New Beginnings Lutheran Church

I’ve heard marriage is a competition between two people to see who can forgive the other more. The competition is real, and it is with everyone you encounter! There is one secret to forgiveness that you must learn to make it work; we will discuss this next.

The Bible says it. That settles it. Or does it? Ask a hundred people to describe how to be a Christian and you’ll find a hundred answers. So is variety the spice of faith, or is most everybody wrong except a few (maybe you?). Or do you doubt we can even know? ROMANS 14:1-23 // As for the one who is weak in faith, welcome him, but not to quarrel over opinions. One person believes he may eat anythin...

Which sin is worse: to compare or not to compare? Careful how you answer or you’ll be comparing! It’s like saying you’re humble—immediately pride slips into the room. That’s why we need to read the Bible as a mirror more than binoculars. LUKE 18:9-14 // He also told this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and treated others with contempt: “Two men went up into the...

Here is a guilt trip: If you were accused of being a Christian, would you be found guilty? It all depends on how well you could keep your Christian faith a secret. Wait? People can’t be secret Christians, can they? The answer isn’t as easy as you might think. JOHN 19:38-42 // After these things Joseph of Arimathea, who was a disciple of Jesus, but secretly for fear of the Jews, asked Pilate that h...

“People are like drunks on horseback, set right on one side only to topple over to the other.” Martin Luther is thought to have said some version of that unflattering statement. It’s true, though. We can be legalists one moment and libertines the next. MATTHEW 5:17-20 // “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. For trul...

The social pain of loneliness, like pain, results in observable behaviors. Unfortunately, when we feel lonely, we begin to think and act in self-defeating ways. We can become anti-social and the symptoms reinforce the disease. But there is a cure. EPHESIANS 4:25-32 // Therefore, having put away falsehood, let each one of you speak the truth with his neighbor, for we are members one of another. Be...

Being alone does not necessarily mean being lonely. In fact, many pleasurable and productive actions often involve solitude: research, endurance exercise, art, and prayer. These actions are done alone, and with others. We are called to do both. JAMES 5:13-18 // Is anyone among you suffering? Let him pray. Is anyone cheerful? Let him sing praise. Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elder...

Social isolation has an adverse impact upon your health comparable to high blood pressure, lack of exercise, obesity, or smoking. Therefore, it is more important than ever to regard others as more important than yourself, right? Wait. How does this work? I’m healthier if I care more for others than myself? PHILIPPIANS 2:1-8 // So if there is any encouragement in Christ, any comfort from love, any...

Roughly 60 million people in the United States experience loneliness as a major source of unhappiness in their lives. If only they could all get together! But let’s face it, getting together and staying together are two very different experiences. How can we stay together? EPHESIANS 4:1-7 // I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have...

Loneliness is an empty feeling; hence the expression, “Lonely as the grave.” Strange how you can be lonely in a crowd. Equally strange: the word lonely doesn’t have an antonym. You can be social, affable, even beloved, but still lonely. How can we cure loneliness? Paradoxically, the solution is an empty grave! 1 THESSALONIANS 4:13-18 // But we do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about thos...

Sermon Discussion Questions: 1. Which of the seven devotions connected most with you? Why? 2. How does that devotion speak to your relationship with Jesus? Do any other people in your life come to mind as a point of application for you? What would the Lord want you to do? 3. How would you summarize the overall message from Good Friday for a friend who doesn’t quite get it in 1-3 sentences?

Can you love those who hate you? Frederick Buechner wrote: “And then there is the love for the enemy--love for the one who does not love you but mocks, threatens, and inflicts pain. The tortured's love for the torturer. This is God's love. It conquers the world.” MATTHEW 27:27-31 // Then the soldiers of the governor took Jesus into the governor's headquarters, and they gathered the whole battalion...

Every day is an altar call. Make a decision for Jesus, we’re told. Well, “We are the angry mob…. We like who we like. We hate who we hate. But we’re also easily swayed.” Who do you choose? Just consider who you last voted for! What does that mean? Watch and find out! MATTHEW 27:11-26 // Now Jesus stood before the governor, and the governor asked him, “Are you the King of the Jews?” Jesus said, “Yo...

Imagine you’re in a crowded line with a shopping cart brimming over and you have no cash. You plug your credit card into the device only to hear that your card has been denied. The shame! The embarrassment! And if it was a system error and no fault of your own, the rage! Or none of these. MATTHEW 26:69-75 // Now Peter was sitting outside in the courtyard. And a servant girl came up to him and said...

Guilty until proven innocent. That is the case, isn’t it? We’re all guilty. We all stand accused and we’re guilty as sin! Only one stands before the judge blameless, and he was killed! What is our fate, then? Life! Abundant life! Justice is served and we guilty ones go free!

Sometimes it feels like we’re set up for failure. People betray us. Finances turn against us. Our own bodies hand us over to the grave. Being paranoid doesn’t mean they’re not all still out to get you, right? So what is the script? How do we live in the face of these treacheries?

Our world is broken. We are, too. What does it mean to live fully human lives in the face of all our temptations? The best human ever—Jesus—did this. He was tempted in every way as we are, but lived a perfect human life.

The season of Lent (which leads up to Easter) begins on Ash Wednesday. We place ashes in the form of a cross on our foreheads to remind us that we are sinners and in need of a Savior. Our Savior, Jesus, comes to us through His Word and Baptism. We remember God’s grace and our baptisms as we wash away our ashes with the Living Water of God.

Have you seen that YouTube video when a colorblind man receives glasses that allow him to see color for the first time? Or have you seen the one where the deaf child receives a hearing aid and hears her mom’s voice for the first time? Likewise, you’ll never see the world the same after this.

Why you do something is more important than what you do. Just ask any dating couple: did your date act out of compulsion or desire? Love is always more fulfilling than guilt. At New Beginnings, we use the words “so that” vs. “because” to reinforce this fact.

What is the most extravagant gift you ever received? Now imagine the person who gave it to you. When you see that person’s name on Caller ID, do you hesitate to answer the phone? If that person asked you for a small favor, how would you respond? What would it take for you to say “no” to that person?

You ever worry about your future? You ever wonder if you’ll have enough when the time comes? What if I told you that you were going to inherit greater riches than you’ve ever known? What if I told you that your future was secure? How would you live now?

Would you do it if everyone else was? Thomas wouldn’t. Even though the other disciples were telling him they’d seen the resurrected Jesus, Tom needed proof. Some people just will not believe unless they see with their own eyes. This faith struggle is found in John 20:24-31.

For some faith is a bet like Pascal’s wager: If you believe and you’re wrong, you lose nothing; If you don’t believe and you’re wrong, you lose everything. So what’ve you got to lose by believing? Some argue that this is a cheap faith, but Jesus didn’t let that stop Him. This doubter’s dialog can be read in Mark 9:14-32.

What if Stephen Hawking’s journal revealed that he thought science was wrong? Consider if Mr. Rogers was found to be irritated by children? Imagine if Bugs Bunny didn’t like carrots! That’s the shock of hearing John the Baptizer ask if Jesus was the one. Read Matthew 11:1-19 to see how faith wrestles with doubts.