The Lowly Lifted Up

Hope Lutheran - Spearfish

The Lowly Lifted Up

December 15, 2024 • Pastor Mark Schutz • Luke 1:39–55

As holiday celebrations draw near, it is easy for us to get weighed down by gifts that aren't perfect, and gatherings that don't go as planned, year-end goals that have no hope of being met, we are humbled. If this time of year stretches you to your limits, that's not necessarily bad. It is okay to be made painfully aware of our shortcomings. Being made aware of our weaknesses does not disqualify us from God’s care. It does the opposite. It prepares us for the work he does best. He is a God who lifts up the lowly.

Rooted in Repentance

December 8, 2024 • Pastor Mark Schutz • Luke 3:1–6

The closer we get to Christmas, the greater the pressure. There is so much work to be done! We want our houses to look good for out-of-town guests. We want to impress people with the thoughtfulness of our gifts. What a welcome relief, therefore, to hear what is required to really be ready for Christmas: only repentance. You see, repentance is the opposite of work. It is the candid and honest admission of our sin combined with the joyful trust that everything needed to bring us close to God has already been done by Christ. At this frenetic time of year, the call to repent is not another demand to do something more. It is gracious invitation to set down our work to make way for Christ’s work. Rooted in that repentant rest, we can fully enjoy a real Christmas.

Remember Why Christ Came

December 1, 2024 • Pastor Mark Schutz • 1 Thessalonians 3:9–13

It is easy to get so caught up in the imagery—a tiny newborn baby, lying in the straw filled manger under a star-filled sky—that we forget the why. Why did the Son of God come into our world and take on human flesh? So that he might die as the sacrifice for our sins. One Christmas carol puts it this way. “Neither crib nor cross refuses, all he suffers for your good to redeem you by his blood.” Advent marks the start of a new Church Year. We begin at the end, watching Jesus ride into Jerusalem on a donkey colt, knowing full well that he would be killed before the end of the week. The events of Palm Sunday serve as a microcosm for all Jesus’ work, proving the Son of God was willing to humble himself and endure anything for our salvation. That is precisely why Christ came. And a real Christmas requires remembering why Christ came.