Pearls From Peace

As the baby boys of Israel are commanded to be thrown into the Nile, one family keeps their boy safe. That boy would become Moses who was drawn out of the waters of the Nile and would one day save His people. Jesus came as a baby boy, just like Moses. And He would one day give up His life to save His people. And Jesus gives us His means of grace to bless us and bring us salvation. In the waters of...

The people of Israel go from prospering in Egypt to be forced into slavery, all because Pharaoh was scared of them. Amidst all the changes that happened in their life, God was working His plan for His people to rescue them from the bondage of slavery. God worked a plan to rescue us from the bondage of sin and death. God is faithful to His Word and promises amidst all the changes and all the strugg...

The world is full of sin. The world is full of sinners. The world is full of sinners who sin. Sinners who do terrible things to others. We saw Joseph sold into slavery by His brothers. We saw Jesus sold to the hands of the Pharisees by Judas' betrayal, ultimately leading Him to the cross. Yet, God can take the worst things and work good in them. He does it with Joseph who ends up saving his family...

In a series of messages, we look at the events that took place on Good Friday as Christ is crucified and dies for us. We compare Him and His life for us to that of Joseph as well. We look at what Joseph's life was worth, what Jesus' life was worth, and what our life is worth, ultimately as we look to the cross and see the price that Jesus paid for us.

In a series of messages, we look at the events that took place on Maundy Thursday: Jesus washing His disciples' feet, giving them the Lord's Supper, and praying in the Garden of Gethsemane. We parallel these stories to the life of Joseph being carried off to Egypt as a servant, later becoming highly powerful and eating a meal with his family, and interpreting the dream of a cupbearer. In this, we...

The favorite son of Jacob, who is given a robe of many colors, Joseph's life did not go according to plan after his brothers sold him into slavery. The Only Son of God, who has a purple robe mockingly placed on Him, Jesus' life DID go according to plan as He is welcomed into Jerusalem as a king, and nailed to a cross as a king.

Have you ever wrestled with God? Maybe you have life-altering news, a horrible diagnosis for you or a loved one, relationship issues you can’t solve, financial uncertainty and fear of the future, or something that has caused you to be in a very dark and lonely place. And you are afraid. Jacob wrestled with God. And this story is recorded for our learning because the book of Genesis is not just abo...

Jacob, the deceiver gets deceived. He wanted to marry Rachel, his true love. He worked seven years to marry her. And then on the wedding night, Rachel is replaced with Leah. Jacob does not love Leah. In the end, he takes both women as his wife. Throughout their life together, Leah is blessed with children, more of them, and sooner than Rachel. There are also children of Jacob born from Rachel and...

After Jacob steals his brother Esau's blessing he runs from him, because Esau wants to kill him. While he is running he has a dream of a ladder, with angels going up and down it, and God speaks to him. When he comes out of that dream, he acknowledges that God was in that place even though he didn't realize it. God makes Himself known to us today in very specific place. His Word and His Sacraments,...

Esau was the firstborn, and Jacob followed right behind, clutching his heel. Esau was loved by his father, Isaac. Jacob was loved by his mother, Rebekah. When the time came, Isaac was ready to bless Esau with the blessing reserved for the firstborn. Jacob dressed up as Esau and stole the blessing from his brother. The blessing that promised Jacob that his older brother Esau would end up serving hi...

As Lot and his family flee from Sodom and Gomorrah as it's being destroyed, Lot's wife looked back and was turned into a pillar of salt. Sometimes, we get caught up in things that cause us to turn back, look behind us, remember the past, and it only leads to our death. When we seek to preserve our life, and get caught up in things of this world instead of God, we actually lose our life. So, we rem...

Isaac was the son that was promised by God who would make Abraham's descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky. Then God tells Abraham to sacrifice his son Isaac. A sacrifice of obedience. Abraham was going to do it because he believed God could raise the dead. God intervened before Isaac was sacrificed. Jesus comes along as another of God's promises, the one who would be the Savior of the wo...

God promised to give Abram a land for his people. God promised Abram that his descendants would be as numerous as the stars in the sky. And as a seal of this promise, God cut a covenant with Abram. A covenant that only He could fulfill, and if He broke that covenant, He would pay the price with His life. We as descendants of Abram (Abraham) make promises with God that we do not often keep. And rat...

The world had one language and began to build a tower to the heavens to make a name for themselves. God came down to earth and intervened, ultimately confusing their languages so the tower was never finished and the people spread all over the earth. In our sinfulness, we have a tendency to make towers for ourselves. We build towers of pride and selfishness. We build ourselves up, and boast in ours...

Noah and his family were saved by building the ark. They gathered all the animals God had told them together. They gathered all the food they would need while on the ark. If you were living in Noah's time, how would you have looked upon him as he builds this massive boat in his front yard? Would you see yourself believing? Would you see yourself mocking? Would you want to join him, or would you se...

Do you see yourself more as Cain, or more as Abel? Abel the one who pleases God with his offering? Or Cain, the one who gives into temptation and kills his brother? And what is a life really worth? We probably think of ourselves as Abel's, when in reality we are more likely Cain's. Whoever we connect to, God still values us and our lives.

Adam and Eve had the perfect life, the perfect relationship, and the perfect world. And one little bite of the forbidden fruit changed everything. Sin enters the world. And along with sin, punishment. But where there is punishment, there is also promise. The promise of the Savior who would come and set the world right. And that's exactly what He does.

On the sixth day, God created man, from the earth. The man's name was Adam. The name Adam is a description of where he came from: the ground, the earth. God created woman from the side/rib of the man. The woman's name was Eve. God created man and woman and it was very good. It was perfect. Their names mean something. Your name means something. And sometimes the names we choose are descriptors of s...

We begin a journey this new year of reading through the Bible from the beginning and as we start in Genesis, we read those first three words: In the beginning... God created. God created something out of nothing. He created light that was called day, and He created darkness that was called night. Then many years later He created the light that led the wise men, the magi to Jesus. The light of Chri...

As we celebrate the birth of our Savior, we start at where the promise of the Savior was first given, when the darkness of sin first entered the world. But the darkness of sin and death doesn't last forever because the light shines in the darkness and the darkness cannot overcome it. That's what the tradition of gathering at Christmas is all about.

In a series of seven short sermons following the traditional Christmas readings, we'll journey to the home of Mary and Joseph, we'll journey to the place Jesus first makes His home, and we'll journey to our own homes to take a look at what Christmas is like for us this year, and finally, we'll journey to our church home where Jesus welcomes every one of us to receive His gifts.

JAM Cardboard Testimonies by Pastor Brad & Pastor Glenn

As we approach the holidays, it can be a time where we have all different kinds of feelings and emotions, and sometimes joy is the farthest thing from how we're actually feeling. But God's Word does have the good news of great joy, and Jesus' actions bring good news of great joy, and salvation means everlasting joy.

On this Second Sunday in Advent, we think about peace. Having peace or harmony within all of our relationships can be complicated, especially with those that are hard to love. But where we fail to make peace with others, Christ came to make peace between us and God. And thus, we in turn can make peace with others because Christ is at work in us, giving us peace through His Word and Sacraments.

On this First Sunday in Advent, we think about hope. The hope that we have in life, the hope that we have for ourselves, for others, our health, etc. Sometimes, as we look at our life and the world and all the suffering and struggles, it's hard to have hope. Our hope comes from God, who promised to send His Son, and as we get closer to Christmas, we remember that first coming of Christ, when the h...