Sermons found for the topic Justice

Justice: The Real American Dream - Proverbs 24:11-12

I’d like to begin by telling you something that I ran across in a bookstore. I think you might be interested in this. When I started these sermons on Proverbs, I challenged you to take the Book of Proverbs and r More

What God Remembers That We Forget - Psalm 103:6-18

If you’re wondering what God thinks about you, let’s take a journey through Psalm 103 and discover seven liberating truths about God’s heart. These verses reveal that he shows mercy to those who don’t deserve it, he remembers that we are dust, and he links us with eternity by linking us with himself. More

Grumblers Anonymous - Matthew 20:1-16

This parable is not just teaching us about final rewards. It is also probing at the level of our motives. Why are we doing what we do? If it’s a straight reward you want, fine, you’ll get it. God will never cheat you. But that’s all you’ll get. And you’ll go to heaven grumbling all the way, always checking to see how you are doing compared with someone else - overestimating your own importance and underestimating the grace of God. But if you decide to do your work for the Lord’s sake alone, you will never be disappointed. More

Breaking Down Walls: Racial Prejudice and The Christian Gospel - Psalm 139:23-24; 2 Corinthians 5:17

What does the Christian gospel have to say to racial prejudice? This sermon explores Dr. Martin Luther’s King’s legacy and the unfinished challenge of racial reconciliation. The gospel provides the only lasting answer to the problems of prejudice, bigotry and racial division. More

When You Pray, Never Give Up - Luke 18:1-8

My goal in this sermon is very simple. I hope to convince you of the importance of persistence in prayer. I want you to see that God is greatly glorified when we continue in prayer over a long period of time. Or to sa More

God's Word Has Not Failed - Romans 9:6-18

For many people no question seems as puzzling as the problem of unanswered prayer. Why is it that some things we pray about are never answered? We could all spend hours remembering times when we prayed and prayed, o More

Here Comes the Judge: Bad News for Modern Man - Acts 17:31

"Now this matter is between me, the two people I love most—my wife and our daughter—and our God.” Those are the words of President Bill Clinton as he addressed the nation last Monday night. Roger Sim More

Martin Luther's Highway to Heaven - Romans 1:16-17

It is a mark of our changing times that many people have only a vague idea who Martin Luther is. Most of us have heard his name but we’re not sure where he’s from or what he did or when he lived. Some of More

WHO'S THE BOSS? - MARK 8:34-36

The voice on the other end of the phone said, “Pastor Ray, I need to talk to you.” It was an old friend from Texas who was visiting his wife’s family in Indiana. Could they come by and see us? Yes More

What God Wants For Christmas - Micah 6:6-8

There are only ten days left until Christmas. Have you done your shopping yet? Be careful, because there are some crazy people out there. Have you heard about this new doll called Tickle Me, Elmo? Every year there More

The Blessed Benefits - Psalm 103:1-5

Many of us need to give God a “one-minute praising” for all his blessings. We’re sure good at telling the Lord what we want him to do for us. We need a good dose of Psalm 103 to wash out that complaining spirit and replace it with a heart of gratitude to the Lord. More

How Can I Learn to Forgive? - Matthew 18:21-35

Here are some of the questions people asked about forgiveness: • What really is forgiveness? • How can one do it? • What does it do for the forgiver? • How do you find it in yourself to forg More

Hot Coals: Loving Those You'd Rather Hate - Romans 12:17-21

This week I ran across the words of Booker T. Washington, founder of the world-famous Tuskegee Institute in my home state of Alabama. As a black man growing up in the segregated South, he knew more than his share abo More

Where Grace and Wrath Meet: What the Cross Meant to God - Romans 3:24-26

Easter comes in just six weeks. In order to prepare our hearts we are going to take the five weeks leading up to Palm Sunday to focus on the cross of Christ. I do not intend to repeat the details of what happened on G More

Sola Fide: By Faith Alone - Romans 3:27-31

This is the final message in the series on the four solas of the Reformation. I have saved sola fide-by faith alone-for the last because it is the logical climax of all we have said so far. If sola scriptura is the &l More

Invitation to the Heart of God - Matthew 6:9

We approach the Lord’s Prayer with humility, saying with the first disciples, “Lord, teach us to pray.” Through prayer we journey from wherever we are on earth to the very heart of God. More

Sinners in the Hands of a Merciful God - Romans 11:30-32

Earlier this week I received a copy of John Ensor’s book The Great Work of the Gospel. In the first chapter, he examines the question, What motivates God to make the astonishing offer to forgive all our sins? Ta More

How to be a Godly Rebel - Romans 13:1-7

Winston Churchill once remarked that “democracy is the worst form of government until you consider the alternatives.” How true. Democracy is messy and difficult and maddeningly slow because it depends on 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

Christian Boldness in an Age of Tolerance - Genesis 18:16-33

There is a new, dark definition of tolerance emerging in our world. Josh McDowell argues that toleration has replaced justice as the primary American virtue. Tolerance today means that every view of truth and morality is equal to every other view. This view of toleration differs from the classic view in that it says that there is no such thing as absolute truth. How should we respond? More

Playing with Fire: Can We Still Believe in Hell? - Luke 16:19-31

It’s easy to go to extremes whenever the topic of hell comes up. Either we focus on lurid descriptions of the damned burning in eternal torment or we avoid the topic altogether. Earlier generations tended to str More

The Only Way to Be Right With God - Romans 3:21-26

This morning we are considering the greatest question in the world—How can a man be right with God? It is the supreme problem of life. No more important question could ever be asked.Every sincere person asks thi 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

A Few Good Men - Genesis 18:16-33

On this Memorial Day we honor the men and women of the armed forces, both those who have served with distinction in the past and those who serve our country today. Most of you are familiar with the Marine Corps sloga More

Have You Stopped Blaming Others For Your Problems? - John 5:1-9

You probably don’t recognize the name Bob Shannon unless you happen to be a student of Illinois high school football, in which case you know exactly who he is. Bob Shannon is the head football coach at East Sai More

The Church in Many Places - Acts 8:1-4

God uses catastrophe and disasters to scatter the church so that His word can be spread to all parts of the world. We can become comfortable and content in our lives, but God in His sovergn nature does things we are not used to. More

A Survival Kit for Tough Times - I Peter 5

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 summe More

Straight Talk About Predestination - Romans 9:19-29

In the history of the Christian church, few doctrines have been so hotly debated as the doctrine of predestination. Since predestination is a biblical concept, we must face this doctrine squarely whether we like it or not. It’s in the Bible, therefore we must first seek to understand it and then to ask what difference it makes. More

Jesus The Revolutionary: Mary's Song - Luke 1:48-55

When the history of the 20th century is finally written, it may well be that the last forty years will be called the Age of Revolution. First we had the cultural revolution, then we had the sexual revolution, which w More

The Winds Of War - Matthew 24:6

(Date: January 20, 1991)What a week it’s been for all of us! This has been one of those rare moments when time, which had been rolling smoothly along, suddenly came to a total halt. Do you remember where you wer More

If God is Sovereign, Why Pray? - Matthew 6:8

When we surveyed the congregation last year several people asked this question. I would suppose that most Christians have wondered about it at one time or another. Certainly skeptics have thrown it in our faces to dis More

Holy, Holy, Holy - Isaiah 6

Would you consider it a compliment if someone called you holy? The answer is, it depends on who that someone is. After all, the word holy is used in different ways by different people. If a person is considered excess More

A Forgotten Doctrine: The Wrath of God - Romans 1:18-20

Sometimes the title tells the whole story. My sermon today is about the wrath of God. It is truly a forgotten doctrine, even in the evangelical church. I’ll dare say that many of you have never heard a sermon on More

Going Against the Flow - I Peter 4:1-6

“Therefore, since Christ suffered in his body, arm yourselves also with the same attitude, because he who has suffered in his body is done with sin. As a result, he does not live the rest of his earthly life for 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

A Hard Question

A HARD QUESTION by Ray Pritchard We were just a few seconds away from a station break during a live radio interview two days after the terrorist attacks on September 11. The host, wanting to keep his audience tuned in, announced that he had a hard question for me, and that he would ask it before the break and let me answer … More

What Is At Stake

On November 7 the American people will elect a new president and vice president, 435 members of the House of Representatives, and one-third of the Senate. In addition, there are thousands of statewide and local races that will be decided on that day. How should Christians approach their responsibilities in the coming electi… 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 p More

Self-Control: The Fine Art of Keeping Your Cool - Proverbs 16:32

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 persona More

SEVENTY TIMES SEVEN: HOW TO HANDLE ANGER AND BITTERNESS - MATTHEW 18:21-35

This is not the first itme I have preached this sermon at Northeast Bible Church. As a matter of fact, I have preached it twice before — the first time in the summer of 1983 and the second time in the summer of More

Dear Abby - I Samuel 25

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 intri 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

City Life: Serving God in a Pagan World - Genesis 4:17-26

"Without God, the more power we have the sooner we destroy ourselves; without God, the richer we are the sooner we rot.” W. L. WatkinsonThe first few chapters of Genesis are marked by a very clear logic that goe More

God’s Graffiti - Daniel 5

Babylon became great because of the sovereign blessing of God. In their greatness they forgot about God and began to take him for granted. God judged them and they were no longer a great nation. In the end God judges that nations who forget him, and that judgment often comes at the hands of another nation God raises up for that very purpose. More

Hard Times in Haran - Genesis 29

There are many ways in the English language to express the idea of retribution. For instance, we say, “Everything that goes around, comes around.” And we say, “Things have a way of evening out in t More

God's Peace Corps - Matthew 5:9

It’s dangerous to be a peacemaker. In 1993 Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin signed a peace treaty with Yasser Arafat and the Palestine Liberation Organization. When someone asked how he could sign a treaty 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

Faithful to the Defeated - Lamentations 3:22-23

The year was 1866, and in a log cabin in the little town of Franklin, Kentucky, Thomas Obadiah Chisholm was born. Although he never went to high school or college, he became an elementary school teacher at age 16. Fiv More

The Truth About You - Ephesians 2:1-3

A quarter-century ago psychiatrist Karl Menninger wrote a landmark book titled Whatever Became of Sin? In it he frames the question this way:In all the laments and reproaches made by our seers and prophets, one misses More

Discernment: Making Wise Choices Under Pressure

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 discriminate between good an… More