Redeeming the Time for Unity
Sermon by Mark SchindlerMark Schindler, reflecting on Loma Armstrong's dream about Christ's imminent return, warns about using time carelessly or frivolously. Our use of time will potentially result in something very special or very destructive. Realizing that we have been called into a royal priesthood, we cannot afford to waste time on frivolous …
Pentecost and Time
Sermon by Richard T. RitenbaughBecause of our 'time-bound' state, unless we sync with God's timetable, we are squandering our God-given time to become members of His family.
Discerning Signs and Redeeming Time
Sermon by Martin G. CollinsGod's people have an obligation to awaken out of their complacency, realizing that their allotted time for repenting and overcoming is drawing to its close.
Focus Is The Key
Commentary by John W. RitenbaughJohn Ritenbaugh, citing the findings of Dave Crenshaw, a business chaos crusher, alerts us that the average worker is interrupted 15 times per hour, many of which are self-inflicted, suggesting that these interruptions resemble small cuts which drain the life blood out of productivity. One of the most deceptively innocent, but …
Age of Distraction
Commentary by John W. RitenbaughA distraction is any event that breaks our focus or attention. Satan's chief stock in trade is the distraction, creating confusion and consternation for all.
Make Every Day Count
'Ready Answer' by Mike FordTime is perhaps our most precious commodity, and once it passes, it is lost forever. Even so, we tend to waste it at a profligate rate. With the tragic story of the Donner Party's journey to California as a background, Mike Ford encourages us make wise use of the time we have left because it is inexorably running out.
Simplify Your Life!
'Personal' from John W. RitenbaughTime—it marches relentlessly on, and we have only so much of it. Yet we waste a lot of it on foolish pursuits, procrastination and distractions. John Ritenbaugh explains how getting control of our time puts us in the driver's seat in our pursuit of God's Kingdom!
One Answer to Distractions
Commentary by John W. RitenbaughJohn Ritenbaugh, quoting from efficiency expert or "business chaos crusher" Dave Crenshaw, urges that distractions and interruptions caused by phone, e-mail, computers, or texting, are detrimental to productivity and to the operating a business at a profit. The average worker is interrupted 15 times per hour, 120 times …
Staying On Point
Commentary by John W. RitenbaughJohn Ritenbaugh, reflecting on our prayers for God to "bless the electronics," asks whether the marvels of modern electronics are really a God-send or something less than a blessing. Perhaps some of us need to change our thinking about electronic devices as we strive to stay awake while awaiting Christ's return. At …
Indistractable
Commentary by Bill OnisickSocial media, text messages, e-mails, websites and blogs are competing for our time, eroding our attention spans and exhausting our ability to concentrate.
Why Hebrews Was Written (Part Five)
'Personal' from John W. RitenbaughIf church members are to grow in grace and knowledge and be zealous in producing fruit to God's glory, they need to have their priorities in the right place.
Manna and the Preparation Day (Part Two)
CGG Weekly by David C. GrabbeThe Preparation Day is a day of 'gathering' what relates to eternity so that we can properly ingest the spiritual manna on the holy day without distraction.
Avoiding Prayer? Consider Carefully
CGG Weekly by Richard T. RitenbaughThe whole world is in hurry-up mode. What have often suffered are prayer and its companion, Bible study—and ultimately, the individual's relationship with God.
Intimacy with Christ (Part One)
Sermon by John W. RitenbaughJohn Ritenbaugh warns that the narrow "pay and pray" mentality experienced by many in our previous fellowship took our attention away from the more important overcoming and growing aspect, preparing for the Kingdom of God. We desperately need to become immersed in a cause, yielding to God's creative power, personally …
Intimacy with Christ (Part Two)
Sermon by John W. RitenbaughSatan has deliberately designed this world to burn up our precious time, creating an artificial sense of urgency and a perpetual state of discontent.
Back to Life (Part Two)
Sermon by Martin G. CollinsMartin Collins, examining Jesus' purposeful delay in going to Lazarus' side as His friend succumbed to death, reminds us that 1) God's delays are always motivated by love, 2) His delayed help always comes at the right time, and 3) God's best help is never delayed. We dare not project the human traits of obstinacy and …
Start Now to Begin Walking
Sermon by John W. RitenbaughJohn Ritenbaugh, reiterating that the people of faith walked to their destination, focuses on both the literal and metaphorical contexts of walking in the Bible. In the scriptures, walking refers to interacting with a person, and as a way of life, implying conduct and habitual behavior. Regarding the impending worsening …
Seeking God (Part Two): A Foundation
'Personal' from John W. RitenbaughChristians need to have a conscious plan in seeking God. Here are several essential qualities that must be included in any successful course of action.
Why Count Fifty Days?
Sermon by Richard T. RitenbaughThe Bible has much to say about the number fifty, such as counting 50 days to Pentecost, the measurements of the Tabernacle, and the 50 year Jubilee.
Don't Be Indifferent
Sermon by John W. RitenbaughThe frightful Trumpet Plagues are coming on the world because of the breaking of covenants on the part of people who should have known better.
Don't Be Indifferent
Sermon by John W. RitenbaughIn this sobering message, John Ritenbaugh warns us about our attitude or our perception of the greatest axial period (turning point) that will ever take place on this earth. We need to be sober and alert, realizing that we don't have an infinitude of time to prepare for Christ's second coming. We cannot allow ourselves to become …
Aim for Productivity
Sermonette by John W. RitenbaughJohn Ritenbaugh, focusing on God's creation of plants (Genesis 1:11-13), observes that God demonstrates His practicality and efficiency by establishing the genotype within the seed capable of infinite reproduction. God also gave humans the means to master time efficiently. God's called out-ones, metaphorized as soil, should …
The Christian and the World (Part Eight)
Sermon by John W. RitenbaughHaving anxiety, foreboding and fretting about food, clothing, and shelter, or being distressed about the future, demonstrates a gross lack of faith.
Intimacy with Christ (Part Three)
Sermon by John W. RitenbaughJohn Ritenbaugh emphasizes that the ordinary cares of life- making a living and being concerned with our security- have the tendency to deflect us from our real purpose- seeking God's Kingdom (Matthew 6:33) Becoming overburdened with devotion to wealth or surfeiting will cause us to lose our mobility or ability to stand, …
The W's and H's of Meditation (Part Four)
Sermon by David F. MaasDavid Maas, focusing on Psalm 90:12, an admonition to number our days in order to get a heart of wisdom, reflects on the stark contrast between God's robust eternity and mankind's fragile mortality. Meditating on the perils of our transitory existence paradoxically leads to a longer, happier life now as well as in the future, as …
Hebrews: Its Background (Part Four)
Sermon by John W. RitenbaughJohn Ritenbaugh, suggesting that most of us resemble the Samaritan woman in our understanding of the value of our calling, maintains that our relationship with God is our sole protection from carnal human nature and the deadly pulls of the world. Whatever consumes our time has the power to either edify or distract us. Faith and …
Christianity Is a Fight! (Part 4)
Sermon by John W. RitenbaughThe sanctification process requires us to cooperate with God in order to produce Christian works and character, preparing us for the Kingdom of God.
The W's and H's of Meditation (Part Three)
Sermon by David F. MaasDavid Maas, reiterating the stark contrast between God's holy character and our inherent carnal nature, contends that developing the daily habit of meditation on God's Word (the very spigot of God's Holy Spirit) can displace that deadly carnal nature, replacing it with Godly character—the mind of God. Because character is …
Our Final Performance Review
Sermonette by Bill OnisickWithout well-defined plans, projects become quickly derailed. Both time and energy are wasted in the absence of carefully established goals.
Resistance (Part One)
Sermon by Richard T. RitenbaughRichard Ritenbaugh, drawing a powerful analogy from a book by Dorthea Brand, focusing upon strategies to defeat writer's block and self-imposed creative sabotage experienced by every major writer, applies these insights to spiritual self-sabotage, namely resistance (which is ground zero of our carnal human nature.) As writers …
Ecclesiastes Resumed (Part Four)
Sermon by John W. RitenbaughJohn Ritenbaugh, focusing upon II John 5, an epistle which cautions about deceivers who would denigrate the value of work, considers the straining on the point "we cannot earn salvation" a red herring, diverting our attention from the true value of Christian work. God indeed judges the quality and quantity of what we …
Looking Back to the Future
Feast of Tabernacles Sermon by John W. RitenbaughThe dwelling in booths and the sacrifices were the context for rejoicing at the Feast of Tabernacles. The booths depict our current lives as pilgrims.
