Faith and Life Podcast

Lessons: Isaiah 49:1-7, 1 Corinthians 12:1-11, John 1:29-42 Watch:  stlukecolumbus.com/ondemand   Subscribe to our Youtube channel

Lessons: Isaiah 44:1-5, 1 Corinthians 12:12-13, Matthew 3:13-17   Now that the season of giving Christmas gifts is over, we could say that we are in the season of regifting as we consider what Christmas gifts we will regift to others. Regifting can describe what we do with the gifts that God has given us as we share with others the great gifts God has given us. The priceless difference is that God...

Now that the season of giving Christmas gifts is over, we could say that we are in the season of regifting as we consider what Christmas gifts we will regift to others. Regifting can describe what we do with the gifts that God has given us as we share with others the great gifts God has given us. The priceless difference is that God's gifts are unlimited and therefore we can keep these gifts that...

In every way our brother Jesus empathizes in our trials. Based on the lesson from Hebrews, we learn the depth of the connection that God the Son, Jesus, has with us. He both empathizes with us and saves us from our bondage to sin and suffering. This brings a deeper understanding and comfort to the words, "The Lord is with you."    Next Step: As we practice the discipline of staying, "The Lord is w...

Meet the God that is FOR you this Christmas! Lessons: Isaiah 9:2-7, Titus 2:11-14, Luke 2:1-20 Watch:  stlukecolumbus.com/ondemand   Subscribe to our Youtube channel

Open God's gift of being delivered from the power of sin. When the angel explained to Joseph that what had been conceived in Mary is from the Holy Spirit, the angel said, "She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins." (Matthew 1:21) This gift that God gives to us is not only being forgiven of our sins (as great as that is!),...

In the face of difficulty, weakness, fear, disappointment, and discouragement, the Lord boldly proclaims that a day of joy is coming.  "Everlasting joy will crown their heads. Gladness and joy will overtake them, and sorrow and sighing will flee away." This is our hope as well.  Times of sighing and sorrow come to all of us. We move through seasons of difficulty and discouragement. Today, we rest...

Our search for assurance find hope in Jesus. We live with more uncertainty than we would admit. We know that at any moment life could take a devastating turn. The current events in our culture cascade around us and we are left asking, "Now what will happen?" Even when we have worked hard to ensure that we will be ok, there is an endemic uncertainty to this life that leaves us searching for greater...

With the beginning of Advent, a season of preparation, watching, and waiting, we hear Jesus say, "Keep watch, because you do not know on what day the Lord will come."  We lean into what we profess to be true that Jesus will "come again to judge the living and the dead." While we prepare for the celebration of Christ's arrival in the world in Bethlehem, we yearn for his return again, watching for G...

Living thankfully by being generous matters to God. When we thank God by giving offering, we honor God and prepare ourselves to see the salvation of God. From the time of ancient Israel, giving thanks to God involved making sacrificial offerings to God. One way to thank God is by giving to others, which transforms us and honors God. Jesus lived thankfully and generously. As we grow to be more like...

Generosity is a heart matter, it's not a quantity issue, it is simply a quality issue.  God's unending storehouse of mercy and grace cannot be outdone or exhausted, which is why our mindset isn't on the "what" of generosity but on the "pricelessness" of the act.  The other thing for us to surrender is the act of being generous is not the first step, but the last action of a heart fully committed a...

It's been said about God, that while God is all-powerful, all-knowing, and all-present, the Lord willingly limited such attributes for the sake of being generous to His people.  God withholds judgment, limiting anger, for the sake of forgiveness. Jesus limits his involvement in the ongoing ministry of the disciples by empowering his disciples to serve as he serves.  The Omnipresent nature of God i...

All Saints Sunday   Value most what matters most, which is trust in Jesus. This is what makes a saint. God has values and a saint strives to live by those values above all else. The values that Jesus taught are precisely opposite of the values we internalize in our culture. The great news is that the values that Jesus taught do not rest on a foundation of our achievement, but rest on the achieveme...

The greatest need every person has is to know and trust in the love of God in Christ Jesus. Through the work of Jesus, God demonstrated his desire to be in a personal relationship with every person.     Next Step: Identify one person that you sense God is nudging you to begin praying for that person to trust in Jesus and be saved.   Lessons: Jeremiah 31:31-34, Romans  8:35-39, John 8:2-11, 31-36  ...

You can be personal enough to believe in someone's potential to live a remarkable story. A lot of people need someone to believe they can do something they may not even realize they can do. The traps of self-destructive habits, unresolved emotions, and overwhelming circumstances are the trick mirrors that foster in us the false inner-voice that our failures are personal, pervasive, and permanent....

You demonstrate forgiveness when you respond to someone in a way that helps that person to replace shame with hope. While being guilty is part of being human, living with shame is something we choose. The greatest trick shame plays on us is alienating us from the one thing that might help – love. Every person needs to know they are more than the sum of their worst moments. When Jesus ate with Zacc...

Something changes in a relationship when you take the time to understand someone's everyday context. In Jesus, God entered our everyday context, becoming fully human and now fully understands what we experience. If each of us is really honest, admit that you sometimes assume that a person should feel like I feel, think like I think, and believe like I believe. When Jesus went to Zacchaeus's house,...

If you want to be personal, understand what really matters to someone. In order to do that, you have to understand why it mattersGod knows the desires of our hearts and what matters to us. In Jesus, God gave us what matters most.  If you are going to shift from shallow relationships to becoming more personal, you have to become interested in something that interests someone else. When Jesus stoppe...

Learning someone's name is a first important step in being personal. Before we were born, God knew us by name. In our baptism God called us by name into his eternal family. Because of Jesus, our names are written in heaven. Because God knows you by your name, you ought to know others by their names. How you say someone's name can be personal or shallow. When Jesus said Zacchaeus' name, Jesus model...

German Partnership Sunday   Our common mission is to reach the lost. Can we first see ourselves has having once been lost and now am found? If we can internalize the grace in having been lost and found, then we will have the love and the right motivation for doing whatever it takes to reach those who yet do not trust in Jesus.    Next Step: Pray the Lost and Found Prayer each morning this week.   ...

We find true sanctuary when we take on the easy and light yoke of Jesus - dying to ourselves so that we will live for others.   Lessons: Proverbs 22:9, Hebrews 6:7-12, John 12:20-26   Watch:  stlukecolumbus.com/ondemand   Subscribe to our Youtube channel

We find true sanctuary when we enjoy life in active and fulfilling friendships with other followers of Jesus. A life group is any group of friends that regularly enjoy life together and a Christian life group also seeks to help each other grow in faithfully following Jesus. We hear this call to live God's love in life groups often, maybe more often than you wish. We will continue to encourage bein...

Worship is a gathering with others to be in the presence of the Living God.  It's an opportunity to rest in the presence of the Presence, to love and be loved, to find peace in community.  We come with all of our fears, doubts, pressures, joys, and sorrows. We come as we are, and invite others to do the same, and we leave refreshed and renewed. It's less about what we do, and more about being pres...

We will find true sanctuary when we walk God's path for us. God desires to give us sanctuary. We live in a corner of the world where many people experience being over-scheduled, over-burdened, and over-extended. Many of us desire to experience a sanctuary where we can find true rest for our souls, but being an active and growing disciple of Jesus takes time. God will not allow a Christ-follower to...

Fear more than any other emotion stands in the way of faith. Scripture says that faith is certainty of things not seen. When God calls us to do something in faith, fear often causes us to pause. But we have no need to pause, for God is faithful. God's faithfulness has been displayed from the beginning of time. Despite Abraham's fears and doubts, his faith bore a great nation that stands to this da...