The sermon teaches that Christianity is rooted in God’s grace and love, summed up in the simple truth that “Jesus loves me.” Using the Good Shepherd and the Parable of the Prodigal Son, the speaker emphasizes that God seeks out those who stray and joyfully welcomes them home. The father’s compassion for the lost son shows how deeply each person matters to God, while the older son’s reaction reminds listeners that grace can be difficult to understand but is central to Christian faith.

The main point of this sermon is a call to faithful obedience to God’s unchanging Word, even when it is uncomfortable or unpopular.

Father Faust argues that Christians should not treat faith as only receiving God’s help and grace, but should respond with a “reciprocal relationship” by asking: What am I doing for God? He emphasizes the cross as a reminder of Christ’s sacrifice and says believers are called to live by the Spirit, resist “fleshly” desires, and avoid changing or ignoring Scripture to fit cultural preferences.

A secondary theme is a warning against false teaching—especially churches or leaders who, in the preacher’s view, soften or omit difficult biblical passages. The sermon ends by urging listeners to pray for God’s help to live faithfully so they may be welcomed as “good and loyal servants.”

The Kingdom of God was not just a secondary theme in Jesus’s teaching; it was the central axis upon which revolved everything He said and did. It is mentioned over a hundred times in the Gospels. But what exactly did Jesus mean by this phrase? And what does His proclamation mean for us today?

When Jesus said the Kingdom is "at hand," He meant it is within arm's reach. It has arrived on the scene.

In fact, when the religious leaders of the day pulled Jesus aside to ask Him exactly when the Kingdom of God would finally arrive, He gave them a stunning answer. In Luke 17, He tells them:

“The kingdom of God is not coming with signs to be observed; nor will they say, ‘Look, here it is!’ or, ‘There it is!’ For behold, the kingdom of God is within you—it is in your midst.” (Luke 17:20-21)

Depending on how your Bible translates that verse, it unlocks two powerful truths for us today:

First, some translations say the Kingdom is "in your midst" or "among you" (NIV, ESV, NASB, CSB). Jesus was looking at the Pharisees and saying, "Stop staring at the horizon waiting for a future political revolution. Look right in front of you. The Kingdom is here because the King is standing right in front of you." The Kingdom was breaking through in real-time through Jesus's ministry, shown by the “signs and wonders” Jesus performed and by his radical approach to sinners and outcasts.

Second, other translations say the Kingdom is "within you" (KJV, NKJV, some literals). Jesus was shifting their focus from the external to the internal. Earthly kingdoms are established by changing borders and building walls; God’s Kingdom is established by changing the human heart. It is a present spiritual reality where the Holy Spirit takes up residence inside of us, bringing—as the Apostle Paul later wrote in Romans 14:17—“righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit” right here and right now.

God poses for us a choice, to follow him and be blessed with life or to turn away from him to our despair. "Now choose life," the LORD says to us in Deuteronomy.

The Gospel we read today from Luke relates the parable Jesus taught of the rich man and Lazarus the beggar. As with the other parables Jesus taught, he makes stark points for our edification and admonition. There is life after death. Heaven and hell are real conditions into which we can fall for eternity. Our destination depends on our decisions during our life, on where our heart is, on where we place our trust. After we die there's no second chances. But if this sounds grim, and indeed it can be, for the Christian there is no condemnation, no need to fear an existence in hell because of Jesus Christ.

This Sunday is Trinity Sunday, when the church in worship, song, and scripture celebrates the mystery of the Trinity, the one God in three persons, Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Father Dan Eddy gives an inspiring message about the truth of the Trinity and its importance as a doctrine of salvation.

Early in the Upper Room discourse recorded in John chapters 14-17, Jesus reassures his disciples that he is not abandoning them by returning to the Father. Rather, it is "better" for them because he and the Father will send another paraclete, the Holy Spirit!! The spirit of all truth, the comforter, the guide, the counselor, the teacher. The Holy Spirit is an active, personal spirit present with us as believers always.

In the upper room the night before his passion, Jesus reassured his disciples (and through them, we also) that after his ascension and return to the Father we would not be alone. And as we anticipate the day of Pentecost, we can rest assured that Jesus has provided for us, that we have the Holy Spirit as comforter, advocate, counselor and guide in our lives.

Jesus said, "Peace be with you," God's peace. We need to take that to heart and really mean it.

The Gospel accounts of the Resurrection of Jesus contain varied observations and details, just as we might expect from different witnesses whose perceptions and memories would not be identical. In a sense, this is actually verification of their verisimilitude. Four identical accounts would look cooked up rather than genuine.

The Resurrection of Jesus is one of the most thorughly atteseted events of the ancient world, with multiple eye witnesses and evidence of facts that are not in dispute. Jesus of Nazareth was a real person who was executed by the Romans, died on the cross, and was buried. The morning when several women went to the tomb to anoint his body they found it empty, Jesus was not there. Jesus's followers who had been cowering in fear went into the world boldly proclaiming he had risen from the dead and that hundreds of people had seen him. They stuck to this without wavering, even under pains of torture or death. People will sometimes believe things that are not true, but they will not go to their death for what they know to be a lie.