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Seeing God’s Back and Seeing God’s Face

Seeing God’s Back and Seeing God’s Face
by Rev. Dr. Fritz Ritsch
October 19, 2014
Matthew 22: 15-22
Exodus 33: 12-23

Moses is disgusted. He was up on the mountain, receiving the tablets of the Law, the Ten Commandments, from God. When he came down, he found, to his horror and outrage, that in his absence the people had constructed a Golden Calf, a false god that they worshipped because they thought Moses would never return; that he was consumed by the fire and smoke on the Holy Mountain. In his rage, Moses threw down the two tablets of the Law thus becoming the first person to break all Ten Commandments at the same time. He orders the ringleaders killed. Then, perhaps most painfully for the people, he turns his back upon them. They watch Moses walk away from the Tent of Meeting toward the mountain, away from them. They are horribly, horribly ashamed.Read More »Seeing God’s Back and Seeing God’s Face

Why Attend Church?

Where Is Everybody?

Hebrews 10: 19-25

Recently a long-time parishioner shared a story about an even longer-time parishioner. It dates from a few decades back, when the storyteller was a young mother who’d only recently joined St. Stephen. She overheard the older woman say that she and her husband were often so financially challenged in raising their large family that sometimes they had to go to the bank and take out a loan so that they could pay off their pledge to the church. “I have never forgotten that,” the storyteller says. “I have never forgotten that.”Read More »Why Attend Church?

Shield Aflame

By Rev. Dr. Fritz Ritsch
August 26, 2012
St. Stephen Presbyterian Church
Fort Worth, TX
Ephesians 6: 10-20
John 6: 52-71

As a pastor I’ve seen a few folks die. And yet, because of their faith they are still alive. One is remember is Alice, a dear lady from my last church, who had for years been a hard worker for the church, generous, hospitable, kind. She came down with cancer, and the most difficult thing for her was the realization that she could no longer “do” as she once did. She became very anxious about the state of her soul; how could she please God if she couldn’t “do” anymore?Read More »Shield Aflame