Did you know that Calvary has an online discussion board where you can trade thoughts with people from around the world? Over the last few months more and more people are dropping by to offer an opinion, ask a question, or join in an ongoing discussion. The discussion board contains a number of sections, such as Community B…
Sermon Series: Ponder This - 2000Last Sunday I preached on the story of Nebuchadnezzar losing his mind and becoming like a beast of the field for seven years (Daniel 4). It all started when the king had a dream of a vast tree with branches stretching out in all directions and birds of every kind coming to nest in the branches. Suddenly the tree was cut dow…
Sermon Series: Ponder This - 2000The phone rang and the voice on the other end came from a high school student. “Pastor Ray, could I talk to you for a moment?” It was a “Dear Abby” sort of question. She wanted my advice on how to speak up when she is the only Christian in a class of 30. Actually, there may be other Christians but she is the only one who da…
Sermon Series: Ponder This - 2000Several weeks ago I put forth a modest collection of “self-evident truths.” Here are a few more that seem appropriate for the beginning of a new year. 1. If it’s truly important, you will find time to do it. How many times have we made excuses for not doing something when in the end, we know we didn’t do it because it just …
Sermon Series: Ponder This - 2000In case you haven’t heard, the Bible Reading Marathon begins this Tuesday at 6:00 a.m. For the last 90 hours of this millennium, hundreds of people will take turns reading the entire Bible from the pulpit in our sanctuary, starting in Genesis and continuing until we reach the end of the book of Revelation. You are welcome t…
Sermon Series: Ponder This - 1999Not many people know the connection between our church and the famous Christmas carol “O Little Town of Bethlehem.” The connection goes from the carol to its author to the church he built to the Presbyterians of Oak Park to Calvary Memorial Church. In 1864 a pastor named Phillips Brooks visited the Holy Land at Christmastim…
Sermon Series: Ponder This - 1999This week I’ve been mentally compiling a list of self-evident truths that cannot be denied. You can ignore them but you can’t disprove them. Here is my list so far, with a few explanatory comments: 1. Life goes on. No matter what we do, life goes on. If we foul up, life goes on. If we hit the jackpot, life goes on. Whether …
Sermon Series: Ponder This - 1999I never thought I’d live to see the day when the Southern Baptists would make the front page of the Chicago Tribune. In this part of the world we generally have more important things to worry about, such as will any of us live long enough to see the Bulls win the NBA Championship again, but that’s a topic for another day. T…
Sermon Series: Ponder This - 1999If your family is like our family, fishing for fun or profit would not be high on your list of things to do during December. Yet fishing is vitally important to who we are. No, I’m not talking about throwing a hook into the lake on a balmy December day, or even following some family’s traditions of picking out a live fish a…
Sermon Series: Ponder This - 19991 Thessalonians 5:18 admonishes us to “give thanks in all circumstances.” Sometimes that is easy to do, sometimes not so easy. In the last few days I have found comfort in two places: great music and good theology. By “great music” I am not referring to a style or to a particular period but rather to music that contains a s…
Sermon Series: Ponder This - 1999