Sermons from Faith Lutheran

"The stench of our sin keeps us away, but Jesus gives water to wash and calls us to come." (Revelation 22:12-14, 16-17, 20-21;John 17:20-26) As you listen to the sermon, here are some questions you can reflect on to deepen your spiritual connection with God: 1) When has your embarrassmentor shame kept you from participating in something? 2) When has pretending that everything was fine prevented you from doing what you needed to actually be fine? 3) Who taught you to apologize and make amends? How did they do it?

"We choose to save ourselves and others die, Jesus chooses to die and saves others."(John 14:23-29; Revelation 21:10, 2222:5) As you listen to the sermon, here are some questions you can reflect on to deepen your spiritual connection with God: 1) Who do you know who died in military service? 2) In what ways do you choose to protect yourself from the risk that comes from serving others? 3) In what ways do you choose to put yourself at risk in order to serve others?

"We can't be God in heaven, so God comes to be with us on earth." (Revelation 21:1-6;John 13:31-35) As you listen to the sermon, here are some questions you can reflect on to deepen your spiritual connection with God: 1) When have you acted on instinctwithout thinking? 2) What habits do you practice to shape what you do instinctually? 3) What is something that you feel responsible for solving that only God can do? How can you practice giving that responsibility back to God this week?

"We struggle to care for our family defined by blood; but Jesus cares for all God's family defined by love." (Revelation 7:9-17; John 10:22-30) As you listen to the sermon, here are some questions you can reflect on to deepen your spiritual connection with God: 1) When have you struggled to balance your responsibility to family vs responsibility to others outside your family? 2) Who is someone whom you consider family but is not related through blood or marriage? What makes them family? 3) Where do you hear the voice of Jesus speaking to you?

"We bring others down to lift ourselves up, but Christ lowered himself to raise us up." (Revelation 5:11-14, John 21:1-19) As you listen to the sermon, here are some questions you can reflect on to deepen your spiritual connection with God: 1) When have you belittled someone in order to make yourself seem better? 2) When has God worked good through you despite your actions or intentions? 3) How will your actions show your love for Jesus this week?

"We hold onto pain; but Jesus hands us peace." (Rev. 1:3-8; John 20:19-31) As you listen to the sermon, here are some questions you can reflect on to deepen your spiritual connection with God: 1) What is something that is both broken and beautiful? 2) When have you seen someone's wound be used as a weapon? 3) What wounds have you healed from that you could show others to inspire wonder at the God who receivesour pain and gives us peace?

"Death doesn't write the end of our story, God does." (Isaiah 65; Luke 24:1-12) As you listen to the sermon, here are some questions you can reflect on to deepen your spiritual connection with God: 1) When have you not tried becauseyou assumed you would fail? 2) When have you thought you had reached the end of a story only to discover it was a new beginning? 3) What do others consider a lost cause, but into which you pour love anyways?

"Everything that we should give to Jesus, he gladly gives back to us." (Luke 19:28-40, Luke 22:14-71) As you listen to the sermon, here are some questions you can reflect on to deepen your spiritual connection with God: 1) How have you responded when you have felt betrayed by someone? 2) What qualities do you attribute to Jesus? 3) How can you use your voice to tell what Jesus has done?

"When we pour out our heart onto the one who is Love, the Love that is Christ fills our heart again." (Isaiah 43:16-21; John 12:1-8) As you listen to the sermon, here are some questions you can reflect on to deepen your spiritual connection with God: 1) When have you felt overwhelmed by a decision that had too many considerations? 2) When have you experienced "Whataboutism," the act of responding to an accusation by accusing someone else instead of taking responsibility? 3) What way of serving your neighbor fills your heart? How is it connected to what God has done for you?

"God gives us heaven and our ingratitude makes it hell, but God still gives us heaven anyway." (Joshua 5:9-12; Luke 15:1-3, 11b-32) As you listen to the sermon, here are some questions you can reflect on to deepen your spiritual connection with God: 1) What is something that a close friend or family member dislikes but you love? What do you appreciate about it that they don't? 2) When have you disliked something, only to deeply appreciate it later? What changed? 3) What do you complain about most? What about that thing are you also grateful for?

"When we rely on our own strength we wither, but Christ freely feeds us what we need to flourish." (Isaiah 55:1-9; Luke 13:1-9) As you listen to the sermon, here are some questions you can reflect on to deepen your spiritual connection with God: 1) When have you been given another chance that you didn't deserve? 2) When did giving up on something allow you the room for something new that was life-giving? 3) Who do you look to as a witness for God's faithfulness?

"When we are faithless, God is faithful." (Gen 15; Luke 13:31-35) As you listen to the sermon, here are some questions you can reflect on to deepen your spiritual connection with God: 1) When has someone stayed by your side during a difficult time when they didn't need to? 2) When has God answered a prayer in a way you didn't expect? 3) Who is someone going through a hard time whom you could reach out to this week?

"Every good thing that the deviltempts us to do for ourselves, Christ has already done for us." (Luke 4:1-13; Deuteronomy 26:1-11) As you listen to the sermon, here are some questions you can reflect on to deepen your spiritual connection with God: 1) How did your family come to live in the United States? 2) Who is someone whose support helped you to gain what you have? 3) What causes or organizations do you support and why?

"Through every mountain and valley, high and low, Jesus gets us where we need to go." (2 Cor. 3:12-4:2; Luke 9:28-43a) As you listen to the sermon, here are some questions you can reflect on to deepen your spiritual connection with God: 1) If life is a journey, where are you hoping to arrive? 2) What hinders you from sharing with others what God is doing in your life? 3) Who is someone with whom you could share this week the glory of God in your life?

"When the world uses death to claim control, Jesus sets us free with love that refuses to lie down in the grave." (1 Corinthians 15:20-34;Luke 6:27-38) As you listen to the sermon, here are some questions you can reflect on to deepen your spiritual connection with God: 1) When has someone responded to your bad behavior with love? 2) When have you responded to someone else's bad behavior with love? 3) In what ways do yousee the Kingdom of God coming into conflict with the empires of this world?

Sermon: May we be unsatisfied with the consolation prize handed down from those at the top of this world, and seek the true riches of the one who rises up from the bottom of the grave. Questions: 1) What does it mean to be rich to you? What does it mean to be poor? 2) When have you gotten what you wanted and still been unsatisfied? 3) When have you been blessed to weep?

Scripture: 1 Cor. 15:1-11; Luke 5:1-11 Sermon: May we not ask, "what will I be when I grow up?" but "how can Jesus use who God made me to be now?" Questions: 1) As a child, what did you want to be when you grew up? How does that compare with what you became? 2) What traits have you consistently brought to every role you've had in your life? 3) How do you remind yourself of who you trulyare?

"God's good news for one is good news for all, for all are one in Christ." (1 Corinthians 12:12-31a;Luke 4:14-21) As you listen to the sermon, here are some questions you can reflect on to deepen your spiritual connection with God: 1)When have you been angry at a part of your body? How did you resolve that anger? 2)When has the suffering of someone you are not related to caused you suffering? When has the honoring of someone you are not related to caused you to rejoice? 3)In the next two weeks, how can you live out Christ's call to minister to people who are poor, captive, physically suffering, or oppressed?

"God's good news for one is good news for all, for all are one in Christ." (1 Corinthians 12:12-31a;Luke 4:14-21) As you listen to the sermon, here are some questions you can reflect on to deepen your spiritual connection with God: 1) When have you been angry at a part of your body? How did you resolve that anger? 2) When has the suffering of someone you are not related to caused you suffering? When has the honoring of someone you are not related to caused you to rejoice? 3) In the next two weeks, how can you live out Christ's call to minister to people who are poor, captive, physically suffering, or oppressed?

"Jesus transforms the world through the daily work of ordinary people." (1 Cor. 12: 1-11; John 2:1-11) As you listen to the sermon, here are some questions you can reflect on to deepen your spiritual connection with God: 1) When have you been a small part of a larger project to transform the world? 2) List the different types of people who make it possible for the space in which you are currently present to exist. 3) Which spiritual gifts could you benefit from having more of in your life? Who do you know with those gifts who you could connect with this week?

"God doesn't take away our challenges, God walks with us through them." (Isaiah 43:1-7; Luke 3:15-17, 21-22) As you listen to the sermon, here are some questions you can reflect on to deepen your spiritual connection with God: 1) What is a challenge in your own life that is unlikely to go away, but which you have learned to manage? 2) Who is someone who didn't solve your challenges, but walked with you through them? 3) What is a challenge that the world faces whichyou alone are unlikely to solve, but about which you feel called to act anyway?

"We cannot look to nature to find God, but in knowing God through Christ, we recognize God's work in all of nature." As you listen to the sermon, here are some questions you can reflect on to deepen your spiritual connection with God: 1) Where have you been tempted to look for God in places that don't line up with Jesus? 2) Where in nature do you see the God revealed in Jesus? 3) Where have you seen examples of diversity held together in unity?

"Our relationships change over time, but God's love is always the same." As you listen to the sermon, here are some questions you can reflect on to deepen your spiritual connection with God: 1) Who do you rarely see who is always a blessing to be with? 2) Why do you rarely see that person? 3) When was the last time you told them that they are a blessing to you? How could you tell them this week?

Each week, we provide questions based on last Sunday's sermon. These questions are to encourage you to connect the scriptures to your own life and to invite you to grow deeper in your relationships with others at Faith by discussing the questions together. Sermon: We fear God's calling is a curse, but God reverses our curses. Questions: 1) When have you tried to run from what God was calling you in life? 2) When has God reversed your perception of something that you thought was a curse? 3) How do you express your joy that Christ is in your life?

Each week, we provide questions based on last Sunday's sermon. These questions are to encourage you to connect the scriptures to your own life and to invite you to grow deeper in your relationships with others at Faith by discussing the questions together. SERMON: We are weighed down by worries, but Christ carries us in his peace. SCRIPTURE: Phil 4:4-7; Luke 3:7-14 QUESTIONS: 1)What physical thing or things do you hold onto that weigh you down or take up unhelpful space in your life? What prevents you from getting rid of those physical things? 2) When has someone provided for you in a moment of need? 3) What is something that you could give away this week that would provide for someone else's needs?

Each week, we provide questions based on last Sunday's sermon. These questions are to encourage you to connect the scriptures to your own life and to invite you to grow deeper in your relationships with others at Faith by discussing the questions together. SERMON (watchhere): We fear Christ's fire, but Christ fires our fear. Questions: 1) What chaff, or shell, do you use to protect yourself from thechallenges of society? In what ways does that chaff also suffocate you? 2) What slag in the history of Christianity hinders you from sharing the gold that is God's love in Christ? 3) If Jesus' message was refined down to its purest form, how would you explain it to someone?

SERMON (watchhere): We fear Christ's fire, but Christ fires our fear. Questions: 1) What chaff, or shell, do you use to protect yourself from thechallenges of society? In what ways does that chaff also suffocate you? 2) What slag in the history of Christianity hinders you from sharing the gold that is God's love in Christ? 3) If Jesus' message was refined down to its purest form, how would you explain it to someone?

Each week, we provide questions based on last Sunday's sermon. These questions are to encourage you to connect the scriptures to your own life and to invite you to grow deeper in your relationships with others at Faith by discussing the questions together. Scripture: Jeremiah 33:14-16;Luke 21:25-36Sermon: When we trust in our righteousness, we see a mess; when we trust in Christ's righteousness we see we are blessed.Questions:1) Where do you look for signs about what your future might hold?2) Where do you look for signs about what your future might hold?3) Where have you seen God this week?

Each week, we provide questions based on last Sunday's sermon. These questions are to encourage you to connect the scriptures to your own life and to invite you to grow deeper in your relationships with others at Faith by discussing the questions together. Scripture: 2 Kings 24; Psalm47; Matthew 27 Sermon: God hasn't failed you because God hasn't finished with you. Questions: 1) To which famous book or movie would you compare your life? 2) What reason do you tell yourself to explain why you lose in competitions or don't get what you want in life? 3)When have you failed to get what youwanted, but ended up better for it?

Each week, we provide questions based on last Sunday's sermon. These questions are to encourage you to connect the scriptures to your own life and to invite you to grow deeper in your relationships with others at Faith by discussing the questions together. Scripture:1 Kings 5:1-6, 13-14;John 2:13-22 Sermon: The world takes up power to protect, but Jesus lays down his life to save Questions: 1) When have you experienced physical protection absent of spiritual love? 2) When has someone's self sacrifice on your behalf shown you Christ's love? 3) How might you live more sacrificially this week so that your local community might experience God's saving love?

Each week, we provide questions based on last Sunday's sermon. These questions are to encourage you to connect the scriptures to your own life and to invite you to grow deeper in your relationships with others at Faith by discussing the questions together. Readings: 1 Kings 2; Luke 22:24-30 Sermon: We honor our ancestors not by re-enacting a past that died, but by acting on the promise of Christ that lives forever. Questions: 1) What is something that you have inherited? 2) What problems have come with what you inherited? What promises have come with it? 3) When have you tried to re-enact the past? 4) This week, how can you act on the promise of Christ that your spiritual ancestors have passed down to you?

Each week, we provide questions based on last Sunday's sermon. These questions are to encourage you to connect the scriptures to your own life and to invite you to grow deeper in your relationships with others at Faith by discussing the questions together. Readings:1 Kings 1; John 7:37-44 Sermon: The world demands we obey and become its victim; the Word invites us to believe and become its vessel. Questions: 1) When have you felt like you were just an object in someone else's story? 2) Where do you think power comes from? 3) When has believing that Christ is in your life given you strength to do something you once thought impossible?

Each week, we provide questions based on last Sunday's sermon. These questions are to encourage you to connect the scriptures to your own life and to invite you to grow deeper in your relationships with others at Faith by discussing the questions together. Readings: 2 Samuel 21:1-14; Luke 6:43-45 Sermon: We hang others from trees and receive only strange fruit. Jesus hangs himself on a tree to give us good fruit. Questions: 1) When has ignoring a wrong in yourlife led to problems down the line? 2) When have you, or someone you know, sought to "get even" with someone? What was the outcome of getting even? 3) When has an act of mercy made things better in your life?

Each week, we provide questions based on last Sunday's sermon. These questions are to encourage you to connect the scriptures to your own life and to invite you to grow deeper in your relationships with others at Faith by discussing the questions together. Readings: Mark 6:1-16 Sermon:Faith is not something to hold while we wait, but a reality in which to participate. Questions: 1) Who are you waiting for to fix what you see wrong in our world? 2) When was the last time you experienced the world that you hoped for? Who and what made it possible? 3) How can you invite others to participate in that kind of world this week?

Each week, we provide questions based on last Sunday's sermon. These questions are to encourage you to connect the scriptures to your own life and to invite you to grow deeper in your relationships with others at Faith by discussing the questions together. Readings: 2 Samuel 13; Mark 10:13-16 Sermon: Christ uses the very children who distract us from our kingdoms to show us God's. Questions: 1) When did a child distract or interrupt something that you thought was veryimportant? What was the consequence of that distraction or interruption? 2) When has an interruption or distraction proven more important than what you originally were focused on? 3) What have you been ignoring recently in order to focus on what you think matters more?

Each week, we provide questions based on last Sunday's sermon. These questions are to encourage you to connect the scriptures to your own life and to invite you to grow deeper in your relationships with others at Faith by discussing the questions together. Readings: 2 Samuel 11:2-15 and Matthew 5:21-26 Sermon: When we try to cover up our mistakes we make matters worse, but Christ promises that we can come clean and be better for it. Questions: 1) When have you made matters worse by trying to cover up a mistake? 2) What makes you hesitate to fess up to mistakes that you have made? 3) When have you fessed up to making a mistake? What were the consequences?

Each week, we provide questions based on last Sunday's sermon. These questions are to encourage you to connect the scriptures to your own life and to invite you to grow deeper in your relationships with others at Faith by discussing the questions together. Readings: 2 Samuel 1:17-27, John 16:16-22 Sermon: In this life, our relationships often hold pain, but in the life to come in Christ, our pain will turn to joy. Questions: 1) Who is someone you've avoided seeing because of the pain in the relationship? 2) When has avoiding someone you don't want to see preventedyou from seeing someone you care about or doing something you care about? 3) What positive thing can you say about the person you've avoided seeing?

Each week, we provide questions based on last Sunday's sermon. These questions are to encourage you to connect the scriptures to your own life and to invite you to grow deeper in your relationships with others at Faith by discussing the questions together. Readings: 1 Samuel 30; Mark 6:9-13 Sermon: Even when it feels like our prayers don't change the Lord, the Lord's prayer changes us. Questions: 1) Who taught you the Lord's Prayer? How do you use it in your life? 2) When have you seen prayer change the world? 3) How has prayer changed you?

Each week, we provide questions based on last Sunday's sermon. These questions are to encourage you to connect the scriptures to your own life and to invite you to grow deeper in your relationships with others at Faith by discussing the questions together. Readings: 1 Samuel 27:1-3, 8-12; Mark 7:14-23 Sermon: In Christ, the garbage of the world can be fuel for the goodness of God. Questions: 1) What food makes you feel worse after you eat it? Do you continue to eat it? If so, why? 2) What is something that you read/watch/listen to that strengthensyou spiritually? 3) When have you seen some transform their (work/family/national) culture instead of being transformed by their culture?

Each week, we provide questions based on last Sunday's sermon. These questions are to encourage you to connect the scriptures to your own life and to invite you to grow deeper in your relationships with others at Faith by discussing the questions together. Readings: 1 Samuel 25; Luke 19:1-10 Sermon: The world tries to make itself seem big by making us feel small; but Jesus lowers himself to the grave that we might know, in God's eyes, we are great enough to reach heaven. Questions: 1) What makes you feel small? 2) What makes you feel big? 3) To what extent do you think people start to act the way they are treated? Can you give examples?

Each week, we provide questions based on last Sunday's sermon. These questions are to encourage you to connect the scriptures to your own life and to invite you to grow deeper in your relationships with others at Faith by discussing the questions together. Readings: 1 Samuel 18:17-29; Matthew 12:28-34. Sermon: When our ego is king, it turns blessings into burdens; when Christ is our king he turns burdens into blessings. Questions: 1) When has something good felt like a burden simply because it injured your ego? 2) When have you found a blessing in something you thought to be a burden? 3) What burden are you struggling with this week that you can ask Jesus to become king of and show you a blessing?

Each week, we provide questions based on last Sunday's sermon. These questions are to encourage you to connect the scriptures to your own life and to invite you to grow deeper in your relationships with others at Faith by discussing the questions together. Readings: 1 Samuel 17: 1-7, 12-16, 24-27; John 10: 11-16 Sermon: We are hindered by fears and doubts, but God leads us to defining moments to discover we are deeply loved. Questions: 1) When have your doubts or fears isolated you from Gods love? 2) What keeps hope alive in your heart? 3) How has God shown His deep love for you?

Each week, we provide questions based on last Sunday's sermon. These questions are to encourage you to connect the scriptures to your own life and to invite you to grow deeper in your relationships with others at Faith by discussing the questions together. Readings: 1 Samuel 9:1-3, 15-18, 10:1; Luke 19:11-27 Sermon: Great or small, we all have gifts. Turning to God and trusting in what hes given us opens us up to the opportunity to receive so much more. Questions: 1) When have you been afraid to do something, but trusted God and did it anyway? What happened? 2) When has putting your gifts to work for God led to new and greater opportunities? 3) How can you use your gifts to deepen your relationship with God?

Each week, we provide questions based on last Sunday's sermon. These questions are to encourage you to connect the scriptures to your own life and to invite you to grow deeper in your relationships with others at Faith by discussing the questions together. Readings:1 Samuel 8:1,4-18, John 6:14-20 Sermon: In the midst of storms, may we look not to kings, but to Christ. Questions: 1) Think of a time you were in a very difficult situation but received key help from someone. What impact did that have on your life? 2) Have you, a Christ-follower, ever voted for a candidate not because of how good they might be for you, but because of how good they might be for the poor? 3) How do you understand the connection between faith in God and gratitude?

Each week, we provide questions based on last Sunday's sermon. These questions are to encourage you to connect the scriptures to your own life and to invite you to grow deeper in your relationships with others at Faith by discussing the questions together. Readings: 1 Samuel 4:2, 5-11,19-22, John 14:25-31

Each week, we provide questions based on last Sunday's sermon. These questions are to encourage you to connect the scriptures to your own life and to invite you to grow deeper in your relationships with others at Faith by discussing the questions together. Readings:1 Samuel 1:19-28, Matthew 15:29-39 Sermon: Jesus says, No slave can serve two mastersYou cannot serve God and wealth. Questions: 1) How is it complicated or difficult for you to serve God/others and not wealth? 2) Hannah was childless for a long time, and prayed fervently for a child. What do you think might motivate a woman to pray and work (IVF, etc.) to carry and birth a child? 3) If you told a friend that Faith Lutheran Church is singleminded, what evidence would you offer?

Each week, we provide questions based on last Sunday's sermon. These questions are to encourage you to connect the scriptures to your own life and to invite you to grow deeper in your relationships with others at Faith by discussing the questions together. Readings: 1 Samuel 1:19-28, Matthew 15:29-39 Sermon:When, in your life, have you hungered for God? Questions: 1)When in your life have you hungered for God? 2)When have you experienced or seen Jesus's healing? 3)Where have you felt God's presence in your life this week?

Each week, we provide questions based on last Sunday's sermon. These questions are to encourage you to connect the scriptures to your own life and to invite you to grow deeper in your relationships with others at Faith by discussing the questions together. Readings: 1 Samuel 1:1-6, 9-18, Matthew 15:21-28 Sermon: God responds to our faithful persistence with surprising answers. Questions: 1) How does it feel when youre waiting for something to happen? 2) When has God surprised you with a response to prayer? 3) What did you learn in the process?

Each week, we provide questions based on last Sunday's sermon. These questions are to encourage you to connect the scriptures to your own life and to invite you to grow deeper in your relationships with others at Faith by discussing the questions together. Readings: Ruth 4:9-17, Luke 18:1-8 Sermon: The people we trust to take care of us can't always. But the Lord takes care of us - - through us Questions: 1) Haveyou counted on someone and they failed you? 2) Has the Lord spoke to you? 3) What has your faith and prayer accomplished when someone else couldn't?