Pastor Dale Critchley Sermons

How to Suffer Well (Growing Pains)

Suffering at Work (Growing Pains)

The Permanent Benefit of Temporary Suffering (Growing Pains)

Enduring until Tomorrow (Growing Pains)

When your back's against the wall [Easter Sunrise]

Pierced Ears (Hearing the Voice of God) [Good Friday]

Moses went and told the people all the LORD’S words and legal decisions. Then all the people answered with one voice, “We will do everything the LORD has told us to do.” So Moses wrote down all the LORD’S words. Early the next morning he built an altar at the foot of the mountain and set up 12 sacred stones for the 12 tribes of Israel. Then he sent young Israelite men, and they sacrificed bulls as burnt offerings and fellowship offerings to the LORD. Moses took half of the blood and put it into bowls, and he threw the other half against the altar. Then he took the Book of the LORD’s Promise and read it while the people listened. They said, “We will obey and do everything the LORD has said.” Moses took the blood and sprinkled it on the people and said, “Here is the blood which seals the promise that the LORD has made to you based on everything you have just heard.” Moses went up with Aaron, Nadab, Abihu, and 70 of Israel’s leaders. They saw the God of Israel. Under his feet was something like a pavement made out of sapphire as clear and blue as the sky itself. God didn’t harm these leaders of the Israelites. So they saw God, and then they ate and drank. (Exodus 24:3-11, GWV)

My servant will be successful. He will be respected, praised, and highly honored. Many will be shocked by him. His appearance will be so disfigured that he won’t look like any other man. His looks will be so disfigured that he will hardly look like a human. He will cleanse many nations with his blood. Kings will shut their mouths because of him. They will see things that they had never been told. They will understand things that they had never heard. Who has believed our message? To whom has the LORD’S power been revealed? He grew up in his presence like a young tree, like a root out of dry ground. He had no form or majesty that would make us look at him. He had nothing in his appearance that would make us desire him. He was despised and rejected by people. He was a man of sorrows, familiar with suffering. He was despised like one from whom people turn their faces, and we didn’t consider him to be worth anything. He certainly has taken upon himself our suffering and carried our sorrows, but we thought that God had wounded him, beat him, and punished him. He was wounded for our rebellious acts. He was crushed for our sins. He was punished so that we could have peace, and we received healing from his wounds. We have all strayed like sheep. Each one of us has turned to go his own way, and the LORD has laid all our sins on him. He was abused and punished, but he didn’t open his mouth. He was led like a lamb to the slaughter. He was like a sheep that is silent when its wool is cut off. He didn’t open his mouth. He was arrested, taken away, and judged. Who would have thought that he would be removed from the world? He was killed because of my people’s rebellion. He was placed in a tomb with the wicked. He was put there with the rich when he died, although he had done nothing violent and had never spoken a lie. Yet, it was the LORD’S will to crush him with suffering. When the LORD has made his life a sacrifice for our wrongdoings, he will see his descendants for many days. The will of the LORD will succeed through him. He will see and be satisfied because of his suffering. My righteous servant will acquit many people because of what he has learned through suffering. He will carry their sins as a burden. So I will give him a share among the mighty, and he will divide the prize with the strong, because he poured out his life in death and he was counted with sinners. He carried the sins of many. He intercedes for those who are rebellious. (Isaiah 52:13-53:12, GWV)

Moses went and told the people all the LORD’S words and legal decisions. Then all the people answered with one voice, “We will do everything the LORD has told us to do.” So Moses wrote down all the LORD’S words. Early the next morning he built an altar at the foot of the mountain and set up 12 sacred stones for the 12 tribes of Israel. Then he sent young Israelite men, and they sacrificed bulls as burnt offerings and fellowship offerings to the LORD. Moses took half of the blood and put it into bowls, and he threw the other half against the altar. Then he took the Book of the LORD’s Promise and read it while the people listened. They said, “We will obey and do everything the LORD has said.” Moses took the blood and sprinkled it on the people and said, “Here is the blood which seals the promise that the LORD has made to you based on everything you have just heard.” Moses went up with Aaron, Nadab, Abihu, and 70 of Israel’s leaders. They saw the God of Israel. Under his feet was something like a pavement made out of sapphire as clear and blue as the sky itself. God didn’t harm these leaders of the Israelites. So they saw God, and then they ate and drank. (Exodus 24:3-11, GWV)

The Almighty LORD will teach me what to say, so I will know how to encourage weary people. Morning after morning he will wake me to listen like a student. The Almighty LORD will open my ears. I will not rebel, nor will I turn away from him. I will offer my back to those who whip me and my cheeks to those who pluck hairs out of my beard. I will not turn my face away from those who humiliate me and spit on me. The Almighty LORD helps me. That is why I will not be ashamed. I have set my face like a flint. I know that I will not be put to shame. The one who pronounces me innocent is near. Who will bring a case against me? Let us confront each other! Who accuses me? Let him confront me! The Almighty LORD helps me. Who will find me guilty? They will all wear out like a garment. Moths will eat them. (Isaiah 50:4-9, GWV)

Finally, receive your power from the Lord and from his mighty strength. Put on all the armor that God supplies. In this way you can take a stand against the devil’s strategies. This is not a wrestling match against a human opponent. We are wrestling with rulers, authorities, the powers who govern this world of darkness, and spiritual forces that control evil in the heavenly world. For this reason, take up all the armor that God supplies. Then you will be able to take a stand during these evil days. Once you have overcome all obstacles, you will be able to stand your ground. So then, take your stand! Fasten truth around your waist like a belt. Put on God’s approval as your breastplate. Put on your shoes so that you are ready to spread the Good News that gives peace. In addition to all these, take the Christian faith as your shield. With it you can put out all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Also take salvation as your helmet and the word of God as the sword that the Spirit supplies. Pray in the Spirit in every situation. Use every kind of prayer and request there is. For the same reason be alert. Use every kind of effort and make every kind of request for all of God’s people. (Ephesians 6:10-18, GWV)

Mouth to Mouth: Drawing Breath from God's Voice (Hearing the Voice of God)

Wives, place yourselves under your husbands’ authority as you have placed yourselves under the Lord’s authority. The husband is the head of his wife as Christ is the head of the church. It is his body, and he is its Savior. As the church is under Christ’s authority, so wives are under their husbands’ authority in everything. Husbands, love your wives as Christ loved the church and gave his life for it. He did this to make the church holy by cleansing it, washing it using water along with spoken words. Then he could present it to himself as a glorious church, without any kind of stain or wrinkle—holy and without faults. So husbands must love their wives as they love their own bodies. A man who loves his wife loves himself. No one ever hated his own body. Instead, he feeds and takes care of it, as Christ takes care of the church. We are parts of his body. That’s why a man will leave his father and mother and be united with his wife, and the two will be one. This is a great mystery. (I’m talking about Christ’s relationship to the church.) But every husband must love his wife as he loves himself, and wives should respect their husbands. Children, obey your parents because you are Christians. This is the right thing to do. “Honor your father and mother that everything may go well for you, and you may have a long life on earth.” This is an important commandment with a promise. Fathers, don’t make your children bitter about life. Instead, bring them up in Christian discipline and instruction. Slaves, obey your earthly masters with proper respect. Be as sincere as you are when you obey Christ. Don’t obey them only while you’re being watched, as if you merely wanted to please people. But obey like slaves who belong to Christ, who have a deep desire to do what God wants them to do. Serve eagerly as if you were serving your heavenly master and not merely serving human masters. You know that your heavenly master will reward all of us for whatever good we do, whether we’re slaves or free people. Masters, treat your slaves with respect. Don’t threaten a slave. You know that there is one master in heaven who has authority over both of you, and he doesn’t play favorites. (Ephesians 5:22-6:9, GWV)

I have been silent for a long time. I kept quiet and held myself back. But like a woman in childbirth I will cry out. I will gasp and pant. I will lay waste to mountains and hills. I will dry up all their vegetation. I will turn rivers into islands. I will dry up ponds. I will lead the blind on unfamiliar roads. I will lead them on unfamiliar paths. I will turn darkness into light in front of them. I will make rough places smooth. These are the things I will do for them, and I will never abandon them. Then those who trust idols and those who say to statues, “You are our gods” will be turned away and put to shame. Listen, you deaf people. Look, you blind people, so that you can see. Who is blind except my servant or deaf like the messenger I send? Who is blind like the one who has my trust or blind like the servant of the LORD? You have seen much, but you do not observe anything. Your ears are open, but you hear nothing. The LORD is pleased because he does what is right. He praises the greatness of his teachings and makes them glorious. (Isaiah 42:14-21, GWV)

So I tell you and encourage you in the Lord’s name not to live any longer like other people in the world. Their minds are set on worthless things. They can’t understand because they are in the dark. They are excluded from the life that God approves of because of their ignorance and stubbornness. Since they no longer have any sense of shame, they have become promiscuous. They practice every kind of sexual perversion with a constant desire for more. But that is not what you learned from Christ’s teachings. You have certainly heard his message and have been taught his ways. The truth is in Jesus. You were taught to change the way you were living. The person you used to be will ruin you through desires that deceive you. However, you were taught to have a new attitude. You were also taught to become a new person created to be like God, truly righteous and holy. So then, get rid of lies. Speak the truth to each other, because we are all members of the same body. Be angry without sinning. Don’t go to bed angry. Don’t give the devil any opportunity to work. Thieves must quit stealing and, instead, they must work hard. They should do something good with their hands so that they’ll have something to share with those in need. Don’t say anything that would hurt another person. Instead, speak only what is good so that you can give help wherever it is needed. That way, what you say will help those who hear you. Don’t give God’s Holy Spirit any reason to be upset with you. He has put his seal on you for the day you will be set free from the world of sin. Get rid of your bitterness, hot tempers, anger, loud quarreling, cursing, and hatred. Be kind to each other, sympathetic, forgiving each other as God has forgiven you through Christ. Imitate God, since you are the children he loves. Live in love as Christ also loved us. He gave his life for us as an offering and sacrifice, a soothing aroma to God. Don’t let sexual sin, perversion of any kind, or greed even be mentioned among you. This is not appropriate behavior for God’s holy people. It’s not right that dirty stories, foolish talk, or obscene jokes should be mentioned among you either. Instead, give thanks to God. You know very well that no person who is involved in sexual sin, perversion, or greed (which means worshiping wealth) can have any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God. Don’t let anyone deceive you with meaningless words. It is because of sins like these that God’s anger comes to those who refuse to obey him. Don’t be partners with them. Once you lived in the dark, but now the Lord has filled you with light. Live as children who have light. Light produces everything that is good, that has God’s approval, and that is true. Determine which things please the Lord. Have nothing to do with the useless works that darkness produces. Instead, expose them for what they are. It is shameful to talk about what some people do in secret. Light exposes the true character of everything because light makes everything easy to see. That’s why it says: “Wake up, sleeper! Rise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you.” So then, be very careful how you live. Don’t live like foolish people but like wise people. Make the most of your opportunities because these are evil days. So don’t be foolish, but understand what the Lord wants. Don’t get drunk on wine, which leads to wild living. Instead, be filled with the Spirit by reciting psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs for your own good. Sing and make music to the Lord with your hearts. Always thank God the Father for everything in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. Place yourselves under each other’s authority out of respect for Christ. (Ephesians 4:17-5:21, GWV)