Holy Cross Lutheran Church

Acts Bible Study | April 10

Sermon | ”The King is Here” | April 10

Today, in our abiding with Jesus we hear the proclamation of His Kingship and watch the further coming of His Kingdom. The One heralded as bringing "peace on earth," by the angels at His birth, now is announced to be accomplishing "peace in heaven" by His disciples as He enters Jerusalem. But this King is unique; both royal and humble which foretells that He will rule like none other, but rule nonetheless. In the midst of all this complexity, the questions that His first hearers and we must answer are quite simple: with you live like He is king? Do you grasp what that means?

Sermon | ”A Not-so Subtle Jesus” | April 3

Two things seem to be happening simultaneously: 1) Jesus is fast approaching the goal set out for Him (whole-person healing for the whole world) and 2) He's becoming less and less subtle in His telling of parables. Here, in Luke 20, Jesus tells a parable while teaching in the temple - and it's clear by the end (and by the response of the religious elite) that He's telling these parables as a clear indictment of their leadership. Yet, Jesus is also making clear that through it all - God is up to something NEW.

Sermon | ”A Different Kind of Sight” | March 27

Luke 15 is often referred to as the "Heart of the Third Gospel." For many, the three parables told here by Jesus are the clearest picture of Jesus' purpose on earth. AND, a clear warning to those who would stand against that purpose. Like all parables, Jesus leaves the story open-ended giving the listener, you and me, the opportunity to see ourselves within the parable itself. And like all parables, the meaning is dynamic and not static. In each, Jesus sees differently than the rest of the world so that those who are lost can be found.

Sermon | ”Focus on the Right Things” | March 20

Are there big sinners and small sinners? Are some sins worse than others? These are the questions Jesus is being asked to answer. Yet, as He often does, rather than answer the question directly, Jesus reframes the question in order to direct our focus to the fruit of our own lives. Now, more than ever, in this ever growing post-Christian culture, we need Jesus to help us focus on the right issues to address.

Acts Bible Study | March 13

Sermon | ”Love and Rejection” | March 13

When it comes to love, most people believe in reciprocity. In other words, we want to receive both the kind and amount of love we give. But what happens when you give love and never receive it? At what point is your heart unwilling to give love away? Is it worth it to love those who don't love you? Jesus desires to gather and shelter His people and yet, the very ones He's trying to love, reject Him. In fact, it's in Jerusalem that God has promised to dwell - and it's in Jerusalem where God the Father will deliver His Son to be rejected. Some might say, this isn't love at all; loving people who don't love you is a fool's errand. OR, maybe it's a divine one.

Sermon | ”Temptation is About More Than Just Sin” | March 6

“Temptations“. We all have them. Sometimes we joke about them when it comes to some naughty thing we are tempted to do or eat. But, as we examine Jesus being tempted this week, we see there is something much deeper going on. It isn’t just about doing something we shouldn’t do or even about committing some sin. After all, forgiveness can take care of that.  Since Satan is behind temptation, we probably better pay attention. So then, what really is going on between Satan and Jesus? And between Satan and you?

Acts Bible Study | February 27

Sermon | ”What’s Learned on the Mountain” | February 27

As we've been abiding with Jesus, we've seen lots of facets of His character, His values, His capacity and identity. Some of that we'd gladly share and make known, but some we might not herald as His highlights or lead with in our sharing about our hope in Him. The message God offers in the account of the transfiguration is that there's good news in all of it, even if that's not how it first seems.

 

"You Ain't Seen Nothing Yet" Bachman Turner Overdrive

https://youtu.be/4cia_v4vxfE