JLP.church Sermon Podcast

What does it take to earn God's blessing? One school of thought says we can earn God's blessing by our faith, our good deeds, or our moral character. That's not what we see in the life of Joseph. What does Joseph's story tell us about God's blessing? Pastor Luke preaches from Genesis 39:1-23 in "Prosperity Gospel," part 2 of his 6-part series, "Joseph the Patriarch."

Joseph grew up herding sheep, but he would go on to be chief of staff for the most powerful king in the ancient world. But even when Joseph was young, he made his brothers jealous. They hatched a plot to get rid of Joseph, once and for all. Why? What did they hope to achieve by it? What happened next? And what can we learn from it today? Pastor Luke looks at Genesis 37:1-36 in "When You're In a Ho...

How do we make sense of the events and circumstances of our lives? Do they have a deeper significance? What would it be? How about when things in our lives go badly? What should we do? In the conclusion to Romans 8, The Apostle Paul provides a new way of looking at our lives that not only changed his life, it changed the world. What is that? Pastor Luke teaches from Romans 8:31-39 in "More Than Co...

In Romans 8, the Apostle Paul assures us that God has set us free from the power of sin, that we are no longer under its control. But what will we do? Too often, we continue to do things that are unwise, or even wrong. Is there help? What is the solution? For people facing this question, God offers an amazing deal. What is it? Pastor Luke preaches from Romans 8:12-30 in "Help in Weakness," part 2...

Can we have "favorite" parts of the Bible, or should we like them all equally well? What would make one part of the Bible your favorite part? What would it say? Would it be poetry, like the Psalms? Would it be one of the stories, about Jesus, say, or one of the great heroes of the Hebrew scriptures? Many Christians would hold up Romans 8 as one of the best chapters in the Bible. Pastor Luke is one...

Should women be silent in church? That's what Paul seems to be saying in 1 Corinthians. But is that what he meant? More importantly, what do we do about tough passages in Scripture? Should we ignore them, or grit our teeth and do what they say, even when it seems wrong or unrealistic? A better approach is to take those passages seriously. What does it look like when we do that? Pastor Luke preache...

Are there people, or categories of people, who cannot be used by God in the work of the church? We've seen that God makes some amazing promises, and in Paul's letter to the Corinthian church, we learn that followers of Jesus receive superpowers for building up the community of believers. But there are some people excluded from that promise. Can you guess who they are? They might not be who you thi...

Is the church destined for mainstream status, or is it going underground? For a long time, the church was mainstream, but for 200 years it's been in decline, and the pace of that decline has increased over the past 50 years. Is there some way to distinguish between our personal preferences and God's plans for the church? Pastor Luke teaches from 1 Corinthians 14:1-25 in "2COOL4U," part 4 of his 5-...

Who's the best Christian? Have you ever compared yourself with someone at church and thought, "Shouldn't I have more influence here than that person does?" Maybe you volunteer more, or contribute more, or you've been there longer, or whatever it might be. Is there a set of criteria we can use to establish a ranking of ourselves and other followers of Christ? Not to rank people as if Jesus loved th...

Every follower of Christ is given a superpower so they can join a team of heroes to save the world. (Really!) So what's it like being on that team? Early in the Christian movement, a small church in Corinth asked that question of Paul, the leader who'd planted their church. He wrote back to tell them "team" was the wrong image. What's the right image? Pastor Luke looks at 1 Corinthians 12:12-31 in...

In his letter to the Corinthian church, Paul answered the questions they had raised about their everyday concerns. Paul also spoke about spiritual matters, however, to tell them that God had given them supernatural help. What did he mean by that? What kind of help was Paul talking about? Pastor Luke looks at 1 Corinthians 12:1-11 in "Gifted Service," the first message in a new series, "Gifted Serv...

Last week, we saw that religion can't connect us to God; only Jesus can do that. When we obey the rules and perform the rituals, too often we don't do it perfectly, or for the right reasons. But what about people who don't do it at all? What about people who break all the rules? What about bad people whose rule-breaking hurts other people? If God doesn't want religion, what does he say about irrel...

Jesus was often confronted by people challenging his teaching. Matthew recorded one of those confrontations in his biography of Jesus, and in it Jesus gives us a clear answer to the question, "What does God want from us?" So often, we are told that salvation is a free gift, and we can't do anything to earn God's favor. How does that square with what Jesus said in this parable Matthew records about...

Jesus told his followers to shine before others, so they would see our good works and praise our Father in heaven. In his biography of Jesus, Mark gives us an example of what it looks like when we do that. But his example also gives us an amazing insight, that tells us how we can experience the power of Jesus at work in our own circumstances. Pastor Luke preaches from Mark 8:1-13 in "Good Works."

Jesus said his followers are "a city on a hill." What did he mean? Is "city on a hill" something you can do? How? Understanding what Jesus meant here is vital in order to understand the mission of the church. What is it? Pastor Luke teaches from Matthew 5:13-16 in "Acropolis Now."

Pentecost is the birthday of the church, but "if this is a birthday, where are the presents?" The coming of the Holy Spirit was marked by an outpouring of spiritual gifts. What were those gifts, and how did the early church use them? How does the Holy Spirit work in the church today? Pastor Luke preaches from Acts 2:1-21 in "Poured Out."

Jesus described how God's "Kingship" works in our lives, but what if we're already happy with how our lives are? Or at least, mostly happy, with most of our lives? Is there a way to get God to work on the broken parts of our lives and leave the rest of us alone? Jesus answered questions like that with a couple of parables. Pastor Luke teaches from Matthew 13:44-46 in "Treasure," the concluding mes...

Jesus said the Kingdom of God--God's power at work in our lives--has come near. But sometimes, it doesn't feel that way. Sometimes, we're more aware of our brokenness than of God's power to fix it. Why do some people have such powerful conversion experiences, while others struggle, and often fail? Jesus answered that question, as he so often did, by looking at a seed. Pastor Luke looks at Mark 4:2...

The Kingdom of God, or God's rule working in our lives, can be hard to envision, and often we see it best in hindsight. Jesus taught that it is powerful, producing 100, 60, or 30-fold fruitfulness in our lives. But he also warned of things that keep us from enjoying all of God's power that we might. What are they? Pastor Luke looks at Matthew 13:1-9,18-23 in "Extravagant," part 4 of his 6-part ser...

Whenever we have problems, we wonder, "Where is God?" That's true when accidents or natural disasters strike, but it takes on a special urgency when the problems are the deliberate work of evildoers. This week, terrorists exploded bombs at the Boston Marathon that killed three people and maimed or injured 178 more. Did God know that would happen? If he did, why does he permit it? Jesus answered al...

The kingdom of God Jesus talked about is when people give God authority in their lives. When we do that, we will have better (not always easier) lives. But what will that look like? How will we know when it's happening? Jesus taught what the kingdom of God is like in the Parable of the Mustard Seed. Pastor Luke teaches from Mark 4:30-32 in "The Greatest Shrub," part 2 of his 6-part series, "Kingdo...

After Easter, then what? The good news of Jesus is that he became human and lived for us, died for us, and was raised to life again for us. But not long afterwards, Jesus ascended to heaven. Where does that leave us? What are we supposed to do now? And how are we supposed to do it? When the first disciples asked Jesus that question, he laid out his program for them and for us. What did he tell the...

Is Easter relevant to us today? It's fascinating to learn that Jesus was raised from the dead, but does it matter to us? The answer, as you might guess, is 'yes, Easter is relevant.' Easter changes everything! Jesus promised he would die and be raised, and if he was able to keep that central promise, it means we can trust all his other promises. Pastor Luke preaches from Luke 24:1-12 in "Looking f...

What is the Church? The night before he was crucified, Jesus told his disciples what they should do when he was gone. "Love one another," he said, "and everyone will know you are my disciples." What did he mean by that? How should we do it? Pastor Luke preaches from John 13:1-17,31-35 in "A New Commandment."

Why do we celebrate Holy Week, the final week of Lent? It's hard to celebrate anything after six weeks of fasting, and the gloomy events of Jesus' final week before his crucifixion, are depressing. Even the first day of Holy Week, Palm Sunday, reminds us that crowds cheered Jesus only days before they called for his execution. So why celebrate Palm Sunday? Pastor Luke preaches from Mark 11:1-11 in...