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Text: Luke 11:1-13  Summary: This is the passage in Luke where Jesus gives his disciples the Lord’s Prayer. In Luke the focus of this section of verses is Jesus’ instruction on the proper posture for prayer. It turns out that when we pray we aren’t the focus of the prayer, but our gracious and loving heavenly Father is! We don’t host him, but He is our gracious host; inviting us to pray to hi...

Text: Matthew 14:22 -33  Summary: This past week at VBS we learned that we can make waves in the world. The account of Jesus walking on water highlights how first we are rescued by Jesus and then through His work in our lives we become instruments of God to make waves in the world. Only by fixing our eyes on Jesus and having faith in Him can we make waves!   Pastor Adam Thompson, Ascensi...

Text: Luke 10:25 -37  Summary: The Good Samaritan story is one of the more famous accounts of Scripture. Often it is misinterpreted to be about how we should love our neighbors as ourselves. It is actually about how Christ is the one who perfectly fulfills the law that demands that we “love the Lord your God with all our heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all you...

Text: Luke 10:1-20  Summary: Are you nervous about God sending you as his people into the world? Well you aren’t alone. In our gospel reading today Jesus sends out the 72. When he does this he has them rely on Him to take care of all their needs. It can be tough to trust in that sometimes, but our God is faithful and he does provide. After all, He is doing the heavy lifting. We simply speak t...

Text: Luke 9:51 -62  Summary: In Luke 9:51 Jesus “sets his face to go to Jerusalem.” Now everything changes to move in that direction, including those who follow Jesus. This section of verses is often referred to as “The Cost of Discipleship.” We don’t get to invite Jesus into our lives on our own terms. He has resolved to completely save us and make us into a new creation. Sometimes that mea...

Text: Luke 8:26 -39  Summary: Jesus is powerful! As fallen human beings we have different reactions to power. It excites us but it also terrifies us. Jesus heals a man possessed by man demons and cleanses him of all that made him unclean. He is grateful to Jesus, but the people of the city who witness this are terrified and they ask Jesus to leave. What caused the different reactions to the p...

Text: John 8:48 -59  Summary: What do you do when you don’t know how to answer or explain a question? Today, we see how people respond to Jesus’ difficult words in two unhelpful ways. Jesus offers us a third faithful response and a call to believe the unbelievable.    Pastor Jared Townley, Ascension Lutheran Church

Text: John 14:23 -31  Summary: Do I love God? Why are we asking this question on Pentecost? Well it is the birth of the Church and the primary work of the church is to remain faithful to Christ or to love Christ and share His word, through the power of the Holy Spirit, with the world. Jesus says, “If anyone loves me, he will keep my word…” The Holy Spirit is the key to how all this works. Hap...

Text: John 17:20-26  Summary: Did you know that Jesus prayed for you? He did. In what we call “The High Priestly Prayer” of Jesus in John 17:20, Jesus says that he isn’t only praying for his apostles but all those who will believe because of their word. That is you and me! Jesus wanted you to hear about him and learn what He taught his disciples. Confirmation is a part of that in our church,...

Text: John 16:23 -33  Summary: Have you ever wondered how it is that you, a sinful human, can speak directly to God, the Father Almighty? Jesus explains how this is possible and why we should do it when He speaks to his disciples in John 16. Listen in to find out how prayer works!   Pastor Adam Thompson, Ascension Lutheran Church

Text: John 16:12 -22  Summary: In this life we tend to focus on the negative over the positive, the sorrow over the joy. Jesus doesn’t pretend there is no sorrow in this life. He openly confronts that reality, but He doesn’t leave us in our sorrow without hope or joy. He came to change things so that we can have joy amid our sorrows. Not a joy that merely evens the odds, but a joy so great th...

Text: John 10:22 -30  Summary: In John 10 we have the “I am the Good Shepherd.” statement from Jesus. But in these particular verses Jesus is actually not talking to his sheep about the flock but the wolves who seek to harm it. A good shepherd is not only loving and gentle with the sheep, but mighty and fierce in His protection of them from the wolves. In John 10:22 -30 we see our Good Shephe...

Text: John 21:1-19  Summary: This text from the gospel of John gives us a beautiful picture of how Jesus, even after being glorified in the resurrection, serves us with what we need. When the disciples are fishing and laboring on their own, their nets come up empty. Just like without Christ our labors are in vain. Yet Jesus is standing on the shore and point out where they should direct their...

Text: John 20:19-31  Summary - What sign would you demand from God in order to believe in Him? Thomas didn’t see Jesus appear to his disciples and He doesn’t believe them when they tell him “We have seen the Lord!” Jesus, in mercy, gives Thomas exactly what He demands. But Jesus can’t appear to you and me, at least not in that same way. If we can’t touch the wounds in his hands and the put ou...

Text: John 12:20 -43  Summary - After Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem, there is excitement buzzing in the air. Even the gentile proselytes know something is special about Jesus. Things are getting to a boiling point between Jesus and his enemies. He is too popular with the people. Despite all that, none of the people really know, including His own disciples, how big the work of Jesus wi...

Text: John 20:9-20  Summary - The Parable of the Wicked Tenants is a humbling one to hear from Jesus. He was aiming this at the religious leader of his day, but it carries application for us as well. It wasn’t just their sin, that required Jesus to die on the cross, but ours too. This text reminds of our own wickedness, but even more it demonstrated the unconditional love, patience and mercy...

Text: Luke 15:1-3, 11-32  Summary - This is one of the most, if not the most, famous parables of Jesus. Yet, did you know it is all about God’s rules for whom he welcomes to his table of fellowship. Throughout Scripture important events between God and his people are marked by meals. Listen to how the audience of Jesus would have understood the interaction between the loving father and his tw...

Text: Luke 13:1-9  Summary - We can be tempted to alleviate our own guilt by comparing ourselves to others and thinking that they are worse than us. This happened to them because they did the extra bad sin or, at least I am not like that person. Yet, Jesus teaches that unless we repent, we will all likewise perish.   Pastor Adam Thompson, Ascension Lutheran Church

Text: Jeremiah 26:8-15, Luke 13:31 -35   Summary: During Lent, this gospel text reminds us that we have a God who desires to gather us to himself. Despite our sin and rejection of His word He still gathers us to Himself. Sometimes His Word is one a rebuke which is hard to hear, but Luke 13 reminds us that we have a Savior who knowingly went to Jerusalem and the cross because of His desire to...

Text: Luke 4:1-13  Summary - In Luke 4 Jesus endured temptation from the devil in the desert. In much the same way as Adam and Eve, Jesus is tempted directly by the devil to deviate from God’s Word. But where Adam and Eve failed to resist the temptation, Jesus succeeds and remains perfect. Through his perfect and innocent sacrifice we have been redeemed! We are no longer children of the first...

Text: Luke 9:28 -36  Summary - Peter often behaves like a cartoon character. His foolishness is extravagant and yet we can relate to Him. On the mountain of Jesus’ transfiguration Peter still tries to call the shots even when Jesus in all His glory is standing right there. How often do we do this same thing? How often do we try to enlist Jesus in our plans rather than submit to His?   Pa...

Text: Luke 6:28 -36  Summary: The text of our gospel this week focuses on what Christ calls his disciples--that’s us—to do. The focus isn’t on us to do these things in order to be saved, but rather because we are saved Christ calls us to live the same seemingly inverted life that Jesus puts on display for us. Let’s take a look at the 16 imperatives that Jesus commands his disciples in this te...

Pastor Adam Thompson, Ascension Lutheran Church

Text: Luke 5:1-11   How can we know that our work as the church is not in vain? In Luke 5 we see how God’s Word transforms the fruitless toil of the soon-to-be disciples fishing into the biggest catch of fish they have ever made! Jesus, using that same Word, calls them, and the church established through them, to catch mankind with the gospel. Because God’s Word is in it, the labor is not don...

Text: Luke 4:31 -44   Jesus is teaching in the synagogue again and this time people are astonished at “his word” because it “possesses authority.” What kind of authority does Jesus’s word posses and why does it matter for us?   Pastor Adam Thompson, Ascension Lutheran Church