Category: First Thoughts

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“I have come to call not the righteous but sinners.” Matthew 9:13 

Which one are you, a sinner or one of the righteous? What makes someone a sinner? What does it mean to give mercy to a sinner? Does Jesus change sinners into righteous? What kind of change does that look like in someone’s life? When Jesus calls you to follow him, what kind of changes does he make? What does it feel like to receive mercy? What is the appropriate response when Jesus has mercy upon us sinners? These are the questions we’ll wrestle with as we look at Jesus’ mission to call the sinners and not the righteous in our sermon series on the disciple’s life. 

Looking for last week’s worship? You can find it here!

-Pastor Travis Norton

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Matthew 28: 16-20

This week we begin our next sermon series that will take a look at The Disciple’s Life.  Each week we’ll explore a different story of Jesus’ disciples in the world.

We begin with what is typically known as the Great Commission.  Jesus is telling the 11 disciples, who were on the way to Galilee, that it will now be up to them to teach all that he has commanded them.  That seems like a pretty big task for these 11 disciples.  Jesus had done a lot of teaching in his brief time on earth; the disciples walked alongside of him so often I think in astonishment and perhaps even fear of what Jesus was doing and saying, so much of it counterintuitive to what the laws and governance of the world said.  Now it was being tasked to them to continue in that way, bringing the good news to people, baptizing, and teaching others how to evangelize as a disciple. Here we are two thousand years later, with the same charge.  What have you learned from Jesus disciples and how do you find yourself living into discipleship today?  Do you live the way that Jesus calls us to live or do we live in the way of the world?  How different are they, and when do you find yourself noticing the differences the most?

-Pastor Carrie

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“Divided tongues, as of fire, appeared among them, and a tongue rested on each of them” Acts 2:3 

We live in a very individualistic world, that seems to be racing toward more self-focus not less. When the Spirit came on Pentecost the Spirit landed on each of the disciples as individual tongues of flame. Yet the result was something designed to bring people together. The Spirit gave each of the apostles the ability to speak in another language so that the all people divided by their culture and language could hear the good news of Jesus together. I think we need a movement of the Holy Spirit now to break through our individuality and draw us to something above ourselves to free us from self-focus. The Spirit aims for our unity by drawing us to Christ together. When we turn our gaze toward Jesus we will find that we are not alone and gain all the gifts that come with a community centered on the Lord. 

Looking for last week’s worship? You can find it here!

-Pastor Travis Norton

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“Cast all your anxiety on him, because he cares for you.” -1 Peter 5: 5

Oof. 

Peter sure does set us up for living into humility and turning everything over to God who cures us with grace.  Anxiety seems ever present in our world today and given this writing I suspect it was the same thousands of years ago.  But where does that anxiety get us?  Or maybe the better question is what does this anxiety rob us of?  Peter speaks of suffering for a time and then knowing that through Christ we are restored, supported, strengthened and established.  I wonder why it is that we can’t just skip to that part?  Why the suffering and call to humility?  Perhaps it’s because we just get ahead of ourselves and rely on ourselves rather than the grace of God in all matters of life?  Peter talks throughout his whole letter about being a holy people, God’s chosen, and as we get to the end of the letter we’re told again, that through Christ we have the grace that we need to live out his mission and care in the world.  I wonder what that looks like today in a world full of hustle where we’re all bunched up trying to do all the things instead of maybe just caring for one another in the grace first given to us.  What anxiety can you cast on God this week and what grace can you then offer?

-Pastor Carrie

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“Finally, all of you, have unity of spirit, sympathy, love for one another, a tender heart, and a humble mind.” 1 Peter 3:8 

Read through those instructions and imagine a community that sought to live those out. I find that here at First Lutheran. Our unity enables us to accomplish great things together, like the ministry at the Peel House. Our sympathy and love for one another undergirds our Christian Caregiving ministry. A tender heart and a humble mind. I want to know more about those two and how we can grow in tenderness in our heart and humility in our mind. All of these instructions from Peter are very pastoral, they make it clear what he hoped for the churches that read his letter. I wonder what you hope for our church as we continue to minister among the people of Colorado Springs. Let’s talk more about this on Sunday! 

Looking for last week’s worship? You can find it here!

-Pastor Travis Norton

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Living stones and holy people… 1 Peter 2: 1-10

When I read this passage it comes to me as a directive to trust God.  That we have been given all that we need to be vibrant with life, to live in ways that are Christ-approved, that we have been chosen by God.  It’s up to us to see the foundation of our faith as a rock to be built upon rather than a stumbling block to trip over when we are blind to seeing our own sin in the world.  Our obedience to God who chooses us will build the foundation we need to live into our holy calling.  Will it be easy?  Will we likely stumble?  How does knowing God and believing that God is for us help us to leave our ways of sin and hurt behind?  Mercy is surely yours.

-Pastor Carrie

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“Honor everyone. Love the family of believers. Fear God. Honor the emperor” 1 Peter 2:17 

I think I hear the record scratch on that last phrase. Honor the emperor? Are you sure? The emperor of Rome. The one who persecuted Christians? Why would Peter urge early Christians to honor the emperor and what does that mean? It reminds me of people who say about presidents they didn’t vote for, ‘that’s not my president.’ But Peter seems to encourage a different tact. He says more controversial things in this passage too. Slaves are to obey their masters. Excuse me? Wives are to respect the authority of their husbands. What? To understand these shocking statements, you have to uncover the reason Peter urges honor and long-suffering. It’s to win people over to Christ! Can our conduct influence people to put their faith in Jesus? That’s what we’ll talk about on Sunday. 

Looking for last week’s worship? You can find it here!

-Pastor Travis Norton

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“You call out to God for help and he helps, he’s a good Father that way. But don’t forget he’s also a responsible Father, and won’t let you get by with sloppy living….Now that you’ve cleaned up your lives by following the truth, love one another as if your lives depended on it.” -1 Peter 1: 17 & 22
The Message

I wonder how many times a day we think about God.  When I read the text from Peter it makes me think that we should probably be thinking about God and how we honor God in our actions a whole lot more than we actually do.  This of course isn’t to say that it’s easy to clean up our sloppy lives, but it is what we are called to do and God walks alongside of us as we do it.  We Lutherans are quick to remember that we are saved by grace, but we are equally quick to forget that it came at the cost of Jesus life on the cross for us.  So Peter reminds us that we are to love as though our lives depend on it.  Because it was only through God’s love first in the death and resurrection of Christ that our lives do indeed depend on love.

-Pastor Carrie

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“Jesus said“So if you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above” Colossians 3:1-4 

We begin a new sermon series for the 50 day of Easter called “All Things New” this Sunday. For the Christian, everything springs from the resurrection of Jesus. Paul teaches us in Colossians that we are new creatures, born from above who have a different perspective on the goals of life. So many are struggling and toiling for things that don’t matter, but for us we are seeking the things of God because we know our destination is with him in the end. We need to take care not to get mired in the way of the unbeliever, but to keep our eyes and hearts focused on what is heavenly, what is eternal. 

Looking for last week’s worship? You can find it here!

-Pastor Travis Norton

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“Jesus said to her, “Mary!” She turned and said to him in Hebrew, “Rabbouni!” John 20:16  

Mary Magdalene was there when Jesus died on the cross and she was the first one going to the tomb on Sunday morning. She was the one who told Peter and John, who came and left. Mary stayed behind at the empty tomb weeping. Alone at the tomb she was met first by angels and then by the resurrected Jesus. Jesus had freed her from seven demons early in his ministry and she had followed him ever since. And now at the resurrection the work he began in her is revealed as just a foretaste of what he has in store for all who believe in him. Freedom from death itself. In all of this the sense I get from the scripture is simply that Mary loved Jesus and Jesus loved Mary. Sometimes, I wonder if we get a little too theological about all that Jesus can do for us and all that He promises us. In the end it is probably more about a genuine friendship of growing love that all this work of Jesus is about. Easter removes all the obstacles of love, so that we can love God with all our heart, mind and soul. So, we can extend that love to our neighbors as well. 

Looking for last weeks worship? You can find it here!

-Pastor Travis Norton