Divine Savior Church-Delray Beach

Stop Copying the World and Start Copying Christ  We live in a fashion-conscious world. We see influential people wearing certain styles of clothes and imitate them by trying to keep up with the same fashions. We want to look the same as the world around us. We do the same thing in the way that we live. We imitate the world in the way that we act, talk, and think. Sometimes we blend right in and pe...

Most of us enjoy the suspense of a mystery thriller. Books and movies keep us on the edge of our seats, as do documentaries about unsolved mysteries. Other mysteries are more personal – like figuring out how to fill out your tax form or what to get your mom for Mother’s Day. The only thing more compelling than a mystery is when the mystery finally gets solved. Today’s text reveals a mystery that h...

There is a depressingly relentless cycle of political strife and military conflict between peoples, nations, and religious cultures in our world. There is constant suspicion and segregation in our cities and communities between black and white, rich and poor, right-wing and left-wing. The list goes on. There is even tension between colleagues at work and cruelty and hurt in our homes. Is it possib...

Why do Christians get so excited by “grace?” Why do we sing about “Amazing Grace”? We name our churches after it. We name our children after it. What is all the fuss about? God’s “grace” is his undeserved love for us. But why is it so amazing? This text reveals why God’s grace is the most amazing gift we could ever have. We have a problem – we are spiritually dead. We can’t do a thing to make thin...

We probably have a lot of relationships that are shallow or even artificial. It is important for us to get to know people better. It is more important to get to know our spouse better. But even more important… is getting to know God better. That is the prayer today. That we might know God better. The more we learn about God and what He has done for us, the more we know the hope God gives us in Jes...

I love seeing people wearing the T-shirts that say “Blessed.” Do you feel “blessed” even when nothing is going right? In this glorious passage that begins the letter to the Ephesians, Paul launches an avalanche of praise for God. In the original language, it is one long breathless sentence. He begins by summarizing what he is so excited about: “Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Chr...

We need a king. God’s people needed a king. They tried finding leadership, guidance, and protection in human judges and kings. But it didn’t work. Everyone did what was right in their own eyes. They needed a king. Those imperfect kings pointed ahead to the King we truly needed. King David, in particular, as a shepherd-king, was a picture of the king Jesus was coming to be. All of the Bible points...

As we get to the end of Old Testament history, we see how God never abandoned his people. They turned their backs on Him, but He continued to be gracious and merciful. They were unfaithful but He was always faithful. He kept all of his promises. And that is just what they needed to lead them to trust his BIG promise – sending Jesus into this world. During the Advent season, we need this same confi...

From the beginning, we have so often chosen to make our own standards of what is good and right. Our own codes of morality. No matter how well we might think that works, it won’t help us if it doesn’t line up with God’s standard of morality. We have fallen so far short and gotten so off track from that standard. Which created all kinds of damage in our lives and collateral damage in the lives of t...

We’ve heard stories about people discovering very valuable treasures that were right under their noses for a long time. They just didn’t realize it until they made an unexpected discovery. Can that be true about the relationship we have with the most valuable treasure we have on earth? Has it been sitting under our noses without us realizing it? I am talking about the Bible. The Word of God with w...

How often do you feel alone in life? More often than you should. God said from the beginning it’s not good for us to be alone. He gave us each other to be a community of people on earth. And He also promised us his presence. Throughout the Bible, we see the many ways God reminds us of his presence. Especially the visible way He reminded us of his presence with the Temple. But that temple pointed t...

We aren’t always good at remembering, so we need reminders. Our photos apps and social media occasionally send us images as reminders of what happened 5, 10, or 15 years ago. We put pictures on the wall to remind us of beautiful memories. It’s important to do this! God taught his people the importance of remembering things by setting up physical reminders or even by giving certain names to people....

Imagine having to pay back your debt to society… having to make up for everything you have ever done wrong. That would be frustrating and exhausting. The book of Leviticus shows us just how exhausting it would be, and how many sacrifices it would take. But Leviticus wasn’t put in the Bible to exhaust you or discourage you from continuing your Bible reading plan… it was put there to powerfully show...

We live in a world where people believe that you have your truth, and they have their truth. Their thing is their thing, your thing is your thing. Jesus is for some, but not for everyone. Early on in God’s redemptive story, He showed clearly that Jesus would be a blessing for everyone! Jesus was the blessing promised to Abraham! No matter where you grew up, what your nationality is, what religion(...

A lot of people, including Christians, don’t seem to know the Old Testament very well. We might know a few of the Sunday School stories. But beyond that, we quit on Bible reading plans because we get bored by the time we get to Leviticus. It might be because we aren’t seeing Jesus in it. And He is there. Right from the beginning, the epic battle begins. And we need Someone to come and rescue us an...

Jesus ascended into heaven. That does not mean the gospel has ceased to march victorious around the world! Jesus promised to send another advocate to represent God to the world: the Holy Spirit. The Spirit is the constant companion of believers in these Last Days. This raises an important question. If God now reveals himself by his Spirit, where is the Holy Spirit found? God has not left the answe...

Out of all the habits we’ve talked about, which is the most important? The truth is that while everything we’ve talked about in this series is important, there is only “one thing that is needed” according to Jesus himself. This is meant to be a great comfort to every disciple, including us. Why? Because the “one thing that is needed” is not our giving. It’s not our doing. It’s simply our receiving...

“Is there something I can pray about for you right now?” This is a powerful question to ask not just because almost everyone has something serious going on in their life. It’s powerful also because God promises to hear our prayers! A healthy spiritual life is kind of like breathing. We breathe in deeply and receive from God the “oxygen of faith” – the Gospel. Then we breathe out and talk to God wh...

One way we see the love of Jesus is in how he interacted with people from all segments of society. He talked with them. He listened to them. He asked them questions. He taught them. Our human tendency is to be comfortable only with people from our social circles, those we would happily already call our friends. Perhaps this is why “talk to people” is something we need to, well, talk about in churc...

Life can be extremely difficult sometimes. That is true even for disciples of Jesus. Yet difficult circumstances in life often provide excellent opportunities to show the love of Christ by doing good to and for others. Jesus showed love and did good, so we reflect Christ by showing love and doing good even though our best efforts will always be imperfect. Yet even our imperfect efforts, when motiv...

Disciples are those who are connected to Jesus Christ by faith even though we could never do anything to deserve this. Yet just like with his first disciples, Jesus sends us out to share this good news with others so that they might become his disciples too. The power to do this is not in ourselves. It is in the promises of God who is at work through us. So where and how are we to do this? It star...

“What is a disciple? “Am I a disciple?” These are important questions for those who seek to follow Jesus. While the resurrection of Jesus on Easter changes our entire outlook on death and the life to come, we also need to ask ourselves, “What does it change for my life right now if I’m going to call myself a Christian or a disciple of Jesus?” As we answer this question we’ll see that being a disci...

If there's one thing that is sure in this world, it is the fear of death. No matter who we are, death is coming for all of us and it is terrifying. Many people spend lots of money looking for anyway to prevent death. We look to those earthly saviors hoping and praying that we can keep death at a distance. While they may prevent death, they can never save from death. We need a Savior to defeat...

The disciples wanted a Savior who was going to bring power and rule with authority. Since they were Jesus' loyal followers, they would of course have access to some special places next to Jesus where they would have some power as well. That's the Savior we want. A powerful one that will bring earthly power and influence. We want one that will be glorified here, rule here, and have power...

In any great story, there's always a villain, victims that he takes captive, and a hero. Every story depicts the hero physically conquering the villain in order to free the people. Sometimes that's what we think we need, isn't it? Wouldn't it be better if the devil wasn't around to tempt us and cause terror in our lives? Wouldn't it be great if Jesus destroyed the dev...