Worship Services

He has Done Everything Well!

September 8, 2024

Have you ever stopped to think about what it must have been like to spend time around Jesus? We have all known that person who seemed like they were perfect. That kid in high school. Straight A’s. Star on all the teams. Great hair. Great personality.

Find Faith Under the Table!

September 1, 2024

If you had been walking around a shopping mall in the 1990s you would have seen a particularly odd type of decoration lining the walls of the novelty shops. These bizarre posters were normal sized, but they didn’t look like much. No people, no pictures, no slogans, just little bits of color all arranged in perfectly random chaos. You might describe them as a “colorful-static.”

Christ Meant More

August 25, 2024

How do you want to be remembered? Have you ever thought about that? Some people spend a lot of time thinking about their “legacy” and how they will be remembered. Do you want to be remembered as a loving husband, a great dad, the guy on the block who had the best looking yard? Do you want to be remembered as the model wife and mother, the woman who “had it all together”? Do you want to be remembered for your accomplishments on the field or your faithful years of service on the job?

Wisdom Revealed through the Spirit

August 18, 2024

There is an interesting detail tucked into the story of when Jesus went to his hometown of Nazareth and preached in the synagogue. After Jesus got done teaching on that Sabbath Day, the people said this, What’s this wisdom that has been given to him? (Mark 6:2) They said this not because Jesus had given them a stimulating lecture on physics or geometry. But he had spoken to them about the Kingdom of God, about prophecy and fulfillment, about himself being the Messiah. Jesus had a different kind of wisdom.

The Original Daily Bread

August 11, 2024

When Jesus taught his disciples to pray, he taught them to say, Give us this day our daily bread (Matthew 6:11). It is a very simple, no-nonsense petition. In it we simply ask our dear Father to give us enough bread for this day. I have sometimes wondered if when the disciples heard this, they remembered the stories they would have surely heard about the “daily bread” the Lord had given to their ancestors in the desert under Moses.

The Bridge between Fear and Courage: “I AM”

August 4, 2024

The account before us this morning is well known to most Christians. The story of Jesus walking on the water is part of just about every Sunday School curriculum there is. Just about every preaching pericope includes the record of Jesus walking on the water. It is at the same time simple and profound. Every child can understand that Jesus walked on top of the water out to his disciples. That is simple. But there is also something very profound about this event.

Richly-Provided that We Might Richly Provide

July 28, 2024

We in America are confused. We are confused about “means” and “ends.” What do we mean by that? Well, “ends” are where you want to be. It is the goal. It is the “end.” It’s the destination. A “means” is how you get to your end. For example, when you go on vacation, you don’t climb in the car and yell, “Yay! We’re here!” No. The goal of your vacation is not sitting in the car in the driveway.

Ministry Fittingly and Beautifully Adorned

July 14, 2024

About 60 miles off the coast of Greece in the Mediterranean Sea is a beautiful island called Crete. Today tourists flock to Crete for its stunning beaches. Two thousand years ago, the apostle Paul made a stop on Crete. He wasn’t there for the beaches. He was there with a young co-worker named Titus. They were there to spread the good news about Jesus. They were engaged in Gospel ministry.

Something Tragic Happened on Their Way to Heaven, They Tripped on Jesus

July 7, 2024

It was Saturday in Nazareth. The Sabbath Day. And the faithful sons of Abraham gathered where they did every Sabbath. They gathered at the synagogue. They were in the right place! Here in the synagogue the scrolls of the Old Testament, what they called the tanakh, were read and expounded. Here they heard the Word of Jehovah. In the synagogue they would hear the prophecies of the Messiah who was to come and bring salvation. Indeed, they were in the right place! Because of the Word of God present there the synagogue was the gate to heaven!

Not Dead, but Sleeping

June 30, 2024

You have all likely heard of “euphemisms.” Euphemisms are nice, polite ways to say things that might sound harsh or unpleasant. For example, companies speak of “downsizing” rather than firing people. A person is said to be “vertically challenged” instead of “short.” Something strange is said to be “interesting.” And one I heard recently: “death” was called “successfully completing retirement.”

“Be Still”

June 23, 2024

I remember preaching on this text, Psalm 46, back on Sunday, September 16, 2001. That was the first Sunday after 9/11. Many of you here today remember that week well. For some of you, 9/11 is only a history lesson. We were a nation that had been attacked. We were reeling. We had seen something never before seen. Skyscrapers collapse upon themselves! It seemed surreal, like we were living a dream. Psalm 46 seemed like the perfect text for the moment. It is a psalm that describes calamity and catastrophe and chaos, and then calm. It is a psalm in which we hear our God say those words we were desperate to hear, Be still. (v. 10)

The Kingdom Grows!

June 16, 2024

The state of Wisconsin right now is like a huge object lesson on the Kingdom of God. I say that because all over our state farmers are planting their crops. Everywhere they are putting the seeds in the ground. Wheat and corn and soybeans and alfalfa. Drive anywhere and you will likely pass a field where you will see the corn now sprouted and well on its way to being “knee high by the 4th of July.”

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