Sermon and Worship Resources

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Showing 1301 to 1325 of 2332 results

1301. I THIRST: The Fifth Word

John 19:28-37

Sermon

Eric Ritz

... not stop for coffee breaks. It was a tough, grueling experience. He had probably had no water since 6:00 in the morning. He was placed on the cross around 9:00, and it was now around 3:00 in the afternoon. No water, a grueling trek, a hot desert climate, and people wonder why he cried, "I thirst." As I learned in First Aid Class, there are four stages of thirst. The first stage is that of discomfort. Everyone has probably felt this stage on more than one occasion. Most people at this stage get to a water ...

1302. Dealing with the "F" Words of Life

John 21:1-14

Sermon

Eric Ritz

... his chauffeur!" Imagine the surprise to Peter and the other disciples when they finally realized it was the really Big One--the Lord Jesus himself who had come to see them. Can you imagine? It was the Lord making breakfast for them after they had betrayed and deserted him. He could have scolded them, lectured them, beat them, and with sarcasm said, especially to Simon Peter, "Peter, I told you so." But he did not. He fed them. He had plans for them when they did not even consider that they had a future. The ...

1303. Someday - Today

Luke 4:14-30

Sermon

Eric Ritz

... Son whom I love, with you I am well pleased." When Jesus left Nazareth He was a citizen of that town. He returned with another identity and mission, as The Saviour of the WORLD. Behind him now was His baptism and wrestling with Satan in the desert. Everything had to change for Him when he set foot that day in Nazareth. It was here He would announce the platform of the Kingdom and mission that was given to Him. Jesus announces His new mission right there in the synagogue. However, one word changes the ...

1304. The Servant Who Delivered the Mail

Philippians 2:1-11

Sermon

Eric Ritz

... these are some of the ways that God has acted in human history. However, the following incidents which I am going to share with you now are just as important and are also found in the pages of sacred scripture. A burning bush in a dry desert; and three strangers visiting Abraham and Sarah and telling them they will have a baby. You see, God is most frequently revealed through the ordinary and commonplace. Jesus saved a woman by sharing water at a well. Jesus saved a dishonest congressman by calling up a ...

1305. Tackling Troubles Triumphantly

James 1:1-18

Sermon

Eric Ritz

... we also understand that our darkness is always followed by light, cross gives way to crown, death is defeated by Resurrection. I agree that the Christian life is not easy--and because of that--it is never boring. All sunshine and no rain only create a desert and not a garden. For a garden to be useful, the soil must first be broken and then cultivated. Every athlete knows the reality of no pain--no gain. Without pain, our performance level never reaches beyond the mundane. We experience victory only by the ...

1306. Tripping the Tempter

James 1:1-18

Sermon

Eric Ritz

... wrote in his journal, "Resolved that all men should live to the Glory of God. Resolved secondly that, whether or not anyone else does I will." That is the secret. That is the key. Remember that Jesus was able to withstand all the offers of Satan in the desert because He was obedient to the insights given in the word of God. This is what James wants the Christian community to do in every age. I cannot get out of my mind the witness that Mickey Mantle gave about his unfortunate battle with alcoholism and the ...

1307. The Lord Is My Shepherd

Psalm 23:1-6

Sermon

Eric Ritz

... herd that he had over 3,000 sheep dogs to help care for the sheep. Jacob served twenty years as a shepherd before he wrestled with God and became the Prince of Israel. Moses--the great lawgiver--was a shepherd for forty years in the Sinai Desert before he came upon a burning bush while caring for the sheep. The great prophet Amos was a dresser of sycamore trees and a shepherd. Please never forget that in the famous Christmas story that it was "unto certain shepherds keeping watch in the fields by night ...

1308. Paths of Righteousness

Psalm 23:1-6

Sermon

Eric Ritz

... modern highway) between the green pastures and the still bodies of water was a valley or a ravine. It is just that simple--where there are high mountains there will be deep valleys. It is the same in our experiences here on earth. Even in the desert there are moments when violent rainstorms descend upon the landscape and create quickly what we call a flash flood. These floods could wipe out an entire herd of sheep if the shepherd was not careful in the movement of the herd. Here David gives clear testimony ...

1309. The Other Side of Christmas

Matthew 2:1-12

Sermon

Eric Ritz

... sense in which Herod is still around today. Percy Bysshe Sheely, one of Great Britain''s noteworthy writers, in 1817 wrote a piece called, "Ozymandias." In this writing, Sheely details an encounter with a traveler from an ancient land, who in a journey across a desert, discovers the remains of a marble statue. All that remained were two feet and the trunkless legs. Near them on the sand was the shattered remnant of what had been the head. On the broken slabs of stone was found the following inscription: "My ...

1310. Depression: When the Spirit Is Faint

Psalm 142:1-7

Sermon

Eric Ritz

... clerk handed me the sack and said, `Have a nice day''!" (5) You and I know that life is full of cycles we travel through. For every day the sun is shining, there is a day the clouds seem to cover up everything. All sun and no rain produces a desert, not a beautiful garden. We will have nice days and tough days. Our salvation is secured, not because of what we do but because of what Christ did for us on the Cross. FOURTH, DEPRESSION IS A ROADBLOCK, NOT A DEAD-END, IF WE KEEP OUR EYES ON CHRIST. Dr ...

1311. Maundy Thursday: Two Memorials

Luke 22:7-38

Sermon

Eric Ritz

... we come to remember a man who observed a sacred meal some 2,000 years ago in an upper room in the city of Jerusalem, and gave it a new and deeper meaning. He gathered in a small room with twelve men who in the next 48 hours would desert him and betray him. Instead of scolding them and denying them his presence, he gave himself completely to them. He not only gave them an example--he was the example. Each month I receive a tape from the United Methodist Publishing House as part of the Newscope Lecture Series ...

1312. Thanks for the Memories

Deuteronomy 26:1-15

Sermon

Eric Ritz

... it means so much to you that you become a "living reminder" of that which is being preserved? Bob Hope always ended his U.S.O. shows with the words, "Thanks for the memories." How many times did we hear during the Persian Gulf Crisis and Operation Desert Storm that "our resounding victory helped to erase the painful memories of the Vietnam War and era." Isaac Watts, in his hymn "O God, Our Help in Ages Past, Our Hope for Years to Come", expresses this dynamic reaching back to the past to celebrate God''s ...

1313. A Memorial Forever - Memorial Day

Proverbs 1:1-7

Sermon

Eric Ritz

... mistreated and abused. B. There was the appearance of Moses on the scene. C. There were the many confrontations with Pharaoh. D. Plagues of every kind. E. The Angel of Death and the Passover meal. F. The march to the sea. G. Forty years in the desert wilderness. H. The Ten Commandments. I. The farewell address of Moses. My goodness, you talk about lights, camera, action. These acts of God's should have been forever imprinted on their minds. However, as we modern day people say, "so soon we forget." If God ...

1314. Waiting

John 1:1-18

Sermon

Brett Blair

... for that which we cannot see. What are you waiting for? II Secondly, there is the waiting of John the Baptist. The people of John’s day experienced a special kind of waiting. When Jesus was a young man in his late 20s, John the Baptist was a desert prophet warning everyone of the wrath of God and the judgment to come. His message was harsh. It was a sharp rebuke especially of the religious leadership. The people had been worked up into such frenzy that they thought that he was the messiah. Many who came ...

1315. Turn on the Lights

John 1:1-18

Sermon

Paul E. Flesner

... " rather than an "encounter with the Holy One." Two words in the passage stand out: "witness" and "light." Last week we heard John call for repentance and change. Today we hear him calling us to prepare for Christmas by building a straight road in the desert for God to travel on. You'd think John had been watching them rebuild Elmhurst Road rather than quoting the prophet Isaiah. "Fill up the low spots. Knock the tops off of the high spots. Level it out. Make it straight and smooth." What does Isaiah ...

1316. The Road Less Traveled

1 Thessalonians 5:12-28

Sermon

Fredrick R. Harm

... "benefits" that are yours. You have lost some money: be thankful you haven't lost your integrity. You have lost your hearing: be thankful you haven't lost your reason. You have lost your husband or wife: be thankful you didn't lose him or her by desertion or unfaithfulness. Your child is in the hospital: be thankful he isn't in a prison or reformatory. Never mind if, to start with, you don't feel the gushing of gratitude. Thankfulness is one of the disciplines of the Christian journey; it grows as we grow ...

1317. The Joy of Shared Truth

1 John 1:5--2:14

Sermon

Paul E. Robinson

... of a youth to the mind of an elderly man, toughened and hardened by the rough edges of his life, is a far piece. I felt it then, and I felt it some years later, only from a different direction. When I was going through my most difficult spiritual desert, when faith seemed an inaccessible goal, I turned to people who seemed to possess faith. Those who knew me well eagerly turned to me to share their faith. Yet, not much of their enthusiastic sharing of faith made it across the gulf, even when I was eagerly ...

1318. Needy People Please Apply

Acts 4:32-37

Sermon

King Duncan

An Arab prince once owned a beautiful horse--a horse that was the envy of all. One man in particular tried to buy the horse, but the prince refused to set a price. One day the prince was riding across the desert. He saw the body of a man lying in the path, apparently exhausted. The prince dismounted and put the unfortunate traveler on his horse. Immediately the traveler revived, straightened up, and rode off. It was the very man who had tried so often to buy the prince’s horse. Now ...

1319. Getting Ready for Advent

Isaiah 40:1-31

Sermon

Curtis Lewis

... ahead of the king's entourage to level hilly places and fill in holes and ruts so that the king's journey would not be impeded. With this picture in mind, the prophet does something extraordinary. He pictures the living God marching before his people across the desert and hills that lie between Babylon and the homeland. All obstacles to God's coming are pushed out of the way as God moves out of the chaos and confusion of the wilderness. As Advent is celebrated again this year, let us also be reminded that ...

1320. Preparing for Our Homecoming

Joel 1:1-12

Sermon

Richard Gribble

... Moses was not ready for the journey back to Israel. The Israelite community was forced to leave Egypt immediately with even the bread they brought not having sufficient time to rise. Lack of preparation and disfavor with God led the people to wander in the desert for forty years on their return home. Even when they arrived they had to fight for every inch of ground that would be their home. Many centuries later the Hebrews again were in a situation of a homecoming. Transgressions of the covenant led God to ...

1321. The Challenge of God Brings Hope

Genesis 9:1-17

Sermon

Richard Gribble

... presented them and God's promise was once again demonstrated by Israel's victory in battle and the return of the people to a closer relationship with God. Finally, on this First Sunday in Lent we are reminded of Jesus' great trial in the desert, when, after forty days and forty nights of fasting and prayer, his personal Lent that prepared him for his ministry, the Lord was challenged by Satan with the three great challenges of today's society -- power, wealth, and prestige. Conquering this challenge, Jesus ...

1322. Look Inside and Discover Life

Numbers 21:4-9

Sermon

Richard Gribble

... the life of the community eventually led to frustration on God's part and exile for the nation as a whole. The story of Israel's up and down relationship with God unfolds in a dramatic way during the community's sojourn in the desert. The books of Exodus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy relate many incidents of the people complaining out of frustration with some aspect of their lives, generally over the lack of some item. Typically the people complained against Moses and his brother Aaron. As the human leaders ...

1323. The Paradox of Death

Isaiah 50:1-11

Sermon

Richard Gribble

... simulates our whole life path, from birth to death. We began this season on Ash Wednesday when we received the sign of ashes, which not only spoke of our mortality but also of the journey that we entered. During this season we have gone to the desert with Jesus to be tested by Satan with the great temptations which have haunted humans for ages -- power, wealth, and prestige. We next went to a high mountain, with Jesus, Peter, James, and John, and we saw the Lord transfigured. It was a momentary external ...

1324. The Good Shepherd

John 10:1-21

Sermon

Brett Blair

... said in our text: I lay down my life for my sheep. That is the difference between the real shepherd and the counterfeit. Here is the good news friends. I don't care how much trouble comes your way; the good shepherd will never leave your side. He will not desert you in times of trial. That is news that will let you get through the night; that is news that will enable you to keep your sanity. Second, I think that the Good Shepherd knows his sheep. Sir George Adams Smith tells of being in the Holy Land many ...

1325. Building a House (Mother's Day)

Luke 6:46-49

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

... selling hope." Millions of people are selling all sorts of things, spending millions of dollars to get us to buy what they offer. Where are those who will sell hope? The market is there. Desperation and despair are everywhere. If we can sell water on a dry desert, we can certainly sell hope on the ash heap of destruction which many of our lives have become. The family needs to be the setting where hope is cultivated, transmitted from one to the other. The family ought to be the place where when one person ...

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