Divine Savior Church-Santa Rita Ranch Sermons

God’s people were waiting for the promised King of kings. The king was the protector and the deliverer of God’s people. God came into the world so that he could keep his promise to protect and deliver you.  Support the show

Never could there be a king like Christ, our king. Beyond all comparison is the rule he exercises in time and in eternity. Incomparably great therefore is also our joy in worshiping him even now as we await his triumphant return to transform our worship in faith and under the cross to worship in sight and in glory. Support the show

Today our message series on the book of Judges comes to a close. A very sad close. A dark and disturbing look at how far God’s people had gone in living life in a way that was right in their eyes… but not His eyes. People doing whatever they wanted to do. And we aren’t talking about unbelievers. We are talking about God’s own people. Even if we haven’t done things as outwardly awful as these peopl...

Rock bottom and guardrails. Messy People… No one plans on making a huge mess in their life, but plenty of people do. Often big messes happen when you begin to think that you are invincible. This was the case for Samson. He thought he was invincible and ended up hitting rock bottom in life. The sinful nature inside of us is dangerous and destructive. Merciful God… As Christians, we need to call upo...

Do we realize that the sinful world around us is actually our spiritual “enemy”? Or have we gotten all too comfortable with it? Have we just accepted the fact that things are the way they are? Do the things that should bother us no longer bother us? That is the way things were in Israel during the time of Samson. The people weren’t even crying out to the Lord to help anymore. They had just surrend...

Are we more influenced by the Word of God or by the culture around us? We are more affected by our culture than we think. And that often leads us to try treating God like one of our idols. We treat God like a vending machine, trying to get Him to give us what we want Him to give us. And when we are more influenced by the culture around us, we struggle to see God as a God of grace. If our other “go...

Do we have the tendency to boast about and take credit for things that actually are blessings from God? We don’t like it when others take credit for what we do, and God doesn’t like it when we take credit for what He does. Gideon and his army could have been tempted to take credit for the coming victory. God took some things away to make sure they couldn’t. God sometimes takes things away from us...

Are we sometimes obsessed with the need for human approval?  Whether it is your parents, peers, friends or strangers, it is easy to live a life solely devoted to trying to impress others. In the book of Judges we learn that Barak had the same problem that we all have today. So, what do you expect for what you do? Do you expect praise from others or are you trying to please your Father in heaven? K...

How is it possible that people can “forget” God?  We may “know” certain truths about God, but those truths don’t grab our hearts, and therefore He stops being “real” to us. The Israelites forgot God, and so idols became more “real” to them than God was. It is important that God is real to us! And if his forgiveness and salvation is real to us, then we will live it out in our lives! So let’s let hi...

Today we will see how important it is for one generation to pass the faith down to the next generation. The failure to do that leads to the loss of something very important. We are also introduced to the repeated cycle in the book of Judges - Rebelling against God, being oppressed, crying out for help, God sending someone to deliver, and then a return to sin. An awful downward spiral. That unfaith...

The book of Judges. Messy People. Merciful God. As we walk through this book, we are going to encounter a lot of horrifying tales of what sin can do in people’s lives. Sin can get real messy. We can identify with that today. The book of Judges shows what happens when people stop giving full-hearted devotion to God and start offering Him half-hearted discipleship. It eventually leads to non-discipl...

How could they do that ? Sometimes what we read about or see in the news seems shocking to us, scandalous even. In the Parable of the Wicked Tenants, Jesus tells perhaps the most shocking story imaginable in order to hold up before his hearers the very crime they were premeditating in their hearts to commit. In doing so we find ourselves also in the story when it comes to our own foolish thoughts...

Invitations go out in the mail. E-vite reminders begin to fill people’s inboxes. Follow up text messages, phone calls, and personal messengers even go out to make sure you know, “You are invited!” It’s going to be the banquet of a lifetime. A feast. A party. The venue is first-rate. The food and drink is five-star. There is no fee to attend, no cover charge to get in the door. Surely everyone who&...

Clever entrepreneurs see an opportunity and they go for it. Savvy marketing experts figure out how to effectively promote and sell their products. Shrewd investment professionals find ways to grow wealth into the future. In the secular business oriented world, people often figure out what their opportunities are and find ways to take advantage of them. Is there anything that Christians in the chur...

Just one more promotion and we can take that vacation. Just one more sale and I can get the dream living room. Just "one more" and I will have everything I want. But, then what? In the Parable of the Rich Fool, Jesus warns his disciples about the need for more. What does that mean for us? Listen to His story to find out what Jesus has to say to us about "the abundance of our possess...

In an age of fast food, direct deposit, and Netflix we have gotten pretty used to getting what we want, when we want it. At least for the little things in life. But what happens when we don't? What about the more important things in life like difficulties, frustrations, injustices, and hurts? What happens when those aren't easily fixed or immediately solved? In the Parable of the Unjust...

You work a long day and expect a fair wage. You pay for a good education and expect a good job. You do good work and expect appropriate recognition. So what happens when someone hasn't put in the same effort, but receives the same reward? In the Parable of the Workers in the Vineyard, Jesus helps his disciples understand the nature of the One who is handing out payment at the end of the day....

We all look for clear definitions and guidelines to outline how we act in certain situations or treat certain people. Our society today has laid down some guidelines based on career, race, gender, socio-economics, and life experience. Some are good. Some are most definitely not. In the Parable of the Good Samaritan, Jesus helps an expert in the law understand what His guidelines are for how we are...

Sometimes, in the frustrations and failures of life, it feels like God is absent. Why did it seem like he was with me before, or with his believers before, but he’s not with me now? Sometimes we wish we could go back to the Bible times and hear from God directly like people did in those times, and yet here we see an Old Testament believer struggling with this same frustration. The solution? Look t...

Sometimes the outlook looks hopeless and difficult. We may not have enemy armies bearing down on us, but there are times when we feel surrounded. This psalm expresses the Christian hope of God’s protection and love and wisdom even in the face of disaster. We can sing in the midst of battle!- Psalm 27 Support the show

Is being a Christian and a passionate Christ-follower worth it? It seems like those who set aside God’s Word or ignore it somehow end up with nicer houses, more money, and easier lives. Why? It doesn’t seem fair. The Christian heart calls out to God about what seems unjust.- Psalm 73 Support the show

Guilt is a burden we often bear alone. We feel the shame of past sins and the frustration of falling into the traps of repeated, habitual sins. And in the face of that guilt and shame, we can be afraid of telling someone. The Christian heart is one that goes to God in the face of guilt every time.- Psalm 32 Support the show

It’s good to brag and boast about God! God wants us to have unbridled joy at how amazing he is. We are proud of our teams and our kids and our favorite shows, but do we brag about our God? It’s good to count our blessings and really see how many ways God is so incredibly good to us. Maybe we get in the habit of only coming to God with the difficulties and the requests, but we should celebrate and...

Life is hard. There’s pain and hurt that shows up in so many different ways. Sometimes we feel that in order to be proper Christians, our lives should be neat and clean, and we should always have a smile on our faces. But the reality of life is that we are going to go through hurt and pain, and to hide that pain or deny it would be dishonest. Instead, the Christian heart is honest about the pain a...

Life can be hard in this world. A lot of days, everything just seems dark. But there is a light that shines in the darkness. God is that light. His Word gives light. The Bible says, “His kingdom will be an everlasting kingdom.” Can we see the importance of opening that light and letting it shine into our lives? God rules above all things in the world around us.  But He also rules in our hearts. Hi...