Sermons From Good Shepherd Lutheran Church In Raleigh, Nc

Gospel - Luke 18:1-8 We are connected to God in our prayers and God never gives up on us, so we keep that connection open. Hang on, God is listening as you pour your heart out and God will respond in God's good time.

Gospel - Luke 17:11-19 Just as he will always carry the story of that incredibly difficult time of his life, because he saw what Jesus did for him, his story will be marked by redemption, healing, and community. In short, his story will be marked by hope. When you notice God’s work in your life, you can’t unsee it. And it changes everything.

Gospel - Luke 17:5-10 Faith is part trusting in God revealed in Jesus. It is part knowledge of God’s work in saving us. It is part following by living a lifestyle that reveals the One in whom we trust.

Gospel - Luke 16:19-31 As the waters splash across her forehead, there is the promise – right there – that the sun of God’s good news will shine on her forever. There will be times when nothing will feel more wonderful. And there will be times when God’s word will challenge her to do better…to live more fully in community and harmony with all of God’s creation. But through it all, the love of God is constant. Steady. Sure as the rising sun.

Gospel - Luke 16:1-13 Some of Jesus' parables (teaching stories) are especially difficult for our modern minds to understand. Yet, our wrestling with a story about a dishonest manager who appears about to lose it all (Luke 16:1-13) can lead us to consider what is most important in our lives and even our congregation. It's another one of the ways the Holy Spirit works everyday!

Gospel - Luke 15:1-10 God invites us to be the ones who rescue lost sheep and sweep up lost treasures

Gospel - Luke 14:1, 7-14 When you think about the good things in life, they may not be some of the BIG THINGS. The important truth about the good things. BIG or small, is that they all come from God. Remembering that always makes you aware of the true feasts in life and that you are always the guest.

Gospel - Luke 13:10-17 Law helps order our world, but grace is what holds the world together.

Gospel - Luke 1:46-55 God’s fulfilled promises far exceed our expectations.

Gospel - Luke 12:13-21 There are lots of matters and issues in life about which we worry. Ultimately, it's what we focus on that counts! Hint: Try God!

Gospel - Luke 10:25-37 Never forget you are Beloved.

Gospel - Luke 10:38-42 The Gospel compels us to ask what time it is in our lives.

Reading - 2 Kings 5:1-14 Sometimes it takes a good Old Testament Story to be reminded grace isn't complicated.

Gospel - Luke 9:51-62 You think you are stubborn, but God is more stubborn.

Gospel - Luke 8:26-39 We all have moments when we don’t feel powerful at all, when we feel at the mercy of forces beyond our control. Our God makes all of this right, in time. Our God sends the Legion away, and suddenly, we realize that there is a new person where the demons were…a person, free, in God’s grace…a person, resurrected, alive again, connected with others, and peaceful in God’s kingdom and no one else’s.

Gospel - John 16:12-15 (Unfortunately, this week's Gospel was not recorded due to technical difficulties.) “God is there even when life falls apart and it feels like God has gone away, when the comfortable and familiar just aren’t doing the trick anymore. God is still there, reaching out to us in love, creatively looking for ways to connect with us, given the way life is at the moment.”

Reading - Acts 2:1-21 The Spirit gives them the ability to turn outward, facing the wider world, full of people different than them, and speak in ways that say, there is a home for you, too, in this community of Jesus, in this family of God.

Gospel - John 17:20-26 God is a theological tongue twister, and on this last Sunday of Easter we’re invited to practice it.

Gospel - John 5:1-9 Some questions have no answers, and that can be so hard. But this time, we get an answer, and it’s a good one. “Why do you love me?” we ask Jesus. And he looks at us, with all sorts of personality traits and sweet memories and things we’re good at running through his head…thinking of our smile and our laugh and our quirks and our charms, and he says, “just because.”

Awe and wonder are spiritual muscles that must be practiced.