Sermons by Bruce Pratt (Page 6)
A Scary Story
Sermon text: Luke 16:19-31 Near the end of His earthly ministry Jesus taught the parable of Lazarus and the rich man. This story challenged the greed of the religious leaders of Jesus’ day. But its timely truths reach all the way to our own time and culture. This parable is a beautiful illustration of the oft-repeated biblical principle of the first being last and the last, first. It also teaches us that our eternal destination is set once this life…
Where It All Started
Sermon text: Genesis 3:1-24 Mankind’s history with sin began in the garden of Eden. Everything God created was good, including Adam and Eve. They had the best of everything. God had set them up in paradise. But the serpent convinced Eve that God was holding out on her and her husband. She fell for his scheme and disobeyed God. Adam, though, was not deceived. He simply succumbed to temptation and rebelled as well.
Don’t Think So, Know So
Sermon text: 2 Timothy 1:12 Paul was absolutely certain about his faith in Jesus Christ. Not only that, he had no question about the fact that Jesus would keep all that Paul had entrusted to Him. This included not just Paul’s own salvation, but that of everyone he had led to Christ. You and I and anyone who puts their trust in Jesus as Savior and Lord can have the same level of certainty.
Keep It Up
Sermon text: Hebrews 6:9-12 All Christians should strive to be spiritually mature. The writer of Hebrews noticed that some of his readers were falling short of this goal. They had not turned from God. Indeed, they had shown themselves to be faithful ministers to other believers. But they seemed to running out of steam as they got older. This is a challenge for many Christians today. They are tired or they feel they did their part earlier in life. The…
What is Godliness?
Sermon text: 1 Timothy 6:6 In his first ever “sermonic word study” Pastor Bruce looks at what it means to be godly. Paul wrote to Timothy that godliness with contentment is great gain. If we understand that contentment is finding our sufficiency and purpose in Christ, then what is godliness? And why does possessing this trait bring the believer great gain?
Up or Down
Sermon text: Philippians 4:10-13 Paul went through a lot in His life after becoming a follower of Jesus. He experienced amazing blessings and bone-crushing defeats. But he learned to be content, regardless of his circumstances. The key to that contentment was his relationship with Jesus. Whether life was going great or not, Paul found his sufficiency in Christ.
Steadfast
Sermon text: Psalm 125 God can be trusted. Not just in the big things, but in everything. He is fully truthful and faithful to His promises. And because He is eternal, there is no time limit on God. Yet humanity usually puts its trust in so many other people and things. But if you place your trust fully in God, you can face this life steadfast and confident. This world will eventually let you down. God never will.
The Greatest Servant
Sermon text: John 13:12-17 All four gospels recount Jesus’ time with the disciples the night before His crucifixion. But only John records Jesus washing the disciples’ feet while they were in the upper room. It was an unheard of act for a Jewish man, especially one with Jesus’ credentials. Yet He humbled Himself to wash the feet of His followers. In so doing, Jesus taught a valuable lesson about servanthood.
Pleasing God
Sermon text: 1 Kings 3:4-10 Early in his reign as king of Israel, Solomon saw God in a dream. God asked Solomon what He could give the new king. Solomon’s response is the basis of this sermon on pleasing God. We please God when we appreciate His love and mercy. He is pleased when we practice genuine humility. When we recognize our place in His plan, He is pleased. And finally, we please Him when we realize our need for…
The Joy of Giving
Sermon text: 2 Corinthians 9:6-11 The church in Jerusalem was struggling mightily. Paul was working on collecting an offering from among the churches in Asia and Europe to help them. The church in Corinth had decided to help, but then had second thoughts. Paul’s encouragement to the Corinthians provides four powerful principles for giving. First, you get out of giving what you put into it. Next, giving must be from the heart. Third, our ability to give comes from God.…