Jewel Lake Parish Sermon Podcast

The song "O Come, O Come, Emmanuel" prays for the "Desire of Nations" to come. Is that Jesus or someone else? What does it even mean? The answer may surprise you. Pastor Luke looks at Haggai 2:1-9 in "Desire of Nations," part 3 of his 4-part series, "O Come, Emmanuel."

The song "O Come, O Come, Emmanuel" asks Emmanuel, who we learned about last week, to come and ransom captive Israel. Who is captive Israel, and why does he (or they?) need to be ransomed? The song goes on to say that Israel "mourns in lonely exile" here. Why is Israel mourning, and what does all this have to do with Christmas, anyway? Pastor Luke looks at Isaiah 35:1-10 in "Ransom Captive Israel," part 2 of his 4-part series, "O Come, Emmanuel."

The song "O Come, O Come, Emmanuel" gets its name from one of the many titles for Jesus: "Emmanuel," a word that mean "God is with us," that God is on our side, that God has our back, that God is able and willing to do whatever's required to get us through our circumstances. When things are going well, that's a pleasant thought, but it can be hard to hang onto in the midst of bad circumstances. How does it apply to Jesus? What does Jesus tell us that helps us hold onto the idea of "Emmanuel, God with us?" Pastor Luke looks at Isaiah 7:10-14 in "Emmanuel," the first message in a new series, "O Come, Emmanuel."

If God is all-knowing, God knows better than any of us what the rules ought to be. And if God is all-powerful, we should obey them. Except, sometimes, we shouldn't. Sometimes, the Scriptures tell us about people who disobey the rules -- people who, like Jesus, don't perform the rituals in the prescribed way. People who hang out with the wrong kind of people. And yet God approves of them. How can that be? Is there a deeper rule behind all the others? What is it? And how can we put it into practice? Pastor Luke teaches from 2 Chronicles 30:13-27 in "Feast."

When we study the life of great people like Joseph, it's easy to shrug our shoulders and say, "They're saints. I'm not like them." It's true. Joseph truly was a great man of faith, and maybe we're not like him. He saved Egypt and Israel, and if that wasn't enough, he was helpful and forgiving besides. But that's not the best lesson about Joseph. The best lesson is the one that tells us what made Joseph that way, and why it can make us like that too. Pastor Luke looks at Genesis 41:37-56 in "Fruitful," the concluding message in his series, "Joseph the Patriarch."

Joseph proposed a plan to Pharaoh, who choose Joseph to carry it out. Sometimes it works out that way for our plans, too. But sometimes, our plans don't work out, and we have to scramble to adapt when things go sideways. What does it mean when God overturns our carefully-laid plans (or permits them to be overturned by circumstances)? Joseph's story suggests how we might interpret the times in our life when our plans have to change. Pastor Luke looks at Genesis 41:37-56 in "Planners," part 5 of his 6-part series, "Joseph the Patriarch."

Joseph is able to interpret the dreams of Pharaoh, when God warned the Egyptian about a coming famine. When there is so much misery in the world, we might ask, why doesn't God warn our leaders? Or us: why doesn't God send us dreams, so we can alleviate suffering and make the world a better place? Pastor Luke preaches from Genesis 41:1-36 in "Dreamer," part 4 of his 6-part series, "Joseph the Patriarch."

We can't stand to wait. Waiting in lines, waiting in traffic, waiting for our internet connection: we don't like doing any of those things. We don't like waiting on God either, even though sometimes we have to. The scriptures tell us to wait on God, but they don't say how. Or do they? What can we learn about waiting on God from the story of Joseph the Patriarch? Pastor Luke looks at Genesis 40:1-23 in "Wait For It...," part 3 of his 6-part series, "Joseph the Patriarch."

What does it take to earn God's blessing? One school of thought says we can earn God's blessing by our faith, our good deeds, or our moral character. That's not what we see in the life of Joseph. What does Joseph's story tell us about God's blessing? Pastor Luke teaches from Genesis 39:1-23 in "Prosperity Gospel," part 2 of his 6-part series, "Joseph the Patriarch."

Joseph grew up herding sheep, but he would go on to be chief of staff for the most powerful king in the ancient world. But even when Joseph was young, he made his brothers jealous. They hatched a plot to get rid of Joseph, once and for all. Why? What did they hope to achieve by it? What happened next? And what can we learn from it today? Pastor Luke preaches from Genesis 37:1-36 in "When You're In a Hole," the first message in a new series, "Joseph the Patriarch."

How do we make sense of the events and circumstances of our lives? Do they have a deeper significance? What would it be? How about when things in our lives go badly? What should we do? In the conclusion to Romans 8, The Apostle Paul provides a new way of looking at our lives that not only changed his life, it changed the world. What is that? Pastor Luke teaches from Romans 8:31-39 in "More Than Conquerors," the concluding message in his series, "The Best Chapter."

In Romans 8, the Apostle Paul assures us that God has set us free from the power of sin, that we are no longer under its control. But what will we do? Too often, we continue to do things that are unwise, or even wrong. Is there help? What is the solution? For people facing this question, God offers an amazing deal. What is it? Pastor Luke preaches from Romans 8:12-30 in "Help in Weakness," part 2 of his 3-part series, "The Best Chapter."

Can we have "favorite" parts of the Bible, or should we like them all equally well? What would make one part of the Bible your favorite part? What would it say? Would it be poetry, like the Psalms? Would it be one of the stories, about Jesus, say, or one of the great heroes of the Hebrew scriptures? Many Christians would hold up Romans 8 as one of the best chapters in the Bible. Pastor Luke is one of them. Why? What does he see in it? Pastor Luke teaches from Romans 8:1-11 in "Set Free," the first message in a new series, "The Best Chapter."

Should women be silent in church? That's what Paul seems to be saying in 1 Corinthians. But is that what he meant? More importantly, what do we do about tough passages in Scripture? Should we ignore them, or grit our teeth and do what they say, even when it seems wrong or unrealistic? A better approach is to take those passages seriously. What does it look like when we do that? Pastor Luke preaches from 1 Corinthians 14:33-36 in "Yackety-Yak."

Are there people, or categories of people, who cannot be used by God in the work of the church? We've seen that God makes some amazing promises, and in Paul's letter to the Corinthian church, we learn that followers of Jesus receive superpowers for building up the community of believers. But there are some people excluded from that promise. Can you guess who they are? They might not be who you think! Pastor Luke teaches from 1 Corinthians 14:26-40 in "My Way," the concluding message in his series, "Gifted Service."

Is the church destined for mainstream status, or is it going underground? For a long time, the church was mainstream, but for 200 years it's been in decline, and the pace of that decline has increased over the past 50 years. Is there some way to distinguish between our personal preferences and God's plans for the church? Pastor Luke looks at 1 Corinthians 14:1-25 in "2COOL4U," part 4 of his 5-part series, "Gifted Service."

Who's the best Christian? Have you ever compared yourself with someone at church and thought, "Shouldn't I have more influence here than that person does?" Maybe you volunteer more, or contribute more, or you've been there longer, or whatever it might be. Is there a set of criteria we can use to establish a ranking of ourselves and other followers of Christ? Not to rank people as if Jesus loved them differently, but to determine who is the first among equals? When a small church in Corinth asked about that, Paul, their leader, said he would teach them a more excellent way. What is that way, and is it still available to us? Pastor Luke teaches from 1 Corinthians 13 in "First Among Equals," part 3 of his 5-part series, "Gifted Service."

Every follower of Christ is given a superpower so they can join a team of heroes to save the world. (Really!) So what's it like being on that team? Early in the Christian movement, a small church in Corinth asked that question of Paul, the leader who'd planted their church. He wrote back to tell them "team" was the wrong image. What's the right image? Pastor Luke looks at 1 Corinthians 12:12-31 in "Parts is Parts," part 2 of his 5-part series, "Gifted Service."

In his letter to the Corinthian church, Paul answered the questions they had raised about their everyday concerns. Paul also spoke about spiritual matters, however, to tell them that God had given them supernatural help. What did he mean by that? What kind of help was Paul talking about? Pastor Luke looks at 1 Corinthians 12:1-11 in "Gifted Service," the first message in a new series, "Gifted Service."

Last week, we saw that religion can't connect us to God; only Jesus can do that. When we obey the rules and perform the rituals, too often we don't do it perfectly, or for the right reasons. But what about people who don't do it at all? What about people who break all the rules? What about bad people whose rule-breaking hurts other people? If God doesn't want religion, what does he say about irreligion? The answer can be found in the story of Jesus' encounter with a tax collector named Zacchaeus. Pastor Luke looks at Luke 19:1-10 in "Irreligion," the concluding message in his series, "(Untitled Series)."