Good Shepherd Lutheran Church

Have you ever wondered how God reacts to the chaos of this world? Does He retreat when bad things happen? Is He a God who has washed His hands of the world and so we can’t find Him when we need Him? In the midst of this worldwide pandemic where is God? Is He able to help us? These are similar questions facing a man we call Blind Bartimaeus. His story is found in Mark 10:46-52. Bartimaeus’ cry for help above the noise of the crowd gives us some insight on how we as Christians can approach Jesus in this time of fear, anxiety, and uncertainty.

In the New Testament it seems like “some people” are always trying to take “someone” to Jesus. Why did they do that? Have you ever felt compelled to bring someone who was lost, hurting, broken, hopeless, to Jesus for forgiveness and healing? Have you ever needed “someone” to take you to Jesus? I invite you to ask the Holy Spirit to open your hearts and come with me to our story where Mark tells us that one day “some people” brought a deaf-mute to Jesus. After they brought the man to Jesus they begged Him to lay hands on the man so he could be healed. (Mark 7:32)

These people worship me with their lips but their hearts are far from me. What is it about our hearts that is so important to God? We will take a look at God's heart and see what God's heart and our hearts have in common. After looking at God's heart it will help us understand why God wants our hearts. Then we will look at what happens to us and the world around us when God has our hearts.

How has Jesus been inviting you to grow in your relationship with Him lately? Has Jesus deepened your faith by sending you out to profess Him to this world that doesn’t know Him? Has it been to ask you to provide service to someone who is hungry and in need of the touch of the Master’s healing hand? Has Jesus “made” you get into a boat to go ahead of Him on a journey while He intercedes for you while you wrestle with a storm in your life? These are just a few of the ways Jesus invited His disciples to grow in their faith in the story found in Mark 6:45-56. If you are searching for answers about what faith in Christ means for your life then we invite you to join us as we explore ways Jesus has proved Himself worthy by turning impossible situations into divine victories.

This sermon explores why we worship and what happens when we worship. We will specifically be looking at Psalm 9, Acts 16, and Mark 5.

Please listen as our Youth Minister talks about Mark 4:1-20, the Parable of the Sower as he discusses it and how it applies to our missions.

When Jesus heals the man with the withered hand he is answering His own question. Is it better, on the Sabbath, to do good or evil, to save life or to kill? His response to the question is to say, "Stretch Out Your Hand." Let's look at what it means to stretch out your hand on a basic level, a Biblical level, and in as an application of the love we can show to God who first loved us.

What was it like the first time you encountered Jesus? Do you remember the first time the words, “Your sins are forgiven” were spoken over you? What about the first time you realized those words spoken every Sunday were specifically for you? If you have questions about Jesus’ authority, ability, willingness and desire to forgive you and heal you then this story about a man who was paralyzed physically and spiritually is for you.

When we say Epiphany we mean that Jesus Christ is the light that came into the world that no darkness can overcome. He is our light. His presence in our lives does for us what light does for the world. We will look at God's wisdom in how Jesus is the light of our lives and how as we get closer to Him we can be light for others.