Upside-Down Savior - Pastor Nathan Nass

10/31/2026

We are saved by grace alone. By faith alone. By Scripture alone. “For we maintain that a person is justified by faith apart from the works of the law” (Romans 8:28). I hope you can watch this Reformation Day sermon about the central teaching of God’s Word: “Justified by Faith.” God bless you!

“For we maintain that a person is justified by faith apart from the...

10/31/2026

“For we maintain that a person is justified by faith apart from the works of the law” (Romans 8:28). We are saved by grace alone. Not by our works. By God’s grace! We are saved by faith alone. Not by our goodness. By faith in Jesus! We are saved by Scripture alone. Not by our great ideas. By the power of God’s Word! To God alone be the glory. Not to you. Not to me. To God alone be the glory! In Christ alone our hope is found. Why would we look anywhere else? In Christ alone our hope is found. I hope you can read or watch this Reformation Day sermon about the central teaching of God’s Word: “Justified by Faith.” God bless you!

19 Now we know that whatever the law says, it says to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be silenced and the whole world held accountable to God. 20 Therefore no one will be decla…

10/30/2026

THE MAN WHO NEVER DIED

In the whole Bible, there are two people who never died. Do you know who they are? Maybe you said, “Jesus!” That’s a good guess, but Jesus did die. He died on the cross to take away our sins! Thankfully, Jesus also rose from the dead, but he still did die.

Who never died? One of the two people is the prophet Elijah. We’ll have a devotion about him later. Do you know who was the first person who never died? Enoch.

Have you ever heard that strange name before? Enoch was the great-great-great-great-grandson of Adam and Eve. That means he lived a long time ago! The Bible doesn’t tell us much about Enoch, but what it tells us is fascinating. Listen: “Altogether Enoch lived a total of 365 years. Enoch walked faithfully with God; then he was no more, because God took him away” (Genesis 5:24).

Did you hear what happened? After Enoch had lived 365 years, God took him to heaven without dying. Isn’t that amazing?

There is so much more that we would like to know, but here’s all that the Bible tells us: “By faith Enoch was taken from this life, so that he did not experience death: ‘He could not be found, because God had taken him away.’ For before he was taken, he was commended as one who pleased God. And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him” (Hebrews 11:5-6).

That was a lot to listen to, but I hope you caught the main points. Why was Enoch taken to heaven? “By faith.” Enoch believed in God and his promises. That’s the only way to heaven, right? We get to go to heaven by faith in God and his promises.

There was something else about Enoch: He lived “as one who pleased God.” Enoch put his faith into action. He let his light shine in this dark world. He followed God’s commands and lived God’s way, even while many other people didn’t. Enoch walked faithfully with God.

Do you? Maybe you’ve learned that it’s hard to walk with God. It’s so much easier to walk with the world. To do what everyone else is doing. To forget about God and his commands. It’s so much easier to walk with the world than to walk with God! When we do, we sin.

That’s why Jesus came. He came to forgive our sins. He came to fill our hearts. He came to win us back to God. Like Enoch, the man who never died, walk with God by faith today!

Dear Lord God, it’s amazing to think that Enoch went to heaven without dying. By your grace, help me to walk with you by faith every day. In Jesus’ name, amen.

(To learn more about our brother Enoch’s story, read Genesis 5:21-24 and Hebrews 11:5-6.)

https://upsidedownsavior.home.blog/2026/10/30/the-man-who-never-died/

10/28/2026

THE MAN WHO DIED YOUNG

Do you know the name of the first person who ever died? Abel. The name “Abel” in Hebrew seems to mean “breath” or “temporary.” That was Abel’s life: Short. Temporary.

But that doesn’t make sense. Know why? Abel was a believer in God who did the right thing. When Abel and his brother Cain made offerings to God, it was Abel who made his offering with faith in his heart. That’s the right thing, isn’t it? Yes! The Bible says, “By faith Abel brought God a better offering than Cain did. By faith he was commended as righteous, when God spoke well of his offerings” (Hebrews 11:4). Abel had faith in God!

Yet, do you know what happened to him? Abel was murdered by his angry brother Cain, when Abel was still just a young man. That’s awful, isn’t it?

This doesn’t make sense: Why would God let a believer in God like Abel get murdered when he was still a young man? The same thing happens today. Still today, there are Christians who die at a young age. Even children sometimes die.

That doesn’t seem fair. Why does God let people who believe in him die young?

Because death isn’t the end! This life isn’t all there is! In fact, there is something way better than life on earth. Do you know what it is? Heaven! Listen to this Bible verse and see if you can understand what it is saying: “The righteous perish, and no one takes it to heart; the devout are taken away, and no one understands that the righteous are taken away to be spared from evil. Those who walk uprightly enter into peace” (Isaiah 57:1-2).

We usually think that living a long life on earth is best. While life is a blessing from God, if you live a long life on earth, do you know what you will have to face? Lots of evil. Lots of sin. Lots of sad and bad things. Where won’t you have to face any of those things? In heaven!

It’s God who decides how long you and I will live. Does God always make good decisions? Yes! Maybe you’ll live to be 100 years old. Great! That will be a blessing from God. Or maybe you won’t make it to 20 years old. Great! Does that sound like the wrong thing to say? If you were to die young, your family would be sad, but you wouldn’t be. Why? You’d be in heaven!

Faithful Abel didn’t miss out on anything good on earth. He didn’t get to heaven and think, “I wish I were back down there.” No way! God brought him home at the perfect time, and he will take you and I home to heaven at the perfect time too, all by faith in Jesus.

Dear Lord, you let Abel go home to heaven after just a short life here on earth. Let me trust in your plan for my life and take me home to heaven at just the right time. Amen.

(To learn more about our brother Abel’s story, read Genesis 4:1-8 and Hebrews 11:4.)

https://upsidedownsavior.home.blog/2026/10/28/the-man-who-died-young/

10/28/2026

With an election approaching, we’re hearing all about our country’s problems: The economy, debt, the government, the other political party… What is America’s greatest problem?

It’s none of those things. Actually, it’s not what you’ll hear any political candidate talking about. It’s this: “You have forgotten me, declares the Sovereign LORD” (Ezekiel 22:12).

I hope you can watch this short video devotion about our country’s biggest problem and how the solution can only be found in Jesus Christ our Savior.

God bless you!

https://youtube.com/shorts/zKOHzvl0VVo

10/26/2026

THE MURDERER

(This is the third of what I hope to be many devotions based on the people of the Bible. Since we are children of God by faith in Jesus, all the believers in the Bible are our brothers and sisters. The more we learn about our family in the Bible, the more we learn about Jesus’ love and salvation for us. The devotions will be written with children and families in mind, but I hope that they are beneficial for Christians of all ages.)

Can you imagine being the very first person to see a little baby? Babies are so precious, aren’t they? When the first mother Eve gave birth to the first baby ever, she was excited! She said, “With the help of the LORD I have brought forth a man” (Genesis 4:1). Who had that first little baby boy really come from? God! Do you know what Eve named him? Cain.

You might think that Adam and Eve would have a perfect family, but if you think that, you’re forgetting something. What had Adam and Eve done that was bad? They had sinned against God (Genesis 3:1-24). Because of sin, there are no perfect people or perfect families.

In fact, this first baby grew up and did something awful. Cain had a younger brother. One day, both Cain and his younger brother decided to give offerings to God. That seems like a good thing, doesn’t it? It’s just that God accepted Cain’s brother’s sacrifice, but God didn’t accept Cain’s sacrifice. Cain hadn’t made his offering with faith in his heart (Hebrews 11:4).

So Cain got angry. Do you ever get angry? Watch out! Anger always leads to more sins. God came to Cain and warned him about his anger: “If you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but you must rule over it” (Genesis 4:7).

Can you think of an animal that crouches? A lion or a tiger or a jaguar…. When you and I are angry, sin is like a lion or a tiger or a jaguar ready to sn**ch our hearts and minds.

Do you think Cain listened to God and put away his anger? He should have, but he didn’t. Cain killed his younger brother (Genesis 4:8). Isn’t that awful? Cain was the first murderer.

This is pretty serious stuff, isn’t it? Have you ever killed someone else? I hope not! Except, listen to this Bible passage: “Anyone who hates a brother or sister is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life residing in him” (1 John 3:15). Do you understand what that means? To God, hating or being angry with someone is just as bad as murder.

It’s so easy to get angry with other people, isn’t it? Maybe even with our own brothers and sisters. Watch out for anger! Don’t be like Cain who let his anger lead to even more sins.

This is why we need Jesus and his forgiveness. We don’t just need forgiveness for the sins we do on the outside. We need Jesus’ forgiveness for the sins we do on the inside—like anger and hating and jealousy. Don’t let those sins crouch in your heart. Confess them to Jesus and trust in his forgiveness for you—and for your brothers and sisters too.

Dear Jesus, it’s so easy to get angry. It’s so easy to hate others. Forgive us! Keep sin from crouching in our hearts. Instead, help us love others like you love us. Amen.

(To learn more about Cain’s sad story, read Genesis 4:1-24 and 1 John 3:11-15.)

https://upsidedownsavior.home.blog/2026/10/26/the-murderer/

10/25/2026

THE MOTHER OF LIFE

(This is the second of what I hope to be many devotions based on the people of the Bible. Since we are children of God by faith in Jesus, all the believers in the Bible are our brothers and sisters. The more we learn about our family in the Bible, the more we learn about Jesus’ love and salvation for us. The devotions will be written with children and families in mind, but I hope that they are beneficial for Christians of all ages.)

People talk about saving the best for last. Have you heard that? Well, do you know what God saved for last when he created the world? Women! God saved the first woman for last. Creation wasn’t complete without her. Women are so special to God!

Have you heard what God used to created that first woman? Adam’s rib (Genesis 2:21). God wanted Adam to know that this woman was part of him. We’re made of the same stuff!

But this first woman did something bad: She ate a piece of fruit (Genesis 3:6). Wait a minute… That doesn’t sound bad, does it? It was bad, because God had commanded her not to (Genesis 3:3). To disobey God is sinful, even when it only involves a piece of fruit.

Why did she do it? The woman believed the devil instead of believing God. Do you know who the devil is? He’s our worst enemy! The devil wants to keep us from believing God’s Word. He makes sin look good. That first woman gave in. She believed the devil’s lies.

Do you? Sadly, I often do. I don’t follow God’s Word. I don’t always believe God is good. I disobey God’s commands. What’s that called? Sin.

That sin messed everything up. The world was perfect, and then it wasn’t. What changed? The woman and her husband Adam felt ashamed (Genesis 3:7). They tried to hide their sin and hide from God (Genesis 3:8). They blamed each other for their sin (Genesis 3:12).

Does this sound familiar? Isn’t this what our lives are like? When we sin, we try to hide it. Does that work? No. We feel ashamed, so we try to blame other people. Does that work? No. That first woman really got us all into a lot of trouble, didn’t she? Oh, wait. Now, we’re blaming her for our sins. Is that right? No! We need someone to take our sins away.

So on the day that this woman sinned, God made a promise to the devil: “I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel” (Genesis 3:15). God told the devil that a descendent of the woman would one day crush the devil’s head! Someday, Someone would save us!

Adam understood. How can we tell? Because Adam gave his wife her name. Think of what Adam could have called his wife on that sad day. He could have called her “Sinful Lady.” Or, “Person Who Wrecked Everything.” Or, “It’s Her Fault!” But he didn’t. “Adam named his wife Eve, because she would become the mother of all the living” (Genesis 3:20).

What did Adam name his wife? Eve. Do you know what Eve means? “Life.” What a perfect name! Through Eve, God was going to bring life into the world. Still to this day, God uses women to bring life into the world by giving birth to children. What a blessing! Even more, Eve would bring eternal life to the world through the coming Savior. Who is that? Jesus!

When we sin, like Eve and Adam, we can hold on to God’s promise of life—eternal life—through Eve’s great-great-great-great…-grandson: Jesus!

Dear Father in heaven, thank you for creating women. They have given all of us life! Thank you most of all for sending Eve’s descendant Jesus to crush the devil’s head. Amen.

(To learn more about our sister Eve’s story, read Genesis 2:15-3:24.)

https://upsidedownsavior.home.blog/2026/10/24/the-mother-of-life/

10/22/2026

What does the Bible say about baptizing babies? Some Christians insist that baptism is never for babies. Is that what the Bible says?

No! In fact, there are no Bible verses limiting who should be baptized. Instead, Jesus says, “Go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them…” (Matthew 28:18-19).

I hope you can watch this short video devotion with four of the many Bible passages that lead us to baptize even the smallest babies at our church.

God bless you!

https://youtube.com/shorts/kdABh3MYrpQ

10/21/2026

THE VERY FIRST PERSON

(This is the first of what I hope to be many devotions based on the people of the Bible. Since we are children of God by faith in Jesus, all the believers in the Bible are our brothers and sisters. The more we learn about our family in the Bible, the more we learn about Jesus’ love and salvation for us. The devotions will be written with children and families in mind, but I hope that they are beneficial for Christians of all ages.)

The very first person did not have a very unique name. Do you remember what it was? Adam. Adam is simply a Hebrew word that means, “Man.” I suppose that makes sense, doesn’t it? What should the first man be called? “Man.” “Adam.”

Although Adam did not have a very unique name, there were all sorts of unique things about Adam. Can you think of some? Adam was formed by God himself from the dust of the ground (Genesis 2:7). You and I weren’t created that way. Adam got to name all the animals (Genesis 2:19-20). Wouldn’t that have been cool? Adam got to live in the perfect Garden of Eden (Genesis 2:8-9). Can you imagine what that was like? Perfect weather. Fruit trees all over. Beautiful scenery. There were all sorts of unique things about Adam. God blessed Adam in lots of special ways.

But Adam did something very sad and surprising: He sinned (Genesis 3:1-24). After God had done all those special things for Adam, don’t you think Adam would have loved God more than everything else? Don’t you think Adam would have always done what God asked? But Adam didn’t. Adam and his wife disobeyed God’s command.

Do you? Do you disobey God’s commands? Maybe by disobeying your parents’ commands or by being angry or stealing or lying or complaining or cheating? You and I are more like Adam than we might think. God has blessed us in so many ways, yet we sin against God every day. We have disobeyed God so many times.

Thankfully, there’s one more super special thing about Adam: He points us to Jesus! Listen to this Bible verse and try to understand what it’s saying: “As in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive” (1 Corinthians 15:22). Adam brought sin and death into the world.

So whom did God send? Another unique Man. A Man who was perfect. A Man who was God himself. A Man who brings forgiveness to people who have sinned and life to people who have died. Do you know who the Bible is talking about? Jesus!

Jesus is our true and better Adam. Jesus kept all of God’s commands perfectly in our place, and he died on the cross for our sins. More than that, Jesus rose from the dead to win eternal life in heaven for all who believe in him.

Adam was the first to do a lot of things: Live. Name animals. Sin. But here’s the most important thing: Adam points us to Jesus our Savior.

Dear Lord God, thank you for making Adam—and for making me! Just like Adam, I have sinned against you. I’m sorry. Thank you for sending Jesus to save me. Amen.

(To learn more about our brother Adam’s story, read Genesis 1:1-3:24.)

https://upsidedownsavior.home.blog/2026/10/21/the-very-first-person/

10/19/2026

“He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus” (Philippians 1:6). I hope you can watch this sermon: “Look at What God Has Done!” God bless you!

Look at what God has done! God has taken hearts that constantly fel...