Search for sermons - Philippians 1
The Life That Wins - Philippians 1:19-26 - Sep 27, 1998 - 372
This week I was browsing through my library and happened upon a book that I purchased 16 years ago called The University of Success, edited by a man named Og Mandino. As I flipped through the pages, I came to a discussion of the universal qualities of successful people. I was struck with the stateme ... 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
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 Met ... More
Joyful Living in a Grumpy World - Philippians 1:1-8 - Sep 6, 1998 - 373
This morning we are beginning a new sermon series from the book of Philippians. By all accounts this is one of the most beloved books in the New Testament. We love to read Philippians and we love to study it and to memorize it. There are many reasons for this, not least of which is that this is the ... 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) Exc ... More
Keep Your Eye on the Donut and Not on the Hole - Philippians 1:12-18 - Sep 20, 1998 - 371
In the 20 years I have been a pastor, a good portion of my time each week has been spent talking with people going through hard times. I suppose it just comes with the territory. When things go well, the pastor rarely hears from people. But when life tumbles in, the pastor gets a telephone call. I&r ... More
What is Heaven Like? - Philippians 3:20-21 - Jan 18, 1998 - 521
"Heaven is a place, just as much a place as is New York or Chicago.” Charles Ferguson Ball I begin this sermon with two statements that I believe to be almost universally true: Everyone wants to know about heaven and everyone wants to go there. Recent polls suggest that nearly 80% of all Ameri ... More
Joy in the Trenches - Philippians 1:27-30 - Oct 4, 1998 - 365
Whatever happens, conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ. Then, whether I come and see you or only hear about you in my absence, I will know that you stand firm in one spirit, contending as one man for the faith of the gospel without being frightened in any way by those who op ... More
Emergency Prayers - Romans 15:30-33 - Apr 27, 2003 - 507
This is the final sermon in the series, Praying with Paul. We started on the first Sunday of January and we come to an end on the final Sunday of April. In my first message I introduced our church theme for 2003, “Lord, teach us to pray,” and I mentioned that this was a logical follow-up ... More
Renewing Your Passion - II Timothy 1 - Jun 15, 2003 - 488
Today we are beginning a summer series from the little book of II Timothy. People sometimes wonder how pastors choose what to preach on. In this case, I feel like I didn’t choose II Timothy; II Timothy chose me. Last fall as we were finishing up our trip on the “Bible Bus,” we came ... 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
The Seventh Law: What God Starts, He Finishes - Apr 14, 2002
We begin with the words of Dietrich Bonhoeffer, the German pastor whose opposition to Adolph Hitler during World War II finally landed him in jail. Shortly before the end of the war, the Nazis put him to death. His best-known writings include The Cost of Discipleship and Life Together. At one point ... More
What Happens When We Die? Article L: Future Reward and Punishment - Various - Jul 5, 1992 - 752
We live in a time when there is great fascination about life after death. S 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 stories o ... More
Will We See Our Loved Ones Again? - 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 - Nov 20, 2007 - 801
My subject is one that we don’t often talk about. In the nearly 30 years I have served in pastoral ministry, I have had very few conversations on this topic. The reasons are not hard to understand.Death in the best of circumstances is not easy to discuss. Even as an academic topic, most of us ... More
So That … - Sep 19, 2004
SO THAT by Ray Pritchard Recently I picked up a useful insight from some friends who were eating supper with us. Somehow the conversation turned to prayer, and a man shared an insight that was new to me. “When I pray,” he said, “I always try to include the phrase ’so that.&rsq ... More
Why We Pray - Romans 15:30-33 - Aug 30, 2007 - 743
A quarter-century ago, when we were living in the Los Angeles area, I attended an all-day seminar on prayer led by Warren Wiersbe. Those who know Dr. Wiersbe will not be surprised when I say that it was an extremely profitable day. I still remember his first words. He looked at us for a moment as if ... More
Discernment: Making Wise Choices Under Pressure - Oct 5, 2003
DISCERNMENT: MAKING WISE CHOICES UNDER PRESSURE by Ray Pritchard “So that you may be able to discern what is best” (Philippians 1:10a). This is a prayer for spiritual discrimination. In our day discrimination has a mostly negative tone, but in the spiritual realm we desperately need to dis ... More
Praying With Paul - Jan 5, 2003
PRAYING WITH PAUL by Ray Pritchard Our 2003 church theme is “Lord, Teach Us to Pray.” If you wonder how we choose the themes each year, the answer is, “It varies.” Sometimes the pastors spend a long time discussing it and sometimes the answer comes very quickly. This year the the ... 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
The Death of Death - II Timothy 1:10 - Apr 4, 1999 - 178
"Christ Jesus … has destroyed death and has brought life and immortality to light through the gospel.” II Timothy 1:10bOf all the fears that grip the hearts of modern men and women, no fear is greater than the fear of death. It is an evidence of our technological progress that on this ... More
Deacons & Deaconesses: Servants of Christ - Apr 7, 1993
First images stay in the mind forever. Whenever I hear the word “deacon,” I always think of Hilliard Felton. He was a lifetime deacon at the First Baptist Church of Russellville, Alabama. As I think back, I don’t believe I ever saw him without a coat and tie on. He was one of t ... 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 ... More
Faithful to Finish His Work in You - Philippians 1:6 - Jun 20, 1999 - 683
“The life of a Christian is a series of miracles.” So said Charles Haddon Spurgeon, the great British preacher of the 19th century. If he is correct, why don’t we ever talk about those miracles? When a friend asked me that question several years ago, I asked several friends to tell me ... 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
No Separation - Romans 8:38-39 - Aug 8, 1993 - 457
All summer long we’ve been climbing. We’ve been talking about what it would finally be like when we reached the top of the mountain. Now at last we’re there, at the peak, the summit of the mighty mountain of God’s grace. Romans is arguably the greatest book in the New Test ... More
Great Is Thy Faithfulness - Lamentations 3:22-25 - Mar 23, 1997 - 471
How many people do you know who do exactly what they say? Before you answer, let me rephrase the question? How many do you know who do exactly what they say every single time? Now before you answer, let me rephrase it again. How many people do you know who do exactly what they say every single time ... More
Is Anything Too Hard For God? The Doctrine of God's Omnipotence - Jeremiah 32:17 - Mar 9, 1997 - 472
This is the third and final sermon on the “omni” attributes of God. I have remarked earlier that these attributes are difficult to grasp because they describe truths about God that have no analog in human experience. We are limited as to place, power and personal knowledge. God is not. T ... More
Will We See Our Loved Ones Again? - 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 - Nov 3, 1996 - 315
My subject this morning is one that we don’t often talk about. Over the twenty years I have served in pastoral ministry I have had very few conversations on this topic. The reasons are not hard to understand.Death in the best of circumstances is not easy to discuss. Even as an academic topi ... More
God Finishes What He Starts - 1 Thessalonians 5:23-28 - Dec 8, 1996 - 317
"May God himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through. May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. The one who calls you is faithful and he will do it.”A few days ago a friend asked me if I would share some stories of miraculo ... More
Overcoming Fear of the Future - Esther 4:12-16 - Dec 29, 2002 - 708
Current headlines tell a chilling story: “Americans Revel Under Watchful Eyes”“Riots Erupt in Bahrain”“The High Cost of Peace”“Thousands of Troops Head for Gulf”“Terrorism on the High Seas”“Kuwait Prepares for War”“Pr ... More
Can We Still Believe in Life After Death? - Luke 20:27-40 - Jan 28, 2009 - 1188
Ever met a Sadducee? Me neither.That’s not surprising considering that the last one died 2000 years ago. And even back then, there were never very many of them. It was always a very select group, like a club for the very wealthy. If you lived in Jericho, you were much more likely to run into a ... More
