Sermons About Jerry-witham
Galatians 1.10: Whose Pleasure Do You Seek?
Whose pleasure do you seek? Pleasing God and pleasing others or ourselves are mutually exclusive, you can’t seek after one and the other. You either seek the pleasure of one or another and we all make a god out of what we take most pleasure in. Who you take pleasure in (who you desire to please) depends on whether you will truly be truly happy or not. May you like Paul seek after the pleasure of God.
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Galatians 1.6-9: No Other Gospel
Paul is astonished at how quickly and easily the Galatians are being led astray to another gospel, which is no gospel at all. He proclaims that their is one unchanging gospel and one who teaches a different gospel, rejecting the true gospel is to cursed.
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Galatians 1.1-5: The Gospel of Grace and Peace
Paul tells us in Galatians 5.1, It was for freedom that Christ set us free; therefore keep standing firm and do not be subject again to a yoke of slavery As Paul writes to the Galatians there is something important at stake. It is freedom. True freedom was being attacked in his day and it is being attacked in our day as well. We must lift up Jesus, who is the freedom giver. The cross of Christ is the only way one can experience true freedom and the Spirit of Christ is the only way one can live out God's aim and mission. Over the next few months we will look at God's desire of freedom through the book of Galatians. We will see what God has done to make freedom possible, we will see the message of freedom and see how one who is truly free lives. Our prayer is that nothing would hold you back from living out God's aim and mission. Our prayer is that you would be free and therefore live a life of freedom.
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Pray and Do Not Lose Heart
Last week we heard of the great and glorious day of Jesus’ return. It is a day when He will come to judge and wage war, pouring out His vengeance upon His enemies as the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. It will be a day of reckoning. He will make all things wrong, right, for He is Righteous and True. He will make every imperfect thing, perfect, as the Great Perfecter of all things. He will make every unclean thing, clean and pure, as the Great Purifier. It will be messy as grapes, vessels of wrath, are tread upon by the Great Victor, Jesus. As the great theologian Johnny Cash says, "God’s Gonna Cut You Down". It will be a long awaited, glorious day for the children of God, as He will make all things new. What do we do, until this great day comes, how do we live in light of this? Jesus answers this question to His disciples in a parable connected to His foretelling of His second coming, His return, when the heavens will be opened and He comes riding on that white horse.
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Philosophy
The Ridge Church lives to glorify God – loving Jesus, loving people and seeing lives transformed to live for Jesus. We have been called to live this out globally and locally (the mission) and we have essential beliefs as we move down the highway of life, that we hold dear to, so we do not get off focus and fall away. To help us stay focused and on mission we must have a system of values and principles by which we live and function by as a church, a philosophy - in ministry it is important to have the right mindset and attitude toward how things should be done.
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Mission
As a church we have an aim (focus) to live for the glory of God by loving Jesus, loving people and seeing lives transformed to live for Jesus. The movement of this aim is called mission. It is putting into action our focus. We believe as a church we are to be intentionally, strategically engaged globally and locally simultaneously.
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Essentials Part 2
The gospel and truth is under continual attack by Satan who sends out false teachers, false shepherds, false apostles and false prophets to wage war against the church, God’s people. There is a battle for truth and much is at stake – God’s glory and the eternal destiny for all. Join us as we are encouraged by Paul (1 Timothy 6.3-21) to fight the good fight of faith. We will also speak to the essentials of the church. These are the things that we will have a close hand on as we have an open hand to the culture around us.
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Essentials Part 1
The gospel and truth is under continual attack by Satan who sends out false teachers, false shepherds, false apostles and false prophets to wage war against the church, God’s people. There is a battle for truth and much is at stake – God’s glory and the eternal destiny for all. Join us as we are encouraged by Jude (vv. 3-25) today to contend earnestly for the faith. We will also speak to the essentials of the church. These are the things that we will have a close hand on as we have an open hand to the culture around us.
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Focus
Have you ever wondered about these questions: What the church lives for, why it exists or what its focus is? What is essential to the church? What philosophy does the church have when it comes to ministry? What is the mission of the church? Through the month of April we will look at our church's focus, essentials, philosophy and mission. We pray during these messages you would join us in committing to the mission, recommit to the mission or watch and learn what the mission means. Today we look at God's focus and how he wants us to align our lives with that focus.
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MultiCongregational Service: The Ascension and Exaltation of Jesus
We believe by the revelation of God’s Word through the Holy Spirit that God in the person of Jesus descended, He was crucified, He has risen, ascended, was exalted, and will descend again. We talk about His first descension often or what is referred to as the first advent of Jesus, and which we should. It is what is called the incarnation, where God took on human flesh. Without this you have no opportunity to have a personal relationship with God. As John 1 says, In the beginning was the Word, the Word was with God, and all things came into being through Him…the Word became flesh. It even has its own holiday – Christmas. We talk a lot about the crucifixion of Jesus often, as well as the resurrection of Jesus, which we should. This is how sin, death, Satan, and demons have been conquered. Without this there is no salvation. This is even celebrated with specific days called Good Friday and Easter, which we celebrated the week before last. We talk and refer to Jesus descending again, referring to His second coming. We do not talk about this as often as we should, but we do talk about it. But we rarely talk about the ascension and exaltation of Jesus. This is very important to us, for the church is found on the death, resurrection and ascension of its exalted head, Jesus, which sits at the right hand of the Father. So, I want to briefly spend some time on that this morning and then my great friend Jee-Young will come give some application to this.
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Luke 15.11-32: Resurrection (Easter)
Thank God for Easter. It is on this day we remember the resurrection of Jesus. He suffered and died on the cross on Friday and was in the grave for three days. On the third day He raised from the grave. Today we thank for God for the resurrection. We are all in need of resurrection. To be resurrected is to be raised up. It is to be taken from one reality to a new reality. It is to be changed from the earthly to the heavenly. It is to be raised from life to death. We are all in need of this. Do you believe this?
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Luke 15.20-24: The Father's Love (Good Friday)
What if you had been a long way from home for awhile? How would you feel if nobody missed you? If nobody was concerned waiting for you at home? How would you feel if you knocked on the door and nobody answered at home? On this Good Friday we see the Father's love for those who are a long way from home.
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Luke 15.25-32: The Big I
Last week we saw the loose living of the younger son. This week we see the condemnation of the older son toward his younger brother. Just as the younger son broke his father's heart the older son will do the same by his duty bound relationship. May the church not be like this. May we sit with sinners at the table, so that we are invited one day to the wedding feast.
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Luke 15.1-10: Lost and Found
Today we begin to look at three parables found in Luke 15. During this talk we examine the first two parables that Jesus addresses to the Pharisees. We see the heart of Jesus in these stories. He desires for all to be restored to a relationship with God. Jesus is willing to bear the burden of restoration. He is on a mission to restore that which is lost, that it would found!
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Nehemiah 13.10-31: A Mission of Restoration
As we close our series on the book of Nehemiah we will see our faithful leader once again standing in the gap for the glory of God. He longs to see Jerusalem and the Jews restored. He continues to be an influence to the Jews as they struggle with obedience.
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Story: Mercy Ships with Natalie Barnes
Nememiah was on a mission of restoration. He help restore Jerusalem and also the Jews to live for the glory of God. We are all called to this ministry of restoration. A member of our church, Natalie Barnes, has answered that call. She will be ministering with Mercy Ships here in the next few months.
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Story: ReGift Ministries with Laine Denson
The following is an interview with Laine Denson of ReGift Ministries. It is a ministry that is in it's infancy. It is a ministry that desires to truly impact the city of Carrollton and Farmers Branch. You can find more about ReGift Ministries at www.regiftministries.org.
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Nehemiah 13.1-9: Cleaning House
Things are going well in Jerusalem. The Jews have just dedicated themselves and the wall to the Lord. Their leader, Nehemiah returns to Persia and things start to unravel. Upon Nehemiah's return to the city he finds the people forgetting where they had come from and where God had brought them. They start turning to the ways of their fathers who they had longed to not be like because of their iniquities. Nehemiah returns and cleans house. We all are need of cleansing. God has called us to purity. So, how is the house of God? The house of God is you if you know Jesus. Is there some cleansing needed?
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Nehemiah 12.27-47: O' Happy Day
In our day there seems to be much bad news, whether from the news channels, to the newspapers and even in our own homes. In the day of Nehemiah there were many depressing days from financial concerns, security concerns, and family concerns. But in spite of that the Jews were filled with joy and laughter. The Jews, under the leadership of Nehemiah, sought to think as God does, sought to see as God sees, sought to have God's perspective and see the big picture. This allowed the Jews to have joy in spite of their circumstances. As we will see today their joy is brought to a peak at the dedication of the wall. Their joy is so great that it can be heard from afar!
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Luke 19.11-27: Trust and Try
Last week we saw the Jews during Nehemiah's days declaring their desire to mirror the faithfulness of God in their lives. A great paralleling text to Nehemiah 10 is Luke 19.11-27. In this parable Jesus challenges His followers to trust and try.
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Nehemiah 10: We declare
This Sunday we continue our series on the book of Nehemiah. As we journey through this classic book we will see how God has called us to be the church and impact the city. Today we look at Nehemiah 10. The Jews delcare this day in a document of great importance to mirror the faithfulness of God. This document is full of promises to be faithful to God and His Word. The Jews long to be faithful at home, in their rest, at work and in the community of believers. With this new year what will you make of first importance? What will you declare with your life in 2008?
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Loving Jesus
Jesus commands us to love the Lord with all our heart, and with all our soul, and with all our mind. He says that this is the great and foremost commandment. If this is the case than should we not put all our attention and effort toward this one thing? As we close 2007 and look to 2008 we want to fall in love with Jesus more and more. It would be a great goal for 2008 to simply love Jesus more.
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Peace
As we continue through this season of advent we will luke at the last part of Luke 1. Today through Luke's progression of writing we will see how mercy leads to peace. The mercy of God has been poured out in unexplainable ways and now we see the peace that comes from God's great mercy.
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Mercy
We continue to look at the unexplainable this week through our advent series. There is much joy in the home of Zacharias and Elizabeth for Mary, who is bearing the Messiah in her womb has come to visit. This is a special visit as both Elizabeth and Mary give praise to God for His action on their behalf. It is His great mercy that is at the center of this joy. We do not deserve the mercy of God, but He freely bestows it upon us. That is what the celebration of advent is all about.
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Hope
Do you have hope that God can do the impossible? That God can change your circumstances. Some do not have hope this time of year. There is hope. Hope has a name, His name is Jesus. And today we see the grounds of our hope in an amazing, mysterious and glorious story! May you have much hope this Advent season and share that hope as a gift with others who so desperately need to hear it.
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Joy
Advent begins today as we look at joy! God has invited us to live the unexplainable life which produces unexplainable joy. Zacharias and his wife, Elizabeth were two that did just that. In spite of their dissapointment due to Elizabeth being barren they worshiped God. But God broke through and did the unexplainable by providing them a son, but not just any son. They are to be the parents of John the Baptist, the forefunner of the Messiah. We are encouraged today to live in the unexplainable realm and experience unexplainable joy.
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Nehemiah 8:1-18
Be the church, Impact the city. As we have seen and will continue to see this week, the structure and organization is important, but it is pointless if no life exists on the inside. This is the case most definitely in the church, but really in any organization. Today we are going to see the life of the city and those whom live in it truly revived (have life breathed back into them) through the proclaimation of God's Word and the response of His people.
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Nehemiah 7
Be the church, Impact the city. In Nehemiah 7 we see the people were well defended and governed, but not only that we begin to sniff out something of a sweet aroma (the aroma of Christ) as the church is being formed, as men stand as faithful heads of their families and generations to come leading them back to the city to be about this great redemptive work of rebuilding and reviving Jerusalem for the glory of God, as prayer and worship is the true defense of the city, and as the people faithfully fill the storehouses.
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Nehemiah 6:1-19
Be the church, Impact the city. Nehemiah can see the finish line! The ribbon is ready to be cut. At the same time his enemies are putting on the pressure to create fear in Nehemiah. They are making their final attempts to thwart the plans of Nehemiah in finishing the wall and restoring Jerusalem. Nehemiah models to us the great calling we have to stand under pressure. That we are call to endure and to keep our confidence all the way to the end.
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Nehemiah 5:14-19
Be the church, Impact the city. Nehemiah models for us four principles to live by as one who is counter culture. Worship is prominent in his life. He resists the empire's consumerism and chooses compassion over consumption. He re-distributes His wealth helping the poor. He also gives himself away relationally. These four points are part of an international movement entitled, The Advent Conspiracy. Join us this season as we choose compassion over consumption.
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Nehemiah 5:1-13
Be the church, Impact the city. Adversity is part of life. Sometimes opposition comes from external attacks and sometimes from internal attacks. Adversity is a necessary teacher for life and godliness. In this section of Nehemiah we see that the people are wounded by their own. They are oppressed becasue of the famine, high taxes, interest and slavery. Nehemiah confesses his own sin and calls the nobles and rulers to repentance and God changes their hearts.
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Nehemiah 1:1-4
Be the church, Impact the city. This week we begin a series on the book of Nehemiah. As we look at this classic book we will see how we are to be the church and impact the city.
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