Jewel Lake Parish Sermon Podcast

Everyone experiences pain and hardship from time to time. How can we make sense of the troubles in our life, or even in the wider world? With the advantage of hindsight, we see the Apostle Paul as one of the most important people ever to have lived. But in his own era, people found him underwhelming, partly because he was a magnet for trouble. How did Paul see the troubles in his life? Pastor Luke looks at 2 Corinthians 4:6-12 in "Fragile."

Everybody's heard of Christmas, and almost as many people know about Easter. But Pentecost far less well-known, and even people who follow Christ may not fully appreciate it. Why is Pentecost important? Pastor Luke teaches from Acts 2:1-21 in "Inside Job."

Sometimes we know that things are going to change before we know what those changes will be. This is where we're at with reopening after the coronavirus pandemic. But Jesus' disciples faced the same kind of uncertainty after his ascension. But before he ascended to heaven, Jesus told his disciples what to do. How are those instructions relevant to us now? Pastor Luke looks at Acts 1:6-14 in "The Next Challenge."

When Paul talked to the smartest people in the ancient world, he said they were ignorant. But he also talked about how they could fill in the gaps in their knowledge. What he said is just as useful today as it was then. What can we learn from him? Pastor Luke teaches from Acts 17:22-31 in "What You Worship."

The Acts of the Apostles tells about the death of Stephen. It is an ugly, brutal incident of mob violence. Granting its truth, does it have any redeeming value? If such incidents are unlikely in our own context, why read it? Pastor Luke looks at Acts 7:54-8:1 in "Heaven On Display."

We've been learning how we can still be church when the church buildings are closed. So what purpose does a church building serve? Pastor Luke preaches from Acts 2:1,41-47 in "Some Assembly Required," the concluding message in his series, "Some Assembly Required."

We've been talking about how we can be church when church buildings are closed. Isn't it important that people do their worshiping in a particular place? What does our faith tell us about being on "Holy Ground?" Pastor Luke teaches from 1 Peter 2:4-10 in "Sacrifices," part 2 of his 3-part series, "Some Assembly Required."

Does God listen when his people can't gather safely in a worship center? Where is God when church buildings are all closed? Pastor Luke preaches from Exodus 25:1-9 in "404 Not Found," the first message in a new series, "Some Assembly Required."

If Jesus rose from the dead, then someday we can go to heaven, too. Right? Is that the message of Easter Sunday? If it is, what are we supposed to do in the meantime? What if we don't die right away? Does Christianity have anything to say about what happens to people this side of heaven? What does it say about things like pandemic disease and economic ruin? Pastor Luke teaches from Matthew 28:1-10 in "Resurrection."

When Jesus entered into Jerusalem the week before his Crucifixion, what was he doing? Did the crowd back then understand him? Why did they put palms on the road before him? Does this still mean anything for us today? Pastor Luke preaches from Matthew 21:1-11 in "Inconspicuous Kingdom."

To help public health authorities deal with the coronavirus pandemic, people in Anchorage have been asked to “Hunker Down” and join people around the world in social isolation and self-distancing. What should Christians think about this crisis? More importantly, how should we think about it? Pastor Luke looks at Luke 21:5-36 in "Hunker Down."

What would Jesus say about the coronavirus pandemic? Pastor Luke preaches from Luke 13:1-17 in "Pandemic Faith," the concluding message in his series, "Spiritual Agriculture."

Jesus cursed a fig tree, even though it wasn't the season for figs. That seems unreasonable, but really, it was just unusual. Jesus did something unusual to underscore what he was saying about how people can avoid being unfruitful. Pastor Luke preaches from Mark 11:12-25 in "Unfruitful," part 2 of his 4-part series, "Spiritual Agriculture."

Lent is the season of repentence, and repentence means rethinking everything. Even the decision about trusting God with your life. This was the most important decision Jesus made, and he said that if we followed him, we'd have to make it too. Pastor Luke teaches from John 12:20-36 in "The Most Important Decision," the first message in a new series, "Spiritual Agriculture."

What makes a fast acceptable to God? How hard on yourself do you need to be be for God to be impressed with your discipline? And how will that make anything different? Pastor Luke teaches from Isaiah 58:1-12 in "Hard On Ourselves."

Three of the four biographies of Jesus describe when his appearance was transfigured or changed. That event is a mystery inviting our contemplation and even our wonder. But alongside it was a much less mysterious statement about who Jesus is and how his followers ought to respond to him. Pastor Luke looks at Luke 9:28-36 in "Come Down From the Clouds."

Most people who follow Jesus have certain expectations about their discipleship. We have at least a few ideas about what God will do in our lives. But how often do we consider the reverse? What does Jesus expect of us? Pastor Luke teaches from Matthew 10:32-42 in "Cold Water," the concluding message in his series, "Harvesters."

Jesus commanded his followers to proclaim the availability of God's Kingdom. This leads to two problems: first, God's kingdom is hard to see because of all the world's troubles, and second, the world might not thank us for telling them. Jesus said it probably wouldn't, but to do it anyway. Pastor Luke teaches from Matthew 10:16-33 in "Be Not Afraid: How Christ Changes the World," part 3 of his 4-part series, "Harvesters."

It's easy to confuse what we do with how we do it. That's just as true for Christians as for anyone else. So it's worth stepping back to look at what Jesus calls the church to do, and how he says to do it. Pastor Luke looks at Matthew 10:5-15 in "Rules for the Road: How We Can Participate in Jesus' Mission," part 2 of his 4-part series, "Harvesters."

Learning from the Scriptures and being guided by Jesus' teaching is always rewarding, especially when the Church faces new challenges. In this series we will be guided by Jesus' instruction in Matthew 10. We begin by looking at the people Jesus picked to proclaim the Good News about his Kingdom. What did Jesus see in them? How are they like us? Pastor Luke teaches from Matthew 9:35-10:4 in "What Jesus Discovered in the Twelve Apostles," the first message in a new series, "Harvesters."