St. Luke Columbus

Romans 8 is thought by many to be the greatest chapter in the Bible. The teaching in Romans 8 inspires in us a confident faith that is characterized by freedom, victory, expectancy, and assurance. Drawing from the teaching of Pastor Tom Holladay, the goal of this sermon series is to foster a more confident faith in the promises of God made through Jesus Christ. Most of us struggle at times with the frustration of thinking that we are never going to change. In Christ, we now have victory over the frustration we have in trying to change. We receive this victory because we have a new nature, a new power, and a new Father. Lessons: Romans 8:4b-17, Luke 15:11-32 Sermon Outline

Romans 8 is thought by many to be the greatest chapter in the Bible. The teaching in Romans 8 inspires in us a confident faith that is characterized by freedom, victory, expectancy, and assurance. Drawing from the teaching of Pastor Tom Holladay, the goal of this sermon series is to foster a more confident faith in the promises of God made through Jesus Christ.   Most all of us struggle at times with feelings of not being good enough. Feelings of condemnation can overwhelm us. The great news is that In Christ we now have freedom from condemnation as we understand that God is not angry with us, does not punish us, does not reject us, and does not remove his blessing from us.   Lessons: Psalm 103:8-14, Romans 8:1-4a, Luke 24:36-49   Sermon Outline

What do you hope for after you die? Our future resurrection remains a hope. All of us have yet to see our resurrection. This sermon will use the account of the thief on the cross who put his hope in Jesus to teach that real hope comes from a real God who really desires to spend eternity with us. In the physical resurrection of Jesus, God has given us a physical testimony that our hope for eternal life is a real hope. The resurrection of Jesus gives us the assurance of eternal life with God. This sermon will also point to the series that will start the next Sunday on having a Confident Faith.   Next Step: Make your future resurrection a more real hope to you by picturing yourself in heaven and counting on it happening. You can do that because Jesus made it a real hope when he rose from the dead. Come again next Sunday to learn how you can have a more confident faith.   Lessons: Acts 10:34-43, 1 Peter 1:3-9, Matthew 28:1-10

When Jesus entered Jerusalem and created a commotion, people in the crowd who were happening by asked, “Who Is This?” The answer: “This is the man who has come into your city to be arrested for crimes that were not committed by anyone, tried, tortured, and executed by crucifixion. And he planned to do exactly this all along so that you can have real and eternal life, more and better life than you ever dreamed of. Also, this man is God.” Say what? Jesus’ intentional entry into Jerusalem, having predicted three times exactly what would happen to him there, is a stunningly clear window into the mind of God and how great is God love for us!     Lessons: Isaiah 50:4-6, Philippians 2:5-11, Matthew 20:17-19, 21:1-11

The benefits we receive through faithfully receiving Holy Communion deepen our faith and offer us forgiveness, new life, and eternal life. In the Small Catechism Martin Luther gives us wise instruction on how to understand and prepare for Holy Communion.     Read through Luther’s explanation of Holy Communion in the Small Catechism enough to become familiar with its teaching so that it can inform and deepen your receiving of the sacrament. Memorizing the Catechism is the best way to do this.   Lessons: Matthew 26:26-28, Mark 14:22-24, Luke 22:19-20, 1 Corinthians 11:23-25   Small Catechism      

Trusting what God accomplished in your baptism deepens your assurance of salvation and points the way to more holy living. In the Small Catechism, Luther give a clear, concise, and Biblically based understanding of Holy Baptism that offers wise and helpful instruction to guide our thoughts and actions.   Read through Luther’s explanation of Holy Baptism in the Small Catechism enough to become familiar with its teaching so that it can inform and deepen your praying. Memorizing the Catechism is the best way to do this.   Lessons: Titus 3:4-8   Small Catechism

The Jews understood that God dwelt in the temple in Jerusalem that was the epicenter and focus of the Jewish religion. It is likely that what got Jesus killed more than anything else was his perceived challenge of the temple and the cult surrounding it. Jesus promoted a new sanctuary where we intimately experience God; the physical body of Jesus rising from the dead, the body of Christ which is the Church, and the hearts of Christ-followers where God, the Holy Spirit, dwells.   We hope you will rest in the assurance that God lives in you and therefore you are holy.   Lessons: John 2:13-22, Ephesians 2:14-22, Mark 11:15-18    

Petitions 5-7 and the Doxology of The Lord’s Prayer. A helpful practice when praying the Lord’s Prayer is to pray it slowly, pausing to contemplate what each part of the Lord’s Prayer means and how God answers each part. Martin Luther’s Small Catechism offers wise instruction on doing this practice.   Read through Luther’s explanation of Petitions 5-7 and the Doxology of The Lord’s Prayer in the Small Catechism enough to become familiar with its teaching so that it can inform and deepen your praying. Memorizing the Catechism is the best way to do this.   Lessons: Luke 11:1-4   Small Catechism  

Jesus raised to new life those who are dead. This is where we can have that blessed assurance that if we believe in Christ as our savior and Lord then we to will be resurrected.   Lessons: Psalm 16:1-11, 1 Corinthians 15:12-20, John 11:38-53

The Introduction and Petitions 1-4 of The Lord’s Prayer. A helpful practice when praying the Lord’s Prayer is to pray it slowly, pausing to contemplate what each part of the Lord’s Prayer means and how God answers each part. Martin Luther’s Small Catechism offers wise instruction on doing this practice.   Read through Luther’s explanation ofthe Introduction and Petitions 1-4 of The Lord’s Prayer in the Small Catechism enough to become familiar with its teaching so that it can inform and deepen your praying. Memorizing the Catechism is the best way to do this.   Lessons: Matthew 6:9-13   Small Catechism

Jesus led a new mission to extravagantly forgive sins and to seek and to save the lost. He expanded the saving mission of God beyond the confines of well-behaved Jewish people.   Identify a person or a group of people that you may be secretly wanting to exclude from the forgiveness of Jesus. Pray for God to change your heart and for God to lead that person or persons to faith.   Lessons: Isaiah 49:5-6, Acts 13:42-48, Mark 2:13-17, 3:1-7

The Ecumenical Creeds are necessary and helpful for knowing what we believe, teaching the Christian faith, and for knowing the difference between true and false beliefs. In the Small Catechism, Martin Luther gives wise instruction to flesh out what is taught in the Apostles’ Creed.   Read through Luther’s explanation of the Apostles’ Creed in the Small Catechism enough to become familiar with its teaching so that you will have a deeper understand of our core beliefs. Memorizing the Catechism is the best way to do this.   Lessons: 2 Timothy 4:1-5   Small Catechism

Jesus taught a new teaching that salvation comes through faith when we are born again through God’s work in Christ Jesus. This new teaching confused and eventually angered the religious authorities and inspire their desire to kill Jesus. For us, this new teaching is of central importance, for it gives us the blessed assurance that we are saved, not by our good works, but through the work that Jesus accomplished for us in his death and resurrection. Through the Holy Spirit and the waters of baptism, God puts us to death and raises us up to a new life. We are born again. Lessons: Jeremiah 31:31-34, Revelation 21:1-7, John 3:1-17

In the Small Catechism, Martin Luther offers wise and practical instruction on applying the 10 Commandments to our daily lives. Knowing and remembering this instruction offers helpful guidance to our daily living. We encourage you to read through Luther’s explanation of the 10 Commandments in the Small Catechism enough to become familiar with its teaching so that it can guide your daily living. Lessons: Exodus 20:1-17 Small Catechism

Our good works of generosity and serving people in need, that are the overflow from a growing faith in Jesus, are treasured by the Lord. This gives us a solid foundation for our future and a life which is truly life. After briefly teaching this truth, Steve will interview Ray, Ruth Ann, and Caroline, to give witness to this truth.   We encourage you to do one serve or give good work to meet a hope or hurt of someone in need. The Be Rich Campaign offers abundant opportunities to do this.    Lessons: 1 Timothy 6:17-19, Matthew 25:31-46   Be Rich Website

Wise Instruction: Wednesdays in Lent As part of our celebration of the 500 Anniversary of the Reformation, the Wednesday Lenten services will focus on understanding Martin Luther’s Small Catechism which offers us wise instruction for better understanding our faith and living in obedience to God’s Word.   The honest confession of one’s sins is a necessary, wise, and helpful spiritual discipline. This discipline is practiced both corporately and privately. Luther’s Small Catechism gives wise instruction on how to best practice this discipline. The greatest benefit from an honest confession of one’s sins is hearing and believing the words of absolution that give us the assurance of our forgiveness and salvation.   We encourage you to read through Luther’s explanation of Confession in the Small Catechism enough to become familiar with its teaching so that it can guide and enhance your practice of confessing your sins.    Lessons: 2 Corinthians 10:3-5, Revelation 1:17-18, Matthew 16:13-19   Luther's Small Ca

The most surprising move that Jesus made was to release his entire mission into the hands of his disciples. After he had gathered and discipled them, he sent them out to do his mission. Incredible, given how fallible we are!   What is holding you/us back from reaching the lost and restoring the hurting?     Identify what is holding you back from jumping full bore into the mission of Jesus. Pray for confidence and commitment to move through that barrier and then change one behavior that will result in you more reaching out to the lost and restoring the hurting.   Lessons: Acts 1:3-11, Romans 10:8-17, John 20:19-23   Sermon Outline

Jesus’ method in leading his mission was to reproduce himself by making disciples who were led to faith, called to follow Jesus, and taught to obey everything Jesus had commanded. He reproduced spiritual children. Making disciples was Jesus mission.   Who disciples you and who do you disciple? The ones we seek to disciple should include those who have not yet put their faith in Jesus.     Find someone to disciple you and some for you to disciple.   Lessons: Acts 4:21-23, 2 Timothy 2:1-2, Matthew 28:16-20   Sermon Outline

When Jesus preached his first sermon in his home church, after he had just begun to make a name for himself, Jesus used a lesson from Isaiah to state that his mission was to announce good news to those who are hurting in order to restore them. He lived this out through the rest of his earthly ministry through his healings, defending of those being oppressed, and releasing those who were held captive to spiritual and emotional bondage. Jesus taught his followers to do the same.    Next to reaching out to lead the lost into a saving faith, our mission is to serve and give to restore the broken and the hurting to real and abundant life. St. Luke often does this well. Our annual Be Rich campaign will be kicking off soon. It’s a campaign where we come together to meet the hopes and hurts of others through serving and giving to our non-profit partners. Are you making room in your own practice of faith for this work?   If you have not yet done so, find your ministry to unleash God’s love that will restore the hop

Jesus stated that his mission is to reach out to seek and to save those who are lost. Jesus taught this and lived it, as illustrated in his reaching out to the tax collector, Zacchaeus. This was the primary mission of Jesus. It's why he came. Our primary mission as the body of Christ, the Church, is to do the same. How effective are we doing in our mission?  How many people have moved from being lost to being found (saved)?    I believe, as the pastor of St. Luke, that the reformation to which God is calling each of us and our St. Luke family is to become foundationally and organically evangelical, to raise our outreach temperature through changed behavior.   After hearing this sermon, we encourage you to write your own personal mission statement that includes reaching the lost and make one change of behavior that will raise your outreach temperature one degree.    Lessons: Isaiah 49:5-6, 1 Corinthians 9:19-23, Luke 18:35 - 19:10   Sermon Outline