Pastor Dale Critchley Sermons

Then Moses and the Israelites sang this song to the LORD: "I will sing to the LORD. He has won a glorious victory. He has thrown horses and their riders into the sea. The LORD is my strength and my song. He is my Savior. This is my God, and I will praise him, my father's God, and I will honor him. The LORD is a warrior! The LORD is his name. He has thrown Pharaoh's chariots and army into the sea. Pharaoh's best officers were drowned in the Red Sea. The deep water covered them. They sank to the bottom like a rock. Your right hand, O LORD, wins glory because it is strong. Your right hand, O LORD, smashes your enemies. With your unlimited majesty, you destroyed those who attacked you. You sent out your burning anger. It burned them up like straw. With a blast from your nostrils, the water piled up. The waves stood up like a dam. The deep water thickened in the middle of the sea. "The enemy said, 'I'll pursue them! I'll catch up with them! I'll divide the loot! I'll take all I want! I'll use my sword! I'll take all they have!' Your breath blew the sea over them. They sank like lead in the raging water. "Who is like you among the gods, O LORD? Who is like you? You are glorious because of your holiness and awe-inspiring because of your splendor. You perform miracles. (Exodus 15:1-11, GWV).

At noon darkness came over the whole land until three in the afternoon. At three o'clock Jesus cried out in a loud voice, "Eloi, Eloi, lemma sabachthani?" which means, "My God, my God, why have you abandoned me?" When some of the people standing there heard him say that, they said, "Listen! He's calling Elijah." Someone ran and soaked a sponge in vinegar. Then he put it on a stick and offered Jesus a drink. The man said, "Let's see if Elijah comes to take him down." Then Jesus cried out in a loud voice and died. (Mark 15:33-37, GWV)

Then they came to a place called Gethsemane. He said to his disciples, "Stay here while I pray." He took Peter, James, and John with him and began to feel distressed and anguished. He said to them, "My anguish is so great that I feel as if I'm dying. Wait here, and stay awake." After walking a little farther, he fell to the ground and prayed that if it were possible he might not have to suffer what was ahead of him. He said, "Abba! Father! You can do anything. Take this cup of suffering away from me. But let your will be done rather than mine." He went back and found them asleep. He said to Peter, "Simon, are you sleeping? Couldn't you stay awake for one hour? Stay awake, and pray that you won't be tempted. You want to do what's right, but you're weak." He went away again and prayed the same prayer as before. He found them asleep because they couldn't keep their eyes open. They didn't even know what they should say to him. He came back a third time and said to them, "You might as well sleep now. It's all over. The time has come for the Son of Man to be handed over to sinners. Get up! Let's go! The one who is betraying me is near." Just then, while Jesus was still speaking, Judas, one of the twelve apostles, arrived. A crowd carrying swords and clubs was with him. They were from the chief priests, scribes, and leaders of the people. Now, the traitor had given them a signal. He said, "The one I kiss is the man you want. Arrest him, and guard him closely as you take him away." Then Judas quickly stepped up to Jesus and said, "Rabbi!" and kissed him. Some men took hold of Jesus and arrested him. One of those standing there pulled out his sword and cut off the ear of the chief priest's servant. Jesus asked them, "Have you come out with swords and clubs to arrest me as if I were a criminal? I used to teach in the temple courtyard every day. But you didn't arrest me then. But what the Scriptures say must come true." Then all the disciples abandoned him and ran away. (Mark 14:32-50, GWV)

After all, I passed on to you what I had received from the Lord. On the night he was betrayed, the Lord Jesus took bread and spoke a prayer of thanksgiving. He broke the bread and said, "This is my body, which is given for you. Do this to remember me." When supper was over, he did the same with the cup. He said, "This cup is the new promise made with my blood. Every time you drink from it, do it to remember me." Every time you eat this bread and drink from this cup, you tell about the Lord's death until he comes. (1 Corinthians 11:23-26, GWV)

While they were eating, Jesus took bread and blessed it. He broke the bread, gave it to his disciples, and said, "Take this, and eat it. This is my body." Then he took a cup and spoke a prayer of thanksgiving. He gave it to them and said, "Drink from it, all of you. This is my blood, the blood of the promise. It is poured out for many people so that sins are forgiven. (Matthew 26:26-28, GWV)

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. When Jesus came to Simon Peter, Peter asked him, "Lord, are you going to wash my feet?" Jesus answered Peter, "You don't know now what I'm doing. You will understand later." Peter told Jesus, "You will never wash my feet." Jesus replied to Peter, "If I don't wash you, you don't belong to me." Simon Peter said to Jesus, "Lord, don't wash only my feet. Wash my hands and my head too!" Jesus told Peter, "People who have washed are completely clean. They need to have only their feet washed. All of you, except for one, are clean." (Jesus knew who was going to betray him. That's why he said, "All of you, except for one, are clean.") After Jesus had washed their feet and put on his outer clothes, he took his place at the table again. Then he asked his disciples, "Do you understand what I've done for you? You call me teacher and Lord, and you're right because that's what I am. So if I, your Lord and teacher, have washed your feet, you must wash each other's feet. I've given you an example that you should follow. I can guarantee this truth: Slaves are not superior to their owners, and messengers are not superior to the people who send them. If you understand all of this, you are blessed whenever you follow my example. "I'm not talking about all of you. I know the people I've chosen to be apostles. However, I've made my choice so that Scripture will come true. It says, 'The one who eats my bread has turned against me.' I'm telling you now before it happens. Then, when it happens, you will believe that I am the one. "I can guarantee this truth: Whoever accepts me accepts the one who sent me." (John 13:1-20, GWV)

After he had said this, he breathed on the disciples and said, "Receive the Holy Spirit. Whenever you forgive sins, they are forgiven. Whenever you don't forgive them, they are not forgiven." (John 20:22, 23, GWV)

Judas Iscariot, one of the twelve apostles, went to the chief priests to betray Jesus. They were pleased to hear what Judas had to say and promised to give him money. So he kept looking for a chance to betray Jesus. (Mark 14:10, 11, GWV)

When they came to Jerusalem, Jesus went into the temple courtyard and began to throw out those who were buying and selling there. He overturned the moneychangers' tables and the chairs of those who sold pigeons. He would not let anyone carry anything across the temple courtyard. Then he taught them by saying, "Scripture says, 'My house will be called a house of prayer for all nations,' but you have turned it into a gathering place for thieves." When the chief priests and scribes heard him, they looked for a way to kill him. They were afraid of him because he amazed all the crowds with his teaching. (Every evening Jesus and his disciples would leave the city.) (Mark 11:15-19, GWV)

The next day, when they left Bethany, Jesus became hungry. In the distance he saw a fig tree with leaves. He went to see if he could find any figs on it. When he came to it, he found nothing but leaves because it wasn't the season for figs. Then he said to the tree, "No one will ever eat fruit from you again!" His disciples heard this. While Jesus and his disciples were walking early in the morning, they saw that the fig tree had dried up. Peter remembered what Jesus had said, so he said to Jesus, "Rabbi, look! The fig tree you cursed has dried up." Jesus said to them, "Have faith in God! I can guarantee this truth: This is what will be done for someone who doesn't doubt but believes what he says will happen: He can say to this mountain, 'Be uprooted and thrown into the sea,' and it will be done for him. That's why I tell you to have faith that you have already received whatever you pray for, and it will be yours. Whenever you pray, forgive anything you have against anyone. Then your Father in heaven will forgive your failures." (Mark 11:12-14, 20-26, GWV)

When they came near Jerusalem, to Bethphage and Bethany, at the Mount of Olives, Jesus sent two of his disciples ahead of him. He said to them, "Go into the village ahead of you. As you enter it, you will find a young donkey tied there. No one has ever sat on it. Untie it, and bring it. If anyone asks you what you are doing, say that the Lord needs it. That person will send it here at once." The disciples found the young donkey in the street. It was tied to the door of a house. As they were untying it, some men standing there asked them, "Why are you untying that donkey?" The disciples answered them as Jesus had told them. So the men let them go. They brought the donkey to Jesus, put their coats on it, and he sat on it. Many spread their coats on the road. Others cut leafy branches in the fields and spread them on the road. Those who went ahead and those who followed him were shouting, "Hosanna! Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord! Blessed is our ancestor David's kingdom that is coming! Hosanna in the highest heaven!" (Mark 11:1-10, GWV)

Then God spoke all these words: "I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of slavery in Egypt. "Never have any other god. Never make your own carved idols or statues that represent any creature in the sky, on the earth, or in the water. Never worship them or serve them, because I, the LORD your God, am a God who does not tolerate rivals. I punish children for their parents' sins to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me. But I show mercy to thousands of generations of those who love me and obey my commandments. "Never use the name of the LORD your God carelessly. The LORD will make sure that anyone who carelessly uses his name will be punished. "Remember the day of worship by observing it as a holy day. You have six days to do all your work. The seventh day is the day of worship dedicated to the LORD your God. You, your sons, your daughters, your male and female slaves, your cattle, and the foreigners living in your city must never do any work on that day. In six days the LORD made heaven, earth, and the sea, along with everything in them. He didn't work on the seventh day. That's why the LORD blessed the day he stopped his work and set this day apart as holy. "Honor your father and your mother, so that you may live for a long time in the land the LORD your God is giving you. "Never murder. "Never commit adultery. "Never steal. "Never lie when you testify about your neighbor. "Never desire to take your neighbor's household away from him. "Never desire to take your neighbor's wife, his male or female slave, his ox, his donkey, or anything else that belongs to him." (Exodus 20:1-17, GWV)

As Jesus was coming out to the road, a man came running to him and knelt in front of him. He asked Jesus, "Good Teacher, what should I do to inherit eternal life?" Jesus said to him, "Why do you call me good? No one is good except God alone. You know the commandments: Never murder. Never commit adultery. Never steal. Never give false testimony. Never cheat. Honor your father and mother." The man replied, "Teacher, I've obeyed all these commandments since I was a boy." Jesus looked at him and loved him. He told him, "You're still missing one thing. Sell everything you have. Give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then follow me!" When the man heard that, he looked unhappy and went away sad, because he owned a lot of property. Jesus looked around and said to his disciples, "How hard it will be for rich people to enter the kingdom of God!" The disciples were stunned by his words. But Jesus said to them again, "Children, how hard it is to enter the kingdom of God! It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God." This amazed his disciples more than ever. They asked each other, "Who, then, can be saved?" Jesus looked at them and said, "It's impossible for people to save themselves, but it's not impossible for God to save them. Everything is possible for God." Then Peter spoke up, "We've given up everything to follow you." Jesus said, "I can guarantee this truth: Anyone who gave up his home, brothers, sisters, mother, father, children, or fields because of me and the Good News will certainly receive a hundred times as much here in this life. They will certainly receive homes, brothers, sisters, mothers, children and fields, along with persecutions. But in the world to come they will receive eternal life. But many who are first will be last, and the last will be first." (Mark 10:17-31, GWV)

An angel from the Lord said to Philip, "Get up, and take the desert road that goes south from Jerusalem to Gaza." So Philip went. An Ethiopian man who had come to Jerusalem to worship was on his way home. The man was a eunuch, a high-ranking official in charge of all the treasures of Queen Candace of Ethiopia. As the official rode along in his carriage, he was reading the prophet Isaiah out loud. The Spirit said to Philip, "Go to that carriage, and stay close to it." Philip ran to the carriage and could hear the official reading the prophet Isaiah out loud. Philip asked him, "Do you understand what you're reading?" The official answered, "How can I understand unless someone guides me?" So he invited Philip to sit with him in his carriage. This was the part of the Scriptures that the official was reading: "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. When he humbled himself, he was not judged fairly. Who from his generation will talk about his life on earth being cut short?" The official said to Philip, "I would like to know who the prophet is talking about. Is he talking about himself or someone else?" Then Philip spoke. Starting with that passage, Philip told the official the Good News about Jesus. As they were going along the road, they came to some water. The official said to Philip, "Look, there's some water. What can keep me from being baptized?" The official ordered the carriage to stop. He and Philip stepped into the water, and Philip baptized him. When they had stepped out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord suddenly took Philip away. The official joyfully continued on his way and didn't see Philip again. Philip found himself in the city of Azotus. He traveled through all the cities and spread the Good News until he came to the city of Caesarea. (Acts 8:26-40, GWV)

Six days before Passover, Jesus arrived in Bethany. Lazarus, whom Jesus had brought back to life, lived there. Dinner was prepared for Jesus in Bethany. Martha served the dinner, and Lazarus was one of the people eating with Jesus. Mary took a bottle of very expensive perfume made from pure nard and poured it on Jesus' feet. Then she dried his feet with her hair. The fragrance of the perfume filled the house. One of his disciples, Judas Iscariot, who was going to betray him, asked, "Why wasn't this perfume sold for a high price and the money given to the poor?" (Judas didn't say this because he cared about the poor but because he was a thief. He was in charge of the moneybag and carried the contributions.) Jesus said to Judas, "Leave her alone! She has done this to prepare me for the day I will be placed in a tomb. You will always have the poor with you, but you will not always have me with you." A large crowd of Jews found out that Jesus was in Bethany. So they went there not only to see Jesus but also to see Lazarus, whom Jesus had brought back to life. The chief priests planned to kill Lazarus too. Lazarus was the reason why many people were leaving the Jews and believing in Jesus. (John 12:1-11, GWV)