Pastor Josh on Vacation

Grace and peace to you from our Lord Jesus Christ.

I will be on vacation from December 26, 2010-January 1, 2010. There will be no posts while I am gone. Posting will resume on January 2, 2011. If you need anything while I am gone please contact one of the church Elders. God bless you.

Pastor Josh
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Luke 17: 20-37; The Coming of the Kingdom of God

Grace and peace to you from our Lord Jesus Christ.

The kingdom of God is here right now. We just need to open our eyes and see it. Jesus has brought this kingdom into our midst. With his birth, ministry, death, and resurrection, Jesus has brought God's kingdom here on earth. We need to be a part of this kingdom. By being obedient and faithful we will be willing and active participants in this kingdom Jesus has established. God's kingdom is here. We need to realize that and particiapte in it. God bless you.

Pastor Josh
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Luke 17: 11-19; Jesus Heals Ten Men With Leprosy

Grace and peace to you from our Lord Jesus Christ.

We always need to make sure we are giving proper thanksgiving to God. God has blessed us so many times and in so many ways. This can cause us to believe in 'luck' rather than God's blessings. As such we sometimes fall into the habit of ingratitude. This cannot be. We need to count our blessings as blessings and not luck. We need to always thank God for the many blessings he has given to us. God bless you.

Pastor Josh
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Luke 17: 1-10; Sin, Faith, Duty

Grace and peace to you from our Lord Jesus Christ.

'Increase our faith.' Jesus talks here about stumbling in faith, as well as our call to forgive others. With both of those subjects mentioned it comes as no surprise that the disciples are maybe feeling a little overwhelmed with everything Jesus expects of them. They are blessed to follow Jesus and have faith, but at the same time following Jesus and having faith are not easy things. So they ask Jesus to increase their faith. We all will stumble, as Jesus tells us here. We all will be sinned against at some time in our lives. These are not easy things to endure. When we need to have our faith increased Jesus will help us. Jesus will always be there to give us what we need as we go through life. Specifically, he will always be there to increase our faith when we need it. God bless you.

Pastor Josh
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Luke 16: 19-31; The Rich Young Man and Lazarus

Grace and peace to you from our Lord Jesus Christ.

Abraham refers to the rich young man as 'son' and that word holds all of the meaning for us. By calling the man 'son' we are told that this man is part of the Abrahamic covenant. In other words, the rich young man was promised a place in heaven as being part of the people of Israel. The rich young man lost his place in heaven because he did not do what the Lord required of him. Food for thought: we are promised a place in God's kingdom, but we are also called to live a life worthy of that promise. If we are not faithful to our calling as God's children we could end up in the same position of the rich young man: on the outside looking in. God bless you.

Pastor Josh
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Luke 16: 16-18; Additional Teachings

Grace and peace to you from our Lord Jesus Christ.

Jesus is always instructing. It seems as though he never takes a day off. He does this because he is always looking ahead to Jerusalem. Jesus knows he is not going to be with his disciples very much longer. And with the precious little time Jesus has with his disciples he teaches them how to live, how to worship, how to share his good news with others. Jesus is our savior, he is our Lord, but he is also our teacher. God bless you.

Pastor Josh
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Luke 16: 1-15; The Parable of the Shrewd Manager

Grace and peace to you from our Lord Jesus Christ.

We need to be active in making things happen for ourselves. Yes, we could simply sit around and wait for God to do everything for us, but that will not work out too well for us. When we are in need God will be there to help us, but God also expects us to put forth a little effort to get what we need. When we come to God in prayer to ask for something we had better be prepared to act on that prayer to bring that thing into our life. This manager, who has lost his job, could have simply sat back and accepted his fate and lost out on everything. Instead, though, he does everything in his power to make sure he has what he needs. We can learn from this unjust manager. We learn that we need to be more active in our faith, especially when it comes to us being in need. We should not sit around and assume God is going to do everything for us. God bless you.

Pastor Josh
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Luke 15: 11-32; The Parable of the Lost Son

Grace and peace to you from our Lord Jesus Christ.

What is more is that when God does find us he celebrates. When I was 14 I ran away from home. I managed to get about 10 miles away, on my bike, before my Dad found me. When he did find me it was not pretty. I'm pretty sure, under the terms of the punishment, I'm still grounded right now. Of course my Dad was happy I was safe, but his disappointment kept him from expressing that at that moment. When we get lost, or run away, God comes looking for us. When he finds us he throws a party. Why? Because God loves us, and it brings him nothing but joy when we are found again. God bless you.

Pastor Josh
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Luke 15: 8-10; The Parable of the Lost Coin

Grace and peace to you from our Lord Jesus Christ.

God has obsessive compulsive disorder. He cannot not leave us be. When one of us gets lost in whatever way God, who has to have us, cannot help but come and try and find us. In humans OCD is a debilitating disease that require hard work and love to overcome. But in God it's a good thing because it means no matter how lost we think we are God will come looking for us. He has to because he has to have us and cannot let us go. God bless you.

Pastor Josh
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Luke 15: 1-7; The Parable of the Lost Sheep

Grace and peace to you from our Lord Jesus Christ.

It is just about the dumbest thing ever for a shepherd to leave 99 to go and search for one. Most shepherds would recognize the craziness of abandoning 99 other sheep, leaving them unprotected, to go in search of one that wandered off. A shepherd, in real life, would leave that sheep alone, paying attention to the other 99 that stayed put. Not so with God. I do not mean to say God leaves us alone and abandoned. God has given us Jesus and the Holy Spirit to keep us safe. However, God does come looking for us. When we wander off God comes in search of us to bring us back to the fold. A real shepherd would not do this, but God, who is love, will. God bless you.

Pastor Josh
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Sunday Scripture and Sermon for December 19, 2010

Grace and peace to you from our Lord Jesus Christ.

Our Scripture passage for Sunday is from Matthew 1: 18-25, which tells the story of Jesus' birth. The sermon is titled 'Unbelievable' and will focus on the plans God makes for the world and how they seem, from our mindset, like they are not going to work. I hope to see you all on Sunday. God bless you.

Pastor Josh
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Luke 14: 25-35; The Cost of Being a Disciple

Grace and peace to you from our Lord Jesus Christ.

Following Jesus is not easy, and the reason is simple: to follow Jesus we must give 100%. We cannot be distracted by anything, even our own families. That is a tall order. We love our families, and it is important to be faithful to our families, but we do need to keep in mind that Jesus is to be our number one priority. While this may seem difficult try to keep in mind that God sacrificed his family, his son, for our sake. We are not supposed to sacrifice our families, but we are supposed to put God first in our lives. God bless you.

Josh
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Luke 14: 15-24; The Parable of the Great Banquet

Grace and peace to you from our Lord Jesus Christ.

The banquet serves as a metaphor for Heaven. Some of those who are invited will not accept the invitation. But for those who do accept a fine feast awaits. We are supposed to invite people ourselves. The 'owner of the house' sends his servants out to invite everyone they can find to the banquet. Our lesson in this is that a) we are supposed to be inviting many people to have a relationship with Jesus and b) we are invited to the banquet ourselves. Jesus tells this parable to remind us of the good news of our salvation, and to encourage us to share that good news with those around us. God bless you.

Pastor Josh
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Luke 14: 1-14; Jesus at a Pharisees' Home

Grace and peace to you from our Lord Jesus Christ.

Be humble before the Lord. We, as Christians, need to be careful to not let our salvation give us a big head in God's presence. It might be easy for us to assume that since we are saved we do not sin. There is only one person who could utter the phrase, 'I have not sinned,' and that is Jesus. We have all sinned and fallen short of God's glory. We need to always keep that in our minds. Not to beat ourselves up, but to recognize that we need salvation. We should be humble before God, which will enable us to embrace, with thanksgiving and joy, the salvation given to us through Jesus. God bless you.

Pastor Josh
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Luke 13: 31-35; Jesus' Sorrow for Jerusalem

Grace and peace to you from our Lord Jesus Christ.

Jesus has been warned: Herod wants him dead. Jesus could take this opportunity to make his life easier. He could run away. He could make nice with Herod. He could cool things down for a little while. Jesus, however, never takes the easy road. He never strays from the path God laid out for him. Jesus knows he must go to Jerusalem and die there that we might have life. He has many chances to get away, but chooses not to do so. Why? Jesus loves us. It is that simple. Jesus' love for us outweighed his desire to avoid being put to death. Jesus could have done it the easy way, but if he did we would not have salvation. He went to Jerusalem, he went to the cross, for you, because he loves you. God bless you.

Pastor Josh
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Luke 13: 22-29; The Narrow Door

Grace and peace to you from our Lord Jesus Christ.

There is such a thing as 'too late.' We have this life to be who Jesus asks us to be. We have these precious days to be obedient to the will of Christ in our lives. We have this life to make a decision for Jesus. At some point it will be too late for us to make that decision. At some point the door of heaven will be closed to us and we will no longer be able to enter in. While you have time make a decision for Jesus. Follow him and be obedient to his will. God bless you.

Pastor Josh
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Luke 13: 18-21; The Parables of the Mustard Seed and the Yeast

Grace and peace to you from our Lord Jesus Christ.

The kingdom of God, or being in God's presence, is a safe environment. Mustard bushes are quite hardy, and they are able to withstand a lot of punishment from the elements. The bird that seeks refuge in the tree knows it will be safe there. The same is true for us being in God's presence. We are blessed with safety and security in God's presence. While there we will be safe from anything that comes our way. We seek God's refuge as a place of strength, and we will find that for which we seek. God bless you.

Pastor Josh
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Luke 13: 10-17; Jesus Heals a Crippled Woman on the Sabbath

Grace and peace to you from our Lord Jesus Christ.

Doing good supercedes anything else in our lives. Helping others is, or should be, our main priority. We should let nothing, not even Sabbath laws in this case, get in the way of our helping someone who is in need. For us I think this applies more to cultural expectations. Is it cool to help a homeless person? Is it socially acceptable to volunteer in the soup kitchen? Not always, but we cannot let any of that stop us from helping those in need. Sabbath laws may not be a factor anymore, but 'social laws' do, and we must not let them keep us from doing Christ's will. God bless you.

Pastor Josh
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Sunday Scripture and Sermon for December 12, 2010

Grace and peace to you from our Lord Jesus Christ.

The Scripture passage for this Sunday comes from Isaiah 35: 1-10, in which we are given the promise of the Messiah and given an idea of what he is going to do for us. The sermon is titled 'Freedom' and will focus on the freedom we have in Christ. I hope to see you all on Sunday. God bless you.

Pastor Josh
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Luke 13: 1-9; Repent or Perish

Grace and peace to you from our Lord Jesus Christ.

Commands are commands, not suggestions. Jesus tells us to love our neighbors as ourselves, and he means that. He tells us to love the Lord with our heart, soul, mind, and strength, and he means that, too. Jesus requires us to live a certain way, and this requirement is not optional. In this passage Jesus is drawing a line in the sand. We can either follow Jesus and do what he wants, or not. There is no gray area. There is no place for a feeble attempt at being obedient to Jesus. We must repent. We must obey. Period. God bless you.

Pastor Josh
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Luke 12: 49-53; Not Peace but Division

Grace and peace to you from our Lord Jesus Christ.

Following Jesus can sometimes lead to division because there are those who may not follow as closely (or at all) as we do. Following Jesus means we live a certain way and do certain things. With that in mind we have a decision to make. We can follow Jesus and do what he tells us, or we can stay behind and do what everyone else expects of us. There is division sometimes because Jesus requires us to live by faith. Not everyone wants to do that. What are you going to do? God bless you.

Pastor Josh
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Luke 12: 35-48; Watchfullness

Grace and peace to you from our Lord Jesus Christ.

We are now in the season Advent, the season in which we await the birth of Jesus. This season, though, is not just about waiting for Jesus to be born. It is also about waiting for him to come back. We spend these few weeks paying special attention to the second coming of Christ. Jesus has given us the promise that he is going to come back. He will return. We need to be ready. We need to prepare our hearts, minds, and souls, for Jesus' return. Be watchful, for you do not know when your Lord is coming. God bless you.

Pastor Josh
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Luke 12: 22-34; Do Not Worry

Grace and peace to you from our Lord Jesus Christ.

Trust in God. This past Sunday, in worship, we spent time reflecting on John the Baptist and his message. One of the things John is most noted for, his dress, is very significant. John, as we are told, wore camels hair and lived of locusts and wild honey. He did these things not because he was crazy, but because he trusted that God was going to take care of him. We need to be more trusting. God has told us he will take care of us. We need to believe him. God bless you.

Pastor Josh
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Luke 12: 13-21; The Parable of the Rich Fool

Grace and peace to you from our Lord Jesus Christ.

Hard work is really the way to do things. This man, in the parable, is looking for the easy way out. He wants to build bigger barns so he won't have to do as much work the rest of the time. We are all guilty of that from time to time. Sometimes we come to Sunday worship and get our fill so we do not have to do as much throughout the week. We need to work on our faith Monday through Thursday as well. We cannot leave it just to Sunday. Faith takes hard work every day of our lives, not just one or two. God bless you.

Pastor Josh
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Luke 12: 1-12; Warnings and Encouragements

Grace and peace to you from our Lord Jesus Christ.

We can take nothing for granted. Jesus sets the stage for us here in this passage. We are called to work for God, to witness for Christ. If we do not do those things we will be in trouble. Yes, Jesus' sacrifice was made for all of us, and that sacrifice is great enough to cover all the sins of the world. However, we are called to respond in some way. We are called to live by faith, faith that is given to us through the cross. God calls us to faith, and he calls us to live according to that faith. Jesus reminds us of the consequences of not living by faith. Listen to his words. God bless you.

Pastor Josh
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Luke 11: 37-54; Woes on the Pharisees and Experts of the Law

Grace and peace to you from our Lord Jesus Christ.

The problem Jesus has with the Pharisees is that they are concerned with outside appearances, and not necessarily faith. They live the Law, every letter of it. But they fail to allow the purpose of the Law live in their hearts. They do not have love, they do not have faith. We can work to please God. We can do everything Jesus has told us to do, but if we do not have love for God and our neighbors, if we do not have faith in Jesus, our actions are all for nothing. We might obey Jesus' rules, but what we really need to do is have Jesus rule in our heats. God bless you.

Pastor Josh
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Luke 11: 33-36; The Lamp of the Body

Grace and peace to you from our Lord Jesus Christ.

"When your eyes are healthy, your whole body also is full of light." Having healthy eyes is an important part of being a Christian. What does this mean? It is all about avoiding temptation, looking at holy things. We see a lot of things in this world, many of which are not good for us to see. Some of these things we see on accident, and some of them we see on purpose. We need to make sure we are doing everything we can to keep evil and sin away from our eyes. That is one of the first steps to a life of faith, making sure our eyes are healthy. God bless you.

Pastor Josh
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Luke 11: 29-32; The Sign of Jonah

Grace and peace to you from our Lord Jesus Christ.

When Jonah went to see the Ninevites the Ninevites saw and heard Jonah, and they repented. Jonah was the only sign they needed to change their ways. The sign of Jonah simply means that someone is going to come and speak about God. No fireworks, no miracles, just a simple voice calling to repentance. We sometimes look for signs, but the only sign we really need is the sign of Jesus: God's own son given to us that we might have life. See this sign, and believe. God bless you.

Pastor Josh
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Luke 11: 14-28; Jesus and Beelzebul

Grace and peace to you from our Lord Jesus Christ.

In the Disney movie 'Remember the Titans' Herman Boone (portrayed by Denzel Washington) gives a speech to his football players about the American Civil War and how destructive it was for the nation. He says to the team, which is struggling at the time, 'if we don't come together we, too, will be destroyed, just like they [the soldiers who died at the Battle of Gettysburg] were.' I think this has significance for the church. We are divided, and if we do not find a way to come together this house, as Jesus calls it, will be destroyed. God bless you.

Pastor Josh
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Luke 11: 1-13; Jesus' Teaching on Prayer

Grace and peace to you from our Lord Jesus Christ.

Persistence and trust go hand in hand, and it is an odd combination to be sure. On the one hand we are supposed to trust God. Jesus teaches us the Lord's Prayer, a simple prayer, because we are supposed to trust that God will take care of our needs. On the other hand we are to be persistent in our prayers to make sure God is taking care of us. Think of the persistence as us making the prayer come true. When we pray for something we need to be prepared to be a part of the prayer. For example, when we pray for God's kingdom to come, we need to be ready to make that happen. Our persistence is our act of doing what we can to make the prayer come true. We trust that God is going to take care of us, but we need to be active as well. We trust in God's love, but we persist in our own work. God bless you.

Pastor Josh
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Luke 10: 38-42; At the Home of Mary and Martha

Grace and peace to you from our Lord Jesus Christ.

Sometimes we just need to stop and spend a little time with Jesus. There are a lot of things to do in this world, and most of them actually do need to get done. But we sometimes just need to slow down, and take a seat at Jesus' feet. We need to spend some time with Jesus and allow him to give us rest, and give us a hand when we need it. Though we are busy, we need to come to Jesus. We need to allow him to give us rest and help. God bless you.

Pastor Josh
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Luke 10: 25-37; The Parable of the Good Samaritan

Grace and peace to you from our Lord Jesus Christ.

One of the details that often gets lost in this parable is the fact that the Samaritan and the 'man going down from Jerusalem to Jericho' are mortal enemies (due to religious disputes between the two religious/cultural groups). There are no words to describe the hatred they feel for each other. And yet, the Samaritan takes care of the man. Even though the victim is his enemy the Samaritan still cares for him when no one else would. The Samaritan loves someone he is supposed to hate. I wonder what the lesson for us is? God bless you.

Pastor Josh
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Luke 10: 1-24; Jesus Sends Out the Seventy Two

Grace and peace to you from our Lord Jesus Christ.

There is a trust factor here. In all of his instructions Jesus offers an underlying word of comfort: God will help you. The seventy two are told to take very little with them on the road. The idea is that they are supposed to be trusting in God to take care of their needs. They are supposed to rely on God, through the kindness and love of people they meet, to give them what they have to have. This is another thing that applies to us as well. Through our many technological advances we have come to believe we do not need God. We can make anything for ourselves, for we have the know-how and power. We still need God. We still need his love and power and grace in our lives. Trust God and rely on his goodness. God bless you.

Pastor Josh
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Luke 9: 57-62; The Cost of Following Jesus

Grace and peace to you from our Lord Jesus Christ.

Following Jesus does not cost us anything, monetarily speaking. We do not have to pay Jesus to believing in him. We do not have to pay anything to attend church (that's right, offering IS voluntary). That does not mean following Jesus does not require sacrifice. We have to give up a lot to follow Jesus. We have to give up our claim to ourselves and recognize we are God's. We have to give up our dreams, hopes, desires, etc. and submit to God's will. We have to give up material possessions and trust in God's abiding care. Following Jesus is free, but there are sacrifices. Discipleship is not for the faint of heart. God bless you.

Pastor Josh
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Sunday Scripture and Sermon for November 28, 2010

Grace and peace to you from our Lord Jesus Christ.

During worship this Sunday we will be celebrating the Hanging of the Greens. There will be various scripture passages read that tell us some of the meaning behind the 'greens' we hang. There will also be reflections on each scripture passage on the meanings of the decorations.

Prior to the worship service we will be having a breakfast, beginning at 9:00 AM, which will be followed by the decoration of the church.

I hope you are all able to attend these special events. God bless you.

Pastor Josh
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Luke 9: 51-56; Samaritan Opposition

Grace and peace to you from our Lord Jesus Christ.

Forgiveness forgiveness forgiveness. Jesus could take this opportunity to teach the Samaritans a lesson. The disciples certainly want to. Jesus, though, shows mercy. It is in our nature to seek vengeance, to hold grudges. Jesus wants us to go out of our nature. Jesus wants us to act according to God's nature. In this case, Jesus wants his disciples to show mercy, to be forgiving of others. He wants the same for us even now. We have all been sinned against. We have all been hurt. The flip-side of that is that we have sinned against God. We have hurt God. God has forgiven us. As God has forgiven us, let us forgive others. God bless you.

Pastor Josh
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Luke 9: 43b-50; Jesus Predicts His Death A Second Time

Grace and peace to you from our Lord Jesus Christ.

'Delivered' is a very important word here. That word, more often that not, perhaps makes us think of pizza. We order a pizza and thirty minutes later it is delivered. It is part of our plan to eat dinner. God has a very similar plan with Jesus, which is why Jesus uses the word 'delivered.' This is all part of God's plan. Jesus' death was not an accident, it was God's plan for our salvation. The word delivered lets us know that, as sad as it is, Jesus' death was part of God's plan, his plan for our salvation. God bless you.

Pastor Josh
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Luke 9: 37-43a; Jesus Heals a Demon-Possessed Boy

Grace and peace to you from our Lord Jesus Christ.

We see some frustration from Jesus here, and it is more than understandable. The disciples are supposed to continue Jesus' ministry. They are supposed to heal and cast out demons when Jesus is no longer in the world. Here we see the disciples have a little farther to go before they are ready. Jesus is frustrated because the disciples lack faith. Jesus is not magic. He has great faith. He is able to cast out demons because he believes he can. The disciples need to have that same faith. We need to have that faith as well. We need to believe that we can do what Jesus wants. That is the only way we are going to be able to do it. We have to have faith. We do not need anything other than pure belief that we can do what Jesus asks us to do. God bless you.

Pastor Josh
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Luke 9: 28-36; The Transfiguration

Grace and peace to you from our Lord Jesus Christ.

Why are Moses and Elijah there with Jesus? What is the significance of these two heroes from the Old Testament? Moses' presence is meaningful because he delivered the Israelites from the hands of the Egyptians. Jesus is going to deliver the world from sin. Elijah never died, but was instead swept into heaven in a fire-storm. Jesus is going to give the gift of eternal life to all who believe in his name. Jesus is going to bless us in the same way Moses and Elijah were blessings to those around them. Through Jesus we have been delivered. Through Jesus we have life eternal. God bless you.

Pastor Josh
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Luke 9: 21-27; Jesus Predicts His Own Death

Grace and peace to you from our Lord Jesus Christ.

I think this passage highlights one very important detail: Jesus knew he was going to die. Obviously that is the point of this passage, but I think what is even more significant is the fact that because Jesus knew he was going to die he could have avoided it. Jesus prayed, in the Garden of Gethsemane, to let this cup pass from him. Jesus did not want to go to the cross. He knew the cross was coming. He could have done something to get out of it. Instead, though, Jesus went to the cross. He went there and he died that we might have salvation. Jesus knew he was going to die, and he continued on that path that we might live. What love. God bless you.

Pastor Josh
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Luke 9: 18-20; Peter Declares That Jesus is the Messiah

Grace and peace to you from our Lord Jesus Christ.

Who is Jesus? Is he a prophet, someone we should maybe listen to, but whose ideas are too radical for the current cultural climate? Is he an idealist, someone who had good ideas, but whose ideas are not based in reality? Is he an example of how to live, someone who should be imitated, so long as it falls into the category of 'socially acceptabel?' Or, is Jesus the Christ, the Son of the Living God; the one to whom we have given our very life; the one who we will follow even unto death; the one who we will obey even if it means losing things (though we will gain everything in the end). Who is Jesus to you? God bless you.

Pastor Josh
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Sunday Scripture and Sermon for November 21, 2010

Grace and peace to you from our Lord Jesus Christ.

The Scripture passage for this Sunday is from John 6: 25-35, in which Jesus speaks of bread and being hungry. The sermon is titled 'I'm Hungry' and will focus on the hunger we sometimes feel and what we can do about it. I hope to see you all in church on Sunday. God bless you.

Pastor Josh
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Luke 9: 10-17; Jesus Feeds Five Thousand

Grace and peace to you from our Lord Jesus Christ.

Could the disciples have performed this miracle? Is that what Jesus means when he tells them to give the people something to eat? I think so. At other times Jesus tells his disciples to do things that they will not do because they do not believe they can. 'Oh ye of little faith,' is one of Jesus' 'catch phrases' throughout the gospels. So many times we look at the miracles of Jesus and see his power and glory. What we should be thinking is what we can do as well. Jesus tells us if we have faith the size of a mustard seed we can move mountains. He really means this. If we have faith amazing things can happen. God bless you.

Pastor Josh
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Luke 9: 1-9; Jesus Sends Out the Twelve

Grace and peace to you from our Lord Jesus Christ.

The disciples are supposed to rely on God to provide for their every need. This is why Jesus tells the twelve to not take anything with them. This is a tough one. We are taught in our culture that if we want something we have to get it ourselves, or make it happen ourselves. We are taught to not count on anyone else, but to do everything alone. From a faith stand-point that is not how it is supposed to be. We are supposed to rely on God to give us what we need, to take care of us. It is good that we can be self-sufficient, but that is not how God would have us be. God would have us be reliant on him, trusting in him. The twelve were supposed to rely on God. We are supposed to do the same. God bless you.

Pastor Josh
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Luke 8: 40-56; Jesus Raises a Dead Girl and Heals a Sick Woman

Grace and peace to you from our Lord Jesus Christ.

We have to believe. The woman who had been subject to bleeding believes that if she can only touch Jesus' cloak she will be healed. Jairus believes that if Jesus comes and lays hands on the little girl she will be healed. Jairus and the woman subject to bleeding have great faith. They believe Jesus can, and will, help them, and because of their faith they receive what they need. We need to have the same kind of unconditional faith. When we come to Jesus in prayer to ask for something there is doubt in our hearts. Doubt that Jesus has the power, or will, to help us. We need to rid ourselves of that doubt and fear. We need to believe Jesus can, and will, help us. Just as he helped Jairus, and just as he helped the woman subject to bleeding, so Jesus will help us, if we believe in him. God bless you.

Pastor Josh
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Luke 8: 26-39; Jesus Restores a Demon-Possessed Man

Grace and peace to you from our Lord Jesus Christ.

The key word in this passage is actually in the subtitle: restores. This man, who is demon-possessed, is not a part of normal society. Due to his ailment he has been ostracized by those around him out fear and anger against his sin. Jesus, in casting out the demon, restores the man to the community. The formerly demon-possessed man can now rejoin society and rebuild all of his relationships. Jesus does the same for us. Due to our sin our relationship with God had been broken. Jesus' ministry restored us to right relationship with God. Now we can know God, and God can know us. Now we can worship God. Now we can enter God's kingdom. Jesus has restored us to where we truly belong: to God's presence. God bless you.

Pastor Josh
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Luke 8: 22-25; Jesus Calms the Storm

Grace and peace to you from our Lord Jesus Christ.

The disciples are freaked out. The boat is rocking back and forth, getting closer to sinking every second. Water is filling the boat. The winds are howling. At a word from Jesus all of that goes away. The storm ceases to rage. The fear that fills the hearts of the disciples is gone. They were in a storm, now they are in peace. Jesus calms the storms in our lives as well. We are all in storms at various times. Storms that are so fierce we can hardly move. If we let him, Jesus will come into our lives and make those storms go away. He will cause the boat to stop rocking, the water to stop filling the boat, and the winds to stop howling. When we face difficult times in our lives Jesus is there to calm the storms. God bless you.

Pastor Josh
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Luke 8: 19-21; Jesus' Mother and Brothers

Grace and peace to you from our Lord Jesus Christ.

Being Jesus' brother sounds pretty cool to me. I think we should all aspire to achieve that high distinction. We should all 'hear God's word and put it into practice,' that we might be called brothers and/or sisters in Christ. We have a goal in mind. Let us do everything we can to achieve that goal. God bless you.

Pastor Josh
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Luke 8: 16-18; A Lamp on a Stand

Grace and peace to you from our Lord Jesus Christ.

We are to let our light shine. Jesus is supposed to shine out of us so that the world around us might see that light and be drawn into a life of faith in Jesus Christ. I think this concept is a helpful reminder that our actions speak just as loud as our words. We are under the eyes of our neighbors. They are watching us to see how we live our lives. Our lives should be lived in such a way that they want to live the same life. Let us, therefore, live as though Christ is in us. Let us shine Christ out of our hearts so others will find their way to him. God bless you.

Pastor Josh
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Luke 8: 1-15; The Parable of the Sower

Grace and peace to you from our Lord Jesus Christ.

I think we want to be the good soil. We should soak up every word Jesus says so that we might bear good fruit and bring others to Christ. We need to be receptive to what Jesus is saying. We need to listen. Not just hear, but listen to his words and allow them to change our lives. These words should change our lives in such a way that want to share them with others. We start out as the soil, but we should eventually turn into the sower. We should plant seeds to grow and bear more fruit. Listen to what Jesus has to say, and tell others those same words. God bless you.

Pastor Josh
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Luke 7: 36-50; Jesus Anointed by a Sinful Woman

Grace and peace to you from our Lord Jesus Christ.

This is a stunning act of love. How have you showed your love for Jesus today. This woman, who is called sinful, does all she can to show Jesus how grateful she is for his ministry. She has had an experience with Jesus that has touched her heart in some way. We have all had similar experiences. Jesus has touched all of us in some way. We should show our gratitude. Whether it is buying a jar of perfume and washing Jesus' (or someone else's) feet, or something else, we need to show Jesus, in some way, how grateful we are for the blessings he has brought to us. God bless you.

Pastor Josh
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Luke 7: 18-35; Jesus and John the Baptist

Grace and peace to you from our Lord Jesus Christ.

John the Baptist has a very important job: to prepare the world for Jesus. John's job was to preach in such a way that people would be ready to hear what Jesus had to day. His job was to get people to repent so that when Jesus came, preaching repentance, people would know what Jesus was talking about. John was supposed to, in short, get things ready for Jesus. We have a very important job, too: to prepare the world for Jesus. Jesus is going to come back, and we need to prepare the world for that event. We do that by sharing our faith with those around us, by encouraging others to live a life of faith. We are John the Baptist. We are supposed to prepare the way of the Lord, so that the world will be ready for him when he gets here. God bless you.

Pastor Josh
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Luke 7: 11-17; Jesus Raises a Widow's Son

Grace and peace to you from our Lord Jesus Christ.

The resurrection that takes place in this story is meant to make us think of our own resurrection. We are all going to die. At least, our bodies are going to die. However, we are all going to be brought back to life. Jesus is going to raise us all up on the last day. We are going to be given a new life in God's kingdom. While it sometimes is sad to think of our own deaths, let us all be lifted up in knowing we will be brought back to life through Jesus. Just as the widow's son was raised from the grave, so, too, will we be brought back to life. God bless you.

Pastor Josh
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Luke 7: 1-10; The Faith of the Centurion

Grace and peace to you from our Lord Jesus Christ.

Jesus is impressed with the centurion. The centurion shows great faith in Jesus, as well as great humility, and because of that Jesus finds favor with him. Jesus will find favor with us as well. If we show great faith in the power and love of Jesus, and if we humble ourselves before the Lord then Jesus will love us. He will actually love us. Not tolerate, not like, not 'don't mind being around you,' but actual love. I think that is something to shoot for. God bless you.

Pastor Josh
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Luke 6: 46-49; The Wise and Foolish Builders

Grace and peace to you from our Lord Jesus Christ.

'Why do you call me, 'Lord, Lord' and do not do what I say?' That is a fair question for Jesus. When we confess Jesus as personal Lord and Savior we are signing on the dotted line of the gospel, and with that signature we agree to do everything Jesus calls us to do. Not just the stuff we want, but everything. If we are going to call Jesus 'Lord' then we need to be ready to follow him every step of the way. That means we obey him, whatever that means. God bless you.

Pastor Josh
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Luke 6: 43-45; A Tree and its Fruit

Grace and peace to you from our Lord Jesus Christ.

A tree grows from the roots up. If the roots are bad, the tree will cease to grow and may die. Our faith grows from our hearts. If our hearts are in bad shape we will not grow in the way we should and our faith may become meaningless. Love is what makes our hearts grow in the right way. We have to continue to feed our hearts with love of God and of neighbor if we are to grow in faith. Our heart is our root. It needs to be in good shape. God bless you.

Pastor Josh
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Sunday Scripture and Sermon for November 7, 2010

Grace and peace to you from our Lord Jesus Christ.

The Scripture passage for this Sunday is from Luke 20: 27-38 in which Jesus is questioned about marriage and the resurrection. The sermon is titled 'Heavenly Life' and will focus on our future life in heaven. I hope to see you all in church on Sunday. God bless you.

Pastor Josh
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Luke 6: 37-42; Judging Others

Grace and peace to you from our Lord Jesus Christ.

We have ALL sinned. No one on this earth is in a position to judge someone else for sin, for all have sinned and fallen short of God's glory. We all have a plank of wood in our eyes. What we all need to do is recognize our own sin, confess, and ask for God's mercy. We are not allowed to judge others for their sins, because we all have sins of our own. It is that simple. God bless you.

Pastor Josh
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Luke 6: 27-36; Love For Enemies

Grace and peace to you from our Lord Jesus Christ.

This passage is one that makes being a Christian really tough. On the one hand, we have assurance from Jesus that there will be those in the world who will persecute us. And on the other hand, we are supposed to love these people who do persecute us. Does Jesus mean all of this? Absolutely. Christians are called to trust and love. We are to trust that God is going to be with us as we face opposition, giving us strength for what we face. And we are to love those who harm us, just as God has loved us (even though we have harmed him with our sin). Our memories are the key ingredient to fulfilling this call. We need to remember all God has done for us in the past, which will help us trust God. And we need to remember God's salvation for us, which will help us forgive others when they sin against us. Remember. God bless you.

Pastor Josh
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Luke 6: 17-26; Blessings and Woes

Grace and peace to you from our Lord Jesus Christ.

Things are going to get better. That is a big part of Jesus' message. Jesus does not ever say this life is going to be easy, that we are not going to have any trouble. Rather, Jesus promises the exact opposite, that life is going to be hard, and filled with suffering. What Jesus also promises, though, is the fact that life is going to get better. We may be suffering now, but someday we are going to receive perfect peace and joy. The blessings we find in this passage tell us that. We may be poor, hungry, and hated now, but someday we will receive the Kingdom of God, we will be satisfied, and we will have the final victory over the powers of evil. Life may be hard now, but someday we will be blessed. God bless you.

Pastor Josh
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Luke 6: 12-16; The Twelve Apostles

Grace and peace to you from our Lord Jesus Christ.

Handpicked by Jesus, these 12 men were supposed to be the ones to carry on Jesus' ministry when Jesus was no longer around. I have news for you, they are not the only ones handpicked for the job. All of us are called, by name, by Jesus, to continue his ministry. We have all been called into Christ's service, and we all need to get busy doing it. The disciples worked hard, we need to as well, to make sure Jesus is known to everyone in the world. Is that a tall order? Perhaps, but we can start with our neighborhood, our very own street. We have been called by name. Let's get to work. God bless you.

Pastor Josh
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Luke 6: 1-11; Lord of the Sabbath

Grace and peace to you from our Lord Jesus Christ.

It is the heart that matter more than anything else. The Law does state that you can only walk so far on the Sabbath, or that you cannot pick grains (as that is considered work). Jesus knows, though, it is his love for God that means so much. Yes, the laws are there, but they are meant to help us show our love for God. If we can do that in other ways, great. Love God. That is the greatest commandment. God bless you.

Pastor Josh
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Luke 5: 33-39; Jesus Questioned About Fasting

Grace and peace to you from our Lord Jesus Christ.

Jesus is saying here, 'my disciples should celebrate, for their Lord is with them.' Those words apply to us as well. We should celebrate, for Jesus is with us. He may not be here in body, but in Spirit we are eternally surrounded by the Holy Spirit. Jesus is with us, which gives us reason to rejoice and be glad. We do not need to fast as a sign of mourning. Rather, we should celebrate, for the Lord is with us, always. God bless you.

Pastor Josh
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Luke 5: 27-32; The Calling of Levi

Grace and peace to you from our Lord Jesus Christ.

Levi is a tax collector. In other words, he is a theif, a liar, and a cheat. He works for the Romans, turning his back on his own people. Levi is not a very good, or nice, person. And yet, Jesus calls him. Jesus looks past his sin and sees the person underneath. We sometimes think of ourselves as unworthy. We look at our sin: the things we have said and done, and we think God cannot, or will not, use us. When that thought crosses your mind, read the calling of Levi. If Jesus can use this person, he can use you. You just need to be willing to say, 'Yes, Lord. I will follow.' God bless you.

Pastor Josh
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Sunday Scripture and Sermon for October 31, 2010

Grace and peace to you from our Lord Jesus Christ.

The Scripture passage for this Sunday is from Luke 19: 1-10, in which we hear the story of Zacchaeus. The sermon is titled 'Today' and will focus on the promises that Jesus has made and that they are here today. I hope to see you all on Sunday. God bless you.

Pastor Josh
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Luke 5: 17-26; Jesus Heals a Paralytic

Grace and peace to you from our Lord Jesus Christ.

That is what I call bringing someone to Jesus. The friends of this paralytic care an awful lot about their friend. They are so concerned they go on a roof and lower their friend to Jesus. So great is their love for their friend they are willing to take this great risk (most people don't like having their roof torn up). What if we had that same sense of urgency when it came to bringing people to faith in Jesus? If we were so excited about getting people to Jesus we lowered someone through a roof to do it. I think a lot more people would believe in Jesus. We are called to bring people to Jesus. Let's unroof a roof to get them there. God bless you.

Pastor Josh
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Luke 5: 12-16; The Man With Leprosy

Grace and peace to you from our Lord Jesus Christ.

'But Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed.' Jesus prayed. What a novel idea. Our Lord, Son of God, Redeemer of the World, Healer, Teacher, Exorcist, and any other title you want to throw in there, prayed. Every day Jesus made time to pray. He knew he needed it. Jesus knew that to do everything he had to do he was going to have to spend time in prayer. It is where Jesus got his strength. It is where Jesus got his guidance. Jesus made time to do this. Even with his busy schedule of being the Messiah he still managed to find time to pray. If Jesus made time to pray, should we not do the same thing? God bless you.

Pastor Josh
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Luke 5: 1-11; The Calling of the First Disciples

Grace and peace to you from our Lord Jesus Christ.

Jesus does not always make sense. Simon has been fishing all night, and he has not caught very much. He is tired, hungry, and dirty. Jesus tells him, though, to give the fishing one more try. This probably does not make very much sense to Simon, since he has been fishing all night and has not caught much of anything. Jesus' command, then, causes Simon to question, to doubt. In the end Simon catches so many fish that the nets begin to break. Sometimes Jesus' commands do not make sense, but they always work out for the best. Simon does not want to fish anymore, and he knows it isn't going to do any good. However, he listens to Jesus and throws his nets in. We should do the same thing. Sometimes, what Jesus tells us to do does not make any sense to us. We need to trust that Jesus is going to come through for us, that whatever Jesus calls us to do is going to work. It may not make sense to us, but Jesus has a plan, and that plan is going to work. God bless you.

Pastor Josh
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Luke 4: 38-44; Jesus Heals Many

Grace and peace to you from our Lord Jesus Christ.

What are we supposed to think of all these healing miracles? Are we supposed to simply witness them (through reading) and have that be the end of it? No, we are supposed to respond in some way. One, we are supposed to lift up thanksgiving. As we see these poor souls healed we are to be reminded of God's power and love for them, as well as God's power and love for us. God heals us, he helps us. And for that we owe God thanks and praise. Two, we are supposed to be moved to do the same thing. We may not be able to lay our hands on someone and miraculously heal them, but we do have the power to care for those who are in need. We are not supposed to simply watch these stories. We are supposed to be moved in some way: moved towards praising God, and moved towards lending a hand ourselves. God bless you.

Pastor Josh
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Luke 4: 31-37; Jesus Drives Out and Evil Spirit

Grace and peace to you from our Lord Jesus Christ.

We do not have to worry about evil spirits anymore. Jesus has had victory over them all. We do not have to worry about being possessed. We do not have to worry about evil taking over the world. Jesus has defeated evil so that it has no power over us anymore. Yes, there is still evil in the world that can harm the body, but our spirits, our souls, have been saved forever by Jesus. Nothing can harm the part of us that truly matters. We have been saved, protected, by Jesus. God bless you.

Pastor Josh
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Luke 4: 14-30; Jesus Rejected at Nazareth

Grace and peace to you from our Lord Jesus Christ.

It is not always easy to listen to Jesus. He holds us accountable. He makes bold claims about who he is. He gives us commands which are not always easy to follow. When Jesus speaks, and he is still speaking, it is not always very easy to listen to what he has to say. That does not mean we should not listen. Even though it is difficult we should listen to Jesus because that is the only way we are going to have a faithful life. That is the only way we can be the people God wants us to be. Jesus' words are hard words, but we should heed them anyway. God bless you.

Pastor Josh
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Luke 4: 1-13; The Temptation of Jesus

Grace and peace to you from our Lord Jesus Christ.

'I know how you're going through.' Jesus alone can share those words with us. As we read through the narrative of the temptation of Jesus we are reminded that Jesus has been tempted. What that means for us is that Jesus can help us when we feel tempted ourselves. He can help us because he has been through it himself. Jesus has been tempted, so he knows how difficult temptation can be, but Jesus also knows it is possible to defeat temptation. He does so here in this passage which gives us hope for our own struggles. There is hope, in Jesus. He can, and will, be there to help us as we face times of temptation. And with Jesus' help we, too, can defeat temptation. God bless you.

Pastor Josh
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Fall Festival

Grace and peace to you from our Lord Jesus Christ.

We are having a Fall Festival on Saturday, October 23, 2010. We are going to be getting started abut 5:30 with dinner. We are asking everyone to bring a side dish or a dessert. After dinner there will be a worship service, which will be followed by a campfire and s'mores in the parking lot. I hope you will all plan on joining us for this blessed event. God bless you.

Pastor Josh
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Sunday Scripture and Sermon for October 24, 2010

Grace and peace to you from our Lord Jesus Christ.

The Scripture passage for this Sunday is from Luke 18: 19-14, in which Jesus tells the Parable of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector. The sermon is titled, 'Through Prayer,' and will focus on what is, or can be, accomplished through prayer. I hope to see you all on Sunday. God bless you.

Pastor Josh
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Luke 3: 21-37; The Baptism and Genealogy of Jesus

Grace and peace to you from our Lord Jesus Christ.

With this genealogy of Jesus we are given a glimpse of the plan God has involving Jesus. It is clear as we go back and look at all of Jesus' ancestors that God has a plan, and that plan is Jesus. But what we also see is that all those who went before Jesus had some part to play in that plan. Adam, Noah, David, and so many others had a part of God's plan. The same is true for us. We all have a part to play: the part of telling people about Jesus. We may not be Jesus descendants, but we are his brothers and sisters. And as his brothers and sisters we are called to tell others about him, to play our part in God's plan for the salvation of the world. God bless you.

Pastor Josh
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Luke 3: 1-20; John the Baptist Prepares the Way

Grace and peace to you from our Lord Jesus Christ.

John is preparing the way for Jesus by trying to get the people to live a life of faith. That is going to be a huge aspect of Jesus ministry, and John is simply trying to lay the grundwork before Jesus gets there. We are John the Baptist. We have the promise from Jesus that someday he is going to come back. We do not know when that will be, but we do know we are supposed to prepare the way for him so the world is ready for him when he gets here. We do that by encouraging people to live a life of faith. We can live out our call to prepare the way by telling people about Jesus and inviting them to accept Jesus as personal Lord and Savior. 'Prepare the way of the Lord.' God bless you.

Pastor Josh
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Luke 2: 41-52; The Boy Jesus at the Temple

Grace and peace to you from our Lord Jesus Christ.

Jesus is where he is supposed to be. He says as much to his parents: 'did you not know I would be in my father's house?' Jesus knows where his place is. We have a place: by Jesus' side. That is where we are supposed to be. We cannot, and should not, be anywhere else. How do we get there? By doing what Jesus wants us to do, and by being who Jesus wants us to be. In loving God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength, and by loving our neighbor as ourself we are as close to Jesus' as we could possibly be. There is no better place to be, and there is no better way to get there. God bless you.

Pastor Josh
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Luke 2: 21-40; Jesus Presented in the Temple

Grace and peace to you from our Lord Jesus Christ.

Mary and Joseph presented Jesus to the Lord as an offering. They took this time to dedicate Jesus to the service of the Lord. We dedicate our children to the Lord, and it is right we do so. We are God's. Our children are God's. It is right that we should dedicate our children to God's service. We are taught in this world to cling fiercely to our independence. That is not how God intended it to be. God created us. We are his. As such we need to live our lives as though we belong to God. We dedicate our children to the Lord; we dedicate our lives to the Lord. Let us all remember to whom we belong and what we need to be doing. God bless you.

Pastor Josh
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Luke 2: 8-20; The Shepherds and the Angels

Grace and peace to you from our Lord Jesus Christ.

'Do not be afraid.' Often when God speaks we are afraid. We are afraid of what he is going to tell us; afraid of what he is going to ask us to do; afraid of where is going to ask us to go. Listen to these words from the angels: 'do not be afraid.' God is love. He will not tell us anything we don't need to know. He will not ask us to do something we cannot handle. He will not ask us to go to a place where we cannot accomplish what he asks. And in all things God will be with us, giving us strength for what he has called us to do. Do not be afraid. God bless you.

Pastor Josh
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Luke 1: 67-80; Zechariah's Song

Grace and peace to you from our Lord Jesus Christ.

'Salvation is coming.' Zechariah knows that God is going to bring salvation to the world, and so he sings a song of praise and thanksgiving. He has heard the prophecies of the Old Testament, and he has now seen them begin to be fulfilled in his son, John. Zechariah has eyes to see what is going on around him. How is your sight? God is at work in the world right now, but it takes eyes of faith on our part to see what God is up to. Our prayer should be as the old hymn says, 'open my eyes, that I may see.' Like Zechariah we need to see what God is doing in the world. God bless you.

Pastor Josh
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Luke 2: 1-7; The Birth of Jesus

Grace and peace to you from our Lord Jesus Christ.

And just like that, Jesus is here. Our salvation is here. The bad news, for Mary, Joseph, and Jesus, is that there is no room. Bethlehem is crowded and there is nowhere for Mary and Joseph to stay. In a troubled world there was no room for the Son of God to be born. Are things very different now? Do we make room for Jesus on a daily basis. We are so busy with so many things that Jesus often ends up getting pushed to the side. We need to make room for Jesus. Some of the Israelites did not make room for Jesus, and they missed out on so much. Our lives will be infinitely better if we just make a little more room for Jesus. Is there room for Jesus in your life? God bless you.

Pastor Josh
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Luke 1: 57-66; The Birth of John the Baptist

Grace and peace to you from our Lord Jesus Christ.

Zechariah and Elizabeth know God is going to use John for something great. They have that faith in their hearts. Our children are our greatest treasure, but let us not forget they belong to God. God may have plans for a child of your, and you must let that plan come to fruition. Though it may be difficult we need to remember to whom we, and our children, belong: God. God bless you.

Pastor Josh
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Luke 1: 46-56; Mary's Song

Grace and peace to you from our Lord Jesus Christ.

'...even as he said to our fathers.' God stands by his promises. Throughout the Old Testament God promises to bless Israel, and he does. He promises to protect and watch over them, and he does. He also promises to deliver salvation to them, and he is in the process of bringing that promise to fruition in this passage. God has given Mary a child, Jesus. Jesus is going to be the salvation of the world. God has kept his promise of salvation. God keeps his word. When he makes us a promise we can know, for a fact, that he is going to keep that promise. We can trust God, for he is faithful and true. God bless you.

Pastor Josh
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Luke 1: 39-45; Mary Visits Elizabeth

Grace and peace to you from our Lord Jesus Christ.

I love the way Elizabeth greets Mary. I wonder what the world would be like if we all greeted one another like that. I wonder what our individual live would be like if we greeted one another like that. What if we didn't roll our eyes, or mutter something under our breath? What if we didn't try to quickly turn in the other direction thinking and hoping the person did not see us? What if we all said 'blessed are you among God's children' every time we saw someone? I think we would all be living closer to God's will. God bless you.

Pastor Josh
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Luke 1: 26-38; The Birth of Jesus Foretold

Grace and peace to you from our Lord Jesus Christ.

God speaks in many ways. With Mary he uses an angel, but with others he may use something, or someone, different. God speaks, and we need to listen. It is not always easy to hear God because he speaks in so many different ways, but at all times we need to simply keep our ears open for the ways God can speak to us. Jesus tells us to be alert as we wait for him to return, but we also need to be alert as we wait for God to speak. He may send you an angel, but he may send you someone else: a neighbor, a friend, a family member, someone who think of as an enemy. God will speak. Listen. God bless you.

Pastor Josh
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Luke 1: 5-25; The Birth of John the Baptist Foretold

Grace and peace to you from our Lord Jesus Christ.

God has a plan. That is the idea we are left with when we read these words. God has it all laid out. He knows what he is going to do, who he is going to us, etc. God still has plans, which should give us hope in our lives. God has a plan for us in our lives. We are not just floating along through life. We are on a path: a path God has laid out for us. Just as God had a plan for our salvation he has plans for us now. Through prayer and a close relationship with God we will come to know what God's plans are. We need to be patient as we wait for God's plans to come. But in all things we can have hope that God has plans for us. God bless you.

Pastor Josh
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Sunday Scripture and Sermon for October 10, 2010

Grace and peace to you from our Lord Jesus Christ.

The Scripture passage for this Sunday is from Luke 17: 11-19 in which Jesus heals ten lepers, one of whom returns to thank Jesus. The sermon is titled 'Jesus Vision' and will focus on how we need to open our eyes to see a little better. I hope to see you all in church on Sunday. God bless you.

Pastor Josh
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Luke 1: 1-5; Introduction

Grace and peace to you from our Lord Jesus Christ.

Luke tells us why he has spent so much time working on his version of Jesus' life and ministry: 'so that you may know with certainty the things you have been taught.' Others had, no doubt, tried to tell their own version of Jesus' story, but some of them tried to tell their own story. In this introduction there is a veiled warning: do not be led astray by false teaching. Luke is telling his readers to beware, to make sure they really know Jesus. This is a warning we should follow as well. There are false prophets in the world; there are those who would lead us astray. We need to make sure we are following Jesus. The best way to do that is continue to read the Scriptures for ourselves. We need to keep looking at Jesus through the words that have been written for us and not be led astray by others. God bless you.

Pastor Josh
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Psalm 150: 1-6

Grace and peace to you from our Lord Jesus Christ

"Let everything that has breath praise the Lord." Our ultimate goal, as Christians, is to tell the world about Jesus, that the world might confess Jesus as personal Lord and Savior. We need to tell others about God so that all those who have breath will praise the Lord. We are called to make disciples of all nations. We should make sure we are doing that. We should tell all those around the good news of Jesus so that, as Paul tells us, every knee shall bow and every tognue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord. "Let everything that has breath praise the Lord." Let us all do what we can to make that a reality. God bless you.

Pastor Josh
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Psalm 149: 1-9

Grace and peace to you from our Lord Jesus Christ.

'Sing to the Lord a new song.' Repetition is a good thing, but sometimes there needs to be something new. The best way to sing a new song is to sing from the heart, not the head. Singing from the head is what happens when the same words are said over and over again. But when we sing from the heart new words flow from our mouths, new words of praise and thanksgiving to God. Sing a new song today. Sing to the Lord from your heart. God bless you.

Pastor Josh
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Psalm 148: 1-14

Grace and peace to you from our Lord Jesus Christ.

I think if we were going to pick a 'theme' of this Psalm it would be 'praise him.' This has been a common theme throughout the Psalms and as we prepare to leave this book behind I think this Psalm is a very good reminder of what the book is, more than anything else, about: praising God. We worshiped the Lord yesterday, but are we going to do it today? Are we going to make time to spend with the Lord this day and every day after it? I certainly hope so. We may not know everything about God, but one thing we do know: God is worthy of our praise. And so, Praise Him! God bless you.

Pastor Josh
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Psalm 147: 1-20

Grace and peace to you from our Lord Jesus Christ.

God gives us what we need. What do we need? Life, which God gives. Through Jesus God has given us eternal life. Before Jesus we had to worry about death. After Jesus we do not. God has given us new life, eternal life, through Jesus our Lord. What do we need? Salvation. We need to be saved from sin. God has done that, also through Jesus Christ. Jesus took the punishment that should have been ours. He took it so we wouldn't have to. What do we need? Strength. Through the power of the Holy Spirit we are given the strength we need each day to carry on. God gives us what we need. What do we need? Life and salvation and strength, all of which are given to us by God. God bless you.

Pastor Josh
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Psalm 146: 1-10

Grace and peace to you from our Lord Jesus Christ.

'Do not put your trust in princes, in mortal men who cannot save.' There are things and people in this world that would lead us astray from faith in and service to God. Do not listen to them and be led on another path. God is the only one who can lead us correctly because he is the only one who has our best interest at heart. The 'princes' of this world care only for themselves. God cares for only for us. Do not be led astray. Do not trust in the world. Trust in God. God bless you.

Pastor Josh
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Psalm 145: 1-21

Grace and peace to you from our Lord Jesus Christ.

Praise God! God does so much for us on a daily basis. He has done so much for us through his son Jesus Christ. Is he not worthy of our praise? Should we not spend more time praising and thanking God for all he has done for us? Sunday is a great day. It's nice that we set aside some time each week to come into the house of the Lod for worship. But shouldn't we be spending more time in worship? Sunday isn't enough. We need to worship and praise God every day for everything he has done for us. God bless you.

Pastor Josh
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Sunday Scripture and Sermon for October 3, 2010

Grace and peace to you from our Lord Jesus Christ.

The Old Testament Lesson for this Sunday comes from Lamentations 1: 1-6 in which Israel laments the suffering they are enduring. The New Testament lesson comes from 2 Timothy 1: 3-12 in which Timothy is encouraged to endure through hardship. The sermon is titled 'No An Easy Thing' and will focus on the hardships that sometimes come in our journey of faith and our call to persevere and endure. I hope to see you all on Sunday morning. God bless you.

Pastor Josh
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Psalm 144: 1-15

Grace and peace to you from our Lord Jesus Christ.

'Our barns will be filled with every kind of provision.' God rewards faithfulness. If we are obedient to God's will in our lives, if we do what God wants us to do then God will bless us with all that we need and more. It takes faith to believe in this. The basis for that faith can be found in scripture. In those holy words we are given promises, promises that God is going to reward us if we are faithful to him. God bless you.

Pastor Josh
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Psalm 143: 1-12

Grace and peace to you from our Lord Jesus Christ.

'So my spirit grows faint within me, my heart within me is dismayed.' The journey of faith is riddled with obstacles that cause us to stumble. When we stumble too much we begin to lose heart. Faith is not easy, and that makes it easy for us to lose some momentum. When you feel yourself slowing down cling hard to your faith. When you feel like there are too many things going on pray to God that he would give you strength. Our spirits grow faint, our hearts become dismayed. When that happens we need to simply cling to the hope and strength we have in Jesus. He will lift your spirit, he will comfort your heart. God bless you.

Pastor Josh
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Psalm 142: 1-7

Grace and peace to you from our Lord Jesus Christ.

'Tell me about your day.' God says that to us all the time. God wants to know how our day has been, he wants to know what happened to us, how we feel about it, what, if anything, he can do to help. We are encouraged, by God, to come to God in prayer to tell God how we are doing. The Psalmist is taking advantage of that here. The Psalmist is coming before God to tell God about his day and ask God for help. We should follow his example. It goes without saying that prayer should be about praise as well as other things, but we also need to make sure we are coming before God and simply telling him about our day, how we feel etc. Talk to God. God bless you.

Pastor Josh
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Psalm 141: 1-10

Grace and peace to you from our Lord Jesus Christ.

God is just a prayer away. He is not far away at all. Sometimes it may seem like God is far away, but it is in those times when God is closest to us. Nothing can separate us from the love of God. We all out to God in times of need and he comes to us. He can come to us because he is never far away from us. God will never leave us nor forsake us. Remember all of these words. Remember God's continual presence in our life. He is with you, always, to the very end of the age. God bless you.

Pastor Josh
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Psalm 140: 1-13

Grace and peace to you from our Lord Jesus Christ.

'Rescue me, O Lord, from evil men.' God has rescued us from the evil of the world. This is not to say bad things cannot happen to us. It is only to say that the part of us that is most precious, our souls, have been saved by God. Our bodies may be harmed, or even killed, but our souls are under God's protection forever. No matter what happens God has had victory over the powers of evil. We have been saved, we have been rescued. God bless you.

Pastor Josh
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Psalm 139: 1-24

Grace and peace to you from our Lord Jesus Christ.

Gad has searched us, and he knows us. God knows us intimately. We are not just a number to him. He knows our name, who are are, what we have experienced, what we feel. God knows all about us. This is not an invasion of privacy, it is an act of love. God loves us so much he wants to know everything about us. He wants to know everything about us so he can love us more and so he can help us with whatever we need in our lives and journeys of faith. God, the maker of the heavens, knows us. In his love for us he has taken the time to get to know who are. What a blessing that is! God bless you.

Pastor Josh
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Psalm 138: 1-8

Grace and peace to you from our Lord Jesus Christ.

In many ways it is fitting that a 'Praise Psalm' would follow the Psalm from yesterday. Yesterday the Psalmist was in the midst of a very dark day, and so he prayed a dark prayer. Today, though, the Psalmist has awoken to a new, beautiful morning in which the sun is shining bright. God has carried the psalmist through the time of difficulty, and the psalmist is grateful for that. We all follow this pattern at some point in our lives. We all go through times of darkness. And we are all lifted out of those times by God. When we are we need to be thankful, to praise God for the help he has given. Praise God for his love and strength in your life, both of which brought you from darkness to light. God bless you.

Pastor Josh
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Sunday Scripture and Sermon for Septembr 26, 2010

Grace and peace to you from our Lord Jesus Christ.

The Scripture passage for this Sunday is from Luke 16: 19-31, in which Jesus tells the parable of the Rich Man and Lazarus. The sermon is titled 'Before It's Too Late' and will focus on the need we all have to live according to Christ's will now before it's too late for us to make a change. I hope to see you all on Sunday. God bless you.

Pastor Josh
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Psalm 137: 1-9

Grace and peace to you from our Lord Jesus Christ.

In many ways this Psalm is very troubling. The last verse alone causes us to wonder how these words managed to make it into Scripture. Psalms are, among other things, prayers. And as we read those horrifying words the thought we can take with us is that we are allowed, and encouraged, to be completely and totally honest with God. We do not need to wear a censor when we are praying. Whatever is on our mind, or in our heart, should be brought before God's throne. The reason for this is simple: only God can help us get rid of those thoughts. If we feel angry, God can help take it away. If we feel sadness, loneliness, anxiety, rage, hatred, etc. God can help us with those feelings. With that in mind we are encouraged to lay our burdens at the throne of grace and ask for God's help. Be honest with God. Tell him how you're feeling. Allow him to help you move past it. God bless you.

Pastor Josh
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Psalm 136: 1-26

Grace and peace to you from our Lord Jesus Christ.

I love this Psalm because it does something I have always thought about doing in my own life: it makes a list of all the blessings God has given me. You can almost see the Psalmist here writing these words. He is going through the history of the world and making a list of what God has done. I do not have enough time, or paper, to make a list of all the blessings God has given me, and the same is probably true for most of us. However, that does not mean we should not think of specific blessings. We should be mindful of what God has given, not just in the general sense, but in the specific sense as well. Take time to think about the specific blessings God has given you, and be sure to thank him, too. God bless you.

Pastor Josh
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Psalm 135: 1-21

Grace and peace to you from our Lord Jesus Christ.

'The Lord does whatever pleases him.' God's will is not always our will. We make our prayers, we ask for things. Sometimes we pray for healing, financial stability, gas prices, or any number of other things. Praying for those things is OK. God wants to hear from us, to hear what we want, and what we need. We need to keep in mind, though, that our will does not always match up with God's will. We can ask for whatever we want, but God is going to give us, or not give us, what we truly need. What we truly need may not be what we want, but God knows what is best for us. His love for us knows no end and in that love God has a plan, a will, for us in our lives. When we pray, we need to always pray the prayer Jesus taught which says, among other things, 'thy will be done.' God's will is not always our will. We need to keep that in mind, and also that God loves us. God bless you.

Pastor Josh
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Psalm 134: 1-3

Grace and peace to you from our Lord Jesus Christ.

'Lift up your hands in the sanctuary and praise the Lord.' Worship should move us to excitement. When that excitement comes sometimes we raise our hands, sometimes we sway gently back and forth, and sometimes we simply bow our heads in adoration. Whatever act of worship the Spirit moves you to perform do not be shy about performing it. Be excited to be in God's presence and allow yourself to be moved, in some way, by the Holy Spirit. God bless you.

Pastor Josh
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Psalm 133: 1-3

Grace and peace to you from our Lord Jesus Christ.

"How good and pleasant it is when brothers live together in unity." A house divided against itself cannot stand. We are split, which is not good. The church is in bad shape because all we can seem to do is fight amongst ourselves. We all need to work hard at being ONE body, so we can fulfill the ministry of Christ and bring honor and glory to God. We need to be united, not divided as we are now. Let us find a way to work together so we can be one, as Christ would have us be. God bless you.

Pastor Josh
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Psalm 132: 1-18

Grace and peace to you from our Lord Jesus Christ.

'This is my resting place forever and ever.' God has chosen to dwell in our hearts. He will never leave us. That is where he lives, in Spirit. We do not need to worry that someday he is not going to be there. God is always going to be there, no matter what happens. That should be our comfort, that no matter where we go, or what we do, God will always be with us. God bless you.

Pastor Josh
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Psalm 131: 1-3

Grace and peace to you from our Lord Jesus Christ.

Humility is an important quality to have. Humans are pretty extraordinary creatures. We have come up with all sort of gadgets and things that make our lives so much better. As a result of that we sometimes think we don't need God. We can do it ourselves. We need God. Even with all the technological advances we have these days we still not God in this world and in our lives. Be humble. Recognize you need God, because we all do. God bless you.

Pastor Josh
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Sunday Scripture and Sermon for September 19, 2010

Grace and peace to you from our Lord Jesus Christ.

The Scripture passage for this Sunday is from Luke 16: 1-8 in which we are told the parable of the unjust manager. The sermon is titled 'Pathways' and will focus on the paths that lie before us and what is on those paths. I hope to see you all on Sunday morning. God bless you.

Pastor Josh
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Psalm 130: 1-8

Grace and peace to you from our Lord Jesus Christ.

Does God really listen? We pray. We ask God for all kinds of things, some of them material, some spiritual. Not all of those prayer are answered in a way we like, so we are left with this question: does God listen. Yes, he does. God hears all of our prayers, even the ones we do not say out loud. God hears every word. Those prayers may not be answered in a way we like, but they are answered according to God's perfect will. God hears us, and he does answer our prayers. We need to have faith to realize that. God bless you.

Pastor Josh
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Psalm 129: 1-8

Grace and peace to you from our Lord Jesus Christ.

'They have greatly oppressed me from my youth, but have not had victory over me.' Our enemies might persecute us. They might harm us, and for a while it may seem like they are victorious over us. Fear not. Our enemies will never have victory over us, for we have been saved by God. God has had the final victory. Our bodies may be harmed, but our spirits are forever protected by God. There is nothing anyone, or anything, can do to have victory over us. God has the victory. God bless you.

Pastor Josh
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Psalm 128: 1-6

Grace and peace to you from our Lord Jesus Christ.

"You will eat the fruit of your labor." These are important words to remember, for these words remind us that it matters what we do. Our actions matter, not only to God, but also to us. If we follow God's commands and love our neighbors as we love ourselves, then our neighbors will, in turn, love us. However, if we disobey that command and do not love our neighbors, then our neighbors will, most likely, not love us. We reap what we sow. If we sow love, we will receive love. If we sow hate, we will reap hate. Which would you rather reap? God bless you.

Pastor Josh
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Psalm 127: 1-5

Grace and peace to you from our Lord Jesus Christ.

'Unless the Lord builds the house, the builders labor in vain.' We cannot do anything without God's help. Whether know it, or like it, or now, God is always with us helping us with whatever we are doing. God is our creator. God knows us intimately. And in his love for us, and his knowledge of us, God helps us as we go through life. It is important to remember that we can't do anything without him. We sometimes want to; we sometimes think we can. But no matter what, God is with us, helping us. We owe it all to God. God bless you.

Pastor Josh
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Psalm 126: 1-6

Grace and peace to you from our Lord Jesus Christ.

"The Lord has done great things for us, and we are filled with joy." Paul tells us to 'rejoice in the Lord. I say again, rejoice.' God has given us reason to rejoice. We can all testify to God's blessings in our lives, but there is a collective blessing as well: Jesus. We can be joyful because God has given us Jesus, and through Jesus we have been given all the blessings we can think of getting. Salvation, eternal life, a place in God's kingdom, etc. God has given us many reasons to be joyful, but none is bigger, or better, than Jesus. Rejoice in the Lord always. God bless you.

Pastor Josh
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Psalm 125: 1-5

Grace and peace to you from our Lord Jesus Christ.

Someday we will not have to worry about anything anymore. Someday all of us will be called home, to the kingdom Jesus has prepared for us. Scripture tells us very little about what heaven is going to be like. No one knows for sure what all, or who all, is there. One thing we can know for sure, though, is that our enemies will not be there. The enemies, the evil, that surround us now will be nowhere around when we enter God's kingdom. We will have no reason to worry, or fear, anymore. Let that be the hope that rules in your heart. God bless you.

Pastor Josh
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Psalm 124: 1-8

Grace and peace to you from our Lord Jesus Christ.

We would have no hope in our lives if we did not have God. It may not always seem like it, because of the evil that exists in our lives and the world, but God does protect us. The world, our lives, would be much worse if we did not have God looking out for us. Yes, bad things happen to us, but the evil of the world is minimized by God. Is this a perfect answer to the evil in the world? No, not by a long shot. It is jut something for us to keep in mind. Even though it may not seem like it, God does look after us and take care us, though not always in the way we expect. God bless you.

Pastor Josh
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Psalm 123: 1-4

Grace and peace to you from our Lord Jesus Christ.

Seeing God is not always an easy thing, but that does not mean we should stop looking. God works in a lot of different, and sometimes mysterious, ways. We often look for great, big miracles that would rival the stories of Jesus we find in the gospels, but it does not always work that way. God is much more subtle sometimes. With that in mind we have to keep our eyes peeled. We have to keep looking for how God is working in our lives, and in the world. We look for God, but we need to keep our eyes open if we have any chance of seeing him. God bless you.

Pastor Josh
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Psalm 122: 1-9

Grace and peace to you from our Lord Jesus Christ.

"May there be peace within your walls and security within your citadels." Peace is something we all want and need. We want our children to be raised in a world where there is no war. But it's not just worldly peace we want, it is peace within ourselves. In our lives we want to have peace for our souls. Restlessness, emptiness, stress, anxiety, loneliness are all things that we do want to have in our lives. We want peace from these things. We can have peace from these things if we turn our lives over to Jesus. Jesus makes our lives better. He gives us peace of mind, heart, and soul. If we turn our lives over to him and allow him to bring his blessings we will find peace in us. Let Jesus into your life and your life will be blessed with many things, but above all peace. God bless you.

Pastor Josh
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Psalm 121: 1-8

Grace and peace to you from our Lord Jesus Christ.

Our help comes from the Lord. When we are in difficult times God is there to help us. We cannot do it by ourselves, and we are not supposed to do it by ourselves. God loves us as his dear children. And in his love for us God gives us a hand from time to time as we face trials and tribulations. God made the world and all that is in it, and because that is true he has the power to help us through anything we encounter in this world. Let God help you. Ask him to come into your life and give you a hand as you go through life. God love you and he wants to help you. Let him. God bless you.

Pastor Josh
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Psalm 120: 1-7

Grace and peace to you from our Lord Jesus Christ.

'What will he do...' This is a good question for us to ask. We do not know what God is going to do. No one, and I mean no one, has the power to predict the future. Only God knows what is going to happen tomorrow. At times we are left wondering. We pray to God for help, but we don't know what he is going to do, or when he is going to do it. We have to trust. We have to trust that God is going to do what is best for us in the time that is best for us. God loves us. He will not cause us pain; he will not lead us astray. God's will is not our will. God's timing is not our timing. We need to trust God; to trust that he will always do what is best for us. God bless you.

Pastor Josh
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Psalm 119: 1-176

Grace and peace to you from our Lord Jesus Christ.

What comes to mind when thinking about the length of this Psalm? The fact that there are a lot of wonderful things we can say about God. We could speak non-stop from now to the end of all things and never even come close to describing God's goodness. There is not enough paper in the world for us to make a list of God's blessings to us or the world. This Psalm is long, almost too long to read in one sitting. However, one of the things we can take from it is that we can never run out of praise. With that in mind we should be in a continual act of praise. Every word that comes from our mouths, every thought that enters our minds, should be to the glory of God. Like the Psalmist does here, we should just keep on praising, for a really really long time. God bless you.

Pastor Josh
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Psalm 118: 1-29

Grace and peace to you from our Lord Jesus Christ.

I'm noticing a theme here: Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good. His love endures forever. 'Endures' is a key word in all of this I think because it carries with it the meaning of 'in spite of.' God's love endures our sin is what the Psalmist means here. God does not like it when we sin, but that does not keep him from loving us. Nothing will make God stop loving us, for his love endures forever. In spite of our sin God loves us anyway. No matter what we do, or where we go, God will always be there, and God will always love us. Despite our sins, God's love endures forever. God bless you.

Pastor Josh
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Psalm 117: 1-2

Grace and peace to you from our Lord Jesus Christ.

God's faithfulness endures forever. That takes things one step further. It is one thing to say God will always love us, but it means even more that God will be faithful to us. Part of the meaning behind 'faithfulness' is blessing. God will always bless us. He will have not only the emotion of love for us in his heart, but also in that love he will bless us and make our lives joyful. God's love knows no end. In other words, God will always love us. God's faithfulness knows no end as well. In other words, God will always be there to take care of us. God bless you.

Pastor Josh
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Bring-A-Friend

Grace and peace to you from our Lord Jesus Christ.

Don't forget, this Sunday is Bring-A-Friend Sunday. This is a new program we are getting started here at Mt. Lebanon Christian Church. The purpose is to get people to think about their faith, and for those who don't have faith, to accept Jesus as personal Lord and Savior. We are called to make disciples, and the Bring-A-Friend program is how we are going to live out that call Share your faith with someone and bring them, not just to church, but to a life of faith. God bless you.

Pastor Josh
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Sunday Scripture and Sermon for September 5, 2010

Grace and peace to you from our Lord Jesus Christ.

The Scripture passage for this Sunday is from Philemon, verses 8-21, in which Paul encourages Philemon to show mercy to Onesimus, Philemon's slave who has run away. The sermon is titled 'Upstream' and will focus on the fact that Christians are called to a different way of life than what the world expects of us. I hope to see you all in church on Sunday. God bless you.

Pastor Josh
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Psalm 116: 1-19

Grace and peace to you from our Lord Jesus Christ.

God makes our lives better, and so we ought to love him. Jesus tells us that the greatest commandment is to love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength. We need to follow that commandment to the letter. How do we show our love for God? We show our love for God by coming to worship and praising him. We show our love for God by being obedient to his will. We show our love for God by telling others about him. There are variety of ways we can show God's love. We just need to make sure we are doing it more often. God bless you.

Pastor Josh
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Psalm 115: 1-18

Grace and peace to you from our Lord Jesus Christ.

We have work to do. People have closed their eyes; they have closed their ears; they have closed their hearts. We need to open them. God is in the world. He loves the world he has created. He has saved the world he has created. We need to tell the world this good news. God has left it to us to tell people about him. We need to get busy and starting working on opening people's eyes, ears, and hearts to the Lord. God bless you.

Pastor Josh
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Psalm 114: 1-8

Grace and peace to you from our Lord Jesus Christ.

God instituted a special relationship with Israel. He brought them out of the land of Egypt and eventually to the Promised Land. This relationship was supposed to be two-sided, with Israel keeping up their part. Over time, though, they failed to do so and the relationship became strained. God has established a relationship with us, through his son Jesus Christ. God takes care of us, and we are supposed to do everything God wants. Our relationship with God calls for responsibility on our part. We need to ask ourselves every day what we can, and should, do to make sure we are keeping our part of the bargain. What can you do to please God today? God bless you.

Pastor Josh
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Psalm 113: 1-9

Grace and peace to you from our Lord Jesus Christ.

'From the rising of the sun to the place where it sets the name of the Lord is to be praised.' That is our goal, as Christians, as we strive to live out the Great Commission. Our aim is to tell the whole world about Jesus so that the world might praise Jesus, so that 'At the name of Jesus every knee shall bow...and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.' We share our faith so others might come to a life of faith. We tell people about Jesus so they will give their hearts to him. Our top priority should be telling the world about Jesus to the words in this Psalm will come true: 'From the rising of the sun to the place where is sets the name of the Lord is to be praised.' God bless you.

Pastor Josh
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Psalm 112: 1-10

Grace and peace to you from our Lord Jesus Christ.

"Blessed is the man who fears the Lord, who finds great delight in his commands." Fear, here, means respect, just to clarify. Our lives will be blessed if we love God and show that love for God. If we live the life God wants us to live God will reward our efforts, he will reward our faithfulness. The best way for us to have a good life is to do all the things God calls us to do, to be the people he wants us to be. If we respect God, if we love him, if we do what he tells us, our lives will be blessed. God bless you.

Pastor Josh
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Psalm 111: 1-10

Grace and peace to you from our Lord Jesus Christ.

"The works of his hands are faithful and just; all his precepts are trustworthy." God works in our lives, and God works for good. We do not have to live our lives in fear that God is going to do something bad to us to punish us. Why? Because Jesus has taken the punishment that should have been ours. Jesus was punished so we would not have to be. We can trust that God's ways are perfect and just. He is not going to punish us for our sins, for Jesus has been punished in our stead. Live your life without fear or worry that God is going to hurt you. God loves you, and in his love for you God will bless you. God bless you.

Pastor Josh
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Psalm 110: 1-7

Grace and peace to you from our Lord Jesus Christ.

This Psalm is about Jesus, but there are words in here for us as well. We are invited to be in God's presence. More than that, God is at our right hand. God stays with us. No matter where we go or what we do God is always right there by our side. That is the real blessing of Jesus. He opens that door for us. Jesus brings God into our life. Jesus makes it possible for God to be at our right hand. Let that be of comfort to you. God is with you, always. He was with you yesterday. He is with you today. He will be with you tomorrow. God bless you.

Pastor Josh
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Sunday Scripture and Sermon for August 29, 2010

Grace and peace to you from our Lord Jesus Christ.

Our Scripture passage for this Sunday is from Matthew 28: 16-20, in which Jesus gives the Great Commission. The sermon is titled, 'Called by Name' and will focus on how Jesus has called us to a life of faith and how we, in turn, should call others to a life of faith as well. I hope to see you all on Sunday morning. God bless you.

Pastor Josh
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Psalm 109: 1-31

Grace and peace to you from our Lord Jesus Christ.

Vengeance is the Lord's. Ours is to show mercy. Being sinned against is in no way pleasant. Whether someone says something to us, or does something to us, it causes us a great deal of pain when someone sins against us. What do we do when that happens? Our human instincts and emotions tell us to seek revenge, to repay what has been done to us. Jesus would say something different, though. In fact, he does say something different. Jesus tells us to forgive, unconditionally, just as God has forgiven us. Jesus also gives us a promise: that vengeance is the Lord's. He will deal with those who sin against us in whatever way he sees fit. Ours is not to punish. That is God's territory. Ours is to be merciful. God bless you.

Pastor Josh
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Psalm 108: 1-13

Grace and peace to you from our Lord Jesus Christ.

David knows a lot about God's love, perhaps more than anyone else in scripture. Over the last couple of months we have been taking a closer look at David in our worship services, and one of the things we have kept coming back to is David's sins with Bathsheba. David committed adultery with Bathsheba, lied about, and then had her husband, Uriah the Hittite, killed to cover his tracks. Those are all really really bad sins, and David committed them with gusto. And yet, God loved David. Yes, there was punishment, but David was still loved, and looked after, by God. The same is true for us. We may sin and fall short of God's glory, but God still loves us. God will always love us, no matter what we do. Remember David. Remember his sins and the love God still had for him. Remember those things and be reminded of God's never-ending love for you. God bless you.

Pastor Josh
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Psalm 107: 1-43

Grace and peace to you from our Lord Jesus Christ.

'Let them give thanks to the Lord for his unfailing love,' is repeated several times throughout this Psalm. Thanksgiving is a pretty important things. I think most of us tell our children to be thankful not just on Thanksgiving, but every day of the year. This is something we all need to keep in mind. I encourage you all to pray every single day, even if it is just for a couple of moments. When you pray I encourage you to take a second and thank God, really thank him, for all he has done in your life. Obviously, we have the Bible as a testament to what God has done in the world, but God has done so much for us as individuals as well. With that in mind, repeat this mantra every day: Thank you God for your unfailing love.' God bless you.

Pastor Josh
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Psalm 106: 1-48

Grace and peace to you from our Lord Jesus Christ.

Faith, at times can be an up-and-down journey. For Israel their journey of faith was exactly that. At times they worshiped God, but at other times they ignored God, only then to get back to worship God. This Psalm gives us an image of Israel's struggle with their application of their faith. The same is true for us. Some days are simply better than others when it comes to our faith. That is natural. Being human, with the emotions, and busyness, of our lives, we go back and forth sometimes. For many of us keeping our faith at the absolute center of our lives is a daily struggle. The trick is to take it day by day. If every day is going to be a struggle, do what you can to win the day. Too often we look too far ahead. Take it all just one day at a time, and try your best to win each individual day. Faith can be up-and-down, but it does not have to be. God bless you.

Pastor Josh
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Psalm 105: 1-45

Grace and peace to you from our Lord Jesus Christ.

'Give thanks to the Lord, call on his name.' We need help, and God can help us. Sometimes this life is too much for us to handle on our own. In those times God is there to help us, to offer assistance to what we go through. We should take God up on this offer. His strength is limitless, as is his love. God will always want to help us, and he will always have the strength to help us. Whatever our struggles, whatever our burdens, God wants to help us with them. Call on God. Ask him for a hand. There is nothing wrong with that. And you'll find, in God, all the help and strength you need. God bless you.

Pastor Josh
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Psalm 104: 1-35

Grace and peace to you from our Lord Jesus Christ.

'He makes winds his messengers, flames of fire his servants.' God works in many ways, and he speaks in many ways. These ways are not always easy to see or understand. Part of our journeys of faith is being attentive to the many ways God can work in this world. We need to stay alert, keeping our eyes, ears, and spirits open to God. He is speaking, he is working. Right now, God is at work in the world. We need to make sure we are paying attention so we can know what he is doing, and so we can know what we might do to help. God bless you.

Pastor Josh
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Psalm 103: 1-22

Grace and peace to you from our Lord Jesus Christ.

'God is good, all the time. And all the time, God is good.' That is an exercise that some churches do at the beginning of each worship service. Those words serve as a helpful reminder of God's goodness and love. God has done so much for us, and we need to remind ourselves each and every day of his goodness, of the blessings he has given to us. Repeat this exercise every day, reminding yourself that God is good. 'God is good all the time. And all the time, God is good.' God bless you.

Pastor Josh
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Sunday Scripture and Sermon for August 22, 2010

Grace and peace to you from our Lord Jesus Christ.

The Scripture passage for this Sunday is from 2 Samuel 23: 1-7, in which David's final words are given to us. The sermon is titled 'David' and will focus on David's unwavering faith, and how that can be a model for our faith. I hope to see you all in church on Sunday. God bless you.

Pastor Josh
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Psalm 102: 1-28

Grace and peace to you from our Lord Jesus Christ.

We are lost without God. Vacations are wonderful things, but for many of us, when we go on vacation, there is something we forgot to do. 'Did I close the garage door?' 'Did I turn off the lights?' 'Did I turn up/down the furnace/air conditioner?' We forget to pack things: toothpaste, soap, shoes, etc. The thing we may have forgotten to do, or to pack, gnaws at us. There is a sense that something is wrong, that, maybe something is missing. That is how it is when we do not have God in our lives. There is something missing, a hole that cannot be filled by anything else. Make sure you are getting your fill of God each and every day. He will fill the emptiness inside of you, he will make you whole. With God there is never a sense that something is wrong, or missing. He fills you completely. God bless you.

Pastor Josh
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Psalm 101: 1-8

Grace and peace to you from our Lord Jesus Christ.

As children of God we are called to a life of holiness. Jesus died on the cross, and in that death the bonds of sin are forever broken. In other words, sin no longer has any power over us, which means we are free to live a holy life. We can only do this through Jesus Christ our Lord. In following Jesus we are agreeing to live the kind of life Jesus wants us to live, and in following Jesus we are given the strength we need to live the kind of life Jesus wants us to live. Jesus' commands are not simply empty words, they are a high calling to a life of righteousness. We must remeber that we do not practice holiness to achieve our own salvation. Only Jesus can save us. We practice holiness as an act of gratitude, as a way of saying thank you to Jesus for what he has done for us. Remember this day your call to holiness, and the reason we should follow that call. God bless you.

Pastor Josh
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Psalm 100: 1-5

Grace and peace to you from our Lord Jesus Christ.

'His love endures forever.' Over the last couple of months we have been talking about David in our worship service. Recently we have been discussing David's relationship with Bathsheba and the grave sins David committed in that story. Obviously, David's sins were wrong, but at the same time God's love for David never went away. God continued to love David and show his love for him despite what David had done. The same is true for us. God's love for us endures forever. No matter what we do or where we go, God will always love us. God has made that love known to us through Jesus. God sent his son into the world in an act of unfailing love and compassion. That love and compassion will never fail, no matter what. 'His love endures forever.' God bless you.

Pastor Josh
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Psalm 99: 1-9

Grace and peace to you from our Lord Jesus Christ.

Looking back is important. The Psalmist mentions Moses and Aaron here and with that our minds go immediately back to the Exodus, when God led the Israelites out of Egypt. Looking back to see what God has done is a helpful exercise, especially in times of trouble. When we are in timed of darkness it is not always easy to see the light at the end of the tunnel. We do not know what the future will bring, so it is sometimes hard to imagine what is going to happen. However, one thing we can always do is look back. We can look back and see what God has done in our lives. Israel always looked back to the Exodus and that reminded them of what God had done, and it gave them hope for the future. We can do the same. We can look back over our lives and see what God has done for us to remind us of God's love, and to give us hope for what God is going to do in the future. God bless you.

Pastor Josh
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Psalm 98: 1-8

Grace and peace to you from our Lord Jesus Christ.

"The Lord has made his salvation known." How has God done that? Through Jesus, of course. We are saved. We have a place in heaven. Personally, I like the comfort of knowing this life is not all there is. It gives me hope and courage to think that there is more than this. We have the blessing of having more because of Jesus. We are given a new life, another life, through Jesus. He has saved us from sin, which means for us that we get more life when this life is over. God has made salvation known; he has made life known. We get these blessings. Isn't that great?! Doesn't that make you want to shout with joy? God has blessed us all. Remember that. God bless you.

Pastor Josh
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Psalm 97: 1-12

Grace and peace to you from our Lord Jesus Christ.

God is power. "The mountains melt like wax before the Lord." I love the visual image we are given in this Psalm. Too often, because of some of the things that happen around us, we think of God as weak, unable to do anything in the world. This Psalm serves as a good reminder that God has great power. We may not always see it, but more often than not that is because we do not have our eyes open. God is not weak. He works in this world all the time. Sometimes those ways are 'flashy,' for lack of a better word. Other times, God's works are much more subtle, and require more sight on our part. We need to open our eyes and see the power God has, and how he uses that power each and every day. God bless you.

Pastor Josh
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