St. Paul Lutheran Church

This is the beginning of a series entitled “Called to Be”, which will explore some of the main callings/vocations God has given us. We have to start at the very center of our lives–our relationship with God. We are first and foremost Christians. Every other vocation God gives us lives under the “Christian umbrella.” We will especially explore how we can learn how God wants us to live. We do this b...

A question from Peter prompts an important teaching from Jesus, reinforced and expounded upon in the Parable of the Workers in the Vineyard. In this passage we learn that God’s ways and thoughts are different than those of the world. We who have been the most faithful disciples, with the most longevity to boot, tend to believe we will receive more than disciples who only show up at the last minute...

Forgiveness is a simple concept, but very hard to live out. Even more so, we’re often told to “forgive and forget,” something that we can’t truly do. Join Pastor Josh as he dives into Matthew 18:21-35 and discusses how we are to truly forgive when we’ve been wronged.

A common topic of conversation is “Who is the greatest?” Who is the greatest athlete of all time? Who is the best president? Who is the greatest at this or that? It is very clear that the world has a different definition of greatness than the one Jesus teaches. In the kingdom of heaven, Jesus says to be the greatest you need to become like a child. What is so great about children? Well, Jesus’ poi...

Milton Bradley’s “The Game of Life” has taught kids for many years that, to “win at life,” you must get into a good college, get a good paying job, get lots of toys, and retire early with lots of money. Whether or not someone has played that game, that’s how we are taught winning in life is like in the real world as well. In Matthew 16, Jesus flips that on its head and says the opposite: the way o...

When we are traveling on a road trip, we need all sorts of help to reach our destination: GPS navigation, maps, signs on the road, maybe others in the car shouting out instructions, etc. And even with all of that sometimes we STILL make a wrong turn or arrive at the wrong place! How much more do we need guidance in reaching our eternal destination? Deuteronomy chapter 6 talks about the importance...

In Matthew 15, a Canaanite woman comes boldly to Jesus asking for him to heal her demon possessed daughter. After Jesus remains silent, and even tells her no, she boldly continues to bring her request to him, acknowledging he owes her nothing. Pastor Josh explores this bold, yet humble faith this woman shows, and how it applies to our lives.

The Old Testament “Great Commission” is from Isaiah: “Make known among the nations what He has done and proclaim His name” Yes, we need to not only believe in our heart that Jesus rose from the dead, but we need to confess with our mouth that “Jesus is Lord”.

In this well-known miracle story about how Jesus feeds a crowd of over five thousand people, we see a powerful demonstration of the compassion of God. In this story, Jesus has compassion on the crowds because of all the sick people He sees, so He heals them. But throughout His ministry, multiple times Matthew tells us that Jesus had compassion on others. His compassion extends to the whole person–...

Have you ever felt lingering guilt or like you "can't forgive yourself"? Pastor Josh explores this as he explores the text from Romans 8 and how, "there is no one to bring condemnation against you."

Most of the parables Jesus tells contain some surprising element. Sometimes the surprising element is how the kingdom of heaven looks–specifically, that the kingdom looks unusual or wrong in some way. This is the case in the Parable of the Wheat and the Weeds. Jesus tells this parable to acknowledge that the kingdom doesn’t look quite the way many people might expect. Yet, Jesus also tells this to...

In one of Jesus’ most well-known parables, he compares spreading God’s word to a sower spreading seeds. Jesus says something crazy, though- to spread the seed even in places where it might not grow. Why? Because when we spread God’s word, we don’t know what kind of soil it will land on. Pastor Josh dives into this text from Matthew 13, and seeks to equip us to be ready to spread God’s word to all.

Are you caught in the spin cycle of life's endless demands? Drawing from Matthew 11:28, Chaplain (COL) Gary Hill shares how Jesus invites the weary and burdened to find lasting rest through His forgiveness, faithful promises, and victory over sin and death.

You’ve heard the phrase “Don’t bring a knife to a gunfight.” It means you better make sure you have what you need, what is appropriate. Jesus declares that He has come not to bring peace, but rather a sword. This may be confusing because elsewhere the angels say that Jesus did come to bring peace on earth! What Jesus means is that there is a time to bring peace, and there is also a time to bring a...

In Romans, Paul sets up a scenario: serving an old master or a new one, sin or Jesus. While the choice might seem obvious to us all, we struggle to follow through on living that out. Join Pastor Josh as he dives into Romans 6 and discusses this problem, and what hope there is for us.

Jesus tells His disciples in Matthew chapter 9 to pray to the Lord of the harvest to send laborers into His harvest. Jesus says this after seeing lost sheep, harassed and helpless, and having compassion on them. There are plenty of people who are lost and in need of a Savior. There are relatively few people actively laboring to bring them to Jesus. Just a couple of verses later, at the start of ch...

Is the church a hospital for the sick or a hotel for the holy? Are sinners welcomed into the doors of the church building, or do you need to be “this holy” to enter? How we show either judgement or love to those viewed as “sinners and tax collectors” today makes an impact on if someone ever comes into the building. Join Pastor Josh as he dives deep into the Matthew 9 text and how it applies to us...

On this Holy Trinity Sunday, Pastor Smith explores how we can know the Triune God. This does not necessarily mean understanding all the inner workings and the mysteries of the Trinity. The best way we can know God is seeing what He does, all the saving actions He takes for us throughout history. We know the various roles the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit each have, but there are many aspects that a...

Don’t you wish you had a sign from God about if you’re making the right decision in big moments in your life? The Israelites wanted confirmation (a sign) that the 70 elders were rightful authorities under Moses and God, so God made them prophesy. The disciples were waiting for the Holy Spirit, and the tongues of fire (along with speaking in tongues) was a sign to them. What’s our sign that Jesus i...

Pastor Smith’s sermon this week is based on Revelation 21:1-8; 22-27 and the concept of the new heavens and new earth. We have a wonderful eternity in store for us. This keeps us going as we work our way through life in this broken, sinful world. This sermon uses the concept of a “vision board”--people have pictures of dream houses, vacations, promotions at work, children/grandchildren, etc. that...

Peter, in his first letter, is writing Christians who are being heavily persecuted for their faith. He tells them, “Do not repay evil with evil or insult with insult.” Pastor Josh dives into this and discusses how we, as Christians, should act and treat others when we are “squeezed” and mistreated. 

Ephesians 2:8-9 is a critically-important passage for us to know that we have been saved by grace through faith in Christ. We have no credit when it comes to our salvation–all the glory goes to God! And we Christians love and cherish these verses…but sometimes we stop reading before we get to 2:10: “For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand,...

We all deal with suffering at different points in our lives. What do we do with it? Many people try to numb or ignore it, but Paul tells us to rejoice in it. Pastor Josh dives deeper into what that means and what that looks like.

In Thessalonica Paul and Silas begin to preach the Crucified and Risen Jesus as Lord and King, just as they do wherever they go on their missionary journeys. They usually receive mixed reviews when they do this–some hear and believe the news about Jesus, while others hear, get angry, and try to imprison or kill them. This particular time the opponents of Paul and Silas say something especially int...

At Jesus’ ascension, the disciples stared into heaven, waiting for Jesus to return. They were brought back down to earth as they were reminded by the angels that yes, Jesus will come, but there’s work to do in the meantime. The same is still true for us today- that we have work to do while we are waiting for Jesus to return. Join Pastor Josh as he dives into this passage.