In the Gospel today, Jesus teaches about divorce in response to a question from the Pharisees. Jesus is not speaking to make the divorced person feel condemned, he is addressing the Pharisee’s faulty thinking. Jesus points beyond their debate to the very beginning, to the very first marriage, to show how God intended for marriage to be permanent…”till death do us part.” Part of the the beauty of marriage is in this permanence. But it doesn’t always end that way because of the hardness of our hearts.
View SermonMark
Vulnerability
Vulnerability is trusting that God wants the best for you and wants to provide what you need. Take it all to the Lord, not just the cleaned up version but the hard core nitty gritty side of your life. He knows it all already, keeping things from God is like trying to keep things from a good godly parent who knows you better than you know yourself. You are important to God and He wants to hear your real heart and real circumstances. The Lord longs to be there for you and to be a part of your solution and the Lord is not afraid of your drama and extreme feelings or emotions.
View SermonThe Way to the Top
“If anyone would be first, he must be last of all and servant of all” (Mark 9:35). This might seem backwards to you, it would have seemed backwards to the disciples as well. The way of the world is to promote yourself. To fight your way to the top. To make sure you get ahead so you aren’t left behind. This attitude comes from a lack of trust in God.
View SermonEvident Faith
I’m glad that we began our worship this morning with “A Mighty Fortress,” one of Martin Luther’s most famous hymns, because today we are going to dig into the Letter of James which Luther deemed “an Epistle of straw” when compared with the letters of Paul and Peter.
View SermonJesus in the Storm
We so often like to imagine that Jesus is off somewhere holy and pristine not getting mixed up in our messy lives. We like to imagine Him contained and not going all the places that we go. The reality is that where you go Jesus goes as well. Whether you are doing church things and serving or whether you are off carousing in ungodly ways there Jesus is. We often want Jesus when we want Him and we want Him to remain in a box or separate place to only see us in our cleaned up Sunday best. Jesus shows us to today his great love and willingness to show up in the midst of our lives.
View SermonTruth in Christ
Where there is Jesus, there is truth, where there is Jesus there is life, even life eternal. Scripture reminds us that Jesus is the Way the Truth and the Life.
View SermonSent
How long is a long time? When your parents were born? The Civil War? The Declaration of Independence? Martin Luther? The formation of the Grand Canyon? Even before that, Paul reminds us in his letter to the Ephesians, he chose you before the foundation of the world.
View SermonOverflowing Generosity
The Psalm today says, “Hallelujah! Happy are they who fear the Lord and have great delight in his commandments!Their descendants will be mighty in the land; the generation of the upright will be blessed. Wealth and riches will be in their house, and their righteousness will last forever. Light shines in the darkness for the upright; the righteous are merciful and full of compassion.” Our Psalm today encourages us to fear the Lord in a way of respect and realize that God will provide for our needs. The righteous trust that God has a good plan and will provide for them. The righteous look to the ways of the Lord and find it a good and trustworthy place to be. The righteous pass down their faith and generosity so that the generations of people will continue to be a light to those around. The righteous are to be merciful to those around them so that the love of Jesus might be seen in our actions and our lives and that we the Church would be known for our compassion. The righteous are to have compassion for others and not harden off their hearts to the needs of others.
View SermonPanic and Peace
Panic is often our response in the event of a threat. Remember the toilet paper shortage of 2020 or the gas shortage a few weeks ago. Everyone feels the need to stand up for him or herself, to guard against danger, to make sure that they are not the one left with the empty roll of toilet paper. It is certainly good to be prepared, especially now that we are in hurricane season, but panic and anxiety can get exhausting. This is why it is so comforting to know that Jesus is Lord of our circumstances as well as the one who is able to bring peace to our anxious hearts.
View SermonThe Tallest Tree
Virgin forests once covered 78% of Florida’s land. By 1937 only 21% was forested. Today, through reforestation efforts, the number has risen to 47%. But these new, younger trees are not nearly as big as the old growth trees were. One such tree, the Senator, was estimated to be 3,500 years old in 1993. Before a hurricane removed its top in 1925 the tree stood 165 feet tall. It was the 5th oldest tree in the world and the largest tree east of the Mississippi. Its trunk was 17.5 ft in diameter. The tree was destroyed by a fire lit by a 26 y/o drug addict on January 16, 2012. Today the charred remains of the tree are only 20-25 ft tall. In the readings for today, a number of nations are compared with tall trees that rise to prominence. Ultimately, all of these trees meet their end, but the Kingdom of God will stand for ever.
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