Sure Foundation Lutheran Church

Biblically, truth and love are intimately connected. How do you react to the truth? In this Sermon, Vicar Little compares the ways Cain, the Pharisees, and a church leader named Diotrephes react to the truth to the ways we react to the truth. The way we react to truth makes us hard to love, and that makes it hard to love. Praise God that he has loved the hard-to-love.

When's the last time that you dug into the Bible's teaching on Predestination? If it has been a while, tune in to this sermon from Rev. Paul Kuckhahn. He clearly communicates the truths from Ephesians 1 and lets the amazing comfort of the doctrine of Predestination shine.

This Sunday, I mention someone named Diotrephes. Who is that? And why should you care? Watch this video to learn more about someone mentioned in the Bible and the lessons we can learn from John's interaction with him.

In 2009, a woman in Florida called 911 three times because McDonald’s ran out of chicken nuggets. 911 is a gift when your house is on fire, but it can’t fix your lunch. That’s not what it’s for. Government works the same way. In this sermon from Romans 13, we look at what God designed government to do and what it was never meant to do. Scripture teaches that governing authorities are established b...

Do we believe in the Rapture? Will all Christians suddenly disappear years before Judgment Day? Find out in this week's Wednesday Devotion.

You're invited to the banquet! What's your reaction? What are you wearing? In this sermon, Vicar Little invites you to consider how we are like those who "pay no attention..." to the invitation of the king in the parable, and then asks you to consider what you're wearing to the banquet. This sermon was preached on October 11th, 2026, by Vicar Little. Based on Matthew 22:1-14 and Romans 1:16-17.

[ image of translation spectrum referenced in the devotion ] Ever picked up an NIV and an ESV and noticed they don't say things in quite the same words? Should that worry you? Not at all. The Bible was originally written in Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek, so every English Bible is a translation. In this devotion, we walk through how translation actually works: why some words and idioms don't carry ove...

We have a habit of taking simple things and making them complicated, and our own salvation is no exception. In this message from Sure Foundation Lutheran, we look at Paul's plain summary of the gospel: confess that Jesus is Lord, believe that God raised him from the dead, and you will be saved. We'll talk about the things we try to add to grace: cleaning ourselves up first, finishing what grace st...

“Why will you die? … Repent and live!” In Ezekiel 18, God speaks to His people who are struggling with the consequences of sin and wondering whether they are being treated fairly. But God turns their eyes away from blaming others and toward their own need for repentance. The message of Ezekiel 18 is sobering. We are sinners who deserve judgment, and no amount of outward behavior, self-improvement,...

Some things you would never say out loud. You'd never admit you hate the grace of God. Jonah never said it either, but it was buried in his heart all the same. In this sermon on Jonah 3-4, we look at why grace can feel so unfair. We walk through three stories: the workers in the vineyard (Matthew 20), the Prodigal Son and his older brother (Luke 15), and Jonah's anger when Nineveh repented. Each s...

On average, we speak about 16,000 words a day. What would happen if you got a report at the end of each day breaking down exactly what your words accomplished — how much built people up, and how much tore them down? In this episode, we dig into Ephesians 4:29–32 and Paul's command to get rid of "unwholesome talk" — literally, rotten or spoiled speech. We trace that rotten speech back to its root:...

What's your process? We all have one — an order to how we get things done, even if we've never written it down. In today's Gospel lesson, Jesus outlines a process too for how to love a brother or sister caught in sin. Vicar Little walks through Matthew 18:15–20, showing how this passage sits between two crucial ideas: the Good Shepherd who leaves the 99 to rescue the 1, and Jesus's command to forg...

We all carry expectations of God, and if we're honest, they're often more transactional than we realize: I've done my part, so where's my reward? In Jeremiah 15:15-21, the prophet accuses God of being a "deceptive brook" — a spring that failed him after years of faithful, costly obedience. It's a raw complaint, and a mirror for our own hearts. In this message, we trace why God doesn't answer Jerem...

If you have to attempt to justify yourself, you probably already know that you are lacking in some way. An expert in the law came to Jesus with a question, "What must I do to inherit eternal life?" To which Jesus turned the question around on him, "What does the law say?" But after this expert repeated the two-part summary of the law (love God and love your neighbor), something in him knew that he...

A different kind of sermon this week — more teaching-focused, but still full of gospel. We dig into the doctrine of Predestination (Election): what it is, what it isn't, and why it matters. Drawing from Romans 8, Ephesians 1, and 2 Thessalonians 2, we address the common misunderstanding of double predestination, affirm that Christ died for all people, and unpack the "Golden Chain" — foreknown, pre...

We all run mental simulations of how life will turn out — psychologists call it prospection. But what happens when God's plan looks nothing like anything we could've imagined? In this message, we look at Elijah's confrontation with King Ahab, his flight to the Kerith Ravine, and the ravens God sent to feed him there. Along the way, we ask why we try so hard to predict and control our own provision...

Why doesn't God get rid of evil right now? Jesus' Parable of the Wheat and the Tares (Weeds) answers that question — and explains why believers and unbelievers can look so similar until the final judgment. In this sermon on Matthew 13:24-30, 36-43, we look at the darnel weed Jesus references, how the gospel transforms "weeds" into "wheat" (like Zacchaeus the tax collector and Mary Magdalene), and...

We can seemingly muster up toughness for a while, but there comes a point when guilt, suffering, and the war within leave us beaten down and drained—not just in body, but in spirit. In this message, we look at how the Apostle Paul faced the same weariness: haunted by his past, battered by physical suffering and opposition, and locked in an internal struggle against his own sinful nature (Romans 7,...

Exodus 32 gives us one of Scripture's most brutal and beautiful moments in the same passage — 3,000 men killed by their own brothers, and a mercy that kept the entire nation alive. In this episode, we dig into the text and ask the question the whole Bible is building toward: how can God be fully just and fully merciful at the same time? We trace the golden calf back to its Egyptian roots, sit with...

"You are the hero of the story. Everything is going to work out in your favor." Triumphalism sounds inspiring — until the cancer comes back. Until the financial loss is met with more loss. Until the hard times just keep going. In this episode, we look honestly at the gap between the triumphalist outlook and the reality of life in a broken world. And we ask a question that might be more personal th...

What does it mean to serve God — and does it matter how you do it? In this sermon, we tackle a tension that quietly exists in many church communities: the relationship between the doctrine of vocation and the public ministry of the Gospel. Every calling matters. The nurse, the police officer, the parent — God works through all of them. But there is also something uniquely important about those cal...

What do Wall Drug's famous billboards have to do with your faith? If you've ever driven through South Dakota, you know the signs. Hundreds of them, stretching across the plains, all pointing you to one little drugstore in the middle of nowhere. The Apostle Paul's life works the same way — as a billboard pointing people straight to the grace of God. Paul was no ordinary sinner. He mocked Christians...

Every person has gifts. The question is: what are those gifts for? In this sermon from 1 Corinthians 12, we explore Paul’s powerful teaching about spiritual gifts, the body of Christ, and the work of the Holy Spirit in the church. In a culture that celebrates individual ability and personal recognition, this message reminds us that God never gives gifts for self-glory, but for serving others and b...

What happens when a good gift from God becomes the thing we trust most? Human intelligence is one of God’s incredible blessings. Through reason, discovery, science, medicine, and innovation, God has allowed humanity to accomplish amazing things. But Scripture also warns that even good gifts can become idols. In this sermon, we explore how the human mind—when separated from humility and faith—can t...

In a culture that prizes independence and self-reliance, what does it actually mean to live by faith? In this sermon on 1 Peter 5:6–11, we explore the spiritual danger of self-sufficiency and the comfort of living with complete dependence on God. While our sinful nature wants to question God’s wisdom and rely on our own strength, Peter calls Christians to humble themselves under God’s mighty hand,...