Sermon and Worship Resources

Showing 1 to 25 of 42 results

Matthew 7:15-23

Sermon

Mike Ripski

I. Rev. Ike’s “gospel” There was a professor at my theology school, who was on the mailing list of “Rev. Ike.” Professor May posted Rev. Ike’s literature on his office door for all to see. Rev. Ike was an early proponent of what has come to be called the “prosperity gospel.” Rev. Ike preached that it is God’s will for you to be wealthy now. God doesn’t want you to wait for the sweet by and by. Y...

2. Blessed are the Poor in Spirit

John 20:24-31, John 20:19-23

Sermon

Mike Ripski

Last Sunday was glorious. Brass and timpani. Stirring music. Lilies and caladiums. A full sanctuary. The Hallelujah Chorus. Was it just a dream? If what we celebrated seven days ago was true, where is everybody today? It’s enough to make you wonder. Even make you doubt. Could it be that those of us who have gathered for what is called “Low Sunday” – are we just fooling ourselves? The disciples ...

3. Blessed Assurance

Matthew 6:25-34

Sermon

Mike Ripski

Have you heard me tell this story? A church was conducting its annual pledge drive with an every-member-canvas. Members visited other members to ask for their financial commitments. A visitor went to the home of one of the church’s wealthiest members. The member said to the visitor, “I guess you think that I ought to be able to give $50,000 to the church, because I’m a successful businessman. You...

4. Divorce and Swearing

Matthew 5:31-32

Sermon

Mike Ripski

We’re still on the hillside. Jesus is still preaching, teaching. We’ve heard him say, “Unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you cannot enter the kingdom of heaven, God’s new world, where God’s love rules human hearts and behavior. So what does this higher righteousness look like? In that day the scribes and Pharisees set the bar extremely high. Even the Apostle Pau...

5. Evangelism is Holy Communion

John 4:1-26

Sermon

Mike Ripski

Allow me to set the stage for the story you are about to hear. Recall that last week we heard the story of a leader of the religious establishment, Nicodemus, and his coming to Jesus at night to check him out. Jesus ends up checking Nicodemus out, for “Jesus himself knew what was in everyone.” So in Chapter 3 of John’s testimony to God’s good news focuses on Jesus’ challenge of a leader of the r...

6. Facing the Wild Beasts Within

Mark 1:9-13

Sermon

Mike Ripski

I. What Lent is for At his baptism, Jesus heard heaven’s Voice say, “You are my Son, my Beloved; I am very pleased with you.” The Holy Spirit descends upon him to empower Jesus to be who the Voice said he is. But what does it mean to be the Beloved Child of God? Answering that question and living the answer is why the Spirit has driven him into the desert. What does it mean for us to be beloved...

7. From Me to We

1 Corinthians 9:1-27

Sermon

Mike Ripski

Even though I am free of the demands and expectations of everyone, I have voluntarily become a servant to any and all in order to tech a wide range of people: religious, nonreligious, meticulous moralists, loose-living immoralists, the defeated, the demoralized – whoever. I didn’t take on their way of life. I kept my bearings in Christ – but I entered their world and tried to experience things fro...

8. God Be With You All

2 Corinthians 13:11-13

Sermon

Mike Ripski

Today we have the coincidence of two celebrations: Trinity Sunday and Senior Graduation Sunday. Since last December we’ve retold the old, old story of Jesus and his love. We’ve had another opportunity to experience God as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. The church has designated today “Trinity Sunday.” For this congregation today is also observed as Senior Graduation Sunday. We recognize the accom...

9. God Loses, So We Can Win

Genesis 32:22-32

Sermon

Mike Ripski

In Matthew’s account of Jesus’ forty days in the wilderness, when the work of defining his mission is done, we read these words: “And the angels came and waited on him, ministered to him, blessed him.” During my time away, the angels came and blessed me. I thank you for the time and I thank Regina. You’ve experienced the Holy Spirit working in and through her as she’s lead worship, preached, and ...

10. God’s Tattoos

Isaiah 49:8-26

Sermon

Mike Ripski

I. The Power of Memory A book of conversations with World War II bomber pilots was recently published. One of the conversations is with one of our own, Bob Elliott. While we were playing together in the Edward Barksdale Golf Tournament, Rodney Gilbert told me about a friend of his, another bomber pilot who was shot down and wounded. The pilot spent time in a German hospital being treated for his ...

11. Jesus Baptism and Ours

Isaiah 42:1-9

Sermon

Mike Ripski

I. Life Questions “I’ve got a lot of questions,” says Jayber Crow, a character in Wendell Berry’s novel of the same name. Jayber is recalling his seminary days and a visit to his professor of New Testament Greek, Old Dr. Ardwire. The professor replies, “Perhaps you would like to say what they are?” The inquisitive student runs down the list. He fears his teacher will be like the other professors...

12. Jesus' Good News of a New World · Part 1

Matthew 5:1-12

Sermon

Mike Ripski

To be a disciple of Jesus is to learn how to live a life that invites those in this world into a new one. It is to let him teach us about the way, truth, and life of this new world that he embodied. He called it the kingdom of God, the kingdom of heaven, eternal life. Since we’re not familiar with kings and kingdoms, and since we think of eternal life as something after this one, let’s call it “Go...

13. Jesus' Good News of a New World · Part 2

Matthew 5:1-12

Sermon

Mike Ripski

A pop-quiz from last Sunday: What is the mission of the United Methodist Church? To make disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world. And so the church, Belle Meade United Methodist Church, exists for you and me to be made into disciples of Jesus. A disciple is a learner, a follower, of a teacher. We are students. Better, we are apprentices. We learn by doing what the Master Te...

14. Jesus' Good News of a New World · Part 3

Matthew 5:1-12

Sermon

Mike Ripski

What is the mission of the United Methodist Church? To make disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world. Jesus is the Master teacher. We are his apprentices. We do what he shows us. Then we practice it with others who are his disciples, his apprentices, too. It’s called “Church.” So, what has Jesus taught you lately? What are you practicing with other apprentices? We are sittin...

15. Jesus Radical Prescription

Matthew 5:21-26

Sermon

Mike Ripski

We’re still sitting on the hillside with those whose lives Jesus’ has changed with the miracle of God’s love. He’s teaching us about God’s new world, where God’s love reigns. Jesus has just told us that he came to fulfill the law, not to abolish it. For example, “The law says, ‘Do not murder.’ But I say that not killing someone doesn’t go far enough. God is concerned about how you feel toward oth...

16. Learning to Listen

John 14:15-31

Sermon

Mike Ripski

Mary Ann Bird has writes this story from her childhood. It’s entitled, “The Whisper Test.” I grew up knowing I was different, and I hated it. I was born with a cleft palate, and when I started school, my classmates made it clear to me how I must look to others: a girl with a misshapen lip, crooked nose, lopsided teeth and garbled speech. “When schoolmates would ask, ‘What happened to your lip?’ ...

17. Love that Kneels

Luke 15:11-32

Sermon

Mike Ripski

I. Advent’s Discipline: Waiting Do you like to wait? I don’t. Yet waiting in the discipline we practice during Advent. The church in its wisdom knows that it is precisely what we don’t like to do that we need to do. It knows that, if we impatiently rush to the manger, we won’t see God in the baby lying in it. Waiting gives the Holy Spirit time to remove the darkness in us so we can see. Eight da...

18. Memories of Home: The Prodigal Son

Luke 15:11-32

Sermon

Mike Ripski

Last Sunday we began Advent, our preparation for the celebration of Jesus’ first coming and of our anticipation of his Second Coming. This Advent we’re looking at one of Jesus parables through the lens of Advent. It’s the parable that goes by different names, depending on which of the characters is put in the spotlight: the Elder Son, whom we focused on last Sunday; the Loving Father, whom we’ll f...

19. Mother Church

Acts 2:1-13

Sermon

Mike Ripski

To the church we say, “Happy Birthday!” And to Mothers we say, “Happy Mother’s Day.” Usually Pentecost Sunday falls in early June. Because Easter was so early this year, so does Pentecost Sunday, observed as the birthday of the church, 50 days after Easter. Sometimes when two special days coincide, they shed light on each other to help us see what we may not have seen before. I’ve found this to ...

20. No More Static Cling!

John 20:10-18

Sermon

Mike Ripski

Had you entered the sanctuary this morning and seen red poinsettias and heard the greeting, “Merry Christmas,” you might have thought, “Someone has taken my Easter, and I don’t know where they’ve put it.” You would be transported back in time to the experience of those who went to the tomb that first Easter morning. What they found wasn’t what they expected. Now you’re ready to hear the Easter st...

21. Not My Jesus!

Matthew 26:14-16

Sermon

Mike Ripski

I. “The story you are about to hear….” Remember Sgt. Joe Friday is? Jack Webb? “Dragnet” – the first crime drama on television back when the TV screen was round and the colors black and white? Each show opened with these words: “The story you are about to see is true; the names have been changed to protect the innocent.” This morning the story you are about to see is true; the names have not bee...

22. Poor Relations

James 2:1-13

Sermon

Mike Ripski

I. Poor Questions Are we as concerned about the poor as the Bible is? Do you know personally a poor person or family to have firsthand knowledge of what their life is like? How do you reconcile having so much and others having so little? Should the church continue its participation in Room in the Inn, a ministry of hospitality with the homeless? Our church has been involved in Room in the Inn f...

23. Said the Night Wind….

Sermon

Mike Ripski

After receiving world-wide acclaim as a literary genius, H.G. Wells grew more and more cynical in his later years. His state of mind is reflected in this confession: “I go out now and look up at the stars in the same way I look at the pattern of wallpaper in the railway station waiting room.” Life can do that to us, can’t it? Occasionally we hear a still small voice ask, “Is this all there is?” ...

24. Say Gracias!

Matthew 6:25-34

Illustration

Mike Ripski

The late Roman Catholic priest and prolific writer on the spiritual life, Henri Nouwen, felt God call him from his faculty position at an Ivy League University to live with the poor in South America. In his book, "Gracias!" he writes: In many of the families I visited, nothing was certain, nothing was secure, MAYBE there would be food tomorrow. MAYBE there would be no sickness tomorrow. Maybe…may...

25. Seeing the Light

Matthew 2:1-12

Sermon

Mike Ripski

Two of the four Gospels tell of Jesus’ birth: Luke and Matthew. The other two begin with Jesus’ adult ministry, around age 30. We read Luke’s version on Christmas Eve. It tells of Mary and Joseph’s trip from Nazareth down to Bethlehem to register for the Roman census. While there, Jesus is born, wrapped in swaddling cloths, and laid in a manger. The heavenly chorus sings and an angel tells some s...

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