Sermons found for the topic Singles

Sleeping Together and Christ’s Global Cause

Why shouldn’t two adult Christians who happen to be divorced and have fallen in love—why shouldn’t they sleep together? That’s the question a man asked in an email. Here is my answer. More

Overcoming Discontentment - I Corinthians 7:17-35

Ever since the beginning of creation, when the first creatures came from the hand of God, there has always been someone, somewhere, unhappy with his position in the universe. It all started with an angel named Lucifer More

Baal Buster - 1 Kings 18:16-46

It is sometimes said that a crisis never makes a man–it only reveals what he already is. That thought is both comforting and frightening because we all wonder how we would react if everything we held dear was re More

Lessons for Modern-Day Sowers of the Word - Matthew 13:1-9; 18-23

The last few days I have been meditating on the famous parable of the seed and the sower. It is obviously important because is found in three different places in the gospels (with Jesus’ explanation in parenthes More

Is Marriage Really Made in Heaven? - Genesis 2:18-25; Hebrews 13:4

Since this is the first sermon in the God Speaks Today series, I thought we should answer a few key questions up front: 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

What Does the Bible Say About Divorce and Remarriage? - Matthew 19:1-12

Perhaps the place to begin is with a few quotes taken from The Abolition of Marriage by Maggie Gallagher: “Over the past 30 years a consistent 96% of the American public has expressed a personal desire for marri 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

Forgiveness and the Lord's Prayer - Matthew 6:12

"Forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors” (Matthew 6:12 KJV).The fifth petition of the Lord’s Prayer seems simple enough, but simple things can sometimes be very deep. Everyone agrees that this is a More

Trapped! - Jeremiah 29:1-4

What do you do when you don’t like the circumstances of your life and it seems as if those circumstances aren’t going to change anytime soon?When I asked that question to a group of friends, a man looked u More

Oak Park & The Future of Our Church

OAK PARK & THE FUTURE OF OUR CHURCH by Ray Pritchard The Village of Oak Park published an article discussing the results of a recent community survey that polled residents on a wide variety of issues. Three factors struck me immediately: Over 50% of the respondents have lived here less than 10 years. Over 33% of the respond… More

If I Believe, Why Do I Doubt? - Mark 9:24

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

Our Coming to You Was Not in Vain - I Thessalonians 2:1

When Paul wrote to the new Christians in Thessalonica, he summarized his brief visit with them this way: “You know, brothers, that our visit to you was not a failure” (I Thessalonians 2:1). The English Sta 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

The Blessing of a Believing Spouse - Hebrews 11:11-12

God may arrange things so that your faith bears vast fruit in the years to come. Your legacy will be most clearly seen after you have gone to heaven. Sarah never lived to see the world-changing impact of her faith in God, but we still remember her 4000 years later and honor her example. More

Purity: Staying Clean In A Dirty World - Proverbs 5

This sermon is different, unusual, in that it is directed only to men. In 16 years as a pastor I have never directed a sermon only to to men, but I am this time. My heart has been heavily burdened on this subject. As 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

Going All In: “The Third Day He Rose from the Dead” - I Corinthians 15:17-19

Dr. Billy Graham once told Time magazine, “If I were an enemy of Christianity, I would aim right at the Resurrection, because that is the heart of Christianity.” The founder of the Jesus seminar, Dr. 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

The Day Before the End of the World - I Peter 4:7-11

"The end of all things is near. Therefore be clear minded and self-controlled so that you can pray. Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins. Offer hospitality to one another wit 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

From Rahab to Jesus - Hebrews 11:31

God delights in saving notorious sinners. He proved it by saving Rahab, a prostitute in ancient Jericho whose faith saved her whole family. There is no pit so deep that the love of God is not deeper still. There is no sin so terrible that Jesus cannot forgive it. 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

Calling All Bible Readers!

By now you probably know that Calvary is sponsoring a Bible Reading Marathon during the last 90 hours of this year. We will mark the arrival of the new millennium by publicly reading God's Word from the pulpit of the church starting with the first verse of Genesis at 6:00 a.m. on Tuesday, December 28, and ending with the fi… More

"The Witch Doctors Are Liars" - Haiti 1993

You might say that we had a Murphy’s Law trip: Everything that could go wrong did go wrong. Nothing went as we had planned. Most things weren’t even close to the way we planned. Yet God moved above and More

Doing the Right Thing in the Wrong Way - Genesis 16

This week my friend David Puckett was in town. I have known David ever since our days at Dallas Seminary. After we graduated I took a pastorate in California and he entered a doctoral program at the University of Ch More

The Adventure Begins: How Jesus Works Through Ordinary People - Acts 1:1

Today we are beginning a brand-new sermon series from the book of Acts. I find myself excited as I think about this series because Acts is one of the most exciting books in the New Testament. It is also aptly named 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

Some Sneered, Others Questioned, A Few Believed: Lessons on the Amazing Power of the Gospel - Acts 17:32-34

It is not often that a preacher has his sermon interrupted by the congregation. In the 29 years that I have been preaching, it has only happened to me a handful of times. Once in my first church in Downey, California More

A Peek into God's Calendar - Daniel 9:24-27

My text has long been considered the most important passage in the book of Daniel. For 2000 years Christians have debated its true meaning. It is the key to prophetic interpretation and the backbone of biblical prophe More

How a Good Man Dies - Genesis 48-50

"Fear not that your life shall come to an end, but rather that it shall never have a beginning.” John Henry NewmanSuppose you had three minutes to live and your loved ones were gathered around you waitin 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

He's In Charge - So Relax! - Genesis 24

Nothing is more important in the life of the children of God than becoming fully persuaded that God does indeed lead his children on their journey from earth to heaven.Besides building your confidence in God, I also w More

How to Have Joy All Year Long - Philippians 4:1-9

As we come to the end of another year, once again we find ourselves in a world filled with problems, doubts, worries, and fears. We sing “Joy to the world,” but there is not as much joy as we would like. T 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

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

Mighty Oaks and Graceful Pillars: A Prayer for Our Children - Psalm 144:12

"Then our sons in their youth will be like well-nurtured plants, and our daughters will be like pillars carved to adorn a palace” (Psalm 144:12).Today is Children’s Sunday at Calvary. In all of our service 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

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

Did the events described in Genesis 1-11 really happen? Does it matter? The answer is yes to both questions. They really happened and it really matters because ideas have consequences. What you believe about where you came from will radically impact the purpose of your life. More

My Favorite Teacher - Romans 12:7; I Corinthians 12:28; Ephesians 4:11

It’s not hard for me to remember my favorite teacher. I first met her on a bright September morning in 1962. Her name was Mrs. Witt. We were her new fifth-grade class. She was a big, strong woman, which mean More

Let's Go Fishing - Matthew 4:19

Somewhere in my past I heard the story about a man who was a phenomenal fisherman. He was so good that his fame spread far and wide. When everyone else was catching two or three fish a day he would come back with tw More

The Forsaken Christ - Matthew 27:45-46

Part four of a sermon series “The seven last words of Christ” More

When God Gives Up - Romans 1:24-32

There are some messages that pastors would rather not preach. This sermon definitely falls into that category. It’s not that I am afraid to say what must be said; it is rather that I know these things will not b More

Zaccheus Anonymous - Luke 19:1-10

This is an appropriate text for the first Sunday after April 15. I hope you got your taxes done on time. I told you two weeks ago I was going to turn mine in and I did. I finished last Monday, the 15th, at 1:30 P.M More

Seize the Day! - Various

The scene is a prep school somewhere in New England. On a beautiful fall morning the bright young men have gathered in English Literature class, fearing the worst—long, boring hours arguing about Beowulf and th 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

Out of Control - Judges 14

It’s been a tough week for Donald Trump. He’s the billionaire developer and deal-maker from New York City who is leaving his wife, Ivana. Since the news broke last Sunday, the story has been on the front More