Sermons found for the topic Integrity

Integrity: The Ultimate Virtue - Various

I want to begin this sermon by giving you a verse of Scripture that is hard to know where it fits. It is Proverbs 24:26. It seems to fit well on the first Sunday of the new year. It says, “An honest answer is like a kiss on the lips.” What does that mean? What is the relationship between an honest answer and a kiss on the lips. I think it is three things.1. Just as it is relatively rare to be kissed on the lips, even so i More

An Utterly Predictable Life - Daniel 6

Be of good cheer! Do not fear your enemies and do not fear what they can do to you. Remember the story of Daniel and pray for the same kind of utterly predictable faith. More

When Jesus Comes to Church - Revelation 2:1-7

How easy it is to substitute knowledge for a warm heart toward Jesus. How quickly we justify our hard hearts by pointing to all our well-intentioned religiosity. More

A Desperate Man’s Desperate Prayer - Jonah 2

God will do whatever it takes to bring us to the place where we remember him. He’ll stop at nothing. Whatever it takes to get us on our knees is good for our spiritual growth. More

When Life Goes Bad - Revelation 2:8-11

To those who stand strong in the midst of trials, the best is yet to come. We will receive the “crown of life” and reign with Jesus forever. The “second death” in hell cannot touch us at all. More

Barabbas or Jesus? - Matthew 27:15-26

I am Barabbas. Every man is. Murderer, thief, criminal, insurrectionist, lawbreaker, rioter. Justly imprisoned, rightly condemned, freed from punishment by a substitute who died in my place. More

Always Dying, Always Living - 2 Corinthians 4:10-12

We can live in such a way that others see Christ in us. But for that to happen we must be broken so that the light of Christ can come shining through us. More

On the Victory Side - 2 Corinthians 2:12-17

We are still the aroma of Christ to the saved and to the lost. Some believe and are saved. Others reject and are lost. That was true 2000 years ago, and it is still true today. More

Why God Makes It Hard When It Ought to be Easy - 2 Samuel 2-3

2 Samuel 2-3 tell the story of David’s long struggle to become king over all Israel. His life is a pattern of how God deals with his children. It is God’s plan to vindicate us slowly, bless us openly, surprise us occasionally, and test us continually. God intends to develop our character, and to do that adversity is essential. More

How to Meet the Enemy - Ephesians 6:14-17

No believer is safe who faces Satan in his own strength. No believer is more secure than he who goes into battle wearing the whole armor of God. More

Why I Am Not a Pessimist - Ephesians 5:15-17

Christians are both pessimists and optimists, but we are much more optimistic because though we see what is happening in the world around us, we know that Jesus Christ conquered the grave. And because he lives, we too will live. More

It’s the Faith, Brother - Hebrews 11:3-7

There are those who have faith and those who don’t. And if you don’t have faith, you cannot please God. True faith, faith that rests on God and his Word and believes all that he has said, true faith sees the unseen and say, “Yes, it is true.” 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

The Best Defense for a Bad Memory

THE BEST DEFENSE FOR A BAD MEMORY by Ray Pritchard “An honest answer is like a kiss on the lips”� (Proverbs 24:26). This verse will suggest different things to different people. What exactly does it mean and what is the relationship between an honest answer and a kiss on the lips? I think there are three points o… More

The ABC’s of Wisdom: Building Character with Solomon - Integrity

More

How to Be a Leader People Want to Follow

To be credible means that you are believable. To be authentic means that you are genuine and real, not a fake or phony. Put the words together and a credible, authentic leader is someone who can be trusted because he is what he professes to be. He is the real deal, what you see is what you get. More

Five Words on a Tombstone - 1 Thessalonians 2:1-6

Several years ago my older brother took me to visit a cemetery outside Florence, Alabama, near the remains of an ante-bellum mansion called Forks of Cypress. The mansion was built in the 1820s by James Jackson, an early settler of northwest Alabama. My brother and I walked among the ruins of the mansion and then crossed the country road into the dense forest on the other side. After a quarter-mile we found the Jackson family cemet More

Truth or Consequences - Exodus 20:16

When I was growing up my mother had a little rhyme she often repeated to her four sons. You probably heard it many times while you were growing up: Sticks and stones may break my bones But words will never hurt me.As much as I hate to admit it, my mother (who wasn’t wrong about many things) was way off base with that little rhyme. If you analyze those words, they might be called the Stoic’s Credo, for only a person More

The ABC’s of Wisdom: Building Character with Solomon - Honesty

More

Servanthood: The Mark of Authentic Leadership - Various

Warren Bennis is an educator, a philosopher, an author, a scholar and a keen observer of the American scene. These are his words. “Leadership is a word that is on everyone’s lips. The young fight against it. Police seek it. Experts claim it. The artists spurn it. Scholars want it. Bureaucrats pretend to have it and politicians wish they could find it. Everyone agrees on this one fact. There is less of it today than there More

Stop, Thief! - Exodus 20:15

Although it is not a matter of any particular importance, this is not the first time I have preached on the Ten Commandments. About 12 years ago I preached through the Ten Commandments at the church I pastored in Downey, California. After I finished that series of messages, I put my sermon notes in a manila envelope and did not look at them again. In fact, I did not look at my notes on the Eighth Commandment until this week. What More

Men As Trees Walking - Mark 8:22-26

“And they came to Bethsaida. And some people brought to him a blind man and begged him to touch him. And he took the blind man by the hand and led him out of the village, and when he had spit on his eyes and laid his hands on him, he asked him, ’Do you see ’anything?’ And he looked up and said, ’I see men, but they look like trees, walking.’ Then Jesus laid his hands on his eyes again; and he opene More

I’m Coming To Rome Someday, I Hope: Seven Reflections on Knowing the Will of God - Romans 15:22-29

Romans 15:22-29 offers a fascinating glimpse into the mind of the Apostle Paul. Essentially it is Paul’s answer to the question, “Why haven’t you visited Rome yet?” We know from Romans 1:11-13 that though he longed to visit the church at Rome, he had been prevented by his duties elsewhere. Now that his letter is nearly over, he returns to that theme at the end of Romans 15, this time offering a more detailed e More

The Value of a Broken Heart - Romans 9:1-5

This week we are beginning a new series called “Understanding God’s Plan” from Romans 9-11. This is one of the most overlooked passages in the New Testament. It is certainly the most overlooked section in the book of Romans. I have in my library a book by a very famous preacher who has dozens of sermons covering Romans 1-8. You turn the page, expecting the next sermon to be from Romans 9, but no, the next sermon is More

The ABC’s of Wisdom: Building Character with Solomon - Introduction

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. But I decided to make the change after considering three factors: 1. The rapid growth of our congregation in recent years. Although I do not have exact figures, I know that we had about 1150 people on our list when More

When You Are Misunderstood - 2 Corinthians 1:12-2:4

When others twist your words, do not despair. Speak the truth, explain yourself clearly, and then entrust your future to the Lord. If we trust in him, the time of chaos will pass, and we will be stronger for having gone through the struggle. More

How to Tame Lions - Daniel 6

The story of Daniel in the lion’s den is one of the best-known and best-loved stories in all the Bible. Little children love it and Sunday school teachers love to tell it. In the days of slavery this story became the basis of many Negro spirituals. It has encouraged the people of God for thousands of years. And why shouldn’t it? The story is filled with unexpected twists and turns and the good guy wins big and the bad guy More

Our Coming to You Was Not in Vain - I Thessalonians 2:1

When one pastor leaves and another one comes, we learn again that God’s work depends on God, not on God’s messengers. Build your life on God’s Word, not on the man who delivers it. More

Portrait of a Godly Leader - I Timothy 3; Titus 1

We begin with the words of Robert Cook: “There is no substitute for character. You can buy brains, but you can’t buy character.” When it comes to selecting leaders, nothing is more important than godly character. You can buy talent … or brains … or knowledge … but you can’t buy character. Either a person has it or he doesn’t. That fact has come home to me in recent days as o More

How Will You Be Remembered? - II Timothy 2:1-13

How will you be remembered? It’s a simple question that defies a simple answer. After you are dead and gone, after you’ve lived your 40 or 60 or 80 years, when your time on earth has come to an end, when you are here no more, how will you be remembered? What will you leave behind as the legacy of your life? When they talk about you, if they talk about you at all, what will they say?Let me sharpen the question just a bit. More

The Life God Blesses - II Timothy 2:14-26

Almost five years ago we started sending free copies of my books to prisoners across America. Through a partnership with Prison Fellowship, we have distributed tens of thousands of copies of Keep Believing, What a Christian Believes, and An Anchor for the Soul. The response has been overwhelming. To date we have received well over 10,000 letters from prisoners. The letters have come from almost every prison in every state. If you sta More

What Children Can Teach Us At Thanksgiving - Psalm 131

Once again the holiday season has rolled around and people are saying, “Where did the year go?” Already the stores are filled with Christmas decorations, children are wondering what they will find under the tree, and Mom and Dad are wondering how they will pay for it. These days Thanksgiving is basically a pre-season holiday, something you do to get in shape for Christmas. We eat, we sleep, we watch football, and we do More

A Message For Madalyn Murray O'Hair: Why I Believe in God - Various

Forty years ago, Madalyn Murray O’Hair stood amid the lightning and driving rain of a Maryland thunderstorm, shook her fist at the heavens, and dared God to strike her dead. When it became clear that the Almighty was busy with more important matters, she cried out, “You see! You see! If God exists, he would surely have taken up my challenge. I’ve proved irrefutably that God does not exist.” Thus began the care More

Diary of a Wise Old Man - Proverbs 1:1-7

We are beginning a new sermon series. In order to get it off on the right foot, I’d like to ask you to take your Bible and turn with me to Proverbs 1:1-7. The title of this series is Street Smarts, a Handy Guide to Streetwise Living. If you want a theme text for this sermon series, Proverbs 1:20-21 says this. “Wisdom calls aloud in the street. She raises her voice in the public squares. At the head of the noisy streets sh More

Now I See - 2 Corinthians 3:12-4:6

We can preach the gospel and we can pray. Satan will do all he can to keep the lost blind and confused so they cannot “see” the gospel. Only God can lift the veil and speak the words that will bring light to those who walk in darkness. More

FAQ: Frequently Asked Questions About The Christian Life - Chapter 9

More

The ABC’s of Wisdom: Building Character with Solomon - Rebuke

More

How to Make Peace with Your Enemies - Genesis 21:22-34

Slain Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin said it, “You don’t make peace with your friends, only with your enemies.” He uttered those words soon after Israel signed an historic peace treaty with the PLO in 1993. Harshly criticized by many of his countrymen who felt he had given up too much in his quest for peace, he defended himself against those who asked how he could sit at the same with a man like Yasser Arafa More

Grow Up! - 1 Corinthians 13:7

Have you ever wondered what life would be like if you weren’t married? If somehow you were suddenly single again? No matter how happy your marriage is, every honest person would have to answer yes to those questions. We’ve all thought about it from time to time. We’ve wondered if life wouldn’t be a lot simpler if somehow we woke up tomorrow morning and found the other side of the bed empty.Most of us have More

God’s Medicine for a Sick World - Romans 13:8-10

Love is the medicine for a sick and fallen world. We need to see love and feel love and experience it in our lives. And we need to know how to pass it along to others. This is the fulfillment of all that God asks of us. More

How to Kill a New Christian - Part 2 - Romans 14:1-12

Christians have always disagreed - a lot! And it’s not a bad thing. But there is always a danger that our own personal preferences will grow so important that we no longer accept our brothers and sisters in the Lord who disagree with us. The great unifying factor for the people of God is the Lord Jesus Christ. He has broken down the wall that separated us from God and from one another. In Him we are joined together in the body of Christ. If we truly believe More

What Jesus Would Say to Jim Bakker - Luke 16:1-13

When the history of this turbulent decade is finally written, no doubt a large chapter will be reserved for the strange, sad story of Jim and Tammy Faye Bakker. It is the story of the rise and fall of one of the great religious empires of modern times. It is a story of how an obscure preacher and his wife rose to the pinnacle of success. It is the story of how their empire crumbled overnight.It has only been 31 months since we fir More

The Struggle - Romans 7:14-25

I would like to begin with three observations about this famous text. Observation number one is this: Romans 7 is a passage that grips us because we understand exactly what it is saying. We see ourselves in it. When Romans 7 is read everyone understands and says, “Amen, yes, that’s right, that’s true, that’s me.”Here is observation number two: Romans 7 tells us about the Christian life as we actuall More

If God Is Sovereign, What Then? - Psalm 103:19-22

Our problems with the sovereignty of God start when sovereignty becomes personal. We will never understand this doctrine until we remember that we live in a fallen, that evil is personal, that we must start with God, and that God has bought us with the blood of his Son. More

Is There No God? - 2 Kings 1

This is the story of Elijah’s last assignment. God has one final job for his mountain man, and then he will take him home to heaven. The story begins this way: “After Ahab’s death Moab rebelled against Israel. Now Ahaziah…” (v. 1). Ahaziah was Ahab’s son. We find out later that Ahab had two sons, and both of them rebelled against the Lord. When Ahab died his oldest son Ahaziah ascended to the thro More

Blueprint for a Healthy Church - Romans 12:3-8

What makes a great church? We hear that expression often–"a great church"–but no one knows exactly what it means. How do you know when a church has truly become “great?” To begin with, humility, participation, cooperation and the exercise of the spiritual gifts are signs of a church that is healthy and on track. More

Who is the Real Enemy? - Ephesians 6:12

Christianity is not a religion for sissies or for those who want an easy road. If you are looking for an escape from your problems, Jesus is not for you. Christianity is for strong men and women who will not flee from the struggle. More

How We Know What We Know - I Corinthians 2:10-13

"But God has revealed it to us by his Spirit. The Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God. For who among men knows the thoughts of a man except the man’s spirit within him? In the same way no one knows the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God. We have not received the spirit of the world but the Spirit who is from God, that we may understand what God has freely given us. This is what we speak, not in words t More

The Shepherd's Gift - Ephesians 4:11

About the time I graduated from seminary in 1978, a leading Christian magazine published an article entitled, “Things They Didn’t Tell You at Your Seminary Graduation.” It is subtitled, “Some aphorisms for the brand-new pastor.” I cut it out and saved it because at that time I was most definitely a brand-new pastor. Here are a few gems from that article:•If you don’t know what you’re More