Sermons found for the topic Worship

Up with Worship!

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

When Worship Has Lost Its Worth - Malachi 1-3

Perhaps it only happens in a pastor's family, but when our boys were younger, they used to play church. When we lived in Texas we had a cast-iron stand by the fireplace that held the fireplace tools—the pitchfor More

How Can I Be Filled With the Holy Spirit? - Ephesians 5:18

In order to be filled with the Holy Spirit, we need two things—emptiness and openness. If we live another day without the Holy Spirit’s control in our lives, we have only ourselves to blame. God has made himself fully available to us. Have we made ourselves fully available to him? More

The Blessed Benefits - Psalm 103:1-5

Many of us need to give God a “one-minute praising” for all his blessings. We’re sure good at telling the Lord what we want him to do for us. We need a good dose of Psalm 103 to wash out that complaining spirit and replace it with a heart of gratitude to the Lord. More

Homemade Gods: A Warning Against Modern-Day Baal Worship - Acts 17:29

"Idols? You must be kidding.""That's what they have in Africa, right?""Me? An idol-worshiper? What do you take me for? A pagan?""The only thing I worship is my brand-new car."What is an idol anyway? The dictionary off 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

The Battle Is On - II Chronicles 20

The date—750 B.C.The place—Jerusalem.The man—Jehoshaphat, King of Judah, a good king, the son of Asa. During his reign there was peace and prosperity because Jehoshaphat was a man of the Book. More t 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

Holy, Holy, Holy - Isaiah 6

Would you consider it a compliment if someone called you holy? The answer is, it depends on who that someone is. After all, the word holy is used in different ways by different people. If a person is considered excess More

Worship Vision Statement - Various

Re: Contemporary Worship–The VisionA few days ago the Board of Calvary Memorial Church met to consider the possibility of changing our present worship format by adding a contemporary worship service on Sunday m More

Singing Your Way to Victory - 2 Chronicles 20

"I have no use for cranks who despise music, because it is a gift of God. Music drives away the Devil and makes people gay; they forget thereby all wrath, unchastity, arrogance, and the like. Next after theology, I g More

Overcoming a Judgmental Spirit - Romans 14:1-12

Christians love to fight over our deeply-held beliefs. Unfortunately, sometimes we fight for things that don't matter very much.Once upon a time a man took a walk and came to a bridge. When he got to the middle of the 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

No Graven Images - Exodus 20:4-6

"Idols? You must be kidding.""That's what they have in Africa, right?" "Me? An idol-worshiper? What do you take me for? A pagan?""The only thing I worship is my brand-new car." What is an idol anyway? The dicti 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

A Place to Belong - Acts 2:41-47

With this message I am beginning a four-part sermon series based on our 1999 theme: A Place to Belong. The pastoral staff arrived at this theme several months ago as we considered what we were hearing from many people 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: "Make no More

The Incredible Adventure Begins - Genesis 12:1-9

This morning we are beginning a brand-new sermon series. This series is brand-new in two ways. It is new to us as a congregation and it is new to me personally. Although I have been your pastor for nearly seven yea More

The New Worship Schedule

THE NEW WORSHIP SCHEDULE by Ray Pritchard Elsewhere in today’s bulletin you’ll find an announcement for the new worship schedule that begins Sunday, March 21. Here are the highlights: 1. We will have three worship hours on Sunday morning: 8:30, 10:00 and 11:30 a.m. 2. The worship schedule in the Sanctuary will be … More

REACHING PEOPLE WITH GOD'S LOVE - Various

Friday morning I did something I had not done since becoming pastor of this church. I took a few minutes and sat on the steps in front of the sanctuary. It was a typical March day in Chicago–clear and cool wit More

Take Time for God - Exodus 20:8-11

Let's begin with three observations on the Fourth Commandment: 1. This is the longest of the Ten Commandments. 2. It is also the most difficult to properly interpret. 3. The Fourth Commandment remains a source of p More

The Incomparable Christ: "Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord" - Philippians 2:9-11

Who is Jesus Christ? Of all the questions that might be posed to modern men and women, none is more important than this. It is no exaggeration to say that this is the central question of history and the most important More

Nightmare on Main Street - Romans 1:21-23

There is a remarkable resemblance between the world described in Romans 1 and the world we live in at the end of the 20th century. Despite our proud claims of technological advance, just how much progress have we real 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

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

I Will Pour Out My Spirit On All People - Joel 2:28-32; Acts 2:14-21

A few days ago I happened to see my son Mark intently reading a paperback book. When I asked him what he was reading, he named a title I recognized as being very popular with Christians in their 20's and early 30's. I More

Behind Closed Doors - Hebrews 13:4

There are times when a writer knows beyond a shadow of a doubt that he doesn't have to worry about getting the reader's attention. Certain subjects require no gimmicks, tricks or elaborate introductions. Some subje 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

Life Has Been Good - Various

This is the fifth year I have been privileged to give a State of the Church address to Calvary Memorial Church. In my first message I quoted the great Chicago architect Daniel Burnham who said, "Make no small plans. More

A Time to Disobey - Daniel 3

Is it ever right for a Christian to disobey the law? Or are we always obligated to obey the law under all circumstances? What do you say? What does the Bible say?More and more we are faced with this question—not 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

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

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

The Second Law: God Doesn't Need Us But We Desperately Need Him

Last Sunday we started a new sermon series called The Seven Laws of the Spiritual Life. In this series we are discovering the basic principles of the Christian life that meet us where we are and take us all the way to More

To an Unknown God: How to Find Common Ground - Acts 17:22-23

If you ever attend seminary, you will study a subject called homiletics. That's a course where you learn how to prepare and preach a sermon. During my days at Dallas Seminary we actually had three courses in homiletic 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

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

God's Altar Call - Romans 12:1

"I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship" (Romans 12:1).I must have been about eight or nin More

Inside the Wedding Ring - Romans 15:5-7

I was twenty-five years old and fresh out of seminary when I became the pastor of a small church in Downey, California. I stayed there almost five years and then moved to Garland, Texas to pastor another church for fi More

Herod: The Man Who Tried to Kill Christmas - Matthew 2

This is the story of the man who tried to kill Christmas. It is strange and bizarre and doesn't seem like it should be in the Bible. It doesn't seem like we should read it during the Christmas season. It doesn't so More

A FIVE-YEAR PLAN FOR CALVARY MEMORIAL CHURCH - Various

First Draft: January 15, 1991(Version 2.30) Submitted by: Ray Pritchard, Brian Bill, Bill Miller, Bob Boerman, Terry Strandt More

Murder One: Why Do We Hate Each Other? - Genesis 4:1-16

This is the story of Cain and Abel. It is a story that is so well known that many people who never read the Bible know that Cain killed Abel. It has even entered our language as a synonym for troublemaking—Raisi More

Beepers, Cell Phones & Crying Babies

BEEPERS, CELL PHONES & CRYING BABIES by Ray Pritchard Technology can be a mixed blessing. Take cell phones, for instance. Or pagers. Or beepers. Each can be a timesaver that enables you to get your messages quicker and your work done faster. And these days, getting things done faster is what life is all about. All of us are… More

As for Me and My House: - Joshua 24:14-15

Today we are launching a brand-new series called "Heaven Help the Home." As a place to begin, let's consider these words by Chuck Swindoll: Whatever else may be said about the home, it is the bottom line of life, the More

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

Part 1. There are many ways to kill the faith of a new Christian, but the easiest way - and the quickest - is through criticism and a lack of acceptance. We all have a tendency to criticize people who don’t do or say things the way we think they ought to be said or done. Terrible things can happen when we are too quick to offer personal judgments on believers who don’t meet our personal standards. How can we overcome the impulse to criticize our brothers and sisters in Christ? 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

Jesus Christ and Him Crucified - 1 Corinthians 2:1-5

"I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified" (v. 2). We have a word for people like Paul. We call a person like him a “one-note Johnny." He was a man of o More

Every Home a Little Church: - Deuteronomy 6:1-9; 2 Timothy 3:14-17

As the home goes, so goes the church. Everything we believe begins in the home where we learn to worship, to pray, to sing, and to read God's Word. When Christian homes are strong, the church is strong. But when the h More

Harambee! - Romans 15:5-7

With this sermon, we are almost to the end of the "Praying with Paul" series. There is one more sermon after this and then we are done. The prayer we are looking at in this sermon is different from any of the others i More