St. John's Lutheran Church Red Bud

Living as wheat among the weeds.

God's grace and mercy are recklessly abundant. It is not up to us to choose who hears the Word, rather it is God's work to plant the seed and cause it's growth. We, then, can learn what to watch for in our own lives - the paths, birds, rocks that would cause us to leave God.

Nebuchadnezzar is filled with pride, God humbles him. We are called to humble ourselves, look to God for mercy, and live for our neighbor.

When God calls us to follow Him, he calls us to die...to self, to wants, desires, etc. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednago willingly hand their lives over to Nebuchadnezzar rather than worship an idol. They die to selves knowing that is the only path of life.

We have been blessed with wonderful freedoms which we celebrated on the 4th. How do we, as Christians, use our freedom?

Jesus brings a sword, kills our sinful selfs and gives us a new life and new way to live. This creates division with those who do not live that life.

When fear arises, we turn to God. When fathers want to protect their households, it is done best by bringing them daily to Jesus - their eternal refuge.

King Nebuchadnezzar has a troubling dream. Only Daniel can interpret it because God gave him the vision and the meaning. What we learn is that God controls even the pagan nations and knows the future. Realizing this, we can rest in His care no matter if the kingdoms are shaken or who is "in charge" because behind it all is God in full control for our good.

God, in His compassion, reconciles us to Himself. This compassion also moves us to extend God's peace to those around us - that's our mission.

The prophet Daniel was taken away as a youth, but remained steadfast in the faith, trusting in the God of Israel to fulfill His promises. We find ourselves in similar situations, surrounded by a pagan culture that would seek to change our identity. May we remain steadfast in our faith, remembering our identity as children of God and resting in His promises to us in our baptism.

Do our good works produce faith? No! God desires steadfast love, mercy, covenant faithfulness. This all flows from His gift of faith, creating a new heart in us.

Our Lord ascended to the right hand of the Father. He chose us, catechized us, fed us, sent us

Prepared to make a defense

We dive into Psalm 23 as we celebrate Jesus as our Good Shepherd. What comfort we find in the details as King David reveals our Good Shepherd to us.

Have you found yourself staying in Spite house? Christ welcomes us to move out and move in to Grace house.

What a. wonderous gift Christ gives!!

We need someone with skin on, a resurrected Savior, to walk us through this dark hallway of life.

Jesus has authority to forgive sins...and he gives it to us!

Palms waved - victory, complete & total victory is ours

A good pilot knows how to get people safely through the storm.

Looking at the prophet Ezekiel we see that while he spoke the words, it is God's Word that brought life. So also with pastors - they are called to speak God's Word, but it is God who gives the power to give life.

If God is all-powerful and loving, then why do we, His people, suffer? The discisples asked this assuming it was punishment for sin. Jesus points us in another direction - God uses our suffering to draw us closer to Him, to display His glory in our lives, to bring us salvation.

I messed up the timeline of the Israelites and when they came to Mt. Sinai, but the heart, the truth of the message, is unaffected. No one called me out on it, but I caught it as I listened again.

We encounter Job chapter 3 and learn that we must endure suffering by going through it. How? Listen in.

Are we saved by having all the answers? No.But we continue to draw closer to Jesus as we dig deeper in His Word, like Nicodemas. Beginning at John 3, then John 7, finally at John 19, see how his journey can be a model for ours.

When we experience suffering like Job - how do we respond?

We sinful humans are excellent excuse makers. We hate guilt and shame and do all we can to push it off. Jesus came, endured the same temptations but overcame, has no guilt, but was pleased to take ours. So, when we are tempted to make excuses for our sin, we are called rather to admit our sin and take it to Jesus who removes it from us.

We begin our journey in Job. We are flying blind...but God has not left us, He is guiding us by His Word.

Fear? Not when we have the one who calls us to "Rise and have no fear", the one who knows all things, controls all things, comes to us, take us into His arms and calms our fears.

Hypocrites? Yup.Repentant? Yup.Salt & Light? By God's grace...Yup!

Worldly wisdom & human effort, no matter how great, will never get you to God for His love for us is beyond our understanding and reason. Thanks be to God that it pleases Him to save us, that His heart is love for us.

We all long for an encounter with our Lord, a sudden dramatic change in our life leading us down God's path. I bring you good news, you all have that in your baptism. The call now is to die to self and rise to life in Christ, serving in the place God has set you.

Apart from God revealing Himself in Jesus we would be lost in our sins, unable to find God, heaven, life. Praise God that He comes to us, walks with us, and leads us home.

Are you like John the Baptist? Do you find yourself confused at the mystery of Christ or by the way God chooses to work in this world? Then step into John's sandals and in faith, trusting God, respond the same.

God reveals Himself to the Magi. He is a God for all nations. This has a profound impact on our reason to exist as Christians.

Our Lord, born to set us free.

God shook the heavens and earth to come and save you, preparing you for when He comes again.

God's understanding must supplant ours. We look at King Ahaz of Isaiah 7 and Joseph in Matthew 1 to see the difference. Joseph receives God's Word - beyond our comprehension - but believes and obeys.

What is it that brings us joy this season? Not our circumstances but rather God's promises fulfilled. So even if we're in a circumstance we don't like (like John the Baptist in prison) we can still have joy in the birth of our Savior

It's the end of the Church year and we look to the end of the world.

Just as we prepare for Christmas so also we should continually prepare for Judgement Day, even though we don't know the date.

What does the hope of the resurrection mean for us in our lives now? How does it impact our daily life?

What does it mean that we are all saints NOW? How does that impact our lives today?

The Reformation was not about change, but about returning to the Gospel and seeing how that impacts our lives from re-birth to eternal life.

Jesus commands us to not give up praying for the Lord will answer. Does this mean we just need to keep banging on the door of heaven to get whatever we want? Of course not, God is not a genie to grant our heart's desire, rather He knows what is best for us and wants us to hold Him to His promises, to not give up waiting on His answer, to trust in Him.

Even when it seems the hand of the Lord is against you, trust that He is at work through you. Put your hand to the plow and know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain. Naomi told Ruth and Orpah to return home, but Ruth clung to Naomi. Even when Naomi was bitter, the Lord continued working for her and through her for His glory - the saving of our souls.

The love of money is the root of all kinds of evil...but the love of God in Christ is the root of all kinds of generosity.

Pastor Nowak delivered the sermon on Saturday, Sept. 20

What does the cross mean for us in these latter, evil days? How should we think about all these recent events that have stirred us up and created fear and anxiety in our culture? What is God doing about it all?

Moses tells the Israelites to choose life and good, not death and curse. Such an easy command, but one that we cannot accomplish - not even Eve & Adam in the Garden of Eden could succeed, and we like them succumb to the devil's temptations, choosing what seems good to us as opposed to God's commands.