"The Good Life" What is the good life? Ask everyone here this morning – what does the good life look like to you? Maybe it’s being up north, being on vacation, being far, far away from the stresses and difficulties of every day life…being away from work…being from from any type of pain and suffering we face. The good life is much better than every difficult thing we face in life.What is the good life? That’s really the question and the desire of the man in our lesson today who came to Jesus and and who wanted a solution to his problem. He wanted the Good Life. And he thought the good life came if he had more stuff, more things, and by trying to fill the empty void in his life with earthly possessions. We hear from Jesus that our life is not good and not full by how much stuff we can fill it with. Our life is full and good when we fill it with Jesus. 

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July 31, 2016 Sermon

"All Over the World...the Gospel Bears Fruit"Think about apple trees.  Why is it that they produce apples?  Is it because they’ll feel guilty if they don’t?  Is it because they will be in some sort of trouble if they don’t produce enough fruit?  That’s foolish!  Apple trees produce apples because that’s just what apple trees do.  It’s natural.Christians produce good works, not because they’ll feel guilty if they don’t, and not because they’re afraid that otherwise they’ll get in trouble with God.  Christians produce God works because Christ gave them the power to do so.  It’s what they naturally do!That life of a Christian that bears fruit is what we want to think about this morning as we consider the words of encouragement through the apostle Paul that he shared in Colossians 1. But it’s so much more than that – it didn’t take place only in Colosse nearly 2000 years ago. It takes place in Green Bay, WI, and all across the world. “All Over the World…The Gospel Bears Fruit.” 

July 10, 2016 Sermon

"Don't Look Back!"You know that feeling you get when you look out at the lawn that’s been freshly cut? You have a sense and feeling of accomplishment b/c of how nice it looks. Maybe you needed to cut the grass in preparation for company that’s coming over to the house or simply b/c it needed to be cut. Have you ever stood back and looked at how straight the lines of the grass were? Were they straight? Were they crooked? Off to the side? Sometimes it happens to us when we cut the grass. Our parents taught us from young on – Don’t look back! Don’t get distracted – you can do a lot of damage with the lawn mower. Keep your eyes looking ahead. Don’t look back! If you’re distracted and not looking at where you’re supposed to be going, you run into things and the lines of the grass are crooked.Our words of encouragement from our Lord Jesus this morning are similar to what our parents told us when cutting the grass. Jesus was speaking to the disciples and to you and me when it comes to discipleship and following Christ – “Don’t Look Back!” Jesus said – “No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of God.”  Let’s look at these verses this morning as we hear and heed these words of warning and encouragement. 

June 26, 2016 Sermon

"The Only Way to Win is to Lose"Today we celebrate Father’s Day. There are a lot of things that we’ve learned from our fathers. Fathers teach their children the value of hard work. Christian fathers share God’s Word and their faith with their children. And fathers…they also share their competitive spirit and teach their children about winning.Winning and competing are note everything in life – but they are important aspects of life. Maybe it was a board game, or out on the field or the court, we do everything we can to win.Don’t we try to win at everything still today. We compete with our co-worker so that we might get the raise. We compare ourselves to others. We compete with a brother or sister – we can’t let them win – can’t let them beat us. We try to win in so many aspects of our lives that when Jesus tells us – “The only way to win is to lose” – it doesn’t sit well with us. Today’s gospel lesson speaks to winning and losing when Jesus talks about what it means to bear earthly crosses. “24﻿ For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will save it.”  We know that life is no game – but what Jesus tells us is so very important not only for this life, but for the life to come. Let’s consider Jesus’ words under the theme – “The Only Way To Win Is To Lose!” 

June 19, 2016 Sermon

"Live Free!"1. Free from fear2. Free for Christ 

June 12, 2016 Sermon

"The Lord Fights Our Battles"Tomorrow our nation celebrates Memorial Day. It’s a day for us to remember those who have served our nation in battle, especially those who gave their life to protect our freedoms. Maybe you’ve been to Arlington National cemetery and have seen the thousands upon thousands of graves. Or maybe you’ll remember a relative that has served and given their life in battle. Across the country millions of Americans remember the battles that have been fought, and the lives lost – and we thank every single one of our servicemen and women for protecting our country and freedoms.In our Old Testament lesson, there was a battle that was fought on a new frontier for God’s people. Joshua and the Israelites were there – but more importantly as we’ll hear, so was the Lord. Yes, the Lord fought the battle of Jericho, and The Lord Fights Our Battles still today. 

May 29, 2016 Sermon

"The Three P's of Pentecost"I would like you to think of the most wonderful, awesome and amazing thing that you’ve ever witnessed in your life. Maybe it was that trip out west and you were looking at the majestic mountains and were gazing at the beauty of God’s creation; or you were on the beach looking out at miles and miles of ocean and wondering if it ever ends. Or maybe you’re thinking of the day in the hospital room you had the opportunity to gaze into the eyes of your child as you held him or her for the first time. God is good! He has given us so many wonderful, awesome and amazing gifts in our lives.But how many of you thought of the gift of the Holy Spirit? That’s the exact gift that was given on the first Pentecost. It truly was awesome, wonderful and amazing as they experienced with many of their senses the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. They were able to see and hear and witness the awesome power of our almighty God. Let’s consider – “The Three P’s of Pentecost.” Promise. Power. Purpose.You might ask yourself – why 3 P’s? Not only does it have a nice ring to it, there are three things that Jesus gave to his disciples as encouragement. He gave them the promise, power and purpose of Pentecost. 

May 15, 2016 Sermon

"What Are You Looking For?"Happy Mother’s Day! Think to yourself of the special phrase that your mom has said on more than one occasion to you. Maybe it’s one your mom is famous for. Maybe it’s something along the lines of – “You’ll thank me for this when you get older.” But it’s one in particular that we were told that – mom has eyes in the back of their head. They say that because they want their children to behave and because they want them to know they are always watching them. And you can probably think of a time or two where your dear mother had said to you – “I’m watching you.” Mom’s eyes are everywhere.We can tell a lot about eyes – and in particular where we see the eyes of the disciples as we consider our New Testament lesson from Acts 1. We want to consider the question that was asked of the disciples – “What Are You Looking For?” in v. 11. It’s the same question we want to ask of ourselves as well. 

May 8, 2016 Sermon

"Why Do Bad Things Happen?"Why do bad things happen? It’s an honest question that both believers and unbelievers have asked throughout life. We know not to talk about “if” bad things will happen, but “when” – b/c we know that it happens to all.This past week I heard on the news – Ingrid Williams, the wife of Oklahoma City Thunder assistant coach Monty Williams, was killed in a tragic car accident at the age of 44. She was hit head-on by a car that crossed over the center lane. She was taken to the hospital and died later that evening from injuries suffered in the crash. And the driver died at the scene. Ingrid was traveling with three of her children at the time of the crash. They are all expected to be ok. She leaves behind a husband and 5 children ranging in age from 5 to 17 years old.We know sad new like this affects people every day. You and I may have faced tragedy in our own lives too. When tragedy happens, we may be left to wonder – Why do Bad things happen? This morning we want to listen to the answer of our Savior as he shares with us both the reason and the result. 

February 28, 2016 Sermon

"Jesus Defeats the Devil!"I don’t know if you noticed or not, but I believe there was a big football game played last Sunday. Did you catch the game? Well, even if you missed some or all of it, all you had to do was look at the headlines this past week to give you a pretty good idea of what took place – §  “Defense powers Broncos to Victory”§  “Broncos give Manning 2nd Super Bowl Ring”§  “What’s next for Payton?And the headlines for the losing team, the Carolina Panthers weren’t nearly as kind.§  “Is Cam a Sore Loser?”§  “Why didn’t Cam dive for the fumble?”It certainly was a battle, a big game – and there were winners and losers.There was another battle – or Big Game – that took place almost 2000 years ago. Jesus vs. the Devil. While we weren’t there at the event, the headlines tell it all – “Jesus Defeats the Devil!” This morning we’ll hear about the enemy, about his game plan, but even more importantly, about Jesus our Savior who went to battle with the devil and won and why it’s so important for you and me. 

February 14, 2016 Sermon

Ash Wednesday Sermon 2016This Man Went Home Justified“It’s not my fault!” Does that sound familiar? Who in all the world might’ve said those words? Could it be you – when you were 4,5,6 or 7 years old and you said that about your brother or sister who got you into trouble. If you’re a teacher, you’ve probably heard a student say that. If you’re a supervisor, you’ve probably heard it from an employee. You may have heard it from a neighbor or coworker.What it is an attempt to justify your actions. They make an excuse for what they did. They try to shift the blame and get out of whatever consequences might be coming. It’s kind of ironic that we use the word justify for that, because justify is one of the most important words in the Bible. It means that God declares us not guilty in his courtroom. But when we use it in everyday speech, it almost always means that we make an excuse. That subtle difference illustrates the theme of our Lenten devotions. This year, we’re going to hear about irony. One dictionary defines irony as “a combination of circumstances or a result that is the opposite of what . . . might be expected.” Jesus’ passion is filled with irony. Tonight, we’re considering a parable Jesus told. What is the irony, the unexpected result? This man went home justified.Who was Jesus talking about? There were two people here – a Pharisee; and a tax collector. One of the ironies of this parable is how we react to the word Pharisee. To us, that word means proud and self-righteous. We can’t imagine a Pharisee as anything other than a hypocrite. The gospels back up that assessment. But to the first-century Jew, Phariseemeant something else. St. Paul was raised a Pharisee, and he was proud of that label before he came to faith. The Pharisees were the people who defended a strict interpretation of the Old Testament law. They held that it really was the Word of God and that it really was true, unlike the Sadducees who were more like the theological liberals of many churches today. But the tax-collector? He would’ve been the sinner or the outcast of society.We’re told right away in our very first verse – why Jesus told this parable – To some who were confident of their own righteousness and looked down on everybody else, Jesus told this parable…There were a lot of people who had misunderstandings of how to get into a right relationship with God. The Pharisees thought by doing and keeping God’s law was the way to get right with God. They even went to the point of making over 600 laws that they tried their best to keep.There were two men who went to the temple to pray – one a Pharisee, the other a tax collector. 11 The Pharisee stood up and prayed about himself: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other men—robbers, evildoers, adulterers—or even like this tax collector. 12 I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get.’ Remember, we want to remember the thought, “This man went home justified.” Would we be talking about the Pharisee or the tax collector? The Pharisee is a self-described good person. He lists all the ways he tries to get into a right relationship with God. He was going a step above and beyond what he had to do – what was required of him. Percentage giving was good, but he fasted much more than he had needed to. He thought he was good. Did this man go home justified?God tells us throughout the Bible that it’s not about our outward actions, but it’s about the thoughts and attitude of the heart. The Pharisee doesn’t take responsibility for his own actions. He shifts the blame to others. ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other men—robbers, evildoers, adulterers—or even like this tax collector. These were the people who were far from being right with God. These were the outcasts of society. In essence, he’s saying “I’m not…a robber…evildoer…adulterer…or tax collector.” And the public would’ve agreed with him. He would have been given the societal stamp of approval – that he was trying to do right and good things.But how did that sit with God? When we hear about the Pharisee, it’s easy to see what the problem is – the pride that rested in his heart. We have pride resting in our own hearts. Maybe we say similar prayers – “Lord, I’m thankful I’m not like this neighbor…co-worker of mine. I’m not a robber, evildoer or adulterer. I’m a pretty good person compared to the person sitting in the cubicle next to me.” Does that type of attitude put us into a right relationship with God – when we carry around the attitude that we’re better than others?We heard it in the very last verse – For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled… and isn’t that what the Pharisee had done – exalted himself? Our Lord told this parable to those who were confident of their own righteousness and looked down on everybody else… There are times when we are over confident and look down on others; and that we weren’t among the sinful of the world. But our Lord tells us about the sinful pride that rests in our heart – that he has come to defeat the sin and pride in our heart.It wasn’t the Pharisee who went home justified, rather it was the tax collector. But notice the difference between the two. 13 “But the tax collector stood at a distance…He didn’t want to be front and center – not wanting to have everyone hear his prayer. He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, ‘God, have mercy on me, a sinner.’ How do we develop this God-pleasing attitude? When we think about Lent and Ash Wednesday, isn’t it the time for us to do some self-reflection and look at the obvious, difficult and painful reality that we find ourselves in? We are robbing God; we are evildoers committing sin; we are adulterers; we go and break the 8th commandment. We fail to honor God in everything we say and think and do.We are here in Lent and to do on Ash Wednesday. To remember this phrase and say it well – “God, have mercy on me, a sinner.”We can tell God anything and everything we’ve done – b/c he knows it all – even the dirty little secrets we don’t want to tell anyone else. We can confess our sins to God – b/c of Jesus, his passion, his life, death and resurrection, we have the forgiveness of all our sins.We have been justified – in the courtroom God has declared us not guilty – of any sin we’ve committed in the past or any sin we will commit in the future. We are to look to Jesus as our Savior.There are many ironies of the Passion that we’ll hear about over the next several weeks. We’ve heard one tonight about the Pharisee and the tax collector. I pray that we look to the model example of the tax collector – that we reflect on our many sins that we’ve committed – that caused our Lord Jesus to suffer and die on the cross. May we also rejoice in the passion of our Savior – that b/c he died to forgive all our sins – we are declared not guilty. We are the man, the woman, the child, that has gone home justified.Amen. 

February 10, 2016 Sermon

"Jesus is Our Hope"You can easily see the glass of water here (point to it). No, it’s not a science experiment. But I am getting kind of thirsty. There are two ways that you can look at this glass – and you’ve probably heard the expression before – “Is the glass half empty? Or half full?”The person who looks at life as a glass half-empty is the one who thinks to themselves about situations in life – “What’s the point? There is no hope. I might as well just quit.” This is the time of year when we hear the most negativity – from our friends, co-workers, spouses, maybe even you and me from time to time. It’s cold outside and all the green and life and vitality is covered up by snow. Christmas is past. We’ve put away all the decorations. We’ve said good-bye to the family and friends who were only in town for a visit. And to top it all off, you’ve probably just gotten the bill in the mail. January is kind a “blah” type of month; and certainly a time when we’re tempted to look at life as being a glass half-empty.But the glass half-full is a mindset of positivity in spite of any and all circumstances we might find ourselves in. These are the friends, family, co-workers with a positive attitude in life that we want to surround ourselves with. No matter how bleak the situation is, the glass half-full looks at life and all the good that is coming out of every situation. There is hope!Glass half-full describes the season of epiphany. It is the time where we see Jesus revealed as God’s Son. Jesus obeyed his parents perfectly. He was baptized. He performed his first miracle – changing water into wine. And he chooses his first disciples. Epiphany is an opportunity for us to rally around and follow Jesus in preparation for the season of Lent. Epiphany offers us hope.This morning, we want to study our OT lesson and be reminded that with Jesus, there is hope! Jesus is our hope! 

January 24, 2016 Sermon

"The Recipe For A Healthy Diet" When was the last time, or how often do you find yourself looking at the nutrition facts on the back of the label of whatever it is you’re eating? What do you notice about what you’re eating? You notice the healthy things that you should be eating – proteins and the like. Or you’ll notice the things you shouldn’t be eating too much of – sodium or fats. You read through the labels b/c you want to know exactly what you are eating. You want a healthy diet – and not a diet full of junk foods.Imagine you walk into the doctor and you told him what you were eating and what was in your diet, and you said, “Doctor, I’ve found the perfect recipe for a healthy diet. My diet consists of a cup of water and a whole lot of salt.” The doctor would be thrilled to hear the first half of your recipe for a healthy diet. In fact, he’d tell you don’t stop at just one glass of water – be sure to drink a lot more. But when you tell him about the salt, he’d get a funny look on his face wondering what you’re talking about. Salt in large quantities is not good for us. It raises blood pressure.Did you know that was the exact recipe for a healthy diet that Jesus gave to his disciples and that he shares w/ you and me this morning? You see, Jesus cares about our diet to maintain physical health, but he’s even more concerned about us having a spiritually healthy diet – and what that looks like. In verse 41 a few lines down in our lesson, Jesus says, “I tell you the truth, anyone who gives you a cup of water in my name because you belong to Christ will certainly not lose his reward.”   And then in the very last verse, verse 50, Jesus says, “Salt is good, but if it loses its saltiness, how can you make it salty again?  Have salt in yourselves, and be at peace with each other.”  The point that Jesus is making this morning that we want to well remember is that in order to have “The Recipe Of A Healthy Diet”, we need to have a cup of water to keep the parts of your body; and we want to have a lot of salt to keep peace in the body. 

October 4, 2015 Sermon

"Who Is The Greatest?"When I was a kid we would play a game called king of the mountain.  We did it during winter because we needed a mountain of snow to do it.  The object of this game was to stay on top of this snow mountain.  Players in this game would try to knock the current king down and take their place as the new king.  Whenever a new king would take his place at the top they usually shouted out with joy that they were the greatest.  However, their excitement was short lived as they eventually were thrown down the snow pile and had to start from the bottom.  This mentality of wanting to become the greatest is something that doesn’t end in childhood.  Unfortunately, greatness in the eyes of the world is one of those things that are here today and gone tomorrow.  For a brief moment in time the rich, powerful, famous and influential have risen to the top of the mountain only to fall from greatness unremembered. As we know all too well greatness is an elusive thing.  People from every generation forget.  No matter the great things humans accomplish in this life they are often forgotten at some point.  So "Who is the greatest?"  This morning Jesus answers that question for us here in Mark... 

September 27, 2015 Sermon

"God Builds His Church"One of the channels on TV my wife and I find ourselves watching is Homes and Gardens – HGTV. There are a lot of shows on this channel that involve the buying, selling and building of homes. Flip or Flop and Property Brothers are two such shows that take older homes and completely renovate them – b/c there is a character flaw in the house that the owner doesn’t like or for potential profit. You get to see many aspects of building or renovating a home from start to completion of the project. And it gets really interesting when they start the renovation process and find mold or asbestos or termites – that cause them to spend a great deal of time and money to fix.Home building and renovating pique our interest b/c it just may be that we have a fascination and desire with homes we live in or dream of living in.This morning, the apostle Paul uses the image of construction and building to tell us how “God Builds His Church.”He tells us how God’s Word is the foundation with Jesus Christ as the chief cornerstone; and that we as believers are the church. 

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