Search for sermons - Galatians 5
The Only Thing That Matters: Faith That Works By Love - Galatians 5:1-12 - Aug 5, 2001 - 260
These are the closing words of the Declaration of Independence:We, therefore, the Representatives of the United States of America, in General Congress, Assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the World for the Rectitude of our Intentions, do, in the Name, and by the Authority of the good People ... More
Risky Business: The Other Side of Christian Freedom - Galatians 5:13-15 - Aug 12, 2001 - 258
"It is for freedom that Christ has set us free” (Galatians 5:1a). What exactly is this Christian freedom that Paul talks so much about in Galatians? In order to help us understand the answer, I’d like to borrow a definition and an illustration used by Pastor John Piper of Bethlehem Bapti ... More
Does Jesus Live in Oak Park? - Galatians 5:19-26 - Sep 9, 2001 - 262
"Perfect what you have begun, and grant me what you have made me long for.” Prayer of Anselm of CanterburyThis week I was reading a massive book by Donald L. Miller called City of the Century. Subtitled “The Epic of Chicago and the Making of America,” it traces Chicago from its ear ... More
Full Speed Ahead One Step at a Time: How You Can Walk in the Spirit Every Day - Galatians 5:16-18 - Aug 26, 2001 - 259
"I say then, walk by the Spirit and you will not carry out the desire of the flesh. For the flesh desires what is against the Spirit, and the Spirit desires what is against the flesh; these are opposed to each other, so that you don’t do what you want. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are ... More
The God We Hardly Know - Sep 22, 2006
David Mains caught me off guard with his question. “If you had to grade your congregation on their knowledge of the Holy Spirit, what grade would you give them?”Up until that moment, the interview had gone well. David and his daughter Melissa had thrown me fast pitches right over the cen ... 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. ... More
The God We Hardly Know: Why I Believe in the Holy Spirit - Various - Oct 29, 1995 - 793
David Mains caught me off guard with his question. “If you had to grade your congregation on their knowledge of the Holy Spirit, what grade would you give them?” The interview, broadcast nationally on the program You Need to Know, centered around my book Names of the Holy Spirit. I g ... More
The Wind Blows Wherever It Wills - John 3:8 - May 15, 2005 - 200
This is the first in a six-part series on the Holy Spirit called Experiencing God Today. Two months ago I had no idea that I would be preaching on the Holy Spirit once we finished I Peter. But as I thought about the matter, I felt impressed by the Lord that this is the direction we should go. There ... More
Asymmetric Spiritual Warfare - Mar 8, 2006
Are you familiar with term asymmetric warfare? It’s a concept that has received lots of news coverage in the recent years as a result of the war on terrorism. The word asymmetric refers to something that is out of balance. In warfare it describes a situation where the combatants are not equal. ... More
Gentleness: Power Under Control - Oct 13, 2002
GENTLENESS: POWER UNDER CONTROL by Ray Pritchard “A gentle answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger.” Proverbs 15:1 I have a friend who learned this verse the hard way. Whenever she said something in a harsh tone, her mother made her write this verse 50 times on a sheet of ... More
Breaking Points - Isaiah 40:28-31 - Jul 14, 2007 - 62
Everyone has a story to tell, even the people who seem to smile all the time. This is one of the first things a young pastor learns when he graduates from seminary and begins his ministry. Some people look so well-adjusted and happy that you think they don’t have a care in the world. But they ... More
Sobriety: Knowing When to Say No - Nov 17, 2002
SOBRIETY KNOWING WHEN TO SAY NO “Wine is a mocker and beer a brawler; whoever is led astray by them is not wise.” Proverbs 20:1 There are a great many references to wine, strong drink, and drunkenness scattered throughout the Bible. The earliest reference is in Genesis, the last in Revelat ... More
"Before I Was Afflicted I Went Astray": Why Your Troubles are a Gift from God - Psalm 119:67, 71, 75 - Jan 20, 2002 - 397
These three verses all use the verb “afflicted,” which comes from the noun “affliction,” an old word that means any difficult or painful circumstance. Afflictions come in all shapes and sizes. An affliction can be as small as an aggravating head cold or as large as a major il ... More
No Place for Pride - Romans 11:17-24 - Jul 2, 2006 - 770
Tell them, Pastor Ray, tell them that nothing matters except Christ. The young people need to know this before it’s too late.” So said my friend Jim Johnsen on my visit with him in the hospital shortly before he died. “Nothing matters except Christ.” We all know it’s ... More
Living on a Spiritual Plateau, Part 2 - Galatian 5:16-17 - Mar 15, 2010 - 1241
In Part 1 of this message I argued that since plateaus occur naturally in many parts of the world, they serve a particular purpose in creation. While we tend to look at “spiritual plateaus” negatively, they are actually natural, normal and necessary. Necessary.Hmmm. How could plateaus be ... More
Branded for Christ: A Solemn Call to Glory in the Cross - Galatians 6:11-18 - Oct 14, 2001 - 247
Six months after we started, we come at last to the end of our journey through the book of Galatians. It has been an exciting trip! Time and again we have been brought face to face with the grace of God as the only hope of our salvation. Along the way we have seen a side of Paul that is rarely found ... 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
Our Crucified God: What the Cross Means to the Church - Galatians 6:14 - Mar 28, 1999 - 674
This is the first day of Holy Week, which begins with Palm Sunday, continues to Good Friday, and culminates with Easter Sunday one week from today. During these days Christians around the world — almost two billion of them — will pause and remember what happened to our Lord when he enter ... More
What Happens When We Die? - Hebrews 9:27 - Sep 28, 1997 - 532
We live in a time when there is great fascination about life after death.• A few years ago Raymond Moody wrote a best-seller called Life After Life, which purported to detail the near-death experiences of men and women who “died” and then came back to tell remarkably similar storie ... More
Unwrapping Your Spiritual Gifts - Various - Apr 1, 1990 - 567
The name Peter Drucker will be familiar to you if you are a student of business or economics. To put it simply, he is one of the great minds of the 20th century. His writings include Managing for Results, The New Society, The Effective Executive, and America’s Next Twenty Years. For over a ... More
How to Have Joy All Year Long - Philippians 4:1-9 - Dec 27, 1998 - 368
As we come to the end of another year, once again we find ourselves in a world filled with problems, doubts, worries, and fears. We sing “Joy to the world,” but there is not as much joy as we would like. Too many unhappy people walk our city streets. People today aren’t as cheerful ... More
What Moves Your Mountain? - Romans 12:8: I Corinthians 12:9 - May 20, 1990 - 572
I’m sure you’ve heard this definition of a football game: It’s an event where 50,000 people who desperately need exercise sit in the stands watching 22 men on the field who desperately need rest. Unfortunately, that definition fits more than a football game. It also fit the typi ... More
Sense and Nonsense About God's Love - 1 John 4:8 - Apr 27, 1997 - 475
I’d like to begin my message with a simple observation. No attribute of God is so widely believed as the love of God. This observation is quite easily testable. Take a microphone to the streets of Chicago and ask them to tell you what God is like. I will assert without fear of contradiction th ... More
This Bud's For You: The Christian And The Use Of Alcohol - Aug 19, 1991
This is not the first time I have addressed this subject. Over the 13 years I have served as a pastor, the subject has come up again and again. A few days before I preached on this subject in my church in Texas, I came into my office and found a brown bag on my desk. It was labeled, “For your ... More
Water, Wine, Wind, Fire - Four Pictures of the Holy Spirit - Nov 13, 2009 - 1230
Are you spooked out by the Holy Spirit?Perhaps I should say, “Are you spooked out by the Holy Ghost?” Lots of Christians are, you know. They say things like, “I know about God the Father, and I know about Jesus, but the Holy Spirit is a mystery to me.” You may remember the st ... More
The Law of the Harvest: God’s Plan for Spiritual Prosperity - Galatians 6:6-10 - Oct 7, 2001 - 248
Over lunch this week, a friend and I discussed the spiritual implications of the terrorist attacks on America. My friend commented that this ought to be a wake-up call to every Christian to seek first the kingdom of God. It’s time for each of us to figure out what really matters and then get b ... More
The Right Stuff - Matthew 5:5 - Jan 21, 1996 - 53
I clearly remember the first time the Beatitudes caught my attention. During the summer of 1980 Marlene and I traveled to Bogota, Columbia, to spend two weeks working with some missionaries we had met six years earlier. Our oldest son was six months old at the time. During our visit we spent seve ... More
I’m Not Touching Your Stinkin’ Feet - John 13:1-17 - Jan 9, 1994 - 537
I have been thinking this week about what a servant is and does. I sat down and started making a list of great servants I have known, going all the way back to my childhood days. I let my memory run free and started thinking of people who over the years have impressed me by their servant heart and s ... More
