Sermons | Living Hope and Christ the King ELCA Lutheran Churches

This is the second week of our July series, Together, exploring how Jesus offers us a different path than the division and hatred our culture insists on. This week, we’re looking at how Jesus calls us to Serve Together. As followers of Christ, we are called not to seek earthly power, but to use our strength to serve our neighbors. We follow the example of the One “who came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” (Mark 10:45)

Today’s Scripture readings are Galatians 5:13-26; Psalm 37:3-9, 27; and Mark 10:35-45. The text of this sermon is available at https://danielflucke.com/serve-together/.

Learn more about Christ the King Lutheran Church in Port Washington and Living Hope Lutheran in Saukville, Wisconsin at https://www.livinghopesaukville.org/ or https://ctkport.org/.

This Sunday, we begin a new series, Together, exploring how Jesus offers us a different path than the division and hatred our culture insists on. This week, we're looking at how we are Stronger Together. Although there are many issues on which we may faithfully disagree, we are united as a community of faith in caring for one another and blessing our neighbors in Jesus' name. 

Today's Scripture readings are Ecclesiastes 4:9-12, Psalms 133 & 134, Hebrews 10:19-25, and John 17:13-23. Read the text of this sermon at  https://danielflucke.com/stronger-together/.

Learn more about Christ the King Lutheran Church in Port Washington and Living Hope Lutheran in Saukville, Wisconsin at https://www.livinghopesaukville.org/ or https://ctkport.org/.

This week's worship service looks a bit different, as it was a joint worship celebrating the VBS held last week by both Christ the King and Living Hope as well as Here We Grow (Living Hope’s preschool/daycare ministry). Our theme was All God’s Creatures, and the worship service was shaped around the four daily themes from VBS: God Creates Me, God Protects Me, God is with Me, and God Knows Me.

This podcast includes three of the Scripture readings and brief messages from Pastor Daniel (the one not included was reading the story of Noah's Ark from the Spark Children's Story Bible).

Learn more about Christ the King Lutheran Church in Port Washington and Living Hope Lutheran in Saukville, Wisconsin at https://www.livinghopesaukville.org/ or https://ctkport.org/.

In today's Gospel lesson from Mark 4:35-41, we hear about Jesus and the disciples caught in a storm while crossing the Sea of Galilee. In the middle of the storm, Jesus is in the back of the boat taking a nap. The disciples ask him, "Don't you care that we're perishing?" And Jesus wakes up and says to the storm, "Peace, be still."

The disciples are relieved, but they also ask, "Who is this that even the wind and the waves obey him?" As Jesus demonstrates God's power over the chaos of the wind and sea, we wonder the same question. Who is this Jesus we follow? Where is he in the storms of our lives?

Learn more about Christ the King Lutheran Church in Port Washington and Living Hope Lutheran in Saukville, Wisconsin at https://www.livinghopesaukville.org/ or https://ctkport.org/.

In today’s Gospel reading from Mark 4:26-34, Jesus compares the Kingdom of God to a seed sown by a farmer. The seed grows, even though the farmer does very little. It’s not a particularly dramatic illustration, but perhaps that’s part of Jesus’ point.

God’s kingdom grows in the small, ordinary acts of love we offer. Our call as Christians and as church is to do the next right thing, acting faithfully, and trusting God to provide the growth. 

Learn more about Christ the King Lutheran Church in Port Washington and Living Hope Lutheran in Saukville, Wisconsin at https://www.livinghopesaukville.org/ or https://ctkport.org/.

In the beginning, God created the world and saw that it was good. Creation was perfect, with all living in harmony. And yet, if we look around at our world today, it is abundantly clear that we are not living in paradise. This world is broken. 

So what happened? In this sermon, Pastor Daniel Flucke looks at the Bible's explanation for how we got here, the reason for "the human condition" we find ourselves in today. That's right, we're talking about sin. Join us as we go back to the Garden of Eden and explore how humanity's rebellion against God and desire to go our own way continues to impact our lives and world today.

Today's Scripture readings are Genesis 2:4-9, 15-17; 3:1-15; Psalm 121; and Mark 3:20-35.

Learn more about Christ the King Lutheran Church in Port Washington and Living Hope Lutheran in Saukville, Wisconsin at https://www.livinghopesaukville.org/ or https://ctkport.org/.

One of the challenges of the many Biblical stories of God calling people to follow is that while we believe God has a call for each person, most of us don’t get to hear God's audible voice like Samuel. Moses gets a burning bush, and Mary has an angel show up, but often in our experience, God’s call is not that dramatic. 

Perhaps one of the reasons we don't notice God calling is because we're not listening. If we aren't paying attention, it's easy to miss God's call or mistake it for something else. For us, spending time in prayer, worshipping with other Christians, and becoming more familiar with the Biblical stories of how God calls and acts equip us to recognize God's call. Then when we do recognize God's quiet voice calling, we can respond with Samuel, "Speak Lord, for your servant is listening."

A sermon on 1 Samuel 3:1-10.

Learn more about Christ the King Lutheran Church in Port Washington and Living Hope Lutheran in Saukville, Wisconsin at https://www.livinghopesaukville.org/ or https://ctkport.org/.

In this Trinity Sunday sermon, Pastor Daniel Flucke focuses on the concept of God as Trinity, Three-in-One. The doctrine of Trinity is a core part of our confession of faith, it is ultimately a human attempt to comprehend a God who is beyond the limits of human comprehension. 

Our worship services are practice for what we’re going to be doing for all eternity: Praising the God who creates, saves, and sustains us and all of creation. We gather to glorify God for who God is, even and perhaps especially for the aspects of God that are beyond our comprehension. Thanks be to God that we serve One who is greater than we can imagine, yet chooses to be know to us in love.

Learn more about Christ the King Lutheran Church in Port Washington and Living Hope Lutheran in Saukville, Wisconsin at https://www.livinghopesaukville.org/ or https://ctkport.org/.

It's Pentecost! Today, we celebrate the gift of the Holy Spirit and the formation of the Church. In this sermon, Pastor Daniel Flucke explores both Jesus' promise of the Holy Spirit to be an Advocate for the disciples after he is no longer physically with them, and the fulfillment of that promise in Acts 2. 

Each year we celebrate Pentecost as the birthday of the Church because nearly 2,000 years later, the Holy Spirit is still at work among us, enabling us to be Jesus' hands and feet in the world. The Holy Spirit comes to the apostles, reinvigorating them after Jesus' ascension and sending them out into the world. May we listen to the Holy Spirit at work in, on, and through us this week as we seek to faithfully follow Jesus together!

Learn more about Christ the King Lutheran Church in Port Washington and Living Hope Lutheran in Saukville, Wisconsin at https://www.livinghopesaukville.org/ or https://ctkport.org/.

On this final Sunday of the Easter season, we will hear the story of Jesus' ascension. While this is a lesser-known holiday ("holy day"), it is an essential part of the story of Jesus' earthly ministry, and there are some significant implications for our faith and life today. Although Jesus ascends into heaven, God's work in this world continues through the Holy Spirit, whose coming we will celebrate next week at Pentecost. 

Learn more about Christ the King Lutheran Church in Port Washington and Living Hope Lutheran in Saukville, Wisconsin at https://www.livinghopesaukville.org/ or https://ctkport.org/.