Upside-Down Savior - Pastor Nathan Nass

Wake up! Christ the King is coming. All this world is going to pass away. When Christ the King comes, he will separate believers from unbelievers like a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. Believers will be welcomed to eternal life in heaven. Unbelievers will be condemned to eternity in hell. So the Bible encourages, “The hour has already come for you to wake up from your slumber, because...

What is “grace”? That’s a word that gets thrown around a lot in the Christian church. But what does it mean? What is grace? Here’s a great Bible verse to illustrate God’s grace: “God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8).I hope you can listen to this short devotion about God’s undeserved love for you and me. Jesus loves you!

“If I sin, do I lose my salvation?” We know that sin is bad. God hates sin. Yet, even as Christians, we still sin. Every time we sin, do we lose our salvation? Here’s the Bible’s answer: “My dear children, I write this to you so that you will not sin. But if anybody does sin, we have an Advocate with the Father–Jesus Christ the Righteous One” (1 John 2:1).I hope you can listen to this short devoti...

When you think about it, the Bible’s message really sounds foolish. The Bible calls all human beings sinful. Who wants to hear that? Then the Bible says that God himself came into our world and let himself be killed on a cross to save us from our sins. Doesn’t that sound crazy? On top of that, the Bible says that after three days, Jesus raised himself back to life and promises eternal life in heav...

What’s a Lutheran? With all the different Christian denominations, that’s a fair question for people to ask. What’s a Lutheran? For centuries, Lutherans have summarized their biblical beliefs with three short phrases: By Grace Alone. By Faith Alone. By Scripture Alone. I hope you can listen to this short devotion about what a Lutheran is and how everything we believe and teach is based on God’s gr...

The end of the world is coming. Can you sense that? Ever since Jesus died and rose for us, we have been living in the “End Times,” waiting for Jesus to come back to judge the living and the dead. Before his return, Jesus promised there would be wars and rumors of wars, famines and earthquakes, and persecution of Christians. Do you see those things happening? Yes! The end of the world is coming. Ye...

What good can come from this? You’ve asked that. When trials and troubles come, our faith is tested, and we ask, “What good can come from this?”Here’s an answer from the Bible: “God comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God” (2 Corinthians 1:4).I hope you can listen to this short devotion about how God comforts us in...

God wants you to forever connect two things: A wedding and a funeral. At first, they might seem to have nothing to do with each other. But that couldn’t be further from the truth. Each wedding gives us a taste of the wedding in heaven. Thankfully, you’re on the Jesus' guest list too! You’ve been washed in Jesus’ blood and clothed with his righteousness. Your groom, Jesus, just hasn’t come to p...

There’s a lot of focus on the government these days. That’s nothing new! Long ago, people came to Jesus with what they thought was a hard question: “Is it right to pay the imperial tax to Caesar or not” (Matthew 22:17). Taxes? Government? What would Jesus say? His answer was brilliant: “Give back to Caesar what is Caesar’s and to God what is God’s.” As imperfect as our government is, God is using...

When will Judgment Day be? We all realize that at some point, the world is going to end. One day, Jesus will judge the living and the dead. When? When will Judgment Day be? Jesus tells us, “About that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father” (Matthew 24:36).I hope you can listen to this short devotion about how no one knows when Judgment Day will b...

Why do bad things happen to good people? Have you ever wondered that? Life seems so unfair. The wrong people seem to suffer. Why do bad things happen to good people? While the Bible doesn’t explain the reason behind every suffering in life, Paul understood this about his troubles: “We were under great pressure, far beyond our ability to endure, so that we despaired of life itself…. This happened t...

Are you married? Are you thinking of getting married? Here are some words from God to keep in mind: “Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. And over all these virtues put on lo...

There is hope for you in life and death! We all need to have hope. Hope for something gets you up every morning. Yet, hope so often goes unfulfilled. It doesn’t come. Things don’t change. Hope can feel hopeless. Yet, Jesus encourages you to never stop hoping in him. You never know when he will do the unexpected. He once proved that when he healed a long-suffering woman and raised a dead girl back...

“Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres” (1 Corinthians 13:4-7). As beautiful as those words are, they are a lot harder...

Why do we want Jesus’ body and blood? When you think about it, it sounds awfully strange–maybe even wrong–to hear that Christians receive Jesus’ body and blood. Why? Because it’s the food our souls need. It was Jesus’ body and blood that won our forgiveness: “He himself bore our sins in his body on the cross” (1 Peter 2:24).I hope you can listen to this short devotion about how Jesus graciously gi...

We can’t justify ourselves, but Jesus justifies us. Life is not about you and I looking up to heaven and saying, “ God, I thank you that I am not like other people ” (Luke 18:11). No. Life is about bowing our heads in repentance and saying, “ God, have mercy on me, a sinner ” (Luke 18:13). And do you know what Jesus says? “I have!” “ All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and all are...

Is the Lord’s Supper Jesus’ body and blood? A lot of Christian churches say, “No. It’s just bread and wine. It’s just a representation. Just a symbol.”But do you know what Jesus says? “Yes!” “Take and eat; this is my body” (Matthew 26:26). “This is my blood of the covenant” (Matthew 26:28).I hope you can listen to this short devotion about how Jesus gives us his true body and blood in the Lord’s S...

Forgiveness is hard, isn’t it? There are people who have hurt you, sometimes over and over again. There are so many reasons not to forgive them: “They don’t deserve it!” “They are just going to sin again!” “It’s happened too many times.” So you can understand a question that Peter once asked Jesus, “Lord, how many times shall I forgive a brother or sister who sins against me? Up to seven times?” (...

It’s hard to believe what other people say, isn’t it? The sad reality is that we’ve learned not to trust anyone. We’ve been on the receiving end of lies and broken promises. It’s hard to believe what other people say. Thankfully, God is different! "For no matter how many promises God has made, they are ‘Yes’ in Christ" (2 Corinthians 1:20). God never lies. God never breaks his promises....

Am I forgiven? The devil loves to accuse us again and again of our sins. He places this constant doubt in our minds: Am I forgiven? When we look to ourselves, we don’t see anything good. But when we look outside ourselves, when we look to Jesus, we hear: “The blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin” (1 John 1:7).I hope you can listen to this short devotion about how God assures us of his...

Can I forgive sins? Forgiveness is at the heart of Christianity. Jesus won forgiveness through his death on the cross. Can I actually tell someone that their sins are forgiven? Jesus gives a surprising answer: Yes! “If you forgive anyone’s sins, their sins are forgiven. If you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven” (John 20:23).I hope you can listen to this short devotion about how God gives...

Christianity is a religion of forgiveness. If you are a sinner, then this is the place for you. Jesus graciously looks sinners in the eye and says, “ Take heart; your sins are forgiven ” (Matthew 9:2). Not “might be” forgiven.” Not “one day will be” forgiven. Your sins are forgiven in Jesus. I know that other people accuse you. I know that other people remember your sins and never forget them. I k...

Why did God let that person die so young? Death always troubles us, but it’s especially troubling when a young person dies seemingly long before he or she should. Why does God let people die young? This verse helps us understand: “The righteous perish, and no one takes it to heart; the devout are taken away, and no one understands that the righteous are taken away to be spared from evil. Those who...

Why do good people die? That question arises whenever a sudden tragedy claims the life of someone we wouldn’t expect. Why does God let good people die? The answer has two parts: 1) There are no good people. 2) God has something better planned for those who believe in him! The Bible says, “The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 6:23).I hope...

How can I live without fear? Fear and worry and anxiety so quickly cover our hearts and minds each day. With so many things to be worried about, how can I live without fear? Because God is with you. “Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I will fear no evil, for you are with me” (Psalm 23:4).I hope you can listen to this short devotion about facing the darkest valleys without fear, becaus...