Saint John Community Church

Pastor Tom Grieb continues our series "According to Luke."

Most of us like everything all nice, neat, and planned out.  Surprises aren’t always easy.  Adjustment takes a tremendous amount of energy.  Having to shift gears can be pretty tough.  Dropping back and punting isn’t as easy as it sounds.  This happened to Simon of Cyrene, and it often happens to us.

Pastor Tom talks about how we can deal with change and the challenges it brings.

Pastor Tom continues our sermon series "According to Luke."

“Who am I?” is one of the fundamental questions of life.  Our identities are tied up into so many things.  This week we'll look at the issue of identity, both as it relates to Jesus Christ and to each of us.

Pastor Tom Grieb continues our series "According to Luke" with a message based on the story of Peter's denial of Christ on the night of his arrest.  Many of us can relate to this story, along with the story of his eventual forgiveness.  Find out what we can learn from it.

Pastor Tom continues our series "According to Luke."

With the cross looming, Jesus took to praying.  He wanted to pray.  He needed to pray.  His struggle was that real.  While Jesus would have much rather had the “cup” of the cross pass, it was not to be.  But his time of prayer in the Garden gave him the opportunity to set his sights on God.

Christ’s prayer, “not my will, but yours be done,” is a model for all praying.  It comes to us in our prayers to let them lead us to a deeper consideration of God’s will.  “Not my will, but yours be done,” is a prayer of deep faith that puts us in the warm embrace of God, and in that warm embrace we are able to make it through whatever it is we’re facing.

Of course, Jesus had his disciples with him there in the Garden.  He asked them to pray as well.  Instead of praying, though, they feel asleep.  Jesus asked his disciples to pray not so much for his benefit, but theirs.  He knew that they, too, would need the strength that only prayer offered.

Pastor Tom Grieb begins our sermon series "According to Luke."

The Passover meal Jesus shared with his disciples in the Upper Room right before his death was an opportunity to share the meaning of what was about to happen to him.  Jesus knew he would not be long for this world.  The cross loomed large.  That being the case, Jesus took bread, broke it, and said, “This is my body broken for you, do this in remembrance of me.”  He also took the cup and said, “This is the blood of the new covenant shed for you and for many for the forgiveness of sins, do this also in remembrance of me.”  Those present in the Upper Room were called on to remember and so are we.

Memory is an important thing indeed.  Our memories help define who we are.  That’s why when we share in Holy Communion, we remember what Christ did on our behalf.  Our focus is on the cross and all it offers our lives.  Jesus knew just how important it was to regularly remember such things.  Holy Communion though is not just about remembering but experiencing.  When we celebrate Holy Communion, we celebrate what Christ is doing in the here and now.  We experience him deeply and find ourselves blessed.

Pastor Tom Grieb concludes our series "Faith and..."

The hope of eternal life is the very bedrock of the Christian faith.  God sent his Son so that we might have abundant life now and eternal life later on.  That great passage from John 3:16 puts it well when it says, “For God so loved the world that whosoever believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.” 

If it were not for Jesus blazing the trail to eternal life through his resurrection from the dead, the Christian movement would have crumbled, and the church never formed.  The Apostle Paul writes in I Corinthians 15:14, “And if Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is your faith.”  The Christian faith is built upon the hope and promise of Christ’s resurrection.  Without it, what we believe is simply a house of cards.

Jesus himself said, “I am the resurrection and the life.  The one who believes in me will live, even though they die; and whoever lives by believing in me will never die.”  (John 11:25-26)   In speaking this to Martha right before the raising of her brother Lazarus, Jesus challenged her by asking, “Do you believe?”  That same question comes to you and me.  Do you believe the promise of God that for those who so believe there is eternal life?

Pastor Tom Grieb continues our series "Faith and..."

It serves as a summary of what’s to come in the Book of Romans.  Some consider it a thesis statement for that great book.  It was the very passage that revolutionized the life of the great reformer, Martin Luther.  Romans 1:16-17 is a favorite of many.

Romans 1:16-17 talks about the power of God to bring salvation.  The good news it speaks of is offered to all who with faith give their lives to God through Jesus Christ.  It talks about a righteousness that is not our own, but something God alone offers, an offer made possible by Christ’s work on the cross.   This is the gospel, the good news that is ours in Jesus.

About these things Paul was not ashamed.  He was ready to proclaim them wherever, whenever, and however he could.  “For I am not ashamed of the gospel,” he writes, “because it is the power of God that brings salvation to everyone who believes; first to the Jew, then to the Gentile.  For in the gospel the righteousness of God is revealed—a righteousness that is by faith from first to last, just as it is written:  ‘The righteous will live by faith.’”  (Romans 1:16-17)

Pastor Tom Grieb continues our series "Faith and..."

We have every reason to praise the Lord.  In his great mercy he has seen fit to bring salvation to our souls.  The salvation which God offers through Christ is transformative in every way.  Old things pass away, while new things come to fruition.

Jesus talked about salvation in terms of new life.  He said to Nicodemus in John 3:3, “Very truly, I tell you, no one can see the Kingdom of God without being born again.”   Peter talked about salvation as “new birth into a living hope.”  (I Peter 1:3)  We are made new in Christ and the hope he lends fits us for this life and the next.

Though we do not see him, we love him and believe in him.  All of this is the result of faith, which opens the door to the salvation God offers.  That faith is of greater worth than gold.  It connects us with God and keeps us strong in him, even when tough times prevail.

Pastor Tom continue our series "Faith and..."

The Psalmist put it rightly when he said, “the heavens declare the glory of God.”  (Psalm 19:1)   The majesty of God’s creative power is all around us.   With eyes of faith, we are able to notice his handiwork both in the infinitely large and the infinitesimally small.  We are even able to notice his handiwork in the great ways he is making us “new creations” in Christ.

This Sunday we’ll be talking about the relationship between Faith and Science.  The two are not mutually exclusive.  Some, though, figure the two should never mix.  Others see one informing the other.  For me, the more we learn from science gets us that much closer to God, the creator of all.  Likewise, the deeper we plumb the depths of faith the more we will know the Master Designer and his desire to reach those he has created.

Pastor Tom Grieb continues our series "Faith and..."

We often think that we can rely on ourselves to get through life.  But that only gets us so far.   When we think we are strong we are not open to resources beyond ourselves and because of that come up empty every time.  God is all about filling us with the sustenance necessary to get through this life.

The apostle Paul learned this and wrote “But he said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.’ Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me.” (II Corinthians 12:9)