Disciples of Jesus need to learn how to pray. We need Jesus to teach us to ask for those things which our Father in heaven promises us. We need to learn to claim in prayer what he wants for us more than what we want from him. However, learning to pray is not like many of the other things we learn to do in our lives. Once we know how to write our name, tie our shoes, or ride a bike, the learning is done. There is virtually no danger we will forget how to do those things. Not so with prayer. Prayer is not something we learn to do once and then know how to do correctly for the rest of our lives. Learning to pray consists of a lifetime of persistence and struggle. But when we struggle with God in prayer, it is not an indication that something is wrong but that everything is right. Struggle is part of the very nature of prayer. At the heart of the blessings it brings in our lives of faith.
 
The Bible reading for this message is Genesis 32:22-30.

Video of this worship service and message can be found here.

This message is Part 2 in our series: Lord, Increase Our Faith.

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Remember your Savior Jesus loves you! May he bless you with his grace!

A Christian marriage is established not on the success of the individuals, but rather on the gracious love of Christ that forgives the sins of husband and wife and enables them to forgive and love one another.

This message was preached for the Christian Wedding of Cathy Maddox and David Garrett on 14 October 2022 @ King of Kings Lutheran Church in Maitland, FL.

The Bible reading for this message is Ephesians 4:31-32.

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Remember your Savior Jesus loves you! May he bless you with his grace!

Gratitude is the appreciation and thankfulness we feel when someone does something kind to us or for us. There are two key factors that influence the intensity of gratitude. First, there is the deservedness factor. Say you do a favor for your neighbor, picking up his mail when he is out of town. A month later he does a favor for you, giving you a ride to the airport. You are grateful for his help, but not overwhelmingly so. You feel by doing a favor for him, you deserved his help to some degree. Second, there is the generosity factor. Say you do that favor for your neighbor, picking up his mail when he is out of town. When he gets back, he gives you a hundred-dollar bill. You’re stunned. “I can’t accept. This is too generous.” Apply this to God. Consider the deservedness factor. What does God owe us? How deserving are we of his blessing? Consider the generosity factor. What has he done for us? What blessings has he given us now? What blessings has he promised us in eternity? As Jesus increases our faith, so that we accurately answer all those questions, we become more than grateful. We overflow with gratitude.
 
The Bible reading for this message is Luke 17:11-19.

Video of this worship service and message can be found here.

This message is Part 1 in our series: Lord, Increase Our Faith.

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Remember your Savior Jesus loves you! May he bless you with his grace!

This weekend we were going to start our new worship series – “Lord, Increase Our Faith,” but the Lord had other plans. Hurricane Ian made a direct hit on the southwest side of our state and plowed its way northeast over our homes and communities here in Central Florida. Tremendous amounts of rain fell from the heavens, causing lakes and waterways to flood homes and communities. Relentless winds knocked down trees and weaker structures, leaving millions without power. Devastation lay in the wake of the hurricane, especially where it made landfall. Yet in his appointed time, the Lord calmed the seas and stole the breath of the storms. With unfathomable grace, he preserved the lives of many and provided rescue for others. What else can a family of believers do in the aftermath of such a disaster than offer thanks for God’s gracious mercy? The Lord of wind and wave continues to watch over us. To him be glory and thanksgiving this day and always!

The Bible readings for this message are Mark 4:35-41 and Jonah 2:1-9.

Video of this worship service and message can be found here.

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Remember your Savior Jesus loves you! May he bless you with his grace!

“It’s just too much.” Maybe there are times when you feel like you’ve wronged someone just one time too many. Maybe there are times when feel like you’ve wandered from a close connection to Christ and his people for far too long. Maybe there are times when your guilt weighs on you that much heavier or your hurt cuts that much more deeply or you feel so broken that you can’t put the pieces back together anymore. In those times, in those seasons of life, we might think to ourselves, “It’s just too much.” Resignation, despair, doubt creep in and you feel like you’ve lost all hope or you’re losing it. Yet in his Word, our God shows us time and time and time again that even though “our sins they are many, his mercy is more.” No matter how many wrongs you’ve done. No matter how far you’ve roamed. No matter how heavy the burden or the hurt or the brokenness that weighs on your heart and life, his—God’s mercy is more through our Savior Jesus Christ.
 
The Bible reading for this message is Micah 7:18-20.

Video of this worship service and message can be found here

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Remember your Savior Jesus loves you! May he bless you with his grace!

We find lasting comfort in Christ Jesus, our strength and our portion forever. This message was preached for the Christian Victory Service of Gloria Guderyon on 23 September 2022 @ King of Kings Lutheran Church in Maitland, FL.

The Bible reading for this message is Psalm 73:23-26.

Video of this worship service and message can be found here.

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Remember your Savior Jesus loves you! May he bless you with his grace!

There are more than 2,300 Bible passages that speak about money. Why? Money is a master Satan frequently tempts us to serve. And that evil foe knows how successful his efforts with money can be. Money provides us with a false comfort and a sense of security. It serves as a source of pride. It serves as a wonderful tool for a favorite pastime: justifying ourselves in our own eyes and the eyes of others. Jesus knows that serving money makes it impossible to serve God. The human heart is not big enough for both. As a result, Jesus does all he can to expose the futility of serving money. He also helps us see that the only one truly worth serving is our gracious, loving God. When we serve God, money is put in its proper place. Instead of money being a lord to serve, it becomes a resource for serving the Lord. This is the hard truth. There is no way for us to serve both God and money. But we can serve God with our money.
 
The Bible reading for this message is 1 Timothy 6:6-10, 17-19.

Video of this worship service and message can be found here.

This message is Part 6 in our series: Hard Truth.

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Remember your Savior Jesus loves you! May he bless you with his grace!

“He’s lost.” We use that term not only to refer to someone who is bewildered about where they are but also to refer to someone who is in a helpless, hopeless state. Mankind’s natural state is one of complete spiritual helplessness, a profound lostness. It manifests itself in countless ways. The one who simply wants God to leave him alone: lost. The one who feels she can handle life on her own: lost. The one who thinks he has the right to repent of his sins on his own timetable and on his own terms: lost. The one who thinks God owes them in some way: lost. Wandering around physically lost can lead to winding up in bad places. But the hard truth is that wandering around spiritually lost puts you in the worst place of all. Fortunately, Jesus does not leave us alone in our lostness. He relentlessly seeks us. He involves the rest of the Christian community in seeking the lost and rejoicing over the found.
 
The Bible reading for this message is Luke 15:1-10.

Video of this worship service and message can be found here.

This message is Part 5 in our series: Hard Truth.

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Remember your Savior Jesus loves you! May he bless you with his grace!

It is an unavoidable hard truth. Our relationship with Jesus will put us in situations where we must decide where love for him ranks compared to love for other people and things. And Jesus is not content to be one of many important things in our life; he wants to be first. He wants us to follow his Word unwaveringly, even when he asks us to do difficult things. As a result, following Jesus will force us to let go of things we love and embrace things we would naturally loath. Jesus is loving and honest. He doesn’t hide this hard truth! Instead, he tells us up front that we must count the cost of following him. That means calculating what we might have to give up as his followers. He wants us to do that now, ahead of time, rather than waiting until we are in the heat of the moment and emotions are running high. However, our calculations should not only consider what we might give up for Jesus. They also entail calculating what we get through him! When we perceive the infinite blessings we find in Christ, the decisions we must make, while difficult, will be clear. Whatever is lost as we follow Jesus pales in comparison to what we gain.
 
The Bible reading for this message is Deuteronomy 30:15-20.

Video of this worship service and message can be found here.

This message is Part 4 in our series: Hard Truth.

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Remember your Savior Jesus loves you! May he bless you with his grace!

Everyone knows that humility is a positive trait and pride is a negative one. So, why bother talking about what we already know? Because in spite of that knowledge, we still helplessly fall into the trap of pride. We cannot help but think that our ascent to the exalted status we desire is our responsibility. We even take our exaltation into our own hands, either by treating poorly those we believe we can stand on top of or by showing favoritism to those we believe can provide us with upward mobility. Rather than minimizing pride as a sin that is common or harmless, Jesus’ words today confront us with this hard truth. Those who exalt themselves will be humbled by God. But Jesus also gives us the promise we need to be freed from pride’s trap. Our exaltation doesn’t need to be our responsibility because Jesus has already made it his. Those who humble themselves Christ will exalt.
 
The Bible reading for this message is Luke 14:1,7-14.

Video of this worship service and message can be found here.

This message is Part 3 in our series: Hard Truth.

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Remember your Savior Jesus loves you! May he bless you with his grace!