Good Shepherd Lutheran Church of San Diego Weekly Sermon Podcast

Sometimes Jesus calls disciples directly and other times He calls disciples through other disciples. He says of Christians, "You are the light of the world" (John 5:14), which is a weighty call.

Breathing involved two things, in and out. Also, a person can hold their breath but not for very long. While this is obvious, consider how this reflects the Holy Spirit's power in making us into a new creation. As a new creation in Christ, we not only receive repentance and forgiveness, we also receive life. So it is with the gift of breathing. We breathe in repentance and forgiveness, then we breathe out life to others. This is the full life of Jesus' disciples

John 1:1-14, In this message we reflect on the birth of Jesus, our Savior, we remember one other "Wondrous Births" that began this sermon series at the beginning of Advent. As we celebrate the birth of our Savior, we also celebrate the birth of Christians.

God's grace is good news, news for us to share. In a way, Jesus brings out the best in people because His grace changes us. This is why we sing joyous songs on Christmas; for God has reached out, reached in, and done that which we cannot do for ourselves. Thanks be to God!

Luke 1:26ff. Jesus' wondrous birth demonstrates God's desire to be present with you and me in the most wondrous way.

Luke 1: Where would we be without the preaching of John the Baptist? His amazing, wondrous birth to Elizabeth and Zechariah not only demonstrates that God worked His salvation story long ago, it also demonstrates that God continues the same among us today.

(1 Samuel 1): There are things in life that we do not understand at the moment. All Hannah ever wanted was a child, and when she gave birth to Samuel she had no idea the role he would play in God's salvation story. Could it be that God's salvation story is bigger than we realize? He uses normal, even average people and their passions to touch the world.

Promises are made all the time and in our experience they are broken all the time, except those made by God. He promised Abram (Abraham) a couple things: a son and a land. But how does this help us in this season of Advent?

Christ the King Sunday (Last Sunday of the Church Year) points to how our lives are to embody the presence of Christ. The biggest barrier for us is not a lack of faith, but a lack of imagination. This last Sunday of the church year we receive a parable from Jesus challenging and inspiring our imaginations to grasp our whole vocation in baptism: to both embody Christ as a servant as we go about out daily routine and to engage every part of our world as the redeemed children of God

Funeral sermon