Search for sermons - John 1
Backstage at Bethlehem - John 1:10-13 - Dec 13, 1998 - 82
It’s amazing how simple some things really are. Take the Bible, for instance. At first glance, it’s an intimidating book filled with strange names, places we’ve never heard of, books we can’t pronounce, and verses we don’t understand. Even people who have read the Bible ... More
When Did Christmas Begin? - John 1:14 - Dec 20, 1998 - 92
Have you ever wondered when Christmas began? I’m not referring to the celebration of Jesus’ birth on December 25 because we don’t know exactly when he was born. It might be December 25 but it might be June 14 for all we know. The Bible doesn’t say and it doesn’t give us ... More
The Decision You Must Make - John 1:12-13 - Oct 31, 1999 - 307
This is the final sermon in the series “How to Be Right with God.” As I have mentioned earlier, these sermons will form the basis for a “gospel book” I am writing under the co-sponsorship of Moody Press and the Committee on the Gospel. I ask for your prayers as I work on the ... More
Christ B.C. Part II: Lamb of God - Exodus 12; John 1:29 - Dec 10, 1995 - 66
Christians everywhere recognize the lamb as a familiar biblical image. It is often connected with both Christmas and Easter. Though lambs aren’t specifically mentioned in the Christmas story, they are implied by the presence of shepherds and also by the fact that Jesus was born in a stable. ... More
Christ B.C. Part III: A Prophet Like Moses - Deuteronomy 18:15-19 - Dec 17, 1995 - 67
Here’s a Help Wanted ad you may find interesting:Spokesman needed for international firm. No experience necessary, no education required. Must between 20-85 years old. Full- or part-time. Exciting job with lots of travel. Must be willing to move often, sometimes in the middle of the night ... More
Calvary in the Park: Faith/Hope/Love - Various - Sep 2, 2001 - 435
Jacob's Ladder - Genesis 28 - Sep 13, 1992 - 358
A long journey, a hard pillow, a guilty conscience, a heavy heart. These are the things that make men dream. It had been two days since he had left home— Esau seething in the background Rebekah weeping Isaac waving goodbye.Two days on a journey of 500 miles. Jacob is on his way from Beer ... More
A Prophet Like Moses - Deuteronomy 18:15-19 - Dec 8, 2008 - 1179
Here’s a Help Wanted ad you may find interesting:Spokesman needed for international firm. No experience necessary, no education required. Must between 20-85 years old. Full- or part-time. Exciting job with lots of travel. Must be willing to move often, sometimes in the middle of the night. Mus ... More
Overcoming Loneliness - Isaiah 7:14 & Matthew 1:22-23 - Dec 22, 2002 - 707
"Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel” (Isaiah 7:14).“All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: ‘The virgin will be with child and will give birth to ... More
Who Is Jesus Christ? Article D: The Person and Work of Jesus Christ - Various - Mar 15, 1992 - 751
Tonight we are coming to the most critical doctrine in the Articles of Faith. Other doctrines are important as establishing foundational truth (the inerrancy of the Bible, the Trinity) or as explaining what we believe in a particular area (eternal security, the premillennial return of Christ), but ... More
Paid in Full - John 19:30 - Oct 18, 2009 - 1228
“When he had received the drink, Jesus said, ‘It is finished’” (John 19:30.)Unfinished Business . . . The evidence is all around us. -During a visit to Mount Rushmore in South Dakota, I learned that the sculptor, a man named Gutzon Borglum, never finished his work. If y ... More
Resurrection Hospital - 1 Kings 17:17-24 - Mar 7, 2006 - 191
Of all the episodes in the life of Elijah, this is probably the most troublesome. There really isn’t anything else like it in the Old Testament. In our text Elijah lays himself out over the body of a dead child and the boy comes back to life. And it’s not exactly like the story of the re ... More
The King Has Come! - Matthew 2:1-6 - Dec 13, 2006 - 85
We begin with the words of Flannery O’Connor: “The truth does not change according to our ability to stomach it.” Truth is truth whether we like it or not. The fact that I personally may object to the truth doesn’t matter. Those things that are objectively true remain true ev ... More
A Man Called Jesus - Colossians 2:9 - Oct 10, 1999 - 303
"For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form.” These 13 words by the Apostle Paul contain a world of truth about Jesus Christ. They tell us that he is fully God. In him we find “all the fullness of the Deity.” The word “fullness” speaks of the essen ... More
Does Jesus Know My Name? - Dec 5, 2007
A few months ago we opened the ... More
A Question for Jesus - Matthew 11:3 - Dec 19, 2004 - 79
If you could have any gift you wanted for Christmas, what would you ask for? That’s not an easy question to answer if you start to think about it. Some of us would ask for things. A new car.A new house.A nice blouse.A necklace.A train set.A new bike.A new computer.Some of us would ask for heal ... More
The Woman Caught in the Act: Christ Speaks to the Problem of a Judgmental Spirit - John 8:1-11 - Apr 22, 2001 - 124
"It is a terrible thing for a sinner to fall into the hands of his fellow sinners.” F. B. MeyerThis is the story of Jesus and the woman taken in adultery. It is so popular that even those who rarely read the Bible know about it. Clarence McCartney comments that the great museums of Europe alwa ... More
The Woman at the Well : Christ Speaks to the Problem of a Guilty Past - John 4:1-30 - Jan 14, 2001 - 112
Two strangers met beside a well on a hot afternoon in Samaria. One was a woman. The other was a man. We don’t know the woman’s name. The man was Jesus. Their brief conversation changed her life.Today we are beginning a series called “Conversations with Jesus.” Each week we wi ... More
If I Believe, Why Do I Doubt? - Mark 9:24 - Aug 14, 2005 - 145
This is a sermon about a topic we rarely discuss in church. This is a sermon about doubt. As such, it is an unfamiliar topic to most people, even though there are whole books of the Bible that deal with the issue of doubt in various ways — Job, Ecclesiastes, Lamentations, Habakkuk. Many of the ... More
Can You Hear the Angels Singing? Christmas and the "Other World" - Luke 2:8-14 - Dec 14, 2003 - 197
"And in the same region there were shepherds out in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And an angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were filled with fear. And the angel said to them, ‘Fear not, for behold, I bring you good ne ... 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 tempt ... More
The King Has Come! - Matthew 2:1-6 - Dec 16, 2001 - 686
We begin with the words of Flannery O’Connor: “The truth does not change according to our ability to stomach it.” Truth is truth whether we like it or not. The fact that I personally may object to the truth doesn’t matter. Those things that are objectively true remain true ev ... More
Adoption: Plenty of Room in the Family - Jan 7, 2007
When Leslie Lynch King, Jr. died earlier this week, it made headlines around the world. Commentators talked about his legacy, and in the United States flags were lowed to half-staff in his honor. That always happens when a president dies.But who was President King? You can’t find any record of ... More
Why the Virgin Birth Matters: “Conceived of the Holy Spirit, Born of the Virgin Mary” - Matthew 1:18-25; Luke 1:26-38 - Feb 22, 2004 - 648
Let’s begin our study with two familiar verses of Scripture: “But after he had considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, ‘Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Sp ... More
Why I Believe in God - Genesis 1:1 - Sep 30, 2009 - 1214
The Bible never argues for the existence of God. It begins instead with a simple, majestic sentence: “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth” (Genesis 1:1). The Bible begins with a declaration, not with an argument. There is a God who created all things. If you do not s ... More
The Great Refusal - Hebrews 11:24-28 - Oct 2, 2008 - 1167
“The greatest thing you will ever do is learn how to say no.”I’m not sure who said that, but whoever it was spoke the truth. Nothing is harder than learning how to say no at the right time, in the right way, for the right reasons. Life is made up of choices, in fact, that’s r ... More
Sheep on the Right, Goats on the Left: The Final Separation of the Saved and the Lost - Matthew 25:31-46 - Dec 2, 2001 - 693
My text describes an awesome event, the Judgment of the Nations, which takes place when Jesus returns to the earth to set up his kingdom. There are three reasons why this judgment must take place:1) Evil must be exposed and finally punished.2) Righteousness must be revealed and finally rewarded.3) J ... More
Mystery & Wonder at Christmastime - Dec 21, 2003
MYSTERY & WONDER AT CHRISTMASTIME by Ray Pritchard Christmas has been slow in coming this year. Maybe that’s a statement about me personally, but I think it’s more than that. It’s almost as if the whole nation has been busy and distracted and we almost forgot that a special occasio ... More
God's Altar Call - Romans 12:1 - Oct 5, 2006 - 728
“I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship” (Romans 12:1).I must have been about eight or nine years old when I first responded to an altar call. For those who don& ... More
Has God Lost the Battle? - Romans 11:1-10 - Jun 11, 2006 - 767
In this sermon series we are looking at Romans 9-11, arguably the three most difficult chapters in the New Testament. I’ve called it “Understanding God’s Plan” because these chapters help us understand the flow of events in history from God’s point of view. To us in the ... More
If I Believe, Why Do I Doubt? - Nov 7, 2007
This is a sermon about a topic we rarely discuss in church. This is a sermon about doubt. As such, it is an unfamiliar topic to most people, even though there are whole books of the Bible that deal with the issue of doubt in various ways — Job, Ecclesiastes, Lamentations, and Habakkuk. Many of ... More
I'll Be Home For Christmas - Luke 2:1-7 - Dec 20, 1992 - 91
It had been a long, hard day on the road, and the two travelers were exhausted. It was a long trip no matter when you traveled, but this time of year the roads were so clogged that it took even longer.Three days had passed since they left Nazareth. Two more days and they would be in Bethlehem. Wh ... More
The Third Law: What God Demands, He Supplies - Mar 3, 2002
In this sermon series we’re looking at the basic laws of the spiritual life that apply to all Christians everywhere. These are the principles that every Christian needs to know because they meet you right where you are and then take you all the way home to heaven. The First Law states a fundam ... More
God in Three Persons: A Doctrine We Barely Understand - Jan 12, 1997
My problem this morning is simple: to explain a doctrine that all Christians believe but no one really understands. And I have to do it in 30 minutes!So let’s start at the very beginning. All Christians believe the doctrine of the Trinity. If you do not believe this—that is, if you have ... More
Christ B.C. Part I: Seed of the Woman - Genesis 3:15 - Dec 3, 1995 - 69
"And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel.”This is the first promise given after the Adam and Eve ate the forbidden fruit in the Garden of Eden. It is also the first gospel sermon ever preached ... More
