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Carl B. Rife

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Can We Give Thanks? -- 1 Thessalonians 5:17-18 -- Carl B. Rife, Charles Cammarata -- 2006
For a six-year-old boy who was ill from birth
John -- Carl B. Rife, Harold D. Shaffer -- 2001
The Sea of Galilee is so beautiful; I wish I were there now, with Jesus and Peter and James and the
The Money Bag -- Carl B. Rife, Harold D. Shaffer -- 2001
Judas -- Judas IscariotIt would have been better had I not been born.Oh, Lord.
Mary (The Mother Of Our Lord) -- Carl B. Rife, Harold D. Shaffer -- 2001
Little did I know growing up in Nazareth of Galilee that I had been chosen by God to be his sacred v
The Towel -- Carl B. Rife, Harold D. Shaffer -- 2001
Look at the cross before you, the wilted palm branches symbolizing the fact that early in the last w
Peter -- Carl B. Rife, Harold D. Shaffer -- 2001
I denied him! I denied him! I denied him.
The Crown Of Thorns -- Carl B. Rife, Harold D. Shaffer -- 2001
We have been looking at the symbols of the cross during this season.
Judas -- Carl B. Rife, Harold D. Shaffer -- 2001
Why do you look at me that way in your smug self-righteousness?
The Nails -- Carl B. Rife, Harold D. Shaffer -- 2001
During these Sundays in Lent, we have been looking at the symbols of the cross.
Mary Magdalene -- Carl B. Rife, Harold D. Shaffer -- 2001
Unloved and unlovable.
The Palms -- Carl B. Rife, Harold D. Shaffer -- 2001
The Symbols Of The CrossThe Palms
Honk, If You Love Jesus -- John 14:15; 13:4-35 -- Carl B. Rife -- 1993
In the film Dead Poets' Society, the teacher, Mr. Keating,
Let Our Kids Pray -- Matthew 6:6; 26:36-44 -- Carl B. Rife -- 1993
Quite a few years ago I saw a bumper sticker on a car that
God Made My Day -- Carl B. Rife -- 1993
"God Made My Day" is one anonymous Christian's response to the
Christians Aren't Perfect; They Are Forgiven -- 2 Corinthians 5:18-19 -- Carl B. Rife -- 1993
There it was on a bumper sticker -- "Christians Are Not
God Said It. I Accept It. That Settles It. -- 2 Timothy 3:16-17 -- Carl B. Rife -- 1993
Like the other bumper stickers we talked about, this bumper
I Found It! -- Luke 15 -- Carl B. Rife -- 1993
For those of you who may have not been here during this series
Warning! In Case Of Rapture This Car Will Be Unmanned -- Mark 13:14-37 -- Carl B. Rife -- 1993
During recent weeks we have been using some religious
My God! Why? Teenage Death Due to Drinking and Driving -- Job 3:2-26< -- Carl B. Rife, Anthology -- 1989
May God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ give you grace and peace.
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Call to Worship:

Jesus told us that we should always pray and not lose heart, for God is on our side. In our worship today let us pray to the Lord for the needs of others and for all our own needs.


Invitation to Confession:

Jesus, sometimes you don't seem to be there when I pray and I feel like I'm talking to myself.

Lord, have mercy.

Jesus, sometimes my prayers seem so dry and boring that I give up.

Christ, have mercy.

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Psalm 119 is well-known as the longest chapter in the Bible. The poem is actually an extended, and extensive, meditation on the meaning of the law. Given the sterile connotations often associated with "law" and "legalism," it's hard sometimes to appreciate the lyrical beauty of these reflections. One thing is for certain, the writer of this psalm does not view the law as either sterile or void of vitality.

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There is perhaps no better feeling than knowing that someone "has your back." Having someone's back is a term that arose from urban street fighting where a partner or ally would stay with you and protect your back in the thick of the fray. When someone has your back, you don't worry about being hit from behind. When someone has your back you can concentrate on the struggle in front of you without worrying about dangers you cannot see. When someone has your back you feel protected, secure, safe.
David Kalas
I wonder how many of us here are named after someone.

Chances are that a good many of us carry family names. We are named for a parent, a grandparent, an uncle, or an aunt somewhere on the family tree. Others of us had parents who named us after a character in the Bible, or perhaps some other significant character from history.

All told, I expect a pretty fair number of us are named after someone else.

John W. Clarke
Our reading today from the prophet Jeremiah is one in which the Hebrew people, not knowing what else to do in terms of addressing their predicament, decide to blame it all on God. They believed their problems to be the result of their sins and the sins of their fathers. Of course, one person's sin does indeed affect other people, but all people are still held personally accountable for the sin in their own lives (Deuteronomy 24:16; Ezekiel 18:2).
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As usual, the epistle is a little more graphic than we can quite grasp. Itchy ears: what a concept just in physical terms. Experience it for a minute. You itch, you scratch, you sort of know you shouldn't scratch because it will only make the itch worse. But still you scratch, while wondering how the itch ever got started in the first place. What a concept: itchy ears as a vehicle for spiritual truth.

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Did Jesus ever do comedy? Indeed he did, and the Parable of the Unjust Judge is partly comic monologue. The routine began with a probate judge so ridiculously dishonest that he announced, "... I have no fear of God and no respect for anyone...." (There must have been a gasp of disbelief from Jesus' audience.)

The Unjust Judge was nagged by a widow, however, who had every right to nag, because she had been cheated by somebody in the community. A good judge would have helped the widow, but remember, this judge "neither feared God nor had respect for people."

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And will not God grant justice to his chosen ones who cry to him day and night? Will he delay long in helping them? (v. 7)

Good morning, boys and girls. Yesterday, I was riding in my car and I kept hearing this noise. I call it a squeak. Do you know what a squeak sounds like? (let them answer) Squeaks are very annoying. It is hard to find a squeak in your car, so it is still squeaking.

I also have a chair that has a squeak and I brought it in with me today because it is

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