Christ For You

The Law of Love | Matthew 22:34–46 | Trinity 18 (Pastor Kress)

All Things Visible And Invisible | Luke 10:18 | St. Michael & All Angels 2026

All Things For Good | Romans 8:28 | Funeral for +Sally Swords+

What does it really mean when Scripture says that “all things work together for good”? Does that mean everything that happens is good? Does it mean suffering is secretly a blessing? And what do you do when life gives you something that does not look good at all?

In this funeral sermon on Romans 8:28, Pastor Rojas reflects on one of the most comforting, and most difficult, promises in all of Scripture. What did Paul mean when he said “all things”? Does that include sickness? Dementia? Grief? Loss? Death?

And what does “good” mean? A better life? Less pain? An answered prayer? Or is God promising something much greater than temporary relief?

How can Christians say “we know” when there is so much we do not understand? What do we actually know when we cannot explain why God allowed something to happen? And where should we look when we are tempted to wonder whether God has forgotten us?

The answer is not found in charts, explanations, or attempts to connect every painful dot in our lives. It is found somewhere else entirely.

And what changes when faith finally gives way to sight?

Subscribe & Share if this sermon strengthened your faith.

🎧 Spotify: Christ For You
🇧🇷 Portuguese Podcast (“Cristo Para Você”)
🌐 Website: https://www.zionwg.org/podcast

Looking for a faithful Confessional Lutheran church in the Winter Garden, Florida area? We’d love to welcome you to Zion Evangelical Lutheran Church.

To support the preaching of God’s Word through this podcast and other outreach efforts, visit: https://secure.myvanco.com/L-ZCN9/home

Luke 7:11–17 | Why Do We Talk About Death So Much?

Why does the Church talk about death so much? Why do Christian hymns, sermons, and prayers keep returning to something most people would rather avoid? Is Christianity unusually preoccupied with death, or is there a reason the Bible refuses to look away from it?

In this sermon on Luke 7:11–17, Pastor Rojas reflects on the reality of death, the grief it causes, and the comfort Jesus gives to those who mourn. At the gate of Nain, two processions meet: one following Jesus, the Lord of Life, and the other following a dead man, the only son of a grieving widow.

Why does Jesus tell this woman, “Do not weep”? Why can He say something that would sound cruel coming from almost anyone else? What does it mean that Jesus sees her before she ever asks Him for help? And what does His compassion reveal about the way He looks at us in our own sorrow?

Why does Luke make a point of saying that Jesus “gave him to his mother”? Why is that simple sentence so important? What does this account teach us about grief, resurrection, and the Christian hope for those we love who have died in the Lord?

This sermon examines why Christians do not need to ignore death, soften it, or learn to become comfortable with it, and why even the darkest reality of human life can become a place of profound comfort when Jesus Christ stands in the middle of it.

Subscribe & Share if this sermon strengthened your faith.

🎧 Spotify: Christ For You🇧🇷 Portuguese Podcast (“Cristo Para Você”)🌐 Website: https://www.zionwg.org/podcast

Looking for a faithful Confessional Lutheran church in the Winter Garden, Florida area? We’d love to welcome you to Zion Evangelical Lutheran Church.

To support the preaching of God’s Word through this podcast and other outreach efforts, visit: https://secure.myvanco.com/L-ZCN9/home

Matthew 6:24–34

What makes you feel safe? How much money would need to be in the bank before you could finally relax? What would the doctor need to say? What would need to change in your family? What would tomorrow have to look like before you could finally say, “Everything is going to be okay”?

In this sermon on Matthew 6:24–34, Pastor Rojas reflects on Jesus’ words about worry, little faith, the birds of the air, and the lilies of the field. Why does Jesus connect anxiety with “little faith”? Can you believe in God and still struggle to trust Him? Can your faith feel strong while your heart is quietly depending on something else for peace?

What does your worry reveal about what you actually trust? What has to happen before your heart can rest? Why does Jesus tell anxious people to look at birds and study flowers? Why does He remind His disciples that their heavenly Father already knows what they need?

And what does Jesus mean when He says to “seek first the kingdom of God”? Why does He describe food, clothing, money, and security as things that will simply be “added”? What happens when those added things become the main things? And what happens when good gifts from God quietly become the things we depend on to feel safe?

Can you plan without trusting your plan? Save without trusting your savings? Seek treatment without making good test results the source of your peace? What does strong faith actually look like when life feels uncertain?

This sermon examines worry as a diagnostic of faith, the difference between believing in God and trusting God, and the deeper question underneath so much of our anxiety: What do you need to feel safe?

Subscribe & Share if this sermon strengthened your faith.

🎧 Spotify: Christ For You🇧🇷 Portuguese Podcast (“Cristo Para Você”)🌐 Website: https://www.zionwg.org/podcast

Looking for a faithful Confessional Lutheran church in the Winter Garden, Florida area? We’d love to welcome you to Zion Evangelical Lutheran Church.

To support the preaching of God’s Word through this podcast and other outreach efforts, visit: https://secure.myvanco.com/L-ZCN9/home

Luke 17:11–19 | The Hidden Danger of Getting What You Want

Can getting exactly what you prayed for actually become dangerous to your faith? Why did ten lepers cry out to Jesus for mercy, but only one return after being healed? Why do we often pray more when life is falling apart than when everything is going well? And what happens when you finally start thinking you don’t need God quite as much anymore?

In this sermon on Luke 17:11–19, Pastor Rojas reflects on the strange danger that comes not only with suffering, but with prosperity. Israel faced it when they entered the Promised Land. The ten lepers faced it when Jesus restored everything they had lost. And we face it whenever the crisis passes, the prayer is answered, and life starts going our way.

Why is it sometimes easier to remember God when you’re desperate? What if the diagnosis disappears, the marriage improves, the money comes in, the anxiety lifts, or life finally becomes comfortable? Would you actually pray more? Read Scripture more? Listen more closely to God’s Word? Or would you slowly begin living as though you no longer needed Him?

What was different about the one leper who returned? Why does Jesus tell him, “Your faith has saved you”? Was he saved because he remembered to say thank you? What does thanksgiving actually reveal about faith? And what did he find at Jesus’ feet that the other nine missed?

This sermon examines the hidden spiritual danger of getting what you want, the difference between being thankful for something and thankful to Someone, and why both suffering and prosperity should drive us to the same place: back to Jesus.

Subscribe & Share if this sermon strengthened your faith.

🎧 Spotify: Christ For You
🇧🇷 Portuguese Podcast (“Cristo Para Você”)
🌐 Website: https://www.zionwg.org/podcast

Looking for a faithful Confessional Lutheran church in the Winter Garden, Florida area? We’d love to welcome you to Zion Evangelical Lutheran Church.

To support the preaching of God’s Word through this podcast and other outreach efforts, visit: https://secure.myvanco.com/L-ZCN9/home

The Old Testament is about Jesus. But the question is “how?”

Is Isaiah 53 about Jesus? What about David? Joseph? The Passover lamb? Manna? Is this really what the Old Testament is about, or are we just reading Jesus into it?

You’ll learn the messianic prophecies and scriptural types that Scripture itself explicitly confirms. You’ll see how the Old Testament actually reveals Jesus—not through guessing or reinterpreting the words, but through what Holy Scripture itself plainly says.

By the end, you won’t just know the Old Testament points to Jesus. You’ll understand how.

Our Confidence | Psalm 27:1-4 | Funeral of +Bill Lambton+ (by Pastor Frye)

Mark 6:14–29 | Martyrdom of St. John the Baptist

Why did Herod keep listening to John the Baptist if John’s preaching troubled him so deeply? Why do we gladly hear sermons about other people’s sins, but become defensive when the Word turns toward us? And what should we do when a sermon makes us uncomfortable?

In this sermon for the Martyrdom of St. John the Baptist, Pastor Rojas reflects on Herod’s strange response to John: he feared him, protected him, was perplexed by him, and yet kept listening gladly.

The problem wasn’t that Herod hated preaching. He loved preaching, until the sermon confronted the sin he refused to give up. The same danger faces us. We can admire faithful preaching, listen to endless sermons and podcasts, and still avoid repentance by surrounding ourselves only with voices that tell us what we want to hear.

So what do you do when God’s Word exposes your sin? Repent. Not by punishing yourself or earning your way back to God, but by stopping your excuses, confessing the truth, and running to Christ.

John preached repentance because Christ had come. The same Word that exposes your sin points you to the Lamb of God who takes it away. Jesus carried every sin the sermon uncovers to the cross, died for it, and rose again to give you forgiveness, resurrection, and everlasting life.

Subscribe & Share if this sermon strengthened your faith.
🎧 Spotify: Christ For You
🇧🇷 Portuguese Podcast (“Cristo Para Você”)
🌐 Website: https://www.zionwg.org/podcast

Looking for a faithful Confessional Lutheran church in the Winter Garden, Florida area? We’d love to welcome you to Zion Evangelical Lutheran Church.

To support the preaching of God’s Word through this podcast and other outreach efforts, visit: https://secure.myvanco.com/L-ZCN9/home

What Does It Cost To Join The Church? | John 1:43–51 | St. Bartholomew

What does it cost to become a Christian? Nothing. And what is the Gospel worth? Everything.

In this sermon for the Feast of St. Bartholomew, Pastor Rojas reflects on Nathanael’s call to “come and see.” Jesus knew Nathanael before Nathanael knew Him, and He promised something greater: heaven opened through the Son of Man.

The same is true for us. Christ sees our sin completely, yet loves us completely. He paid the infinite price for our salvation through His death and resurrection. The Gospel costs us nothing because Jesus paid everything.

Bartholomew later gave his life for this confession, not to earn salvation, but because Christ was worth more than life itself. The world may take everything from us, but if we have Christ, we still have more than everything.

Subscribe & Share if this sermon strengthened your faith.

🎧 Spotify: Christ For You
🇧🇷 Portuguese Podcast (“Cristo Para Você”)
🌐 Website: https://www.zionwg.org/podcast

Looking for a faithful Confessional Lutheran church in the Winter Garden, Florida area? We’d love to welcome you to Zion Evangelical Lutheran Church.

To support the preaching of God’s Word through this podcast and other outreach efforts, visit: https://secure.myvanco.com/L-ZCN9/home