Sermons found for the topic Missions

Why I Believe in a Last-Days Worldwide Awakening

If we are indeed living in the last days before the return of Christ, we should expect things to get better and worse at the same time. We should expect hard times and good times, increasing opposition and amazing open doors, trouble ahead and glorious gospel victories. More

How God Pursues Prodigals, Part 2 - Jonah 1:4-17

If you’ve been running, here is some good news. It is never too late to stop running from God. More

Sleeping With the Enemy - Revelation 2:18-29

You can have the cheap thrills of the world and feel sick to your stomach the next morning. Or you can have Jesus now, a new life now, forgiveness now, real pleasure now, and you will one day rise to shine like the Morning Star. More

Church of the Living Dead - Revelation 3:1-6

The Sardis spirit overtakes us whenever we begin to take God’s gifts for granted. How quickly we can become the Church of the Living Dead and not even know it. More

The Church Christ Prefers - Revelation 3:7-13

Jesus wants his churches to be motivated by love, founded on the truth, strong under pressure, and unashamed of his name. More

We’re Just Like Jonah - Jonah 1

When we decide to run from the Lord, Satan is happy to provide the transportation. More

The Greatest Revival in History - Jonah 3

We can’t look to the past and focus on what others have done for Christ. Nor can we live in the future, thinking about what the children of today might do thirty years from now. The only generation we can reach is our own. More

Will the Real Sinner Please Stand Up? - Jonah 4

You’ve got a Nineveh in your life right now. Your Nineveh might be someone you love whose behavior has provoked you to the point of anger and bitterness. Nineveh ultimately stands for any part of the will of God that you are afraid to face. More

Bad Manners at the Dinner Table - Galatians 2:11-14

We need an infusion of God’s love to make us open in our friendships, open in our churches, and open on Sunday morning to new people who love the Lord but don’t fit our particular target group. More

We Believe, Therefore We Speak - 2 Corinthians 4:13-15

May God give us preachers with some backbone who won’t back down. God deliver us from politically correct sermons and preachers who preach everything but the Word of God. More

Why We Never Give Up - 2 Corinthians 4:16-18

You do the figuring. Which is greater? Your sorrows or the vast and immeasurable promises of God, made in his Word, guaranteed by the Spirit, and purchased for us in the death and resurrection of our Lord? More

How Do You Measure Success? - 2 Corinthians 3:1-3

God measures our success in terms of lives changed. He’s evidently not that impressed by the size of our budget or by the stained glass in our sanctuary. The One who hung the stars in space doesn’t really care how many books we’ve written or how much money we make or whether or not we see our name in lights. More

The God-Dependent Life - 2 Corinthians 3:4-6

While living in this flesh, we face the same limitations as others do. We keep going because our confidence is on God, not in ourselves. More

Kingdoms in Conflict - Matthew 6:10

“Your kingdom come” is not a passive prayer. If you ever decide to make the kingdom of God the first priority in your life, you may not become a missionary, but you will become fundamentally different from the world around you. More

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

How Good Christians Sometimes Do the Devil’s Work - Matthew 16:21-23

As it was for Peter, so it will be for all of us. Our strengths and our weaknesses lie side by side. If we live on the level of our emotions, we may find ourselves actually opposing Jesus. If we think that our understanding equals God’s will, we are bound to fall into many grievous errors. More

Worthy is the Lamb - Revelation 5

The glory of heaven is the Lamb—Jesus Christ, whose victory is celebrated without end. Jesus is the focal point of heaven and the center of all attention. Without Jesus there would be no heaven at all. And without him none of us would ever have a chance to go there. More

Our Name is Our Mission

Dr. Ray Pritchard gives the 2007 President’s Report on the work of Keep Believing Ministries. He explains the thinking behind the Keep Believing logo, reports on various ministry projects, and shares his dreams for the future. 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

What Happens to Those Who Never Heard About Jesus? - Romans 2:12

No question is more central to the missionary enterprise than the state of those without Christ. Are they really lost? Are those who never hear also lost? And that raises an important question. How can God send people to hell for not believing in Jesus, if they never even heard of him in the first place? More

Great Joy in the City - Acts 8:4-8

Throughout history, God has grown and moved his church as his people scattered to diverse locations geographically. This pattern has not changed and believers are still called to grow and expand as a church today, whether we move across national boundaries, ethnic and cultural boundaries, or do church planting in our immediate communities. Beginning with the first generation of believers in the book of Acts, we hear of Phillip, who was emboldened and changed by the power of God as he moved out in obedience to spread the Gospel. Despite severe persecution, great joy descended on those who received the truth that came with power. In this present age, we have the account of the phenomenal growth of the church in China. In 1949 all Christian missionaries were evicted leaving less than one million indigenous believers behind. They faced relentless bloodbaths and eradication. Yet the church grew in the midst of that persecution when determined believers scattered and went underground. The challenge to believers today remains the same—to be willing to be moved out of our personal comfort zones, to walk in faith, to make personal sacrifices, and most importantly, to trust God for our personal well-being and needs. 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

The Persecuted Church—Who Cares?

Contemporary headlines regarding the persecuted church are juxtaposed against frivolous comments of Christians who don’t care and can’t be bothered about the plight of their suffering brothers and sisters around the world. More

First Century Patterns For 21st-Century Churches - Various

How closely should local churches follow the patterns of the New Testament? The answer is, as closely as possible, understanding that no one is 100% consistent and that outward forms will change over time. That means we need to focus on the key functions of the church, giving freedom to differ on how those functions are expressed. More

Make No Small Plans - Various

Before we moved to Oak Park last August, someone gave us a copy of the Chicago Magazine’s Guide to Chicago. Nestled between the Title Page and the Table of Contents is this quote from Daniel Hudson Burnham, au More

This Must Be the Place: - Various

Seven times in nine years I have given a State of the Church address to Calvary Memorial Church. In my first message I quoted the famous words of Daniel Burnham, architect and author of The Chicago City Plan: “M More

From Oak Park to the Ends of the Earth: God's Plan for Calvary Memorial Church - Acts 1:8

"But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth." Acts 1:8Last week we talked about the first half o 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

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

25 Ways You Can Be Part of World Focus Week

25 WAYS YOU CAN BE PART OF WORLD FOCUS WEEK by Ray Pritchard Find Martha Peaslee’s picture on the missionary wall in the Sanctuary lobby. Pray for Uzbekistan at the Sunday night Concert of Prayer. Share a table with a missionary at the Family Night Supper on Wednesday. Ask Dr. Aletta Bell about her favorite Indian food… 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

Here Am I … Send Aaron - Exodus 4

Sometimes the mental pictures we have of certain Bible characters are all messed up. We get a particular image in our brain and it’s almost impossible to get it out. Take Moses, for instance. When I think of M More

Arrows From Heaven

Ray: Here’s a scene from our house, circa 1989. It was 10 P.M. and Joshua and Mark had just returned from the swimming party at Concordia College. Joshua walked in, flopped on the couch and said, “I think More

When You Need to Know, You'll Know - Proverbs 3:5-6

“Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight” (Proverbs 3:5-6).These two verses are among the most b More

The Eyes of God Are Upon You - Various

Our story begins in 1833 when a man named Joseph Kettlestrings, an Englishman from Yorkshire, arrived in the Chicago area. He settled first along the Des Plaines River where he worked at a saw mill. Two years later More

What the World Doesn't Know - I Corinthians 2:6-9

"We do, however, speak a message of wisdom among the mature, but not the wisdom of this age or of the rulers of this age, who are coming to nothing. No, we speak of God’s secret wisdom, a wisdom that has been hi More

Many Nations Under God: A Biblical View of World History - Genesis 10

At first glance Genesis 10 would not seem to offer much promise as a sermon text. To the untrained eye, it appears to be just one more biblical genealogy, although a closer examination reveals that it seems oddly diff More

Proving God’s Faithfulness - Malachi 3:6-12

Blessings come to those who tithe and amazingly, Malachi 3:11 states that God will keep certain bad things from happening when we give Him our first fruits. When we give, we put ourselves in a position to trust God to meet all my needs. In addition, God declares in verse 12 that His plan for global evangelization will be met. Can you imagine what would happen to the cause of missions if every believer would give at least 10% to kingdom purposes? More

Letters From the Bean Field - Various

Sometimes you stumble across a new idea in the most unlikely places. Mine came from a little note that a friend wrote when he explained why he had decided to become a Prayer Warrior. He did it because of “Sha More

Faith-Yes! The Law-No! - Romans 4:13-17

This is my 15th and next-to-last sermon on Romans 1-4. In just two weeks we’ll begin a new series on the Ten Commandments. It’s appropriate to mention that now, because we’re talking about the law of More

Sola Scriptura: The Bible and Only the Bible - 2 Timothy 3:16

"Your word, O Lord, is eternal; it stands firm in the heavens.” Psalm 119:89 “You have exalted above all things your name and your word.” Psalm 138:2b “Heaven and earth will pass away, but my w More

Your Reputation Matters - 1 Thessalonians 4:9-12

"Now about brotherly love we do not need to write to you, for you yourselves have been taught by God to love each other. And in fact, you do love all the brothers throughout Macedonia. Yet we urge you, brothers, to d More

Reaching, Teaching, Caring, Worshiping

REACHING, TEACHING, CARING, WORSHIPING by Ray Pritchard At the Biannual Business Meeting in March, I announced to the membership that we are reorganizing the staff and all the ministries of the church around four great biblical priorities–reaching, teaching, caring, and worshiping. The idea came to me as I read Rick Warre… 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

Judge Not! - Matthew 7:1-5

"Judge not, that you be not judged. For with the judgment you pronounce you will be judged, and with the measure you use it will be measured to you. Why do you see the speck that is in your brother’s eye, but do More

Renewing Your Passion - II Timothy 1

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. 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 More

I Will Pour Out My Spirit On All People - Joel 2:28-32; Acts 2:14-21

A few days ago I happened to see my son Mark intently reading a paperback book. When I asked him what he was reading, he named a title I recognized as being very popular with Christians in their 20’s and early 3 More

Will Everyone Eventually Be Saved? - II Peter 3:9

I can think of only four ways to answer the question raised in the title of this sermon:1) Everyone will eventually be saved.2) No one will eventually be saved.3) Some will be saved and some will be lost.4) There is n More

Dry Brook University - 1 Kings 17:2-7

Christ’s followers must all spend some time by the drying brook to prepare us for greater work God has for us later. It may be the drying brook of popularity, or the drying brook of failing health or a sick loved one or a failing career, or the drying brook of a friendship that is slowly fading away. God wants to teach us not to trust in his gifts, but in himself. He wants to drain us of self, as he drained the apostles by ten days of waiting before Pentecost. More