You’ve noticed that to grow in faith you’ll need all the help you can get. Adding audio sermons, podcasts and teachings to your smorgasboard of spiritual food is an excellent way to learn and grow in Christ. So we’ve begun adding these excellent resources to our web site, free for the listening and downloading. There’s more in the archives, too. Can you give them away to assist others? Sure! Have at it. If you want to listen, simply click on the appropriate topic below and another page will load. Click on the standard play button just below the icon or picture, and off you go. If you’d like to download the sermon or podcast, click on the Subscribe button above and to the right. iTunes (or other music software on your computer) will load and do pretty much everything you need. You might want to choose various settings within iTunes, such as how often it checks for updated sermons or podcasts, but we find the default settings quite sufficient--and easy. Each time something new is posted, iTunes will know it and download it automatically. (If you don’t already have Quicktime, you may easily and quickly download it for free here.)

Finding God Through Pause & Play

Mon, 13 Jul 2009 16:53:05 -0600

If you had to pick one sermon to listen to today, this is it.

Given at New Hope Church in San Diego, CA, the great pastor (Joe Rhodes) there encouraged me to “Teach us exactly and whatever you feel led to teach. You have total freedom.” We had earlier talked about where Joe believed they were as a church. Along with Associate Pastor Ken Gowen, we agreed I should teach about how to avoid the strongholds of the flesh that prevent us from finding the Holy Spirit now in us. In other words, how does one let God do whatever He wants from within? I love teaching about that.

However, to get there I was convinced that I should first teach about: 1) Where Is God? and 2) What Is He Doing There? So, altogether, this is three sermons, concluding with 3) How Can I Let Him Do Whatever He Wants From Me? These are three vitally important sermons that I give by themselves at seminars and conferences, but condensed into one. . .well, it’s long but it’s good.

And please--give it away!

God’s New House

Sun, 8 Jun 2008 00:00:00 -0600

There’s a great church between Glenwood Springs and Aspen, Colorado--Christ Community Church. Located in the growing but low key and low fanfare town of Basalt, people come from miles around to gather together and grow in Christ. And that they are.
As a guest speaker, Ralph gave this message specifically to encourage and build them up by providing a captivating focus on what God has done for His glory in them. It was a delightful day!

Rescuing Andrei

Wed, 4 Jun 2008 00:00:00 -0600

Given at a church in Woodstock, Georgia, Ralph assists the audience to better know who they have become in Christ, and how to help others toward the same revelation. We can and must rescue other Christians from the less than God-glorifying view they have of themselves, which will help them to live God-focused and God-enamored lives. And that’s the best, most normal way for Christians to live.
You’ll enjoy the style, substance and day-to-day relevance of this intriguing message. And if you’ve read Ralph’s book, you’ll find chapter 4, “Who Is I?” particularly relevant.
Have a great listen! And, yes, you’re free to pass it on.

Salieri's Game

Thu, 3 Apr 2008 17:43:08 -0600

Part 1 in Ralph’s series, “Putting AMAZING Back Into Grace,” this sermon was given to a terrific group of young leaders at the Estes Park YMCA in January, 2006. The organizers invited Ralph because they wanted everyone to see their respective groups not by the standards of this world, but by the invisible and eternal. If they would, that would change and make true their approach to everyone they met.
This first session, Salieri’s Game, provided an eye-opening and excellent foundation.

Throwing Out The Wardrobe

Fri, 29 Feb 2008 13:51:18 -0700

One of the most tempting and difficult things we face nowadays is how to look and do best in front of others. When we walk into a room already populated with people, when we pick up the phone, when we meet with a friend for coffee or go to our children’s soccer games, we wonder how to look and do our best, as if that’s a big deal to God, too. Pressure’s on.
But what if our wondering and working is luring us to life by a proper facade, keeping us from the delight of God’s work in us and through us?
It is.
Ralph’s sermon is one of the most invigorating and challenging topics he brings because it leads directly to God’s work in any and every situation in your day.
(Ralph gave this sermon to a group of church leaders in January, 2006.)

Behaving Himself

Fri, 29 Feb 2008 13:45:25 -0700

What would it be like if God actually lived inside of you? Right now? Many of us know Colossians 1:27, “. . .Christ in you, the hope of glory.” but most of us don’t know what it’s like to actually find Him inside of us--right now. This sermon, given to leaders in 2006, will greatly assist you in not only finding God now in you, but it will help you to let Him do whatever He wants. He will behave Himself! And that’s the most promising and exciting thing in a Christian’s life. You’ve been made for this, and you’ll love it!

Hitting My Pause Button

Fri, 29 Feb 2008 13:28:04 -0700

“I feel somehow prevented from moving forward in life; is there a way out?”
Lazarus is deathly sick, so Mary and Martha send word to the One most caring and capable. What did Jesus do when the sisters presented their pressing concern to Him? What God often seems to do in my life; nothing. And yet, He was doing something; nothing…on purpose. Before doing anything, Jesus paused, listening and looking to His Father. Just as Jesus did, hitting our personal pause button in the face of real needs means we believe something else is more real, and that Someone Else may have something He’d like to do. This intentional pause brings the life and working of God in us to the front of our life. It becomes our new delight, opening a new way to live!
(Given to leaders at the YMCA of the Rockies, in Estes Park, Colorado, in January of ’06.)

The Linear Lie

Fri, 29 Feb 2008 13:03:54 -0700

Perhaps no more common way of thinking does more damage to our life with God. Linear thinking excludes what Christians will find if they will offer themselves to God, because they’re busy taking another route through life. While the flesh offers the seemingly best way forward and the quickest way to get what one wants, it is a way without God. And for us, that’s never forward! The Holy Spirit has another way for Christians to find real life and joy and peace. His fruit is the result!
This sermon begins to turn the lock on the new way of living Jesus has given you.
Like many of our recent posts, Ralph gave this to the leaders at the YMCA of the Rockies in 2006. He gleaned great help from one of our favorite books, “The Pressure’s Off,” by Larry Crabb. You can find out more by checking out our Media Resources page.

Who Is I?

Fri, 29 Feb 2008 12:39:41 -0700

“I don’t always act like a son of God or a new creation, so who am I?”
You cannot know how you work if you do not know who and what you are. Like an airplane coughing and struggling for fuel because it’s doing a maneuver for which it’s not made, you’ll stall out. If God has made you an entirely new creation - not an upgrade, but a new original - then what exactly are you now? After new birth, who have you become? The answer lies in the work of Christ and the Spirit now in us. Every son and daughter of God receives the genetic imprint of their Father, becoming an actual child of His, with desires and attitudes in keeping with their new nature. Who you have become is fantastic! Participating with Him is the way to live – it’s the new normal.
This was also given by Ralph to young church leaders at the YMCA in Estes Park, Colorado, in January, 2006.

Behold! You Stink!

Fri, 29 Feb 2008 12:01:52 -0700

“What does death have to do with my life?”
Because of the strange and sometimes ugly things we think and do, we’re tempted to believe we are part friend-of-God, part enemy…and we’re more than a little concerned and ashamed about the latter. Does that mean we’re part noble, part trash? The sinful state of an unsaved individual is inherently at odds with God. For this to change something significant must take place - we must die. The real question is this: as a Christian, when will my death take place? Having been included in the crucifixion of Christ, we’ve already died and were raised with Him! Because of this we have both the fragrance of life and death in Christ. There is quite a smell about us! We don’t need to wait until this life passes in order to be God’s friend.
Part 2 in Ralph’s series, “Putting AMAZING Back Into Grace,” this was also given in 2006 at the YMCA of the Rockies, here in Colorado. It is concerned with what is, perhaps, the most overlooked fact of a Christian’s life--and it is the gateway to the life of Christ Himself.
Ralph draws a great deal of support from Greg Smith’s and Dan Stone’s book, The Rest of The Gospel. It is one of our recommended books, and we often give it away at retreats and seminars.

Finding God On The Inside

Fri, 21 Dec 2007 23:45:28 -0700

Spoken at a home church near Denver, Colorado, this will help you to know and find God who is now living in you through your newbirth in Christ. It’s the greatest wonder there is, and it’s wonderfully simple and tremendously exciting.

The material presented here found its way into Ralph’s book, “Better Off Than You Think” (God’s Astounding Opinion of You). For reference, you will find chapters 5, 6, and 7 quite relevant.