Sermons: Recent Episodes
The Ridge Church: Carrollton, TX
Today, we continue in the book of Psalm and we are going to look at Psalm 107, and it is a song of redeemed people who have found God alone as the satisfaction of their heart and soul.
Jesus is the happiest of all and His happiness spills out in the universe. So, Christians should be the happiest, most joyful people in the world because Jesus is the most happiest.
Today, we look at two psalms that speak of God's blessing on work and family. But how do we experience that? The psalms show us how as we are encourage to live a life dependent on the Lord.
In Psalm 36, David paints a picture of the wicked and then gives a powerful contrast with a beautiful picture of the greatness of God. Then he gives a prayer for the righteous to continue to be captivated by God and His greatness instead of the evil of this world. Let us be captivated by the greatness of God.
This morning we find a psalm of praise to God that encourages us to thank God for who He is and for all that He has done. We should be thankful.
For centuries the psalms have been a great comfort and help for followers of Jesus. Today, we began to look at the psalms to encourage us in the season we find ourselves.
Today, we close out our series in 1 Corinthians. In Paul’s parting words He exhorts the church to have a courageous love for the glory of Jesus as we stand firm in the faith.
On the calendar the resurrection of Jesus is remembered on Easter once a year, but truly it effects every day. It is more than just a day on the calendar. The resurrection of Jesus is more than just something that is wrapped up in a holiday remembered with eggs and a bunny. It instead changes everything and impacts everyone. Stay Up To Date: www.ridgeonline.org/covid-19 Give: ridgeonline.org/giving Stay updated through ENEWS: ridgeonline.org/news Children: YouTube - Ridge Kids Students: YouTube - The Ridge Students As you are watching today and are in need of prayer we would love to pray for you. Message us with your prayer need at info@ridgeonline.org and we would love to pray for you. If you turn and trust in Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior we would love to hear from you. There is nothing greater than beginning a relationship with Jesus. Let us know at info@ridgeonline.org.
Let us during this pandemic remember what is of utmost importance and be thankful for God's great grace in sending Jesus the crucified and resurrected Savior.
God has given us all a mind to think with. He gave us our mind to love Him with what we think about, our thoughts and mind. In Matthew 22.37, Jesus says, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul and with all your mind.”
Today, in our scripture text we find a word that is common to many languages. It is the same word or close to the same word, whether you are praying with a group of Christians who speak Chinese, Russian, French, or an African language. It is the word, AMEN. This one word brings to every culture a vision of God and the world.
Love never fails. I want something with that kind of assurance, with that kind of guarantee
God sets us free for many reasons. But one of the most powerful reasons is that He desires us to use our freedom to bless others.
Today we learn that our differences are all part of God's plan, so that there are no divisions and rivalry, but instead unity and oneness. As a united church we have a beautiful purpose to fill every nook and cranny of the earth with the glory of Christ.
The church is to be different, literally the light of the world shining in dark places. There are many groups in the world that do good things, but the church is different in that it seeks to glorify God and love people. The difference is spiritual. The difference is supernatural.
We are a new creation and community because of Jesus’ death and resurrection. We celebrate this in the Lord’s Supper as we celebrate through remembering and proclaiming. Let us rejoice in the new covenant this morning that was made possible through the blood and body of Jesus Christ.
This is really what life boils down to: is God’s name being glorified in and through my life or is another? Paul was trying to make this point to the church at Corinth with the issue of pagan feasts they were attending and with the Lord’s Supper that they were also participating in. Paul wants us to see in today’s text that the Lord’s Supper is really about what you do when you are not at the Lord’s Supper and what we do with the threat of idolatry coming at us every day. Let our life not be a feasts of idols, but a life lived for the glory of God, for that is why Christ died for us.
What we believe about God and his majesty, and what we believe about the meaning of being human in relation to God will make all the difference in the world how we think and act about abortion and racism
Just as Israel needed to, so do we need to see God in Jesus Christ as our supreme pleasure. May God grant us a deep hunger for Him and His Word that we may truly behold Jesus Christ as our supreme pleasure.
As we enter 2020, I am thankful for the last year and decade. Now the question before all of us as we enter this new year and decade is how will we run for Jesus?
Paul pictures Jesus’ first advent in Galatians 4.4-7, as a rescue mission to set us free from slavery and to place us in God’s forever family. I love how the writer of Living the Christian Year puts it in light of Paul’s writing in Galatians 4 saying, Christ became the child of a woman that we might become children of the Spirit. He identifies with us so that we can identify with Him
The Star of heaven and earth which is Jesus. That is who the magi came seeking and eventually finding and worshiping. As we look at this wonderful text in Matthew 2, may God draw us to Himself and stir in us what was stirred up in the Magi.
This Advent, may wonder fill our hearts at the comings of Jesus. Today, we see the prophetic wonder of Micah who looked forward to the coming King who would bring forever peace to God's people as He cares and leads them. As we look back at the coming of Christ and expectantly look forward like Micah did, this season calls us to examine our own lives and to be spiritually ready. Let our wonder turn to worship as we celebrate and enjoy the greatness of our Savior together.
Our passage today says we have freedom to exercise our Christian privileges but there is a vital principle to follow first.
Paul addresses a Christian’s calling in light of cultural distinctives, vocations and one’s marital status. In light of it all we are to walk in obedience and live with an undistracted devotion to Christ.
God wants us to be faithful right where we are at. We are to serve the Lord right where He has us and seek to please Him.
The Lord gave us the gift of our bodies to be used for His glory. All things were created for the glory of God, even our bodies, so glorify God in and with your bodies.
Paul with great wonder and awe gets our attention to remind us who we are as Spirit-filled Christians and how we are to handle conflict and disputes as a result. Let us not forget who we are in Jesus and remember to handle conflict with our brothers and sisters according to God’s way and not the world’s way.
Today we look at immortality, the church and its response to sin within and outside the church.
Pride and arrogance was causing issues in the church at Corinth to the point that they were standing against Paul and Jesus with a superior wisdom. Paul has lovingly and will continue to exhort them to change by imitating him and return back to the ways of Christ. Today, let’s see love, power and the kingdom of God and may our goal be to love with the greatest power and effect that the kingdom of God will grant in this age.
As Christ followers we are to imitate the same servant attitude and life that Jesus lived for the glory of God and the sake of the gospel. Paul and the apostles understood this very well, but the church in Corinth struggled to do so. Today, let us be encouraged to be humble servants like Jesus.
May we be encouraged to be God’s humble servants, boasting in God alone as the master builder and prize Jesus over everything.
Today, may we see the work of the Holy Spirit in revealing the wisdom of God, what that wisdom is and who receives it.
The message of the cross has been seen as foolish to many throughout history and still by many today. For Christians, it means everything, and is the power of God. Let us be encouraged by the message of the cross, its fruit and humble proclamation.
Today we read that Paul had received word that the church had gotten off track in Corinth because of divisions. The church had become a popularity contest of sorts. The troubles the church in Corinth experienced are not too far removed from the struggles the church in America encounters today. Paul exhorted the church in Corinth to unity, may we be encouraged to have the same.
Today, we begin to look at Paul’s letter to the church at Corinth. He begins with calling the church to know who they are when they look back to remember and who they are when they look forward to the future. This is where Paul begins as he addresses a church struggling with worldliness, yet he wants them to remember that God is faithful.
The life verse we are looking at today is 25 words of hope that begins with God and ends with life. And it urges us to do the same.
Many of us have verses that are our go to verses. We often call them life verses. This Summer we are looking at some life verses. They may be some of yours too. Today, we are looking at Isaiah 26.8.
Our labor is not optional, but neither is it absolute. Our labor is always a participation in the grace of God’s provision. Today we look at a familiar parable to encourage us to be hard workers who participate in the grace of God’s provision with a heart of compassion.
Jesus used the workplace as the setting to reach many people and He longs for us to do the same. The workplace is the most strategic place for evangelism in America, and every workplace follower of Christ has an unprecedented opportunity to be a significant spiritual influence in the lives of people with whom he or she works. Today, we look at the influence we can have.
Jesus came to be what Adam failed to be; a perfect image bearer of God. Just like Adam, Jesus was given a job to do. He came to show how to be image bearers, even in our work. Today, we fix our eyes on Jesus (the perfect image bearer) and will see how gospel faith impacts our work.
As a result of the curse we will see today, work became more difficult, unpleasant and liable to failure and unintended consequences. Men and women must still be fruitful, must still multiply, must still govern. But now, a second layer of work must also be accomplished - the work of healing, repairing, and restoring the things that go wrong and the evils that are committed. Roughly speaking, there is twice as much work to do now than there was in the garden. Work is not less important to God’s plan, but more. Today, let’s look at the reality of work outside the garden.
Today, we begin a new series, entitled, “Designed to Work”. Work is part of God’s creative order. We were all designed to work. As we begin our study, we look at God working in the beginning, how He worked, how He valued His work and His pattern of work. I hope as we journey through this series on work we have God’s perspective toward the work we do and see the ways that our work connects to God’s work.
The greater love of God’s plan in the story of Good Friday and Easter makes hope alive forever. Let us this Easter, celebrate our great hope that is alive in Jesus.
Jesus in prayer, on this night before His death on the cross, is a model for us. The only way we can face the day to day struggles and temptations of this life and live out the Father’s will is the way Jesus did and that is in fervent prayer. Let us depend on the Father above just as Jesus did.
Let us stand firm in the Lord being encouraged with humility, a servant’s heart, grace, repentance and trust in Jesus.
As Jesus looks ahead, He encourages His disciples to persevere in the power of God with faith and dependence on the Lord. Jesus’ encouraging words are not just for the disciples in the first century, but for us today as we look forward to Jesus’ return.
What kind of Lord and Savior is Jesus? To add a third word, do we treasure Him? It takes courage to truly treasure Jesus over living a mere religious life. Let us be encouraged to boldly treasure Jesus as our Lord and Savior today.
The topic of resurrection and especially of the resurrection of the body is of universal and deep importance. It defies our reasoning ability, but at the same time causes us to stand in awe at the power of God. Let us behold today, Jesus as God of the living, and Messiah and King of a forever Kingdom.
How have you responded to the authority of Jesus? Jesus says in Matthew 28.18, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth.” Today we look at the authority of Jesus and what our response should be.
Racism is offensive and especially to God. It will be with us until Jesus returns, so how do we respond to the reality of it in our world. Ignoring it or being colorblind is not the answer. God has something to say about it and how we as the church are to live together in racial harmony.
For those who come into the marvelous light their identity is changed and the Father’s heart for them with this new found identity is to proclaim God’s identity to the world. The Father makes us who we are through Jesus so we could make known who He is. Today let us know the Father’s heart.
As we jump into the New Year I want us over the next two weeks to remember together who God says we are and what our purpose is to be in the world. As we do I want us to see how this influences every area of our life and helps direct our days to increasingly glorify God along the way.
With Jesus’ coming we see that God’s desire is not only to dwell with us, but in us. He does that through His Holy Spirit. Today, we look at the Holy Spirit.
God's ultimate goal is to be with mankind in the flesh and dwell among mankind, as to go back to what He intended from the beginning. Today, we look at how God has done that in His Son Jesus who has come and is coming again.
Today we direct our attention again to the nation of Israel. The Israelites are taken captive to Babylon under the reign of an evil king. In the foreign land they learn an awesome lesson that God is with them not only in Babylon, but in a burning hot furnace as well. It is obvious that we do not live in the Promised Land, but what instead increasingly appears to be more and more like Babylon. We are “aliens and strangers” just as the Israelites were and we are to live remembering that God is with us as we worship Him and stand for the truth of God.
Today, we are going to look at the story of David taking down Goliath. God was with David and by faith he took Goliath down. God is with the weak, humble, little and small things to magnify His glory. God is with us, who trust Him in the daily battle to do the same in bringing glory to His name.
Today, we see God being with Israel in the exodus from Egypt and how He fought for His people. This great exodus points to the exodus of Jesus which greatly affects us today.
Today we begin with the picture of “God with us” in the beginning and God’s desire in the garden to know mankind intimately and His desire to know us in that same way today (Genesis 1-3).
Are you making your life count for God? Today, we learn from a power parable that every Christian has been given an opportunity to make their life count for the glory of God.
Do you ever feel like you have a need or a problem that is too big to bring to Jesus? Or maybe you feel like you have a need or problem that might seem too small or insignificant to God? There have probably been times that we have all found ourselves in one or both of those places. In today's text, Jesus shows us that He cares about the biggest and smallest of needs.
In Luke’s gospel today, we see two gracious gifts given by God: salvation and prayer. Both of these involve our dependence on God. With dependent hearts (Proverbs 3.5) on the Lord today let us learn about these two gracious gifts from the Lord.
When is the kingdom coming? This is a big question. Jesus answers that in today's text. Are we ready for the coming kingdom?
We all are in need of God's mercy. We see ten lepers who experience His mercy firsthand and yet only one is thankful. Let us be thankful today for God's mercy.
In relationships with others there are two things that happen all the time. Someone sins and someone is sinned against. So, what do we do? How do we handle such conflict? Jesus is going to show us how to handle our own sin and being sinned against in a way that glorifies Him.
We all will die. We don't like to think about that, but that is reality. Jesus tells a story that gives us much to think about here in Luke when it comes to heaven and hell.
Money is not evil, but the love of money is. We cannot love both God and money. We either love one or the other. So, the big question is how do we handle our money in such a way that it worships God? How do we use our money for the kingdom of God? Through a unique and hard parable today we learn these lessons.
This week we look at the last parable of the trilogy found in Luke 15. It is traditionally referred to as the parable of the prodigal son. If we are honest with ourselves we are all the prodigal. We all have eyes for the distant land. The question for us all is do we ever come home?
In the Scriptures we find a trilogy that is unlike any other. This trilogy is a masterpiece. It is found in Luke 15. The three parables are told by Jesus Himself. The three stories are full of culture, meaning and depth. There is also much dramatic tension and emotion at the heart of the stories. Above all we find these three stories to be the gospel, the greatest news of all. Let us celebrate God’s salvation and His kindness that leads us to repentance as we begin to look at these today.
The Christian life is hard and at times lonely. It would be really easy to throw in the towel. Too many do that today, quitting on marriages, children, churches and Jesus. Today’s culture, even church culture is very consumer minded and if you don’t like something or something doesn’t give you what you want you move on to something else. Discipleship is different. Jesus paints a picture of a disciple in today’s text and it is one that does not quit or give up.
There is an open invitation to the kingdom party; all who want to attend can through Jesus. But his kingdom party will have a lot of no-shows. Not everyone, even some who think they are Christians, will be there. Will you? The kingdom party seems too good to be true, but it is!
Jesus is on a road trip to Jersusalem and on the way we learn lessons about the kingdom of God. Let us be Christ centered and kingdom oriented people instead of being about a cause centered around our own kingdom. Let’s rejoice in the kingdom of God today.
Prayer is about a relationship. God the Father gives us prayer, so that we can coonverse and commune with Him. Through the lens of prayer today let us see how good God the Father is.