Search for sermons - Matthew 7
Three Levels of Prayer - Matthew 7:7-11 - Apr 2, 2000 - 8
Today we are beginning a new sermon series called Adventures in Prayer. For the next seven Sundays we will look at some of the great prayer promises of the New Testament. Right up front I want you to know that I have no desire to add to your guilt. Almost everyone I know feels secretly guilty about ... More
Judge Not! - Matthew 7:1-5 - May 25, 2003 - 756
"Judge not, that you be not judged. For with the judgment you pronounce you will be judged, and with the measure you use it will be measured to you. Why do you see the speck that is in your brother's eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye? Or how can you say to your brother, ‘L ... More
What is Saving Faith? - Sep 5, 2001
The question, "What is saving faith?" is not as easily answered as one might assume. It is evident from reading the New Testament that not everyone who "believes" truly possesses saving faith. Jesus Himself warned in Matthew 7:21-23 that on the Day of Judgment many will claim to have worked miracles ... More
What is Saving Faith? - Romans 10:9-10 - Oct 24, 1999 - 305
The question posed by my title is not as easily answered as one might assume. It is evident from reading the New Testament that not everyone who "believes" truly possesses saving faith. Jesus himself warned in Matthew 7:21-23 that on the Day of Judgment many will claim to have worked miracles in his ... 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 essence of God's nature. The word " ... More
Only One Gospel: Why We Preach an Unpopular Doctrine - Galatians 1:1-10 - May 6, 2001 - 251
Today we are beginning a brand-new sermon series on the book of Galatians. Whenever a pastor starts a new series, especially an exposition of a book of the Bible, it's always useful to know why this book and why now. After all, there are 65 other books in the Bible. So why study Galatians now? For m ... More
The Man Who Would Be King: Christ Speaks to the Problem of Frivolous Curiosity - Luke 23:1-12 - Apr 8, 2001 - 126
This is the story of a man who had a chance but didn't take it and was never offered another one. The man's name is Herod Antipas. On Good Friday morning Jesus stood on trial before him. What happened on that fateful day led directly to the crucifixion of Christ. It also sealed Herod's eternal desti ... More
Why Good People Won't Go to Heaven - Romans 10:1-4 - May 20, 2006 - 765
I'd like to talk to you about who goes to heaven. We all know that the Bible teaches the reality of heaven and the reality of hell. Jesus himself spoke of both places many times. All of us, I'm sure, would like to go to heaven if we could. Even if you are not a Christian, I'm sure if given a cho ... 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 always hav ... More
A Friend in High Places - Hebrews 4:14-16 - Apr 30, 2000 - 9
If you were raised in Chicago, you no doubt recognize the name of Mike Royko. For over 30 years he was the voice of Chicago to the nation. At the height of his career over 600 newspapers carried his columns. After he died several years ago, his family and friends published 110 of his columns (out of ... More
What Is Saving Faith? - Sep 6, 2006
"Pastor Ray, how can I know that I am truly saved?" The young man standing before me was obviously in some distress. His story was familiar. He had been raised in an evangelical church where he had accepted Christ as his Savior when he was 8 or 9. After 19 years of Sunday school and church services, ... More
Playing with Fire: Can We Still Believe in Hell? - Luke 16:19-31 - Jun 18, 2000 - 214
It's easy to go to extremes whenever the topic of hell comes up. Either we focus on lurid descriptions of the damned burning in eternal torment or we avoid the topic altogether. Earlier generations tended to stress the former. In his classic sermon "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God," Jonathan Ed ... More
Lucky to Love - I Thessalonians 3:10-13 - Mar 16, 2003 - 503
"Prayer is not everything but everything is by prayer." So said Ray Ortlund. All Christians would agree with that statement. No matter what our background, instinctively we know that prayer is central to the Christian life.Most of you are familiar with Corrie Ten Boom. Her family hid Jews in Holland ... 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
Who's in Charge Here? "I Believe in God the Father Almighty" - Various - Jan 25, 2004 - 644
All week long I've been thinking about the phrase "Father Almighty" and trying to decide what it really means. It's a fascinating question because the Apostles' Creed compresses the entire nature of God into just two words—"Father Almighty." The framers of the Creed were telling us that if we ... More
Back to Basics - John 7:16-17 - Jan 4, 2004 - 645
Each year at Calvary we choose a theme and a theme verse that serve as our ministry focus. We started doing that in 1991 and have continued every year since then. Sometimes we don't know until October or November what our theme for the next year will be. And sometimes there is quite a bit of discuss ... More
What Was That I Never Heard You Say? - James 1:19 - Apr 8, 2006 - 539
Perhaps you've heard the story of the woman who went to see a lawyer about getting a divorce. The lawyer decided it would be helpful if he could get a little background so he asked the woman if she had grounds for a divorce. "Yes," she said, "as a matter of fact, about an acre and a half." He repl ... More
Overcoming Materialism - I Timothy 6:17-19 - Nov 24, 2002 - 704
If you are rich, this sermon is for you.There aren't many sermons directed at rich people, but this one is. My text is a word from the Apostle Paul to the rich Christians in the church at Ephesus. The first phrase of verse 17 makes it very clear: "Command those who are rich in this present world." T ... More
Don't Settle for Second-Best - Philippians 1:9-11 - Feb 2, 2003 - 501
In this message I want to give you some very practical advice that could energize your prayer life. As we begin moving in that direction, here are three opening observations to think about:1. Prayer is both the easiest and hardest discipline of the Christian life. It is the easiest in that the young ... 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
The Rising of the Rejected Stone - Acts 4:8-12 & 1 Peter 2:4 - Apr 12, 1998 - 171
"Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved." Acts 4:12Easter has come once again but not everyone is smiling. This is the paradox of Easter—it is the holiest day on the Christian calendar, but not everyone shares our joy ... More
This Same Jesus: The Blessed Hope of the Church - Acts 1:10-11 - Apr 5, 1998 - 638
"They were looking intently up into the sky as he was going, when suddenly two men dressed in white stood beside them. ‘Men of Galilee,' they said, ‘why do you stand here looking into the sky? This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you ha ... More
Can I Lose My Salvation? - Philippians 1:6 - Nov 2, 1997 - 525
I would like to begin with the observation that this is a controversial question in Christian circles. It would be difficult to find a subject about which believers are more deeply divided. To the question, "Can I lose my salvation?" there are whole denominations that answer yes: The Methodists, the ... More
Allied Force Questions - Various - Jan 4, 1998 - 522
When we surveyed the congregation asking for their questions a few months ago, our high school ministry (called Allied Force) turned in their own set of questions. On October 12, the students joined me on the platform and participated in a live question-and-answer session. The questions that follow ... More
Hot Coals: Loving Those You'd Rather Hate - Romans 12:17-21 - May 21, 1995 - 740
This week I ran across the words of Booker T. Washington, founder of the world-famous Tuskegee Institute in my home state of Alabama. As a black man growing up in the segregated South, he knew more than his share about hatred, prejudice and unfair treatment. But as a Christian, he also knew that a ... More
How to Pray for Anyone About Anything - Philippians 1:9-11 - Sep 13, 1998 - 370
How would you rate your own prayer life? If you had to give yourself a grade, would it be A … B … C … D … or F? Or as someone suggested, how about the word "Incomplete"? Before you decide on an answer, let's try the question another way. Is your prayer life A) Excellent, B) A ... More
Lessons From the Master Teacher - Luke 6:40 - Sep 24, 1995 - 438
Teachers deserve special honor because they help shape the next generation. By their words and by their deeds, teachers mold the leaders of tomorrow. Henry Brooks Adams said, "A teacher affects eternity. He can never tell where his influence stops."This week I tried to name all of my homeroom teache ... 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. Mus ... 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
How to be Happy in Babylon - Jeremiah 29:8-10 - Mar 30, 2008 - 820
One summer many years ago, when we were still living in Chicago, our family vacation took us to the Deep South. Near the end of the trip as we were driving home, our route led through Knoxville onto I-75 heading north toward Lexington and Cincinnati. We weren’t in any hurry, and soon it ... More
God’s Medicine for a Sick World - Romans 13:8-10 - Jan 7, 2007 - 725
“Love is the medicine for the sickness of the world.” So said noted psychiatrist Dr. Karl Meninger. He summarized his therapeutic approach this way: “Love cures. It cures those who give it and it cures those who receive it." Love truly is good medicine. It has been said that ... More
Peace, Be Still!A Short Sermon from the Sea of Galilee - Mark 4:35-41 - Jan 29, 2007 - 495
It was only a week ago, though it seems much longer, that I awoke on the shores of the Sea of Galilee. We were about to start Day 5 of our Holy Land tour, and already we had seen so much that the mind could not take it all in. After landing in Tel Aviv, we paid a quick visit to Joppa where Jonah too ... More
Acts of the Apostates - Jude 1-25 - Sep 7, 1997 - 461
I’d like to begin my message with a word we don’t often use. Though it has been around for many generations, this particular word unfamiliar to most of us. Few of us use it in ordinary conversationsand some of us have probably never heard the word at all. It is a word with an ugly, omino ... More