Sermons found for the topic John

John Sergey Funeral Service

Message given by Ray Pritchard at the funeral service for John Sergey, January 5, 2009, Calvary Memorial Church, Oak Park, IL. More

A Question for Jesus - Matthew 11:3

If you could have any gift you wanted for Christmas, what would you ask for? That’s not an easy question to answer if you start to think about it. Some of us would ask for things. A new car.A new house.A nice bl More

If I Believe, Why Do I Doubt?

This is a sermon about a topic we rarely discuss in church. This is a sermon about doubt. As such, it is an unfamiliar topic to most people, even though there are whole books of the Bible that deal with the issue of d 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

The Man Who Would Be King: Christ Speaks to the Problem of Frivolous Curiosity - Luke 23:1-12

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 t More

When Christians Disagree - Acts 16:36-41

Christians disagree about almost everything. And when we disagree, we usually start a new church. Which reminds me of a story I heard a few years ago. A Scottish Presbyterian is rescued after many years of living alon 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

Give Them Something to Eat - Mark 6:37

When we have nothing, God gives us so much that we have plenty to share with others. More

Why God Prefers Losers - 2 Corinthians 4:7

God prefers losers who know their weakness, see their flaws, admit their mistakes, and cry out to him for help. More

Who is Jesus Christ? - Matthew 16:13-16

Who is Jesus Christ? A good man? A great teacher? A revolutionary leader? Or is he the Christ, the Son of the Living God? Your eternal destiny hangs on your answer. More

Balancing Truth and Love - 2 John

“Affiliation with the enemies of the Cross spells a lie to all claims to believe the truth.”Robert Lightner This little letter contains one of the strongest warnings in the New Testament. If a false teache More

A Tale of Three Men - 3 John

John’s third epistle has often called a “Tale of Three Men.” That is indeed an appropriate title for if you know these three men, you know what 2 John is all about. Verse 1 speaks of Gaius—the More

Who Is Jesus Christ? Article D: The Person and Work of Jesus Christ - Various

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 believ More

The Standing Orders of the Gospel - 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18

The real impact of the gospel will be seen when we don’t feel joyful, when we don’t want to pray, and when we can’t think of a reason to be thankful. That’s when we discover if our Christianity is the genuine article or a spiritual counterfeit. More

Three Questions for Christmas - Revelation 1:5

Today as yesterday and tomorrow as today, Jesus is the answer to the deepest questions of life. More

The Apostle Who Would Not Believe: Christ Speaks to the Problem of Broken Dreams - John 20:24-29

Do you believe in miracles? Do you believe in honest-to-goodness, old-fashioned acts of God? That’s a good question to ask on Easter Sunday. Most of us, I suppose, would immediately answer, “Yes, I believe More

The Mother of Two Sons: Christ Speaks to the Problem of Misguided Ambition - Matthew 20:20-28

This is the story of a mother who wanted only the best for her sons. Because she loved them and was proud of them and because she had great dreams for them, she came to Jesus one day with an audacious request. She ask More

What is the Difference Between a Real Christian and a Religious Person? - John 3

Being religious is not the same as being a real Christian. Jesus said even the best among us must be born again. A religious person has religion; a Christian has been born again through personal faith in Jesus Christ. It’s as simple as that. Religion is good but Jesus is better. More

The Martyrs - Daniel 3:17-18

The word martyr has the sound of antiquity about it. It’s a word that belongs to the days of Jesus and the apostles, and to the persecuted early Christians who were thrown to the lions in Rome. A few of us have More

What Christ Does With Failure - John 21

John 21 is in the Bible so that all of us Peter-types would know that though we fall again and again, by God’s grace we can keep on getting back up. If he did it for Peter, he can do it for me and for you. More

All One Body We: “The Communion of Saints” - Hebrews 12:1

“Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us& More

A Prophet Like Moses - Deuteronomy 18:15-19

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 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 y More

We Shall Be Like Him: The Purifying Hope of Christ's Return - I John 3:1-3

Shortly before his recent death, ex-Beatle George Harrison was asked about his spiritual journey. The question was apt since it was Harrison who introduced the Beatles to Eastern religion in the 60s and (after the gro More

Taking God Seriously - Matthew 6:9

When you pray, “Hallowed be your name,” you are both the voice and the feet of that petition. As the very words leave your lips, your life is part of the answer. More

The Mystery of the Little Scroll - Revelation 10

An expanded outline of Revelation 10 with explanatory comments and application. More

Do You Have the Courage to be Happy? - Matthew 5:3-12

It started on a Friday night 17 years ago in Lansing, Michigan when a young sophomore came off the bench to lead Everett High School to victory. He scored 36 points, had 18 rebounds, 16 assists and 10 steals. It was More

Can I Lose My Salvation? - Philippians 1:6

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 More

Unless You Forgive - Matthew 6:12

When we pray, “Forgive us our debts as we also have forgiven our debtors,” we are asking God to forgive our sins according to the same standard we have used in forgiving the sins of others. When you pray this prayer you are really saying, “O God, deal with me as I deal with other people.” More

Liar, Lord or Lunatic: Why I Believe in Jesus Christ - Various

Several years ago someone wrote a book called The Many Faces of Jesus. It happened to be the book Elvis Presley was reading when he died in Memphis, Tennessee. That title stands as a fitting symbol of the confusion More

God's Altar Call - Romans 12:1

“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 More

The Woman Caught in the Act: Christ Speaks to the Problem of a Judgmental Spirit - John 8:1-11

"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 Bib More

Prophet on the Run - 1 Kings 19:1-9

The Bible doesn’t sugarcoat the truth about its heroes. It gives us the whole story, the good news and the bad news at the same time. When the Bible describes the great heroes of the Old Testament and the New Te More

God Unchanging - Romans 11:28-29

When I was a teenager in Alabama, I spent a week at a Methodist church camp. This was during the revolutionary days of the 60s when the talk was of LSD, the Beatles, hippies, the Vietnam War and protest in the street More

The Comeback Kid - Judges 16:23-31

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 More

How to Overcome Disappointment - Haggai 2:1-9

On September 5, 1886, Charles Spurgeon began his sermon on our text with these incisive words: Satan is always doing his utmost to stay the work of God. He hindered these Jews from building the temple; and today he en More

Real Christian vs. Religious - John 3

This is the first sermon based on the questions submitted by the congregation last spring. I don’t know who wrote this particular question but it’s a good one. The very wording suggests that there is a fun More

When Christians Disagree - Acts 15:36-41

We Christians disagree a lot, sometimes about the craziest things. I don’t know if you know it or not, but Christians have been disagreeing with each other since the very beginning. It goes all the way back to More

The Final Difference Between the Church and the World - Hebrews 11:29

At the Red Sea, the Hebrews were delivered while the Egyptians were destroyed. From this we learn that the church and the world have two different destinations. This is the final difference between them. More

How God Destroys Human Pride - I Corinthians 1:26-31

What sort of people does God look for when he gets ready to populate heaven? If heaven has an admissions committee, what qualifications do committee members look for? That’s not an idle question. We tell our you More

The God We Hardly Know

David Mains caught me off guard with his question. “If you had to grade your congregation on their knowledge of the Holy Spirit, what grade would you give them?”Up until that moment, the interview had gone More

Backstage at Bethlehem - John 1:10-13

It’s amazing how simple some things really are. Take the Bible, for instance. At first glance, it’s an intimidating book filled with strange names, places we’ve never heard of, books we can’t p More

God’s Scapegoat: “Buried” - Leviticus 16

“I believe in Jesus Christ ¼ who suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried.” The Apostles’ Creed This is a sermon based on a word that doesn’t seem necessar More

The Comeback Kid: Christ Speaks to the Problem of Personal Failure - John 21

Have you ever done something or said something that disappointed someone you loved? I suppose all of us, if we were honest, would have to answer “yes” to that question. Perhaps we promised to be somewhere, More

The Father of a Dying Son - John 4:46-54

This is the story of a man whose son was dying. We do not know the precise nature of the son’s illness except that he had a high fever and was near the point of death. We do not know the son’s name or his More

Why Are You Weeping? - John 20:11-18

The story of Mary Magdalene meeting Jesus at the empty tomb is found only in John’s gospel. I think Mary must have told John about it personally. Everything about this little slice of life rings true to human na More

Great Is Thy Faithfulness - Lamentations 3:22-25

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 More

Why I Believe in God - Genesis 1:1

I believe in God because nothing in the universe makes sense without him. After all the arguments on both sides are finished, you still have to decide for yourself. You still have to choose. What choice have you made? More

Paid in Full - John 19:30

Here is the gospel truth. Jesus died. God is satisfied. When Jesus said, “It is finished,” he meant it. Will you believe it? More