Sermons found for the topic Saul (OT)

Three Arrows at Sunrise - I Samuel 18-23

In our study of the early years of David as he journeyed from the sheep pens to the throne, we have come to the story of his friendship with Jonathan. This is perhaps the most famous friendship in the Bible and it is More

The End of the Beginning - I Samuel 31 - II Samuel 1

The year was 1943. Slowly the Allied forces were squeezing the Germans out of North Africa. From the east Field Marshall Bernard Law Montgomery's British forces sent Rommel's Nazi tanks reeling in retreat across the L More

The Strange Case of the Missing Spear - I Samuel 26

First Samuel 26 tells the story of how David spared Saul’s life. If you have a good memory, you may think to yourself, “I’ve heard this before.” And if you think that, you are almost right because More

The Green-Eyed Monster - I Samuel 18-19

There are two words you need to keep in mind as you read this sermon. They are almost-but-not-quite identical. One is the word jealousy, the other is the word envy. If you look up both words in the dictionary, you wil More

How To Kill A Giant - I Samuel 17

As the mist cleared from the valley, the men on both sides knew the time had come. Before this day was done, many men would die. The soldiers of the army of Israel checked their weapons, made sure their uniforms were More

How To Behave in a Cave - I Samuel 24

When last we met David, he was in the Forest of Hereth. Since then he has rescued the village of Keilah from the Philistines. In appreciation for his heroism, the citizens of Keilah report his whereabouts to King Saul More

Music For A Madman - I Samuel 16:14-23

The following story happened quite a few years ago. I was getting my hair cut at one of those places where you generally don't know in advance who is going to do the cutting. It happened that the girl who cut my hair More

In the Presence of My Enemies - I Samuel 23

In our study of the early years of the life of David, we have been tracing his rise from the sheepfolds of Bethlehem to the throne of Israel. It is an unlikely story and a journey with many surprising twists and turns More

Why You Need Your Enemies and Your Enemies Need You—Part Two - Jeremiah 29:7

Our enemies are a gift from God. If we didn’t need them He wouldn’t send them. God has a beneficial purpose in sending enemies our way - to make us more like Christ. Therefore, the person we might consider an enemy is, in reality, our best friend. More

The Fugitive - I Samuel 21-22

The morning light broke through the branches and the fugitive knew it was time to move on. Without a word, he began gathering his few things. It didn't take long, for you travel light when you're on the road. As his m More

The Heart of A Champion - I Samuel 16:1-13

We are beginning a brand-new series of sermons called Journey to the Throne: Meeting God in the Turning Points of Life. Over the next few weeks we will follow the early years of David as he rises from obscurity to bec More

Ziklag Is Burning! - I Samuel 27-30

Once upon a time the devil decided to have a garage sale. He did it because he wanted to clear out some of his old tools to make room for new ones. After he set up his wares, a fellow dropped by to see what he had. Ar More

The Barnabas Factor - Romans 12:8

If someone were to give you a name indicative of your personality, what would it be? What nickname or adjective would sum up who you really are? We do that sort of thing all the time. For instance, if I mention Hon More

A Lesson from the Cave

A LESSON FROM THE CAVE by Ray Pritchard This week the “Bible Bus” has taken us on a bumpy ride through the early years of David’s rise to power in Israel. It was a hard road because Saul envied David and repeatedly tried to kill him. At one point David spent several years in the desert, on the run, hiding fro… 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

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 intrigue, injusti More

Do Not Take Your Holy Spirit From Me! - Psalms 51:11

"Cast me not away from your presence, and take not your Holy Spirit from me" (Psalms 51:11). It is sometimes said that no Christian should ever pray this prayer, but I wonder if that is correct. Clearly David feared b 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

The Father Who Looked to the Future

All fathers must prepare for the day when they will be gone. No one likes to think of such things, and therefore most of us don't think enough about what will happen after we die. Yet sooner or later every father mu More

"In Jesus' Name, Amen" - John 14:13-14

"And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Son may bring glory to the Father. You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it" (John 14:13-14).These words of Jesus contain a remarkable promise. T More

God in My Mouth; The Devil in My Heart - Exodus 20:7

Every Commandment has its problems. Some are difficult to understand, others are difficult to interpret, and some are difficult to apply. The Third Commandment presents us with a unique problem: We understand it al More

By Faith - Hebrews 11:1-2

Faith is the law of the kingdom. It is “belief plus unbelief and acting on the belief part.” Every blessing of the kingdom is available to those who put their faith to work by “acting on the belief part,” moment by moment, day by day, one little step at a time. More

Christmas Hope - Hebrews 6:18-20

This is Christmas Eve. Even though there is no command in the New Testament to celebrate Christmas, we happily join with millions of Christians around the world in remembering the birth of our Savior. "Joy to the worl 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

Asymmetric Spiritual Warfare

Are you familiar with term asymmetric warfare? It's a concept that has received lots of news coverage in the recent years as a result of the war on terrorism. The word asymmetric refers to something that is out of bal More

Where Are the Nine? - Luke 17:11-19

It is a tribute to modern medicine that most of us know very little about the disease called leprosy. Most of us have never seen a leper. We know only what we read in the Bible.If we had lived in those days, we would More

From Jacob to Jesus - Genesis 49:10; Luke 1:33

Our final study in the life of Jacob is different from all the rest. When we began, he was still in his mother's womb. When Genesis brings his story to a close, he is buried in the cave of Machpelah, along with his More

Justice: The Real American Dream - Various

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 read it More

The Dubious Disciples: Christ Speaks to the Problem of Limited Faith - Mark 6:32-44

Here's a letter I recently received from a prisoner in the Cook County jail. Just before Christmas we donated 500 copies of the book An Anchor for the Soul to the "Am I My Brother's Keeper?" ministry to be given out t More

The Fifth Law: Active Faith Releases God's Power - Hebrews 11

Let's begin by reviewing the first four laws of the spiritual life:Law 1: He's God and We're Not.Law 2: God Doesn't Need Us But We Desperately Need Him.Law 3: What God Demands, He Supplies.Law 4: What You Seek, You Fi More

Overcoming Self-Importance - II Kings 5

This is the story of a soldier who met God. As we will see, this is one of those biblical stories that at first glance may seem rather remote from life in the 21st-century, but in the end proves the old adage that the More

From Athens to Oak Park: Why God Put Us Here - Acts 17:16-17

Let me imagine a situation for a moment and ask how you would respond. Let's suppose that you are a missionary arriving for service in a country you have never visited. Although you didn't plan to visit the capital ci More

Calling All Servants - Romans 12:8; I Corinthians 12:28

The name Lee Roberson is perhaps only vaguely familiar to most of you. But if you lived in the Chattanooga area, you would certainly recognize the name. In 1942 he came to the Highland Park Baptist Church in Chattan More

He’s Got the Whole World in His Hands - Daniel 4

The sovereignty of God is a mysterious doctrine because it brings us face to face with the problem of evil and free will. If God is sovereign, why is there evil in the universe? If man has free will, how can God be sovereign? Christians have debated these questions for centuries. Suffice it to say that God is sovereign and you are truly responsible for all the choices you make. Often we won’t understand how they work together, but they do. When we embrace this truth, we have the true freedom—and peace that comes with it—to stop trying to be God and let Him direct our lives. More

The Four Freshmen: How the World Tries to Seduce the Church - Daniel 1:1-7

This morning we begin a brand-new series called Daniel: Courageous Living in Turbulent Times. With Y2K only 55 days away, and with the recent Newsweek cover story on Bible prophecy called "The Way the World Ends," thi 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

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

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 pronounce, and verses we 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

WALK-THRU THE OLD TESTAMENT - Various

The Bible begins with FOUR GREAT EVENTS (Genesis 1-11) Creation Fall Flood Tower (Job?)In Genesis Chapter 12 God Called Abraham Ur of the Chaldees Persian Gulf Two Rivers Tigris and EuphratesFour People More

The Howard Dean Syndrome

THE HOWARD DEAN SYNDROME by Ray Pritchard Howard Dean is an angry man. You can tell by the way he talks to people. You can also tell because lots of people are talking about how angry he is. I'm writing these words the day after the New Hampshire primary where he lost for the second time in a week to John Kerry. Maybe he's … More

Unspeakable Evil and the Goodness of God

Unspeakable Evil and the Goodness of God by Ray Pritchard The story filled us with horror. How could a father murder his own daughter and her best friend? It happened in Zion, Illinois, a quiet community north of Chicago, not far from the Wisconsin border. It doesn’t really help to ask why because there is no answer that wo… 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

Sense and Nonsense about God's Guidance - Exodus 13:21-22; Psalm 48:14

In 1988 something new happened in the American political process. That year, for the first time in a long time, an avowedly evangelical candidate ran for the presidency of the United States.We all remember that Georg More

Level Three Faith and How to Get There - Hebrews 11:13-16

Every time a church enters a stewardship campaign, there is danger and there is also opportunity. The main danger is that the church will talk so much about money that people will begin to equate the whole of Christia More

God Has a Bigger Plan - Jeremiah 29:10

We serve a trans-generational God whose purposes span the centuries. He does not confine himself to our timetable or limit himself to our puny understanding of what he intends to do. If you have eyes to see beyond your own problems, look up and you will see the hand of God at work. More

The Final Step: Blessing Your Enemies - Luke 6:27-36

"But I say to you who hear, Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you. To one who strikes you on the cheek, offer the other also, and from one who takes More

Birth of a Heel-Grabber - Genesis 25:19-26

There are many different ways to study the Bible. You can, for instance, study it analytically, taking each verse and each phrase and even each word in succession. Or you could study it doctrinally, tracing the grea 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

Do Not Grieve the Spirit - Ephesians 4:29-32

"Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen." That's Ephesians 4:29 in the New International More