St. Matthew Lutheran Church- Rocklin, California

God seems to have built the idea and message of the hope of new beginnings into the very fabric of our existence and really into our very souls. No matter how difficult today is, night will come and then a brand new morning….a brand new day, a brand new month, a brand new year! And on this day there will be the joy of beginnings as babies are born, marriages are begun, first steps are taken, and n...

What is Christmas all about – really? How is it to be understood? This morning we remember: “Good News! Joy!...For All!” This is Christmas understood. And it is for you!

Is God there for us?...for you?...For me? Christmas is God’s resounding “YES!” answer to this question. It is our focus tonight. It is for you.

Peace. It seems like a pipe dream, doesn’t it? Where do you struggle to live in peace?...Peace in body, soul, mind, and spirit. Peace that “passes all human understanding.” Peace that transcends all time, peace that is greater than any situation, any problem, any hurt, any pain, any-thing. Peace to take into our world. This is Christmas peace, a free gift that God would give us today and always. W...

Shepherds, in the time of Jesus, were on the low end of the economic and social totem pole. No one would have thought God would choose them to experience the Bethlehem angels! Yet, God chose well. They obeyed the angels and excitedly went in search of the baby. Why? Because they knew they needed Him. Why? Because they knew they needed God and He had spoken to them through the angels. So, God used...

Have you ever played with a Beach Ball which has sprung a leak? As the air goes out of it, gradually it loses its form and soon you can’t do much of anything with it. Joy is being filled with a deep happiness. But often we spring a leak and soon lose it, especially if our joy was based on something that was “here today and gone tomorrow.” Christmas joy is a gift that transcends all time. It is a g...

Mary was probably just a teenager…a humble believer in Jahweh, the saving God who had promised to send a Savior. She live in a small village. Not many knew she even existed. It would have been understandable if she thought that God didn’t even know she existed…or at least cared that she existed. But God knew. He had plans for her. And when the angel came, in humble faith she said, “May it be to me...

When I was in Hungary for the first time, my heart went out to a number of people who talked to me about how there was no hope for change amongst the people –and especially the young people- of this proud yet at times economically struggling country in Eastern Europe. No hope that anything can or will change….maybe this is a good definition of hopelessness. Where do you need hope - hope that thing...

Zechariah and his wife were both old. They had vainly longed for children. They had lived in that place where God seemed silent as they poured out their hearts to Him. Hope had gradually faded and died in the seeming silence of God. Where can you relate in your life? But God did not leave them in this place. He broke His silence to Zechariah. He breaks His silence to us as He gently calls us to Ch...

Love. We – everyone – seems to know instinctively, deep in our souls, that we both need love and we need to give love away for life to be what it was meant to be. Where do you especially need love in your life right now? Where is your life being turned upside down and you just need someone to hold you close in love? Where do you know you have fouled up and don’t deserve it, but still so desperatel...

Thanksgiving Eve Service 2016 Deacon Rich Toms

Jane and I had three children, each of them two years apart with two of them being boys. It goes without saying that at times it was crazy - with some maybe even saying it was a "nut house!" But in trying to balance understanding, love, and control, I would say to Jane, "I don't mind a 'nuthouse,' I just need to be in charge of it!" Jesus Christ is Lord and king! He is in charge...always. He is th...

Do you remember this song? To me, it kind of explores the idea that while you can have a sign that tells you to do something, you can also have a sign that points you to know a particular reality. This is how God talks about the signs he gives us in His Word, the Bible. Today, we look at the signs that Jesus gives us concerning the “end of the age.” Pastor Hank Scherer will lead our worship and wh...

We are family in Jesus. While God, the Holy Spirit, invites and gives us a personal relationship with Jesus Christ through the gift of faith, it is never only just “Jesus and me.” Rather, we are part of the family of God! This is what the church is - the people who believe in Jesus and therefore are brothers and sisters (family!) in Him! This, really, is what we celebrate today. The word “saint” m...

What does God think of me?...or does He? How can I know truth –for sure? Where/how can I know God?...for sure? Where is God for me?....for sure? What do I have to do so I know He is there for me?... I went to the Seminary in Indiana. Someone from Indiana is sometimes called a “Hoosier” as is the sports teams for Indiana University. “Hoosiers.” The problem is whenever you ask someone from Indiana w...

Newton’s First Law of Motion states, “an object at rest stays at rest and an object in motion stays in motion with the same speed and direction unless acted upon by an unbalanced force.” This is kind of how we are, isn’t it? It is so hard for us to begin, to change direction, to take a different step! We tend to “stay at rest” or “just stay doing what we’re doing.” This is especially true of us an...

I remember reading about a coach who, the week after the season was done, would meet with each player on the team, outlining, challenging, and encouraging each player in how he wanted him as an individual to grow in the off season. He perhaps wanted one player to lose some weight so he could get quicker while with another, he wanted him to work on getting stronger by putting on muscle weight, with...

“Let’s start at the very beginning, a very good place to start.” Every once in a while, a sports team gets beat so bad that when the coach asks what they will do he will say something like, “we are burning that game film because there is nothing we can learn from it, we were so bad!” Then he will say something like, “and then we are going to go back to the basics.” Today, we will focus on renewal...

Vision. Perhaps a good definition would be “a reality which is described with words that can almost paint a picture and which communicate a truth or a preferred outcome so it is better grasped by the hearer.” The Bible gives us a number of them. One of these would be the vision of God as our great good shepherd and we as His beloved sheep. From “the Lord is my Shepherd” in the Old Testament to “ I...

What is the saying? “Once begun is almost done!” On the other hand, “never begun leaves you a bum.” (ok, ok, I made this last one up.) When Jesus called his disciples, he said, “follow me.” It meant that they had to take a step and then another and then another. Today, our focus is on taking a step as we look to grow in living for what matters. What will this mean for you?

Will be updated soon

I can remember one game in high school where, as a linebacker, I was just a little late on a counter play to the other side of the field that they ran a couple of times in the first series of plays. So, what I did when I came off the field was to go ask the cheerleaders what to do –right? No, no, no, that’s not right. I went and asked the trombone player in the band –right? Of course not. I asked...

I was very young and I knew nothing about politics, but on the TV news I remember seeing Jesse Jackson talking to a group of young black people having them repeat after him again and again, “I am a somebody! I’m not a nobody! I am a somebody! I’m not a nobody!” Tell me, why do you think he felt compelled to lead these young people in such a chant?....What do you think of yourself? What are you wor...

It has happened almost every time I have mentioned the movie “Up” to someone. They have said, “What a great movie! I just love that movie! Don’t you think it’s great?” Tell me, why do you think people respond almost universally, in my experience at least, in this way when I mention the movie “Up?” It seems to me it is because this story really touches something down deep within us that is at the h...

Did you know that this movie borrows its story line, albeit loosely, from a Hans Christian Andersen fairy tale first published in 1870? Tell me, why do you think this story is being retold in the movie 150 years after it was written? What does it touch within us? What does it reveal about our stories? And how does God’s story intersect with it? Come and see! …and maybe, just for the fun of it, bef...