Journey Of Life Lutheran Church

If greed keeps you from enjoying a glass of wine because you want a better one, envy keeps you from enjoying a glass of wine because someone else has a better one. In early stage envy, you believe that if you had what someone else has, you would be happy. In late stage envy, you feel happy when someone else loses what they had. Envy will rot your life and your peace from the inside out. Envy keeps us from enjoying the gifts in our lives, causes division, leads to bad judgment and robs you of peace. So what do we do? First, listen to your envy because it comes from inside you. What is your envy telling you about you? Then employ the antidotes to envy: the scriptures, remembering your identity in Christ, rejecting altogether the idea of comparison, serving others with your gives, and remembering that our whole life is really about God and love.

Greed is the first topic we are covering in the Seven Deadly Sins series and, as we will see, God gives us many antidotes. "Sins" is not really the best name. These are vices or areas of brokenness inside every one of us. God would save us from falling into destruction and being pierced through with many sorrows, so the scripture warn us against greed and show us how to move away from it.

When you get the swipe of ashes on your forehead on Ash Wednesday, it's more than just a reminder of your mortality. If you dig through the scriptures, you will see that the amazing creation of mankind, mankind's fall into sin, and God's rescuing hand in Jesus Christ all there. That little swipe of ashes encompasses all of human history!

“Mountain top” experiences can be great! We feel a spiritual high and everything seems to be just right. Peter, James and John had a mountaintop experience with Jesus during which Jesus was transformed right before their very eyes. But then he went back to normal and they went down the mountain. Mountain top experiences can be very helpful in that they give us a vision of what could be, they can motivate us and move us to initiate action. But we can’t stay on the mountaintop and we can’t expect to be completely different people when we come down from the mountain top. The scriptures tell us that we are not to be conformed to this world — pressed into its mold — but transformed by the renewing of our minds. The Greek word for “transformed” is the same word used at Jesus’ transfiguration. How does this happen? Our minds are renewed by hearing with faith. Galatians 3:1-3 reminds us that it was not by our ow

Paul writes a great many practical instructions to the church in Corinth. Toward the end of the book he writes, "And now I will show you the most excellent way." To my mind, that is a big flag that says, "Look here!" This most excellent life is a life based in love. Explore the most excellent life with Pastor John in this encouraging message.

We ask what our place is so we can find a way to fit in. The Good News that God has given us in Jesus Christ is that we have a place. We don't have to seek a place in order to belong. This makes all the difference. We we are seeking a place in order to belong, we do so with a shadow of fear because our belonging and worthiness of love is on the line. When we start with the given that we have a place, then we can explore ourselves and our community for our 'best fit' in peace and excitement we are not hoping to fit in, we already belong. We are already received our worthiness of love and connection from God and it cannot be taken away. Now we are just livin' and explorin'! Do I know what your place is in the big picture? No, only you can know that. But I do know for sure that without question you have a place in the big picture. In Jesus Christ, you are God's child and worthy of love and belonging just as you are. Don't seek a feeling of belonging by finding your fit. Belong and then find your fit.

Last week (1/13/13) Pastor John drove home the point that we are infinitely loved by God. He sees us as his children and longs for us to see him as our father. Our sense of our worthiness of our love and belonging does not come from our production, talent or effort, but simply by virtue of God's love. In this message, Pastor John reminds us that we need to integrate this identity into the foundational choices we make every day. We must choose not to let others define who we are, choose short-term pain for long-term gain, choose God's values instead of the worlds and choose to live by faith rather than fear. These ground-level choices need ongoing support in order for them to take hold in our lives. We must decide to form and maintain faith-building relationships and resolve to put Christ at the center of everything in our lives.

"Who Am I?" is one of the most important questions anyone can spend time with. Our understanding of who we are affects our feelings about ourselves and our life; our choices and actions; our happiness and peace; and the way we interpret what other people say and do around us. The Bible says that we are a) the pinnacle of God's creation, b) sinners in a broken world, and c) through faith in Christ, redeemed children of God. In accepting God's idea of who we are, we reject all of the pressures of the world that we feel when we look to the world for a sense of worthiness and belonging. We are infinitely valuable children of God. In Christ, we see ourselves as worthy of love and belonging — God has shown us our worth in the death of Jesus Christ. We now live in Christ as God’s dearly beloved children who do things wrong and grow day by day. The shame of “who I am” is gone. We learn and grow in our thoughts, words and actions. We say, “I should not have done that.” But we

In this Epiphany Sunday sermon, Pastor John reviews the visit of the magi with some possibly surprising results. A closer examination of the traditional nativity scene reveals a most unlikely gathering of characters: Jesus (King of the Universe born a human child), Mary (unwed mother), Joseph (carpenter caught up in God's big story), shepherds on the night shift (just about the lowest members of Jewish society) and... what in the world? ... magi from the East? These guys were likely priest/magicians who practiced all sorts of astrology and enchanting arts. Why would God invite shepherds and magi to the birth of his Son? There is a great message in this unlikely assemblage of characters. God's love is so much bigger than we imagine. Hear more in this encouraging sermon from Pastor John.

In the Hobbit (and in Lord of the Rings) we see ancient songs of prophecy fulfilled in part not because of might or wisdom but because of simple hobbits who love strongly and try to do the right thing. The hobbits provide an excellent illustration of three truths of biblical prophecy: 1. God is making his word and promises come true. God speaks of the future he willfully brings about (Isaiah 55L:10-11) 2. Prophecy involves people. We are actors, not spectators. God fulfills prophecy through obedient people. (Genesis 12:1-4) 3. Your role is to be the person God calls you to be wherever you find yourself. God has told us that as well as the ultimate fulfillment at the end of time, the kingdom of God is in our midst (Luke 17:21). But like the gift of the promised land to the Israelites, we have to have the faith to take the gift that God is giving us, the gift of righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit (Romans 14:17). Taking the gift of the kingdom of God requires the faith to love others in the way God

In this sermon, we meet the prophet Zephaniah. He was born during the reign of horribly wicked kings, but did his prophecy work during the reign of Josiah, a king who was trying to reform the errant ways of God's people. Most of this short book involves judgment on God's people first, then the rest of the world for wickedness. But the last part of Zephaniah's prophecy proclaims the coming day of the Lord when our judgments are taken away, our enemies are cleared away, God himself dwells in our midst and we will never fear again.

We don't know much about Malachi, but his message to the Jewish exiles who returned from Babylon was fairly straightforward: worship God with your hearts, don't just pay him lip service. Malachi prophesied in an unusual dialog style.

During this Advent season, we will be meeting four prophets. We will learn from the teachings and their lives. These prophets all give us hints regarding the coming Messiah, Jesus Christ, whose birth we celebrate on Christmas Day.

When God tries to talk to us about heaven, it's more difficult that trying to explain a microwave oven to a desert nomad from 3,000 years ago. Plus, we can't even account for 95% of the matter and energy in our own universe -- it's "dark" energy and matter. So, when we talk about heaven, we need to put on our trusting child ears and listen for what God is trying to tell us rather than analyze biblical data as though it were possible for us to really understand our existence in the next life. This is good news because God tells us that heaven is a party!

"Memento Mori" is the phrase written above the gate at Profrock Prepatory School in one of Lemony Snicket's Series of Unfortunate Events books. It means "Remember that you will die." Odd, perhaps, to be written on the gate of an elementary school but an important phrase nonetheless. This question offers us motivation to focus our lives. Because of the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, which reconciles us to God, we can face this phrase with peace and even joy. We know who wins. In fact, the game is already won. Jesus has burst the chains of death. We are simply playing out the end game. Do not be discouraged. Take heart and be at peace. Regardless of your momentary circumstances, our ultimate victory in Christ is secure. Sometimes, though, it's hard to see that big picture. In those times, remember that our ultimate destination is certain then concentrate on how to live as a child of God in just the moment you are experiencing.

Big stories are great. Sweeping timeless themes. Subterfuge and intrigue. Power plays. Integrity and love in the face of intense pressure. This is the stuff of Lord of the Rings, Harry Potter and the Reformation... except that the Protestant Reformation actually happened! And Big Stories are great for everyone except the people actually living through them. Review with Pastor John the historical context and the events leading up to the Reformation. In the process, learn how to faithfully live your own story.

Solomon, a man of riches, wisdom and fame, wrote Ecclesiastes at the end of his days as an examination of what in life has true meaning and value. Basically he decided on this: "Meaningless! Meaningless! All is meaningless!" We live, we die, that's it. But in Christ, that is not the end of the story. Life takes on deep and eternal meaning in the context of God's plan of salvation and our Savior, Jesus Christ. Find meaning in the meaninglessness of life with Pastor John in this honest and encouraging message.

Thrall is not peaceful or fun. It is a state of obsession. In thrall, you are in bondage to a thing, a thought, etc. In our reading for this week from Mark 10:17-27, an earnest young man meets Jesus and is brought face-to-face with his being in thrall with his wealth. Given the choice between eternal life and his wealth, he walks away sad. Life gifts are mean to be enjoyed but not to control us. Learn God's solution to thrall.

In this message, Pastor John makes sense of some of the most confusing things Jesus every said. It's worth a listen!

Speaking like a Christian is more than just littering your language with phrases like "Praise the Lord." The scriptures tell us that the way we speak reveals the condition of our hearts. Speaking like a Christian begins with God's love for you and for the person to whom or about whom you are talking. Learn how to really talk like a Christian in the powerful and practical message from Pastor John.