Upside-Down Savior - Pastor Nathan Nass

07/13/2026

CURSED

“This is what the LORD says: ‘Cursed is the one who trusts in man.’” (Jeremiah 17:5)

Whom do you trust in? Everyone trusts in someone or something. Whom do you rely on? Whom do you turn to when the going gets tough? You know how you’re supposed to answer: God!

But do you really trust in God? The Israelites in the days of Jeremiah didn’t. Sure, they might have told you that they trusted in God. They had lots of false prophets who told them how good they were and how well everything was going to go for them in the future. But they had stopped trusting in God many years before. Instead, they trusted in themselves. In “man.” Or in the idols that they had made for themselves. God’s chosen people had turned to everyone and everything except to God.

That’s what comes naturally to us. When something goes wrong, what’s your first thought? “I’m going to fix it myself!” Whom are you trusting in? Man. When you realize you can’t fix it, what’s almost always your second thought? “I know somebody… They will fix this!” Whom are you trusting in? Man. Isn’t that the most natural thing in the world? We have it ingrained in us to put our trust in man. In people.

But if that’s what you do, did you hear what God calls you? “Cursed!” That’s the same word that the Bible used for the serpent who tempted Eve in the Garden of Eden: Cursed (Genesis 3:14). That’s the same word that the Bible used for Cain after he murdered his brother Abel: Cursed (Genesis 4:11).

Watch out! Every day, you are tempted to trust in man. Every day, you are tempted to base your self-confidence on getting other people’s approval, instead of on God’s love for you in Jesus. Every day, you are tempted to determine right and wrong based on what your friends say, instead of on what God’s Word says. Every day, you are tempted to value your life based on how much money you have or how much you’ve accomplished, instead of on Jesus’ salvation. What will be the result? Cursed.

God wants something so much better for you. He wants to make you a blessed believer by trusting in Jesus. He wants to give you the confidence that flows from God’s grace. He wants you to have peace from the forgiveness won for you at Jesus’ cross. Start with this: Stop trusting in human beings. They leave you cursed.

Dear Lord, forgive me for constantly putting my trust in myself or in other people instead of in you. In your grace, rescue me from the curse of trusting in man. Amen.

https://upsidedownsavior.home.blog/2026/07/13/cursed/

07/09/2026

As America celebrates its 250th birthday, it’s a great time to reflect on Jesus’ words about God and government: “Give back to Caesar what is Caesar’s, and to God what is God’s” (Matthew 22:21). I hope you can watch this sermon about paying taxes to our government and putting our hope and confidence in our God. God bless you!

Christians can be the best citizens. Know why? You’re able to respe...

07/09/2026

Christians can be the best citizens. Know why? You’re able to respect the government without worshipping it. To obey the government without trusting in it. To make this country a better place without putting your hope in it. How? You know the real King! So show respect, even for those who don’t deserve it. Pay your taxes. But trust in God. Put your hope in heaven. Thank God for the 250 years he’s given to our country. But know that every country ends, except one. Whose? Christ the King’s! I hope you can watch this sermon: “Give back to Caesar what is Caesar’s, and to God what is God’s.” God bless you!

(This sermon was preached on July 5, 2026, following the 250th anniversary of Independence Day.) 15 Then the Pharisees went out and laid plans to trap him in his words. 16 They sent …

07/08/2026

CONQUERORS, NOT LOSERS

It’s easy to feel like a loser. Like your life is filled with one inevitable disappointment after another. That loser mentality impacts every thought in your mind: “I can’t do it. It’s not going to work. Nobody cares. It doesn’t even matter.” Do you feel like a loser?

The Bible disagrees. It’s true that other people hurt us, just as we have hurt other people. It’s true that we and our world are corrupted by the sin in all of our hearts. But the Bible disagrees about you being a loser. Do you know what it calls you? A conqueror! “In all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us” (Romans 8:37). Do you hear that? You are a conqueror!

How? “Through him who loved us.” Who is that? Jesus. Jesus loves you. So how can you be a loser? On top of that, Jesus has won every victory for you. He defeated sin and the devil when he paid the full price for our sins on the cross, and he defeated death when he rose from the dead. Jesus gives his victory to everyone who believes in him. Through Jesus, you are a conqueror, not a loser.

That person who hurt you doesn’t get the last word. Jesus does! Your failure isn’t the end of your story. Jesus has already forgiven you. Those negative things that you tell yourself aren’t the reality.

We are more than conquerors through him who loved us!

https://upsidedownsavior.home.blog/2026/07/08/conquerors-not-losers/

07/06/2026

NOT GUILTY

There are so many accusations flying around. Every day another famous person is accused of misconduct or harassment or some other crime. There are so many accusations.

How many of those accusations are leveled against you? True or not, does it feel like you’re constantly on trial? Co-workers are quick to cast the blame on you. Family members refuse to forgive your failures. Former friends or partners are happy to drag your name through the dirt. And here’s the hardest part: At least some of it is true. You know it. You feel guilty in your heart. Accusations hurt.

Yet, the Bible asks, “Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen?” Well, it seems like all sorts of people are bringing charges against us, doesn’t it? No. Not in God’s court. The Bible continues, “It is God who justifies” (Romans 8:33). Since God has forgiven you, no one can charge you!

“Who then is the one who condemns?” Well, this person and this person seem to condemn us… No. Not in God’s court. Here’s the answer: “No one. Christ Jesus who died—more than that, who was raised to life—is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us” (Romans 8:34).

Jesus is your defense attorney. When people accuse you, Jesus says, “I died for them. They are forgiven. Not guilty.” What a relief! No more accusations, at least not before God. God declares you “not guilty” by faith in Jesus.

https://upsidedownsavior.home.blog/2026/07/06/not-guilty-2/

07/05/2026

ALL FOR GOOD

“It’s all for good.” Has someone ever told you that as you struggled through a difficult time? “It’s all for good.” Did you believe them? It’s hard, isn’t it? Life seems so cruel. So bad, not good.

Yet, here’s the Bible’s promise: “We know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose” (Romans 8:28). For some Christians, this is their favorite verse in the whole Bible. Like a good father has good plans for his children, God our Father in heaven has good plans for us. Nothing in your life is an accident. Nothing! God right now is working out the very best plan for you. You can trust God. It’s all for good.

That doesn’t mean, however, that it’s all good. We often take God’s promises and hit people with them like they’re a club. “God is working this out for good, so why aren’t you happy?” Or, “what’s wrong with you if you can’t see the good?” Hold on! When God says that he works all things for good, that doesn’t mean that bad things aren’t bad. They really are bad! Sin messes up our bodies and our world.

But God can work those all those bad things for good. That’s his promise! He once used a terrible cross to bring us forgiveness and salvation. Right now, whatever is happening in your life, trust this: God is working it all for good.

https://upsidedownsavior.home.blog/2026/07/04/all-for-good/

06/30/2026

UNDOUBTABLE LOVE

“Jesus loves you.” That simple statement is at the heart of Christianity. Jesus loves you!

Yet, that simple statement is incredibly hard to believe. Do you feel loved today? Often, we feel neglected or alone. Then you think about your past. Your failures. Your sins. Your broken relationships. All the people who don’t love you. How could Jesus love you?

Here’s how you can be sure: “He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things?” (Romans 8:32). God our Father gave up his Son Jesus for you. If God was willing to do that for you, does he love you? Yes! Jesus was willing to die on the cross to forgive all your sins. If Jesus was willing to do that for you, does he love you? Absolutely!

Jesus loves you. That’s true for you, even if it seems like everyone else has turned against you. Not Jesus. Jesus loves you! That’s true for you, even when you feel guilty for your sins. Jesus came into our world to take your sins away. Jesus loves you! That’s true for you, even when you struggle to love yourself. Look at Jesus’ cross. There can be no doubt. Jesus loves you!

If Jesus did the biggest thing for you by dying for you on the cross, he will take care of everything else you need too. Trust in Jesus’ undoubtable love.

https://upsidedownsavior.home.blog/2026/06/30/undoubtable-love/

06/26/2026

NOT CAST OFF FOREVER

There’s nothing worse than being rejected. Cast off. Maybe a boyfriend broke up with you or a boss fired you. Maybe even your parents or siblings seem to have turned against you. There’s nothing worse than being rejected by other people. You ask: “Doesn’t anybody love me?”

Actually, there is something worse than being rejected by other people: Being rejected by God. Have you felt that? Like God is angry with you? Like there’s no way to overcome your guilt? There’s nothing worse than feeling God’s punishment instead of his grace.

That’s how God’s people felt long ago: Cast off. Because of their sins, God let their enemies conquer their country. In the middle of that destruction, they must have asked: “Doesn’t God love us?”

Here’s what God wrote in the Bible for those hurting people: “No one is cast off by the Lord forever. Though he brings grief, he will show compassion, so great is his unfailing love” (Lamentations 3:31-32). Aren’t those beautiful words? Those people weren’t cast off forever. No one is.

Including you. Though others may reject you, God doesn’t. How can you know? He sent his Son Jesus to die on the cross for your sins. When you see that Jesus was willing to die for you, you can know: “I am not cast off. I am loved. I am loved with an unfailing love!”

Trust this: There’s an expiration date on every suffering. “No one is cast off by the Lord forever.”

https://upsidedownsavior.home.blog/2026/06/26/not-cast-off-forever/

06/25/2026

INCOMPREHENSIBLE

I once got to sit in the front row of a magic show by a famous magician. It was incomprehensible. Even sitting in the front row, I have no idea how he did his tricks. I could see what was happening, but what the magician was doing behind the scenes was way over my head.

If that’s true for a human magician, do you think that’s true for God? If a human being can do things that are incomprehensible to us, do you think God can do things that are incomprehensible to us? If a magician can work secretly behind the scenes, do you think God can work secretly behind the scenes?

Yet, we too often give God less respect than we give human magicians. We tell God that if his words don’t make sense to us, they must be false. We insist that if we can’t understand how God is working in our lives, he must not be working at all. Can you see how foolish that is?

Instead, the Bible says, “As it is written: ‘What no eye has seen, what no ear has heard, and what no human mind has conceived’—the things God has prepared for those who love him—these are the things God has revealed to us by his Spirit” (1 Corinthians 2:9-10).

Approach our incomprehensible God with humility and awe. Admit that God’s ways are beyond your comprehension. Trust in God’s plan for your life. Marvel at his incomprehensible grace to you in Jesus.

https://upsidedownsavior.home.blog/2026/06/25/incomprehensible/

06/23/2026

I was blessed to preach for the installation of a pastor at a neighboring church this past Sunday. These words from Jeremiah are a simple, yet powerful reminder to pastors and congregations alike: "This is what the Lord says: 'Cursed is the one who trusts in man, who draws strength from mere flesh and whose heart turns away from the Lord.... But blessed is the one who trusts in the Lord, whose confidence is in him" (Jeremiah 17:5,7). I hope you can read this installation sermon about trusting in the Lord and his Word: "The Blessed Pastor." God bless you!

(I was blessed to preach this sermon for the installation of Pastor Benjamin Steenbock at Holy Cross Lutheran Church in Oklahoma City, OK on June 21, 2026.) 5 This is what the Lord s…