Sermon by: Robert Austell; June 17, 2018 - Luke 14:12-15; Isaiah 55:1-3a :: Sermon Audio (link) :: Click link to open and play in browser; right-click to save. Sermon audio is also accessible as a free podcast in iTunes. Search for "Good Shepherd Sermons" or "Robert Austell."  Your browser does not support the audio element. ::: Scripture and Music :: Shout to the North (Martin Smith) Let the River Flow (Darryl Evans) Welcome Table (African-American spiritual) :: Sermon Manuscript (pdf) :: This manuscript represents an early draft of the sermon. Some weeks the spoken version varies more than others from the early manuscript. Nevertheless, if you'd prefer to read than to listen, this is provided  for that purpose. The story continues today. Jesus is still around the table at the home of one of the leading Pharisees. Last week we looked at his words to the guests who were trying to maneuver to get a good seat at the table. Jesus taught that God honors humility, which involves a submission of the will, heart, and mind. We had the opportunity to put ourselves in the role of guests, invited into God’s presence. This week, Jesus addresses the host of the dinner. In order to understand his teaching, we must identify ourselves not only as those who are invited to the banquet, but also in the role of the host. As the gathered Church, we are the earthly stewards of God’s Table and those who extend God’s invitation into the world. Jesus’ teaching today raises key questions for us as we try to understand what it means for us to be those receiving and bearing God’s invitation! So, as Jesus says, “When you give a luncheon or a dinner…” (v. 12), understand that his words apply to us… when we give a concert, when we help someone in need, when we share our building space, when we gather to eat, when we gather to worship, when we study God’s Word, when we have VBS. Jesus is talking to us here. We are earthly hosts, bearing the invitation of the Lord. Do Not Invite… (v. 12b) In verse 12, Jesus goes on to tell the host: …do not invite your friends or your brothers or your relatives or rich neighbors… If the exclusion of these seems strange, the reason may sound stranger: …otherwise they may also invite you in return and that will be your repayment. This exclusion sets up the punch line of the parable because this is not expected, nor is what follows about whom to invite. The broader point Jesus is making here is so obvious and given that it makes taking exception to it seem shocking. When we invite a friend or brother or rich neighbor to dinner, there is something in it for us. That is not a bad thing; that’s just the way it is. That’s why most of us invite folks to dinner. We invite friends because we enjoy their company. That’s our “payment” – we enjoy them. We invite family (sometimes) for the same reason. We might take a wealthy business contact to lunch hoping to score some business out of the event. This exclusion sets up the punch line of the parable because this is not expected, nor is what follows about whom to invite. Jesus’ point is not that we should never take these folks to lunch. Instead, he is continuing to use the dinner table as a metaphor for the Kingdom of Heaven. And in the Kingdom, we don’t buy our way in. People are invited out of God’s good and gracious pleasure. Remember, that was the point last week. God is an inviting God and has called out to all who would come to him through Jesus. Do Invite… (v. 13) Instead of inviting only those who can “pay” to come, Jesus paints a different picture of God’s Table. And this really is the punch line of the parable, the unexpected twist. This Table is set for all who would come, regardless of ability to ‘pay’ for a seat. In fact, these seats can’t be bought at all. This is made most clear when those whom we would not expect to come in fact show up and are given a seat: the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind. Expanded into the spiritual realm, the guest list is even mo

Sermon by: Robert Austell; June 10, 2018 - Luke 14:7-11; James 4:5b-10 :: Sermon Audio (link) :: Click link to open and play in browser; right-click to save. Sermon audio is also accessible as a free podcast in iTunes. Search for "Good Shepherd Sermons" or "Robert Austell."  Your browser does not support the audio element. ::: Scripture and Music :: Lord, Whose Love in Humble Service (BEACH SPRING, arr. Austell) Humble Thyself - Awesome God (Hudson - Mullins) Have Thine Own Way, Lord (ADELAIDE) :: Sermon Manuscript (pdf) :: This manuscript represents an early draft of the sermon. Some weeks the spoken version varies more than others from the early manuscript. Nevertheless, if you'd prefer to read than to listen, this is provided  for that purpose. There is this guy driving down the road. He’s got 17 penguins in his car. This cop sees him, stops him, and says, “I don’t know what’s going on here. But you’ve got to take these penguins to the zoo.” The guy’s like, “OK.” The next day the guy is driving and he has the same 17 penguins in the car. The same cop pulls him over and says, “Look, man, I stopped you yesterday and I told you to take these penguins to the zoo.” The guy says, “I took them to the zoo. Today we’re going to the beach.” (Ezra Feinberg from the band Citay) So, what am I doing? Is this a new fad in preaching… being a stand-up preacher? No, I began with a joke because a joke is a good template for understanding how a parable works and we are looking this week and the next two weeks at parables Jesus told around the dinner table. Last week we looked at the first verses of Luke 14. Jesus was invited to a dinner at the home of a prominent religious leader. And this was no ordinary dinner; it was packed with folks who were out to get Jesus – to trick him, trap him, and get him in trouble. The host was one of the Sanhedrin, one of the religious judicial court. The table was filled out with scribes, who were experts in the religious law, and Pharisees, members of a religious political group who wanted to make that religious law the law of the land. And then there was Jesus and one sick man. And in those opening verses Jesus faced the test of whether to help and heal the sick man on the Sabbath, with all those religious folks waiting to catch him doing something against the religious law. He did heal the man and asked them a series of questions that silenced them. And before they knew it, he started telling parables, not meant to be funny, but with a similar form to a joke with a punch line. I want to talk briefly about how parables work, then look at this first one of three in verses 7-11, then at the punch line Jesus delivered through that parable. And maybe, if we pay attention, we’ll get the joke that’s not a joke, but a pointed Word from the Lord for us today. The Parable (vv.7-11) With the disclaimer that analyzing a joke can really kill it, what I want to do briefly is analyze what makes a joke a good one. I can think of at least three things (there may be more): it’s interesting, draws the audience in with points of connection, and then delivers an unexpected ending: the punch line. Let’s look at those three components. Interesting – Any number of things can make a joke or a parable interesting. It may be about something unusual or even ridiculous (17 penguins in a car), it can be about something relevant (a wedding banquet), or it can even appear to be uninteresting (“Did you hear about those actuaries in the news?”) but quickly surprise the disinterested listener with a connection or punch line. Sorry, I don’t have a good joke about actuaries. But you have to be careful for the intro to not be so inaccessible to the listener that they don’t make it to the connection or punch line. I may have lost the average listener at ‘actuary’ (or they would have been stuck on “What’s an actuary?”) But the key is something that makes the audience want to pay attention while also not giving away the punch line. Jesus

Sermon by: Robert Austell; June 3, 2018 - Luke 14:1-6; Matthew 12:1-2,7 :: Sermon Audio (link) :: Click link to open and play in browser; right-click to save. Sermon audio is also accessible as a free podcast in iTunes. Search for "Good Shepherd Sermons" or "Robert Austell."  Your browser does not support the audio element. ::: Scripture and Music :: Prepare the Way (Evans, Nuzum) Come, Ye Sinners (Matthew Smith, Indelible Grace) That's Why We Praise Him (Tommy Walker) :: Sermon Manuscript (pdf) :: This "manuscript" represents an early draft of the sermon. Some weeks the spoken version varies more than others from the early manuscript. Nevertheless, if you'd prefer to read than to listen, this is provided  for that purpose. Listen to a story... There was once a man traveling from Jerusalem to Jericho. On the way he was attacked by robbers. They took his clothes, beat him up, and went off leaving him half-dead. Luckily, a priest was on his way down the same road, but when he saw him he angled across to the other side. Then a Levite religious man showed up; he also avoided the injured man. A Samaritan traveling the road came on him. When he saw the man’s condition, his heart went out to him. He gave him first aid, disinfecting and bandaging his wounds. Then he lifted him onto his donkey, led him to an inn, and made him comfortable. In the morning he took out two silver coins and gave them to the innkeeper, saying, ‘Take good care of him. If it costs any more, put it on my bill—I’ll pay you on my way back.’ What do you think? Which of the three became a neighbor to the man attacked by robbers? “The one who treated him kindly,” the religion scholar responded. Jesus said, “Go and do the same.” (Luke 10:30-37, THE MESSAGE) This is one of the better-known stories Jesus told. Jesus told it to answer the question, “Who is my neighbor?” But it also describes a tension between religious responsibilities. The religious men were on their way, no doubt, to some religious place or function, perhaps even something required by God’s Law. What does God desire? Well, I’m not preaching on that story this morning, but it’s the same tension and the same topic that comes up in today’s text. Jesus is at the house of one of the leading religious people of his day. He’s there on the Sabbath to eat with the religious leaders and is faced with the same situation in his story. Does he follow the “religious rules” or go against them when he encounters a man in need of help? Add to that that Jesus said of himself that he did not come to do away with God’s Law, but to fulfill it. So what does God desire? Today we are beginning a summer-long series inspired by our recent anniversary lunch and open house. I was working with Mark Katibah on the flyer for the event and trying to think of a theme. I saw his wording about HAVING and open house for the neighborhood and I thought, “What God wants is for us to BE and open house to our neighbors.” So that’s our theme for this summer series. I want to look at a number of encounters with Jesus – many around themes of hospitality and welcome – and see what it means for us to be an “open house church.” Sunday Lunch (vv.1-3) When I was growing up, Sunday lunch was a big deal. I suppose it still is for some church-going folks, though it may be more likely to be out at a restaurant than gathered around a table at home. But when I was young it was pretty inviolate. If you wanted to go over to a friend’s house, it was well after Sunday lunch. It was like an extension of worship and a part of family tradition and you didn’t mess with it. That’s a flavor of what’s going on in Luke 14. It is a Jewish context, so it’s the Sabbath meal rather than our Sunday. But it’s a meal tied to weekly worship and observance of God’s commandments. It was also the perfect place for the religious leaders to test Jesus, because a number of the religious laws came into focus at the Sabbath meal. The gist of the Sabbath was that God set t

Sermon by: Robert Austell; May 27, 2018 - Romans 6:14-23 :: Sermon Audio (link) :: Click link to open and play in browser; right-click to save. Sermon audio is also accessible as a free podcast in iTunes. Search for "Good Shepherd Sermons" or "Robert Austell."  Your browser does not support the audio element. ::: Scripture and Music :: Creation Sings the Father's Song (Getty/Townend) Amazing Grace/My Chains are Gone (Newton, Rees, Excell, Tomlin, Giglio) CHOIR: Beautiful Savior (arr. Fettke) O For a Thousand Tongues/One Great Love (arr./chorus David Crowder) :: Sermon Manuscript (pdf) :: This "manuscript" represents an early draft of the sermon. Some weeks the spoken version varies more than others from the early manuscript. Nevertheless, if you'd prefer to read than to listen, this is provided  for that purpose. This is our third week in Romans 6, where the Apostle Paul is offering a series of images to explain our connection to the died-and-risen Jesus. We’ve talked about being buried and raised with Jesus; we’ve talked about being united to Jesus like a man and woman united in marriage; we’ve talked about being dead to sin and alive in Christ; we’ve talked about presenting ourselves to God as instruments for His good and right purposes rather than presenting ourselves to sin as weapons to hurt and destroy ourselves and others. This week, in verses 14-23, Paul offers one more picture of resurrection life in Christ: freedom from slavery. Paul goes to some lengths to chart out two different paths our lives can take, one enslaved to sin and one offered in service to God through Jesus Christ. Today we’ll look at those paths: similar in some ways, but radically different in where they lead us. And we will consider finally what it means to be truly free in Christ. Two Mutually Exclusive Alternatives The overall image Paul uses in these verses is one of slavery and freedom. Actually, to be more accurate, his image is of slavery to one of two masters. Either we are slaves to sin or we are slaves to righteousness. A problem for us reading this is that slavery is such a negative image, that Paul’s language drives home the dangers of enslavement to sin, but may not lead us running with joy toward Jesus! When we hear “slavery” we think of the horrible practice of forced enslavement of one race by another as practiced in our country from the 17th-19th centuries. When Paul speaks of slavery, he is describing a Roman practice of paying off large debts. When the debt was paid, a slave in the Roman Empire could buy their freedom. I know the language stirs up different and stronger images for us, but if you can stick with his point (and it is only an illustration after all), he will show that slavery to Jesus Christ is no slavery at all, but a joyous freedom. Paul continues to hold up the alternatives, moving through a series of comparisons and contrasts.  Let’s look at some: Under Law/Grace (v. 14) – Paul begins by exhorting the Christian, “Sin shall not be master over you!” His reason…? You are not under law but under grace. The Law (specifically God’s Law) is for humanity mastered by sin. It is like the water the Samaritan woman drew from the well. Jesus told her she would be thirsty again. But he offered something different, something more. God’s grace through Jesus Christ is living water, sufficient for sin once and for all. God’s grace is not measured out like the Law, one pardon for one sin, but as an extravagant ocean of grace, wastefully sufficient for all the sin in us. Why then can Paul say, “Sin shall not be master over you?” It is because our debt is paid. We owe nothing for our sin. We need not work off our guilt or shame. It is finished and we owe the Law nothing, for Jesus has paid it all on our behalf. Presenting to Sin/Righteousness (v. 16a) – Paul goes on to ask more questions: “Do you not know that when you present yourselves to someone as slaves for obedience, you are slaves of the one whom you obey…?” He p

Sermon by: Robert Austell; May 20, 2018 - Romans 6:8-13 :: Sermon Audio (link) :: Click link to open and play in browser; right-click to save. Sermon audio is also accessible as a free podcast in iTunes. Search for "Good Shepherd Sermons" or "Robert Austell."  Your browser does not support the audio element. ::: Scripture and Music :: CHOIR: Fill-a Me Up (Choplin) Breathe on Us (Jobe/Cash) Knowing You (Kendrick) This I Believe/Creed (Crocker/Fielding) My Hope is Built on Nothing Less (SOLID ROCK) :: Sermon Manuscript (pdf) :: This "manuscript" represents an early draft of the sermon. Some weeks the spoken version varies more than others from the early manuscript. Nevertheless, if you'd prefer to read than to listen, this is provided  for that purpose. A good family friend is graduating from high school and contemplating enlisting in the Navy. If you enlist in any of the armed forces life becomes very different. There are rules, there is a chain of command, there are disciplines and training and your life is shaped by it. And I think this particular friend will thrive in that environment. The claim of scripture is that following Christ has some similarities. It’s not just a bunch of rules, there is something deeper… there is an obedience and a submission and it also re-shapes your life… who you are. That’s what Paul is talking about in Romans 6, where he offers three illustrations of what new life in Christ is like. Last week we talked a little about the first of these. Through faith we are united with Jesus, including his death and resurrection. That union is signified by our baptism kind of like a marriage union is signified by a wedding ring. Putting the ring on, or even the actual marriage, doesn’t magically work life out for us; we can ignore our “marriage reality” just as surely as we can ignore our “resurrection reality.” But with those new realities – those covenanted unions – comes the opportunity to choose obedience and live them out faithfully in our lives. That’s what the Apostle Paul is getting at in Romans. Through faith we are now united to the risen Jesus, so we have the opportunity to live for him. That indeed makes life very different – as different (even more so!) than being single and being joined in marriage. This week, in verses 8-13, Paul continues talking about death and resurrection, but shifts the imagery to help us think about it in a different way. He introduces some specific military imagery, which we will consider today. A New Lease on Life (vv. 8-10) In verse 8 Paul moves from “here is what God has done” (buried and raised you) to the more active (for us) “here is the way to experience it” (die and live with Christ!) And so he repeats himself about being united with Christ, but now we must choose how to live. And we are to live our life like Christ did: “…the life that he lives, he lives to God.” (v. 10) I think of Lazarus in terms of that passive and active resurrection. Lazarus, much like we who trust Christ, was raised from death to life. It was beyond his power or control, and more than a little mysterious. But from that moment on, when he gazed upon Jesus’ face, he had to make his own decision to live life again, moreover to life it to God. He could have turned away, come to forget the miraculous as a hazy dream, or even figuratively crawled back in the cave to die. But part two of being raised in the power of Christ was choosing to live in grateful and loving obedience to Christ. That’s what it means to “live to God.” Think of someone who has survived a terminal diagnosis or dying on the operating table or being resuscitated after drowning. Those things don’t automatically result in a new perspective on life and living, but often they do. People talk about having a “new lease on life” or embracing life with new hope and purpose. That’s the kind of change of perspective Paul is talking about and what it means to “live to God.” Christ has beat sin and death once and for all. And we

Sermon by: Robert Austell; May 13, 2018 - Romans 6:1-7 :: Sermon Audio (link) :: Click link to open and play in browser; right-click to save. Sermon audio is also accessible as a free podcast in iTunes. Search for "Good Shepherd Sermons" or "Robert Austell."  Your browser does not support the audio element. ::: Scripture and Music :: Lion of Judah (Robin Mark) All I Have is Christ (Jordan Kauflin) CHOIR: In Christ Alone (arr. Cottrell) WT/Cong: This I Believe - The Creed (Crocker, Fielding/Hillsong) We Know that Christ is Raised (ENGELERG) :: Sermon Manuscript (pdf) :: This "manuscript" represents an early draft of the sermon. Some weeks the spoken version varies more than others from the early manuscript. Nevertheless, if you'd prefer to read than to listen, this is provided  for that purpose. We opened the service today by hearing the account of Jesus’ Ascension. I included that because it came some 40 days after Easter and before Pentecost, which we will recognize next Sunday. And while today’s sermon doesn’t focus on the Ascension, one of the important things about it is that we are united to Christ – we are joined to him who has been crucified, raised, and ascended. As we continue looking at the implications of the Resurrection for our present life, this union with the living and ascended Jesus will be important. We have three more weeks in the “Raised for a Reason” series and we will be spending them all in Romans 6. The main idea of Romans 6 is that life looks different because of Jesus Christ! Jesus makes a real difference in one’s life. If life with Christ and life without Christ look no different, then we have missed something crucial about who Jesus is, what he has done, and what he is doing even now. We could talk about that in a number of ways, but the place Paul picks up in chapter six of his letter to the Romans has to do with sin. And he has a lot of questions! Questions Questions (vv. 1-3) He asks, “What about sin?” If Jesus has conquered sin, why is there still sin? Why do I still sin? One quick answer is one we still sometimes hear today, that sin doesn’t really matter because God’s grace covers it all! God has forgiven it all and we shouldn’t get wrapped up in naming sin, judging sin, or paying much attention to sin, because God will forgive it. But Paul nips that in the bud, asking “Are we to continue in sin so that grace may increase?” Paul’s response is: “May it never be!” Clearly, we not only continue to sin, but we should struggle against it. What follows in Romans 6 is an explanation of how we are then to live, particularly with regard to sin. After Paul’s “May it never be!” he goes on to ask two more questions that will set up what follows. The first question is: “How shall we who died to sin still live in it?” The second is related to it: “Or do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus have been baptized into His death?” Both are rhetorical, meaning the point is not just coming up with the answer, but understanding the answer and why Paul asked the question. What Paul is trying to remind us of with these questions is our new reality. Jesus did not need to die and be raised for his own sake. If Jesus death and resurrection were not FOR US, then there was no point to them. Today we will focus on the FOR US part. Baptized into Death (v.4a) Paul describes those who trust in Jesus Christ as those who have “died to sin” and are “baptized into Jesus’ death.” Those are not conditions of Jesus’s work; you don’t have to stop sinning for Jesus to die for you. That wouldn’t even make sense because then he wouldn’t have had to die! No, these are the RESULTS of Jesus’ work. Because Jesus died, we have died to sin. That is one of things baptism signifies; that we are marked by his action. That’s what Paul wants you to understand with his two questions. You have died to sin because you belong to Jesus and he died to sin… don’t you know it? Let me try to illustrate. If the IRS

Sermon by: Robert Austell; April 29, 2018 - Colossians 1:13-23 :: Sermon Audio (link) :: Click link to open and play in browser; right-click to save. Sermon audio is also accessible as a free podcast in iTunes. Search for "Good Shepherd Sermons" or "Robert Austell."  Your browser does not support the audio element. ::: Scripture and Music :: Our God Saves (Baloche, Brown) Cornerstone (Bethel Music - Myrin, Morgan, Liljery, Mote) Worship Team: Living Hope (Wickam, Johnson) Living Hope (chorus) Fairest Lord Jesus (CRUSADER'S HYMN) :: Sermon Manuscript (pdf) :: This "manuscript" represents an early draft of the sermon. Some weeks the spoken version varies more than others from the early manuscript. Nevertheless, if you'd prefer to read than to listen, this is provided  for that purpose. If you could know the future, would you want to? Would it change your actions today? We’ve been watching the show Timeless for a couple of seasons. It involves some good guys, some bad guys, and a lot of time travel. It’s mainly focused on history and the impact of changing key events. But one character has recently developed the ability to catch glimpses of the future. She and several other characters are wrestling with what to do with that information. Well, today’s text is not quite that sci-fi, but it does visit the whole span of history, from Creation to Jesus’ future reign over all things. Colossians 1 will walk us through the person and work of Jesus – who he was and what he did (and is doing still). As we continue in our “Raised for a Reason” series we will be reminded that we were created for a reason, saved for a reason, and yes, raised for a reason. In verses 13-14, the context is set for our text today. Paul writes that God “rescued us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son.” That’s the announcement, the Good News! And God did through Jesus the Son, “in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.” What follows is a description of the Beloved Son and what God has done for us through him. I’m highlighting a number of “He is” statements about who Jesus is – the person of Jesus. And each one says a bit about what he has done – the work of Jesus. All of this describes God’s rescue of you from darkness to His Kingdom, so I’d challenge you to ask yourself those same Timeless questions: Do I want to know this? Does it change anything for me today? I’ll return to those at the end. HE IS the firstborn of all creation (vv.15-17) Starting in verses 15-16, we read that “He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation.” I didn’t use all that in the title because it’s long and the ‘firstborn’ language frames the whole passage. But it is all said about who Jesus is. First, he is image of the invisible God. He is God made visible to humanity. This brings to mind the first chapter of John and the “Word made flesh” who “moved into the neighborhood.” Jesus is God with us, full of grace and truth – visible, tangible, audible, and come among us in the flesh. He is also the “Firstborn of all creation.” This does not mean that Christ was created or born at Creation, but that he is the heir of God’s power and authority over all creation. This relates to the corresponding language and imagery in the rest of this passage which describes the Kingdom of the Beloved Son and His full power, glory, honor, and authority AS God. Indeed, verse 16 goes on to make clear that he was not created, but that “BY HIM all things were created.” And the list of what he has created is not just heavens and earth, but visible and invisible, and all forms of authority and power in heaven and earth. The verse concludes, “…all things have been created THROUGH Him and FOR Him.” The point of all this is not just to show that Jesus is eternally co-existent with the Father or that He was present and involved with Creation, but that godly power and authority over all things belongs to Christ as well. I’m also incl

Sermon by: Robert Austell; April 22, 2018 - Psalm 146 :: Sermon Audio (link) :: Click link to open and play in browser; right-click to save. Sermon audio is also accessible as a free podcast in iTunes. Search for "Good Shepherd Sermons" or "Robert Austell."  Your browser does not support the audio element. ::: Scripture and Music :: Choir: Forever Praise (Martin) Glorious Things of Thee are Spoken (AUSTRIAN HYMN) Meet with Me (Ten Shekel Shirt) Bless the Lord (Andre Crouch) You Have Shown Us (Gloworks: Baloche, Chapman, et al.) :: Sermon Manuscript (pdf) :: This "manuscript" represents an early draft of the sermon. Some weeks the spoken version varies more than others from the early manuscript. Nevertheless, if you'd prefer to read than to listen, this is provided  for that purpose. Have you ever been in way over your head? Way beyond your skill set and your capability? It has been said that there are no foxhole atheists. I don’t know if that is completely true, but I do know that it is very common, perhaps even very instinctual to call out to God when we are really in need. It may be the short prayer, “Help me, God!” or even more to this point the exclamation, “Oh, God!” But I believe there is some innate, created impulse to reach out for HELP when we are in desperate need. And there is often also a thought, a desire, a HOPE, beyond ourselves – that help will come. We are continuing in the series, “Raised for a Reason,” looking at some of the direct results of the new life we have because of the Easter Resurrection of Jesus. Today we are turning to the Hebrew hymnal of Psalms, in which God’s people sang praises because of God’s sure promise of help and hope to those in need. That promise of help and hope have been fully kept in Jesus Christ, in whose name we gather and worship this morning. Today we look at Psalm 146, which is organized in several pretty clear sections. It begins with praise, then a warning about where not to seek help, then the lengthiest part describing why God IS where we should hope and seek help, then a final return to praise because we know this God. I want to look at all that with you and then consider how Jesus IS the very hope and help of God described in this Psalm. PRAISE! (vv.1-2) Psalm 146 begins with whole-hearted praise: 1     Praise the Lord!     Praise the Lord, O my soul! 2     I will praise the Lord while I live;     I will sing praises to my God while I have my being. Praise may seem hard to define, but we know what it is from everyday usage. We praise people for what they do or who they are when we approve of those things. Praise of God is related, but also of a higher order, because what God does and who He is always worthy of praise. If we know God, if we see what God is doing or has done, then we will praise God because He is good. While praise of God is always appropriate, it is fitting in this Psalm because the middle section will detail a number of the things God has done as well as the character of God that stands behind those actions. We will see, too, that after the details of who God is and what God has done, that the Psalm will conclude with more praise. TRUST NOT (vv.3-4) In verses 3-4, before getting to the positive description of who God is and what God has done, the Psalmist takes a brief moment to set up a counter-point. It is natural for human beings to look to earthly power for help and hope, but the introductory warning is: “Do not trust in princes.” (v.3) 3     Do not trust in princes,     [Do not trust] In mortal man,         in whom there is no salvation. 4     His spirit departs, he returns to the earth;     In that very day his thoughts perish. Princes are but mortal men and verse 4 goes on to further describe the mortal limitations of even the powerful people of this world. They, too, die and return to dus

Sermon by: Karen Katibah; April 15, 2018 - Galatians 5:16-25 :: Sermon Audio (link) :: Click link to open and play in browser; right-click to save. Sermon audio is also accessible as a free podcast in iTunes. Search for "Good Shepherd Sermons" or "Robert Austell."  Your browser does not support the audio element. ::: Scripture and Music :: Breathe on Us (Jobe, Cash) Spirit of God, Descend Upon My Heart (MORECAMBE) Spirit of the Living God (Iverson) Holy Spirit (Townend, Getty) :: Sermon Manuscript (pdf) :: This "manuscript" represents an early draft of the sermon. Some weeks the spoken version varies more than others from the early manuscript. Nevertheless, if you'd prefer to read than to listen, this is provided  for that purpose. Good morning church! My name is Karen Katibah, I’m excited to be talking with you all this morning. I am a true G-shep kid, born and raised in this church. Some of you have known me since before I was born, some of you luckier folks have only known me in the last couple of years. I’ve haven’t been around much recently because I don’t live in Charlotte anymore… But actually being a church kid. I accepted Jesus in my heart at a VBS at a young age, I grew up going to Sunday School every week, knowing all the answers, getting all the stickers and then eating my “only one” cookie at 10:30am on my way to the sanctuary. I’ve blocked out the years where our family attended the early service, it was a truly troubling time in my youth. But for most of my life, up until high school and college, I didn’t really understand what it meant to be a Christ-follower. I knew what it meant to follow the rules and say the right things, but I didn’t have a relationship with Jesus, I didn’t know Jesus personally. I credit a lot of my significant faith transformation to InterVarsity, but the Lord planted so many seeds in my childhood and teenage years. One of those seeds happened right in this room, during a sermon that our dear Pastor Robert preached. I can picture exactly where I was sitting on July 2011, when he said something that changed my life. He said “Jesus is not a mission trip.” Whoa. All of my life, I thought the only moments that mattered in my relationship with Jesus were the ones on mission trips, the ones at youth group, the ones on Sunday mornings. But what if a life with Jesus is about so much more? What if our lives aren’t just about the significant mountaintop experiences? What if Jesus not only cares about our Tuesday afternoons, our hours of sitting traffic, our mindless scrolling through Facebook, but actually wants to be involved with them? I believe that we invite Christ to live in our hearts, we are inviting Christ to be an active part of our lives, every moment of every day. I believe that God has assigned significance to everything we do and that anything can be an act of worship and reflection. I believe that nothing means nothing, that every minute matters. When I came on staff with InterVarsity, I got the amazing gift of free IVP books once every few months. One of the first books I received through this mail-out happened to change my life. I have given multiple talks based on this book, I re-read chapters and quotes regularly and I recommend this book to people more than anything else. The thesis of the book, the statement the book was written to support is… “The often unseen and unsung ways we spend our time are what form us…But whether we examine our daily activities theologically or not, they shape our view of God and ourselves. Examining our daily life through the lens of liturgy allows us to see who these habits are shaping us to be, and the ways we can live as people who have been loved and transformed by God.” (p32) The things we do, do things to us. But we can control our routines and we can control our reactions. God cares much more about our heart and our intentions than He does about our actions and He invites us to spend every moment of every day meditating on Him, keep

Sermon by: Robert Austell; April 8, 2018 - John 2:13-22 :: Sermon Audio (link) :: Click link to open and play in browser; right-click to save. Sermon audio is also accessible as a free podcast in iTunes. Search for "Good Shepherd Sermons" or "Robert Austell."  Your browser does not support the audio element. ::: Scripture and Music :: See What a Morning (Resurrection Song) (Getty/Townend) The Father's Love (This is Your House) (Austell/Dawson) SOLO: The Temple Song (Austell, Dawson) - see audio and lyrics below CHOIR: Peace I Give to You (feat. Chris Orr, violin) (Davis) How Firm a Foundation (FOUNDATION) This is a guitar version of the piano song I sang in church. Your browser does not support the audio element. And the piano version from church. The Temple SongBy Robert Austell and Gerrit Dawson, Easter 2000. Taking up a robe of flesh, to the far country he came. The Son made his way among the lost; He traveled to his Father's house. Yet the song of home was drowned by the din of coarse trade and coin. "Out, out!" he commanded; Tables overturned, coins scattered. "Out, out!" he commanded, "I am the Temple now!" "Tear it down and I will raise it!" Standing in the cluttered court among the baffled and enraged Jesus lifted up his hands to sing, "Father Here I am!" Here I am with the children you gave me. We sing your praise. (Chorus) Zeal for his Father's house, the house of many mansions, Filled his heart and swelled his voice. I came to give you life, not dwell in a den of thieves. Come, come in to my Father's house; I am the Place of Meeting now So where I am, you may be with me today and always (Chorus) :: Sermon Manuscript (pdf) :: This "manuscript" represents an early draft of the sermon. Some weeks the spoken version varies more than others from the early manuscript. Nevertheless, if you'd prefer to read than to listen, this is provided  for that purpose. I hope you all had a good Easter Sunday and weekend last week. Today and in the weeks to come we are going to build on the news of resurrection and look at a number of scriptures describing God’s purpose for us in the salvation and resurrection offered to us in Jesus Christ. I’m calling this series, “Raised for a Reason,” and today we will look at an event early in Jesus’ ministry when he looked ahead to this Resurrection work that he would do. Today we’ll look at the so-called “Clearing of the Temple” and then what Jesus had to say about it afterwards. I’ll confess this up front: this story has fascinated me since I was a little kid. It’s the one time we get to see Jesus really losing his cool. It was intriguing to read about my Savior – the perfect man – becoming so angry that he literally tore down people’s display tables and booths and drove them away with a whip. Wow! No gentle Jesus that day. And here’s the fascinating part – this WAS the Savior, the Son of God, the perfect One. There was something right, something righteous, about his anger. And so, it is important for us to understand this story – for two reasons. One is to know what so angered Jesus in order that we not so displease God that we stir up His righteous anger against us. The other reason is that if we want to know God and experience God in relation to us and our lives, we need to love the things God loves and attune our hearts and spirits to his. We need to know what stirred up Jesus so passionately, in order to have the mind and heart of Christ, the way to the Father. Since Jesus speaks of tearing down the Temple, I’d like to divide the sermon into three phases of a building project to help it stick in our minds more easily. For those of you in the middle of renovations, perhaps this scripture will come to mind as you move slowly through the work of renovation. Phase One: Clear Out the Temple The bulk of this story deals with phase one – with clearing out the Temple. What Jesus saw in the Temple was not unusual or out of the ordinary. It was Passover time, which meant people were travel