Our Vacation Bible School (VBS) theme this year was "H2Whoooa!: God's Saving Story in Living Water." We took a look at five stories from the Bible and saw that they are all part of one big story: God's story of salvation. It's a wonderful, beautiful story of grace and mercy and forgiveness and rescue. You see, we need saving and God has saved us through His Son, Jesus! This sermon also includes the baptism that immediately followed it.

Luther's Small Catechism says that we are to fear, love, and trust in God above all things. We understand the love and trust part...but fear? Are we really to fear God above all things? Yes, but because of Jesus, there is nothing to fear. No matter what storms you face, Jesus, the omnipotent, all-powerful God, is the boat with you.

In our Gospel text from Mark 3:31-35, it seemed like Jesus dismissed His family, but that wasn't the case. He showed us who really belongs in His family. And who is Jesus' family? All who believe in Him for salvation.

Leave it to human beings to take the excellent gift of rest and turn it into more work. The Pharisees piled rule after rule on top of the Sabbath to keep people from breaking it, but, in actuality, they stole the very rest the commandment had offered. The Sabbath for us is not ritual obedience or a 24-hour period of enslavement. It's rest found in Jesus alone.

Isaiah became acutely aware of his sinfulness as he stood before God. God is holy and sin cannot dwell with Him any more than darkness can dwell with light. God demands holiness, but God also creates it. He took away Isaiah's guilt and atoned for His sins just as He takes away our guilt and atones for our sins through His Son, Jesus. God has made you holy.

The Holy Spirit gave the Apostles the ability to speak in different languages on the day of Pentecost. God broke down the barriers of communication so that everyone would hear the Good News of Jesus Christ. God still breaks down barriers today so that all may hear the same Good News and believe it. No one is to be excluded. Salvation in Christ is for everyone who believes.

God is either telling the truth or He is a liar. The difference is not insignificant. The difference is eternal life, for God has testified that Jesus has died for our sins and rose from the dead to give us eternal life. This is the Good News! It's the only message that saves. God doesn't lie. His testimony about Jesus is true. Toss out the fake news and believe the Good News.

Don't hate the player, hate the game...right? We certainly get an A for effort when it comes to justifying our sins, but deep down we know the truth. We're players in the corrupt systems of the world and we can't shift the blame. Yes, we've played the game, but the good news is that Jesus didn't. He has overcome the world for you.

Our great fear of being known and not loved is silenced at the cross.