Search for sermons - James 4
Trouble in the Church! - Romans 16:17-20 - Sep 15, 2007 - 744
Greet one another with a holy kiss … but don’t go kissing everyone.That will serve as a useful summary of our text. Sometimes it’s not what you say but when you say it that matters. Paul writes these stern words immediately after a long paragraph extending personal greetings to va ... More
Living by Faith in an Uncertain World - Hebrews 11:8-10 - Sep 16, 2001 - 51
He must have been in a hurry to get home to see his family. That’s the only reason his friends could think of to explain why Thomas Burnett of San Ramon, California changed his reservations and took an earlier flight last Tuesday morning. All his friends knew how much he loved his wife and his ... More
Forward-Leaning Defense - Sep 16, 2006
“There is no victory at bargain basement prices.” General Dwight Eisenhower“World War IV began in a long string of terrorist attacks, whose real nature went unrecognized until on September 11, 2001, huge billows of black smoke curled above New York City, Washington, D.C., and a fie ... More
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
"But Do It Soon" - Jun 13, 2004
“BUT DO IT SOON” by Ray Pritchard Last night my wife Marlene shared with me an e-mail she received from a woman she has never met. It all started several years ago when Nick was diagnosed with an autoimmune blood disorder. After a series of failed treatments, he underwent surgery that rev ... More
Every Tree But One: Why Freedom Isn't Free - Genesis 2:4-17 - May 19, 2002 - 222
What is freedom? Ask the question of ten people and you will get at least ten different answers. One person says that freedom is the right to get drunk every weekend. Someone else says that freedom means doing whatever you want, whenever you want to do it. To another man freedom is sleeping with as ... 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
Repent! The Forgotten Doctrine of Salvation - Acts 17:30 - Oct 6, 2006 - 510
In 1937 the American Tract Society sponsored a contest in which they offered a prize of $1,000 for the best new book written on one of the “essential evangelical doctrines of the Christian faith.” Sixty-one years ago, $1,000 was a lot of money and a great many well-known Christian author ... More
Come Before Winter - II Timothy 4:9-22 - Aug 31, 2003 - 494
Three things—apparently unrelated—have come together in my mind as I have prepared this message.First, in just a few days we will come to the second anniversary of the terrorist attacks that took place on September 11, 2001. A survey released this week shows that 80% of Americans believe ... More
Ten Sleepy Virgins: Are You Ready for Christ's Return? - Matthew 25:1-13 - Nov 18, 2001 - 690
Here is a nighttime wedding where everything seems to go wrong. The groom shows up so late that the bridal party falls asleep by the side of the road. When the groom finally arrives at midnight, half the bridesmaids have forgotten to bring enough oil for their lamps and end up banned from the celebr ... More
"One Little Word Shall Fell Him": What the Cross Meant to Satan - Colossians 2:1 - Mar 14, 1999 - 673
By 6:00 p.m. the party had started in earnest. It was Friday evening and that meant the party would probably last all night and perhaps even into the next day. Everyone who heard the news could hardly believe it, but they knew that if it were true, this would be the party to end all parties. So they ... More
Postcards From the Edge: Why I Believe in Angels and Demons - Various - Nov 19, 1995 - 796
Angels are in. In the words of the Wall Street Journal, “after a hiatus of almost 300 years and much skepticism, angels are making a comeback.” A recent survey confirmed this fact: 58% of Americans in households making over $50,000 believe in angels, as do 55% of college graduates, 5 ... More
From Temptation to Triumph - Nov 12, 1996
Playwright Oscar Wilde once jokingly remarked, “I can resist everything except temptation.” We smile when we read those words because they speak an important truth about the human condition. Temptation pays a visit to each of us every day and most of us struggle to say no.“Pastor ... More
Here, There and Everywhere: The Doctrine of God's Omnipresence - Psalm 139:7-12 - Feb 23, 1997 - 469
The scene: A young boy and his mother are having a serious discussion over lunch one day. “Where is God?” he asks innocently. “He’s in heaven,” his mother replies. “Does He live there?” “Yes.” “Where’s Jesus?” “He’s ... 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
Living in the Fear of God - I Peter 1:17-21 - Oct 24, 2004 - 589
After a six-week break, we are returning to our study of I Peter. I want to begin by reminding you that Peter wrote this letter to believers scattered across ancient Asia Minor (modern-day Turkey). Widely separated and facing persecution, Peter encourages them to stand fast in the grace of God in sp ... More
John Sergey Funeral Service - Jan 5, 2009
John Sergey Funeral ServiceJanuary 5, 2009It was about ten years ago when Marlene and I made a hospital visit together. We went to West Suburban Hospital to visit Eugenie Longinow who was not long for this world. She was then in her eighties, her husband have died sometime earlier. And she was ready ... More
Who is the Real Enemy? - Ephesians 6:12 - Apr 29, 2009 - 1198
Not long ago I received the following email:I am studying Ephesians 6 about the Armor of God & and there is one verse that I’m afraid I don’t get the full meaning of. It’s verse 12 “For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the autho ... More
Invitation to the Heart of God - Matthew 6:9 - Oct 3, 2009 - 1216
“This, then, is how you should pray." Matthew 6:9 Before we begin: How old were you when you first learned the Lord’s Prayer? How often do you pray the Lord’s Prayer? Why does this prayer (of all the prayers in the Bible) matter so much? Come with me to Stuttgart, Germany in ... More
Living in the Fear of God - I Peter 1:17-21 - Oct 24, 2004 - 589
After a six-week break, we are returning to our study of I Peter. I want to begin by reminding you that Peter wrote this letter to believers scattered across ancient Asia Minor (modern-day Turkey). Widely separated and facing persecution, Peter encourages them to stand fast in the grace of God in sp ... More
Repent! The Forgotten Doctrine of Salvation - Acts 17:30 - Aug 9, 1998 - 246
In 1937 the American Tract Society sponsored a contest in which they offered a prize of $1,000 for the best new book written on one of the “essential evangelical doctrines of the Christian faith.” Sixty-one years ago, $1,000 was a lot of money and a great many well-known Christian author ... More
A Tale of Three Men - 3 John - Aug 31, 1997 - 460
John’s third epistle has often called a “Tale of Three Men.” That is indeed an appropriate title for if you know these three men, you know what 2 John is all about. Verse 1 speaks of Gaius—the man to whom John wrote his letter.Verse 9 speaks of Diotrophes—an opponent of ... More
If God is Sovereign, Why Pray? - Matthew 6:8 - Jan 4, 1998 - 523
When we surveyed the congregation last year several people asked this question. I would suppose that most Christians have wondered about it at one time or another. Certainly skeptics have thrown it in our faces to discourage us from seeking the Lord in times of crisis. I would be less than honest if ... More
Faithful to the Defeated - Lamentations 3:22-23 - Jun 13, 1999 - 682
The year was 1866, and in a log cabin in the little town of Franklin, Kentucky, Thomas Obadiah Chisholm was born. Although he never went to high school or college, he became an elementary school teacher at age 16. Five years later he was named associate editor of the Franklin Favorite, the local new ... More
Empty on the Inside: How God Reveals Himself to Us - Acts 17:26-28 - Jun 28, 1998 - 241
In his book, Therefore Stand (written in 1945), Wilbur Smith has a chapter on Paul’s speech to the Areopagus (Acts 17:16-34). Along the way he comments on the similarity between ancient Athens and modern America. For all the obvious differences in culture and language, there is a similar appro ... More
