Rich Laskowski Podcast

The Bible shows us all kinds of characters, some good and some bad. Sometimes a character is presented as virtuous and a good example of how we are to follow God. Other times we see obvious evil in a Biblical character. But then some characters show us the human struggle within all of us. Born with wonderful potential, but pulled and tempted in ways that end up with us wondering where the strength of God has gone. Samson is such a character. Born with huge potential and gifting, but because he gave himself to the things of the world, he falls way short of what could have been. This Sunday we start a new series of sermons called, “The Legend of Samson, A Cautionary Tale”. In Judges chapters 13-16, we look at a life that shows us what not to do. A cautionary tale that will help us to make some changes before we come to the last chapter of our story.

All of life, serves as an illustration. God teaching us through everything we experience. Raising our children and the difficulties that come, teach us how God struggles with us as we go through stages of growth as we grow into more mature followers of Jesus. Our need for food and water illustrates our great need for God. Each 24-hour period contains a beginning and an end teaching us that whether it be our life span, or the end of the age, God will bring all things to completion. Then there is the illustration of love. Every human being has a desire to be loved and to express love. Our culture is filled with love stories. In movies and books and 100% of the time on the Hallmark Channel, it's all about finding that one person who will love you like nobody else. The Book of Ruth is above all a love story. It is the story of Boaz and Ruth brought together by the providence of God. But this biblical love story is an illustration too. Boaz and Ruth are a picture of mankind and God. Boaz represents God, who comes to rescue Ruth out of trouble, poverty, and danger. You are Ruth.

Ruth chapter two shows us Ruth asking Boaz why he has chosen to show her such favor? The answer is that God was pouring out protection and provision based upon the Abrahamic Covenant. God had covered Ruth with His shadow and His wings of covenant protection and blessing. This teaching opens our eyes to the power of covenant in our lives. The Abrahamic Covenant and the blood covenant of Jesus Christ have provide us with powerful promises as we take shelter under His wings

Have you ever felt like God was against you? You look at the things you have experienced in the past year and say, where was God in all this? The only explanation you have is God must be against you. We start a brand-new sermon series called, “The Amazing Story of Ruth, Ancestor of King David”. In the first chapter of the book of Ruth, we see Naomi, Ruth's mother-in-law. She has lost everything and makes the declaration “the LORD's hand has gone out against me!”. Boy, was she wrong, and you might be wrong too. Often God is working His plan behind the scenes, but it feels like He has forgotten us. This book teaches that God can use life's pain and disappointments to position us in the center of His will. Often, we can't see what God is doing until it's been unveiled, then we say, wow, you've been there all along.

Jesus said that there is no greater love than a man lay down his life for his friends. Jesus did that for us. He calls us to do that for each other. The United States of America is free because others love this nation enough to lay their lives down for her. There is a power in love that causes human beings to give more than they think they can. Love causes us to see others as more important than ourselves. Love causes us to risk all and be willing to pay whatever the cost. But love is under assault today - love for God, love for each other, and love for country. The evil master plan says, cause love to grow cold, then the will to fight will die, and defeat will be sure. We talk about defeating the master plan of Satan by doubling down on the power of love.

Since its discovery, fire has fascinated man. It is both calming and terrifying. It's always easy to spot someone who has been near a fire because they smell like smoke. There are good fires and there are bad fires. Some warm us and cook our food, others stand as a warning. Jude tells us that there are people so close to the fire that we are to snatch them before they get close enough to be destroyed. In his little book, Jude has been giving us a picture of the false teachers of his day. Now, in verse 20, he turns to his main point. Those that recognize the danger, have a responsible to snatch people from the fire. In this message we ask, “Do You Smell Smoke?”.

People have weird experiences. Some see UFOs. Some hear voices. Some have dreams and see angels. God can and does communicate in unusual ways, but so can the evil one. In the letter of Jude, we see men who have had visions and dreams of some “out of this world things”, and the people are impressed. The problem – they were not from God! The church in Jude's day had made a critical error. These Gnostic false teachers never would've gotten started at the church if the church remembered a very simple principle. Many churches today are following in the footsteps of the churches Jude is writing to. We uncover that simple principle in the message “DreamWeavers”.

A cold hard fact is that moms scare the Devil real bad. Women have a wonderful ability to bring a human being into the world who has the potential to become a powerful force for good. Every birth is a threat to the enemy's power. Abortion is not a political issue. It's a spiritual issue. To watch our politicians demand the right to take the lives of children is both disgusting, and embarrassing that men and women with intellect and degrees can be so ignorant. We celebrate moms and what God has called them to do. We pray for our nation, our politicians, and our Supreme Court Justices. We ask God for mercy for past complacency and strength to stand for what is right into the future.

In his little letter Jude warns the churches about false teachers that have turned the grace of God into a license for sexual immorality. These false teachers talked about grace, but how far does God's grace go? Does God's grace cover flat out rebellion? The Bible teaches us that God loves humanity and has sent Jesus to pay for our sins so that all obstacles to relationship with God may be removed, but some in Jude's day had misunderstood the grace of God–they forgot that just as God is mercy and grace, He is also holiness and justice. Today people make the same mistake, they think the cross is a license to sin. Jude teaches us that “God ain't playin”, and it's important to understand the balance between grace and justice.

This little book of 1 chapter, just 25 verses addresses a timely problem, the danger of corruption. The church is created to be “the ground and pillar of the truth”, so it is easy to understand why it is a prime target of misinformation. Just as one bad apple spoils the whole bunch, corruption has the diabolic ability to spread rapidly. Jude calls us to contend for the faith once delivered to the saints. His message has massive application for the times we live in.

The resurrection of Jesus Christ is the death blow to all the plans of the Devil. Jesus became a man to die in man's place removing the obstacle of sin. But He not only defeats the Devil and pays for sin, He defeats death and takes away its power to create fear and hold us in bondage. This Sunday I bring the message "The Day Death Died".

Palm Sunday teaches us so many beautiful things about Jesus. This Sunday, I want to focus on what looks like a point of tension in Jesus' triumphant entry into Jerusalem. Jesus is our gentle King riding in on a donkey as prophesied in Zachariah chapter 9, then He immediately enters the temple and flips tables showing us a hint of One whose eyes were like blazing fire, as described in the first chapter of Revelation. How do we reconcile these two very different pictures of Jesus, and what does it say to us as we prepare to understand the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ?

Someone once said that we can calculate our wealth by how many real friends we have. Stop and think about it for a minute, how many do you have? Not people you know, or even hang with, but how many would you trust with your life? How many real friends do you have? Isn't it interesting that we can love someone, but not like them, or count them as family but not as a friend? We are surrounded by people, but many of us are longing for someone we can call friend. In the church, we use words like “fellowship”, but what we really mean is friendship. This Sunday Jesus shows us a beautiful truth. He is God, but He also wants to be a friend. One old song says, I've Got A Friend in Jesus” and another says “You Got a Friend in Me”. Dear God, be our friend, and show us how to value and find those who will stick closer than a brother.

Jesus was different. He didn't look different, but those in the first century, after spending a few minutes with Him they knew He was not from around there. While most people tried to flow with the current of culture, He turned and walked upstream. Some loved that. Some hated it. In the first century, the church knew they were called to follow Jesus against the current and offer a way of thinking and living that was from another world. Over the years, some of the church became tired of walking against the current and now enjoys the cool, easy, unchallenging waters of the gentle flow of popular opinion and worldly wisdom. But some today long to follow Jesus and turn against the current and walk in a way that takes courage, and risk, and willingness to do hard things. They want a revolution! This Sunday I preach the message “So You Say You Want A Revolution?”. We will talk about what it means to follow Jesus upstream. Come expecting to be challenged to begin a radical, unconventional walk with Jesus.

Do you remember the moment it happened? The moment you understood that things die. I remember riding in the car and having a conversation with my mom. I was probably around 6. I don't remember what the conversation was about, but I remember her words like it was yesterday. She said, “well Rich, we're all going to die”. That was news to me. It was the first thought I ever had about death. I didn't know then that the bible calls death the final enemy. Today, I'm very aware that this old body is not going to last forever. But the good news is that Jesus is the King Eternal. He is a giver of eternal life. As I turn my thoughts to the coming celebration of the resurrection of Jesus Christ, I begin a new series of messages that I'm calling “The Jesus Series”. This Sunday, we start by looking at Jesus as “The King Eternal” and our great hope of eternal life.

Families are under attack. What is happening is unprecedented in America and parents, grandparents, and every person is facing a radical change in morality and social norms that makes them wonder what is next. Raising children is tough in any age, but today the dark forces that blow across this land have created a net to trap children and paralyze parents. What can be done? I bring a message that will offer families two simple but strong pieces of advice that will help them find God as mighty fortress. This message is simple and to the point, and gives you two things you can use today to shelter you from the flying arrows of 2022.

We all have a daily routine that can, for many, stay unchanged for a very long time. Then suddenly, like a flat tire at high speed, something happens that causes adrenaline to set off a signal in our brains telling us something is really wrong. We could write this off as bad luck, or we could stop and consider if just maybe God is trying to tell us something. He often speaks through circumstances that bring us into a place where we must ask why is this happening? He is demanding our attention. This is happening now in the world. Word events have so changed that we wake up every morning wondering what will happen today. God is speaking through COVID. God is speaking through the division in America. God is speaking through the war in Ukraine. What is He saying? Prepare!

War has begun in Ukraine. The world has been seething with an unusual level of unrest for over two years, and world leaders plot and plan, seeking the perfect time to unveil their fleshly and demonic strategy of conquest. There is something that was birthed in millenniums past, then unleashed in the Garden of Eden, and now again raises its ugly head on thrones and battlefields - It is a spirit of war!

There is a strange story in Ezekiel Chapter 4 where God tells the prophet to cook his food over dung. Believe it or not, the church has something to learn from this unsavory tale of weird culinary methods. The title of the message is “The Man Who Cooked His Food Over Dung”. While this title seems a bit offensive, you have to admit, it at least has your curiosity up – how in the world could this story relate to the present day church?

Often, fear comes when we don't understand what is happening. The unknown or unanswered questions fuel anxiety, but when answers come, even though the difficulty still exists, our mind can rest. This is true as we watch world events today. If we see things from the perspective of unexplainable chaos, it produces fear, but if we see the events of the day having order and meaning, even though stressful, we have can hope for tomorrow because we know that this present trouble is temporary. When we hear the phrase “New World Order” it conjures frightening pictures of last day's events. But if we understand that New World Order is an ancient push for the unity of a “One World” system, that has a very specific reason. When we see that Satan desperately wants to unify the world, we must ask why? When we see world history and man's thirst for conquest in light of Satan's goal of world unity, we now see that chaos does not exist. Everything on God's side, and everything on Satan's side, has pin point purpose; our eyes become clear, and we know exactly what we must do next!

We have all watched movie characters who seemed to be so ordinary, but when pushed into an impossible situation, they found there were things inside them that, once unleashed, became powerful enough to overcome the bad guy. Turned out, they were much more dangerous than they looked. The average Christian in the average church often thinks they have little to give and no real obvious gifts, talents, or abilities to be used for the Kingdom of God. But every Christian is equipped, without fail, with two enormous weapons that seem so ordinary and mundane. People may think you're Clark Kent, but in fact, you are much more dangerous than you look

There's a place where there's no trouble. A place where pain doesn't exist. A place that, without knowing it, every song longing for a better day, is singing about. A place where nobody dies, and people are never sad. It's called the Kingdom of God. Not only is it coming, but it's here. It's so close now that sometimes we get a glimpse of the light and the glory of this Kingdom as though it's pressing against some unseen barrier barely able to hold it back. God has given the church a mission, but people are sometimes confused about what the mission is. The simplest way to define the mission of the church is that the church points the way and tells the world that they have been invited to this kingdom. Their entrance, made possible by Jesus' great love, demonstrated on the cross. The church is to be a place where the light and glory of the kingdom of God is visible as God pulls back the fabric between heaven and earth, letting us taste what is to come.

The church has put a lot of effort into teaching, writing books, and imparting information about God. This is good, but if we stop there, we have missed the point of discipleship. Our goal is not to just educate people about theological truth, and then make them dependent on us to continue to feed them knowledge. The mission and aim of our teaching is to introduce people to the voice that will lead them into all truth. Our mission is to help people learn to hear the Divine Whisper.

Every year we make new year's resolutions, meaning that we have resolved to make needed changes in our lives. We all mean well, but then we ‘re faced with the reality that change is painful. Many decide that the old self was good enough. Something similar happens in the church. We recognize we are not the church we want to be, but when confronted with the reality that change will be painful, we humbly say, well nobody's perfect, the church is ok, at least pretty close to it, and that's good enough. But maybe this year will be different? Maybe this year is the year that we cry out to God and say, Lord, Make The Church Great Again?

n this last sermon of 2021 we bring a message about influence, about passing on to the next generation things learned via failure, time, and experience. Both Jennifer and I share about our 40 years of marriage together and the two most important lessons everyone needs to learn. We are hoping it will be life-changing encouragement to those going through tough times, and insight for others on how they can become time-travelers reaching into the next generation.

Promises are usually made when things look uncertain. A promise to help, a promise to protect, a promise to return. All made to those that look at the future and wonder if everything is going to be alright. If there's one thing sure about life, it's that we don't know what tomorrow will hold. So we cling to the promises made to us by the ones we love. But there comes a time when no human promise is enough, and circumstances and situations close in like suffocating darkness. A time when only a Divine promise will do. Christmas is a Divine promise. “And the Word became flesh” is the fulfilment of a Divine and ancient promise given to those who sat under the darkness of death. Christmas is God keeping His word. Showing us we can forever trust what He has spoken.

The story of the birth of Christ is full of beauty and warmth stirring up golden memories of Christmases past. Gabriel's visit to Mary, the birth of Jesus, the manger, the star the Wisemen followed, shepherds asleep in the field, all make us smile and feel good inside. But there is a dark chapter in the Christmas story. The evil and jealous King Herod, who stands as a type of Satan and the spirit of antichrist, killing children in hopes of stopping the Son of God. The bible records this dark part because it shows us the nature of the incarnation. Showing us the birth of Christ isn't meant to give the world a warm feeling for a few days in December. It shows us that God becoming flesh was an act of war, an invasion from heaven, storming the gates of Hades to set people free from the jaws of death.

Christmas can be a lonely time. Maybe it brings painful memories from when you were young, or maybe the years have changed the numbers at family gatherings and it hurts to remember. It helps when we understand the essence of the Christmas story, that Jesus came for people just like us who are lonely, lowly, and forgotten. His first bed was an animal's food trough, and He spent His first night sleeping with the animals in the cold because nobody could make room for Him where the important people slept. Jesus' humble beginnings are a message to us. There in Bethlehem on the night the angels sang to the shepherds, Jesus reached low, low enough to touch all the lonely, lowly, and forgotten. Low enough to touch you right now, whispering that you have not been forgotten.

God created us for the daytime. We can function in the dark, but not very well. In the light, we are hunters. In the dark, we are the hunted. The human mind malfunctions when deprived of all light. Light is hope. Christmas is about hope. Christmas is about Jesus as the light of the world. The message this Sunday is “A Promise In The Darkness”. As Advent begins, we're reminded that many years ago promises came through the lips of the prophets. Spoken during times of great darkness and serving as a flicker of light, and bringer of hope. This Sunday we celebrate Jesus as our hope, and the light of the world. Mt 4:15 “Land of Zebulun and land of Naphtali, the way to the sea, along the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles– 16 the people living in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of the shadow of death a light has dawned.”

For some of you, this is a good day. For others, this is a bad day. Life gives us changing seasons and shifting circumstances that create mountaintops and valleys. This Thanksgiving, there will be those who silently tell themselves that they have nothing to be thankful for and feel that God has turned His back on them. While the human experience can bruise and, be painful, and leave us with questions for our Creator, there remains a mysterious secret hidden in the simple expression of thanks on bad days. This Sunday we think about the value of being thankful by looking at the story of a man devastated by loss. His name is Job. The Book of Job makes many Christians a little nervous because they're not sure what the message is. Does this book teach us we should be ready to experience devastation at any moment? No, it presents us with a question. If you lost everything tomorrow, would you still see God as good? While Job seems like a depressing story, it holds the key to happiness.

When I was a kid, springtime was exciting because it was the time of the year that I would hear the beautiful sound of that green canvas ball bag being dumped out and the bats, balls, and catcher's equipment falling onto the dugout floor. It was when the sounds, smells, and even the warmth of the sun after a cold winter meant baseball season was here. I loved baseball; I loved everything about it. A kind of love that makes your eyes pop open early because daylight means baseball. As I thought about what I would preach about Sunday, my mind filled with a song from the past, a John Fogerty song called “Centerfield”. I could hear the lyrics, “Put me in coach, I'm ready to play”. I knew that was the title of my message. The focus being, the importance of loving the game, course, or path God has called us to. To love it so much that it makes our eyes pop open early, with the words on our lips, “put me in coach. I'm ready to play.

Three letters form the greatest question. Who? The answer to this question puts all else into context. “It is the first question. The oldest question in the universe, and hidden in plain sight.” I teach from Acts 8:26-39 the story of Philip and the Ethiopian Eunuch. This man was asking the question, “who?”, and Philip had the answer. We find insight in this passage to help us go through times that make no sense, and seasons where we think God seems a bit slow to act. We walk away from Acts 8 with a greater appreciation for the wisdom of God and confidence that our future is secure.

A wolf howls in the distance at the full moon that lights the path of the black cat that strolls across the lawn. Every commercial and sale is littered with references to ghouls, goblins, and all things Halloween. It's the time of the year when America celebrates things scary, and that goes bump in the night. This Sunday, in our study of the book of Acts, we come to the 8th chapter and the story of Simon the sorcerer. Acts 8:9 says, “Now for some time a man named Simon had practiced sorcery in the city and amazed all the people of Samaria.” Once again, Satan attempts to infiltrate the church, and once again, the power of the Holy Spirit and the blood of Jesus shut him down! This story uncovers a weakness in the human heart that the enemy tries to exploit. The Book of Acts shows us the forward movement of the church and people being set free by those Jesus sent. It also shows us all the ways the enemy tries to get inside and stop the great commission. What is this weakness we all have? Come this Sunday and find out what it is and how to close the door forever on the kingdom of darkness as I preach the message “That Old Black Magic”.

When I was a kid, a friend and I pried our way into an old abandoned house. Just as you would expect, the wood floors creaked as we walked. It was cold and dark there on Old Chicago Road in South Bend, Indiana. We held our breath in the silence, almost expecting to hear moans or screams coming from upstairs. If we had heard some other worldly sound, I'm sure we would've been in the car without our feet ever touching the ground. This week I bring you a message called “The Bounty Hunter and the Screaming Demons of Samaria”. Screams signal that someone is in pain or distress. In Acts 8, we not only see Paul the bounty hunter, but we hear the screams of demons as Philip casts them out. In both men we see a clash of powers – two kingdoms in mortal combat. We see one man working hard to drown out the sound of his guilty conscience and we see the other casting out screaming demons. As I read this passage, I asked, why are these demons screaming? I pondered it for days, and then I saw it. Were they fearful of the power of Christ? Yes. Did they feel pain? Maybe in some way. But the answer to the question, why does a demon scream, differs from what I expected. I can't wait to share with you this Sunday why those screams should not make you fearful – they, in fact, should make you feel deeply loved.

You've made some shrewd moves, even caused your opponent to squirm a bit. Then suddenly, as if out of nowhere, he says “checkmate!”. You look at your poor king surrounded by enemy chess pieces and you conclude that you have no move. There is no way out, and because you're out of options, you concede victory and surrender. We are talking about a game, but that sudden realization of “checkmate” also happens in real life. The enemy of our souls has arranged his pieces in such a way as to leave us no options but to surrender, or so it seems. But wait! There is a way out. The wiles of the Devil are no match for the wisdom of the Holy Spirit. The letter to the Ephesians even calls Him “The Spirit of Wisdom”.

We've all had the experience where the owner of a big barking dog says, “don't worry, he won't bite”. Some of us have had the experience of being bit by that same dog that supposedly does not bite. So, considering the truth, that big barking dogs sometimes bite, we ask, what makes a big dog whimper? The answer, a bigger dog! In Acts chapter 5 the big dogs of the Jewish Sanhedrin strut out in all their pomp and prideful glory, threatening to bite. But God is "The Big Dog” in the room who immediately shows them He is in total control. As you read chapter 5, you can almost hear a little whimper.

People love to talk. They love to tell some new thing they have discovered or share a juicy bit of gossip. In first century Jerusalem, the buzz around town was about what was happening in the newly formed church. Everywhere you went you heard people talking in hushed tones saying, “did you hear what happened over by Solomon's Portico. Some guy died, and the word is God killed him, others are being healed of diseases they've had for years. People are coming into town from far and wide to see what's going on.” The bible says the people were freaked-out, but, drawn like a moth to a flame. They went to check it out - from a distance, of course. Something was happening that they had never seen before. God was present and turning everything upside down, and the people couldn't quit talking about it.

Acts chapter 4 gives us a glimpse of the newly formed church in Jerusalem. They were a strange bunch, strange in the sense that they were so different from everybody else. It wasn't how they talked or dressed; it was like they saw everything from a completely different perspective. They didn't think like other people. They didn't act like other people. They were different. They were in the world, but not of the world. They were a strange bunch, but Satan was very nervous. There was something extremely attractive about this strange bunch. Yes, they had to be stopped. We talk about Acts chapter 4: 32-37. What we see there is a people that had been “called out” from the world to live by kingdom principles and provide an alternative community to the system of the world. This is one of Satan's greatest fears, that the church would once again become that strange bunch of people that we see in Acts 4.

Message from Pastor Rich Laskowski on August 29, 2021

It can sometimes feel like the entire world is against you - like life has conspired together with people and situations to make sure you are down and stay down. This week we meet a man who spent much of his time in the dirt begging for enough money in order to not starve. He was humiliated every day, dirty, hopeless, looked down upon, until the day Peter and John walked by. On that day, he was a beggar no more!

When you think of God, you need to think bigger. As I've read through the pages of scriptures for these last 40 years, I noticed something. Every year, God gets bigger. Of course, it's not God getting bigger, it's my view of Him that grows. Take, for example, the 2nd Chapter of Acts. Years ago, I saw in the passage the Holy Spirit falling upon those in the upper room as the birth of the church, the coming of the new covenant, and the promise of the Holy Spirit working in all believers. While these are marvelous truths, there's something else this chapter shows us, something that is magnificent in its complexity and beauty – Acts 2 and Psalm 2 connect.

In this study, we focus on passages in the Book of Acts where the Kingdom of God and the kingdom of darkness clash. We watch the sick get healed, the demon-possessed delivered, and blind eyes opened as Jesus kicks Satan to the curb. Church, we learn that we have the advantage in this warfare and need not be afraid.

You're standing in a wind tunnel, hair blown back and your body straining to move forward against the force of the current. This is exactly what life is like for the follower of Jesus. Powers and principalities are directing the winds of culture to restrain you from moving forward with the command of Christ. The Apostle Paul paints a vivid picture of this in Ephesians Chapter 6, where he tells us to put on the full armor of God so we can stand against the schemes of the Devil.

The message is titled “Nothing But Truth.” In last week's message, “Powers & Principalities Disarmed,” I talked about deliverance from demonic oppression. I said that it was essential to identify what lies we have believed because these...

Message from Pastor Rich Laskowski on July 12, 2021

The Gospel of Jesus Christ is a proclamation of the glory and grace of God and an invitation to freedom. Freedom from sin and guilt, freedom from fear and condemnation, and freedom from the torment and control of Satan and the demonic. The Bible...

The message title is That's My Flag, Don't Touch It! The American flag stands as a symbol of what we believe as a people, what God has given us as a nation, and the spiritual principle that God blesses nations that recognize and reverence Him as...

The message is titled “The Chosen, the Joy of Being Wanted”. Much of the pain in the world centers on the poor choices we make because of our need to feel wanted, accepted, and loved. People go to great lengths to fill that void in the heart, but...

As the Son suffered on the cross, the Father wept in heaven. Fatherhood is a sacred call. As we look at the pain of our Heavenly Father, we get a glimpse of the pain of our earthly fathers and gain a greater appreciation for both.

We have a choice. We can allow our minds to be controlled by how we feel or by our spirit. So many today wonder if they are going crazy. Filled with anxiety, confusion, brain fog – fear & worry have them paralyzed, and they can't seem to get...

All of us have experienced disappointment when things don't go the way we expect. We know that this is a part of life, and most times, we take it in stride. But there are seasons when the level of disappointment rises to a painful extreme, and we...