Throughout the world, we see examples of light and dark. From the Chronicles of Narnia, Lord of the Rings, Harry Potter, and yes, even Star Wars, we see stories of the light versus the darkness in literature and movies. Every human being, in fact, struggles with the darkness inside us against the light of Christ shining through us. We don't want to admit, and we try to hide, the darkness within us. As Christians, we have a name for this darkness: Sin. But Jesus has the answer: Light must come into this world, and into our hearts. Light shows us the way of our journey! Light reveals to us what we don't want to see. Light overcomes our fears! Embrace the light, and embrace God's promise to send light into our lives. Pastor David Moerbe shares this Christmas message from Good Shepherd Lutheran Church in Gardendale, Ala.

On Reformation Sunday, we celebrate the life and works of Martin Luther. Luther faced three distinct challenges that we still face to this day: Can I trust God? Can I stand firm when my faith is being tested? Do I believe that Jesus is absolutely enough in my life?

Too often, our pride, our performance and our pleasure stand in the way of allowing Jesus to be truly enough for us. Living a life of faith simply means this: I believe that God's got this, that He is in control, that He will always have my back.

Through Jesus, we trade our pride, our performance and our pleasure for God's perfection, proclamation, and praise.

Pastor David Moerbe shares this week's message from Good Shepherd Lutheran Church in Gardendale, Ala.

How many times have we tried to put faith in something other than the Lord? How often do we put our faith in our works instead? What is faith, how does Satan and the world challenge our faith, and what does the Lord do to help build our faith? Can we trust in the Lord, and in His plan? Can we believe all of this is real? Faith isn't something we can create by ourselves. God helps to build our faith by hearing the word of Jesus, by providing us with mutual encouragement, and to activate our faith! Pastor David Moerbe shares this week's message from Good Shepherd Lutheran Church in Gardendale, Ala.

Are we foolish or are we wise? The answer is probably "yes" -- at one time or another. In Matthew 27, Jesus shares the story of two men who built houses, the wise one who built his house on the rock, and the foolish one who built his house on the sand. With a strong foundation built on the Word of God, we are equipped to handle the difficulties life will inevitably bring us. The Reformation was a rediscovery of the importance of this foundation: To God's Word Alone! How does the Bible describe the Word of God? The Bible is not a book of rules to live by, but instead is the story of God rescuing His people, to make us wise to the gift of salvation. If you want to be wise, spend time reading the Bible and getting into God's Word. Pastor David Moerbe shares this week's message from Good Shepherd Lutheran Church in Gardendale, Ala.

No Guts, No Glory! That's the motto of today's world driven for fame, power, and riches. It's the motto of a self-centered world fueling man's ego and pride. But what is God's motto? What is the motto we live by as followers of Jesus? How about this: Soli Deo Gloria - To God Be All Glory! That's the motto of the Reformation. But what is "glory" and how can we "give God all the glory"? In Part 2 of our Re*Formed Sermon Series in honor of the 500th Anniversary of the Reformation, we take a look at 8 Keys to Giving God all the Glory in a Self-Centered, Glorified World. Pastor David Moerbe shares this week's message (Sept. 17, 2017) from Good Shepherd Lutheran Church in Gardendale, Ala.

As we approach the 500th anniversary of the Protestant Reformation, people all over the world are planning celebrations to commemorate the event. There are seven truths in the Reformation we will be looking at. But does the Reformation still matter today, 500 years later? Why does the Reformation still matter? We have all lost valuables that we have searched to recover. The Reformation was that recovery for what was lost. If the Son sets us free, we are free indeed. But prior to the Reformation, we had lost that freedom of the Gospel. So now that the freedom has been found, why does it still matter today? Pastor David Moerbe shares this week's message from Good Shepherd Lutheran Church in Gardendale, Ala.

We don't like to ever tell ourselves no. We can come up with dozens of ways to justify our actions. Temptation does not come from outside sources. The devil didn't make you do it. Temptation comes from within. To move from being just a believer to a fired-up disciple of Christ, we must learn to deny yourself, take up your cross and follow Jesus. It's the "denying ourselves" that we too often forget to do. The Holy Spirit, our gift at our baptism, leads us to worship, to believe and to deny ourselves. Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, gentleness and self-control -- this is what we must clothe ourselves with each day. How has God shaped each one of us to serve in His kingdom? Pastor Ed Brashier shares this week's message from Good Shepherd Lutheran Church in Gardendale, Ala.

"Let us run with endurance the race that is set before us," we hear in Hebrews chapter 12, verse 1. We all have our race to run, given to us by God. But the first part of that verse is also important: "We are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses." We have people in our lives, past and present, cheering us on. We have people cheering us to throw off the weight of sin and doubt so we can run our race with joy. Fix our eyes of Jesus and He will guide us to the finish line. We will never run alone! Pastor David Moerbe shares this week's message from Good Shepherd Lutheran Church in Gardendale, Ala.

Your race begins the day you were baptized and ends the day you die. If you are a follower of Christ, you're in the race. But what does it mean to run this race God has given us? What slows us down? What stops us in our tracks? No matter where you are in your race, those who have gone before you are cheering you on. Physically we may limp or crawl across the finish line, but spiritually, by keeping our eyes fixed on Jesus, we can finish strong! Pastor David Moerbe shares this week's message from Good Shepherd Lutheran Church in Gardendale, Ala.

At some point, we must go from talking about doing something to actually doing it. We talk about sharing our faith or inviting a neighbor to church, but do we actually do it? In this message series about the Lord's Prayer, we've talked about the prayer's beauty, but that doesn't get us any closer to actually praying it, from engaging with the prayer when we pray it in church. What are the obstacles we just can't get over? Are we afraid God doesn't really listen to our prayers, or doesn't really care? Do we think God is fed up with us and our repeated mistakes? Or are we even willing to listen to what God has to say to us? Or maybe we just don't bother because we think it won't make any difference? Pastor David Moerbe shares this week's message from Good Shepherd Lutheran Church in Gardendale, Ala.