Divine Savior Church-santa Rita Ranch Sermons

The love of money and what it can buy can be destructive, but the shrewd use of the resources God gives can bring immeasurable blessing. God wants us to be rich in good deeds and generous.Support the show (https://pushpay.com/pay/divinesaviorchurchsantaritaranch/)

The God-lived life is a life of showing God’s love. Last month, we focused on letting that shine in serving others, doing things for them. This month, the emphasis shifts a bit, and we look at the God-lived life as one that not just does for others, but opens up our lives to them. As we invite people into our lives and our homes, God shows through us and gives us opportunities to share what we are all about, and who we are all about. Through hospitality, as messy and dangerous as it can be, relationships are built and Jesus is shared.Support the show (https://pushpay.com/pay/divinesaviorchurchsantaritaranch/)

There are two temptations when it comes to serving others in our community. One is not to do it because you consider your time and sacrifice more important than them. The other is to do it because you consider yourself better than them, so they need your help. In the Good Samaritan and in the teller of the parable we don't see judgment, but the love of God. May we show the same!Support the show (https://pushpay.com/pay/divinesaviorchurchsantaritaranch/)

Work has been hard for us ever since our first parents rebelled against God. Work has caused sweat and stress ever since we were kicked out of Eden. Sabbath is the opportunity to return to Eden. To the rest of God. Sabbath is about being free from slavery. God has set his people free from slavery, from being driven by taskmasters. Sabbath is the refusal to go back to Egy Taskmasters don’t like rest. They create a culture where rest isn’t approved of, where rest must be snuck in secretly (which takes the rest out of rest!). Sometimes the taskmasters live in our own hearts. You don’t need to be big enough to kill your taskmasters. You just need to trust God is big enough to remove them. God wants to give us his rest.Support the show (https://pushpay.com/pay/divinesaviorchurchsantaritaranch/)

Time is so important to us. Seconds are ticking off the clock while you read this. We are people of calendars, dates, times, schedules. We are driven to get as much done in the time we are given. But do we actually leave time to do what matters? If someone needs you to pray with them, do you have time to do it? Sometimes our drivenness erodes our purposefulness.  Sometimes we have to stop following our calendar and start paying attention. Especially when God visits. Most of us live afraid we’re almost out of time. But we are heirs of eternity. We aren’t short of days. We just need to number them aright.Support the show (https://pushpay.com/pay/divinesaviorchurchsantaritaranch/)

We are always busy. We are always in a hurry. And since we are always in a hurry, we miss important things. We think our busyness and efficiency in getting to everything helps us experience more, but we actually experience less. We try to do it all and end up really doing nothing When we get too busy, we either dread things or rush to get done with them and check them off a list. We get bored with the familiar and threatened by the unfamiliar. Busyness makes us stop caring about the things we care about. But God wants us to “be still and know He is God.” To sit quietly at his feet. To taste and see what is really good. What would happen if we stopped and actually paid attention to God and to the world He created for us? The world is no richer for our passing through it. But we are far richer for not missing it.Support the show (https://pushpay.com/pay/divinesaviorchurchsantaritaranch/)

The worst thing busyness does to us is fooling us into thinking we are God. “All depends on me. How will all the right things happen at the right time if I am not working, pushing, pulling, watching, and worrying?” Unless we trust that God is in control, we won’t dare risk Sabbath…rest. In sleep, we become utterly vulnerable, completely defenseless, totally dependent. Not in control. That kind of trust is rooted in a deep conviction God is good and God is in control. The more we grow, the more God grows us, the more we find God is bigger. The more we are convinced of God’s bigness, his goodness, and sovereignty, the more we will find our rest in Him alone.Support the show (https://pushpay.com/pay/divinesaviorchurchsantaritaranch/)

Most of us feel completely wiped out. Endless demands on our time crush us. Even our “vacations” are manic. If we only had more time! We have forgotten the ancient wisdom of Sabbath, rooted in God’s own rhythm of work and rest. Sabbath means rest. The gift of Sabbath (rest) is essential to our full humanity and faith. Since God knows how much we need Sabbath and how easily we might neglect it, He made it a command. We’ve neglected it anyhow. We’ve lost the rest of God. But nothing really changes until our minds do. God is more interested in changing your thinking than in changing your circumstances. Before we can keep the Sabbath, to be given rest, God has to change our minds. Our attitudes. Our hearts. The gift of God is to experience the sacred in the everyday. Support the show (https://pushpay.com/pay/divinesaviorchurchsantaritaranch/)

Jesus' birth is a very significant event for the entire world, but only if it actually happened. The Apostle Matthew starts his gospel in a way that gives us confidence and joy in the fact that Jesus came to us that first Christmas! Support the show (https://pushpay.com/pay/divinesaviorchurchsantaritaranch/)

We get frustrated and disappointed when companies don’t deliver on what they promise. But it really hurts when someone we care about breaks a promise they made to us. And we have broken plenty of promises ourselves. A promise gives us something to look forward to. To hope for. That hope is the energy source that powers us to do what we do. We need hope! We need promises to come true! In a world where promises are broken every day, hundreds of promises were made about a Savior who would come to fix everything. Seemingly impossible promises! And every one of them came true! What could be a better item on our grown-up Christmas list than a kept promise?Support the show (https://pushpay.com/pay/divinesaviorchurchsantaritaranch/)

Living in the country we do, freedom is important to us. We don’t like to be held back. We don’t like to be told what to do. There are worse things that hold us back and restrict our freedom though… weaknesses, fears, uncertainty, lack of trust, hopelessness, insecurity, anger, grudges, guilt… All of these things restrict our lives and keep us from living in the freedom God designed us to live in. But long ago, the prophets spoke of Someone who would come to proclaim a real freedom! When Jesus spoke publicly the first time, He acknowledged He was the One who was coming to do that! Real Freedom is the perfect item for a grown-up Christmas list!Support the show (https://pushpay.com/pay/divinesaviorchurchsantaritaranch/)

No one’s perfect. How many times have we made the rude comment that hurt feelings we wish we wouldn’t have made? How many times did we think of our own selfish wants while trampling on someone else’s needs? Break a promise to our kid? Get caught doing something we shouldn’t do? Wouldn’t it be nice to get a second chance? We don’t live in a world where second chances or “do-overs” are too common. But we do have a God who offers us a “second chance.” His prophet Isaiah talked about the One coming who would give the whole world the ultimate second chance… a brand-new clean start! The perfect thing to ask for this Christmas!Support the show (https://pushpay.com/pay/divinesaviorchurchsantaritaranch/)

The Roman world was full of many temptations just like ours is today. Casual sex was a way of life for many. Finding a Christian spouse was difficult. Being lazy and freeloading off of others was commonplace. It wasn’t easy to live a sanctified life pleasing to the Lord. But that didn’t stop the Thessalonians from trying. More and more with God’s help they learned what God’s will is and through the power of the Holy Spirit living in them they found the strength to strive after holiness. With God's help we too strive to be more like Jesus in all that we do even when this sometimes looks so different from the rest of the world. But we know the Lord who calls us is faithful, and he will do it (1 Thess. 5:24).Support the show (https://pushpay.com/pay/divinesaviorchurchsantaritaranch/)

To be a Christian in Thessalonica was not easy. They faced persecution and many trials. But they endured because life was different now. They knew they didn’t face these challenges alone. They had the encouragement of their church family. This made them want to stand firm in the Lord as they looked for ways to love and support each other. So too in our world it's easy to feel isolated and alone. But when we support each other like family we know that God is at work strengthening us and causing our love for each other to overflow.Support the show (https://pushpay.com/pay/divinesaviorchurchsantaritaranch/)

When the Thessalonians first heard the gospel, they realized it was wonderfully different than any message they’d ever heard before. That’s why they received it as they did—not as the words of mere human beings, but as God’s Word—life changing and worth holding onto for dear life. We also want to take all of God's truth seriously because even in our modern world it's the Word of God that still makes all the difference.Support the show (https://pushpay.com/pay/divinesaviorchurchsantaritaranch/)

The Thessalonians turned away from the idols they used to serve. Why? The power of the gospel! Idols are demanding. But Jesus is different! Unlike idols, Jesus is the only living God who, even when you fail him, will not punish you and doesn’t demand more from you. He is the only Lord who even when you fall short, forgives you freely by his grace. Live for him and you will never be let down in the end. The pure gospel of Jesus is why we can also live with more joy than guilt just like the Thessalonians.Support the show (https://pushpay.com/pay/divinesaviorchurchsantaritaranch/)

There are false gods battling for the place of honor in our lives. We can’t live the life God wants us to live when we are pursuing something else. Behind the sins we struggle with, the discouragement we deal with, and the lack of purpose we live with, are false gods that are winning the battle for our hearts. They are vying for our attention. But so is our gracious God, through his Word. Through the Holy Spirit. Which voice are we going to listen to? Which volume are we going to turn up? Which will get our attention? The many false gods this world offers that ultimately won’t help us? Or the one true God who made us and loves us and shows us his grace? How can we make sure we are tuning in to Him and his Word to fill us with what we really need? 

The last couple years showed us more than ever how divided we are as a people. We are divided along racial lines, political lines, gender lines, religious lines, and economic lines. It is too easy for us to think in terms of “us and them.” We judge others on this basis, and we feel superior. We tend to emphasize the weaknesses of those on “their” side and minimize the weaknesses of those on “our” side. We spend lots of time at the “altar of pride” and feel superior in terms of morality, religion, race, and ethnicity. These false gods have a very divisive power in our world, and can take the allegiance of our hearts from God to these “sides” we end up making into idols instead of blessings. 

“They must be doing something right!” Have you ever thought or muttered that when someone roared past you in their sports car or fancy boat? Or while you were watching a professional sports contest or singing contest? Or browsing the blog or YouTube channel of a successful influencer? We spend lots of time at the “altar of influence” worshiping gods of people, celebrities, influencers, and culture. Wishing we could be more like them. Wishing we could have what they have. These false gods have incredible influence in our world. It can be hard not to get carried away with them, and let them guide and direct us more than the God who actually knows best how this world works. 

Would you do anything for love? “Falling in love” with another person often keeps us from thinking straight. It takes a high place of importance. It isn’t hard for that kind of infatuation to take a place higher in our hearts than it should. We spend lots of time at the “altar of love” worshiping gods of romance, family, and our own ego. These things are actually good gifts and blessings from God, but can step out of order in our hearts and become more important to us than the love we have for the God who made and redeemed us. It’s good to love our spouse and family, and even have a healthy esteem of ourselves. But God needs first place in our hearts. Even over family. Let’s love our spouses, but love God more.