Journey Of Life Lutheran Church

In this episode, Jesus (with a crowd following him) meets a funeral procession with a widow at the front followed by the men who are carrying the dead body of her only son. Jesus, moved with compassion, tells the widow not to cry and then brings the son back to life. This story is the history of the universe in a tiny moment. There was a son alive, then there was death, then there was a word from Jesus not to weep, then there was resurrection, then there was rejoicing. That is the story of the Bible from Genesis to Revelation. We live in the tiny space between the words of Jesus, "Do not weep," and the action of Jesus raising the dead. In this space, all depends on whether the words of Jesus are trustworthy and true. For the one who trusts in Jesus, restoration and resurrection are in the future. We live in confident hope and unshakable peace because our Lord has spoken words that we trust will one day come true. Hear this encouraging message from Pastor John at Journey of Life Lutheran

This is the audio teaching and LifeGroup handout for the lesson on the Widow's Son. The teaching can be listened to without being in a LifeGroup but, of course, you would get great benefit from being in a small group Bible study.

Last Sunday's message explored an incident when Jesus healed a sick servant that belonged to a centurion (a Roman military captain of 100 men). When Jesus came near, the Centurion told Jesus not to come all the way to his home, but just to order the disease to be gone. The Centurion explained that he knew about authority (he commands people and they act) and he believed that Jesus had the authority to command disease to be gone. Jesus marveled at his faith. Here is a man who seems to get who Jesus is more than most.

This record contains the audio teaching MP3 and the printable handout for our LifeGroup material on the Centurion's Servant from Luke 7:1-10

This record includes audio teaching and a small group study handout on the Trinity

This is the LifeGroup audio and printed for "Prudence" as part of our Seven Virtues series

Wisdom is deliberating rightly, deciding rightly and doing rightly. Wisdom is the moral skill to deliberate well and the moral will to do well. The scriptures give us at least six keys to living wisely: counsel, faith, knowledge, prayer, humility and the guidance of the Holy Spirit.

Justice, in the sense of legal system of justice which is intended to maintain social order, has been summarized with respect to bodily harm in the simple maxim: "An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth.” With respect to property, the perpetrator of the crime is expected to make restitution for whatever damage they have caused. For instance, if you kill someone’s ox, you must buy them a new one. This is the lowest sense of justice. Historically, the practice of the virtue of justice in a person’s life has been stated this way: “render to each his due.” This becomes increasingly complex as our world grows more complex. In Jesus’ day, when you bought produce, you likely purchased it from the person who grew it and his reputation for how he treats his laborers was probably known. Today when engage in any sort of trade or commerce, the distance between producer and consumer can insulate us from feeling responsible for the treatment of those who produce the thing

LifeGroup audio teaching and handout materials on Fortitude

Everyone has problems and sometimes life can really knock the the wind out of you. Fortitude is “a quality of character combining courage and staying power.” Life takes fortitude! As one of the four cardinal virtues, fortitude has been recognized for millennia as a foundation of a life well-lived. For the Christian, fortitude comes from a deeper, more transcendent place than simply stoic, internal strength. The Christian finds courage and staying power in God’s love on display in the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Standing firm, for the follower of Jesus, is the ability to “let all that you do be done in love” regardless of what’s going on or who is doing what (1 Corinthians 16:13-14). Through Christ and the Word, the God gives us peace (John 14:27), strength (Ephesians 6:10-11) and the ability to withstand the storms of life (Matthew 7:24-27). Just has real physical health is built through daily habits, not finding a “get ripped

Temperance is similar to self-control or moderation. Temperance has been one of the four cardinal virtues (also fortitude, prudence and justice) recognized not just in the scriptures but in ancient philosophy, from Aristotle to Cicero. In times of scarcity like in pioneer towns, there wasn’t much to be had so intemperance wasn’t much of a temptation. All they really had to overindulge in was alcohol, so reflections on temperance revolved around alcohol. Not so today. We have such abundance that the list of things we could use intemperately is almost limitless, from the classic intemperance of alcohol use to food, from rest to exercise. Even Facebook can draw one away from the virtue of temperance. One can think of intemperance in two types of situations: immediate and habitual. In classical philosophy, temperance was self-control that led to a successful life. While this is true, the virtue of temperance is much deeper in the Christian faith. For the Christian, self-control is really

Faith concerns that which is unseen: “Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.” (Hebrews 11:1, ESV) Faith is not fatalism (though it can look like it). Faith is not pretending things are not the way they are. Faith is not directed by you. Faith is not what you believe about God. Faith is entrusting all to God. Faith gives us courage, brings peace and, by the way, is a gift given in measure by God . Cultivate faith the same way you cultivate trust with anyone. Spend time with Jesus, try out his words and you will find it trustworthy.“My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand.” (John 10:27–28, ESV)

Hope is vital to our lives. In 1 Corinthians 13, Paul says that there are basically three pieces to the Christian life: Faith, Hope and Love. Without hope, we descend into despair. With hope, we remain joyful under the most difficult of circumstances. Cultivate hope in your life.

LifeGroup material for session 1 of the Seven Holy Virtues series: Love. This includes three sessions of audio teaching totaling approximately 35 minutes and a printable PDF handout.

We begin a new series on the Seven Holy virtues and start by contemplating the virtue of all virtues: Love. In this dialogue sermon, Pastor John and the congregation take a look at several episodes in Jesus' life (from clearing the temple to weeping to turning water into wine) and reflect on how each of those illuminates a life driven by love. The handout for this message includes a nightly five minute exercise of scripture, confession and renewal designed to cultivate the virtue of love in our lives.

On Easter, we remember long ago when Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden pridefully ignored God's instruction and plunged the world into brokenness. On Easter Sunday, in another garden, jesus rose from the dead, beginning the process of undoing the brokenness in the world that we call, "sin." In this message, we contemplate the last of the deadly sins, "pride," and how to receive the Easter gifts of joy, grace and connectedness in order to live life as God intended.

Anger is our emotional immune system. It is a secondary emotion that arises in response to hurt, fear or frustration. It is a response to perceived injustice. Anger is a positive thing when it functions well and a peace-destroyer when it's out of whack. In this message, Pastor John talks about the capital vice of wrath.

We think of sloth as simple laziness. The ancient word in the list of Seven Deadly Sins (really, seven deadly thoughts or temptations) is “acedia.” Acedia simply means not caring. It’s closer to apathy than to laziness. The deadly temptation of acedia gets its claws into us when we don’t work when we should be working (what we typically think of as sloth). But acedia also manifests itself in working when we shouldn’t be. Not trusting God enough to take a Sabbath and stop working for a while can be a form of acedia. Acedia also manifests itself in doing one thing when you should be doing something else. We’ve all experienced how important some mundane task seems to become when the alternative is facing something unpleasant. Acedia also includes things like not caring about your relationships enough to face difficulties and deal with them. Spend some time contemplating the deadly temptation of acedia in this message from Pastor John.

God wants us to have peace. Jesus came that we might have life. If our relationship with our food is out of whack, we are not living the full life that God has for us in Jesus. And ancient list talks about gluttony in terms of eating too daintily, too sumptuously, too hastily, too greedily or just plain too much. Food is a wonderful gift that God designed for us to enjoy. But when food is our master instead of our servant, it disorders our life.

God blessed sex to be a wonderful, enjoyable fulfilling part of life, both personally and relationally satisfying. Lust is a twisting of that good gift into selfish fulfillment of sensual desire that leaves a person empty (even if it doesn't feel so at the moment). In this message, Pastor John begins with God's positive view of sex. Then he talks about the character of lust and strategies for not letting lust drag you down. People trapped in lust are often filled with guilt and shame, and live with a deep sense of isolation. People trapped in lust need truth and grace not truth and judgment, whether it is you or someone else.