Sermons found for the topic Suffering/Trials

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

Why is There So Much Suffering in the World? - Isaiah 45:5-11

Of all the questions that trouble the people of God, none is greater than the question posed in the title of this sermon. Sometimes, it is asked in other ways: Why do bad things happen to good people? Or, why do the w 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

Be Still and Know - Psalm 46:10

Why did the deadly cyclone hit Myanmar and the earthquake devastate the Sichuan Province in China? Our first response to questions like that is critical. Psalm 46:10 teaches us to be silent, and in our silence we will know God in the midst of great tragedy. 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

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

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

Never Be Surprised by Hard Times - I Peter 4:12-19

I begin with the words of British journalist Malcolm Muggeridge, from an interview with William F. Buckley: "As an old man, looking back on one's life, it's one of the things that strikes you most forcibly—that More

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

In this message Pastor Ray reminds us everything we believe rests on the sovereignty of God. Salvation starts with God, not with us. Because he has chosen us, we can stand firm amid the trials of life. By standing firm we prove to ourselves and to the watching world what we truly believe. 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 Incredible Journey - Hebrews 11:8-10

Our focus in this message is on the man we often call “Father Abraham.” Hebrews 11:8-10 tells how he obeyed God’s call at great personal sacrifice. It tells us what he did; more importantly, it tells us why he did it. And it clearly shows us that obeying God doesn’t always work out the way we think it will. 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

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

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

Why Bad Things Happen to God's People - Romans 8:18-27

About ten years ago a rabbi named Harold Kushner published a book that became a best-seller. The book sold millions of copies and is still popular today. Rabbi Kushner and his wife had suffered the loss of a child t More

The Blessing No One Wants - Matthew 5:10-12

It's going to be a long time because they invite Pastor Joe Wright of Wichita's Central Christian Church to deliver the invocation again to the Kansas State Legislature. When he prayed there not long ago, in the word More

Hanging Tough for Jesus - II Thessalonians 1:11-12

I would like to call your attention to verses 4-5 as we begin: "Therefore, among God's churches we boast about your perseverance and faith in all the persecutions and trials you are enduring. All this is evidence that More

The Most Sought After Things in the World - Romans 5:1-5

A number of years ago a major American magazine published the results of a most fascinating survey. The editors had asked 16 prominent Americans what they did in order to find peace of mind in the midst of our stressf 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

When Doing Right Gets You in Trouble - I Peter 2:18-20

"Slaves, submit yourselves to your masters with all respect, not only to those who are good and considerate, but also to those who are harsh. For it is commendable if a man bears up under the pain of unjust suffering More

In His Steps - I Peter 2:21-25

In the Christian life, there are only two ways to grow. One is through people, the other is through pain. It would be hard to find a more important principle than this. Sometimes we grow through the influence of other More

Happy are the Sad - Matthew 5:4

"Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted." This is one of the strangest statements in the Bible. It is a paradox and a mystery. "Blessed are those who mourn," said Jesus. Happy are the sad! What d 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

When Life Tumbles In, What Then? - Job 1

When his wife died, he didn't know at first how he would survive. Although he was a minister and had helped many others through times of crisis, now he faced his own personal moment of truth. How would he reconcile 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

Are You Prepared to Suffer for Christ? - I Peter 3:13-17

Are you prepared to suffer for Christ? For most of us, the answer is no. For most of the Christians in the world, the answer is yes. “Christianity was born in a world of totalitarianism … it was not stran More

"Before I Was Afflicted I Went Astray": Why Your Troubles are a Gift from God - Psalm 119:67, 71, 75

These three verses all use the verb "afflicted," which comes from the noun "affliction," an old word that means any difficult or painful circumstance. Afflictions come in all shapes and sizes. An affliction can be as More

The School of Suffering - Genesis 34-37

For me the most poignant scene of the recent presidential campaign took place last Monday night in Houston where George Bush was speaking in the final rally of his political career. During a long day that started in More

Does Jesus Know My Name?

A few months ago we opened the Anchor Book Depot in Chicago to give away copies of a simple gospel book called "An Anchor for the Soul." This is a continuation of a ministry that started seven years ago. Since then we More

Living in Hard Times - 1 Thessalonians 3:1-8

"You've heard about Stacy, haven't you?" No, I hadn't. In fact, I hadn't seen him in the 13 years since I left the church I pastored in California. Back then he was a very active 10-year-old. The question came fro More

Why God Dries Our Tears - II Corinthians 1:3-7

The call came about 10:30 P.M.. Someone had died. Would I please call the family? Before I could pick up the phone, the mother had called me. Her son had taken drugs and had died earlier that evening at St. Franci 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

I Thirst - John 19:28-30

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

The Man Who Killed Jesus: "Suffered Under Pontius Pilate" - Isaiah 53

This has been a week unlike any other in my lifetime. Last Wednesday the new movie by Mel Gibson, "The Passion of the Christ," premiered around the country. For various reasons the film has stirred up enormous controv More

A Place to Pray - Acts 4:23-31

"If you do not know that life is war, you will not know what prayer is for." John PiperThe sun had almost slipped beneath the horizon in the little village of Pucuro in the Darien region of Panama, not far from t More

Countdown to Armageddon: Six Signs of the Second Coming - Matthew 24:1-14

Last Wednesday afternoon I stood at Ground Zero in Manhattan looking at the ruins of the World Trade Center. I was there as part of a group of five men from Calvary who traveled 2,400 miles through 11 states plus the More

Loving the Unseen Christ - I Peter 1:8-9

"Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, for you are receiving the goal of your faith, the salvatio More

Perilous Times - II Timothy 3

You've probably heard the old joke about the fellow who was told, "Cheer up. Things could be worse." So he said, "I did as I was told. I cheered up, and sure enough, things got worse." That in a nutshell is the messag More

Letter From a Friend

"I need to ask your forgiveness." Thus began a letter from a friend. The letter went on to describe a situation that was very understandable to me. During a phone call with someone else, my friend made a comment that More

The Hardest Prayer You Will Ever Pray - Matthew 6:10

Some prayers are harder to pray than others. I learned that thirty-three years ago when my father died. One October day he felt a pain in his shoulder. The doctors later said it was transferred pain from a bacterial i More

Take Me to Your Leaders - I Peter 5:1-4

In early March I preached on "Are You Prepared to Suffer for Christ?" from I Peter 3:13-17. After the final service that morning, a first-time visitor came up and thanked me for my sermon. In the course of the convers More

WMBI Easter Week Devotionals - Various

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The Martyrs - Daniel 3:17-18

The word martyr has the sound of antiquity about it. It's a word that belongs to the days of Jesus and the apostles, and to the persecuted early Christians who were thrown to the lions in Rome. A few of us have read i 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

What is a Christian? - 1 Thessalonians 1:4-10

A friend sent me an email telling about a question posed to her by a co-worker. Here is the exact text of the question:How is a Christian defined? It used to be that if you were not Jewish or Hindu or Buddhist, you we 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

When Life Tumbles In, What Then? - Job 1

The year was 1927. The place was Aberdeen, Scotland. A man named Arthur John Gossip was the pastor of the Beechgrove Church. He was 54 years old and at the height of his power. For six years he had pastored the ch More

The Mother of Twins: Christ Speaks to the Problem of Misguided Ambition - Matthew 20:20-28

This is the story of a mother who wanted only the best for her twin boys. Because she loved them and was proud of them and because she had great dreams for them, she came to Jesus one day with an audacious request. Sh More

Is Anything Too Hard For God? The Doctrine of God's Omnipotence - Jeremiah 32:17

This is the third and final sermon on the "omni" attributes of God. I have remarked earlier that these attributes are difficult to grasp because they describe truths about God that have no analog in human experience. More

The Forsaken Christ - Matthew 27:45-46

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