Faith and Life Podcast

Pentecost is considered the birthday of the Christian Church. When God sent his Spirit into the first Apostles it was for one reason, so that they would witness to Jesus "in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth." (Acts. 1:8) so that "everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved."   Lessons: Acts 1:1-8, Acts 2:1-21, John 20:19-23

Sometimes in our world we get so caught in what the Church is against and don't focus on what we are for.  As followers of Christ we are called to be FOR our neighbors.  Today we will look at what it can look like when the Church focuses on what we are FOR more than what we are against.   Lessons: Matthew 5:38-42, Matthew 28:16-20

Why would a loving God allow evil and suffering?   The ultimate purpose and meaning that God brings to our suffering are Jesus and the eternal salvation God desires for all people. The problem of evil and suffering remains in our lives, but in the midst of that, continue to trust that Jesus is God's ultimate answer.   Lessons: Isaiah 45:5-7, Romans 3:5-9, John 9:1-11

Happy Mother's Day! Romans 8 is thought by many to be the greatest chapter in the Bible. The teaching in Romans 8 inspires in us a confident faith that is characterized by freedom, victory, expectancy, and assurance. Drawing from the teaching of Pastor Tom Holladay, the goal of this sermon series is to foster a more confident faith in the promises of God made through Jesus Christ. We may sometimes...

Romans 8 is thought by many to be the greatest chapter in the Bible. The teaching in Romans 8 inspires in us a confident faith that is characterized by freedom, victory, expectancy, and assurance. Drawing from the teaching of Pastor Tom Holladay, the goal of this sermon series is to foster a more confident faith in the promises of God made through Jesus Christ. For every one of us there comes time...

Romans 8 is thought by many to be the greatest chapter in the Bible. The teaching in Romans 8 inspires in us a confident faith that is characterized by freedom, victory, expectancy, and assurance. Drawing from the teaching of Pastor Tom Holladay, the goal of this sermon series is to foster a more confident faith in the promises of God made through Jesus Christ. Most of us struggle at times with th...

Romans 8 is thought by many to be the greatest chapter in the Bible. The teaching in Romans 8 inspires in us a confident faith that is characterized by freedom, victory, expectancy, and assurance. Drawing from the teaching of Pastor Tom Holladay, the goal of this sermon series is to foster a more confident faith in the promises of God made through Jesus Christ.   Most all of us struggle at times w...

What do you hope for after you die? Our future resurrection remains a hope. All of us have yet to see our resurrection. This sermon will use the account of the thief on the cross who put his hope in Jesus to teach that real hope comes from a real God who really desires to spend eternity with us. In the physical resurrection of Jesus, God has given us a physical testimony that our hope for eternal...

When Jesus entered Jerusalem and created a commotion, people in the crowd who were happening by asked, "Who Is This?" The answer: "This is the man who has come into your city to be arrested for crimes that were not committed by anyone, tried, tortured, and executed by crucifixion. And he planned to do exactly this all along so that you can have real and eternal life, more and better life than you...

The benefits we receive through faithfully receiving Holy Communion deepen our faith and offer us forgiveness, new life, and eternal life. In the Small Catechism Martin Luther gives us wise instruction on how to understand and prepare for Holy Communion.     Read through Luther's explanation of Holy Communion in the Small Catechism enough to become familiar with its teaching so that it can inform...

Trusting what God accomplished in your baptism deepens your assurance of salvation and points the way to more holy living. In the Small Catechism, Luther give a clear, concise, and Biblically based understanding of Holy Baptism that offers wise and helpful instruction to guide our thoughts and actions.   Read through Luther's explanation of Holy Baptism in the Small Catechism enough to become fami...

The Jews understood that God dwelt in the temple in Jerusalem that was the epicenter and focus of the Jewish religion. It is likely that what got Jesus killed more than anything else was his perceived challenge of the temple and the cult surrounding it. Jesus promoted a new sanctuary where we intimately experience God; the physical body of Jesus rising from the dead, the body of Christ which is th...

Petitions 5-7 and the Doxology of The Lord's Prayer. A helpful practice when praying the Lord's Prayer is to pray it slowly, pausing to contemplate what each part of the Lord's Prayer means and how God answers each part. Martin Luther's Small Catechism offers wise instruction on doing this practice.   Read through Luther's explanation of Petitions 5-7 and the Doxology of The Lord's Prayer in the S...

Jesus raised to new life those who are dead. This is where we can have that blessed assurance that if we believe in Christ as our savior and Lord then we to will be resurrected.   Lessons: Psalm 16:1-11, 1 Corinthians 15:12-20, John 11:38-53

The Introduction and Petitions 1-4 of The Lord's Prayer. A helpful practice when praying the Lord's Prayer is to pray it slowly, pausing to contemplate what each part of the Lord's Prayer means and how God answers each part. Martin Luther's Small Catechism offers wise instruction on doing this practice.   Read through Luther's explanation ofthe Introduction and Petitions 1-4 of The Lord's Prayer i...

Jesus led a new mission to extravagantly forgive sins and to seek and to save the lost. He expanded the saving mission of God beyond the confines of well-behaved Jewish people.   Identify a person or a group of people that you may be secretly wanting to exclude from the forgiveness of Jesus. Pray for God to change your heart and for God to lead that person or persons to faith.   Lessons: Isaiah 49...

The Ecumenical Creeds are necessary and helpful for knowing what we believe, teaching the Christian faith, and for knowing the difference between true and false beliefs. In the Small Catechism, Martin Luther gives wise instruction to flesh out what is taught in the Apostles' Creed.   Read through Luther's explanation of the Apostles' Creed in the Small Catechism enough to become familiar with its...

Jesus taught a new teaching that salvation comes through faith when we are born again through God's work in Christ Jesus. This new teaching confused and eventually angered the religious authorities and inspire their desire to kill Jesus. For us, this new teaching is of central importance, for it gives us the blessed assurance that we are saved, not by our good works, but through the work that Jesu...

In the Small Catechism, Martin Luther offers wise and practical instruction on applying the 10 Commandments to our daily lives. Knowing and remembering this instruction offers helpful guidance to our daily living. We encourage you to read through Luther's explanation of the 10 Commandments in the Small Catechism enough to become familiar with its teaching so that it can guide your daily living. Le...

Our good works of generosity and serving people in need, that are the overflow from a growing faith in Jesus, are treasured by the Lord. This gives us a solid foundation for our future and a life which is truly life. After briefly teaching this truth, Steve will interview Ray, Ruth Ann, and Caroline, to give witness to this truth.   We encourage you to do one serve or give good work to meet a hope...

Wise Instruction:  Wednesdays in Lent As part of our celebration of the 500 Anniversary of the Reformation, the Wednesday Lenten services will focus on understanding Martin Luther's Small Catechism which offers us wise instruction for better understanding our faith and living in obedience to God's Word.   The honest confession of one's sins is a necessary, wise, and helpful spiritual discipline. T...

The most surprising move that Jesus made was to release his entire mission into the hands of his disciples. After he had gathered and discipled them, he sent them out to do his mission. Incredible, given how fallible we are!   What is holding you/us back from reaching the lost and restoring the hurting?     Identify what is holding you back from jumping full bore into the mission of Jesus. Pray fo...

Jesus' method in leading his mission was to reproduce himself by making disciples who were led to faith, called to follow Jesus, and taught to obey everything Jesus had commanded. He reproduced spiritual children. Making disciples was Jesus mission.   Who disciples you and who do you disciple? The ones we seek to disciple should include those who have not yet put their faith in Jesus.     Find som...

When Jesus preached his first sermon in his home church, after he had just begun to make a name for himself, Jesus used a lesson from Isaiah to state that his mission was to announce good news to those who are hurting in order to restore them. He lived this out through the rest of his earthly ministry through his healings, defending of those being oppressed, and releasing those who were held capti...

Jesus stated that his mission is to reach out to seek and to save those who are lost. Jesus taught this and lived it, as illustrated in his reaching out to the tax collector, Zacchaeus. This was the primary mission of Jesus. It's why he came. Our primary mission as the body of Christ, the Church, is to do the same. How effective are we doing in our mission?  How many people have moved from being l...