Sermons found for the topic Commitment

Forever and Ever, Amen! - Matthew 19:6

Let's begin with a little quiz. What well-known television actor said the following? "To me the greatest Latin lover in the world was may Dad, who married my mother and was faithful to her until the day he died 55 y More

Sleeping Together and Christ’s Global Cause

Why shouldn’t two adult Christians who happen to be divorced and have fallen in love—why shouldn’t they sleep together? That’s the question a man asked in an email. Here is my answer. More

Come Before Winter - 2 Timothy 4:21

Procrastination destroys many good intentions. Some things must be done “before winter” or they will not be done at all. There are doors of opportunity that open before us today, but if we do not take advantage of them, tomorrow they will be forever shut. More

Ballistic Christianity - Matthew 9:35-38

“Then He said to his disciples, ‘The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few…’ What did Jesus mean? He meant there were many people ready to be harvested for the Kingdom. All around us there are broken, bleeding, hurting people, ripped apart and left to die, they are ready to be reached if only someone will go to the harvest fields. If only someone will tell them about Jesus. Where are the harvest fields today? Let me name a few …. More

How to Pray with Power - Colossians 1:9-14

Life has meaning and is worth living when we pray for God’s will to fill our lives. Trusting God with control or our lives encourages us through hard times as we follow in faith. Our commitment to God’s will means we can live a life that that pleases Jesus and makes us part of His amazing agenda. More

Beyond Your Dreams - Ephesians 3:14-21

Pray boldly for spiritual strength, teaches Paul. God is faithful and we can trust Him. He is more than able to do even more than we ask.. Through prayer, we are filled with the Holy Spirit and grow spiritually, understanding the height, breadth, length and depth of Christ’s love for us. More

Wanted: Bold Believers! - Colossians 4:2-4

Learning how to pray effectively is essential for spiritual growth. Based on the prayers of Paul, we can learn to pray boldly for the commitment of those on the front lines of spiritual conflict, for open doors of opportunity for evangelism, for courage despite difficult circumstances and persecution, and for clarity in presentation of the Gospel – especially encouraging pastors. More

Our Mutual Covenant - Acts 2:41-47

Down in Texas they say that football is a religion. But I ran across something the other day that made me think that the same thing might be true in Chicago. It happened while we were browsing through a shopping mal More

What is Saving Faith? - Romans 10:9-10

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 More

Should Our Teachers Be Required to Sign the Articles of Faith? - Various

Tonight we are beginning a brand-new series of Sunday night messages. As you know, I usually take books of the Bible on a chapter-by-chapter basis on Sunday night. This series is a major departure from that pattern. More

What Is Saving Faith?

"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 More

Remarried—and Happy at Last! - Romans 7:1-6

This question is for those who are married: When was the last time you sat down with your husband or wife and told the story of how you met and fell in love? How long has it been since you remembered your first kiss? More

"Everything Comes from You": The Forgotten Secret of Christian Giving - I Chronicles 29:14

When Dusty Baker became the manager of the Chicago Cubs last November, he was asked about the team's long history of post-season futility. Upon being told that the Cubs had not won a playoff series in 94 years (now 95 More

What is Saving Faith?

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 More

Three Arrows at Sunrise - I Samuel 18-23

In our study of the early years of David as he journeyed from the sheep pens to the throne, we have come to the story of his friendship with Jonathan. This is perhaps the most famous friendship in the Bible and it is More

Staying Pure in an X-Rated World - Various

(This particular sermon was a "tag team" effort where I preached the first part, and Pastor Bob Boerman preached the last part. I have added a conclusion beginning with the section called "Rise and Walk.")"The moment More

Curing the Itch Mites

Ray: How many of you know what itch mites are? We had never heard of them until two months ago. Marlene: We learned all about itch mites when we hosted a wedding reception in Chicago for Mark and Vanessa who had gotte More

The Treasure Principle - Matthew 6:19-34

This is the second sermon in a two-part miniseries on God and our money. We're doing this because we're praying that God will help us pay off the remainder of the Legacy Campaign debt by Thanksgiving. Our greater goal More

Level Three Faith and How to Get There - Hebrews 11:13-16

Every time a church enters a stewardship campaign, there is danger and there is also opportunity. The main danger is that the church will talk so much about money that people will begin to equate the whole of Christia More

How to Be a Leader People Want to Follow

Recently I was asked to speak to a group of youth leaders on becoming a credible, authentic leader. In preparing my first message, I decided to focus on two key words. According to the dictionary, the word credible co More

Righteousness is a Five Letter Word - Romans 4:9-12

Certain subjects present a preacher with unusual problems. There are some subjects that quite simply make people uncomfortable no matter how you deal with them. Circumcision is one of those subjects. No matter what I More

Level Three Faith — A Personal Update

LEVEL THREE FAITH””A PERSONAL UPDATE by Ray Pritchard During the Legacy Campaign last September, I preached a sermon called “Level Three Faith and How to Get There.”� Whenever a church enters a stewardship campaign, there is danger and there is opportunity. The danger is that by talking openly about mon… More

Overcoming Boredom - Ecclesiastes 9:10; Colossians 3:17

A ten-year-old boy was asked, "What do you want to be when you grow up?" Influenced by the threat of nuclear war and the reality of terrorist attacks around the world, the boy thought for a moment and then replied wit More

Behind Closed Doors - Hebrews 13:4

There are times when a writer knows beyond a shadow of a doubt that he doesn't have to worry about getting the reader's attention. Certain subjects require no gimmicks, tricks or elaborate introductions. Some subje More

What Makes a Marriage? - Genesis 2:18-25

It was a hot night when we got married. Late August in Phoenix, Arizona, is always hot but by the time our wedding started, the temperature outside had cooled down to a balmy 97 degrees. There weren't very many people More

Marriage Conference - Various

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The Strategic Prayer Initiative

THE STRATEGIC PRAYER INITIATIVE by Ray Pritchard Several years ago Mike Jebb came up with a revolutionary idea: What if Christians took prayer seriously? What if, instead of praying “when we feel like it,” Christians began to pray the way that soldiers go to war? What if our prayer room became a “war room… More

We Have Come to Shechem - Joshua 24; Hebrews 13

A few miles north of Jerusalem the remains of an ancient city nestle between two mountains. To get there you take a bus ride out of Jerusalem up into the hill country of Samaria. The road is built over an ancient tr More

The Christian’s Supreme Boast - Jeremiah 9:23-24

“Tell them, Pastor Ray, tell them that nothing matters except Christ. The young people need to know this before it’s too late.” So said my friend Jim Johnsen on my first visit with him in the hospital a More

Abstain! - 1 Thessalonians 4:1-8

"For this is the will of God, your sanctification: that you should abstain from sexual immorality" (1 Thessalonians 4:3 New King James Version).There are not many things from which the Bible tells us to abstain. The More

REACHING PEOPLE WITH GOD'S LOVE - Various

Friday morning I did something I had not done since becoming pastor of this church. I took a few minutes and sat on the steps in front of the sanctuary. It was a typical March day in Chicago–clear and cool wit More

The Salt and Light Brigade - Matthew 5:13-16

All of us were shocked and saddened by the tragic events in the Scottish highlands this week. On Wednesday a deranged gunman slaughtered sixteen schoolchildren and their teacher for no apparent reason. Commenting on More

Ziklag Is Burning! - I Samuel 27-30

Once upon a time the devil decided to have a garage sale. He did it because he wanted to clear out some of his old tools to make room for new ones. After he set up his wares, a fellow dropped by to see what he had. Ar More

Adam's Rib: How God Arranged the First Marriage - Genesis 2:18-25

Yesterday I performed a wedding ceremony for Chris Hall and Kara Hansen. It was a lovely occassion, as weddings usually are, and everything seemed to go well. As I stood on the platform with the happy couple only two More

Taking The Plunge

Of all the issues that divide Christians, none is more hotly debated than the issue of baptism. For centuries godly men and women have come down on different sides of this question. Entire denominations have sprung up More

Baal Buster - 1 Kings 18:16-46

It is sometimes said that a crisis never makes a man–it only reveals what he already is. That thought is both comforting and frightening because we all wonder how we would react if everything we held dear was re More

Singing Your Way to Victory - 2 Chronicles 20

"I have no use for cranks who despise music, because it is a gift of God. Music drives away the Devil and makes people gay; they forget thereby all wrath, unchastity, arrogance, and the like. Next after theology, I g More

Has God Lost the Battle? - Romans 11:1-10

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 eve More

The Blessing of a Believing Spouse - Hebrews 11:8-10

God may arrange things so that your faith bears vast fruit in the years to come. Your legacy will be most clearly seen after you have gone to heaven. Sarah never lived to see the world-changing impact of her faith in God, but we still remember her 4000 years later and honor her example. More

What Does the Bible Say About Divorce and Remarriage? - Matthew 19:1-12

Perhaps the place to begin is with a few quotes taken from The Abolition of Marriage by Maggie Gallagher: "Over the past 30 years a consistent 96% of the American public has expressed a personal desire for marriage. O More

Little Steps to a Big Fall - Judges 16:1-3

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 More

Serving God in an Unbelieving World - I Peter 2:13-17

"Submit yourselves for the Lord's sake to every authority instituted among men: whether to the king, as the supreme authority, or to governors, who are sent by him to punish those who do wrong and to commend those who More

Unhindered Prayers - I Peter 3:7

Quick now, what well-known actor said the following: "I don't like danger. I'm not a womanizer. My happiest moments are when I'm at home with my wife or in the company of a couple of good friends. I don't covet wealth More

Overcommitters Anonymous

Several weeks ago I flew to New York to teach the book of Galatians to 500 students at Word of Life Bible Institute. The young man who picked me up at the Albany airport asked a question I've heard more than once lately: "How do you get everything done that you have to do?" The question seems to assume that I am busier than… More

"Should I Not be Concerned about that Great City?" Why We are Staying in Oak Park - Jonah 4:11

It was an exciting time to be alive.The year was 1915, and change was in the air. So many things were happening all at once. Armies marched across Europe, meeting in the deadly combat of World War I. America was about More

Come Before Winter - II Timothy 4:9-22

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 More

"They Gave Themselves First to the Lord" Why Giving Begins with the Heart, Not the Pocketbook - II Corinthians 8:1-5

Last night some Moody students came over to our house for some pizza and to watch a football game. One of them asked what I planned to preach on today. When I told him, he said, "Too bad." Then, "Too bad you have to p More

Life Has Been Good - Various

This is the fifth year I have been privileged to give a State of the Church address to Calvary Memorial Church. In my first message I quoted the great Chicago architect Daniel Burnham who said, "Make no small plans. More

The Long Road Home - I Samuel 30

This sermon is about one question and one question only: How do you come back to God? In putting the matter this way, I realize there are certain people who desperately need this message. I don't know who you are but More

Christmas Hope - Hebrews 6:18-20

This is Christmas Eve. Even though there is no command in the New Testament to celebrate Christmas, we happily join with millions of Christians around the world in remembering the birth of our Savior. "Joy to the worl More