Posts tagged comfort

We are the chosen people of the Yahweh, the God of Israel, who created the heavens and the earth and everything in them. We are the children of God!

Let us not say to Jesus that he can be our SOMETHING but not our EVERYTHING.

Let us not say to him that he is our HOPE but not our comfort, and CERTAINLY not our joy; those things come from this world.

And then, let us look at what the TRUTH of the promises are. NOT metaphoric. NOT for this world. NOT for this life. NOT for the self indulgent culture that seeks only those things that relate to itself.

This is outside of us. This is life. This is GOD. This is salvation.

THIS is the promise of the Holy Spirit: that you are SAFE. You are safe in your faith; for it is not by your strength that you maintain it. You are safe in your identity as God’s child. You are safe, not because you have somehow “achieved” the Holy Spirit;

But instead because the Holy Spirit has come to you. You are safe not because YOU have the Holy Spirit, but instead because the Holy Spirit HAS YOU.

-Aj Neugebauer LCMS pastor

He is coming back; and with his return, all the brokenness of creation is GONE! It is GONE! It is GONE, and all that remains is a creation with all its beauty intact. It is the wonder of the embrace of a loved one, only without the dread of losing them! It is the elation of a kind word from a friend; only in a place where love does not end! It is the sense of comfort and peace we get in those moments when we can feel the presence of Christ!

-Aj Neugebauer LCMS pastor

You see, bad things happen in this world. The TERRIBLE happens. And then there’s death, which gives a finality to it all that makes us wonder how ANYONE EVER could have a happy ending in the world. Where is Snow White now and her prince? Dead. Is THAT happily ever after? What hope is there in the world?

But YOU have an answer. And therefore, YOU have hope. YOU have something to confront the brokenness of the world with. YOU have something to say in the face of death. Essentially, you have JESUS. You have Jesus. So NOW. In THIS life. You have something that others just don’t understand. You have comfort, no matter what. You, not matter what, have hope.

-Aj Neugebauer LCMS pastor

For Jesus Christ was lifted up for you. Allow yourself to be picked up by this message. Allow yourself to have the hope that Jesus has one for you. As he reaches for you, fall into his arms, and feel the comfort of the love of God: God, Jesus of Nazareth, who died to take the sins of the world away.

-Aj Neugebauer LCMS pastor

Jesus does not NEED our help to forgive our sins! It all comes down to this: CAN CHRIST’S BLOOD FORGIVE US? And the answer is YES! It can and it has!

And the formula is just that: we are redeemed by the blood of Christ, and NOTHING ELSE. That is all. It’s not, “Okay, I am saved by the blood of Christ, and a little smidgen of all the work I did for the church yard sale.” Or, “Okay, I am saved by the blood of Christ, and the fact that even though I want to I don’t cheat on my taxes.” Or, “Okay, I am saved by the blood of Christ, but if you really want that forgiveness you also have to say ten hail marys and twenty our fathers.”

NONSENSE! Don’t you see? It’s not up for debate! It’s not conditional on what you’ve done! YOUR SINS ARE FORGIVEN! YOU SINNER! YOU BLESSED BLESSED SINNER! You are forgiven.

-Aj Neugebauer LCMS pastor

Faith is all that is necessary! Because of that, the Kingdom to Come will be FULL of NOTHING but those who were sinners. How full the Kingdom will be; with faith in Jesus being the only requirement! How wonderful that Jesus has does this marvelous thing for those he loves! Those he loves; the wicked; the adulterer; the greedy; the selfish; the lazy… THAT is who he died for. THAT is who will be in the Kingdom to Come! You know… Sinners! Sinners just like you and me.

Comfort! Comfort! People of God. Jesus is slow in coming, out of love; but he comes!

Thanks be to God. Amen.

-Aj Neugebauer LCMS pastor

Well, here’s what God does: in his mercy, he waits. He waits. As we talked about last week; those whom WE may have given up hope on, he has not. And because of that, he waits.

 “The Lord is not slow in keeping his promises.” It is almost like St. Peter is saying, “Is THAT why you think the Lord has not yet returned? Because he’s SLOW? NO! That’s not it! You see, it is just like EVERYTHING the Lord does! He is slow because he is MERCIFUL!”

What does he say? “He is patient with you…” and here’s the thing… “NOT WANTING ANYONE TO PERISH, but everyone to come to repentance.”

“Comfort. Comfort.” Exhausted, heart broken for the lost, followers of Jesus Christ; hear the word of the Lord. Comfort. Comfort.

-Aj Neugebauer LCMS pastor

There was an expansive poll done recently trying to gauge God’s approval rating. Now THAT is a fact that is laughable in and of itself. You want to know the punch line? According to the survey, only half of Americans who believe in God approve of how He is handling the universe at the moment.

However, I am sure that God will be pleased to hear that He fared much better than News Corp chief Rupert Murdoch.

What a LACK of faith. And what an arrogance! What condescension to God. And THAT will not be how you and I turn to God with our questions. No; we will turn to Him in our times of trials and troubles, and we will know that he HEARS our concerns! And he COMFORTS us in the midst of them! And then WE will remember that when we question God we do so knowing that our lack of understanding in his plan is simply that: A LACK OF OUR OWN UNDERSTANDING.

-Aj Neugebauer LCMS pastor