Good Shepherd Lutheran Church - Cincinnati

“We acknowledge when we are afraid. Fear is real. We acknowledge that fear. And then we look for Jesus walking right with us. That is resurrection. That is hope, not fear. Hope that is sure and certain.” – Pastor Michael Oakley This week, we welcome Pastor Michael Oakley to Good Shepherd. He reminds us that while we may have fear about the future, Jesus promises to walk with us through the storm a...

“It’s when we rest, it’s when we pause, that we can actually see what’s happening in our world and in our lives” - Pastor Lorne Hlad Pastor Lorne reminds us of the power that rest has in giving us the necessary space we need to make sense of the world around us during times of struggle or uncertainty.

“Even though we keep perpetuating the old narrative, the new story of God’s love, of God’s grace, of God’s forgiveness needs to be proclaimed louder and more boldly.” - Pastor Lorne Hlad Pastor Lorne reminds us that we are a people who are called to share a different kind of story with the world through our words and actions: one that is rooted in God’s love, grace, and forgiveness.

“The invitation today…is to loosen our grip on needing to control everything in our lives so that we can see that we go further and we go faster when we are together. – Pastor Lorne Hlad Pastor Lorne reminds us that our journey of faith is not done alone, but rather with other people in community.

“You will feel afraid, but do not build your life because of it. Rather, build a life around faith. Build a life around trust. Build a life around hope.” – Pastor Lorne Hlad Pastor Lorne reminds us that God is always walking with us, even during the scary and fearful times in our lives.

“Change is rarely without its challenges.” – Pastor Patricia Badkey Pastor Pat reminds us that although our boat may be in rough and stormy seas to have faith that Jesus is in the boat as well, helping us get to the other side.

“I don’t want any of us to lose sight that the greatest gifts we can ever give…is ourselves. It’s our time.” – Pastor Lorne Hlad Much like the mustard seed that blossoms into the greatest of shrubs, Pastor Lorne reminds us that the little acts of daily love we share likely mean more to the people around us than the grandest of gestures.

"As we live through our values, guided by grace, rooted in relationship, serving the world, we show the world that there's hope." - Pastor Lorne Hlad Pastor Lorne reminds us that living out our calling as disciples of Jesus is more than just something good for ourselves but rather a way that God's Kingdom can break through into a world that is in desperate need of God's love and grace.

“The true heart of the Sabbath, of God’s vision for creation, is that we would find rhythms, patterns, and practices that fill us with wonder, with awe, with beauty, so that we can be an overflow of God’s goodness into the lives of other people.” – Pastor Lorne Hlad Pastor Lorne explores the gift of Sabbath and how it refuels us so that we may do the work God is calling us into.

“Jesus was very interested in more than a conceptual faith, more than a faith in our heads, but one in our hands, our heart, our feet – one that’s lived out every day.” – Pastor Alex Hoops Pastor Alex reminds us that sometimes the best testimony we can share of the Good News of Jesus is through how we live our daily lives.

Pastor Alex reminds us that the Holy Spirit is a gift from God that sustains us each day as we navigate the ups and downs of our lives.

“I want to encourage all of us to use our natural language – our everyday, ordinary language – to talk to God.” – Pastor Lorne Hlad Pastor Lorne reminds us that God invites all prayers, even the ones that don’t feel polished or rehearsed.

“But let us never forget that real love is made manifest in the ordinary. Let’s not lose sight that this is the type of love that Jesus invites us into.” – Pastor Lorne Hlad Pastor Lorne reminds us this week that God uses ordinary acts of love to do extraordinary things.

“We are not alone. We’re not doing this by ourselves. We are given the connection from the very beginning and the good news is we don’t have to manufacture goodness or manufacture energy. That goodness and that energy comes from the source of all creation.” – Pastor Alex Hoops This week, Pastor Alex reminds us to spend time in the practices that feed our souls and that help us better see the ways...

“If we’re the loudest person in the room…sometimes we can’t hear the quiet voice of the Good Shepherd leading us, guiding us, [and] challenging us to listen.” – Pastor Alex Hoops In this week’s sermon, Pastor Alex reminds us that God provides a voice to lead us as long as we are willing to take the time to truly listen.

“We are called just like Jesus to go into the world to find hurting, wounded people that feel alone, afraid, scared, rejected, and to show them that we have felt those same things.” – Pastor Lorne Hlad This week, Pastor Lorne explores the ways that God provides peace in the midst of the challenging and painful moments of our lives.

“There’s no story of resurrection that doesn’t involve community” – Pastor Alex Hoops This first week of “Life Lines: Finding Hope When Life Feels Hopeless”, Pastor Alex explores how God provides community to journey with us when we have doubts and struggles.

“I hope we leave this place having heard the story of death becoming a story of life and love winning.” – Pastor Alex Hoops On this Easter Sunday, Pastor Alex encourages us to remember that the story of Christ’s power & love changing this world is still being written.

“Glory looks like humble, never seen, often overlooked service.” – Pastor Lorne Hlad In this Maundy Thursday sermon, Pastor Lorne explores how the example of Jesus challenges our idea of what true glory looks like.

“The cross should make us tremble in our very hearts because it’s God’s definitive sign that God with go to any length to prove to the world that God is with us, that God is for us, that God loves us.” – Pastor Lorne Hlad In this week’s sermon, Pastor Lorne explores the power of what it means that Christ died on the cross not just for us, but also with us.

“I don’t wish for wake up calls in my life and I don’t wish for them in your life. And yet, they have the power to transform us into a deeper, more obedient space where we actually learn to trust God.” – Pastor Lorne Hlad As we conclude our Lenten Journey, The Shift, Pastor Lorne explores how wake-up calls in our lives can help us shift our faith from something that we experience in our heads to s...

“Our mission as a people of God is not motivate by fear, but by a freedom that we are called to alleviate the suffering of our brothers and sisters.” – Pastor Alex Hoops As we continue our Lenten Worship Series, The Shift, Pastor Alex explores how we called to shift our perspective away from being fearful of God and instead to a freedom in Christ that calls us to love & serve our neighbors.

“We aren’t here just for rituals – we’re here for a relationship with God and one another.” – Pastor Alex Hoops As we continue our Lenten Worship Series, The Shift, Pastor Alex asks us to look beyond the rituals of our faith lives and see the places God is inviting us into a deeper relationship with Him and those around us.

“You see, the life of following Jesus is always a pathway of losing our life, so that we can find it – dying the self and arising anew with God.” – Pastor Lorne Hlad As we continue our Lenten Worship Series, The Shift, Pastor Lorne explores how Jesus invites us to shift our perspective from living a life that is safe, to one that purses God’s mission to restore the world with love & grace.

“I believe God wants us to show up present today as if we believed today matters – because we know that it does.” – Pastor Lorne Hlad During our first weekend of Lent, Pastor Lorne explores how Jesus calls us to shift our perspective from living life for someday to living life today.