Christ

Jesus Christ is Lord

By Paul Koch –

Palm Sunday marks the beginning of the most profound week in the life of the church. It is a week of unmatched movement and devotion as we rapidly change from the shouts of “Hosanna, blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord,” to the cries of, “Crucify him, crucify him!” This week we will journey through the incredible gift of our Lord’s own body and blood as he declares, “Take, eat this is my body,” and, “Take drink this is my blood, given for you.” Then we will come to the place of the skull and try to avert our eyes as our Lord is crucified there, as all the punishment you deserved is pressed down upon his flesh. But it won’t end there. We will move from the darkness of that night to the glories of the new day and the promise of life beyond the grave.

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It’s not Good for the Man to be Alone

By Joel A. Hess –

“It’s not good for the man to be alone”

Those words rang in Jesus’ red, fleshy brain. He said them, after all. Or His Father did. It didn’t matter. He had never really been alone. His Father had always been with him. Even in Mary’s womb or those quiet moments He stole away before those ragged mobs desperately called out his name from the bottom of the hill, He always felt His father’s face, like the warm spring sun, looking upon him.  

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How Free?

By Paul Koch –

The readings that were set before the church today are, quite simply, powerful. They get to the heart of the human struggle; they deal with matters of life and death. In that regard, they speak to the center of our faith, our confidence that the grave with all of its terrors and sorrows will not have the last say over the faithful. In Ezekiel 37 we hear that epic story of the valley of dry bones. There, God’s prophet is directed to prophecy to the bones and at his speaking they begin to come together. Like something out of a Hollywood movie, bones move and unite and stand up. Flesh and skin grows up around them. Then he is command to prophecy again to fill them with the breath of God. As Ezekiel does this, they come to life. God declares, “You shall know that I am the Lord, when I open your graves, and raise you from them, O my people.”

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Awake, O Sleeper

By Paul Koch –

We have all heard the familiar proverb that says, “familiarity breeds contempt,” but quite often I find that it is not contempt that is bred, but familiarity breeds apathy. Familiarity breeds a lack of concern, a lack of being on guard, a lack of passion and engagement. People will often speak about their marriages in these terms. After years of getting to know one another, there is a routine and a comfortableness that sets in. There is a familiarity about their situation that can often feel lifeless and boring. And of course, the great fear of apathy is that it will breed complacency: settling for a new norm that you may not want, but it is the easy way forward. It’s not just our relationships that are in danger of the terrors of familiarity but our jobs, and our various vocations in life are all susceptible. Even our life as the children of God, as those who receive the gifts of our Lord so freely, even we can easily be enticed by the apathy of familiarity.

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Don’t Make Jesus Your Lord

By Bob Hiller –

*The following is from this past Wednesday’s Lenten sermon on the Second Article of the Creed.

A number of years ago, I was having breakfast with some pastor friends of mine. They were discussing a theological controversy that they were dealing with in their church. Now, they weren’t Lutheran, which was obvious because we have no controversies in our church. But they had been arguing over what we mean when we say that Jesus is “Lord.” It was called the “lordship salvation” controversy. Basically, they were contending that there are two categories of Christians: those who were saved but still lived in sin because they hadn’t fully dedicated themselves to Jesus and those who were sold out, who had made Jesus their Lord. They asked the question, “Jesus is the savior of your soul, but have you made Him the Lord of your life?”

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Living Water

By Paul Koch –

Think back to earlier this morning, think back to when your alarm clock went off and you eased out of bed. You gently put your feet on the floor and sat on the edge of the bed for a moment, not sure if you are excited to be up and moving or if it would just make more sense to roll back under the warm covers. It is a Sunday morning. The plan is to go to church – but for a moment you ask yourself, why? And I don’t mean some great philosophical inquiry into the meaning and purpose of religion, I mean why bother going this morning? Will it be that big of a deal if you just slept in? Would anyone miss you? Is it really all that important? After all, there is always next week or the week after that. It’s not like the church is going anywhere. Why do you go through the process? Getting up and showering, grabbing a cup of coffee and a quick bite to eat, getting the kids ready, rushing through one delay after another to gather in a house of worship… is it really all that important?

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The Danger of Freedom

By Caleb Keith –

I have vivid memories of the first day I was allowed to ride my bike to school all by myself. The ride was only about a mile and half long and consisted of calm city streets that had a max speed limit of 25 mph. At the time, I saw no signs of danger and didn’t understand the risk my parents were taking by letting me embark on this journey. Instead, all I imagined was bragging to my friends when I finally got to class. Looking back now, I see how easily I could have been hurt or killed by one poor decision or a distracted driver. I am so glad that my parents let me take those risks, as it brought me great joy and taught me that the rules of the road aren’t arbitrary guidelines set by mom and dad, but that following or breaking them could have a real impact on my life.

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Born Again

By Paul Koch –

People by nature are questioning creatures. They are inquisitive and almost always searching for answers. You don’t have to have children for too long to realize that we are all full of curiosity. While it can be annoying at times, it is beautiful to watch their little minds trying to process new data in their ever-expanding world; as they ask you why the sky is blue, or why the weeds grow in the cracks in the driveway, or why our toe nails continue to grow. And I don’t think we slow down our questioning as we get older. Rather, we only become ashamed of asking the questions. So, we question in private. We question in such a way that no one else knows that we might not have the answers, which is strange seeing as how we know that we don’t all have the answers. There is much of our world that is unknown and hidden, and there is much about ourselves that we have not fully understood. So, in our own way we still question.

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Read your Bible Better

By Cindy Koch –

Everyone can read, but does everyone understand? We see it every day. Person after person reads these same words, but each believes they mean something totally different. Bible-believing Christians faithfully arm themselves with beautiful words of Scripture but end up fighting on opposite sides of the spectrum. How does this happen? Is there a single right way to read the Bible? Or must we accept every interpretation as true? Is there a better way to read the Words? Before we flip open this book, a good reader of the Bible considers a few of these questions. 

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Christ Our Example

By Bob Hiller –

This past week, I was caught off guard by a conversation with one of the dear saints in my congregation. In normal pastoral fashion, I was asking him how our church could pray for him. In a typical response, he asked that I pray for his unbearable arthritis pain. It was just your typical pastoral conversation. But then my friend said something that took me by surprise. After asking for prayers he said, “But you know, I just think about Jesus suffering on the cross, bearing the sins of the whole world for those six hours, and the pain he endured for me. If my Lord can do that for me, I’m sure I can deal with this pain if it is His will.”

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Fasting: Consumed by that One Thing

By Joel A. Hess –

They had been in love for years. It took some time, of course. It started off rocky, with indiscretions and arguments. But God had blessed them through it all and caused their loyalty and love for each other to blossom. Then, ten years after retirement, she was diagnosed with a terminal illness. He stayed by her side, serving her with all his energy and time. Then, one day, she died in the hospital as he held her hand at her side.

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Down the Mountain

By Paul Koch –

Mountains. Big things tend to happen on mountains. After Israel had been delivered from the house of slavery in Egypt and crossed through the Red Sea on dry ground, they made their way to the foot of a great mountain, Mount Sinai. There God would give His holy decrees and blessed commands that would set apart these people as His own people, bearers of His covenant. As was promised through their father Abraham, all the families of the earth will be blessed through them. Up in the heights, on the mountaintops, God came near to His chosen ones. There His glory was on display in the cloud with fire and lightning. Into the cloud of God’s presence Moses entered and received from the Lord instructions on the building of a sanctuary on earth, a Tabernacle where God would dwell with His people. He promised that He would no longer be separated from His people up on the mountaintop, but down right in their midst.

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Jesus, the Mediator of a New Bureaucracy

By Joel A Hess –

From Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount to the Matthew 18 passage on church discipline that never goes out of circulation, Christians have wrongly used Jesus’ words to establish new bureaucracies. Ironically, our Lord used these same exact words to tear down the bureaucracy of the day. Some church bodies have even set up constitutions specifically based on what they believe is Jesus’ prescription for sin management. Others are more subtle. Instead of hearing “Christ, the mediator of a new covenant,” many in our pews hear, “A new bureaucracy I give unto you!”

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Let Jesus out of the Cage

By Joel A. Hess –

This past Sunday, I had to let Jesus out of the cage. I didn’t want to. I knew that He would hurt some people, maybe everyone. Perhaps I could keep Him in the cage and tell people what He said in words that would not cause as much worry and fear. Perhaps I could explain the text away by saying “He didn’t mean it” or “Don’t worry about any of that since God loves you and all.”

I could have done the pastor dance by throwing out all sorts of meanings and interpretations to get people’s attention off of Jesus’ words. I could have made Jesus easy going.

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Beautiful Church

By Paul Koch –

For me, the most beautiful creature that I have ever seen is my wife. From our days of surfing during our college years, to the moment I saw her walking down the aisle on our wedding day, to my return home just last Friday evening after being away for a week at a conference, I am continually stunned by her beauty. I understand why it is that Adam when he saw Eve for the first time would stand and sing, “This at last is bone of my bone and flesh of my flesh…”

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On Women’s Protests. What if…

By Cindy Koch –

There were quite a lot of protest rallies last Saturday and on inauguration day. The gals got together in Washington D.C. as well. In our modern culture, it seems that if we are disappointed with the way things are going, we’d better show up somewhere with a sign. Admittedly, I was a little slow on the uptake. Sitting here a few days later scrolling through all of the pictures of protest groups proudly gathering to send a profound message, it all made me very sad.

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Don’t Touch Me

By Cindy Koch –

There are times when a touch on my skin has made it crawl. I remember this feeling most clearly when I was pregnant and the crazy hormones pulsed throughout my body. Every sense was heightened during that strange and wonderful nine months. During that time, most everything that touched me sent prickles down my spine and registered on a scale of nausea.

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Girls Can’t Forgive Sins

By Cindy Koch –

It’s a hard mouthful to forgive someone their sins. They are some of the most awkward words to come out of your mouth. Firstly, you are bold enough to actually say “I forgive you,” which is not one of our top ten automatic responses in uncomfortable situations. Secondly, by pronouncing forgiveness, you are admitting that this person before you has sinned. In our passive aggressive culture, looking someone in the eye and calling sin a sin is a feat of bravery. Thirdly, this person probably didn’t even sin against you, so you are speaking the powerful words of God in His stead concerning His eternal judgement. You might wonder, who are you to proclaim these life-giving, sin-loosing words? 

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