Sermons found for the topic Ruth

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 m More

The King Has Come! - Matthew 2:1-6

We begin with the words of Flannery O'Connor: "The truth does not change according to our ability to stomach it." Truth is truth whether we like it or not. The fact that I personally may object to the truth doesn't ma More

Ready to Give an Answer - I Peter 3:15

"But in your hearts set apart Christ as Lord; always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you the reason for the hope that you have" (I Peter 3:15). Peter says to be ready to give an answer. Are you rea 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 teacher More

The King Has Come! - Matthew 2:1-6

We begin with the words of Flannery O'Connor: "The truth does not change according to our ability to stomach it." Truth is truth whether we like it or not. The fact that I personally may object to the truth doesn't ma 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

God Guarantees Our Salvation - I Peter 1:3-5

"Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance that More

What About Those Who Never Hear The Gospel? - Romans 1:18-20

The subject for this morning is perhaps the most troubling question that Christians can face. The fate of those who never hear the gospel is both difficult and emotional. It's a tough question to think about because More

Shall We Kill Our Children Today? - Hebrews 11:23

The amazing faith of Moses’ parents shows us the high value that God puts on children, including those children that are born in less than ideal circumstances. Christians love children because God loves children. Ours is true pro-family religion. More

What About Those Who Never Hear The Gospel? - Romans 1:18-20

The subject for this morning is perhaps the most troubling question that Christians can face. The fate of those who never hear the gospel is both difficult and emotional. It's a tough question to think about because a 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 that fateful More

Trouble in the Church! - Romans 16:17-20

Greet one another with a holy kiss … but don't go kissing everyone.That will serve as a useful summary of our text. Sometimes it's not what you say but when you say it that matters. Paul writes these stern word More

"We Did Not Give in to Them:" Why Unity Must be Based on Truth - Galatians 2:1-10

I want to begin by calling your attention to the most important verse in our passage—verse 5, which reads, "We did not give in to them for a moment, so that the truth of the gospel might remain with you." If you 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 words will never pass awa 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. Last More

What Happened to All Your Joy?A Lesson in Spiritual Pediatrics

I want to begin this sermon not with a comment on the text but with a personal update. I've been on the road a lot lately, most of the time preaching in various conferences. My travels have taken me to New York in May More

The First Law: He's God and We're Not

This is the first sermon in a new series called "The Seven Laws of the Spiritual Life." For the last few years I have been thinking about putting together a short list of the basic principles of the Christian life. Wh 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 More

God's Freedom - Romans 9:6-18

While studying Romans 9, I was struck by Paul's question in verse 14: "Is God unjust?" In our hearts we already know the answer. God is not unjust. But oftentimes he seems inconsistent. The very examples Paul chooses More

Only One Gospel: Why We Preach an Unpopular Doctrine - Galatians 1:1-10

Today we are beginning a brand-new sermon series on the book of Galatians. Whenever a pastor starts a new series, especially an exposition of a book of the Bible, it's always useful to know why this book and why now. 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 hidden a More

God's Freedom - Romans 9:6-18

While studying Romans 9, I was struck by Paul's question in verse 14: "Is God unjust?" In our hearts we already know the answer. God is not unjust. But oftentimes he seems inconsistent. The very examples Paul chooses More

Open My Eyes, Lord - Ephesians 1:15-23

I wonder if we would be happy if our prayers were published so that others could read them. That's a fascinating thought, isn't it? What if every prayer you prayed, word for word, somehow ended up on the Internet so t 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 Chr More

Up with Worship!

"Oh come, let us worship and bow down; let us kneel before the LORD, our Maker!" More

Forever Settled in Heaven: Building on the Unshakable Foundation - Psalm 119:89

Our church theme for 2002 is "God's Word: Our Unshakable Foundation." Considering the events of the last few months, it seems like a theme perfectly suited for these perilous times. We need a foundation that cannot be More

Always Springtime in Heaven: I Believe in Life Everlasting - II Corinthians 5:8

This is the final message in the series on the Apostles' Creed. When we started in January, there was snow on the ground. We end on a hot summer Sunday in July. Our church theme this year is "Back to Basics," and our More

What Angels Wish They Knew - I Peter 1:10-12

"Concerning this salvation, the prophets, who spoke of the grace that was to come to you, searched intently and with the greatest care, trying to find out the time and circumstances to which the Spirit of Christ in th More

Fact or Fable in Genesis: Was the World Really Created in Six Days? - Genesis 1:1-2:3

These are exciting days to study the book of Genesis. A great deal has been written on this book in the last few years and there has been much new research in the area of science and the Bible. It's always a good thin More

Is Jesus the Only Way to Heaven? - John 14:6

In preparing this message, I faced several important challenges:First, many of us already know the answer to this question. We've thought it, we've discussed it with others, and we know what we believe. Second, we kno 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 God's More

Bad Manners at the Dinner Table: A Powerful Lesson in Biblical Confrontation - Galatians 2:11-14

This is a sermon about conflict in the church—where it comes from and how to handle it. As a place to begin, I'd like to start with the observation that most church conflicts fall into one of two categories. Let More

Acorns to Oak Trees: How Are the Dead Raised? - 1 Corinthians 15:35-58

No question is more fundamental to the human race than this: What happens when we die? Since death comes to all of us sooner or later, we are all forced to face this question and to come up with some kind of answer. T More

Who Do Men Say That I Am? - Matthew 16:13-17

If you ever travel to the Holy Land, one of the places you may visit is an Arab town called Banias. To get there you will have to travel north from Jerusalem to some place like Tiberius or Capernaum and from there tra 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 well. David More

The Greatest Risk You'll Ever Take: "I Believe in God" - Hebrews 11:6

"And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him" (Hebrews 11:6).The Bible declares God's existence. It do More

Christmas Joy - Luke 2:8-11

If there is a single word that describes what Christmas is all about, it's the little word "joy." Several of our favorite carols mention it: "Joy to the world, the Lord is come," "O come all ye faithful, joyful and tr More

A Savior is Born - Luke 2:11

Recently I received an e-mail from a man who attended "Two from Galilee," the Christmas program presented by our music ministry several weeks ago. He wrote to say how much he enjoyed it, and then added this sentence: 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

God's Inerrant Word - Article A: The Scriptures - Various

Allan Bloom begins his ground-breaking work, The Closing of the American Mind, this way: There is one thing a professor can be absolutely certain of: almost every student entering the university believes, or says he More

The Woman at the Well : Christ Speaks to the Problem of a Guilty Past - John 4:1-30

Two strangers met beside a well on a hot afternoon in Samaria. One was a woman. The other was a man. We don't know the woman's name. The man was Jesus. Their brief conversation changed her life.Today we are beginning More

Why Good People Won't Go to Heaven - Romans 10:1-4

I'd like to talk to you about who goes to heaven. We all know that the Bible teaches the reality of heaven and the reality of hell. Jesus himself spoke of both places many times. All of us, I'm sure, would like to 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

The Seventh Law: What God Starts, He Finishes

We begin with the words of Dietrich Bonhoeffer, the German pastor whose opposition to Adolph Hitler during World War II finally landed him in jail. Shortly before the end of the war, the Nazis put him to death. His be More

Choose Life! - Deuteronomy 30:19-20

Whoever occupies the Oval Office for the next four years will make decisions that will guide our nation far into the future. Which way will we go? How should we make up our minds? This sermon argues that we should “choose lifeâ€� by taking our Christian convictions with us into the voting booth. More

How a Terrorist Became an Evangelist: The Amazing Story of Paul's Conversion - Galatians 1:11-24

Christianity is supremely a religion of conversion. Everything we say and everything we believe is built upon one fundamental and revolutionary premise: You don't have to stay the way you are. Your life can be radical More

Strength for the Journey - II Thessalonians 2:13-17

About six months ago I received a letter from Pat Williams, Executive Vice-President of the Orlando Magic (a pro basketball team in the NBA). Although I had never met Mr. Williams, I knew he was a brilliant sports exe 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 evil More

A Line in the Sand

A LINE IN THE SAND by Ray Pritchard Last week Skip Olson sent me an e-mail wondering why professing Christians could not stand arm-in-arm over issues of great moral importance. In many ways the disunity within Christendom opens the door for evil to flourish in our society. But perhaps the critical nature of these times will… 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