Lord, would you not only remind me but empower me to live the life that You created me to live, for Your glory and our good. If that is our prayer, than we certainly have every reason to say "Happy Death Day."
There's already been a funeral for that. You can leave it behind and step into what's ahead "When God Calls You Out."
Seminary student Skyler Hepler brings us the message from our Fort Atkinson campus. Born with the inherited sinful nature of Adam, God's grace through Jesus Christ, overflows to cover every sin we commit.
Something has changed. Your life is under a different authority now. Step forward and embrace what Jesus has done, how He has given you "A Change For Good."
The Resurrection overcomes the power of the law, sin & death and puts us right back in the garden, to begin again!
As you sit at the empty tomb, God wants to not only look forward to the resurrection, but know Easter is at work in you right now!
When it comes to your life.... and this moment.... ask yourself, "Who has the final say?"
With the help of the Holy Spirit we are now aware of how sin harms us and can leave behind the ways of death and embrace the blessings of this new life Easter offers us.
What you see when you look in the mirror is more than just a reflection of your appearance, it's an indication of the direction of your life. Dig into Romans 6:5-7 and begin "Seeing Easter In You."
When the ultimate bad thing is used to achieve the ultimate good...
...God works "Death to Life."
We know what the resurrection means for the future, but what is it doing for me and in me right now?
It's raised me to new life but first, it teaches me the "Value of Death."
When Jesus was born, people were living ordinary, everyday lives. Except for Mary, Joseph and a few shepherds, no one else knew that the Savior had been born! When God comes into our everyday lives it doesn't look spectacular - it looks like love, it looks like resurrected lives, it looks like our forever, but also our today.
Challenging. But Good.
Evaluating our faith life can be challenging. It gets even harder when we consider how to relate with other Christians. But there is incredible encouragement and hope from the One who takes care of "Judging Us."
1) There are some things that are clearly black and white like the fact that Jesus is the only way to eternal life. But when it comes to applying our faith, things can get awfully complicated.
2) Even if an action is not wrong in and of itself, if we believe it is wrong and still do it, we actually judge against ourselves.
3) Two Christians can be in very different places in their faith. They can both bring glory to God while going in very different directions.
4) God calls us to lift up and encourage each other, including our fellow Christians who believe the most God-pleasing way is different than what we believe.
5) We are able to come together in love and humility because we all have the same problem = sin and the same solution = Jesus. He has reunited us with God and each other.
How to we balance our freedom in Christ with abstaining from a choice that may cause a brother or sister to stumble in their faith? With humility and a Christ-like love!
Not Natural. But Good!
There are many things in life that are not natural to us but are good for us! Jesus changes us for the good!
1) If someone were to tell us that we need to do something, it shows that we haven't been doing it!
2) If someone were to tell us, "You need to be zealous" for something, it would make it almost impossible to do so because then we would be doing it out of obligation.
3) Thankfully, the directives God gives us begin with His mercy!
4) Jesus is more than an example. Our evil was glued to Him. His goodness is now glued to us!
5) As we pursue righteousness in view of Christ's mercy, it changes us!
Transformed through Christ we embrace lives of love!
1. Be disgusted by what is evil.
2. Be glued to what is good.
3. Value one another with brotherly love.
4. Be "all in" for God!
5. Joyfully anticipate good things to come, even when you are under pressure, through continual prayer!
The Holy Spirit is the intercessor between us sinners and Holy God when it comes to sanctification. When we are struggling, God Himself knows exactly what we need. The day is coming when we get to live our lives the way we always wanted to - perfectly - so we are encouraged to persevere in our walk of sanctification - keep trying!
You Don't Have It All Figured Out. But He Does!
It's hard to admit, but we really don't know what we need. God knows and thankfully we can trust the Spirit to speak for us and to guide us every step of the way!
1) Waiting to open a gift can be hard, especially when you're expecting something good but don't know what gift is in the box. Living our lives of faith can be the same way. We don't know exactly what resurrection life is going to be like and we don't know what good plans God has for this life!
2) At the core of everything broken about this world is the thought that we know what's good for us, not God.
3) The Holy Spirit knows what this broken world and we, as broken individuals, long for. He joins us, longs with us and expresses what we need to the Father.
4) The Holy Spirit expresses what we long for in a way that perfectly matches God's desire for us and our lives.
5) God set us apart for Himself and is guiding us according to His plan! Trust the Spirit who knows what our need and trust God to lead your life in a way that is good according to His plan!
Take A Look Inside!
It's hard to look inside of ourselves. We might find something gross. But when we look inside, we can find the proper diagnosis!
1) People often say, "That just wasn't me." What we do often doesn't align with what we want to do.
2) There's a slave driver inside of us, preventing us from doing what we want to do.
3) Jesus has also planted Himself inside of us and He is perfectly. He and our sinful nature are completely at odds.
4) We get to walk with the cross of Christ. His cross crushes the old me so the new me can stand up tall.
5) God has this way of using even our weaknesses to draw us closer. When we lean on Him in weakness, He gives us strength!
You can't conquer it.
But it can't conquer Him.
Jesus is the NEMESIS of your NEMESIS.
When we try to control human beings to live under rules (laws) we find that instead of people's lives and hearts being changed they are filled with resentful and hatred and it further divides us. Living through faith in Christ is true freedom!
Feeling Stuck or Bogged Down?
Sometimes as we strive to live our faith we can feel stuck or get bogged down? When something similar happens with our computer or smartphone, a reboot does wonders! So, "What if you could Restart?
1) While God's law is good, it actually held us captive because it kept showing how we have failed to be what we were meant to be.
2) When God's law meets our sinful flesh, it actually energizes our sinful desires. This works in a variety of ways.
a. Magnification:
i. We magnify what we think about. If we think about what not to do, we magnify what not to do.
ii. If we focus on the law which shows how we fail, we magnify our guilt and shame.
iii. If we focus on the law and are able to follow certain parts of it well, we are susceptible to pride.
b. Complication:
i. When we think too hard about what is meant to flow naturally, we make it complicated. Try thinking about breathing. It becomes difficult.
3) The problem with trying to overcome what's wrong in us by our own strength is that we're trying to overcome our sinful flesh with our sinful flesh.
4) But through Jesus' death, we died to that old way of the law, of sin and trying to do it ourselves. We've been restarted to live a new way!
5) We now live by the Spirit, the One who gives us faith to believe the promises of God. Believing the promises is eating the fruit that gives us a new life!
Maybe the Toughest Part About Being A Christian...
We love God and know He's good but there's power inside of us working against. Make some sense of what's going on, find confidence and hope for "The Battle Within."
There's a fight taking place inside of us. Join the fight because the war is won!
1) The powers inside of us are in conflict. One loves God while the other hates God!
2) The sinful nature always wants to do the wrong thing and is always working against us.
3) If the battle is so hard, we might sometimes wonder, "Why fight?" We fight because Jesus has won the victory!
4) Jesus gave His life so we could have our lives back!
5) Sanctification means that now parts of our lives display what God originally created us for. God empowers us to live for eternity and enjoy life now!
Sometimes we live under restrictions that do not exist and act like we're under the power of something that no longer is master of us. It's time to live free and ask, "What Are You Standing Under?"
1) Through faith in Christ what's true of Him becomes true of you. He died for our sins so you died to sin. He rose to new life. Now you have a new life!
2) Temptation to sin is not merely a choice between right and wrong. It's a power struggle. When you sin you allow yourself to come under the power of something other than God.
3) Naturally we're born under the power of sin, missing the mark of what we were meant to be, unable to live the life we were meant to live. But no longer!
4) You've passed from death to life. The life you were meant to live has been given back to you!
5) You're under grace. God delights in you and so He gives you gift after gift, forgiveness, faith, power, purpose, calling, confidence, life that never ends!
Regrets? We all have them.
Pastor Krause shares some amazing news from Romans 6:11-14. With God's gift of faith and our hope for eternal life, we are now empowered to live sanctified lives through Christ Jesus. We have a second chance - what would we do differently?
Who/What Is Shaping Your Life?
Where we find our identity, purpose and fulfillment drives our lives. Thankfully, we've been given the gift of Sanctification (In the Narrow Sense) which means we get to live with the identity, purpose and fulfillment that God created us to have!
1) As beings who were made by a Creator for a purpose to achieve something significant, our need for identity, purpose and fulfillment is written into our DNA.
2) When we search for our identity, purpose and fulfillment in something other than God, we'll always miss the mark of what we were meant to be. We're living as slaves to sin.
3) We were baptized into Christ we died with Him. When He rose we rose. We no longer belong to a way of life that ends in death. We have real life!
4) Through faith in Christ we have been declared right with God. That means we are alive to:
a. God, the One who created us to be walking pictures of Him (identity)
b. Purpose (you have been given a life that is truly awe-some as a part of His plan)
c. Fulfillment (you've been set on the path of life with real, eternal significance)
Go Ahead. Ask.
Let's Lean In Together!
We may try to ignore them, but the truth is, they are there, those challenging questions that just keep coming up. This weekend we begin a new sermon series, "Nagging Questions???" where we lean into some of life's biggest questions and go to God's Word for answers. This weekend we'll get started with a study of Romans 1:20 where we ask, "Is God Real?"
What's your story?
No matter how your story seems right now, this weekend we celebrate that we our part of "A Better Story."
As we enter Holy Week, we begin a series of days where we see in action God’s love for us. This is the love we trust in and celebrate with our words!