if it were a kind of alien invasion. Liberalism ... More
Fathers Who Lead, Mothers Who Love, Children Who Obey: - 1 Thessalonians 2:7-13 - May 9, 1999 - 301
This week I read part of a book by Richard Strauss on the Christian home. In one chapter he discusses seven goals for Christian parents. I found his list so suggestive that I decided to begin my sermon by repeating it here. This is what we want to accomplish in raising our children: To lead them to ... More
What Does It Mean to Believe the Bible? Part 1 - 1 Thessalonians 2:13-16 - Oct 5, 2012 - 1469
If Oprah Winfrey asked you on national TV to give your position on homosexuality, what would you say? That’s the dilemma that Dallas megachurch pastor T. D. Jakes faced several months ago. Before I tell you what he said, I want to point out one fact. This is a tough question in one sense becau ... More
How to Turn the World Upside Down - I Thessalonians 2:1-12 - Sep 25, 1994 - 809
Welcome to our annual Missions Conference. Each year we set aside one week to focus on God’s work around the world. We always begin on the last Sunday of September and end on the first Sunday of October. This year our conference theme is “Serving Today and Tomorrow.” That’s ... More
God Our Father - Matthew 6:9 - Oct 4, 2009 - 1217
“Our Father in Heaven.” Matthew 6:9 Before we begin: What words describe your earthly father? Do you feel comfortable addressing God as “Father?” Why or why not? “Who is God?” The interviewer looked at me expectantly while I fumbled to find an answer. Since the ca ... More
Our Coming to You Was Not in Vain - I Thessalonians 2:1 - Sep 25, 2005 - 479
When Paul wrote to the new Christians in Thessalonica, he summarized his brief visit with them this way: “You know, brothers, that our visit to you was not a failure” (I Thessalonians 2:1). The English Standard Version renders it this way: “For you yourselves know, brothers, that o ... More
Something New Under the Sun: Ancient Wisdom for Contemporary Living - 37. ALONE AT THE TOP - Mar 6, 2013
