Divine Savior Church-Santa Rita Ranch Sermons

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...

Ever been so scared your face went pale? Daniel was. But, God showed His dominion will never end. He has won the victory over the enemy. We experience that in part now. But God promises we will experience it fully one day. No matter how out of control life seems, God is in control! He can even control the very things that rise in opposition to Him. Christians can rest assured, that while nations r...

There are certain situations only God can get us out of. Like being rescued from a den of hungry lions. Daniel served his king, but would not worship Him. That got him in trouble. He faced certain death because of it. While we might not face death, we do have professional, relational, cultural, and political issues that challenge our faith. How do we deal with them? We trust our God who delivers f...

The king in our lesson today thought he had it made. He thought he could hold God in his hand, belittle God, and determine what God would do. But the writing on the wall said otherwise. The lesson we learn is: if we think we can hold God in our little hands, we venture into territory we don’t belong. We will be weighed and found wanting before God. Like the king, we don’t always heed this warning....

God wants all people to be saved. Which means He is going to do whatever it takes to make that happen. Sometimes that’s very easy. But sometimes that happens through a personal crisis. When we are robbed of comfort, health, wealth, and pride, God and His plans for us often seem a lot clearer. Because of this, we can be thankful for the challenges, difficulties, and hardships that come our way! The...

The world is filled with things that scream: Put me ahead of your God. But NOTHING can take the place of our God! So, that other thing will have to go. Daniel had to make that choice. So will we. What are we willing to sacrifice to serve Him above all? It might be a pretty difficult choice. But remember, the God we serve is able to help us in every situation. And he doesn’t ask us to make those ch...

Wisdom doesn’t mean we have all the answers. Having wisdom means we know where to go to find the answers. This section of Daniel proves that. If we rely on ourselves for wisdom, we are going to see how ignorant we are. Because true wisdom comes from God. What Jesus does for us is draw us away from trusting in ourselves to trusting in Him. His Word always offers us the wisdom we truly need rather t...

Have you ever wondered why you are where you are? And wherever THAT is, does it sometimes seem that God is far away? Daniel and his friends could have felt like that. They were far away from their home. Exiles in a foreign country. But God always puts His people where He wants them. He is accomplishing His purpose through us. Daniel knew that. He had the courage and the joy to be who God wanted Hi...

Life throws so much at us that it is easy to feel defeated and without hope. That's how some women were feeling on Easter morning as they made their way to the tomb. Everything changed, though, when they arrived at the tomb and it was empty. No longer are we defeated, but victorious!  Support the show

The power of the devil's lures is so great. Left to ourselves, the devil would hook every one of us and drag us into hell. Thankfully, Jesus to unhook us from the lures of Satan. But he doesn't just unhook us. He completely destoys the work of the devil. Though the devil still tries to lure us in, we have the power to resist. But this power doesn't reside in us. Rather it comes from...

What would YOU do to tempt you? What is so fascinating you would turn your back on everything you know to be right and swim towards it? Sadly, the devil knows that answer even better than you do. He sees your blind spots and has thousands of years of tempting people just like you. Learn lessons from God's people in the past to see the lures the devil uses and how to look to Jesus for the way...

One of Satan's most loved lure is the lure of fear. He loves to cause chaos and make us fear for our life. The reality, though, is that we have a mighty fortress that surrounds us and protects us. We have a refuge that keeps us safe and secure no matter what is going on.  Support the show

One of the biggest reasons we get hooked by Satan's lures is because we underestimate the power of sin. Instead of moving as far away as we can, we think we can "handle it". We hang dangerously close to the lure. Only when the hook digs in do we find out the temptation is more deadly than we could ever imagine. Learn how dangerous self-reliance is and who we can lean on instead of o...