Sermon and Worship Resources

Showing 4226 to 4250 of 5000 results

Matthew 26:47-56

Sermon

Donald B. Strobe

... in the Jewish holiday of Hanukkah, the Festival of Lights. Jewish parents everywhere took pride in naming their sons after that Judas. No less than five men named Judas can be found in the New Testament, including one of Jesus’ own brothers! (See Matthew 13:55 and Mark 6:3) In Jesus’ day, the name Judas was synonymous with greatness. One can imagine that when he was born his parents thought they were doing him a favor by naming him after a great hero. In the first three Gospels Judas does not appear on ...

4227. Philip the First

John 1:43-51

Sermon

Donald B. Strobe

... that is the mission not only of the Twelve, but of all of us. All of us, by virtue of our baptism, are ministers of Christ, called to minister to one another in Christ’s name—not just the clergy in the pulpit, but the laity in the pew. Mark Twain once asked someone, “Why do you sit there looking like an envelope without any address on it?” Have you ever mailed a letter, only to have it returned because you neglected to put any address on it except the return address? A lot of our religion is like ...

4228. Living Large for God (Part 3)

1 Chronicles 4:1-23

Sermon

Eric Ritz

... world by staying in his comfort zone. He did it by going to a cross. The cross, not a rocking chair, is the central symbol of our faith. Jabez did not want more real estate alone. He wanted more influence--more responsibility--more opportunity to make a mark for God. Dying churches live in comfort zones--growing churches are willing to risk great things for God. Remember the church at Laodicea? It lived so long in its comfort zone that it no longer exists today. If a church is not generating new members and ...

4229. Please, Don't Let me Jabez Anyone Else (Part 5)

1 Chronicles 4:1-23

Sermon

Eric Ritz

... bite will kill me." "Not so," said the snake. "I will treat you differently. If you do this for me, you will be special. I will not harm you. Let’s make a deal." The youth resisted a while, but this was a very persuasive snake with beautiful markings. At last, the youth tucked it under his shirt and carried it down to the valley. There he laid it gently on the grass, when suddenly the snake coiled, rattled, and leapt, biting him on the leg. "But you promised," cried the youth, as he fell to the ground ...

4230. The Lord's Prayer: A Surplus of Meaning

Matthew 6:5-15

Sermon

Eric Ritz

... preacher story is told about a "cleric" in South Dakota who went bear hunting in the Black Hills early one November morning. About 4:30 in the afternoon he knew he had to get back to the car before darkness covered the landscape. Unfortunately, he forgot to mark his trail and he got hopelessly lost. In desperation, he fired a shot from his high-powered rifle into the dark sky hoping someone would hear the sound. No sooner had he fired his rifle when a South Dakota Game Warden jumped out of the bushes and ...

4231. The Lord's Prayer: Our Father

Matthew 6:5-15

Sermon

Eric Ritz

... were not speaking clearly. She did not think she had a hearing problem. They were mumbling, not speaking distinctly. But her hearing grew worse until, finally, as we would say in the vernacular, she was deaf. For ten years she lived alone, a recluse. She said she marked off the church, although she had loved the church all of her life. She had loved God, loved people. She became a cynic. She said she really did not have contact with anyone. She just removed herself from life. And then one day she was with a ...

4232. The Day Jesus Asked the Question: The Fourth Word

Matthew 27:45-46

Sermon

Eric Ritz

... that really you speaking? Are those words yours? Is that actually your voice? The voice which inflamed a bush, split a sea and sent fire from heaven? But this time, your voice is different. Look at the sentence. There is a ‘why’ at the beginning and a question mark at the end. You don''t ask questions. And as long as I''m shooting straight with you--I don''t like to see the word abandon, either. The source of life...abandoned? The giver of love...alone? The father of all...isolated? Come on. Surely you ...

4233. Love's Redeeming Work Is Done: The Sixth Word

John 19:17-27

Sermon

Eric Ritz

... It is finished." He could cry out, "It is finished" because in his suffering he fully identified with the human condition. Listen to the words now. If we have never sought, we seek thee now; Thine eyes burn through the dark, our only stars; We must have sight of thorn marks on thy brow, We must have thee, O Jesus of the scars. The heavens frighten us, they are too calm; In all the universe we have no place. Our wounds are hurting us; where is the balm? Lord Jesus, by the scars we know thy grace. If when the ...

4234. The Third Commandment: God's Last Name Is Not...?

Exodus 20:1-21

Sermon

Eric Ritz

... inner character is reflected in my speech, then I want my speech and language to be the best. A gentleman by the name of Alex Dunlap has facetiously written a pamphlet titled "Ten Reasons Why I Swear." 1. It pleases my mother so much. 2. It is a fine mark of manliness. 3. It proves I have self-control. 4. It indicates how clearly my mind operates. 5. It makes my conversation so pleasing to everyone. 6. It leaves no doubt in anyone’s mind as to my good breeding. 7. It impresses people that I have more than ...

4235. The Eighth Commandment: Why We Need the Police

Exodus 20:1-21

Sermon

Eric Ritz

... a major and serious concern then and so it is today. A recent article in the USA Today newspaper reported that supermarket grocery stores and convenience stores had $8 billion worth of items stolen last year: 40% was from customers; 60% was from the inside. The mark-up to recover that loss is between 15% to 20% of our total bill. This commandment is still needed to help us make life choices that honor God and build a just world. In a one-week period the following stories appeared in a small-town newspaper ...

4236. Nightline

Matthew 2:1-12

Sermon

Eric Ritz

... taken down after the Freedom Revolution. "That night, we went to the Church to preach and share fellowship. The Sanctuary of the Methodist Church is in the Headquarters Building. It''s a dilapidated building, five stories high, built around an inner court. Shell marks from the war are everywhere, and the deterioration of the building is so sad. It was shored up on the inside by large timbers. The Communist Government confiscated two-thirds of the building years ago. But when we entered the little sanctuary ...

4237. Trouble: A Required Course in LIfe

James 1:1-18

Sermon

Eric Ritz

... , "Professor, I did know the answer, but for the moment I have forgotten." The professor turned to the rest of the class with a stern look on his face and said, "Class, please sit still, for this is a sad moment in the history of human thought. Mark this day on your calendars. Since the beginning of time only two people have known the answer to the question I asked today. Jesus knew but did not choose to tell us. The other is this first year theological student, and she has just forgotten the answer." As ...

4238. Christianity and Conflict: Dual Citizenship (Part VII)

Philippians 1:1-11

Sermon

Eric Ritz

I open with two powerful stories today demonstrating conflict. "Two main roads swept out of Jericho--one north, the other south. At the moment, Jesus was standing at the outskirts of the town. From St. Mark''s simple record, we gather that some big emotion seemed to grip and possess him...He looked this way and He looked that. His soul was plainly in a great torment. "Which of these two ways would he take?... "One road, sloping gently to the north, recalled to Jesus many ...

4239. A Faith that Works with a Victorious Attitude

Philippians 2:12-18

Sermon

Eric Ritz

... here so unhappy?" The young man replied, "This month, so far, not a cent." Paul lived out of the rich resources that came from his relationship to Jesus Christ. He never allowed any circumstance to clog the pipeline of this relationship. Paul''s life was always marked with gratitude and thanksgiving. Paul knew that in every circumstance if he could keep his focus on Christ by looking up, he would never have to look down. I love the story about a very poor Jewish man who lived in a small farming community ...

4240. The Power of a God-Shaped Attitude

Philippians 4:2-9

Sermon

Eric Ritz

... the greatest resource in the world available to us when our minds are set on the things above rather than the things below. Our minds are made to reflect the glory of God rather than the trivial pursuits and trash of life that we so often place in them. Mark Twain once wrote, "Life does not consist mainly in or even largely of facts and happenings. It consists mainly of the storms of thought that are forever blowing through one''s mind." I don''t think I need to convince many in the sound of my voice today ...

4241. Tripping the Tempter

James 1:1-18

Sermon

Eric Ritz

... Yes, not one of us escapes temptation, and behind this ugly "t" word lies the source of many of our personal problems and corporate ills. We sometimes jokingly say that , "we can resist anything but temptation," but in reality temptation is no joke. Mark Anthony was considered one of the great orators of Roman culture. He was an intelligent person, a brave soldier, a powerful leader. Outwardly, his credentials would have put him in the Fortune 500, the Speaking Circuit, Who''s Who in America--but inwardly ...

4242. The Telling Trademarks of Truth

James 3:13-18

Sermon

Eric Ritz

... proves to be false and foolish. In verses 13-16, James shows what real Godly wisdom is not--and in verses 17-18, we see what real wisdom from above produces. There are some very telling trademarks of truth that can be traced. William Shakespeare wrote: Mark you this, Bassanio, The devil can cite scripture for this purpose. An evil soul producing holy witness Is like a villain with a smiling cheek-- A goodly apple rotten at the heart; O, what a goodly outside falsehood hath! (3) James states the same thing ...

4243. God's Timing or Our Timing -The Tension of Time

James 4:13-17

Sermon

Eric Ritz

... James is saying in verse 14 when he writes, "For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes." Second, God is always working in our lives turning our detours and roadblocks into doors of opportunities. Often we find ourselves just marking time or believing that our sense of time is wrong or awkward. However, God is always at work. Let me illustrate it this way. In 1945, a young associate pastor named Cliff, married his fiancee, Billie. They had very little money but scraped up enough ...

4244. A Cup Overflowing

Psalm 23:1-6

Sermon

Eric Ritz

... rafters. Ali walked to the door of the barn, stared at the countryside, and said, "I had the world, and it wasn''t nothing. Look now." Another testimony to the truth of the Scripture: "For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his soul?" (Mark 8:36) "Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies; thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over." Amen and Amen.

4245. The Bible: The Book No Other Can Match!

2 Timothy 3:16

Sermon

Eric Ritz

... was in a terrible automobile accident which found him in a body cast for six months and unable to walk without a cane for over a year. The doctors were concerned whether he would be able to walk normally again. During this time the scripture lesson from Mark 2:1-12 is what connected him to the healing powers of God and prevented him from being crippled. "I began telling it to myself during the physical therapy in the hospital when I took my first steps between parallel bars: two steps the first day, four ...

4246. Depression: When the Spirit Is Faint

Psalm 142:1-7

Sermon

Eric Ritz

A disturbed and deeply troubled individual went to a psychiatrist to relieve his anxiety. He awoke melancholy every morning, and he went to bed in the evening deeply depressed. His day was marked by darkness and clouds. He could not find relief from this anxiety. In his desperate condition, he decided to seek the help of a psychiatrist. The psychiatrist listened to him for almost an hour. Finally, he leaned toward his patient and said to him, "You know, there is a local ...

4247. Feasting and Fasting for Lent (Part V)

Philippians 3:1-11

Sermon

Eric Ritz

... up, you will bite, and your bite will kill me." "Not so," said the snake. "I will treat you differently. If you do this for me, you will be special. I will not harm you." The youth resisted awhile, but this was a very persuasive snake with beautiful markings. At last, the youth tucked it under his shirt and carried it down to the valley. There he laid it gently on the grass, but suddenly the snake coiled, rattled, and leapt, biting him on the leg. "But you promised," cried the youth. "You knew what I was ...

4248. Do You Know What Time It Is?

Luke 10:38-42

Sermon

Eric Ritz

... . "Chronos" describes time solely measured by the ticking of the clock. This type of time is best expressed in the word drudgery. Each second is exactly like the one which went before it. Recently a member of our church family remarked that he "was just marking time at his job." "Chronos" time is empty time, meaningless time, humdrum time. It is a void which must be filled. I remember once "killing time" as we waited to get through the Lincoln Tunnel. It was something that had to be endured. However, the ...

4249. Handling the Harshness of Life

2 Corinthians 4:1-18

Sermon

Eric Ritz

... for parts for which she easily qualified. It was only after she went to Europe and won the hearts of tough-to-please European audiences that stateside opinion leaders acknowledged her talent. Not only was her professional life a battle, her personal life has been marked by challenge. She is the mother of two handicapped children, one of whom is severely retarded. Years ago, in order to escape the pace of New York City, she purchased a home on Martha''s Vineyard. It burned to the ground two days before she ...

4250. Thanksgiving - The Biblical Version

1 Chronicles 16:7-43

Sermon

Eric Ritz

... God to say, "Thank you, Lord." Our giving takes the form of more than money. We are to give honor and worship to the Lord, too. Verse 29 is in the context of giving--give God glory by worshiping in the beauty of holiness. At the peak of his career, Mark Twain earned five dollars a word ($5.00) for magazine articles he wrote. Some hotshot sent Mr. Twain a $5.00 bill with this note: "Dear Mr. Twain, Please send me your best word." On a sheet of paper, Mr. Twain responded with this good word: THANKS. THANKS is ...

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