Hope In Tigard

This podcast episode is the audio from a recent Bible Study at Hope Lutheran Church on the topic of Christian parenting. This study serves as the foundation of what we will do in the future of our children's ministry! Listen in! If you would like to follow along with the Bible Study's work sheet, it is linked below. https://docs.google.com/document/d/1mkGnNPcN443YzV50Rw6jjL8sBBOA2RwZ/edit?usp=share_link&ouid=110524154002744775312&rtpof=true&sd=true

The early church must have been something to behold. Something so apart, so other from the way anyone else was living. In the days and weeks following Jesus' resurrection and the coming of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost, those early Christians lived differently. Luke wrote about what that life was like in Acts 2: 42 They devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. 43 Everyone was filled with awe at the many wonders and signs performed by the apostles. 44 All the believers were together and had everything in common. 45 They sold property and possessions to give to anyone who had need. 46 Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, 47 praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.Have we lost that? Are we, as a modern church, falling short of this church utopia? Should we, as Hope Lutheran Church, be on a quest for this? I'll give you my answer. No. And I'll tell you why. Because Jesus has risen from the dead. And so when he sees us, his church, he sees perfection. 

Easter changes everything. It means that sin and death have no power over us, it means that since Jesus has risen, he will rise too, it means that since he kept his promise, we can know that he will keep every promise to us. Easter changes everything. It even changes the purpose for our lives. Matthew wants us to see that. See, Easter wasn't the ending of his book. He wanted us to know that since Easter has changed everything, we now have a purpose to bring that Easter message to the world. It's a purpose that is a command and a promise. The command is that we go into all the world and make disciples of all nations. The promise is that he will be with us always to the very end of the age. Command and promise. We follow his command and we trust his promise.

You have a purpose. You have a mission. Jesus said so! Tomorrow we're going to talk about it. Read about it in Matthew 10!Today, I'm going to leave it as simple as that, because I want you to hear about this mission!

This Sunday at Hope, we will look at the account of Jesus calling Matthew to be his disciple. It seems like such a simple event. Matthew is at his tax collector's booth. Jesus says: "Follow me." And Matthew does. So many questions come into my mind! Why does he follow Jesus with such little context? What is the significance of that for today's Christians? How are we called? And what does that exactly mean?This Sunday, we will examine the account of Matthew's calling  to show Christians how they are called and what they are called to do. It's an empowering gospel note to leave us filled with the truth of Jesus- the only one who can forgive; the only one who can give us eternal life.What is discipleship? Discipleship is letting Jesus be everything for you. May God grant that faith to us all for his name's sake. 

If I hadn't told you, would you have known that this Sunday, we will be celebrating Jesus' baptism? I don't blame you if hadn't! But I am reflecting on the fact, this week, that this is something that we almost never give a thought to- the baptism of Jesus. As I was studying this week, I found that the Sunday of the Baptism of Jesus used to be like Easter to the early church. Maybe like Christmas or Easter for us now. It was the Sunday that you just didn't miss. It was the sermon that you just had to hear. About the baptism of Jesus- that God anointed his Son with his Holy Spirit and with power to go out and save the people from their sins. It's certainly worth celebrating! And we certainly will. But why has the significance of this Sunday gone so far away?I've got a couple ideas. Maybe it's just that everyone is holidayed out by this time of January. We've done Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Years, and now we're done partying. Maybe that's way. Maybe it's that most people don't understand what baptism is really for (even most Christians!). Maybe I'll put the question to you- do you think we don't think about Jesus' baptism because we are missing just how badly we need it?This Sunday, as we get into Matthew 3:13-17, we'll see our deep need for baptism, and even more, we'll see our Savior who came down into the water to save us from our need. In the end, this Sunday isn't about our celebration of an event. It's about us seeing just how badly we need a Savior, and seeing just how saving that Savior is. 

Every year, on the Sunday of Epiphany, the church across the world reads the same text. It's Matthew 2:1-12. It's a story that's perhaps familiar to all of us. It's the story of the Magi traveling from far away, following a start placed in the sky by God himself, to come and worship Jesus. It's a story that's maybe so familiar that it becomes hard to learn from it, and hard to see it for more than just a story. Tomorrow, we'll see together why it is that it's THIS text that the church reads every year. It's because it's this text that unlocks the truth that Jesus is revealed as our Savior, our King. It's 2023, and this is my first sermon of the new year. I'm excited about it. Did you work on putting together some resolutions for yourself?  I'm going to add one to you. This year, never stop taking the journey to Bethlehem with the magi. There's always more to learn from the word of God. This year, always hold to God's eternal word, and not the wisdom of the world. This year, take the knee before your tiny king. There's room for you there. I'm going to help you with that this year.I want to announce to you today that from now until Easter this year, we will journey as a church through this gospel to see Jesus, God's own Son.  We're going to follow Jesus through the book of Matthew. We're going to see what we see and we're going to hear what we hear and we're going to hold to it together with this great goal in mind. That all of us together might be called truly wise for salvation, through Jesus, God's Own Son. 

How will you enter the new year? I know that's a question that's all over the internet and social media. How can you reflect on 2022? How can you make a resolution that will last? How can you grow as you go? There is a LOT to say about answering these questions God's way, through the Bible. And we're going to do just that tomorrow. Tomorrow, our time together will look different, instead of having our normal setup, we will gather as a family of believers to have an engaging, thought-provoking, and applicable Bible Study, where we can work TOGETHER towards moving into a new year in Jesus' name. Bring your coffee mug, an appetite for some yummy treats, bring a pen, and be ready to apply yourself to this task. We'll gather at 10am, and move into a one hour Bible Study together. The children will have their own Sunday School during this time as well! Looking to get into the study for tomorrow? You can click here to look at our worksheet. 

There is a lot in Isaiah 9:2-8 that just comforts me to my core. There's the light that shines in a dark place- it gets me that I don't have to be the light. That gets me right in the heart because as a pastor, I have the privilege of talking to so many people who are despairing in so many ways, and so this gets me- that when I read this text, I don't have to be the light for anyone- I just get to see it and experience it.And there's the part in this text with the rod, and the bar, and the yoke- that part gets me right in the heart too because those things promise that God is going to take the things that hurt you and he's going to shatter them. He's going to take the things that oppress your mind and hurt you- he's going to destroy them. That gets me.And the four names for Jesus, they get me- that there are four. You know how usually, you have the law of three to express something so that it's complete. Isaiah uses four because there is something about Jesus that is so majestic and so huge and unfathomable about what he means for your life that even four names fail to communicate who he is. And the fact that Jesus' reign is going to go on and on forever, that gets me because I know that I am going to be with Jesus forever.  But of all the things in this text that get me- it's the burning shoes in verse 5 that get me the most. The burning boots through which Isaiah is telling the people- you're not going to have to fight anymore. There's going to be a perfect peace.It's the same for you and for me. We're going to be able to burn our boots. We're going to have perfect peace. And here's why:6 For to us a child is born,    to us a son is given,    and the government will be on his shoulders.And he will be called    Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,    Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.7 Of the greatness of his government and peace    there will be no end.Come home in your heart this Christmas. All the way home. 

Isaiah 7:2-14. I'm guessing you've never heard that full story before. Give it a read before Sunday if you never have before. This isn't an account that really fits into Sunday School curriculums. It's not a story that Veggie Tales is going to make a movie about. Ever. And I get why. It's certainly not child friendly. It's not even all that compelling on its surface. I get that why this text doesn't get a whole lot of attention.I can even understand that despite the fact that I think that this prophecy isn't just a prophecy of the Christ, I think it is the most recognizable prophecy of Christ in the Bible. But still almost nobody knows where this prophecy came from. No one wants to tell this story.Who wants to tell the story about a king who was such a bad man that he killed his own kids? He sacrificed them to other gods. That's king Ahaz. Who wants to tell that story? The story where God's people are getting set to be sieged. The story where the fear is so palpable and real, that even the king is frozen with it. I want to tell that story. You know why? It's real. This is a real story about real fear in real people, and it's a story where real hope breaks in. The hope of a savior. The hope of one who will be called Immanuel, which means: "God with us."

The book of Revelation is eye-opening. Its words are exciting, graphic, sometimes even terrifying as they describe a vision given to the apostle John as he sat in exile on the island of Patmos. In our text for Sunday John wrote about his vision from God: "Then I saw “a new heaven and a new earth,” for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea."I think I can guess that your mind is immediately pulled to think about the new heaven and new earth- what it will look like, smell like, and sound like. But I think what's just as interesting here is what John says won't be there. The sea. Will there be no sea because God isn't a fan of the beach? Or has some kind of aversion to salt water? No. See, the book of Revelation is filled with the literary device of symbolism. And here, the sea symbolizes separation. Separation- the final end of every human relationship. Even the best relationships marriages, friendships- they all end in separation. Until Jesus comes. What John writes about for us is a future where there will be no separation for us. No separation from each other, yes. But so much more significantly, there will be no separation between us and God. And he will wipe every tear from our eyes. And arrived will be the time when there will be such a deep and comfortable connection that God will look right into your eyes and suddenly the pain and the grief and the death will exit your soul in a rush of peace. Arrived will be the time when every sense of alienation will be replaced with a God who will love you, and know you, and appreciate you the way that so deep down and forever you've thought it could be and should be. Every tear will gone wiped away by the finger of God himself. A being who who is so much better than a soul mate. Our soul's source. Our soul's beginning. And our soul's end. 

My junior year of high school, I was part of a traveling choir. Our spring tour took us to the Southwest of the country, and for a day of fun, our director booked us a bus trip up to see the Grand Canyon. Only one problem - it was snowing. Halfway up we were forced to turn around after the bus slid backwards 20 feet over the snow towards a cliff. I remember feeling utterly helpless as we slowly slipped towards the edge. There was nothing I could do. The forces of nature are too far above what I can impact.   It's that reality that Jesus wakes us up to in this Sunday's text. That there is a force way above us. That there is a voice and a call and a creative power that determines our eternal destination; where we're headed at the Last Judgment. It's outside of our control. It's too far above what we can impact. There is nothing we can do to get ready for the day of judgement. Jesus had to step in and do everything for us. And when I say everything, I mean everything. That's what Jesus' cross is all about. It was there that justice was had for everything. On the cross judgment was rendered for all, and especially for you. So that you would never dangle precariously over judgement. So that you wouldn't have to worry about the Last Judgment, but actually rejoice in it. So that you wouldn't have to give up on this life thinking, “I'm toast. So that you can live.

Sola FideSola GratiaSola ScripturaThat's what we're about here at Hope. These are the hallmarks of what it means to be a Lutheran. These short statements describe the only things we need to answer the big questions of life. By faith alone(sola fide) God places the gift of salvation in our hearts. By his grace alone (sola gratia) God sent his Son Jesus to save us. And by Scripture alone (sola scriptura) does God reveal all of this to us.This Sunday we celebrate a festival called "reformation." It's a day that remembers a German monk named Martin Luther as over 500 years ago he nailed a sheet of paper with 95 statements to the door of his church.But I want you to know that as we celebrate reformation, we're certainly not celebrating a man. We're not celebrating his achievements, we're not celebrating his courage, and we're not celebrating his bravado. We're doing two things. We're stepping off life's treadmill of trying to justify ourselves, trying to earn or figure out rightness and goodness for ourselves. And we're praising a God who has done so much better than given us a list of things that we can do. He has given us himself. God's justification is the end of trying.  It's the end of trying to make professionalism, parenting, beauty, or morality our crown.  It's time to stop trying and to start believing. It's time to believe that Jesus truly is our righteousness, our life, and our crown.

I don't think anybody comes to the end of their life and says, “Well, that happened just like I thought it would.” I, for one, won't. A little over two years ago, I had never heard of Tigard. Now it's my home. (And I wouldn't trade!) Ten years I don't even think I would've guessed that I would be a pastor right now. I could go on and on.Because life doesn't lay out just so. It sometimes unfolds in the most unexpected ways and it can feel chaotic and confusing.  Or, if you want to use the metaphor we've been using in this sermon series, sometimes the idea that's packed in our invisible suitcase is the idea that my world is out of control.That's the world into which Paul steps with our Sunday text- Romans 8:26-30. It's a world where emotionally sometimes down feels up and up feels down. It's a world where events can seem so cruelly random and emotions can crest powerfully that even Paul admits that sometimes, “We do not know what we ought to pray for.” (v. 26) And it's into those times and into those moments that Paul speaks a truth that he says, “We know.” (v. 28)What do we know? "28 And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose."  How can you know that? I mean, really know that? How can you trust that it's true for you- that God has been working your whole life through for your good?The answer is Christ. Christ, for whom God worked all of history- so that his own Son could die on the cross to take away the sins of the whole world, and your sins in particular. Know this! Trust this! Until you don't have to trust it anymore, because you will se it with your own eyes. 

Here are some statistics. Anxiety and depression is the most common (by far) mental health diagnosis in America today. 1 in 5 Americans is seeking treatment for anxiety. 1 in 3 Americans recognized a downward turn in their mental health over the past 3 years. Citing dry statistics runs the risk that we make anxiety all about someone else. It's anything but that. It's what Peter calls, “your anxiety” in our text for Sunday. Anxiety is having a list a mile long of present and future concerns that are yours. It's the generalized sense that you get in your gut that something could go wrong at any moment. It's anxiety that can come bunched and local, or general and ever-present. It's the tenseness that comes after swirling fears take up residence in your heart. It's the waves that roll over and emotionally squash you like a tank might - waves that can seem to have the power suffocate the life right out you. And it's anxiety that has its roots in an idea that's packed in our invisible suitcases – the idea that says, “God, you don't care.” Bidden or unbidden, faith or no faith, anxiety comes after us. Anxiety comes after us, and so Peter comes after anxiety. He says: "Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you." Maybe you're like me, and you find yourself doubting whether that verse can be real. Can you really ask off your anxiety? Is there really a way to be rid of it? I want you to be in church tomorrow so that you can hear the full answer. Suffice it for now to say that Christ is more than capable of carrying your anxiety for you. He says cast your anxiety. Why? Because he cares for you. Know this. He has cared for you so much that he has sent his Son to die on the cross so that every care, every worry, every anxiety that comes, we can answer it, knowing that Christ on his cross has made our heavenly future sure. 

One of the first books I can remember reading with my Mom was the classic: "The Little Engine That Could." Do you remember it? No other train was willing to take on the task. The little blue train was. It was difficult, but he repeated to himself in the rhythm of the track: "I think I can, I think I can, I think I can, I think I can." And he did. This is one of the earliest memories I have of a story of human empowerment. And there are so many of them! So many sports movies of teams winning when they shouldn't have, stories of people achieving their dreams while overcoming impossible odds, people even overcoming their bodies to do what they have to do. There are so many of these stories, because we need them. So many people just quit. We come to a life situation and we say: "I don't think I can." And we do this because what's packed in our invisible suitcase is the idea, “I have no power.” Paul crushes that thought in us with what he writes in Philippians 4. It's a verse you have maybe heard before: "I can do everything through Him who gives me strength."But Jesus isn't to be treated like pixie dust to sprinkle over your life so that all your dreams will come true. that's not what Paul was teaching. In fact, he calls what he knows a "secret." Here's what Paul is teaching.  Christians aren't little super heroes that leap from power to power and from joy to joy. We're people who sometimes see astounding success and sometimes see soul numbing trouble. We're people who sometimes find bright solutions and other times stare at a problem only to find more problems. But that doesn't mean we need to carry around an invisible suitcase with the idea inside, “I'm powerless.” Because we're not. And that's not because we've got all the answers or have peppered enough Jesus onto every situation, but because come what may we've still got our glory, our peace, our everything, our Jesus. Or to say it like a man named Paul who lived a whole lot of this life said it: I can do everything through him who gives me strength. 

Are you a swifty? I know my fair share of them. A few years ago, they were everywhere! (By the way, a "swiftie" is a fan of country/pop star Taylor Swift) Arguably, her most popular song is called "Shake It Off." It's a great song! Dare I say brilliant? Part of the brilliance of the song is that she knows what she speaks to people. She talks about wanting to feel worthwhile and she gets vulnerable about what it's like when others don't think she is. I think this illustrates the idea that we all carry around an invisible suitcase. And sometimes what gets packed into the suitcase is the idea: "I am worthless." And we desperately want to "shake it off."John wants that for us too. He understands how many voices there are that try to assign value to us, whether they're outside critics, or whether it's our inner critic. To all of those daily, loud voices John here adds another formerly unheard voice that's also calling us something and also assigning us value. He adds the voice of God which says, “I want you to know the kind of value that I assign to you.” In doing so, he bursts onto the scene announcing a kind of value that surprises him just as much as it does everyone else, “See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we are called children of God!” (v. 1) He's the only one who gets to assign you value, and he has. You are called a child of God! So unpack your invisible suitcase! Here's how: whenever a voice pops up saying: "You are unworthy," instead of believing it, silence all the other voices and listen to what God has said about you with all his divine authority. Look at Jesus and then say to yourself, "No, I'm worth him. I'm called Go's child."

Every time the Apostle Paul talked about prayer, he spoke powerfully. He never hedged about prayer. In Ephesians 6:18 he taught us to pray in everycircumstance. In Romans he taught us to be faithful in prayer. In 1 Thessalonians 5:16 he urges us to pray continually. Then, in our text for Sunday, he urges us to pray big prayers. Prayers for nations, kings and emperors. I've known some true prayer warriors in my life, but if I look at myself, and as I hear from the people I serve, I know that our prayers, most of the time are seldom, are narrow, and are often small. Why is that? I did some research. The research found that for many people, during our time and throughout history, no matter if the person believes in God or not, people hold the belief that God only hears and answers your prayers if you are worthy of having your prayers heard. I'm here to tell you that is 100% true. It is the prayer of the righteous person that God hears. So can you ever be sure that God hears your prayers? Or will you always have to wonder whether your life has been one that is worthy of being seen and heard? In Christ, you can be sure that your prayers are heard. Here's how you can be sure: 5 For there is one God and one mediator between God and mankind, the man Christ Jesus, 6 who gave himself as a ransom for all people.The gospel is not a process. The gospel is a person. In Christ, your sins have not only been taken away, but Christ's righteousness has been added to you. In God's eyes, you are holy. 

There's something about Jesus. He could draw crowds to himself like he was a magnet. He could make prostitutes weep for joy. He made old cynical apostles coin new words just to talk about his grace. There's something about Jesus that draws sinners to him.It either does that or it makes you jealous at the attention he gets from sinners. This is what would regularly happen when Jesus was alive. People actually made up a tagline about him- Jesus had a tagline- you know what it was? Everybody said it about him! “This man welcomes sinners.” And what they wanted to do with the tagline, they actually wanted to destroy his brand. They wanted people to not go anywhere near him. Because he hangs out with sinners, so he must be the biggest sinner ever. It's like they couldn't even bear to say his name. So they just said: “This man… welcomes sinners.” And it's a good thing he does. He welcomes us; sinners. We're about to begin a sermon series on the books of 1st and 2nd Timothy. Through these books we'll dig into what this is: the essentials of the gospel- that this man welcomes sinners. Even us!

For interactive Sermon notes, click here:https://churchlinkfeeds.blob.core.windows.net/notes/42364/note-164211.htmlThis text dinged me up this week. It battered my conscience, it pushed my pastor's heart to the limits. It showed me how much I've fallen short. It's a text that is short and sweet. Give it a read: Mark 12:41-4441 Jesus sat down opposite the place where the offerings were put and watched the crowd putting their money into the temple treasury. Many rich people threw in large amounts. 42 But a poor widow came and put in two very small copper coins, worth only a few cents. 43 Calling his disciples to him, Jesus said, “Truly I tell you, this poor widow has put more into the treasury than all the others. 44 They all gave out of their wealth; but she, out of her poverty, put in everything—all she had to live on.”Do you see her? The woman who gave everything she had? It dinged up my conscience. It pushed my pastor's heart. It made me realize that I can't preach this text without being a hypocrite. I can't hold a candle to her- her generosity, her trust, her boldness. I can't preach on this text- but I can let the widow preach. I invite you to come hear her preach through actions tomorrow. Let her preach to you about what true generosity is. Let her preach to you about what it means to trust in Jesus with your whole self. Let her show you what her might truly is. Spoiler alert: Jesus truly is the widow's might. 

This is a sermon (and a sermon series) where Jesus teaches us about our relationship with our treasures and the blessings he has given us. He gives a rich young man, and us, a crucial lesson about what it is like to truly repent of both our vices and our virtues so that Jesus can be our everything- our Savior. If you'd like to follow along with interactive sermon notes, click here: https://churchlinkfeeds.blob.core.windows.net/notes/42364/note-163734.html

Have you noticed all the traffic along highway 217 this summer? Along the entire stretch of the highway, there is work being done to make some more room for the future- which means for now, we're squished. This week, on 217, I got my first dose of Oregon road rage. One car didn't let another car merge, and the rage burst loose- there was shouting, there were rude signs out of windows, the whole nine yards. It made me think of something. I've seen two lines merge into one line at Costco, but I've never seen road rage at Costco. Why is that? It's because when we're not anonymously and safely in our cars, we're forced to see each other as real people- people with feeling and emotion.Our sinful natures are like that. At every opportunity where it doesn't cost us, we dehumanize people and we use them. They become wallets to be opened, bodies to be oggled, an obstacle to be overcome. Paul didn't go easy on us and that part of our sinful nature. He said this in Colossians 3:6- "Because of these, the wrath of God is coming." This is true. What's also true is that that's why God sent Jesus. It's why he sent his Son. God knew it was bad. He saw it clearly. That's why he didn't send us a teacher. We need a lot more than the right set of instructions. It's why he didn't set up a reform school. We needed a lot more help than a strict regimen. It's why he sent us a Savior. He sent us a Savior who absorbed all the wrath that was looming. He sent us a Savior who took and took and took for all our taking. He sent us a Savior who was used and used and used for all our using. He sent us a Savior who for the first time in world history treated everybody like they were people. And no, I didn't get off track here- this is still a blurb about how we can see people as real people. You know how that happens? It's counterintuitive (like the gospel always is!). You focus on the things above. You focus on Christ and what he has done for you in your every day life, and the people in this world will become less objects to be used, and more people to be loved for Jesus' sake. I'll send you out with these promises of God:  Colossians 3:1-4 "Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. 2 Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. 3 For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. 4 When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory. "

For this week's sermon notes click here! https://churchlinkfeeds.blob.core.windows.net/notes/42364/note-162640.htmlSomewhere in this world there's a teenage girl who feels like nobody sees her. She feels like she has to wear the right clothes so someone will. She also feels like she has to walk down the hall plastering a smile on her face; say the right things; and run in the right circles. She feels like she has to do that so that people will love her, respect her, and make her feel like she matters - or at the very least blend in enough so people don't do the exact opposite. Somewhere else there's an unhappy employee. You know the kind. He's shown up to work. He's been loyal. He's done his job and put in the time. He's even gone above and beyond to get the recognition of his peers and supervisors. But he's been passed over for every promotion. He goes home and he tries to pretend like it's ok with him - that life is ok and maybe even good, but he can't shelve his disappointment. He wonders what he can do to move on. Somewhere else there's a hurting woman. She is going to the office with the best of intentions. She is telling herself, “Today will be the day that I'll put on Teflon and my co-workers won't be able to hurt me. Today will be that day.” And then it isn't. She knows that if she confides this to her friends that they might be catty and her husband - well - he doesn't seem to notice her like he used to. She's looking. She's searching. She's wondering how she can put her life back together. Paul wrote for people like that. Jesus died for people like that. People who are hurting. People who are searching. People who are despairing. But then he was alive again. His limbs moved with power. His frame stood upright and words came from his lips. Life came where there was once only death. That's power.  Paul talked about that power in the text that we'll look at this Sunday in Colossians 2: 7-15. It's the same power that raised Jesus from the dead raised you from the dead. And it's yours. You have abundant, spiritual power. You have power to live now. And I do mean live even in a world with sin and its effects.That's power for the teenage girl that's out there - the same one walking down the hall trying to earn the respect and affirmation of her peers. It's power that allows her to bury that old part of her that looks for the kind of affirmation and respect that comes from people. It's power to rise with real spiritual light in her eyes and life in her limbs. It's power that allows her to see that everything she is looking for is already hers. She has God's respect, God's love, and God's affection. She has God's fatherly eye, a refuge for her soul even as she walks down that hall.It's power for the unhappy employee. It's power that is so great it allows him to slowly watch his hopes for status get crushed in the vice-grip of passing years and his career aspirations slip away even as others are promoted around and over him. It's power to bury that lower spiritual plane and be resurrected to a higher one. It's power to know what real status looks like and what a real promotion consists of. He believes that real status is what God considers him to be and that he already has the highest promotion anyone can get. He is a child of God.That's power for the hurting woman too. It's power that actually bestows the coat of Teflon she's always hoped for. She puts it on through the burial of her old self that was so interested in the notice and approval of people and the rising inside of her a person confident that she's noticed by the one being that matters - her Savior. And not just noticed. Appreciated. Loved. Saved.

For access to interactive sermon notes for this sermon, click here: https://churchlinkfeeds.blob.core.windows.net/notes/42364/note-162059.htmlPastors have really big goals for their churches. As a church-planting pastor I know this all too well. Pastors want their churches to be vibrant, they want their churches to serve inside the church and outside, and they want their churches to grow. These are big, audacious goals!The apostle Paul had even more audacious goals- not for the church as a whole, but specifically for the people of his church. You can read about his goals in Colossians 1:25-2:4. Take a look at these verses from this section.“... so that we may present everyone perfect (mature) in Christ… so that they may have the full riches of complete understanding.” (1:28, 2:2)Talk about ambitious goals! Paul wants to present everyone to God as mature Christians in Christ. He wants his people not just to have scraps of truth, he wants them to be rich in it. He doesn't want them to have a partial, incomplete, half understanding of the gospel. He wants them to get it - really get it in a comprehensive way.I'll tell you what. It's no pie in the sky dream that God will bring us to complete knowledge. Christian maturity is not just some big, hairy, audacious goal that's way out there in some kind of unknowable, possible future. The truth is that by the power of the gospel, that future is arriving right before our eyes, and it might be coming to you more immediately than you think.

For sermon notes, download our church app using this link: https://tithely.app.link/hope-lutheran-churchYou might know this about me. I'm kinda a sports guy. I love following the teams that I cheer for, and I love following the engaging storylines around all of sports. But there's one thing I love more than anything about sports. I love seeing beyond the court and the field and into the mind of the athletes. That's why when "The Last Dance" started streaming, I gobbled it up. Michael Jordan was the most iconic sporting person in history worldwide. He won title after title, and racked up record after record. But what this documentary revealed about him is something that surprised me-he had a drive for more- and it could never be satisfied. We've all got this tug, this incessant need to be searching for more. It's something that we inherited from Adam and Eve. Paul talks about where that started: “Once you were alienated from God and were enemies in your minds doing evil deeds.” That's where we started, but that's not where we are. That's where we began, but it's not where we've landed. Verb tenses matter. A lot. I was married is a whole different animal than I am married. I am 20 is a whole different ballgame than I was 20. You were alienated from God and were enemies in your minds, but aren't anymore. The gospel has come to us. So that's not our current condition. It's our past one. It's how we used to think. It's not how we think now. We're different. We're new. We are reconciled. Do you see what that now means? It means that the one thing that has the height, the depth, the power, and the magnitude to satisfy the human heart is now reconciled to do that. It means that the vicious cycle that Eve was the first to perpetuate has now effectively ended. It means that the hunt for something big enough, solid enough, and important enough to set our souls on is ours to have and to enjoy and to experience now and in eternity in Jesus Christ.

There are a few shows out there that I just can't watch. I can't watch scary shows, I can't do true crime. That stuff stays with me in the back of my mind for longer than I like it to. But there's another kind of show that I'll never try and dive into. It's the kind of show that requires you to dive heart and soul into the shoes of the characters. I can't do it. There's one show, I think, that does that better than any show has done recently. It just had its finale recently. It's called This Is Us- the story of triplets who lost their father to a fire, and due to that loss have developed some really self-destructive habits. You almost get frustrated with the characters- who seem never to do the things that they know will be good for them. And I can't watch it. Not because it's not well done, not because I don't like the content, but because the show causes me to see myself in all of my flaws- the ways that I can never seem to do the things that I know are good. After all, this is us. The Apostle Paul burst out like this, too, in Romans 7. He said memorably- the things that I want to do, I can never seem to do, but the things I don't want to do, these are the things I keep on doing. He's so frustrated with himself! You can count this for yourself, but throughout the chapter, I read Paul mention 39 times something to this effect: "This is me. I want to please God, and I try to, but I can't. And I try not to sin, but I always do. This is me."He cries out to God: "Who will save me?" I think this cry is deep in all of us. We know that this is us. 39 times, Paul says: "This is ME." But then he closes in a really special way. With an incredible expression of relief: "Thanks be to God, who delivers US through our Lord Jesus Christ." Paul wants you to know that you're in on being delivered through Jesus. Paul wants you to know that through Jesus we are delivered, saved, redeemed, and loved- that this is us. Truly.

I'm going to ask you an important question here. It's probably the most important question that I can ask you. Because the answer that is given has tremendous implications. It's a question whose implications change the way you live your life, it changes the way you think, the way you move, the way you make decisions. It's that big of a question that I'm about to ask you. You ready for it? What is Jesus for? Or to say it in different words- why did Jesus come into the world? What was his life about? Was it so that he could teach us how to live? Was it so that he could show us that he's powerful enough to care for our needs? Was it so that we could have some proof that God is actually up there caring about us? What is the reason for the life of Jesus? We've spent the previous four Sundays leading up to this point. We began by talking about the nature of grace- that God loves us with a love that is undeserved. We then talked about how that grace comes to us by faith in Jesus and by nothing that we have done. Then we talked about where that knowledge comes from- through only the Bible. And last week we looked at the beginning of sin and the beginning of God's saving plan to cover our shame and to remove our guilt. This week, we continue on to look at the end and the fulfillment of God's saving plan which is the life of Jesus. 

Eve didn't have a word yet for what she felt that day outside the garden. All she knew is what she felt. How the snake had spoken, and she had listened. How she had reached out and grabbed the fruit. How the horror had spread across her heart as she realized what she had done. She didn't have a word for it yet. We do. It's called shame. There are some shames that are inconsequential. There are some that are life changing. There are some shames that we bring on ourselves. There are some that we suffer at the hands of others. We all have shame. Because we all have sin. And we all know, just like Eve knew, that we need to be covered. I want you to know this in your heart. You are covered. You are covered by so much more than the fig leaves that Eve covered herself with. You are covered with the blood of Jesus. Covered, redeemed, restored, not shamed, but glorified.