Text: Luke 4:1-13 

Summary - In Luke 4 Jesus endured temptation from the devil in the desert. In much the same way as Adam and Eve, Jesus is tempted directly by the devil to deviate from God’s Word. But where Adam and Eve failed to resist the temptation, Jesus succeeds and remains perfect. Through his perfect and innocent sacrifice we have been redeemed! We are no longer children of the first Adam, but we have been made children of the second Adam, Jesus!  

Ascension Lutheran Church, Pastor Adam Thompson

Text: Luke 9:28-36 

Summary - Peter often behaves like a cartoon character. His foolishness is extravagant and yet we can relate to Him. On the mountain of Jesus’ transfiguration Peter still tries to call the shots even when Jesus in all His glory is standing right there. How often do we do this same thing? How often do we try to enlist Jesus in our plans rather than submit to His?  

Pastor Adam Thompson, Ascension Lutheran Church

Text: Luke 6:28-36 

Summary: The text of our gospel this week focuses on what Christ calls his disciples--that’s us—to do. The focus isn’t on us to do these things in order to be saved, but rather because we are saved Christ calls us to live the same seemingly inverted life that Jesus puts on display for us. Let’s take a look at the 16 imperatives that Jesus commands his disciples in this text and what they mean for us who have also been saved and called by Christ.  

Ascension Lutheran Church, Pastor Adam Thompson

Pastor Adam Thompson, Ascension Lutheran Church

Text: Luke 5:1-11  

How can we know that our work as the church is not in vain? In Luke 5 we see how God’s Word transforms the fruitless toil of the soon-to-be disciples fishing into the biggest catch of fish they have ever made! Jesus, using that same Word, calls them, and the church established through them, to catch mankind with the gospel. Because God’s Word is in it, the labor is not done in vain!  

Pastor Adam Thompson, Ascension Lutheran Church

Text: Luke 4:31-44  

Jesus is teaching in the synagogue again and this time people are astonished at “his word” because it “possesses authority.” What kind of authority does Jesus’s word posses and why does it matter for us?  

Pastor Adam Thompson, Ascension Lutheran Church

Text: Luke 4:16-30  

One of the signs of the Messiah was that he would restore sight to the blind. This doesn’t just mean healing physical blindness, but more importantly healing spiritual blindness. In Luke 4 the people are spiritually blind. Am I spiritually blind? Jesus has come to heal the sight of the blind and He has!  

Pastor Adam Thompson, Ascension Lutheran Church

Text: John 2:1-11  

At a wedding in Cana Jesus, the Son of God, turns water into wine. A famous, but if you think about it, odd miracle. What can we learn about who Jesus is and what He has come to do from this wedding feast wine-making miracle? Jesus is here to meet our needs large and small and He has come to make us pure and clean.  

Pastor Adam Thompson, Ascension Lutheran Church

Text: Matthew 2:1-20  

Does Herod and the evil and violence he brings, belong in the manger?  He does!  Herod reminds us that Jesus came into the world, our world, one that is filled with violence and terror as it was in Herod's day.  Into the darkness of our world and into the darkness of our own hearts, Christ came with the light of hope, love, joy and peace that the darkness cannot extinguish.  

Pastor Barry Keurulainen, Ascension Lutheran Church

Text: Luke 2:41-52  

Using the Gospel message from Luke 2, we look at Jesus as a twelve-year-old boy in the temple.  However, we focus on the humanity side of Jesus Christ and see just how Jesus is fully human even though he is also fully God.  

Elder Dave Dille, Ascension Lutheran Church