Sermon Podcast

Having covered the thesis statement of Romans last week (1:16-17), Pastor Brent now focuses on three powerful verses that serve to introduce Rom. 1:21-2:29. In 1:18-20, we see “God’s Wrath” (v. 18); “God’s Revelation” (vv. 19-20a); and “God’s Righteousness” (v. 20b). All are sinners, whether through rebellious unrighteousness (1:21-32) or pharisaical self-righteousness (2:1-29). We are dead in our...

In the third week of our Romans series scheduled through late 2026, we’ve arrived at the letter’s thesis statement. Pastor Brent explains “What the Gospel Does” (v. 16); “What the Gospel Is” (v. 17a); and “How the Gospel is Received” (v. 17b). Among his key lessons, he asserts that this short passage is intensely practical, driving us to trust in the power of God much like an ice skater (regardles...

Pastor Brent continues our new series by reminding us of the overview of the gospel as seen through the entire Book of Romans. The gospel: REVEALS our sin and God’s righteousness (ch. 1-4); TRANSFORMS us into a new humanity (ch. 5-8); FULFILLS the OT promises to Israel (ch. 9-11); and UNIFIES the church under Christ (ch. 12-16). After defining what faith is and what faith is not, Pastor Brent outl...

Pastor Brent launches a sermon series on The Letter of Paul to the Romans. With breaks for Advent 2025 and Summer 2026, this series will last 15 months and focus on “the gospel of God" (Rom. 1:1). After overviewing this masterpiece written by the Apostle Paul through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, Pastor Brent walks through the first seven verses: “Gospel Call” (v. 1); “Gospel Message” (vv. 2...

Pastor Brent wraps up our 17-week Summer in the Psalms series with Psalm 145. Old Testament scholar James Mays describes this psalm as “the overture to the final movement of the Psalter,” and Psalms 145-150 are symphony of praise to the LORD! The theme of Psalm 145 is testimony: testifying to God’s work, who He is, and what He has done. This acrostic poem of the entire Hebrew alphabet is a “Guide...

Back in the pulpit for the first time in 15 weeks, Pastor Brent brings the penultimate message in our Summer in the Psalms series. After recapping his sabbatical with a few examples of adventures with his family, he opens Psalm 133 and describes “What Unity is Not” (neither harmony nor uniformity), “What Unity Is” (founded, focused, and fixing our eyes on Christ), and “Why Unity is Important”. Pas...

The last in a series of 11 different preachers spanning 14 weeks through Pastor Brent’s sabbatical, New Life welcomes Carlton Harris, acting president of the EFCA. Drawing on his 46 years as a husband, father, grandfather, and church leader, Carlton offers fatherly wisdom from a shepherd’s heart through Psalm 51. After a personal introduction, Carlton welcomes back Pastor Brent and admonishes the...

Psalm 121 is precious to many people who love the Lord and love Psalms, which preacher Paul Arneberg prays applies to all who are listening. Paul shares personal stories from his recent and distant past of how the Lord has powerfully used Psalm 121 in his own life and through three women who died in faith in Christ. The second in a series of 15 “songs of ascent” sang by ancient Jewish pilgrims jou...

Frank Lanier is the Director of Leadership Development for the North Central District of the EFCA. In this message, Frank begins with his family background and a personal announcement that he and his family are soon leaving the NCD for a church planting call in his home state of North Carolina. After overviewing Psalm 119 as an acrostic of the entire Hebrew alphabet and highlighting several terms...

Just three weeks into his retirement from four decades of service through and to the EFCA as pastor, president, and TEDS president, Kevin Kompelien preaches God’s Word in Psalm 62. While Kevin purposefully avoided any “Brent stories,” he offered heartfelt appreciation to New Life EFC for loving Brent and his family these past seven years (and counting) and sending him on his current sabbatical. Ke...

Halfway between Memorial Day and Labor Day 2025, Paul Arneberg reminds New Life to keep reading Psalms as we continue our summer sermon series. After exploring the phenomenon of singing (by angels, birds, people, and in films), Paul highlights three themes from Psalm 96: “Sing to the LORD” (vv. 1-6); “Ascribe to the LORD Worship and Reverence” (vv. 7-9); and “Share the LORD by Declaring His Glory,...

Mark Revell, EFCA Director of Training and Development for ReachGlobal, returns stateside from his missionary work in Hungary and brings us this sermon on Psalm 46: “Water Scene #1” (vv. 1-3); “Water Scene #2” (vv. 4-7); and “The Choice: Be Still” (vv. 10-11). As a member of New Life who has preached several times but is living overseas, Mark included updates on his and Jodi’s work in Hungary; the...

Glenn Olson rounds out June where all four elders took turns preaching during Pastor Brent sabbatical. In addition to being a long-time elder, Glenn was New Life’s youth pastor for 23 years and now serves as Director of Student Ministries through the EFCA’s North Central District. In emphasizing the need for believers to truly dwell in God’s presence, Glenn preaches through Psalm 91: “The Believer...

Scott McCall is a long-time elder at New Life EFC and has made this his family’s church home for 25 years. Along with Glenn Olson and James Galland, Scott helped New Life to survive as a church for several years before Pastor Brent Kompelien and his family were called here in 2018. In this sermon, Scott teaches on God’s Word from Psalm 130: “Our Need for God” (vv. 1-4); “Waiting on the Lord” (vv....

Paul Arneberg brings a Father’s Day message by first honoring his own 91-year-old dad, Ron Arneberg, and tying together God’s design for fatherhood with Psalm 23. Using illustrations from the film “Cinderella Man” (2005) and the books “Durable Trades” (2020) and “Don’t Give the Enemy a Seat at Your Table” (2021), Paul outlines this beloved psalm (perhaps the most well-known passage in all of Scrip...

Ernest Stellingwerff of our Elder Team makes his New Life preaching debut in Psalm 22. Ernest sets the tone for this thoroughly Messianic psalm with an opening illustration of a woman who suffered from debilitating migraines for many years. As her suffering intensified, she described her prayer through pain as “not a worshipful whisper but a cry of desperation.” That reflects Psalm 22 as written b...

Terry Szymanski of our Elder Team at New Life returns with this message on Psalm 19. Terry shares his fascination with the universe through his degree in Aerospace Engineering and his ongoing interest in solar eclipses and the vastness of the universe. After quoting Charles Spurgeon (“He is wisest who reads both the Word book and the world book”), Terry walks us through Psalm 19 as “God Revealed T...

Paul Arneberg continues our Summer in the Psalms with this sermon on Psalm 8. Paul began by acknowledging Memorial Day and the price paid for our earthly liberties, adding that Jesus paid the ultimate price for our debt of sin in order to restore us both spiritually and physically. Tying in his challenge to read all 150 psalms over summer 2025, Paul outlined Psalm 8 as “GOD’S NAME: Magnify Yahweh,...

Pastor Dan Ford of Faribault EFC brings this message from God’s Word on Pastor Brent’s first Sunday of sabbatical. After sharing examples of his personal encouragement from our congregation (notably Glenn Olson, Director of Student Ministries for our North Central District of the EFCA), Pastor Dan outlines four voices in Psalm 2: “1st Voice—The World Speaks” (vv. 1-3); “2nd Voice—God Speaks” (vv....

Pastor Brent launches into our 17-week sermon series, Summer In The Psalms, just before his three-month sabbatical. Psalm 1 kicks off our series while serving as a introduction to the entire book of Psalms. With bookended illustrations from legendary Olympic track star Eric Liddle, Pastor Brent outlines Psalm 1 with “Two Paths” (vv. 1-3) and “Two Outcomes” (vv. 4-6). A key admonishment from Pastor...

This final sermon in our 11-week series on James coincided with Vision Sunday, a combined worship service with the second half focusing on staffing changes, budget adjustments, and renewal of our building campaign. Pastor Brent tied together the history of New Life (and the centrality that prayer has always had in our church family) with this last passage by the half-brother of Jesus with “Call to...

Terry Szymanski serves on our Elder Team here at New Life, and this is his first time preaching! After sharing a bit about his family and background, Terry reviews some keys to the Book of James, including God’s definition of patience in James 1:2-4. Terry outlines this short but powerful passage as “A Call to Action,” “Enduring Patiently,” “You too…Stand Firm,” “Don’t Grumble,” and “Examples—Look...

In this Resurrection Day message, Pastor Brent challenges us how to respond to Jesus’ resurrection through the invitation , command , and promise of Matt. 28:1-10. “ Come and see…go and tell…you will see Him.” The proper response to the resurrection of Jesus Christ is to humbly come to Him, fall at His feet, and worship Him with one’s whole self and whole life. Jesus was raised to life so that you...

Pastor Brent takes a break from our James series for Holy Week. In his Palm Sunday sermon on Jesus’ Triumphal Entry into Jerusalem (Matt. 21:1-11), Pastor Brent outlines “Specific Instructions” (vv. 1-3), “Prophetic Fulfillment” (vv. 4-5), and “What Kind of King?” (vv. 6-11). Jesus alone will stir one’s heart to the things that matter. We must ask ourselves: “Am I deeply moved by the revelation of...

With a recurring challenge for our stated values to match our lived values, Pastor Brent preaches on the prophetic warning of James 5:1-6. We need to change our perspective and remember that God is on the throne. My money doesn’t exist to build my kingdom; it exists to build God’s kingdom. Helpful resource: Redeeming Money: How God Reveals and Reorients Our Hearts by Paul David Tripp.