Search for sermons - Proverbs 16
How Can I Discover God's Will For My Life? - Proverbs 16:9 - Dec 7, 1997 - 529
Have you ever wished you could sit down with God and have a good talk with him about your own life? Have you ever wished you could just look him in the eye say, "Lord, what do you want me to do?" All of us have moments when we want to hear Godís voice or receive some definite sign regarding a relati ... More
Self-Control: The Fine Art of Keeping Your Cool - Proverbs 16:32 - Jan 29, 1995 - 616
Prosecutor Christopher Darden set the tone in his opening statement in the O.J. Simpson murder trial. Everyone knows about O.J. the athlete and O.J. the celebrity. And by now most of us know far more about his personal life than we care to know. But Mr. Darden was not speaking to us, but to the twel ... More
The Most Important Ingredient - Acts 16:6-10 - Sep 15, 2005 - 699
When was the last time you played with modeling clay? It may have been a while unless you have a house full of preschoolers. As all parents know, children love modeling clay because they can make almost anything with it. When it first comes out of the can, the clay feels cold and clammy and mushy. I ... More
How Can I Discover God's Will For My Life? - Oct 26, 2007
Have you ever wished you could have lunch with Jesus? Wouldn't it be wonderful if you got a phone call from heaven saying that the Lord Jesus Christ would like to meet you for lunch next Thursday? Suppose that happened. What would you talk to Jesus about? I imagine that your first impulse would be t ... More
Deciding the Big Ones - Acts 16:6-10 - Jun 5, 1993 - 392
"Paul and his companions traveled throughout the region of Phrygia and Galatia, having been kept by the Holy Spirit from preaching the Word in the province of Asia. When they came to the border of Mysia, they tried to enter Bithynia, but the Spirit of Jesus would not allow them to. So they passed by ... More
The Tongue: Life and Death Are In Your Mouth! - Various - Oct 9, 1994 - 618
Proverbs has a lot to say about what we say. In fact, the subject of the tongue and how we use our words is perhaps the preeminent theme of this book. Over 150 times in this book alone, Proverbs refers to our lips, our mouth and our tongue. One of the central issues of the Book of Proverbs is how yo ... More
Contentment: A "Better" Way to Live - Proverbs 17:1 - Nov 20, 1994 - 620
It didn't start out that way. When Scott and Janet put the kids in the mini-van and took off for Milwaukee, they had no idea. It was just another trip and six of their kids were with them. Scott Willis said, "I barely had time. I saw the metal fly off the truck, and the mini-van rolled over it and i ... More
Don't Bet On It: Gambling And The Christian Faith - Jul 25, 1991
"Gambling is inevitable." So began the introduction to the final report of the Commission on the Review of National Policy Toward Gambling. "No matter what is said or done by advocates or opponents of gambling in all its various forms, it is an activity which is practiced, or endorsed, by a substant ... More
Dice in the Prayer Meeting: Making Tough Decisions with God's Help - Acts 1:21-26 - May 3, 1998 - 640
4 … 9 … 30 … 34 … 48 … 8. Do you know what those numbers mean? Frank and Shirley Capaci of Streamwood know because those numbers won them $104 million this week in the largest lottery in American history. On Tuesday and Wednesday millions of people in 20 states ... More
Dear Abby - I Samuel 25 - Oct 8, 2000 - 340
In our survey of the early years of David's life, we have come to a little-known episode that ought to be better known. The story of David and Nabal and Abigail is riveting. It's got it all. There is intrigue, injustice, conflict, anger, revenge, attempted murder, an impassioned plea, sudden death, ... 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 to II Timothy. Ev ... More
Elijah and the Ravens - 1 Kings 17:2-7 - Mar 7, 2006 - 185
Until recently, everything I knew about ravens, I learned from Edgar Allen Poe. I don't know when I first read his poem The Raven, but it might have been in Mrs. Graves' ninth-grade English class. All I remember about the poem is the spooky refrain, "Quoth the raven, 'Nevermore.'" And until I read a ... More
Samson and the Fine Art of Self-Control - Sep 24, 2006
In December 2004 I received an email that changed my life. Right after the tsunami that devastated Indonesia, Thailand, Sri Lanka and India, Ramesh Richard, a professor at Dallas Seminary, sent an email that contained a simple, one-sentence prayer. He called it a "dangerous" prayer. The moment I saw ... More
A Survival Kit for Tough Times - I Peter 5 - May 8, 2005 - 606
We come this morning to the end of our series on I Peter. This is the 24th and final message. We started on the last Sunday of July and we end on Mother's Day. It was summer when we started and we end with summer not that far away. In my first sermon I said that we were going to study I Peter becaus ... 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
Some Advice to the Discontented - Jeremiah 29:4-6 - Feb 19, 2008 - 816
Ever since the beginning of creation, when the first creatures came from the hand of God, there has always been someone, somewhere, unhappy with his position in the universe. It all started with an angel named Lucifer, the brightest star of the heavenly firmament, who was not satisfied to be the ... More
The Howard Dean Syndrome - Feb 1, 2004
THE HOWARD DEAN SYNDROME by Ray Pritchard Howard Dean is an angry man. You can tell by the way he talks to people. You can also tell because lots of people are talking about how angry he is. I'm writing these words the day after the New Hampshire primary where he lost for the second time in a week t ... More
Restless, Waiting, Willing - Nov 28, 2004
RESTLESS, WAITING, WILLING by Ray Pritchard At our recent Pastors’ Retreat, Howard Duncan shared something the Lord had put on his heart overnight. He said that as pastors, we are called to ask, “What is God doing and how can we join him in his work?”ť That's different from asking, & ... More
You Can Stumble But You Won't Fall - Psalm 37:23-24 - Dec 28, 2003 - 813
"The steps of a good man are ordered by the LORD, and He delights in his way. Though he fall, he shall not be utterly cast down; For the LORD upholds him with His hand" (Psalm 37:23-24 NKJV).Since this is the final Sunday of 2003, I wanted to bring a message that would encourage us as we wrap up one ... More
Life-Changing, Heart-Moving, World-Shaking Prayer - 1 Thessalonians 3:9-13 - Sep 29, 1996 - 323
"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 whose family hid Jews in H ... More
Full Stomachs and Empty Hearts - Matthew 5:6 - Jan 28, 1996 - 54
"You are what you eat." This is not good news for most of us, especially on Super Bowl Sunday. But it is true. Nutritionists tell us your appetite determines your diet, your diet determines your intake, and your intake determines your health. We know, for example, that too much caffeine harms yo ... More
No Graven Images - Exodus 20:4-6 - Jun 7, 1992 - 718
"Idols? You must be kidding.""That's what they have in Africa, right?" "Me? An idol-worshiper? What do you take me for? A pagan?""The only thing I worship is my brand-new car." What is an idol anyway? The dictionary offers this definition: "an image used as an object of worship." That sound ... More
Propitiation: God's Not Angry At You - Various - Mar 5, 1995 - 378
You never know where you are going to find spiritual truth. I found some the other day in the pages of USA Today. It was about a month ago during the height of the questions surrounding Newt Gingrich's book deal. They published an article by former Speaker of the House, Jim Wright. You may remember ... More
Hard Work: The Reason We Get Out of Bed - Various - Sep 4, 1994 - 624
Turn in your Bible to the Book of Proverbs, beginning in Chapter 6. We are going to begin the sermon with a number of verses from Proverbs.Proverbs 6:6 "Go to the ant, you sluggard. Consider its ways and be wise. It has no commander, no overseer or ruler, yet it stores its provisions in summer and g ... More
Out of Control - Judges 14 - Feb 18, 1990 - 516
It's been a tough week for Donald Trump. He's the billionaire developer and deal-maker from New York City who is leaving his wife, Ivana. Since the news broke last Sunday, the story has been on the front page of virtually every newspaper in America. Just this morning, the Chicago Sun-Times called ... More
Looking for Love in All the Wrong Places - Judges 16:1-22 - Mar 11, 1990 - 518
There are certain stories in the Bible which fit into a very special category. Those are the stories which reveal the essence of the people in the story. That is to say, if you know the story, you know what the people are like even if you don't know anything else about those people. A handful of ... More
The Comeback Kid - Judges 16:23-31 - Mar 18, 1990 - 519
As the morning light broke across the horizon, men began to stir all over the prison compound. In a corner cell, heavily guarded and barricaded behind an enormous iron door, another man heard the noises and woke with a start. He had been dreaming of other, better days. Dreams of sunshine and blue ... More
The Invisible Hand: Coming to Grips With God's Providence - Genesis 50:20 - Aug 21, 1997 - 433
Do all things really work together for good? Consider the following:•A little baby is born with no brain, only a brain stem. The doctors tell the parents that she has no chance of surviving. Somehow she stays alive for sixteen months. The parents struggle to take care of her. When she gets sick ... More
Little Steps to a Big Fall - Judges 16:1-3 - Sep 22, 1998 - 436
There are certain stories in the Bible that almost everyone knows. These narratives reveal something so basic about human nature that people who never go to church and never read the Bible know them anyway. A handful of Bible stories fall into this category: David and Goliath. Cain and Abel. Abra ... More
The Invisible Hand: Coming to Grips With God's Providence - Genesis 50:20 - Feb 2, 1997 - 468
Do all things really work together for good? Consider the following:•A little baby is born with no brain, only a brain stem. The doctors tell the parents that she has no chance of surviving. Somehow she stays alive for sixteen months. The parents struggle to take care of her. When she gets sick, ... More
Will 1999 Be a Happy New Year? - Philippians 4:10-13 - Jan 3, 1999 - 362
This week I made a list of things to worry about as we start the new year. These things are not personal in nature, rather they touch on national and international issues that affect all of us.1. The impeachment crisis in WashingtonNo one can say with certainty what will happen when the trial of Pre ... More
Angry Man Alert - Aug 29, 2008
I would like to begin by calling your attention to two uncomfortable verses in the New Testament. If these verses don’t bother you, they should.Colossians 3:19 says, “Husbands, love your wives and do not be embittered against them.” It’s not the first part that grabs our atte ... More