Divine Savior Church-Santa Rita Ranch Sermons

Not only has God been generous with us by giving us stuff. He has also given us time and talents. He has given us these spiritual “gifts” in order to use them to make a difference in the lives of others. Why? To reflect his light and love in the world around us. We offer our bodies and lives as “living sacrifices” to thank God for his grace and mercy to us! All of our gifts work together for the c...

Like a parent giving their children money so they can experience buying someone a present, God gives us gifts so we can experience generosity by experiencing being generous. We not only experience generosity from God as recipients. We experience generosity as God allows us to be in on the giving. We become channels through which God pours resources to meet the needs of others. When we give generou...

There are two things we can focus on: what we have, or what we don’t have. It is going to be a lot more helpful to focus on what we have. That opens our eyes to see the amazing generosity God has shown us! He has been generous to us in his creation, in his providence, in saving us, and in having mercy on us. God is generous with us even when you don’t think He is. Let’s stop focusing on what we do...

This series has focused on you – how you can become a new you in this new year. You don’t live your life in a vacuum though.  You have relationships with others – many others. You are interconnected with other people – your spouse, your children, your friends, your coworkers, your neighbor. All those relationships will be affected by what you do and what you don’t do.  So, what will the new you do...

To change your life for more than one month and for more than one year will require some serious power. The dedication necessary must come from a capable source. In your Baptism, which connects you to Jesus’ own, the miraculous power of the Holy Spirit has been at work to give you a rebirth and to renew you daily. This empowers you to be the new you that God has declared you to be through his mira...

How can you live a new life that becomes identified as good and joyful by those around you?  When you know that a burden of guilt and shame can no longer hang on your shoulders. When you aren't living to measure up to a perfect standard, but you live in the joyful understanding that that standard has been met for you by Jesus Christ. Then you are free - free to be a light shining that same gr...

When you look ahead to a new year and the new you that you will be, do you hope external things will change?  Do you hope that this year will be the one that is different?  Do you find yourself saying, “This year will be better than last, and it has got to be better than the one before that. Easier, more fun, more relaxed, more enjoyable.”? What if the change that is needed isn’t external, but int...

Everyone’s talking about them and pointing them out: the latest and the greatest products, programs, and apps promise to transform your life in the new year, if you will just commit to them. The message of Jesus isn’t something new. It’s been spoken and reviewed for thousands of years, yet Jesus has the power to make you new. He does so as the lamb of God that John had to point out – the lamb of G...

A Christmas message from Pastor Apt Support the show

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...

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....

You Can Rest Now  (God Substitutes/Sacrifices For Us) 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 B...

The Passover Lamb  (God Forgives Us) Maybe you have neighbors who celebrate Passover and you wonder what that is all about. It is a central idea in the Bible and a huge part of the worship rhythm of God’s people. The original feast helped God’s people remember how He delivered them from slavery and oppression. Year after year, they observed this to remember that. But at the same time, they were le...

We Want To See Jesus (God Fixes Us) 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 n...

The school year may still feel somewhat fresh and new, but did you know? The end is near! No, not necessarily the end of this school year. The Very End. What does this mean? Jesus made it clear that there will be a harvest of souls at the end of time when he comes back. None of us knows exactly when that day will be. That’s why our mission of changing lives with the good news of Jesus is ongoing,...

If there is rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who turns to the Lord (and there is!), then we want to celebrate too! We want to rejoice in the great work that God is doing here and across all our Divine Savior campuses as we change lives with Jesus through the gospel. So let the party begin! Why? Because God’s love is global! The Bible shows us how the gospel creates a new humanity focused on Jes...

Jesus didn’t give us a great suggestion. He gave us a great commission. “Make disciples.” Literally, it’s a command. In other words, Jesus is saying, “Don’t just have good intentions, but also get this action done.” That begs the question, “How?” The good news is Jesus didn’t make this impossible. He actually made it doable! And not just for religious professionals like pastors and teachers, but f...

Telling others about Jesus is more about trusting God’s powerful word than trusting in our own knowledge or ability to share it. Once we get over ourselves we all can become people who love to “plant gospel seeds” even though we all have different gifts, abilities, relationships, and opportunities. The power isn’t in us, but we all have an important part to play so that the Holy Spirit can do his...

Tell others about Jesus? Try and get them to change their mind? Convince them to believe? To many, that sounds intimidating, perhaps even impossible. It is certainly easier to assume that it might be best to just remain quiet. Lack of knowledge, insecurities, inexperience, doubts, fears…there are plenty of reasons to think, “I Could Never.” But what about all of us together? What about when Jesus...

Our society seems obsessed with the idea of creating a world where no one is offended by what others say. Safe spaces are created so that people can be free of bias, criticism, conflict or ideas that they don't personally like. Yet Christians always seem to be fair game for criticism. No one seems to care about offending us! Does anyone care if I am offended as a Christian? How should I react...

The world we live in is changing at a blinding pace. Truth has become as flexible as a rubber band. What is acceptable today will not be acceptable tomorrow. Those who used to be admired are now vilified and hated. What used to be considered good is now considered despicable. Bad behavior is rewarded and applauded. It's enough to make us all live in a constant state of confusion, not knowing...