Christ Lutheran Church Sunday Sermon: Recent Episodes
Christ Lutheran Church
Why does God let it hurt so much? Why doesn't he take the pain away? Because he loves you. That's why. He knows that no pain; no gain. He knew that you wouldn't gain heaven without Christ's pain on the cross. But he endured that pain gladly for you. Now he also lets you endure hardships and pain in this life that your faith in him might increase as it's stretched to grow. And he lets you endure pain that others who see how you accept it with praise to God might come to faith too.
What is faith? Depends on who you ask. For some, faith is something you hold onto when you don’t have any facts to back you up. Is that what the Christian faith is? Blindly hoping something is true...even though it might not be. Our last Old Testament Bible Story this summer takes this question head-on with an example of what faith looks like and does.
If you’re looking for a cosmically meaningful life, a life that is important and valuable not just because you value it but because it actually is valuable, can this be achieved through pursuing a life of pleasure and happiness? Believing that the purpose of life is to be happy is far more complicated than it looks. And this is one of the reasons why the Bible talks about it.
God comes to us with promises. What do we do? We hear the gracious words of God...and we listen! We listen with a trusting heart! There are so many things in our lives and in our hearts that can distract us from this simple, but awesome, task. God just wants us to welcome his words and promises!
The believer loves his neighbor. We have every reason to love him. We know what we were when God found us; we know the love and mercy he poured out on us. Christ, the compassion of God, has treated our spiritual wounds and paid for our healing with his own blood. As we have known his goodness, let us do good to all. Our Bible Story today outlines what that kind of love and goodness might look like!
The Bible is full of miracles. But sometimes, we take for granted how few and far between those miracles really were. It’s natural for us to want to see God working through some big show of his power (like...raising people from the dead). Does that mean God isn’t giving blessings if he isn’t being showy? Look how God gives big blessings in small things in the story today!
Christians can sometimes have a rap for talking about sin a lot. Because we know...sin needs to be taken seriously. And because of what sin does to relationships with God and each other, we want to tell people to turn from it and turn back to God. Today, we get to hear a story of what that looks like...and thank God that he kicks us back into his kingdom!
This weekend is a special one when we worship our Lord and Savior while enjoying the beauties of his creation. David wrote in Psalm 19, “The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands.” We join our voices with theirs this morning in singing praises to our glorious God! His richest blessings on your time in his Word today.
Having a plan is important. Trusting the plan and having the faith to carry it out though...that can be tough. Especially if it isn’t your plan. The you have a whole bunch of other problems. Today, we get to see what it takes to trust in God’s plan...even when that plan doesn’t make sense to us.
We worship a Triune God; that means our God is three persons in one. Huh? What does that mean? How can that be possible? Why is that important for us to know? These are some of the questions were going to dig into God’s Word for answers today in our worship. May God bless your time with us today!
Unity can be a really good thing and a blessing. But what if that unity comes at the cost of listening to what God has to say? What happens when what we want to be unified around isn't as God-centered as it should be? Today, we’re starting our “Bible Stories” summer series with a story about disunity...so we can be amazed at how God unites us!
There he goes...after accomplishing so much, who could blame Jesus for heading back to his heavenly home and just, you know, kicking back for a little bit? He did it! And now he can leave us to fend for ourselves for a little bit while he rests. Is that the picture you have in your head of Jesus in heaven right now? Because that’s not the Jesus John saw in his dramatic vision. Look where Jesus is and what he is doing right now!
New and necessary don’t always go together. Sometimes, we just want something new for the sake of it being new. Other times, new things are thrown into our lives whether we want them or not. So who could blame you if when we hear about “all thing new”, you hesitate a little bit? You want to wait. You want to know “is all this new stuff really necessary?” Take comfort in Jesus’ words to us today: he is making all things new. And that means some old stuff we don’t want anymore can finally go!
The world is full of talkers. There are plenty of people who say they care about you. But we are aware of what many of those people will do when it comes time to put those words into action. Jesus tells you in his Word that he cares for you…that he would do anything for you. How do you know you can trust him? Jesus followed up his words with works. Jesus said he would suffer and die for you, so that you could enter heaven. And he kept that promise.
What’s it worth? A question that comes up hundreds of times a day, whether you realize it or not. Is this going to be worth the time, energy, and effort I’ll have to put into it? Where does your relationship with Jesus land when you ask that question? Is he worth it? Today, as three young followers of Jesus talk about what he means to them, we get to see...he is worth it!
What looked like defeat was actually an overwhelming victory! John witnessed this with his own eyes. Now, years later, Jesus appears to him again to encourage him and all believers to stand firm until the end. The Christian life often looks like defeat. It feels like failure. But Jesus reveals to us how everything will end. Things will get bad, but Jesus wins. And it’s not even close. The Lamb is victorious. Because we are part of his family, his team, through faith, we are victorious too.
Death hangs over all of us. It's a constant source of sorrow, pain, and shame. It doesn't just end a life; it spoils every moment that leads up to it. But Easter changes everything! With his new life, Jesus unleashes life on us. Even as we continue to wipe away tears that death causes now, we can taunt this thing that used to hang over us: Where is death's victory? We celebrate the victory of the Lamb!
The world's experts and culturally elite generally see little value in Jesus and his Word. Thankfully, he tells us to expect this. He also reminds us that when it comes to judgments about him and his kingdom, only one opinion matters. God the Father would render the final verdict about Jesus and his work when he raised his Son from the dead.
We assume people get what they deserve. We assume what goes around comes around. We assume God helps those who help themselves (fun fact: that’s not even in the Bible!). God doesn’t operate on merit, though. He works by grace and grace alone. No one is beyond the reach of God's grace. And he never turns it off.
Where is God? This is one of our most frequently-asked and incorrectly-answered questions. We equate good fortune with God's favor and bad fortune with his judgment. So, as long as nothing terrible is happening, God must not be too angry with us, right? So God must constantly remind us where he intends to be found—in the good news about Jesus!
Even in a world as sharply divided as ours, there is almost universal agreement that the preferred path to glory is the shortest and easiest. Walking the path Jesus puts us on, one where the cross comes before the crown, puts us out of step with the world. Thankfully, the determination required to walk this path starts with Jesus and not with us. Because of his determination, we are offered a glory that goes above anything the world can offer.
Defeat seemed imminent. The threats were too great; they were too powerful for us to overcome. So we look for someone to be our champion. And God gives us...himself! The perfect one to fight for us. The only one who can put our enemies in their place for good. Today we rejoice, because the devil’s defeat means victory for us!
Ash Wednesday kicks off the Lent season with some sobering reminders. We are sinners who owe God an enormous debt. How can we ever hope to pay it off? We have to bank on the same thing Abraham was banking on in his bold prayers to God about Sodom and Gomorrah...his infinite mercy!
We have seen that God must uncover truths that we could not discover. As this season ends, we witness a twist. For God's glory to be revealed, it actually has to be covered. God's glory needed to be hidden in Jesus. It is hidden in the gospel. This is how God enables sinful people to see his glory and, rather than turning away in fear, stare at it in wonder for as long as they want. The truth God uncovers for us today: when his glory is hidden, it is most on display.
Jesus asks us to befriend our enemies, to love those who hate us, and to repay evil with good. Logic would say that is a recipe for being walked all over. But we have seen this tactic work before! When we were Jesus' enemies by nature, he loved us to the point of death. He repays our daily evil with the daily goodness of his mercy. In doing so, he has won us for himself.
You know what’s a little surprising as Jesus starts his work preaching and teaching? Not what he says or what he does, but who he sends to do it! Not angels, but regular guys, like you and me. To say they were unqualified would be an understatement. So what does Jesus do with the unqualified called? Come find out today!
If a church makes its central focus things like personal improvement, healing for the sick, or social justice, that church is probably going to draw a crowd. But is it carrying out the agenda Jesus left for his Church? The good news of forgiveness in Jesus is supposed to be the center of all our preaching and teaching. The agenda for Jesus’ followers is set. It's the same agenda that was followed by Jesus himself!
We want others to know the joy of salvation and the love of Jesus. So it can be surprising to us when God's Word is met with apathy or rejection by those who hear it. Did something go wrong? The truth that is uncovered this week is that rejection of Jesus' words is not the exception but the rule. Jesus' words will always offend. But we will see that God can use even the rejection of his Word for good.
God...or happiness and enjoyment. That’s the line a lot of people draw in the sand. That life with Jesus is a boring, bland, depressing existence. But they are dead wrong. Jesus came to undo everything that is wrong with our world because sin is part of the picture. And he also came to multiply our joy and deliver delight beyond our wildest dreams.
What a blessing! God comes to us in the flesh to begin his work of salvation. And we know that this man who came to John to be baptized is who he claims to be because he has the backing of his Father in heaven. This is his beloved Son!
In a song of thankfulness and joy, Zechariah summarizes the soon-to-come Jesus’ role. He’s the Redeemer, salvation-bringer, oath-keeper, our rescuer! Don’t overlook one of his key works though: he came “to enable us to serve him without fear in holiness and righteousness before him all our days.” When you clearly see Jesus’ role and what he came here to do...your role in this world becomes clear as day, too.
At Christmas, people try to create happy memories that will last. We take pictures, post stuff on Facebook, and file stuff away in our heads as something we can always go back to and relive those happy, joyous times. But what kind of memories are we trying to capture? Are we keeping the right thing in focus? Or are we missing capturing something more meaningful and long-lasting that’s happening just outside of our focus?
Are you ready? Am I ready for what? And that second question is just as important as the first. During this season of hustle, bustle, and preparation, what you are getting prepared for is just as critical as the question of if you are prepared period. So...what are we getting ready for. We discover the fullness of what God prepares us for during Advent today!
Sometimes it is obvious when we should rejoice, but when Paul says “always” and “in everything”, that includes the most difficult moments in life. Something infinitely impactful for followers of Jesus as we celebrate Christmas is that joyful moments can happen no matter the circumstances. What counts is that we have peace with God, precisely because the Lord came near at Christmas.
The days before Christmas can be a time of longing. Longing for the big day to come. The longing we have to be together in person. But sometimes that is just not possible. Today, Paul points out that we can still find joy even in our longing to be with the people we love...because there’s something deeper that pulls us together!
People love coming together to celebrate the holidays in person. Pre-pandemic it was easy to take celebrating together for granted. But now the idea of worshiping or celebrating in-person takes on a whole new meaning. How can this setback be a good thing? It adds another layer of joy understanding that at Christmas, God comes to us in person in his Son Jesus Christ.
Believers have a king who rules perfectly for eternity. While the unbeliever's kingdom crumbles and comes to an end, the kingdom of which believers are a part is in the hands of an infinite God. Our time is now woven in with Christ who redeemed us. He is worthy of unending praise, now and forever!