Pastor Dale Critchley Sermons

(Matthew 10:34-42) "Don't think that I came to bring peace to earth. I didn't come to bring peace but conflict. I came to turn a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law. A person's enemies will be the members of his own family. "The person who loves his father or mother more than me does not deserve to be my disciple. The person who loves a son or daughter more than me does not deserve to be my disciple. Whoever doesn't take up his cross and follow me doesn't deserve to be my disciple. The person who tries to preserve his life will lose it, but the person who loses his life for me will preserve it. "The person who welcomes you welcomes me, and the person who welcomes me welcomes the one who sent me. The person who welcomes a prophet as a prophet will receive a prophet's reward. The person who welcomes a righteous person as a righteous person will receive a righteous person's reward. I can guarantee this truth: Whoever gives any of my humble followers a cup of cold water because that person is my disciple will certainly never lose his reward."

(John 1:29-34) John saw Jesus coming toward him the next day and said, "Look! This is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. He is the one I spoke about when I said, 'A man who comes after me was before me because he existed before I did.' I didn't know who he was. However, I came to baptize with water to show him to the people of Israel." John said, "I saw the Spirit come down as a dove from heaven and stay on him. I didn't know who he was. But God, who sent me to baptize with water, had told me, 'When you see the Spirit come down and stay on someone, you'll know that person is the one who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.' I have seen this and have declared that this is the Son of God."

(Jonah 1:1-2:10) The LORD spoke his word to Jonah, son of Amittai. He said, "Leave at once for the important city, Nineveh. Announce to the people that I can no longer overlook the wicked things they have done." Jonah immediately tried to run away from the LORD by going to Tarshish. He went to Joppa and found a ship going to Tarshish. He paid for the trip and went on board. He wanted to go to Tarshish to get away from the LORD. The LORD sent a violent wind over the sea. The storm was so powerful that the ship was in danger of breaking up. The sailors were afraid, and they cried to their gods for help. They began to throw the cargo overboard to lighten the ship's load. Now, Jonah had gone below deck and was lying there sound asleep. The captain of the ship went to him and asked, "How can you sleep? Get up, and pray to your God. Maybe he will notice us, and we won't die." Then the sailors said to each other, "Let's throw dice to find out who is responsible for bringing this disaster on us." So they threw dice, and the dice indicated that Jonah was responsible. They asked him, "Tell us, why has this disaster happened to us? What do you do for a living? Where do you come from? What country are you from? What nationality are you?" Jonah answered them, "I'm a Hebrew. I worship the LORD, the God of heaven. He is the God who made the sea and the land." Then the men were terrified. They knew that he was running away from the LORD, because he had told them. They asked Jonah, "Why have you done this?" The storm was getting worse. So they asked Jonah, "What should we do with you to calm the sea?" He told them, "Throw me overboard. Then the sea will become calm. I know that I'm responsible for this violent storm." Instead, the men tried to row harder to get the ship back to shore, but they couldn't do it. The storm was getting worse. So they cried to the LORD for help: "Please, LORD, don't let us die for taking this man's life. Don't hold us responsible for the death of an innocent man, because you, LORD, do whatever you want." Then they took Jonah and threw him overboard, and the sea became calm. The men were terrified of the LORD. They offered sacrifices and made vows to the LORD. The LORD sent a big fish to swallow Jonah. Jonah was inside the fish for three days and three nights. From inside the fish Jonah prayed to the LORD his God. Jonah prayed: "I called to the LORD in my distress, and he answered me. From the depths of my watery grave I cried for help, and you heard my cry. You threw me into the deep, into the depths of the sea, and water surrounded me. All the whitecaps on your waves have swept over me. "Then I thought, 'I have been banished from your sight. Will I ever see your holy temple again?' "Water surrounded me, threatening my life. The deep sea covered me completely. Seaweed was wrapped around my head. I sank to the foot of the mountains. I sank to the bottom, where bars held me forever. But you brought me back from the pit, O LORD, my God. "As my life was slipping away, I remembered the LORD. My prayer came to you in your holy temple. Those who hold on to worthless idols abandon their loyalty to you. But I will sacrifice to you with songs of thanksgiving. I will keep my vow. Victory belongs to the LORD!" Then the LORD spoke to the fish, and it spit Jonah out onto the shore.

(Daniel 6:2-10) Over these satraps were three officials. Daniel was one of these officials. The satraps were to report to these three officials so that the king wouldn't be cheated. This man, Daniel, distinguished himself among the other officials and satraps because there was an extraordinary spirit in him. The king thought about putting him in charge of the whole kingdom. So the other officials and satraps tried to find something to accuse Daniel of in his duties for the kingdom. But they couldn't find anything wrong because he was trustworthy. No error or fault could be found. These men said, "We won't find anything to accuse this man, Daniel, unless we find it in his religious practices." So these officials and satraps went to the king as a group. They said to him, "May King Darius live forever! All the officials, governors, satraps, advisers, and mayors agree that the king should make a statute and enforce a decree. The decree should state that for the next 30 days whoever asks for anything from any god or person except you, Your Majesty, will be thrown into a lions' den. Your Majesty, issue this decree, and sign it. According to the law of the Medes and Persians no one could change it or repeal it." So Darius signed the written decree. When Daniel learned that the document had been signed, he went to his house. An upper room in his house had windows that opened in the direction of Jerusalem. Three times each day he got down on his knees and prayed to his God. He had always praised God this way.(Daniel 6:13-17) They replied, "Your Majesty, Daniel, one of the captives from Judah, refuses to obey your order or the decree that you signed. He prays three times each day." The king was very displeased when he heard this. He tried every way he could think of to save Daniel. Until sundown he did everything he could to rescue him. Then Daniel's accusers gathered in front of the king. They said to him, "Remember, Your Majesty, the Medes and Persians have a law that no decree or statute the king makes can be changed." So the king gave the order, and Daniel was brought to him and thrown into the lions' den. The king told Daniel, "May your God, whom you always worship, save you!" A stone was brought and placed over the opening of the den. The king put his seal on the stone, using his ring and the rings of his nobles, so that Daniel's situation could not be changed.(Daniel 6:19-22) At dawn, as soon as it was light, the king got up and quickly went to the lions' den. As he came near the den where Daniel was, the king called to Daniel with anguish in his voice, "Daniel, servant of the living God! Was God, whom you always worship, able to save you from the lions?" Daniel said to the king, "Your Majesty, may you live forever! My God sent his angel and shut the lions' mouths so that they couldn't hurt me. He did this because he considered me innocent. Your Majesty, I haven't committed any crime."(Daniel 6:25-27) Then King Darius wrote to the people of every province, nation, and language all over the world: I wish you peace and prosperity. I decree that in every part of my kingdom people should tremble with terror in front of Daniel's God, the living God who continues forever. His kingdom will never be destroyed. His power lasts to the end of time. He saves, rescues, and does miraculous signs and amazing things in heaven and on earth. He saved Daniel from the lions.

(Numbers 22:20-35) That night God came to Balaam and said, "If these men have come to summon you, go with them, but do only what I tell you." When Balaam got up in the morning, he saddled his donkey and left with the Moabite princes. God became angry that he was going. So the Messenger of the LORD stood in the road to stop him. Balaam was riding on his donkey, accompanied by his two servants. When the donkey saw the Messenger of the LORD standing in the road with his sword drawn, the donkey turned off the road into a field. Balaam hit the donkey to get it back on the road. Where the road went through the vineyards, it was narrow, with stone walls on both sides. Now the Messenger of the LORD stood there. When the donkey saw the Messenger of the LORD, it moved over and pinned Balaam's foot against the wall. So Balaam hit the donkey again. Then the Messenger of the LORD moved ahead and stood in a narrower place where there was no room to turn to the right or the left. When the donkey saw the Messenger of the LORD, it lay down under Balaam. Balaam became so angry he hit the donkey with his stick. Then the LORD made the donkey speak, and it asked Balaam, "What have I done to make you hit me three times?" Balaam answered, "You've made a fool of me! If I had a sword in my hand, I'd kill you right now." The donkey said to Balaam, "I'm your own donkey. You've always ridden me. Have I ever done this to you before?" "No," he answered. Then the LORD let Balaam see the Messenger of the LORD who was standing in the road with his sword drawn. So Balaam knelt, bowing with his face touching the ground. The Messenger of the LORD asked him, "Why have you hit your donkey three times like this? I've come here to stop you because the trip you're taking is evil. The donkey saw me and turned away from me these three times. If it had not turned away from me, I would certainly have killed you by now but spared the donkey." Balaam said to the Messenger of the LORD, "I've sinned. I didn't know you were standing there in the road to stop me. If you still think this trip is evil, I'll go back." The Messenger of the LORD said to Balaam, "Go with the men, but say only what I tell you." So Balaam went with Balak's princes.

(Genesis 3:1-24) The snake was more clever than all the wild animals the LORD God had made. He asked the woman, "Did God really say, 'You must never eat the fruit of any tree in the garden'?" The woman answered the snake, "We're allowed to eat the fruit from any tree in the garden except the tree in the middle of the garden. God said, 'You must never eat it or touch it. If you do, you will die!'" "You certainly won't die!" the snake told the woman. "God knows that when you eat it your eyes will be opened. You'll be like God, knowing good and evil." The woman saw that the tree had fruit that was good to eat, nice to look at, and desirable for making someone wise. So she took some of the fruit and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it. Then their eyes were opened, and they both realized that they were naked. They sewed fig leaves together and made clothes for themselves. In the cool of the evening, the man and his wife heard the LORD God walking around in the garden. So they hid from the LORD God among the trees in the garden. The LORD God called to the man and asked him, "Where are you?" He answered, "I heard you in the garden. I was afraid because I was naked, so I hid." God asked, "Who told you that you were naked? Did you eat fruit from the tree I commanded you not to eat from?" The man answered, "That woman, the one you gave me, gave me some fruit from the tree, and I ate it." Then the LORD God asked the woman, "What have you done?" "The snake deceived me, and I ate," the woman answered. So the LORD God said to the snake, "Because you have done this, You are cursed more than all the wild or domestic animals. You will crawl on your belly. You will be the lowest of animals as long as you live. I will make you and the woman hostile toward each other. I will make your descendants and her descendant hostile toward each other. He will crush your head, and you will bruise his heel." He said to the woman, "I will increase your pain and your labor when you give birth to children. Yet, you will long for your husband, and he will rule you." Then he said to the man, "You listened to your wife and ate fruit from the tree, although I commanded you, 'You must never eat its fruit.' The ground is cursed because of you. Through hard work you will eat food that comes from it every day of your life. The ground will grow thorns and thistles for you, and you will eat wild plants. By the sweat of your brow, you will produce food to eat until you return to the ground, because you were taken from it. You are dust, and you will return to dust." Adam named his wife Eve [Life] because she became the mother of every living person. The LORD God made clothes from animal skins for the man and his wife and dressed them. Then the LORD God said, "The man has become like one of us, since he knows good and evil. He must not reach out and take the fruit from the tree of life and eat. Then he would live forever." So the LORD God sent the man out of the Garden of Eden to farm the ground from which the man had been formed. After he sent the man out, God placed angels and a flaming sword that turned in all directions east of the Garden of Eden. He placed them there to guard the way to the tree of life.

(Acts 2:42-47) The disciples were devoted to the teachings of the apostles, to fellowship, to the breaking of bread, and to prayer. A feeling of fear came over everyone as many amazing things and miraculous signs happened through the apostles. All the believers kept meeting together, and they shared everything with each other. From time to time, they sold their property and other possessions and distributed the money to anyone who needed it. The believers had a single purpose and went to the temple every day. They were joyful and humble as they ate at each other's homes and shared their food. At the same time, they praised God and had the good will of all the people. Every day the Lord saved people, and they were added to the group.

(Colossians 3:1-4) Since you were brought back to life with Christ, focus on the things that are above--where Christ holds the highest position. Keep your mind on things above, not on worldly things. You have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. Christ is your life. When he appears, then you, too, will appear with him in glory.

(Mark 16:1-7) When the day of worship was over, Mary from Magdala, Mary (the mother of James), and Salome bought spices to go and anoint Jesus. On Sunday they were going to the tomb very early when the sun had just come up. They said to one another, "Who will roll away the stone for us from the entrance to the tomb?" When they looked up, they saw that the stone had been rolled away. It was a very large stone. As they went into the tomb, they saw a young man. He was dressed in a white robe and sat on the right side. They were panic-stricken. The young man said to them, "Don't panic! You're looking for Jesus from Nazareth, who was crucified. He has been brought back to life. He's not here. Look at the place where they laid him. Go and tell his disciples and Peter that he's going ahead of them to Galilee. There they will see him, just as he told them."

(Acts 2:22-24) "Men of Israel, listen to what I say: Jesus from Nazareth was a man whom God brought to your attention. You know that through this man God worked miracles, did amazing things, and gave signs. By using men who don't acknowledge Moses' Teachings, you crucified Jesus, who was given over to death by a plan that God had determined in advance. But God raised him from death to life and destroyed the pains of death, because death had no power to hold him.(Acts 2:37, 38) When the people heard this, they were deeply upset. They asked Peter and the other apostles, "Brothers, what should we do?" Peter answered them, "All of you must turn to God and change the way you think and act, and each of you must be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ so that your sins will be forgiven. Then you will receive the Holy Spirit as a gift.

(John 13:1-5) Before the Passover festival, Jesus knew that the time had come for him to leave this world and go back to the Father. Jesus loved his own who were in the world, and he loved them to the end. While supper was taking place, the devil had already put the idea of betraying Jesus into the mind of Judas, son of Simon Iscariot. The Father had put everything in Jesus' control. Jesus knew that. He also knew that he had come from God and was going back to God. So he got up from the table, removed his outer clothes, took a towel, and tied it around his waist. Then he poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples' feet and dry them with the towel that he had tied around his waist.

(John 21:1-14) Later, by the Sea of Tiberias, Jesus showed himself again to the disciples. This is what happened. Simon Peter, Thomas (called Didymus), Nathanael from Cana in Galilee, Zebedee's sons, and two other disciples of Jesus were together. Simon Peter said to the others, "I'm going fishing." They told him, "We're going with you." They went out in a boat but didn't catch a thing that night. As the sun was rising, Jesus stood on the shore. The disciples didn't realize that it was Jesus. Jesus asked them, "Friends, haven't you caught any fish?" They answered him, "No, we haven't." He told them, "Throw the net out on the right side of the boat, and you'll catch some." So they threw the net out and were unable to pull it in because so many fish were in it. The disciple whom Jesus loved said to Peter, "It's the Lord." When Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he put back on the clothes that he had taken off and jumped into the sea. The other disciples came with the boat and dragged the net full of fish. They weren't far from the shore, only about 100 yards. When they went ashore, they saw a fire with a fish lying on the coals, and they saw a loaf of bread. Jesus told them, "Bring some of the fish you've just caught." Simon Peter got into the boat and pulled the net ashore. Though the net was filled with 153 large fish, it was not torn. Jesus told them, "Come, have breakfast." None of the disciples dared to ask him who he was. They knew he was the Lord. Jesus took the bread, gave it to them, and did the same with the fish. This was the third time that Jesus showed himself to the disciples after he had come back to life. Closing skit by The Skit Guys

(Matthew 14:22-33) Jesus quickly made his disciples get into a boat and cross to the other side ahead of him while he sent the people away. After sending the people away, he went up a mountain to pray by himself. When evening came, he was there alone. The boat, now hundreds of yards from shore, was being thrown around by the waves because it was going against the wind. Between three and six o'clock in the morning, he came to them. He was walking on the sea. When the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were terrified. They said, "It's a ghost!" and began to scream because they were afraid. Immediately, Jesus said, "Calm down! It's me. Don't be afraid!" Peter answered, "Lord, if it is you, order me to come to you on the water." Jesus said, "Come!" So Peter got out of the boat and walked on the water toward Jesus. But when he noticed how strong the wind was, he became afraid and started to sink. He shouted, "Lord, save me!" Immediately, Jesus reached out, caught hold of him, and said, "You have so little faith! Why did you doubt?" When they got into the boat, the wind stopped blowing. The men in the boat bowed down in front of Jesus and said, "You are truly the Son of God."

(John 18:18) The servants and the guards were standing around a fire they had built and were warming themselves because it was cold. Peter was standing there, too, and warming himself with the others.

(Mark 5:1-20) They arrived in the territory of the Gerasenes on the other side of the Sea of Galilee. As Jesus stepped out of the boat, a man came out of the tombs and met him. The man was controlled by an evil spirit and lived among the tombs. No one could restrain him any longer, not even with a chain. He had often been chained hand and foot. However, he snapped the chains off his hands and broke the chains from his feet. No one could control him. Night and day he was among the tombs and on the mountainsides screaming and cutting himself with stones. The man saw Jesus at a distance. So he ran to Jesus, bowed down in front of him, and shouted, "Why are you bothering me now, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? Swear to God that you won't torture me." He shouted this because Jesus said, "You evil spirit, come out of the man." Jesus asked him, "What is your name?" He told Jesus, "My name is Legion [Six Thousand], because there are many of us." He begged Jesus not to send them out of the territory. A large herd of pigs was feeding on a mountainside nearby. The demons begged him, "Send us into the pigs! Let us enter them!" Jesus let them do this. The evil spirits came out of the man and went into the pigs. The herd of about two thousand pigs rushed down the cliff into the sea and drowned. Those who took care of the pigs ran away. In the city and countryside they reported everything that had happened. So the people came to see what had happened. They came to Jesus and saw the man who had been possessed by the legion of demons. The man was sitting there dressed and in his right mind. The people were frightened. Those who saw this told what had happened to the demon-possessed man and the pigs. Then the people began to beg Jesus to leave their territory. As Jesus stepped into the boat, the man who had been demon-possessed begged him, "Let me stay with you." But Jesus would not allow it. Instead, he told the man, "Go home to your family, and tell them how much the Lord has done for you and how merciful he has been to you." So the man left. He began to tell how much Jesus had done for him in the Ten Cities. Everyone was amazed.