If you grew up in the church you learned about the shepherd boy David taking on the Philistine giant Goliath in Sunday School. That is where I first heard the story.

There are some things we can learn from that story and apply to our lives today.

David was the only one brave enough to face Goliath in a winner takes all fight between the army of Israel and the army of the Philistines.

When David volunteered to fight Goliath, King Saul tried to outfit David with armor and weapons to give him a fighting chance.

 “I cannot go in these,” David said to Saul, “because I am not used to them.” So he took them off. Then he took his staff in his hand, chose five smooth stones from the stream, put them in the pouch of his shepherd’s bag and, with his sling in his hand, approached the Philistine. 1Samuel 17:39-40

David realized he couldn’t be someone else. He couldn’t become a soldier simply by putting on armor and strapping a sword to his belt. So he took them off and took his slingshot with him into battle.

Lesson 1: Be yourself.

You can’t be anyone else.  When you try to copy someone for any reason, that never works as well as being yourself. David knew that going into battle with weapons and armor he never used before would only be a disadvantage to him. David stayed true to himself and so should you.

Lesson 2: Be prepared.

Notice what David does after he gets rid of the armor. He goes and retrieves 5 stones from the stream to use in his slingshot. He didn’t take just one! He is prepared for what is to come. It is always better to over prepared than under prepared. When facing any situation, it is good to plan for contingencies.

David then enters the battle field and Goliath thinks this a big joke. The army of Israel sends the smallest guy to fight the Philistine’s biggest guy?

Goliath taunts David and tries intimidate him. What was David’s response?

All those gathered here will know that it is not by sword or spear that the Lord saves; for the battle is the Lord’s, and he will give all of you into our hands.” 1 Samuel 17:46–47

David doesn’t respond with threats and name calling!

Lesson 3: Be Faithful.

In any interaction, good or bad, respond in faith. David did. He told Goliath and both armies that are watching this unfold that this battle is not between two men. This battle belongs to God.

Do we trust God with our struggles?

Lesson 4: Be Connected. (We are never alone.)

David knew this even if everyone else (including the King of Israel) didn’t! Even in our hardest moments and struggles God is with us and our battles are also God’s battles.

If you know the story, David defeats Goliath. Let me ask you, do you know how David achieved victory?

The answer is clear: David was himself, David was prepared and David was faithful!

All of those things are available to us today!

God bless,
Pr. Ben

But a Samaritan, as he traveled, came where the man was; and when he saw him, he took pity on him. He went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he put the man on his own donkey, took him to an inn and took care of him. Luke 10:33-34

Most of you know the story of Jesus about the man who was beaten and left for dead until a foreign Samaritan man comes and rescues this poor beaten man from certain death.

Kindness is a fruit or a sign of the Holy Spirit working in your life (Galatians 5:22-23). The man who stopped expressed extreme kindness to a person he didn’t even know. He spent his own money to save this man unlike the two other people who passed by the man earlier in the day.

Jesus reminds us to be kind, even to strangers. Be kind to those who might not even deserve kindness.

It is interesting to me that there are so many Christians who secretly advocate for and approve of the cruelty in politics. Smiles and kindness on Sunday morning, quietly cheering on policies that hurt others the rest of the week.

I saw the cheers of church people when the government decided to cut jobs without regard to performance or need. My step-son lost his job helping farmers with the USDA in those cuts and he’s still looking for employment, along with tens of thousands of now unemployed public servants.

I see the willingness to cut Medicare and Medicaid in an upcoming bill without weighing who that might affect.

I see a lot of quiet agreement to things that hurt people.

In case you didn’t know, there are ways to trim governmental spending that minimizes cruelty. This does not have to be an “all or nothing” proposition. A way forward doesn’t have to be a black or white issue, solutions are often found in the gray areas.

Solomon wrote, The person who reveres God will avoid all extremes. Ecclesiastes 7:18

Kindness and taking care of one another are fruits of the Holy Spirit… and not just on Sundays.

God bless,
Pr. Ben

During the month of May, we are revisiting our congregation’s mission statement in our preaching.

A mission statement is nothing more than a summary of what we believe and our stated goals.

Most churches have a mission statement. Fewer churches know what their mission statement says.

That is not the case at Community Lutheran Church. We know that…

We can be REAL PEOPLE because we serve an INCLUSIVE GOD who give RADICAL GRACE so that we can be on a path of INSPIRED GROWTH.

God isn’t looking for perfection, Jesus craves our honesty. Being real means we can be honest about our struggles; we don’t have to hide our mistakes.

The reason we don’t have to conceal our weaknesses is that Jesus welcomes all who seek him. God is inclusive not exclusive. He doesn’t hold our troubles against us. That applies to everyone!

God is so good to us that we want to shower those who trust in Jesus with radical grace. Jesus wants you to know and feel his love, compassion and forgiveness so that you have strength for daily living!

But Jesus doesn’t want to leave you as you are. No, God wants to grow your faith! Jesus wants to put you on a path of inspired growth so that you will continue to move towards Jesus and away from the harmful things of this life.

You might be wondering how do I grow closer to Jesus? If it is true that God wants to put us on a path of inspired growth, what does that path look like? A few years ago our church family defined the things that will help you grow in faith!

The path of inspired growth at Community Lutheran Church looks like this…

• Welcoming others as you were once welcomed by Jesus
• Worshipping regularly and not just on Christmas and Easter
• Learning by reading the Bible, reading a devotional or being a part of a Bible Study or small group
• Serving others the way Jesus served us. By pouring ourselves out for others, we are filled!
• Be Generous in your giving, your serving and your time!

We want to help you live in the grace of Jesus and help you grow in faith at Community Lutheran Church!

God bless,
Pastor Ben

On Palm Sunday (the day Jesus came to Jerusalem for the week of Passover) I preached on the word Christ.

If you were with us, I said that we might have lost the plotline because this word remained untranslated in our English language Bibles. Why would translators translate every other word and not “Christ”?

The word translates to “anointed one.” But anointed for what? All four gospel writers (and portions of Old Testament prophecy) all agree that Jesus is anointed to be a king.

But not just a king but the King of kings. Jesus descended from the ancestry of King David but more than that, Jesus is God. He was eternally destined to be our King.

All of this comes into focus for us after Jesus’ death and resurrection.

If Jesus was only human, any thoughts of being a king would have ended when he died.

That was not the end of the story! Jesus rose from the dead on Easter morning and showed the world that he is stronger than death and his Kingship and Kingdom are eternal!

At the very end of the gospel of Matthew, Jesus appears to his disciples and some couldn’t believe their eyes! They thought Jesus was dead and gone and yet they were looking right at him!

Matthew writes, When they saw him, they worshiped him; but some doubted.

Any reasonable person would wonder what they were truly seeing! A hallucination? A ghost? The risen King?

Yet Jesus didn’t shoo anyone away. Grace ruled the day and it is the primary rule in His Kingdom.

Instead, Jesus gathered them around and said this…

“All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.”

All authority… not some… not a little bit… but all authority has been given to Jesus. Only a King has ultimate authority and Jesus rightfully claims it.

Jesus instructs us to go teach others about him and his grace. Go and make other students (disciples). Go and be a teacher. Go and show others how God loves them.  And if they believe it, have them baptized into God’s family.

Are you under the authority of this great King?

Do you have students (disciples) that you teach about Jesus (even if informally)?

Are you showing others the love Jesus showed the disciples when “some doubted”?

This is the life Jesus set out for us.

If that sounds too hard, let me boil it down for you.

Are you loving others the way Jesus loves you? Are you loving others in such a way that they stop and notice you are not like everyone else?

If you are ever asked why you are so kind, grace filled and loving… your answer is this, “My King told me to love.”

God bless,
Pr. Ben