Pastor Larry Wagner of Ascension Lutheran Church in Thousand Oaks, California, talks about Christ's call to forgive seven times seventy; the point being that you should never stop forgiving.  The sadness people bring on themselves by not forgiving one another underscores the life-improving quality of letting go of anger, hurt and grudges.  Pastor Larry even sees the impact of this in his own family. 

Pastor Tim Delkeskamp of Ascension Lutheran Church in Thousand Oaks, California, preaches on the Holy Gospel according to Matthew, the 18th Chapter -- and how Jesus gave us the keys to the gift of real, deep, nourishing, nurturing community.  One of those keys: forgiveness. 

In this sermon drawn from the Gospel of Matthew, Pastor Tim Delkeskamp of Ascension Lutheran Church in Thousand Oaks, California talks about Jesus' invitation, "Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest" and how it applies to all of us. 

Drawing from the gospel of Matthew 16:13-20, Pastor Larry Wagner of Ascension Lutheran Church in Thousand Oaks, California, talks about the rocks that we are built upon.  Those include our families and others who impact our lives as we grow up, especially our faith mentors.  God doesn't want us to conform to the ways of society and be like everyone else.  He made us all 1 of a Kind, and wants us to be Transformed into the Best 1 we can be.

In today's Gospel lesson from Matthew, Jesus tells his followers, "What goes into someone’s mouth does not defile them, but what comes out of their mouth, that is what defiles them...Whatever enters the mouth goes into the stomach and then out of the body...But the things that come out of a person’s mouth come from the heart, and these defile them."  Pastor Larry Wagner of Ascension Lutheran Church in Thousand Oaks, California takes his sermon from these words, talking about how easy it is to get caught up in rules and regulations, like whether it's okay to play cards.  But Jesus wants us to focus on bigger things, like helping people who are suffering illness, loneliness, sadness, hunger or lack of safety.  He also talks about the irrevocability of the gifts of the spirit.

Pastor Tim Delkeskamp of Ascension Lutheran Church in Thousand Oaks, California talks about the depth of compassion involved in Jesus' feeding of the multitude -- and how that from-the-gut compassion belongs to you and me, too. Love and compassion and miracles and splagchinzomai.

If you want to walk on water, you have to get out of the boat, notes Pastor Larry Wagner of Ascension Lutheran Church of Thousand Oaks, California.  Speaking about Jesus walking across a stormy sea and Peter's attempt to walk to meet him on the water, Pastor Larry talks about focus, effort, faith -- and the feet bearing good news being beautiful indeed.

Too small to make a difference?  Too young to have good ideas?  No way!  The Bible shows us otherwise, as Pastor Larry points out in this sermon based on the Gospel of Matthew.

Pastor Larry Wgner of Ascension Lutheran Church in Thousand Oaks, California talks about what it means to be one of God's people and the power of baptism

Preaching from Paul's letter to the Christians in Rome, Pastor Tim Delkeskamp of Ascension Lutheran Church in Thousand Oaks, CA, talks about things not being how they seem: The things of this world -- of the flesh -- will never satisfy.  But those of the spirit in Christ will sustain us to the end of time.