Grace Transformation

Even the apostle Paul admits he did the very thing he hated. Was his faith failing, or is that just what it means to still be fighting sin after decades with Jesus? Pastor John Rallison looks at the freedom Christ has already won, and the rest he offers in the middle of the fight. Texts: Zechariah 9:9-12, Romans 7:14-8:2, Matthew 11:25-30 Redeemer Lutheran Church, Salem, Oregon | Faith for Ordinar...

The fire that terrified people at Sinai now rests on them at Pentecost. Same God. Completely different access. In this Pentecost Sunday message from Redeemer Lutheran Church in Salem, Oregon, we explore how the Holy Spirit equips every believer with gifts for God's kingdom — and why the tape measure matters as much as the drill driver. Week 2 of the series "Stewards of the King: Living Yo...

Most people brace when they hear the word stewardship. This message is not what you are expecting. In the first of three conversations about what it means to live as stewards of God's kingdom, we start with a simple image: a throne and a plain chair beside it. The steward's chair. And the question of which chair you are actually sitting in. From John 17, Jesus's prayer the night before...

Most of us say we want clarity. What we really want is certainty about the future. And Jesus never promised that. What he promised was his own presence, every step of the way. In this final message of the series Jesus. Right Where You Are, Pastor John Rallison explores Psalm 23 and John 10, and what it means that the Good Shepherd does not hand us a map. He walks with us. His rod and staff are wit...

What do you do when hope collapses? The disciples on the road to Emmaus know the feeling. On the evening of the first Easter, they're walking away from Jerusalem saying "we had hoped" — past tense. Their hope was real. It was just aimed at the wrong thing. This message draws a sharp distinction between optimism and Christian hope. Positive thinking is a tool for navigating the manage...

Even after the resurrection, the disciples are still afraid. In John 20, we find them behind locked doors, uncertain and trying to stay safe. The resurrection is real, but they are not yet living in it. And that’s where Jesus meets them. He doesn’t wait for their fear to go away. He stands among them and says, “Peace be with you.” In this message, we explore what that peace really means. Not just...

Easter is often about what Jesus gives—hope, life, and joy. But what if it’s also about what He takes away? In this message, we look at how the resurrection of Jesus changes three deep human burdens: fear about the future, shame that makes us hide, and regret that keeps us stuck in the past. These struggles don’t simply disappear—but because Jesus is alive, they no longer get the final word. More...

Palm Sunday begins with a crowd crying out “Hosanna”—“save us”—as Jesus enters Jerusalem. They know what they want: deliverance from Rome. But Jesus comes to confront a deeper enemy, one they cannot see. In this message, we explore how Jesus intentionally fulfills prophecy, what kind of King He truly is, and why His answer to our prayers often looks different than what we expect. The same tension...

Temptation isn’t just something out there. Temptation is only tempting because it resonates with something already inside us. That can be a hard truth to face. But the good news is this: in Jesus, you don’t have to hide. In this message on the Lord’s Prayer (Matthew 6:9–13; Luke 11:2–4)—especially the petition, “Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil” (Matthew 6:13)—we explore how t...

The petition in the Lord’s Prayer, “forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us,” can sound like God’s forgiveness depends on ours. But Jesus shows us something deeper. In this message, we explore how forgiveness actually works in the kingdom of God. Not as something we earn, but as something that grows out of the mercy we have already received. When we hold onto resentme...

Jesus teaches us to pray, “Give us this day our daily bread.” But what does that really mean? In this message from Matthew 6:11, we explore how this petition of the Lord’s Prayer reshapes our relationship with God. The word give reminds us that life is received from the Father, and the word daily calls us back from anxiety about the future to trust God for today. Part of the series The Lord’s Pray...

In this message from a Lenten series on the Lord’s Prayer, Pastor John Rallison explores what Jesus means when He teaches us to pray, “Your will be done.” If God is truly Father, praying for His will isn’t surrender to a tyrant — it’s trust. And trust takes courage. We often wonder what God’s will will cost us. We fear losing control. But when Jesus describes heaven, He speaks of wedding banquets,...

When the disciples asked Jesus to teach them how to pray, He gave them a direct answer. The very first word matters: “Father.” In this message from Matthew 6:9, we explore what it means to pray “Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name.” Before daily bread, before forgiveness, before protection, Jesus grounds prayer in identity and relationship. If God is Father, then we are children — and that...

Matthew 17:1–9 records the Transfiguration of Jesus — a moment when His glory is revealed on the mountain before Peter, James, and John. But the scene does not end in dazzling light. It ends with a touch and the words, “Do not be afraid.” In this message, we reflect on who Jesus truly is: Lord in glory and near in mercy. More powerful than we think — and kinder too. Jesus Transfiguration Matthew 1...

In this sermon from Mark 5:21–43, we watch Jesus in action rather than listening to his teaching. As Jesus responds to Jairus, stops for a suffering woman in the crowd, and speaks life in the presence of death, we begin to notice something unsettling and beautiful about him. Jesus never rushes. He is not interested in spectacle. And yet his authority over sickness, fear, and death is unmistakable....

In a world that rewards the strong, the wealthy, and the winners, Jesus opens His most famous sermon with a shock: the Kingdom of God belongs to the beggars. In this message from the series "Revealing the Real Jesus," we sit at the feet of the Rabbi to study the Beatitudes (Matthew 5:1–12). Rather than viewing these verses as a crushing moral checklist, we discover them as an autobiograp...

Why did Jesus bypass the palaces of Tiberias and the religious schools of Jerusalem to set up his headquarters in a gritty, industrial border town? In this message, we observe Jesus as he makes his strategic move to Capernaum—the "Shadow of Death"—and completely flips the script on how a Rabbi finds his followers. We dive into the history of the 1st-Century Jewish education system (Bet S...

In this Epiphany sermon from the series Revealing the Real Jesus , we slow down and watch how Jesus meets people in John 1:29–51. Jesus does not pressure, argue, or coerce belief. Instead, he invites people to come and see. Some follow quietly. Some are brought by friends. Some are skeptical. Some are explicitly sought out by Jesus himself. As we observe these first encounters, we learn something...

In this Epiphany sermon, we slow down and watch the baptism of Jesus in Matthew 3:13–17. Rather than rushing to explanation or application, we carefully observe what happens as Jesus steps into the water, stands with sinners, and is publicly named by the Father as his beloved Son. This sermon explores why Jesus chooses baptism, what it means to “fulfill all righteousness,” why the Spirit descends...

In the season of Epiphany, we slow down to watch how Jesus is revealed to us. In Matthew 2:1–12, foreign wise men seek and worship the Christ child, while King Herod responds with fear and resistance. This contrast reveals the kind of King Jesus is and the wideness of God’s mercy. This sermon invites listeners to notice how Jesus reveals who God is and who we are called to be. Sometimes that revel...

A Christmas Eve sermon about a surprising truth: God did not come to be impressive. He came to be reachable. Reflecting on Genesis, Bethlehem, and the incarnation, this message explores God’s pursuit of humanity, shared human longing, and the love that draws us near—not by force, but by grace. Christmas Eve sermon Christmas sermon 2025 God came close Incarnation sermon Luke 2 Christmas sermon God...

What do we do when God feels silent? On the Fourth Sunday of Advent, we reflect on the 400 years of silence between Malachi and the birth of Christ—and what that long quiet season teaches us about faith today. Scripture reminds us that silence is not absence. God is at work even when we cannot see it. This sermon explores Israel’s return from exile, the long wait before the Messiah, and the quiet...

What happens when the consequences we face are the result of our own choices? Does God still stay with us when we’ve made a mess of our lives? In this third sermon of The Long Road to Bethlehem Advent series, we journey to the Babylonian exile—a moment in Israel’s history marked by warning ignored, consequences endured, and hope tested. Unlike suffering that comes from circumstances beyond our con...

Have you ever wondered whether God really sees what you’re going through? In this message, we look at the Exodus story and discover a God whose heart is moved by the cries of His people — a God who sees, hears, knows, and comes down to deliver. This sermon is part of our Advent series, “The Long Road to Bethlehem,” where we trace the major turning points of God’s saving story — from Creation and t...

Advent doesn’t begin at the manger. It begins in a garden. In this first message of our Advent series, The Long Road to Bethlehem, Pastor John takes us back to Genesis to remember where our story truly starts: a world created in love, a relationship broken by mistrust, and a God who responds not with abandonment but with mercy, promise, and protection. We explore the goodness of creation — the bea...