Faith and Life Podcast

The Sabbath rest that God graciously commanded us to practice is for our benefit and yet, in our culture, we have so thoroughly turned our back on God's gracious weekly plan for our lives. God intends that our practice of Sabbath rest and worship be a weekly reminder to us of the eternal experience of refreshment that we will enjoy in the paradise that Jesus has prepared for us.    We hope you wil...

The examples of Jesus and the apostles (like Paul), the command of Jesus, the testimony of Christ followers over the last 2000 years, and the work of the Holy Spirit within us compels us to "boldly and without hindrance" preach the kingdom of God and teach others about Jesus. What holds us back from doing this? What is at stake in our reluctance? How can we overcome our reluctance?   After hearing...

We can't do in rows what we can do in circles. It is not good for us to walk the discipleship path without the encouragement of vital friendships with other Christ followers.   We encourage everyone to participate in a Life Group this fall.   Lessons: Genesis 2:19-24, Galatians 6:1-2, Mark 2:1-12

Jesus' answer to wealth inequity includes that we give to the poor. When a rich young man asked Jesus what he must do to get eternal life, the conversation led to Jesus saying to him, "Go, sell your possessions and give to the poor."   The earliest followers of Jesus took his teaching to heart. When Zacchaeus understood that salvation had come to his house, he responded by giving half his possessi...

We are being told that the gap between the rich and the poor is growing and that wealth inequity is increasing. One sign of this may be the growing number of self-storage places where people store up their stuff. If this is true, is the growing wealth inequity just and what would Jesus say about it? In one instance (recorded in the gospel lesson) when Jesus had the opportunity to rectify the wealt...

This week our students take the stage and share how God is working in their lives and through their camp experience.

Since we have been raised to a new life in Jesus, we are truly running on full and have our minds set on living a life that is pleasing to Christ. When we are running filled up with Jesus, we live lives that may seem peculiar and yet attractive to others. We know that we are running on full when … We put to death what violates God's values (3:5-9) We put on the character traits and behaviors that...

Lessons: Colossians 2:6-23, John 1:1-14

When Jesus is on the throne of our lives, he fills us to overflowing. Jesus does not fill us part way, he fills to overflowing. From that overflow, we are compelled by our deep Christ-like desire for all people to be filled with Jesus. Like the Apostle Paul, we commit our entire lives to the grandeur vision that all people would be reconciled with God.   After hearing this sermon, we hope you will...

Because of our rebellion against God, we are born spiritually empty and experience the despairing void of being alienated from our Father Creator. When we try to fill (put on the throne) the great emptiness within us with anyone or anything other than Jesus, we are running on empty. Jesus is the only one who belongs on the throne of our lives and is the only one who can authentically and eternally...

Jesus modeled his way of being the greatest and was how human culture defines greatness. It did not involve judgmentally dividing people into "us" and "them." It was not a grab for power. The path of following Jesus is a counter-cultural life of valuing our relationship with Jesus above everything else and sacrificing for the sake of others. While this can be a difficult path to follow, followers...

In our lesson today, we see a woman who humbled herself before the Lord.  She gave all she had because of her love for the Lord.  Today we will dig into this story and look at how this "sinful" woman showed us what it means to lay it all down at the feet of God.   Lessons: Luke 7:36-50

Prayer #5: That you would recognize that God has purposefully placed us here – at this time, in this place – for His glory.   Prayer #6: That you would develop a taste for truth – even difficult ones.   Prayer #7: That you would embrace Biblical Christianity – not American evangelicalism.   Prayer #8: That you would experience a holy discontentment with where our lives are – and that you would esp...

Our friend, David Drees, returns to St. Luke to give us his final two sermons before moving. In these next two weeks, he will preach through Eight Prayers he has for us as a church and individually.    Prayer #1: That you would see that the greatest problem in the universe is not mere moral failure – but rather a failure to honor God.   Prayer #2: That you would understand that discipline rarely b...

Faith is something that is vital for a relationship with God.  In our scripture lesson,   we will read about how a Centurion has faith that amazes Jesus.  Today we will look at faith how we can strive to have a faith that amazes Jesus.   Lessons: Luke 7:1-10

We all suffer and the longer we live, the more we will suffer. According to Romans 5:1-5, one who trusts in Jesus will experience a progression of profound, extraordinary, surprising and God-given benefits when suffering is endured with faith; suffering produces perseverance, perseverance character, and character, hope.   After hearing this sermon we hope when you are in times of suffering, you wi...

While Pentecost seems like God's conlussion of the work on the Cross, it is really far deeper.  The pursuit of the "Hound of Heaven" as Francis Thompson calls Jesus, was after us from the beginning. Today we will focus on three things: We lost it all, He did it all, We get it all.   Lessons: Genesis 11:1-9, Acts 2: 1-21, John 14: 15-18, 25-27

We are to forgive as we have been forgiven. To be able to do this we must first understand, accept, and dwell in the truth that, through Jesus, we are completely forgiven of all our sins. Forgiving someone from your heart is a process that begins with simply and sincerely saying "I forgive you." The next steps that may follow in the process are letting something die, slowly letting go of the contr...

Several verses in the Bible describe God as being "gracious and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love." As followers of God, the Son, we want to put on this characteristic and be known as those who abound in making allowances for other's faults. This means we are to avoid slandering others, defend them, speak well of them and explain their actions in the kindest way.   In order t...

The ability to put on patience rests on trusting that God has a plan  is in control, and will act when God decides it is time to act. Sometimes we want to go through a door that God has not yet opened. Other times, we unfaithfully delay moving on through a door that God has opened for us. Discerning when it is time to patiently “be still” and when it is time to “move on” requires a seasoned practi...

Gentleness is a strong hand with a soft touch. It is a tender, compassionate approach toward others' weaknesses and limitations. A gentle person still speaks truth, sometimes even painful truth, but in doing so guards his tone so the truth can be well received.   After hearing this sermon, we hope you will Identify areas of your life where you have opportunities to be gentle with others weaknesses...

Being clothed with humility is the way of Jesus. Our culture is desperately in need of a humility revolution like the early Christians led to transform western culture as the Roman Empire was beginning to decline. Humbling ourselves before the Lord is the first big step to putting on Christ, having real life with God, and the Lord healing our land. We can humble ourselves and it is far better for...

It is an extraordinary witness to the new life we have in Christ when we with kindness to someone who has wronged us. The story of Joseph and the example and teachings of Jesus point us to this extraordinary behavior. As holy people are have been raised to a new life in Jesus and clothed with kindness, we have it in use to put on the belt of truthful kindness and behave this way.    After hearing...

Through the death and resurrection of Jesus, our old self is put to death and we are raised to a new life in Christ. One way to understand this transformation is that we take off our old clothes and Jesus clothes us with a new fresh set of clothes. Specific character traits and behaviors come with our new set of fresh threads, one of which is tender-hearted mercy. Tender-hearted mercy is putting o...