Keep the Main Thing

October 23rd, 1994. All Saints’ Sunday at Vision of Glory Lutheran Church. This message from Pastor Leland Evenson is titled “Take a Load off Your Heart.” Drawing from David’s famous prayer in 1 Chronicles 29:10-19, Pastor Lee identifies four qualities that mark those who truly impact others for Christ. Four things that show up in the lives of the saints—those who’ve gone before us and left an undeniable mark on the world.

Pastor Lee opens with a remarkable story about an expectant mother who had to have complete bed rest for the last 10 weeks of her pregnancy. What Pastor Lee marveled at, was she also had complete God rest. Pastor Lee tells us that if we know Jesus, we have His life within us. And in order to carry that life and for that life to come forth in us, we need to learn what this woman had learned. We need complete God rest. Pastor Lee uses three words to outline change: the Position, the Prescription, and the Person.

In today’s sermon, Pastor Lee continues a series he started on prayer. In this message he uses the letter R from the word prayer to teach us, that R can stand for Relationships. Emphasizing that is where the power lies. Prayer isn’t a puzzle to solve. It’s not a transaction or a technique. It’s a relationship—communion with a Father who knows us, hears us, and cares about every part of our lives. That is where the power is.

Pastor Lee opens with one of his most famous stories. In that story there is a single line that captures what Pastor Lee sees as the tragedy of the church. We’re afraid to follow the Lion of Judah into the future. Instead, we want to go back to see where He’s been. We have turned our churches into museums. We see God’s faithfulness only in history. On this Reformation Sunday, Pastor Lee calls us back to the basics, giving us the three essentials that Luther discovered, and that the church desperately needs today.

Titled, “Not Good if Detached,” first delivered on April 28th, 1991. Pastor Lee opens with a personal story about leaving family after a visit. Having to be physically separated from those he loved so deeply was painful. Pastor Lee makes the observation: we’re not wired to be detached from the people we love. And that’s how God designed us to relate to Him. He wants us abiding in Him—constantly connected, deeply rooted, living in His presence moment by moment. Working from John 15:1-8, Pastor Lee shows us the image Jesus used. I am the vine and you are the branches.

The first Sunday after Easter, 1991. A sermon from Pastor Leland Evenson is titled “Wind at Your Back.” Pastor Lee addresses something many of us have experienced: the letdown that comes after a big event or an emotional high. Pastor Lee brings us into that room where the disciples were deflated days after the resurrection. Wonder and doubt mixed together. Was it really true? What happens now? Where do we go from here? The wind was completely knocked out of their sails. Then Jesus came to them. Stepping right through the locked doors of that room where they huddled in fear. His presence, put the wind back in their sails. But how do we experience that wind in our backs today? Pastor Lee gives us three essential words to help us get the wind back in our sails.

Pastor Lee preaches from John 12:22-28, and he opens with a statement we’ve all heard. “I’m worth more dead than I am alive.” Pastor Lee does something striking: he agrees with that statement. But he takes it deeper. He suggests that Jesus Himself struggled with this reality—knowing that in some sense, He was worth more to us dead than alive. The reality of His upcoming crucifixion on our behalf. It wasn’t something He welcomed; it was something He wrestled with. Pastor Lee central question of this message—really, the central question of the Christian life: What is the purpose of your life? What are you dying for? What are you living for?

Communion Sunday, March 3rd, 1991. The message from Pastor Lee is titled “What Makes You Mad.” Pastor Lee opens his sermon by reminding us something important: it’s not really worth getting angry over something small—like a penny, as he illustrates. God designed us with the emotion of anger. The issue is how we use it. Pastor Lee reminds us that anger can be reflective and positive, or it can be purely reactionary and destructive. The difference matters enormously.He draws from the Gospel lesson for that Sunday, which describes Jesus in the temple in Jerusalem—overturning tables, driving out the money changers. It’s one of the few times we see Jesus visibly angry. And Pastor Lee uses this scene to explore what righteous anger looks like.

Titled “Handling His Portfolio,” Pastor Lee uses Malachi 3:8-18 as the backdrop for a message on tithing. He invites us to view tithing not as a burden or obligation, but as an adventure—something that can bring real joy to the person who tithes. Pastor Lee helps us understand that everything already belongs to God. Everything we possess is part of His gift to us. Giving is the natural way for us to live. We are designed to give, because God is a giver. We’re created in His image. Generosity flows from our very nature when we’re aligned with God’s.