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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