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Description
St. Paul Lutheran is a vibrant Church serving Westlake, OH with the gospel of Jesus Christ. Our sermon podcast focuses on biblically sound, Scripturally centred teaching with relevant application.
152 Episodes
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Throughout Israel’s history, most of the kings- even the good kings- failed
to do one thing: completely remove idolatry from the nation. King Josiah
was the one to do this. To live a God-pleasing life, not only must we
recognize the idols in our hearts, but we also must do something to remove
them. Join Pastor Josh as he discusses this important teaching for
Christians.
The more you read about Israel in the books of 1 & 2 Kings, the more
troubled and disturbed you become. All around is corruption, conflict, and
sin. The kings are supposed to be godly leaders, yet they give up the one
true God for false gods. They give up truth for foolishness. They give up
worshipping the Creator to worship created things. It seems to be hopeless.
In this text, King Ahaziah is a troubled leader of a troubled nation. Yet,
the prophet Elijah is still around, remaining faithful to the Lord. There
are many similarities between ancient Israel and our modern world. Join
Pastor Smith for this sermon as we see how dangerous it is to give up God.
You may want to give up all hope when you see the extent of our troubled
world. But there still is a God–keep holding onto Him in hope, and He will
save you!
The wisest man to ever live, King Solomon, was led astray to do what he
knew with his mind he should not do. He was led astray by his
feelings/desires. Pastor Josh explores the proper role of our feelings and
our logic, and how God has made us to use each of those in their proper
contexts.
As we continue to read about David’s life and reign as king over Israel, we
start to see sin and failure, even from the man who is “after God’s own
heart.” God warned Israel about how an earthly king would be far worse than
Himself as their king. This was obvious when it came to King Saul, and now
King David falls into some of the same sinful pitfalls. When you are
successful and powerful, it is easy to hear people say “You are the man!”
and agree, and think you are entitled to whatever you want. But sooner or
later, God will reveal that “You are the man!”--a sinful, guilty man. When
we, like David, realize we need someone else to really be “The Man” for us,
then we behold The Man–our Lord Jesus. In this sermon, Pastor Smith directs
us to The Man Jesus, who comes to save us from our sin.
Who you relate to in a story affects how you see the story, as well as
yourself. Join Pastor Josh as he talks about one of the most well-known
Bible stories there is, the “story of the underdog,” David and Goliath, and
see how he puts us into the story.
No one likes being told “no.” We want to get the things we ask for, and
it’s not fun to be told no. But as a parent tells their child no to things
that will cause harm, God does that to his children. Join Pastor Josh as he
discusses 1 Samuel 8 and how, when God tells us no, it’s often for our own
benefit.
The book of Joshua shows the process by which the Lord gives the Promised
Land to Israel. God’s people are entirely passive in this process. It is
only by following God’s commands, fully believing and trusting in Him, that
they receive the land. Whenever they try to act according to their own
power or wisdom, the result is total failure. At this point in our “Growing
Through the Bible” journey, we have enough information to see that God’s
people are called to believe and do things that are completely different
from the rest of the world. God strongly warns Israel against allowing
themselves to be influenced by the nations. He knows they will start
following their ways and they will fall away from His righteous way.
Interestingly, there are many parallels between the situation in which
God’s people found themselves in the book of Joshua, and the situation in
which God’s people find themselves today. This sermon explores which way to
choose–God’s way or the world’s way. We will discuss how baffling the
actions of believers may seem to the world, but how these “baffling ways”
are the ones that lead to life.
The first commandment, “You shall have no other gods,” seems like a pretty
easy commandment to keep, right? After all, you probably don’t have idols
in a shrine that you bow down to every night. But Pastor Josh takes us
through the story of the Israelites with the golden calf to see how: a god
is not just a physical object, it’s where we find our identity. And where
we find our identity is a daily struggle for us to wrestle with.
As we begin the story of the book of Exodus this week, it starts with
Israel being in slavery in Egypt, and crying out to the Lord for help. As a
reader you can’t help but think of times when you have been in a time of
great need and suffering, and you have cried out to God for help, and
wondered if He even hears you or cares. In Ex 2:24-25, we see four very
common verbs that are used. However, when God is the subject of these four
verbs, we learn exactly how God looks at His people–not just Israel in
ancient times, but also how He looks at us today. This sermon will explore
how God hears, remembers, sees, and knows His people Israel, and how this
leads Him to save them. We will also focus on how God hears, remembers,
sees, and knows us today, and how He acts to save us.
Why do bad things happen to good people?” “Where was God in this tragedy?”
“Why is God allowing this terrible thing to happen to me?” These are all
questions asked when trying to make sense of why bad things happen, and
where God is during it.
Join Pastor Josh as he looks at the story of Joseph to learn some important
lessons about God’s role in and response to bad circumstances we
experience.
This week we focus on the story of Jacob, and in particular the memorable
dream God gives him where he sees a ladder, or stairway, to heaven. This is
a powerful vision for Jacob as he sees that God comes down from heaven to
earth to be present with him and to deliver him great promises. Many years
later, Jesus will refer back to this vision of the stairway to heaven in
reference to Himself! This sermon focuses on how God created all things
initially for heaven and earth to be united–God living with His people. Sin
messed this all up, but the story of the Bible is how God is working to
reunite heaven and earth, so that one day He and His people will dwell
together again. We will discuss these implications in the story of Jacob,
the life of Jesus, and our own lives today.
When you read through the Bible, you might assume all the people in God’s
story are holy and perfect and qualified. You’d be wrong. In fact, it is
downright laughable the types of sinful people God chooses to include in
His story of salvation. Laughter is a big theme in the story of Abraham,
Sarah, and Isaac. Laughter can mean multiple different things depending on
the situation. We might laugh because of disbelief, bitterness, sarcasm, or
it may be because of humor, relief, or joy. We see several examples of this
kind of laughter in the section of Genesis we are reading this week. Join
Pastor Smith as we discover how laughable it is that God chooses people
like Abraham (and people like us!) in His story.
Who gets to decide what’s right and wrong? If you and I disagree, then how
do we actually decide? Pastor Josh takes us through Genesis 1 to see how:
when God created, he gave definition to things- including what’s right and
wrong. He walks us through how understanding that fundamental truth is key
to understanding morality today.
Imagine that you are running a marathon for which you did not willingly
register. And it’s really hard. There are numerous obstacles and
difficulties, not to mention pain and suffering, standing between you and
the finish line. You feel like giving up. But then you notice people
cheering you on. These are people who have already finished the race, and
they are encouraging you toward the finish line. This is what the author to
the Hebrews describes to us in this passage. The life of faith is like a
marathon. A multitude of the faithful have gone before us, and by the grace
of God have also finished the race. We look to them, and especially to
Jesus, for an example, for encouragement, for strength. This helps us
endure to the end to receive the victory Jesus has won for us.
Hebrews 11 is often referred to as the “Heroes of Faith,” or the “faith
hall of fame.” As Christians, we have a very strong connection to them, “by
faith.” Join Pastor Josh as he draws upon what this connection is, what it
means for us, and what it means for those around us.
We will look at two different men in this text. The first is rich beyond
all comparison, but willingly gives it all away. The second thinks he is
rich, but actually possesses nothing at all. The first is Jesus. The second
is the man who is the main character in Jesus’ parable. In this sermon we
will explore our relationship with material possessions and wealth. What
does it mean to be rich? What does it mean to be rich toward God? How does
it happen that someone could lose their soul because of their sinful
relationship with possessions? Jesus gives a strong warning, but also
provides the way to be saved.
When we have to ask someone else for something we want, we often think we
have to form a strategy for how to get what we want. We approach this with
the underlying assumption that the person whom we ask does NOT want to give
us something. So we come up with somewhat sneaky ways to get it anyway. We
might use flattery, persuasion, bargaining, persistence, or other such
approaches. Should we try the same thing when we ask God for what we want?
Looking at both the Genesis 18 and Luke 11 texts, we learn that we do not
have to trick God into giving us good things. Through careful study of
these texts, we will learn the exceedingly simple way we are to approach
God in prayer for the things we want and need.
Everyone has reasons for why they do what they do- especially when it costs
you in some form to do it. Join Pastor Josh as he digs into Colossians 1
and discusses why it is that we (should) do what we do as Christians, even
when it’s difficult or costs us.
Pastor Buegler's TRADITIONAL sermon based on the TE DEUM canticle in the
Matins liturgy?
Focus verses – “Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put
on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the
devil’s schemes” – Eph. 6:10-11
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