Good Shepherd Lutheran Church

Have you ever wondered what God means when He commands us to love Him with all our heart, mind strength and soul? Have you ever wondered what it means for God to be faithful? Then this week’s message is for you. For we will be studying the powerful words of Godly wisdom found in the Book of Deuteronomy that were given to the people of God at a time of great transition. In the pages of this book we discover our God calling us to stop and look back, to pause and remember how God stands by us, how He never leaves us or abandons us, in spite of our failures and unbelief.

God is more awesome than we can imagine. When God calls us out and chooses to act in and through us, it can only be a very humbling experience. Our single greatest joy will come as we are humbled, as we live for God, and as we remember we walk with him within his story, and to the glory of his name.

This sermon is a shared sermon with Children of Peace International. I'll be talking about how God proves His love to us. One of the ways He does this is by striving with us.

Have you ever struggled with the question of, “Is anything impossible for God?” Have you pondered what it means to trust God? What about questions like, “What do I do when it seems like God has forgotten about me?” Or “How can I trust God when my life is filled with doubt, fear, anxiety, or frustration?” If so, then the story of Abraham and Sarah is a must read for they too faced a time when they wondered if God would or could ever fulfill His promises.

With the help of two new pastors, we have learned to hear and ground God’s Story in God’s tender, fatherly love. I John 4:19 says this best: “We love, because God first loved us." God is love. He is creative, hospitable, patient as He mentors His Adam (earth-creature), and we should understand all of this as an expression of His love. From the human side, as the man and woman experience their Abba’s love, they are equipped to show His goodness and kindness to the world. They can lovingly show others what God is like!

The good news of salvation through Jesus Christ is the spice of life. Once you have experienced it nothing is the same. It is delicious and it is to be shared.

Did you know researchers have recently discovered that the average person’s attention span has dropped from 12 seconds to 8 since we entered the age of I-phone technology? Did you know that means humans now have a shorter attention span than a goldfish whose attention span is 9 seconds? In our world filled with distractions and we have such short attention spans is it any wonder that we struggle to keep our eyes focused on Jesus when we live in a world? So, how can God to still expect us to be single-minded and single-focused on Him when from the time we wake up to the time our heads hit our pillows at night we barely have time to breath let alone read the Bible or say a prayer? If you struggle with God’s command for us to have no gods before Him then I pray this sermon will help you.

Christians who love Jesus often want to hear the words the master speaks to his servants in the parable of the talents. "Well done my good and faithful servant." What if we could serve Jesus faithfully and hear those words every day?

Jesus told us that “In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world” (John 16:33). How can we learn to suffer wisely? Philippians 4:6-7 tells us to thank God in all things because God is near and with us in all things, and that the peace of GOd will guard our hearts and minds.

The youth at Good Shepherd had an amazing summer full of exciting God encounters. Listen here to get a look into all the things that the students experienced during Vacation Bible School, mission trips and summer camp. Also hear directly from some students and leaders about their personal experiences this summer.

Have you ever struggled with God’s command to submit your life to Him? Do Bible verses such as Proverbs 3:5-6, Ephesians 5:22-23, or Hebrews 13:17 give you pause? If so, then we invite you to join us as we delve into what it means for us to follow God’s commands to be fully submitted to Him.

We were created to show God's goodness and kindness in this world.We fail to do this because our purpose has been twisted or bent. As the Holy Spirit makes us more like Jesus, we become holier. This is a comparative status, but a functional reality!

Has Jesus ever come and ask you to do something totally out of your comfort zone and scary? Has the Holy Spirit ever compelled you to go and talk to a complete stranger about Jesus? What have you done in response when asked? Did you go or did you stay? These and other compelling questions are found in Acts chapter 9 when a man named Ananias hears the voice of Jesus telling him to go and pray for a man named Saul of Tarsus. We will learn some important lessons from Ananias this week as we study his story.

We usually think of surrendering as a bad thing. You know, like we have been defeated... I'm arguing today that surrendering to God is the best and wisest thing we can do! Abraham, Mary, and Jesus all surrendered to God. It is the only way we will find fulfillment and happiness.

What happens when difficulties and complications pop up in front of the dreams and plans that God has made for you? Do you fight for the dream or give in to the sickness? This sermon will show us how God's word says we can fight for the dream.

When was the last time you pondered how God has used change to transform your life? Did God use a person, a place, or a particular circumstance to bring about the change He desired in your life? How did you face the fears, doubts, uncertainty and anxiety of the change Jesus was orchestrating in your life? This week we explored these and other vital questions as we began our summer preaching series called, “A Labor of Love!”

Is seeing believing? If it is, then why did some of the disciples who came to Jesus after the resurrections, witnessed Him, and worshipped Him still doubt? What changed them from doubters to trusters (yes, I made that word up)? What did Jesus do that made the great commission from Matthew 28 into a matter of life and death for these disciples?

Have you ever considered how the resurrection changed our ability to hope? More specifically, have you ever pondered how the resurrection helps us place our hope in that which is true and eternal? As Christians, the hope we have is not the same as the hope the world has. Our hope is rooted in the fulfillment of Isaiah’s prophecy found in Isaiah 11:1 that tells us God would send His Son Jesus to be the root of Jesse. The hope we have is not a dream or a wish; it is so much more. The hope we have is grounded in the resurrection of Jesus who is our anchor in a world that seems to be full of endless storms.

If we were made in the image and likeness of God and God is love, then we were made to love and be loved. Because Christ arose we can love better, exponentially better. In this sermon we talk about what changed because Jesus rose from the grave. We discuss the difference between human love and God's perfect love. And, we talk about how our love can be transformed so we can love like Jesus first loved us.

One can argue that the Jewish leaders of Jesus' day couldn't have recognized him as their Messiah because, based on their understanding of the Bible, they were looking for someone else. Jesus needed to tutor his disciples after his resurrection so that they could understand how he fulfilled the prophecies for the Messiah. We learn from II Corinthians 5:17-21 that God isn't angry. He is reconciled with the world and waiting for us to be reconciled to him!