It's Good Not to Know!
If you've ever felt like it would be easier if God would just tell us when Jesus will return, you're not alone. But there is incredible blessing for us today not to know!
1) Rather than having us be ready on a specific day for Jesus to return, God would have us always be ready.
2) Part of being ready is not just being prepared for the day Jesus returns, but knowing that our personal last day could also come any day.
3) We often feel like we're most ready when life is going smoothly, but it's often in those challenging times when we're depending on Him that we're most ready.
4) God would have us be ready every day, seeing each day as an opportunity to glorify Him and serve others.
5) Perhaps our current situation with the virus, where we don't know when it will all be over, is a great opportunity to practice encouraging each other being ready for Jesus to return.
The end is near!
Sometimes I [Pastor Krause] wonder if the rest of the world is as interested in the end of time as Christians are. When I started actively looking to see how many apocalyptic shows and movies are out there I was blown away by how many there really are. Of course, many of them are about zombies. This weekend we tackle our second to the last nagging question about Judgment Day. Our lesson "How?" is from 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18.
When there's something in our future that we've never experienced before, we can tend to get a bit nervous. If that's true with any unfamiliar experience, it can be especially true with something as different as the return of Jesus. But as we study 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18, we find incredible encouragement as we ask the question, "What Will It Be Like?"
Not just someday...
We often talk about what we will experience as Christians "someday." But what we're looking forward to isn't just far off in the distance. It affects how we live today!
1) God's heart for us is that we be sanctified, not just someday but today! Jesus makes us pure and clean so that Holy God lives in us today.
2) At the front lines of the battle between who we are in Christ and who we were before is this question, "Who's in charge? My feelings or me?"
3) When we live by what we feel, we often overstep and contribute to the pain and death in this world.
4) God is the ultimate justice-maker. Jesus endured the justice our sins deserve so we now stand right with God.
5) If we're longing for the day when we live in a pure and holy place with God, why would we go back to impurity now? God's given you His Holy Spirit so you can live the life God has called you to!
It Matters Today!
We're looking forward to eternal life with Jesus. Someday He's going to return. But let's be honest, sometimes all that good stuff can seem really far off. It can be hard to see how it changes the way we live today. So this weekend, as we're nearing the end of the church year and turning our focus towards Jesus' return, we studied 1 Thessalonians 4:3-8 by asking the question "What Now?"
Good Enough!
We often don't feel good enough. If left to ourselves, we wouldn't be. But God has completely changed everything for us!
1) If we're honest, we don't deserve to be glorified as an incredible people or Christians. None of us are good enough on our own.
2) The devil knows how to tempt each of us. We all have our weaknesses.
3) But God has taken us and is remodeling us, together with all the saints, into the most beautiful temple!
4) The love God has for us is beyond measure!
5) Through faith in Jesus you are now part of the family of God. You are good enough! You are a saint!
You? Holy?
If we were to look at God, we know we'd see One who is holy. But what does God see when He looks at us? This weekend we got to see ourselves from God's perspective as we studied Ephesians 3:14-19, as we continue our "Nagging Questions" sermon series.
RISKY - Faith can feel risky. Living your life according to something that you can't see, finding your purpose, significance and hope in something that you can't set your eyes on, can feel dangerous. So this weekend we wrestled with faith as we studied Hebrews 11:6.
When your whole life is built on something that you can't see, it can sure feel risky. But when we explore how faith works we can begin to see why it's worth the risk.
1) Faith is not some power we work in ourselves, it's about who we've been persuaded to believe in.
2) Faith supports what we are expecting to happen. It's the proof that God doesn't need anything I see in order to create something good.
3) God delights in faith because it's through faith that we approach Him and experience the real Him.
4) If what we know about God was based on what we see, then what we believe about God would be limited by what we see.
5) Through faith we experience the God who is greater than what we see, who can make a way when we cannot see a way, who is giving us something better than anything we see in this world.
Think About It!
It's not just what you do and say that matters, God cares about what is going on in your heart and in your mind. When things are moving in the right direction on the inside, it's amazing the difference that can take place on the outside. That's why this weekend we're studying Colossians 3:1-2.
So often what we focus on is not really who we are anymore. It's time to leave behind the old ways and focus on who we really are in Christ!
1) It doesn't take much to see that there's something wrong with the world. But just trying to reduce the evil is only treating the symptom.
2) The events of 2020 have dragged our focus to what's wrong in this world in a pronounced way.
3) When Jesus died everything that dragged us down died there with Him.
4) We've been raised together with Christ. Our resurrection is an accomplished fact.
5) If we are dead to things of this world and our life is now with Christ, why focus on the things of this world? Focus on your life!
Not Just What, But How
Vicious. Whether it's campaign ads, social media posts or even things we say face to face, so often the words we say and hear can be downright cruel. But God gives us a better way.
1) Sometimes the best thing to say is nothing at all. But there are times where we are called to speak up.
2) When we speak up, it's not just about what we say but how we say it. It's not just what comes out of our mouths but out of our hearts.
3) When we speak lovingly to others, we are blessed as well!
4) Thank God He doesn't just speak truth to us, but His love!
5) Imagine how God could be glorified this week if we were to speak His truth in love to those around us!
Words -
I'm sure you have heard all the cliches: "you have two ears and one mouth, think before you speak, open mouth and insert foot here", etc. Why are there so many sayings about the words that come out of our mouths?
This weekend we studied a close companion to the nagging question we tackled last weekend, however this week we focused more on how we say something rather than what it is we say as we studied Ephesians 4:15.
Sin, Them, and Me
Dealing with our own sin is challenging enough, but what about when someone I care about sins? Do I say something or do I just mind my own business? This weekend we dug into this challenging "Nagging Question" as we studied Galatians 6:1-2.
Their Sin. Your Opportunity.
Sin isn't fun to talk about and it's challenging to deal with. But when a brother or sister in Christ gets caught up in sin, there's a special opportunity in front of us.
1) We all have the same root issue. We all have the same Savior. Through faith we are now one united family in Christ, empowered by the Spirit to live differently.
2) When a fellow Christian is caught in a sin, it's not time for us to point fingers, but to see someone who is in desperate need.
3) By the power of the Spirit, God would have the church collectively work together to restore what was broken.
4) When working to restore a fellow Christian, we depend completely on Jesus and the Spirit to repair them and to sustain us.
5) We get to carry each other's burdens and in doing so, live out the way of Jesus, the One who carried our burdens to the cross and to the open grave.
Powerful Faith
Faith is powerful! But it's important to remember where that power comes from! Pastor Abrahamson takes us through a lesson from Matthew 17:19-20 as Jesus answers the question, "How Do I have a Mountain-Moving Faith?"
Faith Check-up:
How's your faith these days? Sometimes our faith can seem big. Other times it seems small. Sometimes our faith feels weak and other times it feels strong. This weekend, we'll dig into what makes for powerful faith by studying Matthew 17:19-20 with the sermon "Just How Small Is My Faith?".
Pastor Klebig leads us through a message of hope in Jeremiah as we can be confident that God DOES have a plan for us as we go through our "Babylons".
We've all heard it... We've probably all even said it... "God has a plan."
But let's be honest, sometimes it can be awfully hard to see how everything that is happening can be part of God's good plan. So let's clear up some confusion with a study of Jeremiah 29:11 as we answer the question "What Is God Really Up To?"
There are some pretty big claims in God's Word - that anything is possible for those who believe and that if we ask anything according to His will, He'll do it. These claims seem so big that sometimes they can be hard to believe. So let's embrace the power of God with a study of Ephesians 3:20-21.
Big things through you! Yes, YOU!
God makes some pretty bold statements in His Word about what He can accomplish through us! So wrestle with the power of God and what it might look for God to do big things through us as we study Ephesians 3:20-21!
? What Now?
?? Ever have one of those days when everything seems to go wrong? What if one of those days turns into one of those weeks, or months, or even years?
?? Because we live in a sinful world we will always have troubles in this life. But what are we to do when it seems as if we face one crisis after another? This weekend we seek the answer to the next nagging question as presented to us in 1 Corinthians 10:11-13.
? What Now?
?? Ever have one of those days when everything seems to go wrong? What if one of those days turns into one of those weeks, or months, or even years?
Because we live in a sinful world we will always have troubles in this life. But what are we to do when it seems as if we face one crisis after another? This weekend we seek the answer to the next nagging question as presented to us in 1 Corinthians 10:11-13.
Do you get it? It's good to try to understand life and what's happening in the world around us. But in times of terrible tragedy or loss, it can be extremely challenging when we can't seem to "get" what God is doing. For those trying times, Pastor Abrahamson helps us work through a study of Job, Chapter 42, as we ask "When Will I Finally 'Get' God?"
"God, What's Going On?" "I Don't Get It!"
Sometimes our world is turned upside down and nothing seems right. Sometimes we can't see how God is doing anything good and can't make any sense of how God works. For those times, we have Job 42:1-6.
Dirty birds. Growing up I [Pastor Krause] was taught that sparrows were "dirty birds". They got that nickname because they don't seem to have any redeeming value and when they finally fly away they leave a mess behind. But God sees the sparrows differently. In fact, this weekend's lesson teaches us they are a measuring device for our own worth. Together we discover our value to God as we plow through Luke 12:4-7 with the theme: "Do I really matter?"
The universe is so big and we are so small. What makes us special? Even though we are so small the truth is that we really do matter to God!
1) We tend to spend so much time worrying about what other people think but what really matters is what God thinks!
2) Every part of God's Creation is valuable because everything plays a part in His design.
3) If there were to be 1 thought that always crosses your mind before bed let it be this, "I matter to God!"
4) Every one of us and every person we encounter matters to God!
5) Maybe it's time to start believing that I am everything God says I am!
Hearing Check:
Most of us know by now that Pastor Krause is just a bit hard of hearing (that's why he asks people to repeat things when we are at worship). We can deal with a pastor who is hard of hearing, but what if it seems like God has that same problem? This week we forged on to our next nagging question having to do with God's response to our conversations with Him.
Message from 8.16.20 in Fort Atkinson.
Hearing Check:
Most of us know by now that Pastor Krause is just a bit hard of hearing (that's why he asks people to repeat things when we are at worship). We can deal with a pastor who is hard of hearing, but what if it seems like God has that same problem? This week we forged on to our next nagging question having to do with God's response to our conversations with Him.
Message from 8.16.20 in Cottage Grove
Ouch! When life is good and all goes as we want, do we question God? Usually we don't. Often, it is not until we find ourselves struggling, even suffering, that we wonder if God is doing His job? This weekend we looked at the opening verses of John chapter 11 to see if we can find any good in our moments of suffering and asks the question: "Can suffering be good?"
Message from 8.9.20 in Cottage Grove