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Forms vs. Spirituality (Part 6)
Sermon by John W. RitenbaughPhysical food sustains the body with energy and enjoyment yet holds no inherent spiritual value and does not commend anyone to God. Jesus declared that the words He speaks are spirit and life, entering the heart and mind to produce eternal life of a quality and length found nowhere else. He presented Himself as the true bread from heaven, contrasting this living bread with the manna given through Moses, which left the fathers dead without hope of everlasting life. The words of Christ therefore stand higher than earlier revelation, supplying the nourishment that changes character and relationships. This principle explains why the food laws exist from the beginning: they function as a symbol directing attention to the necessity of ingesting only what is pure, clean, and wholesome into the mind. What enters the heart determines decisions, character, and spirituality, so that garbage in produces garbage out while the world's values produce the world's values. Meditation must therefore center on things true, honest, just, pure, lovely, and of good report, for the mind becomes what it takes in. The same priority governs the broader purpose of God. Keeping the commandments remains everything because these laws affect daily relationships and eternity, yet they are kept only when a person becomes a new creation in Christ through faith working by love. External rituals such as circumcision profit nothing by themselves; the essential reality is the inner transformation that enables obedience. Thus ingesting spiritual food—the words of Christ—supplies the strength for the new creation, establishes the basis of relationship with God, and equips believers to approve things that are excellent while rendering righteous judgment in every circumstance.
Eating: How Good It Is! (Part Four)
'Personal' from John W. RitenbaughJohn 6 has always been a difficult chapter to explain. However, Jesus' teaching is clear. Here is what it means to us.
Maintaining Good Health (Part 12)
Sermon by John W. RitenbaughThe church of God today resembles a patient languishing from a deadly disease, resulting from a diet of spiritual junk food and neglecting the bread of life.
Eating: How Good It Is! (Part Seven)
'Personal' from John W. RitenbaughOur physical bodies have a defense system to keep out invaders. Spiritually, how well do we maintain our defenses against error and contamination?
Christ, the Chief Cornerstone
Sermon by Richard T. RitenbaughIf a foundation is flawed, the building cannot stand. God built His spiritual temple on the prophets and the apostles, and Jesus Christ is the chief cornerstone.
Words Versus Images
Sermon by Richard T. RitenbaughSpiritually, relying on images leads to shallowness of thought at best and idolatry at its worst. Virtually everything we know about God comes through words.
James and Unleavened Bread (Part One)
Sermon by Richard T. RitenbaughThe book of James applies to us after the sanctification process has begun. The most effective way of eliminating sin is to do righteousness.
John (Part Twelve)
Sermon/Bible Study by John W. RitenbaughWhat we believe automatically determines what we do; it is impossible to separate faith and works. If Jesus is not our source of belief, our works will suffer.
Psalms: Book One (Part One)
Sermon by Richard T. RitenbaughThe Hebrew word used to mark appointed times connotes a pilgrimage. The Hebrew year contained five steps or seasons, corresponding to God's holy times.
Built as a Witness
Sermon by Mark SchindlerMichael Phelps' phenomenal success in the Olympics invites four parallels for our spiritual goals.
I Know Your Works
Feast of Tabernacles Sermon by Richard T. RitenbaughContrary to Protestant understanding, our works emphatically do count - showing or demonstrating (not just telling) that we will be obedient.
Leavening: The Types
Sermon by John W. RitenbaughThe holy days are reliable teaching tools, emphasizing spaced repetition to reinforce our faulty memories and drive the lesson deep into our thinking.
The Seventy-Five Cent Screwdriver
Sermonette by Austin Del CastilloWhen we examine ourselves, we need to determine how useful we are when He uses us, or how available we are to Him when He needs us.
Principled Living (Part Three): Growing in Righteousness
Sermon by Richard T. RitenbaughGod's law—the unleavened bread of righteousness—needs to be ingested into our minds as we purge sin, resulting in righteous thoughts, words, and deeds.