Our Savior Church Spring Hill Sermons

This morning, Pastor Mark and his family are out of town for a family funeral. Thankfully, God provides! Please welcome Pastor Carl Wenck, who will be sharing the Word of God with us. Pastor Wenck served as Senior Pastor at Grace Lutheran Church in Murfreesboro, TN, for over 20 years. He and his wife Gwen are wonderful assets to our Mid-South District.

How much is enough? So often, our desire to have security can be a never-ending quest with an ever-moving goal post. Thankfully, when we begin to understand the source of all things good, we can realize our calling of being managers of what was never really ours to begin with. This mindset of stewardship allows us to participate in God's great generosity. Audacity in generosity proves a heart...

"A wise man leaves an inheritance to his children's children" (Proverbs 13:22). Our greatest inheritance, the gift of wisdom, comes not from us, but from God. Solomon starts his proverbs with a key teaching: wisdom comes not from the acquisition or enjoyment of the things of this world, but begins with the fear of the Lord. When we understand that He is God and we are not, His gift o...

Have you ever found yourself in a situation where it could have dire consequences if you took the risk to do what you know is right? It can be real tempting to keep quiet and seek our own preservation. Yet, because God is in control, we can dare to have courage, even putting ourselves at risk if necessary. In times of risk, we can have courage, because God is in control!

The average human attention span has been reported to be around 8 seconds (which is less than a goldfish!) It is safe to say that we are easily distracted. Most of the time, that doesn't mean much. Sometimes, it can prove fatal. Thankfully, Jesus never got distracted from His mission of salvation or now in His loving and leading of us. Thankfully, we learn that even when we often lose sight of...

"You don't really believe all that Jesus stuff, do you?" How would you respond to such a question? As those in the Church are often asked to defend their faith, we can look to the example of Peter and John in Acts 4. When given the opportunity, the Holy Spirit enabled them to choose faith over their fear, daring to bear witness to the resurrection. They discovered: "Where Jesus...

Have you ever had one of those terrible, horrible, no good very bad kind of days? Thomas, a disciple of Jesus, certainly did. In fact, not just one bad day, but an entire week! Defeated by the death of his Lord, Thomas hears the rumors that He has returned, alive again! He is reluctant to believe, instead desiring to see for himself. Thankfully, Jesus does appear to him, and to us, allowing us to...

Grief can become so numbingly familiar that it blinds us to what is right in front of us. Mary experienced grief like this, unable even to recognize her Lord. Thankfully, He doesn't leave her in this grief. By name, He calls her out of it. He gives her a new perspective and a new purpose for her life, to help others out of their grief and into his joy. Jesus calls us from our grief to a joy be...

So often, we desire peace in our image, often through force. Sadly, Kings made in our own image eventually fail. Jesus is a different King, one who brings peace through sacrifice, who came not to be served, but to serve, even giving his life for us all. Palm Sunday stands out as a day where Jesus unquestionably denies the world's temptations for the sake of our salvation. So come, let us worsh...

Have you ever grown jealous when you see someone being celebrated for accomplishing something that you have already done? We can also feel this way when we are told that there is much rejoicing in heaven over one lost sinner who repents. What we fail to realize is that we are already guests at this party, so we can celebrate, too! We hold the invitation to God’s great celebration!

Watching someone suffer is one of the most faith-trying experiences of our lives. We might even ask "Why do bad things happen to good people?" We aren't the first (and won't be the last) to ask such a question. In Luke 13, Jesus reminds us that if we are being honest with ourselves, we will realize that there is only one person worthy of being called good. Thankfully Jesus was wi...

It can be dangerous to go into battle empty-handed. Each day, we find ourselves at war with the most dangerous of enemies, Satan and his minions. The good news is that we are never empty-handed, because we have been gifted the full armor of God. We equip ourselves with the belt of truth, the breastplate of righteousness, shoes of peace, the shield of faith, the helmet of salvation, and the sword o...

We are excited to have Elder Keith Logan returning to worship with us this morning. He will be sharing a timely message to help us understand that because of Christ, we are all qualified to be His missionaries. He has been shaping our lives for this very purpose! So, what mission field has God placed you in, and how has He been preparing you? We pray that God gives you divine appointments this wee...

This Sunday, we are excited to welcome our Senior Pastor, Lane Reuter, to our Spring Hill campus. He will preach about the challenge of forgiving. Sometimes that is the biggest test of all in our faith lives! Who do you need to forgive? Is something standing in the way? God’s Word gives us the key to dealing with this difficult area in our lives.

Have you ever had a conversation with someone and you could tell that they weren't listening? Frustrating! Do you think God gets frustrated like that with us? Prayer is often defined as a conversation, and a key part of one is that it helps if both parties stop talking and take time to listen. Let’s begin by slowing down, softening up, and filtering out, knowing that God never stops listening:...

Thomas Keating once stated, “Silence is God's first language; everything else is a poor translation.” Do you have a place of silence with God? Are there rhythms of silence in your life? Often, when overwhelmed, we seek out a safe place where we can simply be silent with the people that we trust. How wonderful it is that, through silent prayer, we can practice this with the Creator Himself. We...

If God promises to hear our prayers, does that mean He will also respond to our prayers? In Matthew 7, Jesus invites us to ask, but thankfully, He doesn't always say yes. With the gift of a clearer picture, we can all look back on a petition that thankfully wasn't granted by God. When we learn to pray in His name, we are seeking to align our hearts with His. So whatever we ask, let's s...

In a moment of despair, you plead with God to act. You pray, and you pray until you have no tears or words left, and then...nothing, just deafening silence! What do we do when God seemingly has no response to our prayer? We can choose to remain faithful! We often hope for God to helicopter us out of our trouble. More often, He chooses to parachute into our trouble. There is no greater example of t...

"I will pray for you!" Sometimes, we say this because we don't really know what else to say. But what we may think is a last resort is actually our greatest way of helping. God promises to respond to our prayers and even to intercede in the world around us. He promises that if we humble ourselves in prayer, he will listen, and he will respond. May we strive this day to remember that:...

“Sign, Sign, everywhere a sign!” We can spend a lot of our life waiting on a sign, but how do you know if it’s worth following? In the second chapter of John, Jesus changes water to wine. This is the first of His signs in John’s gospel. What were they a sign of? That Jesus was promised one, God himself. And the signs were proof that Jesus was worth following. His disciples saw and believed. Will w...

“I need help!” These can be the most difficult words to ask another person, and yet also be the echo of our conversations with God. Our Father loves when we come to him in our time of need, but like any Father, he also desires to be so much more! When asked to model prayer life, Jesus begins not with requests, but with adoration of the creator and sustainer of the universe. By having a foundation...

The great philosopher Tom Petty once observed “The waiting is the hardest part.” No one likes to wait, and it seems we’ve gotten more impatient over time. The value of what we are waiting for will determine how long we are willing to wait. A pizza, maybe 30 minutes. Peace, well, we might be willing to wait just a little longer. Today, we can take comfort in knowing that because Jesus came in His g...

The pursuit of peace is a universal quest. Yet, all sources of earthly peace prove to only be fading distractions. This Advent, we recall the arrival of our long-awaited "Prince of Peace". He came before in the surprising form of a newborn King to deliver us from the source of our conflict, our sin. Now, we anticipate his return, when he will usher in an age of everlasting peace! We can take heart...

The pain of the past can often steal our present joy. For some, this time of year can amplify that pain to a boiling point. In the season of Advent, we remember that God has ushered in a new age of joy through the arrival of Jesus Christ. His victory is ours, and our joy is forever assured. No matter what present pain we may find ourselves in we can take comfort knowing that: "Our future hope give...

People can have bold predictions about what the future is going to hold. These prophets often prove ridiculous or outright laughable, but every once in a while, they are spot on! So, what makes a prophecy worthy of our trust? A solid track record certainly helps. The season of Advent is one of anticipation, awaiting the predicted arrival of Jesus, whose track record is spotless! In Advent, we can...