Living Christ Lutheran Church: Recent Episodes
Living Christ Lutheran Church
This episode is a sermon on Jonah. Jonah is about so much more than a guy who got eaten by a whale. Instead, the story highlights our selfishness and small-mindedness, and God's amazing love and grace!
Mark 12:1-12
Learn more about us at www.livingchristlutheran.org
Living Christ Lutheran Church 625 E. Dundee Rd. Arlington Heights, IL 60004
Ezra Chapters 1 and 3
Church Website: www.livingchristlutheran.org Pastor's Website: www.pwilliamb.com
Mark 10:32-45
All of us are striving for greatness. No one dreams of becoming a "meh" mechanic or unexceptional author. No one aspires to be an ok lawyer or ordinary astronaut. We are all looking for greatness.
And, Jesus dreams of greatness for you too. He has great aspirations for you.
But, what does greatness look like in God's kingdom? It looks like being a servant and slave to all. It looks like humility. It looks like a life of service and sacrifice. It looks like Jesus.
Jesus didn't come to this world to be served - but to serve, and to lay down His own life for His people. Jesus came to serve you by giving all of Himself so that you could be set free. That's greatness.
John 3:14-21
You are loved. Someone loves you. God loves you.
Love is crucial. None of us can live long without it. At the very least, life without love is not a life worth living. Praise God that He loves us.
And we are sure of that because of what He did on the cross. Jesus stretched out His arms to say, "I love you." You can be sure of God's love because He proved it - not with flowers or a card, but with a crucifixion and sacrifice. There is no doubt about it. You are loved. Someone loves you. God loves you.
John 2:13-22. Jesus walks into a very full temple in John 2. It was full of people. Full of tables. Full of money and coins. Full of animals and sacrifices. Full of pride, selfishness, and materialism.
And because the temple was so full, Jesus did what He needed to do. He emptied it.
We need Jesus to do to our lives what He did to that temple. We need to be emptied too - of our pride, of our selfishness, of all our sin.
But, Jesus doesn't want us to stay empty. No, He wants to fill us with all of His good gifts of love and grace, mercy and forgiveness, and of life!
Mark 8:27-38. We all have some misconceptions and misperceptions when it comes to Jesus. We think we know who He is and what He came to do. We expect Him to work on our time, give us what we want, and work in ways we want Him to. We all need to be re-orientated to who Jesus actually is and what Jesus actually came to to.
Jesus isn't always who we think He is - He is far, far greater. He is the savior we desperately need!