The Luther Church of Christ

06/14/2026

Today's sermon video 6/14/26.

05/25/2026

Yoday's sermon video 5/24/26.

05/18/2026

Today's sermon video 5/17/26.

05/10/2026

Happy Mother's Day! Today's sermon video.

04/23/2026

Here is the recipe for the breakfast muffins that we had before the Easter service.

4 eggs
1 cup grated sharp cheddar cheese
1 cup baking mix
1 lb. breakfast sausage
1/2 cup each chopped mushrooms and diced green pepper (optional)

Makes 12 muffins.

Cook the sausage until browned and crumbly. If using the veggies toss in and cook with the sausage. Drain well.

Whisk the eggs, then add the cheese and baking mix. when well combined, fold in the sausage and vegie mix.

Divide into a greased muffin tin. Bake at 350 for 20 minutes or until golden brown. let cool before removing and refrigerate. Reheat by microwaving on high 15 seconds. Serve as is or with syrup.

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04/23/2026

Here is the recipe for the breakfast muffins we had before the Easter service.

4 eggs
1 cup grated sharp cheddar cheese
1 cup baking mix
1 lb breakfast sausage
1/2 cup each chopped mushrooms and
Diced green pepper (optional)

Cook sausage until browned and crumbly. If adding the veggies, cook them along with the sausage. Drain well.

Whisk the eggs, the add the cheese and baking mix. When well combined fold the sausage mix in. Evenly fill greased muffin cup and bake at 350° for 20 minutes until golden brown. Allow to cool before removing and store in refrigerator. Reheat cold muffins by microwaving on high for 15 seconds.

04/06/2026

Happy Easter! What a wonderful service we had today, filled with friends, family and wonderful children! Here is the sermon transcript from today!

He is Risen
John 20:1-18
Given 4/5/26

Happy Easter! Today we celebrate the resurrection of Jesus, his triumph over the grave that fulfilled the plan for our salvation. But as we give thanks to Jesus as our Savior, we also should consider another aspect of him in order to fully appreciate the sacrifice that he made for us, and that is Jesus the man. In order for Jesus to sacrifice his life, he had to have a life to sacrifice. He had to know all the joys of being a child, and what it meant to take on the responsibilities of an adult. Unless he loved his life on earth, it wouldn’t be a sacrifice for him to lose it.
Today many people picture Jesus the man as being totally removed, different from other men. A solemn figure who watches but doesn’t participate until it is time for him to use what is going on around him to teach a lesson, a figure of great dignity, somehow always clean and pristine. A man, yet still above all other men. If you’ve ever seen the 1965 movie “The greatest story ever told”, this is the way Max von Sydow portrayed Jesus in it, and it’s become the image that many have when they think of Jesus the man. As much as we believe that Jesus was born a man, our main idea of him is as the son of God.
But Jesus’ companions saw someone totally different. They saw a man who ran and played as a child, who knew what it was like to labor and earn a living. A man who got tired and dirty and sweaty as he walked from one place to another. A man who laughed and a man who could lose his temper. As much as they believed Jesus was the son of God, their main idea of him was as Jesus the man.
And when they saw Him being beaten and humiliated, when they watched him being nailed to the cross and when they saw him die, they were watching these things happen to their friend, there was a personal connection that we just can’t completely grasp ourselves.
But as we try to imagine what Jesus’ death must have meant for those who knew him as a man, let us also now try to imagine the joy and wonder they felt when his divinity was proven beyond a doubt by his triumph over death.
Together, we’ll read from the gospel of John, chapter 20, verses 1 to 18.
Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene came to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the tomb.
So she ran and went to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one whom Jesus loved, and said to them, "They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid him."
Then Peter and the other disciple set out and went toward the tomb. The two were running together, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first.
He bent down to look in and saw the linen wrappings lying there, but he did not go in. Then Simon Peter came, following him, and went into the tomb. He saw the linen wrappings lying there, and the cloth that had been on Jesus' head, not lying with the linen wrappings but rolled up in a place by itself.
Then the other disciple, who reached the tomb first, also went in, and he saw and believed; for as yet they did not understand the scripture, that he must rise from the dead. Then the disciples returned to their homes.
But Mary stood weeping outside the tomb. As she wept, she bent over to look into the tomb; and she saw two angels in white, sitting where the body of Jesus had been lying, one at the head and the other at the feet.
They said to her, "Woman, why are you weeping?" She said to them, "They have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid him."
When she had said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not know that it was Jesus.
Jesus said to her, "Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you looking for?" Supposing him to be the gardener, she said to him, "Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have laid him, and I will take him away."
Jesus said to her, "Mary!" She turned and said to him in Hebrew, "Rabbouni!" (which means Teacher).
Jesus said to her, "Do not hold on to me, because I have not yet ascended to the Father. But go to my brothers and say to them, 'I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.'"
Mary Magdalene went and announced to the disciples, "I have seen the Lord"; and she told them that he had said these things to her.

May God add his blessing to this reading of the word!
This is the day on which it all hinges, really. This is the day on which our entire faith rises or falls, the day on which it matters or is irrelevant, no more significant than any other competing philosophy in a world full of religions. As the apostle Paul said, “if Christ has not been raised, then our proclamation has been in vain and your faith has been in vain.” If Christ has not been raised, “we are of all people most to be pitied”. Either we proclaim with all our hearts, “Christ is risen indeed! Alleluia!” or we may as well just close our hymnals and go home to the Sunday paper and our Easter brunches right now.
Today’s gospel doesn’t start out on much of a high note, it doesn’t say much about the faith of Mary and the disciples. They knew what Jesus had said about his death and resurrection, several times he flat out says that he will die and then be raised in three days. But is the sight of the empty tomb met with cries of “Hallelujah, He is risen!”? No, despite everything that Jesus said, Mary’s first emotion is despair that his body is missing. Jesus as man is stronger in her mind than Jesus as God. When she fetches Peter and the other disciple, who is presumed to be John himself, their reaction paints them in an even worse light. After confirming the tomb is empty, they return home. I believe that their first emotion was fear. Fear that the authorities had taken the body, that they may even still be in the area waiting to see who would come to visit the tomb and show themselves to have been followers of Jesus. The memories of their friends torment and death still fresh in their minds, I think they just ran away to protect themselves, probably telling Mary that she should do the same thing.
But Mary stays, her sorrow over-riding all other emotions and rooting her to the spot. And so it is to her that the angels give their message, and to her the risen Christ first appears. It’s not really anything amazing that Mary doesn’t recognize Jesus at first. She is still thinking of Jesus the man, a man that she knows beyond a doubt to be dead. A man who, when she last saw him, was little more than a mass of shredded bloody flesh. It’s no wonder that she didn’t recognize the man who stood in front of her, whole and healthy.
Until he speaks to her. And with the sound of his voice, she realizes who she is speaking to, and I imagine that full of joy she hurls herself at him, locking her arms around him. In our translation Jesus’ words to her are “Do not hold on to me”, but the literal translation of the Greek is simply “Let go of me”. In her joy Mary is probably not only holding on to Jesus, she is probably trying to drag him bodily to where the others are, she has no intention of releasing him on her own. But along with telling her to let him go, Jesus explains that he still has work to do, that he has not yet ascended to the father. And this is when full realization comes to Mary, when the connection between man and God really becomes clear to her. And when she returns to the others, she doesn’t say to them “Jesus is alive”, but rather, “I have seen the Lord!”
There is a balance that we must reach in our minds between the man and the God. The perils of too much emphasis on the man and losing the connection to God may seem obvious, but it is just as dangerous overemphasizing the God and losing sight of the man. Unless Jesus was a man like other men, with the same feelings and needs, the same capacity to feel sorrow and joy that we have, then there was no sacrifice in his death. If Jesus didn’t totally love life, if he was simply a “God force” inhabiting a human body, then death would have been a relief to him, it would have freed him from this earthly prison and allowed him to rejoin the cosmic powers-that-be. There is a school of thought called Gnosticism that believes that this is how things were. But there is something huge missing if this is the case. Where is the love?
“For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life.” Out of love God gave his only son-he didn’t just lend him out for a while, he didn’t just let us borrow Him, he gave Him to us, to live as one of us. And because of his love for us, Jesus sacrificed that life to buy our salvation.
That salvation is not a reward, it’s not a prize, it’s a gift. A gift freely given. We don’t have to work for it, or prove ourselves worthy of it, all we have to do is accept it, by accepting Christ into our hearts, and simply acknowledging that he is our savior.
That is the thought that needs to at the root of the joy we feel today that God loves us so much that he caused all this to happen in the first place. Jesus was born a man and suffered and died as a man so that we could be saved, but all of that came about because the God who created everything is filled with love for each one of us! Not just love for humanity, but each individual one of us! And Jesus’ defeat of death is the ultimate expression of that love! Hallelujah, He is risen! Because of God’s love for us, He is risen indeed, hallelujah!

Will you pray with me?
Heavenly Father, thank you for the wonderful gift we celebrate today. By defeating death and rising from the tomb, Jesus made it possible for us to receive His precious salvation. May we celebrate that gift of love today and every day, and may we show how much Jesus’ love means to us by following His command that we love others as we are loved by Him. In Jesus’ name we pray, Amen.

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03/29/2026

Today's Lenten Devotion and sermon video 3/26/29.

03/29/2026

Today's Lenten Devotion and sermon transcript 3/29/26.

Each week during Lent we have been extinguishing a candle, rep-resenting a time in scripture when Jesus and his message was re-jected. This has also given us a point of reflection to contemplate when our own sins have caused His light to dim in the world. To-day is Palm Sunday when we celebrate the crowds rejoicing as Je-sus returns to Jerusalem. But in that celebration, there is also sad-ness, because in just a few days these people who cheered for Him will demand His death. Angered that he is not the conquering king they had expected, they cry out to Pilate that they would rather have the murderer Barabbas set free than Jesus, and so He is con-demned to die on the cross. As the sixth candle is extinguished, let us reflect on the times we felt that Jesus had failed us in some way, perhaps even to the point where we angrily cried out against Him.

Drawing to a close
John 12:12-50
Given 3/29/26

Today is Palm Sunday, the commemoration of Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem and the beginning of what has come to be known as Holy Week, the week prior to his death and resurrection. So naturally today’s gospel is the triumphal entry. Most commonly, today’s reading is taken from Mark or Matthew, but today we’re going to continue with John’s Gospel, which gives a bit of a different perspective on the events leading up to Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem, and those that immediately follow it. John also gives us more of an idea of what Jesus is feeling, amidst the celebration of the crowd he reflects on his mission on earth and the fact that it is coming to an end.
Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem follows very closely after the resurrection of Lazarus, which I am sure we are all familiar with. Because of his raising of Lazarus Jesus has essentially become a celebrity among the common Jews. Fearing that the number of people who are openly professing that they believe Jesus’ message will cause the Romans to intervene, the chief priests and Pharisees decide that Jesus must die.
Knowing this, Jesus and the disciples are keeping a low profile, out of the public eye in the village of Ephraim. As people begin to gather in Jerusalem in preparation for the Passover, everyone is wondering if Jesus is going to dare to come to the city.
Six days before Passover Jesus returns to the house of Lazarus and his sisters. It is a final moment of calm, a time to spend with his friends before the events that Jesus knows he will face in Jerusalem. In John’s gospel it is here that he is anointed by Lazarus’ sister Mary with the costly perfume.
When word spreads that Jesus is in Bethany, a crowd gathers, not only to see Jesus but also Lazarus, who has become famous in his own right for his resurrection. When the Jewish leaders hear of this, they decide that because Lazarus is influencing people to follow Jesus, he must also die.
And this is where we pick up the story with John, chapter 12, verse 12. And rather than stop with His entry into the city, I’m going to continue to the end of the chapter, because we’ll see that this triumphant moment also marks the end of His public ministry.

12 The next day the great crowd that had come to the festival heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem. 13 So they took branches of palm trees and went out to meet him, shouting,

“Hosanna!
Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord—
the King of Israel!”

14 Jesus found a young donkey and sat on it; as it is written:

15 “Do not be afraid, daughter of Zion.
Look, your king is coming,
sitting on a donkey’s colt!”

16 His disciples did not understand these things at first; but when Jesus was glorified, then they remembered that these things had been written of him and had been done to him. 17 So the crowd that had been with him when he called Lazarus out of the tomb and raised him from the dead continued to testify. 18 It was also because they heard that he had performed this sign that the crowd went to meet him. 19 The Pharisees then said to one another, “You see, you can do nothing. Look, the world has gone after him!”
20 Now among those who went up to worship at the festival were some Greeks. 21 They came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, and said to him, “Sir, we wish to see Jesus.” 22 Philip went and told Andrew; then Andrew and Philip went and told Jesus. 23 Jesus answered them, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. 24 Very truly, I tell you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains just a single grain; but if it dies, it bears much fruit. 25 Those who love their life lose it, and those who hate their life in this world will keep it for eternal life. 26 Whoever serves me must follow me, and where I am, there will my servant be also. Whoever serves me, the Father will honor.
27 “Now my soul is troubled. And what should I say—‘Father, save me from this hour’? No, it is for this reason that I have come to this hour. 28 Father, glorify your name.” Then a voice came from heaven, “I have glorified it, and I will glorify it again.” 29 The crowd standing there heard it and said that it was thunder. Others said, “An angel has spoken to him.” 30 Jesus answered, “This voice has come for your sake, not for mine. 31 Now is the judgment of this world; now the ruler of this world will be driven out. 32 And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself.” 33 He said this to indicate the kind of death he was to die. 34 The crowd answered him, “We have heard from the law that the Messiah remains forever. How can you say that the Son of Man must be lifted up? Who is this Son of Man?” 35 Jesus said to them, “The light is with you for a little longer. Walk while you have the light, so that the darkness may not overtake you. If you walk in the darkness, you do not know where you are going. 36 While you have the light, believe in the light, so that you may become children of light.”
After Jesus had said this, he departed and hid from them. 37 Although he had performed so many signs in their presence, they did not believe in him. 38 This was to fulfill the word spoken by the prophet Isaiah:

“Lord, who has believed our message,
and to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?”

39 And so they could not believe, because Isaiah also said,

40 “He has blinded their eyes
and hardened their heart,
so that they might not look with their eyes,
and understand with their heart and turn—
and I would heal them.”

41 Isaiah said this because he saw his glory and spoke about him. 42 Nevertheless many, even of the authorities, believed in him. But because of the Pharisees they did not confess it, for fear that they would be put out of the synagogue; 43 for they loved human glory more than the glory that comes from God.
44 Then Jesus cried aloud: “Whoever believes in me believes not in me but in him who sent me. 45 And whoever sees me sees him who sent me. 46 I have come as light into the world, so that everyone who believes in me should not remain in the darkness. 47 I do not judge anyone who hears my words and does not keep them, for I came not to judge the world, but to save the world. 48 The one who rejects me and does not receive my word has a judge; on the last day the word that I have spoken will serve as judge, 49 for I have not spoken on my own, but the Father who sent me has himself given me a commandment about what to say and what to speak. 50 And I know that his commandment is eternal life. What I speak, therefore, I speak just as the Father has told me.”
May God add His blessing to this reading of the word.

There is one major difference between the other Gospels and John’s at this point. In Matthew, Mark and Luke, the next event following the entry into Jerusalem is the clearing of the money changers from the temple. This act of rebellion immediately following his being welcomed like a king is the final straw that convinces the Jewish leaders that Jesus must die or else the Romans will step in.
In John’s gospel this event occurs two years earlier and is one of the first events of Jesus’ public ministry rather than the last. In this account it is the growing popularity of Jesus with the people that seals his fate with the priests and Pharisees. But it is also this popularity that is saving Jesus from them for now. It is only their fear of what the crowd will do that stops the Priests and Pharisees from seizing Jesus as soon as they know where he is.
While Jesus is still safe among the crowd, two important events occur. The first happens so quickly that it is often overlooked. That is the arrival of the Greeks who are seeking Jesus. This is the final sign that Jesus has been waiting for. By their arrival Jesus knows that his message has spread to all parts of the civilized world. As he says, “The hour has come for the son of man to be glorified.”
The second event is that, as I said, Jesus ends his public teaching. The rest of his time up to his arrest is spent giving his final messages to the disciples to prepare them. But first he explains his mission to the public one final time, who he is, who sent him and why he was sent. Using some of his plainest language he lays everything out. “I come not to judge the world, but to save the world.” If there is anyone who still questions or doubts him, there are no words left that Jesus can use to convince them. The time for words is over. He is telling his listeners, “That’s all I have to say. What the father told me, I tell you.”
It’s hard to imagine how the crowds could turn on Jesus as they did just a few days after they celebrated his arrival in the city. But we have to understand why they greeted him with such enthusiasm. They weren’t celebrating the arrival of the son of God, the one who would deliver them from sin and bring them the gift of salvation. They weren’t there to give glory to God. They were there to welcome the one who they thought would free them from Roman domination, the man who would become their king after leading them to victory against their oppressors. They knew of the miracles he had performed but only saw that as a sign of the power that he must be able to wield, a power that they expected would be used to improve the lives that they were leading. With all these expectations, the disappointment they felt at seeing that he had no desire to create a kingdom on earth must have been unbearable. And so out of rage and disappointment, they turned on the man whom they had just a few days earlier been praising.
It was only proper that the people should have celebrated Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem. As good Jews they should have been aware of all the prophesies that Jesus was fulfilling, they should have known what his entry into Jerusalem represented to them. But they only paid attention to the scripture that met their own needs. They were prepared to cheer for the triumphant king but wanted nothing to do with the suffering servant. They wanted the one who would make the final judgment against the enemies of the children of God, but only if that judgment was immediate, and of course, in their favor. They did the right thing, but for all the wrong reasons.
During this Lenten season we’ve been examining our lives to see how we can better walk with Jesus our savior. I’d like to close today with a thought about why Jesus chose to walk with us. I’d like us to think about what it meant that he came to live among us as a man like us, and how that humanity shows just how amazing was the love that he has for us.
Because the gift that Jesus gave us by his death and resurrection, the very salvation of our souls, was the ultimate act of love. Everything about Jesus was love. He was sent to us because of love and because of love he died for us. And to appreciate the depth of that love, we need to remember that he was sent to us to live his life as a man, as one of us.
He could just as easily appeared on earth as an adult, fully formed, mature and ready to begin his work. We could just delete a few chapters from the beginning of each of the gospels and keep most of the rest of them as is and the story would be the same. He would still teach the same message, perform miracles, and ultimately be put to death. But it wouldn’t be a very meaningful death. If you were a god, put into human form and made to live among humans, death wouldn’t be a sacrifice, it would be a relief to finally be able to reclaim your full godhood.
In order for Jesus to sacrifice his life, he had to have a life to sacrifice. He had to know all the joys of being a child, and what it meant to take on the responsibilities of an adult.
He had to have friends and family that he loved, he had to know what it was like to laugh at a joke and to cry over a loss. He had to be able to know uncertainty, doubt, anger, and fear. He not only had to live a life, but he had to love that life that he was living. Because only if Jesus truly loved life can his death of been the sacrifice in the name of love that it was. And as much as Jesus loved life, he died for our salvation because he loved us more.

I would like for us to consider the single candle which is still burn-ing, the candle that represents Jesus. The sins of the world had plunged it into darkness, but Jesus came to the world so that its sins, our own sins, could be forgiven and the light restored. To do that, he took on the burden of those sins and sacrificed His own life to pay the price for their atonement. To represent this sacrifice, the final candle is extinguished, along with the lights of the church. As I do so, please join me in a moment of silent prayer, as we close today’s service in silence, contemplating through the next week the events leading up to our Savior’s death.

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03/16/2026

Here are the transcripts of the Lenten Devotion and sermon that would have been given today, 3/15/26. Apologies for the delay, after returning home I spent the day with the snowblower and just remembered I hadn't posted these.

As we prepare to extinguish our fourth Lenten candle, I want us to think about the town that rejected Jesus after he freed a man from the legion of demons that had possessed him. In Mark 5:1-20 we are told that Jesus sent the demons into a herd of swine, which then ran into the sea and drowned. But instead of praising Jesus the townspeople fearfully begged Him to leave. The reject Jesus because they worry that he will disrupt their lives and livelihood, their focus is on the lost swine rather than the miracle of the demoniac’s cure. As the fourth candle is extinguished, let us reflect on the times we failed to serve our savior because we didn’t want Him to disrupt our lives, when we worried more about what we might lose than what we would gain.

Abiding Assurance
John 15:1-11
Given 3/15/26

When trying to understand a section of scripture, sometimes the key is to grasp the meaning behind an event that takes place, or of a parable or lesson that is given. Today’s verse comes down to understanding the meaning of just a single word, “abide”. When you hear that word the first thing that might come to mind is the hymn, “Abide with Me”. It’s a word we all know, so we don’t give it any special thought when we come across it. It’s one of those words that at first you think “Oh yeah, I know what that means”, but when you think about it for a bit you may ask yourself “wait a minute, just what does it mean?”
Checking the dictionary I found that there are 5 basic definitions for the word “abide”, and all 5 of them can be applied to the words that Jesus shares with his disciples, and with us, in this verse. So today I’d like for us to consider what it is that he means when Jesus tells us to “abide” with Him, and that he will abide with us.
I’ll be continuing where we left of in the gospel of John, chapter 15, verses 1 to 11.

15 “I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinegrower. 2 He removes every branch in me that bears no fruit. Every branch that bears fruit he prunes to make it bear more fruit. 3 You have already been cleansed by the word that I have spoken to you. 4 Abide in me as I abide in you. Just as the branch cannot bear fruit by itself unless it abides in the vine, neither can you unless you abide in me. 5 I am the vine, you are the branches. Those who abide in me and I in them bear much fruit, because apart from me you can do nothing. 6 Whoever does not abide in me is thrown away like a branch and withers; such branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned. 7 If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask for whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. 8 My Father is glorified by this, that you bear much fruit and become my disciples. 9 As the Father has loved me, so I have loved you; abide in my love. 10 If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and abide in his love. 11 I have said these things to you so that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be complete.

May God add his blessing to this reading of the word.

This scripture is a continuation of Jesus’ final message to his disciples following the last supper. In just a few hours he will be arrested and the events will begin that lead to his death on the cross. The disciples will have their faith in Jesus shaken to the core, everything that they hoped for thru Him will seem to fall apart. So along with final instructions, Jesus leaves them with assurances. The assurance he gives them in this reading, is that everything will be alright, as long as you just stick with me!
In the analogy of the grape vine and the branches, Jesus is saying that those who follow him are actually a part of him, and he is a part of them. And unless they maintain that connection to him, they will be unable to continue in service to him. As long as the branch is part of the vine, it can produce fruit. If it is removed from the vine, it withers and dies. This is the first definition of the word abide, and the one that is most commonly used in reference to these verses. To continue in one place. Jesus tells the disciples, Stay with me! Draw strength and sustenance from me, remember always that I am the source of the fruit that you will produce, the good things that you do will be done in my name. And he offers the further assurance that if they will abide in him, he will abide in them. Another reminder to them of His promise that although he will leave them, they will never be alone, they will never be without him and everything that he provides for them. But he also gives a warning along with this, that the branch that doesn’t produce will be removed.
If we live in Jesus, then Jesus lives in us. I think that is such a beautiful thought. We are actually a part of our savior, we are connected to him, we are constantly able to draw from him what we need in order to bear fruit, to live lives in service to him. But we have to also remember that this means that we can never be independent of him. When we act, we are acting in his name, the things we do are meant to give glory to him, not to ourselves. Even if we are doing what seems to be good, if we do it to further ourselves, if we hope to gain personally from it or get recognition for ourselves from it, then we are not abiding in the one who provides for us, we are cutting ourselves away from the vine. Jesus will never take away the things that he provides for us, but if we do not abide, if we do not stay with him, then we lose those things because we have rejected them ourselves.
Another definition of “abide” is to remain stable and unchanging. This is something that we can rely on as a certainty from Jesus. We know that he will always remain constant for us, he isn’t going to get tired or grow bored with us, or suddenly change the rules of the relationship on us. He will always be unshaken in his faith in us. But it is much more of a challenge for us to abide in Jesus in this fashion. We get caught up in our moods, we have days where our faith just doesn’t seem as strong as it was when we made our commitment to him, there may even be times when we feel resentful of Jesus, when we question if the sacrifices we make in his behalf are really worth it. This doesn’t make us bad people, it just means that we are human. We just aren’t capable of being constant and unchanging, the things of this world affect us and we respond to them, and not always in the way that Jesus would have us do. And at these times, we are often our own worst critic. We begin to lose faith in ourselves, in our ability to serve our savior. And at our lowest point, we may even turn away from him because we feel we are unworthy of him.
But the next definition of “abide” can help us get thru these dark times of the soul. “Abide” also means “to bear patiently”. Jesus abides in us with great patience. He doesn’t get fed up with our moods and attitudes, he doesn’t give up on us when we go astray. He won’t reject us because we sometimes seem to reject him. He bears patiently with us, always ready to forgive us one more time, always ready to take us back into his arms. And because we can be certain that he is patent with us, we can afford to be patient with ourselves. No matter how hard we try, we’re going to have times when we screw up. But no matter how far we may wander away from Jesus, it is always just a short step to return to him, to seek forgiveness and renewal from him. If we abide in Jesus with patience as he patiently abides in us, then we can draw upon him for the strength to forgive the person we sometimes consider the most unforgivable, ourselves.
The next definition of “abide” is also a difficult one for us. To accept without objection. Jesus accepts us without objection. He doesn’t hesitate because of our past, he doesn’t pick and choose who he will offer the gift of salvation to because some of us are going to be easier to deal with or be less of a problem than others. When we give ourselves to him, he accepts us, wholeheartedly and without hesitation. But it’s harder for us to accept Jesus in the same way, to accept the lives that he wants us to live in His name. We object to giving up our own desires, to setting aside our prejudices. We try to pick and choose from his teaching the things that we will follow, and the things that we just don’t agree with we set aside. And sometimes we even object to accepting others that he has accepted, because we don’t think that they are worthy of him, because we forget that it is not our place to judge them, but our savior’s. But if we are to abide in Jesus then we must accept him and his choices without objection. Living a life in his name is an all or nothing commitment. Our lives belong to him, and we are to live them as he sees fit. And when we falter in abiding in him in this manner, we fortunately can refer back to the previous definition concerning his bearing patiently with us.
The fourth definition of “abide” is to endure without yielding. To me this brings to mind our savior’s willingness to endure the humiliation and agony of the cross on our behalf, to suffer because of our sins so that we could be forgiven of them, so the doors of the heavenly kingdom would be open to us. And he continues to abide in us, to endure us despite ourselves, to never yield in his love for us even when we are at our most unlovable. And to abide in him we must endure without yielding all the things that seek to sever us from him. The mockery of our faith, sometimes by those who are close to us, the temptation to leave the path he wants us to follow for one that seems easier and full of worldly pleasures, the pressure to just go with the crowd, to not make a fuss, to not stand out as a religious nut, to keep our opinions to ourselves and not make waves. These are things that we have to endure without yielding if we are to abide in Jesus. But because of Jesus’ sacrifice on our behalf, because he endures in us, we can turn to him for the strength to endure in him.
The last definition of “abide” that I’d like us to think about seems like a simple one. To wait. The other parts of what we need to do to abide seem so active, how does simply waiting fit in with them? Well, I think that this is the best part of what it means to abide in Jesus. Because if we abide in him as he abides in us, we know that one day we will be with him in the glory of the kingdom of heaven. Everything that we do on this earth in his service is a steppingstone to our eventual eternal reward, to be face to face with our savior in the place that he has prepared for us. We’ve seen that it takes quite a bit of work if we are to fully abide in Jesus, but if we do, our final reward will be well worth the wait!

Will you pray with me?
Heavenly Father, may we abide in Jesus as we are told that he abides in us. May we continue to stand with him, to endure without yielding the trials that we may face as his followers, knowing that He will always be with us if we remain faithful to Him. Let nothing turn us away from our service to Him, that we may share His message with the world so all may know of His abiding love. In Jesus’ name we pray, Amen.

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