God’s Keys to a Well-Lived Life

January 26, 2012 in Weekly Email with 0 Comments

We will begin a new message series on February 5 about the 10 Commandments. The 10 Commandments are God’s keys for unlocking a well-lived life. They are found in Exodus 20 and Deuteronomy 5.

Walk in all the way that the LORD your God has commanded you, so that you may live and prosper and prolong your days in the land that you will possess. Deuteronomy 5:33 (NIV84)

God gives us the 10 Commandments because he loves us and he wants the best for us. God does not give us the Commandments for his benefit. He gives the Commandments for our benefit. They are not given to be a burden, but show us a path to joy.

God says, “Learn them and be sure to follow them.” Deuteronomy 5:1 (NIV84) The first important step is to learn the Commandments. So do you know the Commandments? If someone asked you to list the 10 Commandments, would you be able to do so? Sadly, there are more Christians who are not able to list the 10 Commandments than there are Christians who are able to do so.

It is impossible to obey and to live for God if we don’t now what he expects from us. That is why I believe this message series is so important. It is my prayer that we will learn these Commandments so that we might be able to live them out and experience all that God wants for us.

We have seen how the Commandments have been taken out of classrooms and courtrooms. But many of us have taken the Commandments out of our lives as well. Many view the Commandments more as the 10 Suggestions than the 10 Commandments. Even more import than having the Commandments displayed on the walls of our public buildings, we need the Commandments written upon our hearts and displayed in our lives.

My son, keep my words and store up my commands within you. Keep my commands and you will live; guard my teachings as the apple of your eye. Bind them on your fingers; write them on the tablet of your heart. Proverbs 7:1-3 (NIV84)

There is more than meets the eye with these Commandments. Knowing these Commandments is about much more than simply being able to recite them. It takes a lifetime and more to grasp their full meaning, but in February and March we will be taking the first step to discovering the filled full life God lays out for us in the 10 Commandments.

Over the next couple of weeks we will be selling copies of Luther’s Small Catechism to help guide our study. If you would like to purchase a copy they will be available in the lobby before and after worship for $9/each.

When They Wander Away

January 23, 2012 in Sermons with 0 Comments

Download Audio

Today we we continue this message series entitled “For the Least of These.” This week we focus on what we do as parents when our children turn their backs to the faith they were raised in.

If you would like to go deeper on this subject, make sure to check out the book: When They Turn Away by Rob Rienow.

Something Has Got To Change!

January 19, 2012 in Posts, Weekly Email with 0 Comments

Last week I offered some suggestions to you about what you might do when you feel stuck in a rut. It can be frustrating when you feel as if you are not going anywhere. You may realize something has got to change, but then you keep on, keep on doing the same basic things and nothing changes.

Check out last week’s list, but another suggesting I would offer is changing media diet. What are you consuming? In much the same way as the food you eat affects your health, so also the media you consume impacts your well-being. Dr. Norman Vincent Peale says, “what comes out of the mind is what you put in the mind. You must feed your mind like you feed your body.”

If you are stuck in a rut, maybe you need to consider a radical shift in what you are consuming. The season of Lent is coming up. Ash Wednesday is February 22. People will often fast during the season of Lent. But instead of fasting from food, maybe there is a certain form of media that is polluting your mind and heart from which it might be healthy for you to take a break from or to eliminate altogether. It might be what you watch on TV at night, the talk shows he listened to on the radio, time spent on Facebook, or the romance novels you read before bed.

However, remember that the ultimate purpose of giving something up for Lent is that we might fill ourselves with other healthy alternatives. Think about the newspaper you might read in the morning. It has been said that good news is no news. The stories that are often printed in the news are stories of auto-accidents, crime, corruption, sports, and weather. The purpose of the news is not always to inform but to sell ads through sensationalism. Instead, you might use this time when you would read your newspaper to read the Bible. I doubt you are going to be that much less informed by giving up your morning paper, but you will be starting your day on a much more positive note.

Speaking of ads, the general theme of most ads is that your life is missing something. In order to be fulfilled you need to purchase a certain product. Then when you do purchase that product you then see another ad that tells you your life is still not fulfilled until you buy yet this other product. Many of us fail to recognize the way modern advertising tends to discourage us and bring us down. The more we avoid the glitz of advertising, the better off we will be.

The more stuck you feel, the more radical your change may need to be. There are probably many forms of media you could give up and would not miss a thing. If you’re not quite ready to give up a certain form of media, consider keeping a log of all the different types of media that you consume throughout the day. Write down how much time you spend with each one. How much time do you spend reading the newspaper? How much time do you spend on Facebook? How much time do you spend on blogs and other websites? How much time do you spend watching TV? You just might be surprised at things you are taking in.

Another thing to consider is to whom do you give your ear? Who do you listen to? And coworkers? Family members? Friends? Even brothers and sisters in Christ? Consider the tone and the messages you receive from these people. Is it positive? Is it negative? Do they speak well or poorly of others? Are they fire starters? Is the sky always falling? Seriously consider the people you spend time with. Obviously, you can’t cut family members out of your life, but you can limit their influence. You can’t change your coworkers, but you can politely refuse to take part in a conversation.

God’s words says, “Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.” Philippians 4:8

What I want to leave you with is this thought: if you are stuck in a rut, you may need to consider radical change. It may be real hard, but the alternative may be even harder to face.

Leading our Children to Jesus by Example

January 16, 2012 in Sermons with 0 Comments

Download Audio

Today we we continue this message series entitled “For the Least of These.” This message series is focused on the responsibility of the church and parents to the next generation. The first two weeks of this series will focus on the children we have in our own homes. The third week we will talk about what happens when children wander away from the the Lord. And the final week we will talk about the responsibility we have to the orphan.

The Scripture reading for this message is Deuteronomy 6:1-12.

Meagan and the Comfort Dogs

January 12, 2012 in Posts with 0 Comments

The following is posted on Lutheran Church Charities website:

Donations for Family Still Being Accepted

To date more than one hundred donations from 16 states coast to coast have been received by LCC, combined, and used to purchase the special wheelchair, stationary chair and special iPad the Seals received just before Christmas… or forwarded dollar for dollar to Lord of Life in Elburn, Illinois so the Seals can pay some of Meagan’s medical bills and expenses.

Curt Berg (left) Director of Care Ministries, and Senior Pastor, Rev. Phil Ressler at Lord of Life, joyfully show the most recent check received last week as a result of Lutheran Church Charities’ appeal.

Members of the congregation will be taking the check to the Seals later this week.

LCC will continue tracking the ongoing story of miracle baby Meagan and posting updates here.

Tara, one of the LCC staff K-9 Comfort Dogs, had an exciting and memorable day visiting the Seals family and little Meagan on Tuesday. Meagan, to the amazement of her mother Luellen, reached out on her own to touch and pet Tara. This simple action brought tears to Luellen’s eyes as it is unusual for Meagan to reach out like that. Not only that but it happened again later in the visit. The whole family enjoyed the visit from Tara accompanied by LCC staffer Marie Payes. The visit ended with Meagan’s sisters, Madison and McKenzie, playing ball with Tara on the front lawn while Meagan rested in her mother’s arms.

Click here to donate for Meagan’s ongoing care

Click here to visit Meagan’s Facebook page

Feeling Stuck

January 12, 2012 in Weekly Email with 2 Comments

The other day I was sitting at my computer and I was looking at my to-do list. I felt paralyzed. I just sat there and stared at that list. I did not know where to begin. I had more on my list than I was physically able to do. So instead of doing something, I did nothing.

I don’t quite understand that rationale, but it happens. When there are so many options we get stuck with the paralysis of analysis. The more options we have, the less inclined we are to make a decision.

Sometimes I wish God would give me one specific thing to do. I wish that he would make it so clear to me that there would be no doubt what he would want me to do in any given moment. But that’s not really the way it works. There are many choices we have before us and many different opportunities that God presents for us to serve him in this world. There are so many needs and hurts but he has given me so much time and money. It is very easy to feel stuck and overwhelmed by it all.

So what do you do when you feel stuck in a rut, can’t make a decision, and feel lost?

  • Get on your knees! Pray to God and give all these things over to him. Pray bold prayers. Ask him to give you clear direction. Ask him to show you what is most important.

  • Just do it. Pick one thing and give it all you got. Don’t allow yourself to be distracted by the things you are not able to do. This is called focus.

  • Delegate. You can’t do all. One of my favorite quotes is: “Never do ministry alone.” I try to implement this in what I do. God never intended for us to be Lone Ranger Christians. He has given us each other to work together and to serve together.

  • Ask. Ask your spouse. Ask your parent. Ask your friend. Ask your pastor. Get an outsiders perspective and input. Be open with your struggle. Help others help you. Listen to their wisdom. Proverbs 24:6 reads, “So don’t go to war without wise guidance; victory depends on having many advisers.”

  • Open up God’s Word. One thing I have never regretted is reading God’s Word. 2 Timothy 3:16 reads that God’s Word is useful. There is power in God’s Word to encourage, direct, and inspire.

  • Write out your goals. It is said, “show me your vision, I’ll show you your future.” Sometimes we can’t make a decision because we don’t have a destination in mind. If you are driving your car to a destination, it will guide your decision which way to turn when you come to an intersection. Without a destination, you will not have any guidance which way to turn. Be specific with your goals.

  • Read to learn from others. I love to read the writings of highly effective pastors. They inspire me and encourage me to be a better pastor myself. I seek to learn from their successes and their failures. But the thing that always strikes when I read their stories is that it was not easy to get where they are now. They had failures and they had setbacks just like me, but with God’s help they were able to overcome. You and I have the same God on our side.

  • Be mentored. Talk with people who were where you are but are now where you want to be. Going back to number 4 in this list, we often get stuck commiserating with people who are stuck where we are. Look beyond the horizon. Pick up the phone. Send and email. If the people who are stuck where you are at had the answers you are looking for, they would not be stuck where they are.

  • Retreat! Those of you who have been on a retreat with me know I don’t like calling a retreat a retreat. I like to call them advances. The purpose of a retreat is to advance in our work. Retreat from the busyness of life to find time alone with God whether a short time out of your day or a longer time out of your week. We know that Jesus would often retreat to quiet and lonely places. These are times to be refreshed, renewed, and reinvigorated.

So, those are some ideas of what to do when you feel stuck. I would love to hear some ideas you might have. Feel free to leave a comment.

Talking with Your Kids about God

January 9, 2012 in Sermons with 0 Comments

Download Audio

Today we start a new message series entitled “For the Least of These.” This message series is focused on the responsibility of the church and parents to the next generation. The first two weeks of this series will focus on the children we have in our own homes. The third week we will talk about what happens when children wander away from the the Lord. And the final week we will talk about the responsibility we have to the orphan.

The Scripture readin for this message is Deuteronomy 6:1-12.

God’s Vision Starts at Home

January 5, 2012 in Weekly Email with 0 Comments

First things first! If you have not yet marked your calendar for the Family Movie Night on January 28, make sure to do so now. We will be showing the movie Courageous. It is a movie from the makers of Fireproof. What Fireproof was to marriages, Courageous is to parenting. You can check out the trailer below.

So come and be a part of this special night! And make sure to invite a friend to come with. I am sure you will be inspired.

The second things is that this Sunday we will be kicking off the new message series entitled “For the Least of These.” It is all about the responsibility of the church and parents to pass the faith on to the next generation.

At the end of the book of Joshua, Joshua issues a challenge to the people of God. He says:

“Choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your forefathers served beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living. But as for me and my household, we will serve the LORD.” – Joshua 24:15 (NIV84)

Joshua stakes a bold claim for the Lord. He basically says, “God, we will be yours.” But there was something missing. We turn to the very next book in the Bible and we read something very disturbing.

After that whole generation had been gathered to their fathers, another generation grew up, who knew neither the LORD nor what he had done for Israel. Judges 2:10

What happened? The previous generation failed to pass the faith on to the next generation. It has been said that Christianity is one generation away from extinction. We see the historical precedent in Joshua and Judges. We see a modern day precedent being set for us in Europe.

Studies show that the largest growing religious affiliation in America is the unaffiliated. It is people who are indifferent to the things of God. Will the next generation in America be a generation that grows up and knows neither the Lord or what he has done for us?

So how do we respond? I am only one individual. We are only one church. It seems as if we are in front of an overwhelming wave.

How we respond is by doing what God has put before us. It starts with our role in our homes as parents. I heard it said that as it goes in the home, so it goes with the church. As it goes in the church, so it goes with the nation.

So I want to invite you to be a part of this message series as we take a stand for our children in our family, the children in our church, and for the orphan. I don’t pretend to be an expert. I am far from that. I am just another traveler on the journey, but we have a great God with us. And he has a whole bunch to say about passing the faith to the next generation. We do our part and then watch God do the rest.

See you Sunday at 8:30am or 10am!

New Year Blessings

January 1, 2012 in Sermons with 0 Comments

Download Audio

Happy New Year! It is 2012, a new year with new possibilities. Today, I wanted to do something a little bit different. Today’s message is more of a reflection of the past year’s blessings than it is teaching on the Bible. Nevertheless, I believe it is important to take some time to recognized the goodness of God during 2011.

Our reading for today is from Isaiah 65:17-24.

For the Least of These

December 29, 2011 in Weekly Email with 0 Comments

Parenting is hard. It is really hard. We want the best for our children. It is really tough to see them go through the struggles in life.

There is some truth to the African parable that “no man, woman, or family is an island. It takes a village to raise a child.” The task of raising a child takes more than just the love of a mom and a dad. It takes a great God along with a caring and loving community that offers support in that task.

This is the role of the church. As a parent myself I see the need for this in a great way. I know I need help and support. That is why I want to set a theme to carry into this new year 2012 – “For the Least of These.” The purpose of this theme is to emphasize the role of the church in helping you the parents raise your children to know Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior.

As such there are a couple of things I want to do:

  1. We will kick off a new message series on January 8 called “For the Least of These.” It is all about the church’s responsibility to the next generation. We all have a role in this no matter what stage of life we are in. Some of you who are past the age of parenting young children, but you have some great wisdom to pass down to those of us who do have young children in the house now.

Some of the the things we want to address in this message series is a) the priorities of parenting, b) what do I do when my children wander from the faith?, and c) our mission to “parent” the orphaned (physically and spiritually).

  1. The next thing is we want to hear from you. We know how hard it is to raise children. We are not in this alone, but sometimes we struggle on our own in isolation. We go on and pretend like everything is ok, when everything is not ok. Let’s be real and let’s be honest. Help us help you. Let’s partner together in this. So during the months of January and February we want to set some initiatives in place to hear from you on things like Sunday School, Awana, Morph, Youth, Pre-school and how we might better support you as a church with these efforts. It is not really about the programs. It is about the relationships that are developed between the children, between the children and the church, between the children and the parents, between the parents and the church, and most importantly between the children, the parents, the church, and Jesus. Another goal in all of this is to help facilitate a greater investment on your part in our ministry to our children. Your input, investment, and commitment to the ministry of our children is so critically important in making that ministry relevant and meaningful.

  2. A third item is the children who are orphaned. God needs the church to stand in the gap for these children. They do not have the privilege and support of loving parents like our children have. How can we as a church serve those who are truly “the least of these?” I would love to see a special effort in the coming year to serve our orphan ministries in India and Haiti. Already, Lord of Life does so much for these ministries. This is not even mentioning the more than 100 Compassion Children who have been adopted by you. But can we, with the Lord’s help, do even more? I know that with God, all things are possible.

I am so much looking forward to the new year 2012. Please pray with me that as god unites us as a church body it will be a banner year. Pray a multiplication of people who will be touched by the gospel through our efforts both near and far. Pray for a flowing of the Holy Spirit that when we look back we will recognize that it was only possible by God.

Page 1 of 2712345»1020...Last »