God's Word in Our Lives

“Jesus takes away your sin!” Of all the ways to share the Gospel with a child, “Jesus takes away your sin!” is one of the most common. Simple is good, but as with anything simple, simplicity can often lead to misunderstanding. Today, we focus on a beautiful example of God taking away sin from the Old Testament. As we do, there will be no room for misunderstanding what God means by “take away sin.”

Way back in 1981, Pastor Mark Cares was called to serve a small church in Nampa, Idaho called Messiah. It didn’t take long to learn that the church was located deep in Mormon country. Many years of serving in this setting served as the foundation of Truth in Love Ministry. Today, the Mission Advancement Director of Truth in Love Ministry, Pastor Phil Koelpin, is here to share God’s Word with us. W...

This week, during our campfire themed VBS, we've focused on a number of fire themed Biblical accounts that teach us important lessons about who our God is and what he's done. In short, we've learned that, because of Jesus' sacrifice on the cross, the LORD is our God, now and forever! Other "gods" can't do anything for us. The LORD, he is our God! Today we conclud...

This week Jesus encourages his Church to be on the lookout for Pseudo-Prophets (false prophets). Well, how do we do that? Simple really. Know the Word! If you know what God's Word actually says, you will easily identify false prophets because they'll say things that God's Word does not say! Intimidated? Don't be! You don't need to be a Doctor of Theology to "Know the...

Due to the context of America’s history with chattel slavery, as we study what the Scriptures have to say about slavery, including the many Scriptural illustrations that feature slavery, we identify an extra layer of complexity. We would do well to not only identify our nation’s history with slavery but compare and contrast it with slavery as we find it referenced and applied in God’s Word. Today,...

Our sinful self is programed to focus on action from a specific direction. From the perspective of the sinful human, the human is always the subject who performs the action. “Look at how I served my neighbor!” “Look at how I served God!” The human is the subject. God and the neighbor are the object of the service. This week, Jesus warns us of the great danger of this perspective! This is the persp...

What’s the life of an heir like? If you’re an heir, you don’t yet have the estate, but you know you one day will. How would that change the way you live life on a day to day basis? The wealth is not yet under your control, but the fact that you’re an heir means one day it will be. There is no doubt about it. Since we are God’s children, we are also God’s’ heirs. This fact has a remarkable impact o...

“Though we easily forget our own sins, we sternly censor the sins of others. As insignificant as we generally regard sin, so easily do we refuse to forgive certain sinners.” Those words are the opening lines of a sermon on today’s Gospel Lesson by a pastor named CFW Walther preached around the year 1850. They set the tone well. Today we consider how easy it is for us to elevate ourselves above oth...

No one likes to be excluded. And yet, our world is full of exclusivity. So full of exclusivity, we may not even realize when an invitation is exclusive. Something as simple as a children’s playground can be quite exclusive as most, if not all, of the play equipment often excludes children with physical disabilities. This week, we’ll learn an important lesson about God’s inclusive invitation. It’s...

The First Commandment goes like this, “You shall have no other gods before me.” How would you teach that commandment to a child? First, you’d need to explain to that child the difference between the one true God, and any other “god.” A god is that from which we expect good things and in which we are to take refuge in all distress. Your god is either the LORD, or your god is not the LORD. This week...

Historically, the Christian Church has focused its attention on the Triune God the first Sunday after Pentecost. Today we’ll do the same. As we do, we’ll take a look at an incredible scene in which the prophet Isaiah finds himself face to face with the one and only Triune God. As you might imagine, this experience fills Isaiah with terror and a sense of inadequacy. Like you and me, Isaiah was an i...

We don’t know a lot about the prophet Joel, but we do know that Joel was warning God’s people about a very challenging time ahead. It was the beginning of the end for this nation. Through it all God made some promises—some big promises—promises that were fulfilled on Pentecost. Today, as we celebrate Pentecost, we not only see these promises fulfilled on that day, but every day. As we review the p...

“I’ve got nothing but good things to say!” Could a more positive review be left for your favorite restaurant? How about if that’s the endorsement of a prospective hairstylist? This week, as a number of young men and women at Mt. Olive are confirmed, they will do what all Christians do! They will say good things about the God who, thanks to Jesus, has nothing but good things to say about them!

Christians are used to ending their prayers with the phrase "In Jesus' name, Amen." I wonder how often we chew on what that really means. In worship this week, we'll consider what it was like to pray to the one true God before Jesus came. We'll ask the one true God to help us better appreciate the depth of the phrase "in Jesus' name," and we'll do so &q...

The work of the Holy Spirit truly is wonderful! Wonderful - “inspiring delight, pleasure, or admiration; extremely good; marvelous.” Couldn’t come up with a better descriptor of the Holy Spirit’s work if I tried! Do you view the Holy Spirit’s work that way? Lord willing, after this week’s service, you will! 

No fancy theme this week. Just a few minutes to ponder what makes our Good Shepherd so very "Good!" Join us!

When you've faced the most intense grief you've ever experienced, can you imagine if the cause of your grief caused joy in others? This is exactly what Jesus prepared his disciples for on Maundy Thursday. The cause of their grief would cause others in the world to rejoice. And yet, as awful as that sounds, their grief would one day turn to joy--joy that could never be taken away! In Jesu...

Thomas gets quite the reputation from today’s Gospel lesson. Would your reaction have been any different if you were in his shoes? Today, as we consider Jesus’ interaction with Thomas, we come face to face with the true meaning of Easter a we ponder the Greek word, "μακάριος."

John Chrysostom lived from 349 AD to 407 AD. He was as leader in the Christian church of his day. In an Easter sermon preached around the year 400, he said, “Let no one mourn that he has fallen again and again; for forgiveness has risen from the grave.” Forgiveness has risen from the grave! What a beautiful thought. As sinful human beings, we’re good at convincing ourselves that we must suffer the...

"Were you there?" There's a famous Lent hymn by that title. Were you there when they crucified my Lord? Were you there when they nailed him to the tree? Were you there when they laid him in the tomb? Well? Were you? 

Are you quick to recommend the restaurant with terrible service? Of course not. But I bet you are quick to recommend any service provider who excels! This evening we witness the finest example of selfless service ever. Jesus comes highly recommended!

The eternal church service! Not your favorite way of picturing heaven? This week, as we look at the hands of those who praised Jesus that first Palm Sunday, we review what praise is and remember why Jesus is worthy of eternal praise.

You’re out of work, and looking for a job. You need a job and will do anything. Only problem is every job has a list of qualifications a mile long. You don’t meet half of them… But then, just when you’re about to give up, your eye catches a job post with the phrase “ No Qualifications Required! ” in big bold letters! Today, we’ll see that God provides for the physical and spiritual needs of all. N...

While some members of our society voluntarily serve in the military and may see combat, we ordinary citizens are far removed from military conflict. That's a blessing! But it also means we probably have a challenging time truly relating to war-related word pictures. This week, Jesus describes his battle against Satan with military language. We'll do our best to get to the bottom of his m...

When someone is relying on you, there is a certain pressure you experience. Some thrive under that pressure, some might struggle. Even if you consider yourself a person who thrives under pressure, you've struggled before. No doubt you've said, or thought, "Don't give up on me!" Keep those words in mind as we focus on what seems like a strange interaction between Jesus and...