Divine Savior Church-santa Rita Ranch Sermons

The school year may still feel somewhat fresh and new, but did you know? The end is near! No, not necessarily the end of this school year. The Very End. What does this mean? Jesus made it clear that there will be a harvest of souls at the end of time when he comes back. None of us knows exactly when that day will be. That’s why our mission of changing lives with the good news of Jesus is ongoing, necessary, and urgent even to the very end. But the good news is Jesus hasn’t left us on our own until then. If he did, it would be almost impossible to carry on through the inevitable difficult days we face here on earth. But remember, this isn’t mission impossible. It’s mission possible! The Great Commission is our Co-mission with Jesus who leaves these words of promise ringing in our ears as we go out into the harvest field of this world, “And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”Support the show

If there is rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who turns to the Lord (and there is!), then we want to celebrate too! We want to rejoice in the great work that God is doing here and across all our Divine Savior campuses as we change lives with Jesus through the gospel. So let the party begin! Why? Because God’s love is global! The Bible shows us how the gospel creates a new humanity focused on Jesus who died and rose for all. His forgiveness and love unites us even across different cultures and countries...and across all Divine Savior campuses. United in Christ, these differences enrich our church when we all move in the same direction to carry out the mission our Savior has given us.Support the show

Jesus didn’t give us a great suggestion. He gave us a great commission. “Make disciples.” Literally, it’s a command. In other words, Jesus is saying, “Don’t just have good intentions, but also get this action done.” That begs the question, “How?” The good news is Jesus didn’t make this impossible. He actually made it doable! And not just for religious professionals like pastors and teachers, but for people just like you. This week we’ll learn about the doctrine of vocation and how that fits in well with our intentional strategy to carry out Christ’s great commission together as Divine Savior Church. Support the show

Telling others about Jesus is more about trusting God’s powerful word than trusting in our own knowledge or ability to share it. Once we get over ourselves we all can become people who love to “plant gospel seeds” even though we all have different gifts, abilities, relationships, and opportunities. The power isn’t in us, but we all have an important part to play so that the Holy Spirit can do his greater part of creating and growing faith through the gospel. Is it possible for us to make disciples? Yes, with the help of God! Support the show

Tell others about Jesus? Try and get them to change their mind? Convince them to believe? To many, that sounds intimidating, perhaps even impossible. It is certainly easier to assume that it might be best to just remain quiet. Lack of knowledge, insecurities, inexperience, doubts, fears…there are plenty of reasons to think, “I Could Never.” But what about all of us together? What about when Jesus comes to us as his disciples just as he said he would, meets us where we’re at, and answers our “I Could Never” with a great claim, “I have all authority”?Support the show

Our society seems obsessed with the idea of creating a world where no one is offended by what others say. Safe spaces are created so that people can be free of bias, criticism, conflict or ideas that they don't personally like. Yet Christians always seem to be fair game for criticism. No one seems to care about offending us! Does anyone care if I am offended as a Christian? How should I react when I am offended? How can I live in a world like this as a disciple of Jesus?  Jesus cares and he is my greatest example and motivation for living in a world that hates being offended but at the same time loves to offend.Support the show

The world we live in is changing at a blinding pace. Truth has become as flexible as a rubber band. What is acceptable today will not be acceptable tomorrow. Those who used to be admired are now vilified and hated. What used to be considered good is now considered despicable. Bad behavior is rewarded and applauded. It's enough to make us all live in a constant state of confusion, not knowing what to believe or how to live!  Confusion turns to clarity, however, when the sound doctrine of the Word of God instructs our hearts, rebukes our sins, corrects our errors and encourages us to fight the good fight, finish the race, and receive the crown of righteousness.  Support the show

We feel shame when we fail to live up to our own expectations or those of others. We may bring shame on ourselves or on others by our actions. We may feel shame because of the actions of someone close to us. Sadly, because of social media, our mistakes can easily end up in the feeds of many people, which only adds to our personal and public shame as they share and retweet. The Twelve experienced a heavy load of shame on Thursday of Holy Week. By their actions, they brought shame on themselves, on each other, and mostly on their Master. Eleven of them eventually came to believe that Jesus, who died the most shameful death imaginable, had taken away their shame before God. Their failures are all recorded for the world in the New Testament, but Jesus was not ashamed to call them brothers, made his power perfect through their weaknesses, and empowered them to live without shame and with a new identity: forgiven children of God. No one who believes in him will ever be put to shame!Support the show

Feeling stressed? You're not alone. Anxiety is something everyone deals with to some degree. In fact anxiety is at an all-time high. In this chaotic, uncertain world, there are lots of reasons why. The good news is lots of people in the Bible struggled with anxiety too. Yet, operating from a full-time place of anxiety isn't great for you. Anxiety doesn't accomplish anything fruitful. And the truth is God has a better path forward for facing life's challenges and uncertainties. As one Christian author writes, "The presence of anxiety is unavoidable, but the prison of anxiety is optional. Anxiety comes with life. But it doesn’t have to dominate your life."  Support the show

"Just do it." "The power is within you." "You have the power to rise above whatever is trying to keep you down." "Go out there and crush it you animal!" Cliches like these are often what you'll find online or in the self-help section of Barnes and Noble. But what happens when you have that gnawing feeling anyway, that feeling that growls, "I'm not enough"? This is the feeling of inadequacy. It's especially prevalent in performance driven places where expectations are high and it can sometimes seem almost impossible to escape. It's what happens when we are told over and over again by our culture that the only person we can truly rely on is ourselves. But what if that's just not true? What if we can face our feelings of inadequacy, admit our absolute need for God's help, and rely on Christ who gives us strength and makes us "enough"? Then even our inadequacy will result in God's glory being displayed to others!Support

Do you ever get frustrated when you do the right thing and in the end it doesn’t change a thing? Reality Check: Do you ever get angry with God? Have you ever felt that it’s just not fair that you do everything by the Book and still struggle, while people who completely disregard the Word and will of God prosper? Check out this young man who did everything right and still couldn’t save his nation. Support the show

When the true LORD, the God of mercy and grace, is removed from the picture, there’s a spiritual vacuum that forms. And it’s amazing—no, it’s frightening—to see what people will fill this vacuum with. Reality Check: What is the Baal worship of today? The “sacrificing of our sons in the fire”? Have we somehow reconstructed the true religion into a religion of our own devising?Support the show

Let go and let God. It should be simple enough. God is in charge. He’ll work everything out for good. Just give all your problems to him. Reality Check:  Doesn’t happen, does it? We worry…and question. This week God’s Word shows us what can happen if we just lay our problems before the Lord.Support the show

Medical professionals talk about warning signs. Heeding them could save our lives. So why wouldn’t we? Reality Check: And yet, it happens all the time. What’s worse is that we often fail to heed the spiritual warnings God shares with us in his Word. May God’s Spirit give us humble hearts—hearts that heed his loving rebukes so that we can receive his amazing grace!Support the show

Keeping focused on the most important stuff of life. It’s the topic untold books and seminars. It’s also Jesus’ point when he says, “Seek first his kingdom and his righteousness.” Reality Check: And yet, how often we find ourselves majoring in the minors. Lord, forgive our failures and keep us focused on the mission you’ve laid before us.Support the show

Are our hearts divided? When it comes to our love for God, we’d say, “Absolutely not!” Wouldn’t we? Reality Check: Yet, is it possible that, while we are zealous for God, we are still holding on to our own personal idols? Thank God for a Savior who loved and served the Lord alone!Support the show

How we detest people who are all into themselves. And yet, we often fail to detect the many ways selfishness manifests itself in our own lives. Reality Check: As long as we live we’re going to battle the part of us that’s stuck on ourselves. The answer is found in the self-sacrificing love of God in Christ. Support the show

Are control issues and power struggles limited to those in positions of authority? Reality Check: Take a look at the people you work with. Watch your kids at the playground. These are real issues we all deal with. Yet, why are we grasping for power and control when God’s already got everything in hand?Support the show

Jesus ascended into heaven. That does not mean the gospel has ceased to march victorious around the world! Jesus promised to send another advocate to represent God to the world: the Holy Spirit. The Spirit is the constant companion of believers in these Last Days. This raises an important question. If God now reveals himself by his Spirit, where is the Holy Spirit found? God has not left the answer to that question in doubt. When Jesus promised to send the Spirit, he indicated that his work would be connected to words, specifically God's Word. As a result, we need never wonder where we can find the Spirit. He marches victorious through the Word.Support the show

Out of all the habits we’ve talked about, which is the most important? The truth is that while everything we’ve talked about in this series is important, there is only “one thing that is needed” according to Jesus himself. This is meant to be a great comfort to every disciple, including us. Why? Because the “one thing that is needed” is not our giving. It’s not our doing. It’s simply our receiving from our Savior. What a comfort to know that “all that is needed” then is not something we must do, but something that is given to us! Jesus speaks to us through his word. The Holy Spirit is like the construction worker who goes to work in our hearts through that word. From start to finish our discipleship therefore is God’s work as we grow in faith and knowledge of his word. This makes “listening to Jesus” the most important daily habit for a disciple to cultivate. It’s how our faith in Jesus will grow and flourish. As we daily rest in God’s grace while listening to his word, so also God will be at work preparing u