Peace In Aiken

There is one way to heaven. To some, that sounds terrifying. It sounds elitist. It sounds exclusive. And while it might not be either of the first two, it certainly is the third. Salvation is exclusive to those who trust in Jesus as Savior. In this exclusivity, we find beauty. As Jesus makes the gospel the exclusive way to heaven, he makes salvation endlessly inclusive!

Sheep are good at one thing. You're a sheep. Let's find out what God wants you to be "good at" as we follow the Good Shepherd.

On the Road to Emmaus, the two disciples were steeped in confusion and disappointment. When Jesus reveals himself and shows himself to be the center of all Scripture, hope comes rushing back!

Is there enough evidence for the resurrection to persuade you? If I want to rest my faith on evidence, I might wind up grasping at straws. But our faith isn't manmade. It is created by the Spirit and nourished through the Word and Sacraments.

On Easter Sunday, we're reminded of the heart of our faith: Jesus died to take away the sins of the whole world, and he rose again to promise us that we too would live in the face of death.

What must it be like to dine with God? We won't fully understand just how breathtaking that experience is until we find ourselves in heaven. But here on earth, we get a foretaste of what that will be like every time we come to the Lord's Supper!

Jesus wouldn't let one prophecy go unfulfilled. Palm Sunday reminds us that as Jesus completes the work laid forth for him by the Father, he leaves no stone unturned. On his way to the cross, he solidifies this truth in our hearts: this week, he is not merely an undeserving victim. He is OUR king who lives to secure OUR victory.

Your life is in the palm of your Savior's hand... is there any place better?

He couldn't see. But that wasn't the biggest drag on his life. The biggest drag was his spiritual blindness. When you don't know Jesus, you don't know yourself, your world, or your God. When you know Jesus... you see things as they are.

When the Samaritan woman went to the well, she was expecting one thing: water. Little did she realize, Jesus was going to use the most important conversation of her life to give her living water!

Why is faith so important? As we examine the conversation between Nicodemus and Jesus, we see what faith means to us.

We needed more than a teacher. We needed more than a model. We needed a champion who would live, obey, and die in our place so that his resurrection could be ours.

Transfiguration Day is the day in the church year when we celebrate glory. But there is a blunt reality to this day: we focus on a delayed glory. We don't expect God's glory to be on full display in our lives in the here and now. Instead, while we suffer under our crosses this side of heaven, we look forward to the day when we get to meet the glory of Jesus face to face.

God calls you salt and light. When he does that, he's doing 2 things. 1st, he is reminding who he has made you to be. You are already these things by the grace of Jesus. 2nd, he is reminding you of your calling. God has made YOU salt and light!

How does the way God speaks about us impact our self-talk? There might be times when God calls us to speak more kindly about ourselves. There might be other times in which we need to be reminded to speak more realistically about ourselves. Rule of thumb: Let's speak about ourselves the way God does!

God makes promises to his church. God does not lie. These are the two beautiful comforts we have going into Matthew 16:13-19. Why? Because Jesus makes 3 intensely important promises to his church as he speaks to his disciples.

Jesus' baptism is more than just a historical fact. It's more than a cool connection that you share with him. Jesus' baptism grants your baptism validity. It shows how our Savior placed himself under the expectations of God that he might meet all of them on your behalf. Now, when the Father looks at you, he calls you exactly what he called Jesus on the day he was baptized: "my beloved."

When the wise men visited Jesus, something unbelievable happened. God showed all of mankind that he didn't send his Son for a select few. He sent him for everyone. That means, through Jesus, God grants access to his limitless grace to everyone through his Word.

God sends his son so that he might expand his family. The work of Jesus makes you a child of God. Then, God sends his Holy Spirit to teach you, encourage you, equip you, and empower you to live as part of his family.

Why did God need to get so close to the human race? Why would he not have stayed in heaven on his throne where he belongs and hold to his perfect expectations? Why did God become flesh? To take away the sin of the world, God entered it and when he did so, he revealed his true glory.

Emmanuel literally means "God with us." That's what it took to pry mankind from the clutches of death and despair. It took God himself becoming a man so that he could set you free.

Jesus the Messiah is exactly who he is supposed to be. He's supposed to be more than a teacher and more than a moral model. He's supposed to be the promised Savior of the World.

The coming Savior is obsessed with one thing: calling sinners to himself. This is the very reason for his arrival. Since we have a Savior who has called us to faith, we carry with us his mandate to call others to him.

John the Baptist is known for preparing the people for Jesus. How did he do so? Did he tell them to clean up their acts? Not really. Did he preach love and understanding? Not quite. Instead, he preaches harshly about repentance. John knew something that we would do well to be reminded of today: On every day throughout our lives, we are called to repent because we know that the Kingdom of heaven is near. Our judge draws near every day... and he declares us not guilty. That's the perfect way to kick off Advent!

As we end a church year, we're left with a question: How many more times will we do this? How many more years will go by before Jesus comes back to take us home to be with him? Often it feels that day may never come. Today, in our lesson from Revelation, we are reminded to maintain our stamina and renew our hope in the day of the Lord. The place we do that? Scripture.

How does Zacchaeus go from scoundrel to good Samaritan? What drives such a change? Only the grace, love, and forgiveness of Jesus closes the book on a chapter of deceit and sin and opens the door to joyfully living in grace!

How can we go on? In a world marred by sin and sadness, how do we take the next step forward? How do we face tomorrow? As we celebrate All Saints' Day we are reminded that we have a God who carries us from one day to the next by his grace.

How can we be free? The world sees freedom as doing whatever you want, whenever you want. But true freedom is more than that. True freedom is not being a slave to urges, and it's not being a slave to the law... it's knowing Christ and living in him!

What drives your prayer life? Is it anxiousness or fear? Is it concern over the present life or the life to come? Is it care for the lives of the people around you that you love? ALL of these might factor into our prayer lives, but the reality is, there is one thing that drives it: the promises of God.

What drives us to be thankful individuals? In our sermon for this weekend, Jesus shows us that his mercy and forgiveness will always stir up thanks within us.

"Is marriage worth it?" I'm sure you've heard the question asked. Maybe you've even asked the question yourself. In a world in which marriage is being called "old-fashioned" and "not workable," do you feel like it's easy to honor marriage? Let's explore the reasons why God gave marriage and allow his gift and promises to inspire a newfound honor for marriage!

Do we use everything at our disposal for the sake of God's kingdom? No, that's not really a question about giving to the church. It's more of a question about our personal lives. Do we use every second, every gift, every treasure to accomplish the work of Jesus?

How does the Christian approach the broken world? Do they detach themselves? Do they get angry and lash out? God gives us a beautiful task in a world so full of ugliness. He calls us to pursue the lost with the same care and passion with which he pursued us. Our power is the gospel. Only through that gospel are lives eternally transformed!

In our reading this weekend, God presents before his people 2 paths. One path walks with him. One path walks without him. The first path is characterized by trust and obedience. The second path is characterized by doubt and disinterest. The first path leads to life. The second path is a death march. God lays these paths before his people and tells us, "I have set you on the first path... stay there!"

Is humility a nice quality to have, or is it necessary? Jesus shows us that humility is important to our eternity, not just helpful for getting through life. When we humble ourselves this side of heaven, we are humbling ourselves before the Savior who humbled himself first. Jesus humbled himself and was exalted by the Father. We humble ourselves before Christ and because of his work, we are exalted by the Father!

Do all roads lead to the same place? When death strikes, many people want to tell themselves that there are many, maybe even endless ways to enter the Kingdom of God. Today, in order for us to truly enter the kingdom, God reveals to us an important truth: Jesus is the ONLY way!

Our first hard truth that God wounds us with is the truth that God's Word divides. People disagree about what God's Word says, means, and whether or not it's still relevant. We know God's Word to be irrefutable truth. That means, God's Word is going to inevitably divide.

How well do you handle worry? Jesus attacks our worry in our reading today. He makes us reevaluate our approach to all of these things that seemingly matter and refocuses on what matters for our eternity.

How rich are you? If someone asks you that question, the first place you would look might be your bank account. You could check out the value of your house or your car. If someone asks you how rich you are, you can put a number on it! This week, Jesus wants you to see how rich you truly are. You aren't rich because of all the stuff you have. You're rich because you know your God well. You know that he is the source of forgiveness and salvation. That alone makes you rich. But you also know that this same God is the one who gives you all of your earthly blessings. With that in mind, any amount he gives us makes us rich, because we know the source of the blessings!

God gave us prayer for a reason. He wants us to use it consistently and boldly. So how should we treat that gift? We use trusting his promises, for the benefit of others, and deferring to his goodness.

Martha seemed to have the right idea: Welcome the Savior to her home, pull out all the stops, and serve him to the best of her God-given ability. When she did that, she was rebuffed by Jesus. He pointed her away from what she thought was important and to what he knew was important. To serve, we must be served first.

"Do I really have time to pay attention to the needs of others? Maybe a little... but not too much. No, if I pay too much attention to the needs of others, my life might begin to lack. I might lose energy. I might become embittered." This seems like a reasonable internal conversation. In today's sermon, Ruth shows us how to answer these feelings as she models our sacrificial Lord.

Our God has called workers to serve him in his harvest fields. He's called men and women, Christians to go on his behalf to the people in their loves to call them with the good news of Jesus. How often do we recognize that as our calling?

How many decisions do you make in a week? Maybe the better question: how many of your decisions have something to do with your faith? We have been called to follow the Savior who so lovingly follows us with his love and faithfulness first. So how can we orient our lives in service to following him with every decision we make?

Why should we take the time to look closely at the Trinity? Why not just say, "3 in 1... good enough"? Because who your God is is connected to what your God does. So if you want to understand your God better, see what he does for you!

God has equipped us with an incalculable number of gifts. He starts by equipping us with our salvation, and then he piles more on top. The real question that lies before us is this: how do we even begin to use them? Pastor Nate Holz helps us explore this daunting and exciting task before us!

God has not left us alone. There might be times in your life in which you feel like he has... but he hasn't. He proves that to us as he sends us the Holy Spirit. And make no mistake: the Holy Spirit isn't just doing "church stuff." He is working tirelessly in your life as he draws you near your Savior!

Why did Jesus have to ascend into heaven? It wasn't simply to give a satisfying end to the story of his earthly ministry. Instead, Jesus ascended into heaven for a purpose: to rule and serve you. As Jesus ascends into heaven and takes his seat at the right hand of the Father, we know that his new mission is to rule all things for the benefit of you, his Church.

How does God make it work? When he groups sinners together in these things called churches, why don't they fall apart at the first sign of trouble? One word: unity. God creates unity inside of his church as he calls people from different backgrounds to one Lord, one faith, and one baptism. See how he does this in the life of Lydia!

Generally speaking, life is a roller coaster of emotions. When you're on an emotional high, you usually don't stay that way for long. And perhaps, as a blessing to us, when we hit those emotional lows, God draws us out of them. But maybe life doesn't need to be so inconsistent. Maybe our joy can be deep and lasting. This is the joy we find in the resurrection. It isn't contingent on circumstance or mood... simply the lasting truth of mankind at peace with God!