Sermon Archive - 2014
The Visit of the Wise Men
January 5, 2014 • Rev. Adam Feichtmann
Listen to Sermon Audio Player 00:00 00:00 Use Up/Down Arrow keys to increase or decrease volume. Download Files Download Sermon Audio (.mp3) Download Order of Worship (.pdf) Summary Happy New Year! 2014 has arrived, but Christmas is still here. Sunday is the 12th and last day of the Christmas season. To give Christmas one last celebratory hurrah, before we have to wait another 353 days, we will be opening our Bibles to Matthew 2:1-12 to study The Visit of the Wise Men. Who were these men? Why were they wise? And why are they in our Christmas nativity scenes if Jesus was 2-years-old when they visited? Join us on Sunday to find out these answers and to explore how God’s wisdom turns the wisdom of the age upside down. I look forward to worshiping with you. Adam Feichtmann
In the Beginning, Jesus
January 12, 2014 • Rev. David Juelfs
Words fail us. There are just some areas, some topics, that cannot be described well in words. We can try and it is good and right for us to do our best, but we must live with the tension that our words just can’t quite get us there. This Sunday we begin a series on the Gospel of John. John opens with some of the most important words ever written; they change everything. They soar and penetrate and inspire, but as you read them you can tell he is straining to express what words can barely describe. “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God… And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us…” John writes his gospel so that his readers ”may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name” (John 20:31). John writes so that we would see Jesus, his beauty and majesty and unrivaled significance, and thereby place our complete trust in him. This is the doorway to life. Close your eyes and you can see the glory of that light shining under the door. This winter we open the door of John’s gospel. I can’t wait to worship together. Pastor David
Exponentially More
January 19, 2014 • Rev. David Juelfs
When you meet someone for the first time what kinds of questions do you ask them? This Sunday we will take a second look at the opening paragraphs of John’s Gospel. He is introducing us to Jesus. The apostle John want to show us the beauty of Jesus, so that we would believe and entrust our lives to him. Last week I asked you to find someone you trust and who knows you well, and to ask them to help you honestly answer these questions: Where am I placing my trust? What am I functionally trusting in to get the kind of life I want? Asking these question will help us engage with the gospel of John. Page by page John wants to show us the beauty of Jesus, his worthiness to be trusted, so that we actually want to entrust our lives to him instead of the many other options around us. Take a few minutes and ask those questions. Then read and pray through the opening words of John’s Gospel. Jesus offers us exponentially more than we can imagine. Look for his beauty in John 1:1-18 and entrust yourself to him. I look forward to worshiping together. Pastor David
Abundance
January 26, 2014 • Rev. David Juelfs
Who doesn’t enjoy attending weddings? Weddings are rightfully some of the most joyous celebrations that we get to witness. To watch a father walk his daughter down the aisle, to listen to the marriage vows, to enjoy good food and wine, and to dance the night away… weddings are worth traveling across land and sea to attend. Our culture’s weddings & celebrations typically last a handful of hours, but in the the first century it was typical for the celebration to last a week or more! Those were true parties. In the context of a joyous wedding celebration in the town of Cana, Jesus decides to perform his first miracle. To begin his public ministry of announcing the Kingdom of God by turning water into wine. Weddings are amazing and unforgettable, but they are never ends in themselves. They always point to something more. Similarly, Jesus doesn’t perform miracles for them to be ends in themselves. Wine in itself is great, but it is so much more. As his first public miracle, it acts as a sign that points to another reality. I look forward to worshipping with you this Sunday to unpack the good news and significance of Jesus turning water into wine at the wedding in Cana. Pastor David
Nicodemus
February 2, 2014 • Rev. David Juelfs
This Sunday and next we meet two people and get to listen in on their conversations with Jesus. A man who thinks he knows and a woman who knows she doesn’t. A man respected for doing and believing all the right things, and woman notorious for her messy life and ridiculous religion. Both need Jesus more than they realize. In both interactions Jesus, with wisdom and grace, goes to the heart of the issues holding them back and then shows them the path to life. We will meet Nicodemous first, respected professor and religious leader. He thinks he knows how to get the life he wants. He teaches others how to do the same. Jesus confronts him with a path so simple and so beautiful that Nicodemous does not have a category for it. Take a few minutes this weekend and dream. Imagine. What would the perfect life look like for you? If you were the king what would your kingdom be like? What are you doing to get there? What are you doing to make that dream a reality? Jesus wants to show all of us that the life we long for, his kingdom, is more beautiful than we can imagine and more simple to see and enter than we ever dreamed. Read and pray through John 3:1-21. See the beauty of Jesus and put your life in his hands. I can’t wait to worship together. Pastor David
A Woman From Samaria
February 9, 2014 • Rev. David Juelfs
Awkward. Did they really just say that? Is this conversation really happening? The apostle John is on a mission to show us Jesus. To show us who he is and what he is doing. To show us his strength, wisdom and grace. To show us his beauty; to show us that he is better than anything else we could ever possibly imagine. To show us that we can indeed entrust our lives to him. We can put our lives in his hands. In this section of his Gospel, John is allowing us to listen in on several of Jesus’ conversations with people just like us. Last week we met Nicodemus, and this week we meet the Samaritan woman at the well. Read John 4:16-18. Put yourself in the place of that woman. Can you believe Jesus just said that? Why would Jesus put his finger on an area so full of shame, disappointment, and failure? Why would he bring up a topic so awkward and painful? Because that is where she needed him the most. That is the barren desert land where she needs living water the most. The Samaritan woman learned that she could trust Jesus with the most painful and shameful areas of her life. She learned that Jesus rescues her from the inferiority and fear of those areas, and replaces it with joy and abundance. Jesus is that good and we need him that much. Read John 4:1-26 this weekend. You many not have had five husbands and be currently living with a man who is not your husband, but if you were at the well alone with Jesus what might he say to you? To what dry, dark and dead part of your life is Jesus wanting to bring living water? Jesus stands ready to restore you, to bring you joy and hope and a future. I cannot wait to worship together. We need it desperately. Pastor David
Equal with God
February 16, 2014 • Rev. David Juelfs
38 years. Unable to move on his own for 38 years. Imagine. A day like any other. Begging. Hurting. Humiliated. Then Jesus walks by. Do you have anything like that in your life or the lives of those you love? What is broken in you that you have suffered for so long that you have lost hope of ever being healed? Read John 5. Read it aloud. Picture the story in your mind. Pray through the passage. Listen for Jesus. Ask him your questions. Why have I not been healed? Can I really trust you for the healing I long for? Listen to what he says. We can trust Jesus to heal, in his way, in his timing, and to reveal to us the God of healing. I need healing and so do you. I can’t wait to worship together this Sunday, to worship the God who delights to heal us. Pastor David
The Feeding
February 23, 2014 • Rev. Adam Feichtmann
5,000 men, plus women and children…totalling 15,000 – 20,000 people. In John 6:1-15 we read about Jesus miraculously feeding a massive gathering of folks – all from 5 measly loaves and 2 fish. Pause and just imagine the size of that crowd! So far, we’ve seen that Jesus has been performing miracles and teaching about the kingdom of God. As he has gone from town to town, word has begun to spread about him. His popularity has now attracted a huge following, and in front of them he chooses to display his abundant power and generosity by feeding them all. Abundant power and generosity. Sit for a second and reflect on the weight of Jesus’ miracle. What does this teach us about Jesus? What does this stir up in you? If possible, spend 5 minutes reading John 6:1-15 a few times, and get ready to delve into it together on Sunday morning. I look forward to worshiping with you. Adam Feichtmann
The Bread of Life
March 2, 2014 • Rev. David Juelfs
Hunger. Fortunately, most of us do not have direct experience with the fear and anxiety of not knowing where our next meal is coming from. However, many people today and throughout history have, and all of us can at the least begin to imagine it. Hunger is a powerful metaphor. Where do you feel like you are starving? Where do you feel like you don’t have the resources or energy to carry on? We all hunger for a life that will matter and that will last. Jesus hones in on this powerful image of hungering for true life and tells a crowded synagogue in Capernaum, and us today, that he is the bread we need; he is the source of the life we long for. Jesus announces that God is satisfying our hunger with life that will last. Then he calls us eat the bread of life and live. Come hungry this Sunday. Jesus is ready to feed us the bread we need, but he only feeds the hungry. Pastor David
Where Else Would We Go?
March 9, 2014 • Rev. David Juelfs
Where does confidence come from? In the face of rejection, in the face of being misunderstood, questioned, and doubted how can we maintain true confidence? Last week in John 6 we focused on the first portion of Jesus’ dialogue with the crowds in Capernaum. It’s true, what Jesus offers them and us is bigger and better than we could imagine. Yet the crowd does not trust Jesus. They don’t believe him. They don’t like the way God is doing things and they grumble, they complain. Have you ever felt that way? Take a moment to reflect on the current circumstances of your life. Where are you complaining, or at least tempted to complain, about how God is doing things? Be honest. He already knows. Jesus wants to lovingly move us from complaining to confidence. Confidence is possible, even in the areas where we struggle the most with complaining. Jesus invites us to feast on the bread of life and live with confidence. Where else would we go? I can’t wait to worship together. Pastor David
Union with Christ
March 23, 2014 • Rev. David Juelfs
You are what you eat. Our bodies are constructed out of the nutrition we get from our food. Think of what you had for dinner last night. Right now your body is reducing that food into its essential components and absorbing it into your cells. You are built out of the food you eat. We will finish our look at John 6 this Sunday. Jesus is speaking to a crowd in a synagogue in Capernaum. He tells them that “the bread I will give for the life of the world is my flesh” and that his “flesh is true food” and that his “blood is true drink.” The crowd erupts in confused revulsion. What is behind this odd image of eating flesh and drinking blood? How are we even supposed to eat Jesus’ flesh? This Sunday we will look at these questions and others, as Jesus points us to the nourishment that we need. You are what you eat, so Jesus gave us himself. I can’t wait to worship together. Pastor David
Our Father
March 30, 2014 • Rev. Adam Feichtmann
The Lord’s Prayer, most of us have it memorized and recite it often. This prayer that Jesus taught his disciples is rich with meaning and sets forth a wonderful example and pattern for us to pray in weekly worship, as families, with friends, and by ourselves. However, from time to time it is worthwhile for us to pause and remind ourselves of the truths that are placed in the preface and each of the six petitions. This Sunday we will have the joy to pause and look at the preface and first petition found in Matthew 6:9, “Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name.” We will recognize our need for God as our Father, the significance of Him being in heaven, and the applications of hallowing his name. In preparation for Sunday, read and pray through the Lord’s Prayer a few times, and as you do so, pause and spend time reflecting over the richness and depth of truth found in the preface and each petition in a way that might be lost when you often recite this prayer on a regular basis. I look forward to worshiping with you on Sunday! Adam Feichtmann Assistant Pastor
Understanding/Misunderstanding Jesus
April 13, 2014 • Rev. Adam Feichtmann
Jesus is a very odd sort of King. He is simple, yet complicated. His Triumphal Entry into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday 2,000 years ago reminds us that he is not the King we expected, but he is the King we needed. Jesus at times can be easily understood, and yet, at other times be easily misunderstood. This Sunday, Palm Sunday, we will study a passage where three different groups of people understand but also misunderstand Jesus. It will feel normal to relate to each of these groups as they understand/misunderstand Jesus. Our goal for the morning will be to acknowledge that Jesus is not confused about his identity and mission, he is greater than we imagine and is in control. As a response, we then must learn how to trust in him daily, even in the midst of our confusion. As you prepare for this Sunday, may you also remind yourself that next week is Holy Week. Please take the opportunity to invite a family member or friend to our Maunday Thursday and Easter services by forwarding them the invite you received earlier this week. I look forward to worshipping with you this Sunday! Adam Feichtmann Assistant Pastor
The Doubt (Wisdom) of Thomas
April 20, 2014 • Rev. David Juelfs
Have you ever seen a sunrise? The darkness of night chased away by explosions of color. Easter is a celebration where the darkness of death is chased away by the bursting forth of new life. If our Easter service is the sunrise, our Maundy Thursday service tonight is the darkness before the dawn. Maundy Thursday is a beautiful and solemn service that will focus your mind and grip your heart. After singing, silence, and a short meditation on John 13, we take the Lord’s Supper, prayerfully and seated at tables. For many this is one of the most powerful and rich communion experiences. At the conclusion of the service, the communion tables are ceremonially stripped and we leave in silence and darkness. Symbolically this darkness and silence is broken with the shout of “He is risen!” at the opening of our Easter worship service. See you tonight (April 17th) at 8:00pm for our Maundy Thursday service and then this Sunday for our Easter worship service at 10am. I can’t wait to worship together. Pastor David
The End of Thirst
April 27, 2014 • Rev. David Juelfs
If you could get a glimpse of the future what would you want to see? If you did how might that change what you do today? This Sunday we move into John chapter seven. Over the last weeks we walked through the first six chapters of John in a series called “Beauty and Belief”. We have seen that the apostle John wants to show us the beauty of Jesus and encourage us to believe, to entrust our lives to Jesus. Starting this Sunday we begin a new series that will cover John 7 to 11, “Glimpses of the Kingdom.” We will focus on the glimpses Jesus gives us, though his teaching and actions, of what the Kingdom will be like when he returns. However, this series is not just about the future. We will also see how those aspects of the kingdom are breaking in to our reality even now. Each week we will ask what the kingdom will be like when Jesus returns, but also how we can see that kingdom reality now and how we can show that aspect of the kingdom in our neighborhoods. Below is an outline of the series: The End of Thirst – John 7 – April 27th The End of Darkness – John 8 & 9 – May 4th The End of Oppression – John 10 – May 11 The End of Death – John 11 – May 25th Our vision of the future shapes our lives now. May we know what is coming, see what is already here today, and show forth that beautiful reality to those around us. I can’t wait to worship together this Sunday and glimpse the future. Pastor David