"The Good Life" What is the good life? Ask everyone here this morning – what does the good life look like to you? Maybe it’s being up north, being on vacation, being far, far away from the stresses and difficulties of every day life…being away from work…being from from any type of pain and suffering we face. The good life is much better than every difficult thing we face in life. What is the good life? That’s really the question and the desire of the man in our lesson today who came to Jesus and and who wanted a solution to his problem. He wanted the Good Life. And he thought the good life came if he had more stuff, more things, and by trying to fill the empty void in his life with earthly possessions. We hear from Jesus that our life is not good and not full by how much stuff we can fill it with. Our life is full and good when we fill it with Jesus.

"All Over the World...the Gospel Bears Fruit" Think about apple trees.  Why is it that they produce apples?  Is it because they’ll feel guilty if they don’t?  Is it because they will be in some sort of trouble if they don’t produce enough fruit?  That’s foolish!  Apple trees produce apples because that’s just what apple trees do.  It’s natural. Christians produce good works, not because they’ll feel guilty if they don’t, and not because they’re afraid that otherwise they’ll get in trouble with God.  Christians produce God works because Christ gave them the power to do so.  It’s what they naturally do! That life of a Christian that bears fruit is what we want to think about this morning as we consider the words of encouragement through the apostle Paul that he shared in Colossians 1. But it’s so much more than that – it didn’t take place only in Colosse nearly 2000 years ago. It takes place in Green Bay, WI, and all across the world. “All Over the World…The Gospel Bears Fruit.”

"Don't Look Back!" You know that feeling you get when you look out at the lawn that’s been freshly cut? You have a sense and feeling of accomplishment b/c of how nice it looks. Maybe you needed to cut the grass in preparation for company that’s coming over to the house or simply b/c it needed to be cut. Have you ever stood back and looked at how straight the lines of the grass were? Were they straight? Were they crooked? Off to the side? Sometimes it happens to us when we cut the grass. Our parents taught us from young on – Don’t look back! Don’t get distracted – you can do a lot of damage with the lawn mower. Keep your eyes looking ahead. Don’t look back! If you’re distracted and not looking at where you’re supposed to be going, you run into things and the lines of the grass are crooked. Our words of encouragement from our Lord Jesus this morning are similar to what our parents told us when cutting the grass. Jesus was speaking to the disciples and to you and me when it comes to discipleship and following Christ – “Don’t Look Back!” Jesus said – “No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of God.”  Let’s look at these verses this morning as we hear and heed these words of warning and encouragement.

"The Only Way to Win is to Lose" Today we celebrate Father’s Day. There are a lot of things that we’ve learned from our fathers. Fathers teach their children the value of hard work. Christian fathers share God’s Word and their faith with their children. And fathers…they also share their competitive spirit and teach their children about winning. Winning and competing are note everything in life – but they are important aspects of life. Maybe it was a board game, or out on the field or the court, we do everything we can to win. Don’t we try to win at everything still today. We compete with our co-worker so that we might get the raise. We compare ourselves to others. We compete with a brother or sister – we can’t let them win – can’t let them beat us. We try to win in so many aspects of our lives that when Jesus tells us – “The only way to win is to lose” – it doesn’t sit well with us. Today’s gospel lesson speaks to winning and losing when Jesus talks about what it means to bear earthly crosses. “24 For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will save it.”  We know that life is no game – but what Jesus tells us is so very important not only for this life, but for the life to come. Let’s consider Jesus’ words under the theme – “The Only Way To Win Is To Lose!”

"Live Free!" 1. Free from fear 2. Free for Christ

"The Lord Fights Our Battles" Tomorrow our nation celebrates Memorial Day. It’s a day for us to remember those who have served our nation in battle, especially those who gave their life to protect our freedoms. Maybe you’ve been to Arlington National cemetery and have seen the thousands upon thousands of graves. Or maybe you’ll remember a relative that has served and given their life in battle. Across the country millions of Americans remember the battles that have been fought, and the lives lost – and we thank every single one of our servicemen and women for protecting our country and freedoms. In our Old Testament lesson, there was a battle that was fought on a new frontier for God’s people. Joshua and the Israelites were there – but more importantly as we’ll hear, so was the Lord. Yes, the Lord fought the battle of Jericho, and The Lord Fights Our Battles still today.

"The Three P's of Pentecost" I would like you to think of the most wonderful, awesome and amazing thing that you’ve ever witnessed in your life. Maybe it was that trip out west and you were looking at the majestic mountains and were gazing at the beauty of God’s creation; or you were on the beach looking out at miles and miles of ocean and wondering if it ever ends. Or maybe you’re thinking of the day in the hospital room you had the opportunity to gaze into the eyes of your child as you held him or her for the first time. God is good! He has given us so many wonderful, awesome and amazing gifts in our lives. But how many of you thought of the gift of the Holy Spirit? That’s the exact gift that was given on the first Pentecost. It truly was awesome, wonderful and amazing as they experienced with many of their senses the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. They were able to see and hear and witness the awesome power of our almighty God. Let’s consider – “The Three P’s of Pentecost.” Promise. Power. Purpose. You might ask yourself – why 3 P’s? Not only does it have a nice ring to it, there are three things that Jesus gave to his disciples as encouragement. He gave them the promise, power and purpose of Pentecost.

"What Are You Looking For?" Happy Mother’s Day! Think to yourself of the special phrase that your mom has said on more than one occasion to you. Maybe it’s one your mom is famous for. Maybe it’s something along the lines of – “You’ll thank me for this when you get older.” But it’s one in particular that we were told that – mom has eyes in the back of their head. They say that because they want their children to behave and because they want them to know they are always watching them. And you can probably think of a time or two where your dear mother had said to you – “I’m watching you.” Mom’s eyes are everywhere. We can tell a lot about eyes – and in particular where we see the eyes of the disciples as we consider our New Testament lesson from Acts 1. We want to consider the question that was asked of the disciples – “What Are You Looking For?” in v. 11. It’s the same question we want to ask of ourselves as well.

"Why Do Bad Things Happen?" Why do bad things happen? It’s an honest question that both believers and unbelievers have asked throughout life. We know not to talk about “if” bad things will happen, but “when” – b/c we know that it happens to all. This past week I heard on the news – Ingrid Williams, the wife of Oklahoma City Thunder assistant coach Monty Williams, was killed in a tragic car accident at the age of 44. She was hit head-on by a car that crossed over the center lane. She was taken to the hospital and died later that evening from injuries suffered in the crash. And the driver died at the scene. Ingrid was traveling with three of her children at the time of the crash. They are all expected to be ok. She leaves behind a husband and 5 children ranging in age from 5 to 17 years old. We know sad new like this affects people every day. You and I may have faced tragedy in our own lives too. When tragedy happens, we may be left to wonder – Why do Bad things happen? This morning we want to listen to the answer of our Savior as he shares with us both the reason and the result.

"Jesus Defeats the Devil!" I don’t know if you noticed or not, but I believe there was a big football game played last Sunday. Did you catch the game? Well, even if you missed some or all of it, all you had to do was look at the headlines this past week to give you a pretty good idea of what took place – §  “Defense powers Broncos to Victory” §  “Broncos give Manning 2nd Super Bowl Ring” §  “What’s next for Payton? And the headlines for the losing team, the Carolina Panthers weren’t nearly as kind. §  “Is Cam a Sore Loser?” §  “Why didn’t Cam dive for the fumble?” It certainly was a battle, a big game – and there were winners and losers. There was another battle – or Big Game – that took place almost 2000 years ago. Jesus vs. the Devil. While we weren’t there at the event, the headlines tell it all – “Jesus Defeats the Devil!” This morning we’ll hear about the enemy, about his game plan, but even more importantly, about Jesus our Savior who went to battle with the devil and won and why it’s so important for you and me.