Faith and Life Podcast

The good and gracious will of God is surely done without our prayer, but we ask in this prayer that it may be done also among us. God’s will is done when he hinders and defeats every evil scheme and purpose of the devil, the world, and our sinful self. And God’s will is done when he strengthens our faith and keeps us firm in his Word as long as we live.  After hearing this message, we hope you wil...

Wednesdays during the season of Lent, Pastor Steve will explore five of the spiritual disciplines described by Richard Foster. This message focuses on the practice of Christian Meditation. Lessons: Psalm 119:97-104  and  Mark 1:35-39 Sermon Outline

God's name is powerful and represents God. God's name is holy in itself, but we ask in this prayer that we may keep it holy. God's name is hallowed whenever his Word is taught in it truth and purity and we as children of God live in harmony with it.  After hearing this message, we hope you will call upon the name of the Lord and keep His name holy by regularly hearing his word and living according...

This Ash Wednesday, Pastor Steve kicks off a new midweek series titled, "Celebration of Discipline". This message sets the stage for an indepth look at five of the spiritual disciplines described by Richard Foster. We hope you'll come away from this series with a greater understanding of how practicing spiritual disciplines can grow your faith, and incorporate these disciplines into your everyday...

Today is Transfiguration Sunday and we are concluding our sermon series titled, "Christ Is Sufficient." We hold up the truth that our God is suffient for us as he comes to us personally and extraordinarily in prayer when we cry, Abba, Father. Lessons: Isaiah 49:13-16a , Galatians 4:1-7 , and Mark 9:2-9 .

God has not only saved us, raised us, and redeemed us for eternity, he has called us to conform to His likeness here on Earth. He has given us the Spirit to prompt and sanctify but our hopes, prayer and desires are to be constantly turned to a purpose of sanctification here on Earth.  Readings: Leviticus 19:1-11 , Romans 12:1-2 , and  John 13:31-38 .

Our bones are dried up and our hope is gone; we are cut off. God will step in when we are not drowning or dying, but rather dead and breath new, everlasting life into us. We will take away a greater understanding of our reality before and after the Breathe of the Spirit was breathed into us! Lessons: Ezekial 37:1-14 , Ephesians 2:1-7 , and Luke 7:11-17 .

Christ, in his humanity, provides us with the only successful construct for Christian spirituality. Jesus emptied himself by taking the form of a servant. This submission to the Father's will necessitated Jesus to live in total dependence upon the indwelling Holy Spirit. The Spirit-led and empowered Messiah lived in perfect obedience to the Father and, in so doing, communicated the life of the Fat...

The previously invisible God has been manifested in Christ. The universe exists and operates according to the One who made it and He has been revealed in the Son. The meaning of life and the significance of that meaning is centered in Christ. The foundation for Christian spirituality is Jesus Christ.  We hope you will live everyday with the meaning of life that Christ provides. Lessons: Philippian...

This sermon will introduce the series "Christ Is Sufficient" with the understanding that Christ is sufficient because he is God. The baptism of Jesus is the first understood manifestation of God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit at one time. This teaches us that Jesus is fully God.  We hope you will accept that Jesus is enough because he is fully God and that we do not need to look for another. Lessons...

Our greatest wisdom and revelation is simply knowing God. To know God is to know the hope of His calling, to know that we are considered His valuable inheritance and to know the immeasurable greatness of His power.   Lessons: Ephesians 1:15-19  and  Matthew 16:13-23

The Angel's first word's to the terrified shepherds was, "Fear not!", the same words spoken to Mary. The perfect love of God, manifest in the birth of Jesus, takes away our fears.  This Christmas we hope you will begin to let the perfect love of God in Christ take away your fears.  Lessons: Luke 2:1-20  (RSV) and  1 John 4:1-5, 15-18a

Jesus came as our Lord and king, to establish God's kingdom which brings radical obedience. This radical obedience we see in both the prophet Isaiah and the Virgin Mary. Radical obedience we live out when God call us.  Gospel lesson:  Luke 1:26-38

When God's kingdom comes, sick people are cured, disable people are made whole, demon-possessed individuals are freed, and even the dead are raised. In short, God's kingdom brings healing.      Lessons:  Isaiah 61:1-3 ,  James 5:13-16 ,  Mark 1:21-34

When God's kingdom comes into our broken world, social, economic, and political justice for the poor and the oppressed are fostered.   Today's Gospel lesson comes from  Luke 1:39-56

John the Baptist came preaching, "Repent for the kingdom of heaven is near!" When God's Kingdom comes to us, it leads us to true repentence. In this message, Pastor Steve outlines three phases of true repentence. Repentence in our thought, in our heart, and in our behavior.  Today's Gospel lesson comes from Matthew 3:1-12 .

When God's Kingdom comes into our lives, we reevaluate our material wealth to see it not only as our ultimate security but rather as a resource to help others.   Gospel lesson: Mark 10:17-31

God's Kingdom has already come through the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus. Yet, we continue to live in the tension of the "already come - yet to come" Kingdom of God as we wait for the Second Coming of Jesus. This message will focus on what the Bible has to say about The Second Coming of Jesus.

When we consider all that God has given us, our obvious response is to give him thanks. This week our Youth Pastor, Greg Osborne, will conclude our sermon series by focusing on how we give God our thanks by unleashing his love to meet the hopes and hurts of others.

When we consider all that our good God has done for us, our obvious response is to give thanks. Today, as we prepare to celebrate Thanksgiving Sunday next week, we're going to learn helpful moves in being generous when we're giving God thanks with our treasure. Scripture lessons: Malachi 3:6-10 , 2 Corinthians 9:6-8 ,  Matthew 25:14-30

When we consider all that our good God has done for us, our obvious first response is to give Him thanks.   We are beginning a new sermon series today entitled, "Give God Thanks" and we're very excited to have our good friend David Drees here to kick off the series. In this month of thanksgiving it is appropriate for us to explore more deeply how and why it is that we give God our thanks.  

Throughout his ministry, Jesus taught with words and by his own example that in God’s economy those who are considered blessed are not those we would expect to be lifted up as people who are blessed and noteworthy. It is the little, the least, the last, the lost, and the dead who are lifted up as blessed saints. Today Pastor Steve explores how we don’t become saints through heroic actions, but rat...

Through his death and resurrection, Jesus sets us free from our bondage to sin, death, and the power of the evil one. On this Reformation Sunday, Pastor Steve refreshes this basic understanding of the Christian faith, what we call the gospel message. 

David Drees returns to St. Luke this week to conclude our series,  Simplify: Practices to Unclutter Our Souls .    How do you view the Bible? What place does it hold in your daily life?   Through the Holy Scriptures God teaches, disciplines, sanctifies, and grows us in righteousness and yet we often neglect the ready and study of God's Word.    Today, as we conclude our series,  Simplify: Practice...

Do you have someone in your life that you find it hard to forgive? If you do, then you probably know how this can complicate your spiritual journey and clutter up your soul. In this sermon, Pastor Steve uses the text from Matthew 18:21-35 to help us understand the practice of making room for forgivenss.