Search for sermons - Ecclesiastes 3
Who Do Men Say That I Am? - Matthew 16:13-17 - Mar 19, 2006 - 780
If you ever travel to the Holy Land, one of the places you may visit is an Arab town called Banias. To get there you will have to travel north from Jerusalem to some place like Tiberius or Capernaum and from there travel even farther north into the finger of Galilee. You will pass through a kibbutz ... More
True Freedom for China - Jan 30, 2005
TRUE FREEDOM FOR CHINA by Ray Pritchard Someone asked us, “What surprised you about China?” That’s a hard question to answer because we hardly knew what to expect. Josh had told us on the phone, “There’s no way I can explain China to you. You’ve got to see it for yours ... More
Sowing Seeds for Jesus - Feb 15, 2004
SOWING SEEDS FOR JESUS by Ray Pritchard A friend writes asking for help with a difficult situation. Because of a change on the job, this person now works around two men who are openly homosexual. Recently they have started sharing details about their personal relationships. The problem: “I work ... More
The Changing Seasons of Life - Nov 4, 2001
THE CHANGING SEASONS OF LIFE by Ray Pritchard I received a letter from a friend who detailed some of the challenges facing her family right now. The specifics are personal and private but it can be said that the trials are real and not likely to go away any time soon. She added this PS to her letter ... More
The Greatest Risk You'll Ever Take: "I Believe in God" - Hebrews 11:6 - Jan 18, 2004 - 643
"And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him" (Hebrews 11:6).The Bible declares God's existence. It does not attempt to prove it. Certain things are so true that philosophers call them ... More
WMBI Commentaries - Various - Feb 7, 2002 - 417
Is There Life After Death? Can We Be Sure? - Job 14:14 - May 28, 2000 - 212
When Barry Grunow left for work on Friday morning, he had no idea he would never come home again. It was the last day of classes at the Lake Worth Community Middle School, just a few miles south of West Palm Beach, Florida. Mr. Grunow was teaching a seventh grade English class at 3:30 p.m. when a 13 ... More
Prophet on the Run - 1 Kings 19:1-9 - Mar 7, 2006 - 190
The Bible doesn't sugarcoat the truth about its heroes. It gives us the whole story, the good news and the bad news at the same time. When the Bible describes the great heroes of the Old Testament and the New Testament, it tells us about the unvarnished truth about their struggles, their temptations ... More
A Place to Begin - Genesis 1:1; John 17:3 - Sep 19, 1999 - 309
"True and substantial wisdom principally consists of two parts; the knowledge of God, and the knowledge of ourselves." With this sentence John Calvin begins his famous book, Institutes of the Christian Religion. He goes on to note that it is hard to say which should come first—the knowledge of ... More
Fact or Fable in Genesis: Was the World Really Created in Six Days? - Genesis 1:1-2:3 - Apr 28, 2002 - 221
These are exciting days to study the book of Genesis. A great deal has been written on this book in the last few years and there has been much new research in the area of science and the Bible. It's always a good thing to focus on issues that really matter. Sometimes in the church we spend too much ... More
Out On A Limb With Shirley MacLaine: Is Reincarnation True? - Various - Jun 4, 2000 - 216
This is a sermon about reincarnation, which means that I have a serious problem right off the bat. It is also a sermon about Shirley MacLaine, which poses a second problem. My first challenge is to convince you that reincarnation matters enough to warrant a full sermon. Perhaps this will help. Over ... More
The End of the Beginning - I Samuel 31 - II Samuel 1 - Nov 19, 2000 - 342
The year was 1943. Slowly the Allied forces were squeezing the Germans out of North Africa. From the east Field Marshall Bernard Law Montgomery's British forces sent Rommel's Nazi tanks reeling in retreat across the Libyan desert. From the west a little-known American general named Eisenhower rallie ... More
The Up and Coming Christ: "He Will Come Again to Judge the Living and the Dead" - John 14:1-3; II Peter 3:3-10 - May 9, 2004 - 658
You never know where you will find spiritual truth. A few days ago I received a letter from Mary Jo Lynch. Thirty-five years ago, she lived with her husband Dudley in my hometown of Russellville, Alabama. Dudley Lynch pastored a tiny Cumberland Presbyterian Church built near a strip mine on state hi ... More
The Sixth Law: There is No Growth Without Struggle - James 1:2-4 - Apr 7, 2002 - 555
Life is hard. Does anyone reading these words have any question about that? I didn't think so. Because we live in a fallen world, nothing works the way it's supposed to. Sin has stained every part of the physical universe. And sin has deeply infected the human bloodstream. Things break. Our bodies w ... More
What About Those Who Never Hear The Gospel? - Romans 1:18-20 - Feb 2, 1992 - 279
The subject for this morning is perhaps the most troubling question that Christians can face. The fate of those who never hear the gospel is both difficult and emotional. It's a tough question to think about because at its heart, it touches many people we know personally. Taken at its widest point, ... More
What About Those Who Never Hear The Gospel? - Romans 1:18-20 - Apr 10, 1994 - 806
The subject for this morning is perhaps the most troubling question that Christians can face. The fate of those who never hear the gospel is both difficult and emotional. It's a tough question to think about because at its heart, it touches many people we know personally. Taken at its widest poin ... More
How to Spot Counterfeit Christianity - I Corinthians 12:10 - May 27, 1990 - 573
I'd like to begin by quoting from an article published in 1988 in Celebrity magazine. The article is entitled, "The Cult Rage Possesses the Stars," and is subtitled "Shirley Maclaine, Linda Evans and Sharon Gless believe in spirits beyond the grave—Do you?" In the article we are told many in ... More
Real Christian vs. Religious - John 3 - Sep 14, 1997 - 530
This is the first sermon based on the questions submitted by the congregation last spring. I don't know who wrote this particular question but it's a good one. The very wording suggests that there is a fundamental difference between being religious and being a "real Christian."Many people have troub ... More
God Is So Good! - Psalm 107:1 - Apr 20, 1997 - 474
"Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good." 1 Chronicles 16:34a "The Lord is good to all; he has compassion on all he has made." Psalm 145:9 "Taste and see that the Lord is good; blessed is the man who takes refuge in him." Psalm 34:8 Let's begin with a definition, which isn't as easy as it might app ... More
To an Unknown God: How to Find Common Ground - Acts 17:22-23 - Jun 14, 1998 - 239
If you ever attend seminary, you will study a subject called homiletics. That's a course where you learn how to prepare and preach a sermon. During my days at Dallas Seminary we actually had three courses in homiletics. In the first one they taught us the rudiments of public speaking, in the second ... More
From Athens to Oak Park: Why God Put Us Here - Acts 17:16-17 - May 31, 1998 - 238
Let me imagine a situation for a moment and ask how you would respond. Let's suppose that you are a missionary arriving for service in a country you have never visited. Although you didn't plan to visit the capital city, your itinerary was suddenly changed and now you find yourself alone in a place ... More
God's Peace Corps - Matthew 5:9 - Mar 3, 1996 - 60
It's dangerous to be a peacemaker. In 1993 Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin signed a peace treaty with Yasser Arafat and the Palestine Liberation Organization. When someone asked how he could sign a treaty with the people who had been the mortal enemies of Israel, he replied, "You don't make p ... More
God's Good vs. God's Best - Genesis 21:1-21 - Jun 16, 1996 - 23
Have you every wanted something very badly and waited a long time for it to happen, only to discover that when it did, things didn't work out the way you thought they would? Most of us have had that kind of experience at least once, and some of us have been down that road many times. Perhaps you s ... More
This Must Be the Place: - Various - May 31, 1998 - 586
Seven times in nine years I have given a State of the Church address to Calvary Memorial Church. In my first message I quoted the famous words of Daniel Burnham, architect and author of The Chicago City Plan: "Make no small plans. They have no power to stir men's blood."I have tried to follow that a ... More
A Warning to Wine-Drinkers - Romans 14:13-23 - Feb 14, 2007 - 733
The title of this sermon is intentionally misleading. The title makes it sound as if this is a sermon about the dangers of drinking alcohol. I have such a sermon in my files, but this is not it. In order to prove that point, I call your attention to Romans 14:21, which says, "It is good n ... More
Come Before Winter - 2 Timothy 4:21 - May 27, 2008 - 1155
The Bible has a lot to say about time. The most important thing it says is something we know already—that our time is limited. Time can be used or wasted, it can be invested or squandered, but either way, once used, it can never be regained. Time matters because we have such a limited supply. ... More
It’s the Faith, Brother - Hebrews 11:3-7 - Jun 19, 2008 - 1157
“It’s the faith, Brother.”That’s what Tim Russert said to Jon Meacham when he invited him to appear on Meet the Press to debate noted atheist Christopher Hitchens. He told Meacham he had a “great deal” for him. “You gotta come down and defend the faith, Brot ... More