St. Luke Columbus

Brené Brown helps us understand that in order for forgiveness to happen something has to die. To forgive is a grief process where something has to die in order for new life to come forth. To truly forgive we have to grieve something. It may be a relationship as we have known it, the hope that something will be same as it once was, that a person you care about does not have the capacity to hurt you or wouldn’t hurt you, being right, or something else. But only through killing something off can beautiful new life come forth. The willingness to kill something off and grieve it makes forgiveness the ultimate act of love. This is what God did for us in Jesus and what we are called to do for others.   After hearing this sermon, we hope that you will accept that Jesus died so that he could forgive you. Identify and kill off what you must to forgive others.   Lessons: Jeremiah 31:31-34, Colossians 3:12-13, Matthew 26:17-28

This sermon starts with a narrative reading of the passion story. The sermon starts at 15:48.    One of the most vivid pictures that the Bible gives us for understanding what happened to Jesus when he suffered and died is found in Philippians 2:7 where it says that Jesus “emptied” himself. Jesus emptied himself of his eternal perfection so that he could be filled with our broken rebellion and death. Now that we have been emptied of our broken rebellion and death, Jesus now fills us with his eternal perfection. Such a joyous exchange!   After hearing this sermon, we hope that you will, in faith, accept Jesus empting of your broken rebellion and death and his filling you of his eternal perfection.    Lessons: Philippians 2:5-11, Luke 22:14-23:56

Jacob experienced the transcendent presence of God as few people had before or since, even getting a glorious name change from God. And yet, Jacob continued to struggle to walk obediently with God. He was often filled with fear and doubts. He too often tried to take matters into his own hands. Given all this, God continued to walk with Jacob just as he was. The great testimony to this is that generations later, when Moses (like Jacob before him) asked God for His name, God identified himself as the God of Abraham, Isaac, and (wait for it) … Jacob, not Israel, but Jacob. This teaches us the gospel truth that, in Jesus, God will always accept us and engage with us wherever we are on our path of discipleship. God will identify with us just as we are, sinful, broken, fearful, doubting, and struggling.   After hearing this sermon, we hope you will rest in the truth that, in Jesus, God meets you and identifies himself with you in the midst and mire of your sinful struggles.   Lessons: Genesis 28:10-22; 32:22-30;

What happened this night was no ordinary evening, for a variety of reasons… And what Jesus shows us is if any voice tells you to moderate our love for Jesus, do not listen. Let your affections for Jesus be lavish. If any voice tempts you to want to be rich in money, do not listen. Jesus is your riches, and all that money can buy cannot compare to him. If any voice tells you that his death is anything less than the triumph over death, do not listen. No ordinary meal indeed!   Lessons: Isaiah 43:16-21, Philippians 3:7-14, John 12:1-8

Throughout his life, Jacob faced daily struggles that are recorded in the Bible with amazing detail. As his family, wealth, and responsibilities grew, so did his daily struggles. He did not always make wise or faithful decisions in coping with his daily struggles, but at a few poignant times he expressed his trust in God and was better able to wrestle with his daily struggles. This is not heaven and daily struggles are a part of this life that is broken by sin. Genesis 3:17-18 teaches that it is “through painful toil” that we now have our “daily bread.” Our daily struggles cause us to fear the future. There is only one place to turn with our daily struggles, and that is the Lord who promises to give us the peace that passes all understanding and guard our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. I want to make more room for questions and dialogue in this sermon.   After hearing this sermon, we hope you will create a “Daily Surrender Prayer” that you can use as a daily mantra to have greater peace as you wrestle wit

God loves all people and desires that all people be saved. We are answering questions that we submitted on the wrestling with God cards: How should we feel about Muslims? What about Christians vs. Muslims. Although we will not limit ourselves to the relationship between Christians and Muslims, current events give us this poignant experience to seek to understand how to understand Jesus’ Parable of the Good Samaritan when it comes to our neighbors who believe differently than us.   After hearing this sermon, we hope you will pray for God to move us to love all people, especially Muslims, as God loves them and to desire that they be saved.   Lessons: Isaiah 49:5-6, 1 Timothy 2:1-7, Luke 10:25-37

This is not heaven. We will enter into the back-story of Jacob’s wrestling with God to wrestle with God over our own disappointments. This sermon will continue to turn the screw deeper into the understanding of the problem of evil that was introduced on Feb. 17. The deeper understanding is that we sometimes are fooled into thinking that life should be perfect and we should not experience disappointments, especially if we have been faithful. While our personal disappointments may not seem as terrible as the evil and suffering that others experience, suffering is suffering and it can lead us to wonder where God is in the midst of our disappointments.   After hearing this sermon, we hope you will continue to trust that in all things God is working for your good.   Lessons: Genesis 29:14b-30

The question seems simple enough, God says love your neighbor… so who is that, I sure would hate to mess that up! But the simplicity of the Greatest Commandment, makes that question completely unneeded. The better question, isn’t to ask “who should I love” but instead ask Jesus “Who am I?” You see the famous parable of the Good Samaritan is less about who represents our neighbor and more to do with, what kind of people are we?   After hearing this sermon, we hope you will ask yourself where you are reluctant to love and try to discover the root sin that underlies it. It may be painful… but it is so worth it!   Lessons: Psalm 107:1-9, 2 Corinthians 2:14-16, Luke 10:25-37

Why is this happening to me God? I think this is a question we all can relate to whether it is break up in a relationship, losing a job, health issues, death of a loved one and so many other things that cause us to ask this question. Tonight we are going to wrestle with why do bad things happen to us and what to do in the midst of those struggles.   Lessons: Matthew 7:24-28

The testimony of the Bible is that God’s heart is turned towards the poor. The Isaiah passage teaches that caring for those in need is even more important to God than our worship of him. Jesus plainly said to follow him, the rich young man had only one more step to take in order to have treasurers in heaven and begin following Jesus – “sell what you have and give to the poor.” If we desire to authentically follow Jesus, we must follow the teaching of 1 Timothy 6:17-19 and be rich in generosity with those in need. One of our particular gifts in this mission is that we are rich and can really bless organizations who are effective at helping people in need.   After hearing this sermon, we hope you will give a financial donation to the Be Rich Campaign that would be generous for you.   Lessons: Isaiah 1:11-17, 1 Timothy 6:17-19, Mark 10:17-22

The Biblical, true, quick, but not very satisfying answer to this question is that evil and suffering are a result of our rebellion against God. The real question we have is this: Why does God allow evil and suffering? This is the classic problem of evil (the Stoic Dilemma). If God is all loving and all powerful, why do evil and suffering occur? On one hand, there is not find in the Bible a simple and clear answer to this dilemma and we will continue to struggle with this question until they day when we will see God face to face and we will know fully God’s plan (1 Cor. 13:12). But the primary truth of the whole Bible is what God accomplished for us in Jesus. Jesus is God’s answer to the problem of evil and suffering. We continue to wrestle with this because of the extreme pain we experience and our confusion and doubt over what God has ultimately accomplished for us through Jesus.   After hearing this sermon, we hope that you will better understand that the problem of evil remains in our lives, but that Jes

Isaiah 58:1-7 so clearly describes many American Christians and what is God’s response to our eager efforts to “for God to come near” us. Fasting (giving up something for Lent) as often been a part of the Lenten disciplines that we do to come nearer to God. According to Isaiah 58, true fasting is “to loose the chains of injustice, and untie the chords of the yoke, to set the oppressed free and break every yoke, to share your food with the hungry and provide the poor wanderer with shelter – when you see the naked to clothe him, and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood.” This passage will be tied directly into what we are doing in the Be Rich Campaign.   After hearing this sermon, we hope you will give, serve, and love through the steps offered in the Be Rich Campaign.   Lessons: Isaiah 58:1-7 and Matthew 25:31-46.   You can check out the details of our Be Rich campaign from our website: stlukecolumbus.com/berich.

We all “wrestle” with God over particular issues or experiences in our lives and the lives of others. It could be our own suffering or the suffering of others. Our wrestling with God over these matters is a reflection of the brokenness we have because of our sin. The great truth about God is that he strives with us through our wrestling with him. God does not abandon us. The account of Jacob wrestling with God recorded in Genesis 32 will be the theme passage for Wednesdays in Lent. During the Ash Wednesday worship people will be invited to fill out and turn in cards that list the matters that move them to “wrestle” with God. In the following Wednesdays, some of those matters will be addressed in the sermons. The title for the Wednesday Lenten series is “Wrestling With God”.   After hearing this sermon, we hope you will be honest with God and identify the issues or experiences over which you “wrestle” with God. Ask God to bless you through your wrestling with him.   Lessons: Genesis 32:22-32, 2 Corinthian

David's special message to kids about how God uses the moments in our lives to grow our faith.

Everything that happens to us in a day shapes us, C.S. Lewis is quoted as saying something to the effect of, all our decisions move us closer to Heaven or closer to Hell. There are however, some moments in our life that stand out above the rest, moments that are pivotal on our faith. It is in these moments that God moves the needle of our faith lives in tremendous ways.   After hearing this sermon we hope you will ask someone what pivotal moments in their lives that have shaped their faith. Then write some down that happened in your own life and: thank the lord for them, reflect how they shaped your faith, and share it when a loved one! Spend time praying for God to move in big and small moments in your life.   Lessons: Joshua 3:7-8, 14-17; Acts 4:8-13; Luke 9:28-36

The Bible is filled with accounts of God calling people into ministry before they thought they were ready, e.g., Moses, Joshua, Gideon, Peter, Saul of Tarsus. When we step into a ministry for which we do not feel prepared, our faith grows. Some people have called this “stepping out of our comfort zones.” It is simply the case that when we bring all that we have to Jesus and he works through what we have to make an eternal difference in the lives of others, our faith is supercharged. Everyone can serve, invite, and give in some way to meet the hopes and hurts of others.   After hearing this sermon, we hope you will volunteer for a ministry. If you are already serving in a ministry, reset your vision of what you doing to see that God is making an eternal difference through you.   Lessons: Deuteronomy 15:7-11, Acts 20:32-35, Matthew 14:13-21   Sermon Outline

Chances are you didn’t randomly just walked into a church today to see what it was about. It is more likely that someone talked to you about God, shared their story with you or maybe just invited you to come to church. No matter how you decided to come to church today God planted a seed in your mind about faith though someone. These types of encounters are what we call providential relationships and today we are going to talk about the importance of those relationships.   Who is your group of people that live life with you and help you grow in your faith? If you can’t name a group maybe it is time to hop into a life group this week.     Lessons: Genesis 2:18-22, Hebrews 10:19-25, John 15:9-16  

The private disciplines of prayer and meditating on Holy Scripture usher us into the transcendent presence of God where He speaks personally to us. There we experience intimacy with God and accountability before God in our path of faith. Our hearts are tuned into God’s heart. “There is a direct correlation between a person’s private devotional life and his or her personal faith. When God peaks to us personally through His Word or answers a specific prayer, our faith is strengthens.” (Andy Stanley)   After hearing this sermon, we hope you will begin a daily quiet time with the Lord of prayer and reading and meditating on Scripture.    Lessons: Joshua 1:7-9, 2 Timothy 3:14-16, Matthew 6:5-6   Sermon Outline

Worship is a funny thing, most of us hear the word and immediately think of singing in church. While this is part of worship, it is so much deeper than this! Today we will look at how we are natural worshipers and how The Word, our songs, and mission of Christ drive us deeper into sweet and meaningful worship.    This topic hits all of the cornerstone points of St. Luke's by learning what true worship is, living it out through our faith, and unleashing the hope and excitement this brings on our world!   After hearing this sermon, we hope you will 1) take ten minutes to prepare yourself for worship—ask the Lord to prepare your heart; 2) Reflect on how you can apply what you’ve learned in the sermon to your daily life, or ask someone else how they apply what they’ve learned in a sermon to their lives.   Lessons: 1 Chronicles 16:23-31, Romans 12:1-2, Luke 2:15-20

Although we have already attained eternal life through the work of Jesus, every living follower of Jesus is not done growing in faith. Until we are with God in heaven, God is continually working to grow our confidence in Him. Continuing to grow in faith brings incredible benefits in the life of a Christian. This sermon will introduce the series and make a case for why we should continue to seek growing in faith.   After hearing this sermon, we hope you will name any barriers you have to growing in faith, confess them before God, and ask God to help you remove those barriers so as to be truly open to what will be taught in this series.   Lessons: Philippians 3:10-16, Matthew 13:1-9, 18-23   Sermon Outline