Sermons found for the topic Spiritual Growth

How to be Happy in Babylon - Jeremiah 29:8-10

Life constantly presents us with the choice of the hard way versus the easy way. Suriving difficult times requires that we reject short cuts, embrace God’s promises, and trust completely in his goodness. More

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

Why Jericho Fell - Hebrews 11:30

Hebrews 11:30 says that “by faithâ€� the walls of Jericho fell. But what kind of faith brings down the walls of impossibility? This message points out five characteristics of the faith God honors when we face long odds and the only way forward doesn’t seem to make any sense. More

What You Seek, You Find - Jeremiah 29:12-14

God uses the hard experiences of life to bring us to the place where our trust will be in him alone. Through those hard times, we learn to seek him and to rejoice even when life doesn’t make sense. More

Rock Bottom Truth - Jeremiah 29:11

When we find ourselves struggling with discouragement, we need to be reminded that God is thinking about us, and his thoughts toward us are good and not evil. When we hope in God, we can be happy even though we find ourselves in Babylon. More

Peace, Be Still!A Short Sermon from the Sea of Galilee - Mark 4:35-41

Lord, don’t you care - that my child is sick, my marriage is falling apart, I have no money, I feel so alone? All of us have moments when life tumbles in around us, when we feel utterly alone and forgotten by God. In those moments we have a choice to make. 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

A Warning to Wine-Drinkers - Romans 14:13-23

Christian Liberty - You are free! Absolutely free. Christ has liberated you from the terrible burden of having to prove your worth by keeping a set of rules. You are free from the law, free from rule keeping, and free to make responsible choices. God has set you free so that you can please him with the choices you make. More

How to Kill a New Christian - Part 2 - Romans 14:1-12

Christians have always disagreed - a lot! And it’s not a bad thing. But there is always a danger that our own personal preferences will grow so important that we no longer accept our brothers and sisters in the Lord who disagree with us. The great unifying factor for the people of God is the Lord Jesus Christ. He has broken down the wall that separated us from God and from one another. In Him we are joined together in the body of Christ. If we truly believe in Him, we can let Him deal with those who disagree with us. In the meantime, don’t forget to treat those who disagree as brothers and sisters in the Lord. More

Letter From a Friend - Romans 15

To understand forgiveness, consider Jesus on the cross. In his dying moments He uttered words that still ring across the centuries: “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.” Even as he said those words, the crowd laughed, mocked, cheered, jeered. They taunted him. When he died, the people who put him to death were quite pleased with themselves. No one seemed very sorry. No one said, “I was wrong. This is a mistake.” And yet he said, “Father, forgive them, for they don’t know what they are doing.” That is precisely what we must say if we are going to follow Jesus. More

Do You Know What Time It Is? - Romans 13:11-14

Christians, do you know what time it is? The Apostle Paul tells us it’s time to wake up, put off the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light. In light of the return of Christ, and the lateness of the hour, how should we then live? More

God’s Medicine for a Sick World - Romans 13:8-10

Love is the medicine for a sick and fallen world. We need to see love and feel love and experience it in our lives. And we need to know how to pass it along to others. This is the fulfillment of all that God asks of us. More

Do Not Neglect Your Spiritual Gift - 1 Timothy 4:14

Is ministry your Spiritual Gift? No man calls himself into the ministry or into local church leadership. A self-called man and a God-called man are two different people. One man thinks he’s qualified so he calls himself. The other man feels unworthy but responds to God’s call. If God has called you, rise up, go forth and serve the Lord. More

In His Steps - I Peter 2:21-25

The Christian walk is synonymous with innocent suffering and pain, through which Christ our Lord suffered and died. He left us all an example of how to follow him in this. A Christian’s call to this behavior goes against the grain of his human tendencies: to suffer unjust treatment without retaliation, trusting only that God would be the judge of things ultimately. Jesus lived the sacrificial life to which he calls all his believers. It is a life that leads to the cross, and he has modeled how to live this sacrificial life for us. When we suffer unjustly, we share in a tiny portion of what happened to him. When we are mistreated, we are to turn the other check, bless those who curse us, and return good for evil. We are not to retaliate, not to threaten, not to get even. Jesus showed us how to live, and he showed us how to die. This response is a miracle in itself and is under girded and made possible only by the gift of grace from God. 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

Wanted: Bold Believers! - Colossians 4:2-4

Learning how to pray effectively is essential for spiritual growth. Based on the prayers of Paul, we can learn to pray boldly for the commitment of those on the front lines of spiritual conflict, for open doors of opportunity for evangelism, for courage despite difficult circumstances and persecution, and for clarity in presentation of the Gospel – especially encouraging pastors. More

Beyond Your Dreams - Ephesians 3:14-21

Pray boldly for spiritual strength, teaches Paul. God is faithful and we can trust Him. He is more than able to do even more than we ask.. Through prayer, we are filled with the Holy Spirit and grow spiritually, understanding the height, breadth, length and depth of Christ’s love for us. More

Helping Through Prayer - II Corinthians 1:8-11

Prayer helped Paul when he was depressed and discouraged, giving him hope and encouragement through trust in God. Praying for others and the prayers of others for us glorify God, partnering with Him to help those in need and heightening joy as our prayers are answered. More

How to Pray with Power - Colossians 1:9-14

Life has meaning and is worth living when we pray for God’s will to fill our lives. Trusting God with control or our lives encourages us through hard times as we follow in faith. Our commitment to God’s will means we can live a life that that pleases Jesus and makes us part of His amazing agenda. More

Iron Shoes: God’s Promise for Every New Year - Deuteronomy 33:25

Hope in God’s provision in a new millennium. God gives us exactly what we need for our journey ahead: iron shoes instead of silk slippers, because the road is hard, the way difficult, the path sometimes treacherous. God does not give his strength in advance, only when needed. Each day you will have what you need. More

Faithful to Finish His Work in You - Philippians 1:6

“The life of a Christian is a series of miracles.” So said Charles Haddon Spurgeon, the great British preacher of the 19th century. If he is correct, why don’t we ever talk about those miracles? When a More

Faithful to the Fallen - Luke 22:31-32

“Simon, Simon, Satan has asked to sift you as wheat. But I have prayed for you, Simon, that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned back, strengthen your brothers.” Luke 22:31-32 This text gives us More

Back to Basics - John 7:16-17

Each year at Calvary we choose a theme and a theme verse that serve as our ministry focus. We started doing that in 1991 and have continued every year since then. Sometimes we don't know until October or November what More

How to Help a Caveman - 1 Kings 19

We do live in strange times. Someone has called this the Age of Anxiety, and it seems appropriate enough. All week long I've been watching those "2005 Year in Review" specials. We have just finished twelve months that More

The Sixth Law: There is No Growth Without Struggle - James 1:2-4

Life is hard. Does anyone reading these words have any question about that? I didn't think so. Because we live in a fallen world, nothing works the way it's supposed to. Sin has stained every part of the physical univ More

What is Saving Faith?

The question, "What is saving faith?" is not as easily answered as one might assume. It is evident from reading the New Testament that not everyone who "believes" truly possesses saving faith. Jesus Himself warned in 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

Showdown in Jerusalem: The Rise & Fall of the Antichrist - Matthew 24:15-28

"We have more reason to believe that Christ could come in our generation than any generation which ever lived." Tim LaHayeI agree with Tim LaHaye. When you consider the reestablishment of the nation of Israel in 1948, More

The Fourth Law: What You Seek, You Find - Matthew 6:33

In this sermon series we are looking at the Seven Laws of the Spiritual Life. These "laws" are not exactly doctrines, not exactly duties,not exactly promises and not exactly rules. Each one represents a major truth th More

Emergency Prayers - Romans 15:30-33

This is the final sermon in the series, Praying with Paul. We started on the first Sunday of January and we come to an end on the final Sunday of April. In my first message I introduced our church theme for 2003, "Lor 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

God Must Be Praised in Fiery Trials - I Peter 1:6-7

On April 5, 1943, Dietrich Bonhoeffer was arrested and imprisoned by the Gestapo for his resistance to the Nazi regime in Germany. For several years he had spoken out against the Nazis, and eventually it caught up wit More

Got Milk? - I Peter 2:1-3

"Therefore, rid yourselves of all malice and all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and slander of every kind. Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation, now that you have t More

The Church on its Knees: Unleashing the Power of United Prayer - Acts 1:12-14

"Prayer is that slender nerve that moves the muscles of omnipotence." Charles SpurgeonI don't often begin a sermon with a confession but this week it seems the appropriate thing to do. Over the years whenever I More

If God is Good, Why Do I Hurt? - Job 23:10

Of all the questions that trouble the people of God, none is greater than the question posed in our title. Sometimes it is asked in other ways: Why is there so much suffering in the world? Or why do bad things happen 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

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

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

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

Our Name is Our Mission - President’s report

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

Restless, Waiting, Willing

RESTLESS, WAITING, WILLING by Ray Pritchard At our recent Pastors’ Retreat, Howard Duncan shared something the Lord had put on his heart overnight. He said that as pastors, we are called to ask, “What is God doing and how can we join him in his work?”� That's different from asking, “How can we get God t… More

The Strategic Prayer Initiative

THE STRATEGIC PRAYER INITIATIVE by Ray Pritchard Several years ago Mike Jebb came up with a revolutionary idea: What if Christians took prayer seriously? What if, instead of praying “when we feel like it,” Christians began to pray the way that soldiers go to war? What if our prayer room became a “war room… More

Led by the Spirit into the Wilderness - Luke 4:1-14

This is the second message in our new series on the Holy Spirit. Last Sunday we talked about John 3:8 and how the Holy Spirit is the wind—invisible, unpredictable, uncontrollable. He comes and goes as he wishes; More

What Is Saving Faith?

"Pastor Ray, how can I know that I am truly saved?" The young man standing before me was obviously in some distress. His story was familiar. He had been raised in an evangelical church where he had accepted Christ as More

Changing Your Mind - Romans 12:2

"Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect" (Romans 12:2).We would all like to 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

Portrait of a Godly Pastor - Romans 15:14-21

In 1978 Michael Hart wrote a book called "The 100: A Ranking of the Most Influential People in History." In it he ranked the most important people in the history of the world, taking into account the people they influ More

Why We Pray - Romans 15:30-33

A quarter-century ago, when we were living in the Los Angeles area, I attended an all-day seminar on prayer led by Warren Wiersbe. Those who know Dr. Wiersbe will not be surprised when I say that it was an extremely p More