Topic: Savior
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March 26, 2025
Series: Lenten Midweek, Lord, Have Mercy
Speaker: Pastor James Enderle
Topic: Condemnation, Creator, Demonstrate, Despise, Disobedience, Emotionally, Father, Fear, Fine, God, hope, Irreverence, Joy, Lies, Lord, Loving, mercy, Names, Peace, Physically, Repentance, Reputation, Rest, Sabbath, Salvation, Savior, Second Commandment, Spiritual, Spiritually, Think, Third Commandment
The Second and Third Commandment both relate to how our merciful God saves us. The Second Commandment deals with God’s name. God’s “name” is more than words we use to refer to Him: the Lord, Jehovah, Jesus. God’s name includes His reputation, i.e., everything the Word tells us about God. The Third Commandment deals with the Sabbath rest God wants His children to enjoy: resting from fear of condemnation, resting in His promise of mercy.
When we use God’s name flippantly… when we take God’s reputation lightly… when we are apathetic about His Word… when we have little interest in the spiritual rest He offers… we demolish these Commandments. That hurts us way more than it hurts God. Disobedience of these Commandments are attempted acts of spiritual suicide. If we continue in this rebellion, we are guaranteeing that hell is our eternal home. So, this week, we ask the Spirit to give us the ability to sincerely pray, “Lord, have mercy, for demonstrating irreverence for your name and despising your Sabbath rest.”
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March 2, 2025
Series: Epiphany Moments, Transfiguration
Speaker: Pastor James Enderle
Would you look directly at the sun? Only if you wanted to burn your retinas and have permanent blind spots. Would you like to look directly at God? It sounds wonderful in theory. Yet Scripture describes God’s glory as being brighter than the sun. Moreover, one component of God’s glory is his holiness. Being holy doesn’t just mean God loves good; he also hates evil with burning intensity. And we sin every day. No wonder the Lord once told Moses, “No one may see me and live” (Exodus 33:20). Sinners would die of fear if they saw God in all his holy glory.
So, how then can we possibly know God? How can we draw near to him without dying of terror? In our final epiphany moment of this season, God explains. God hides his glory in order to reveal himself. To carry out his good and glorious work of salvation, Jesus hid his glory and went to the cross. To allow sinners to stare at his glory without fear or harm, God hides it in the gospel. In the gospel, we see the glory of Christ’s love, power, and salvation. The reality is that when God’s glory is hidden, it is most on display.
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January 26, 2025
Series: Epiphany Moments, Sundays after Epiphany
Speaker: Pastor James Enderle
When you are trying to share some important information with someone, but they refuse to listen or perhaps totally reject what you are saying, it feels like you have failed. This is especially true when someone rejects the gospel! We proclaim the good news because we want others to know the love of Christ. When people are disinterested in God’s Word, we feel like we’ve failed.
So, here is this week’s epiphany. Rejection is not proof of failure. Precisely because the gospel is divine revelation, it is guaranteed to be rejected by many. God’s Word offends like an unwelcome diagnosis from the doctor. When someone rejects God’s Word (including us), that rejection is proof that God’s Word powerfully cuts straight to the heart of mankind’s biggest problem—sin. Yet, what causes Jesus’ words to hurt is what gives them power to heal. That reality encourages us to receive God’s Word with joy and to proclaim it boldly to others.
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January 12, 2025
Speaker: Pastor James Enderle
“Who is Jesus?” For the longest time, people thought the answer to that question was, “Mary and Joseph’s son” or “a carpenter from Nazareth.” While true enough, those answers do not adequately describe Jesus. But when Jesus was baptized, God the Father spoke, declaring Jesus true identity. Jesus was the dearly loved Son of God, chosen to be the Savior of the world.
“Who are you?” someone asks. Perhaps you would answer by providing your name. Maybe you would add additional information—where you are from or what you do for a living. Perhaps, in some dark corner of your mind, you would answer negatively. “I’m no one.”
We need to understand that none of those things really describes who we are. To answer that question—Who are you?—we must look to our baptism. Baptism is the cure for an identity crisis. There, just like he did with Jesus, our Father declares us to be his dearly loved child. Moreover, in baptism God anointed us with power for a life of selfless service. May God grant us this epiphany moment!
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January 5, 2025
Series: Epiphany, The Gift of God
Speaker: Pastor James Enderle
Topic: All, Amazing, Angel, Awe, Beauty, Breathless, Danger, Facts, Focus, Gentile, Gift, God, Goodness, Greater, Heard, Humility, Israel, Jesus, Jews, Knowledge, Lord, Lose, News, Overwhelmed, People, Practice, Priceless, Reveal, Reviews, Rumors, Savior, Saw, Sheba, sin, Solomon, Truth, Wisdom, World
On Christmas Eve the angel told the shepherds, “I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people” (Luke 2:10). One wonders if those words struck those Jewish shepherds as odd. For centuries, God had given special attention to one nation—Israel. There were Jewish religious leaders who taught that only members of that special people would be saved. Not according to the Christmas angel! The birth of the Savior was good news for all people.
Today we celebrate the Festival of the Epiphany. Epiphany comes from a Greek word meaning “reveal.” When the Savior was born, he was first revealed to Israelites: the shepherds, Simeon, Anna. But today, we see the Lord miraculously guides foreigners across countless miles so the Savior could be revealed to them as well. How did the magi respond? “They were overjoyed” (Matthew 2:10). The Festival of Epiphany is sometimes known as “The Gentiles’ Christmas.” We Gentiles (non-Jews) rejoice in the good news that this Jewish baby is not just a gift for the Jews. He is a gift for all people—the Savior of the world.
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December 25, 2024
Series: Christmas, Nativity of Our Lord, The Gift of God
Speaker: Pastor James Enderle
Have you ever opened a Christmas present and had to ask, “What is it?” Perhaps it was some new type of technology or perhaps a unique toy. You were grateful for the gift, but also not 100% certain what you were looking at. “What is it?” Today, as we look into the manger, we ask that question. In this case, the question is not quickly or easily answered. It requires both deep thought and humble awe. We are looking at the same God who once told the prophet Moses, “No one may see me and live.” Yet, Mary, Joseph, and the shepherds all saw their holy God and survived. How? God became human, hiding his glory within our flesh, so that he might come to us without instilling fear or dread.
“What is it?” This gift is God and man in one person, exactly what humanity needed to deliver us from our greatest enemies: sin, death, and Satan. On the Festival of Christmas, we thank God for this greatest of gifts.
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December 24, 2024
Series: Candlelight Worship, Christmas, The Gift of God
Speaker: Pastor James Enderle
God Gives Heaven’s Best Gift in Earth’s Unlikeliest Place
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December 24, 2024
Welcome to worship today at Morrison Zion Lutheran Church. We exist to glorify God. We… read more
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December 22, 2024
Series: A Real Christmas..., Advent
Speaker: Pastor James Enderle
By this time of the holiday season, people are often weighted down. They feel guilty about presents that are not perfect, or parties that did not go as planned, or year-end projects that did not get completed. To top it all off, now is when it dawns on people how little attention they have given to the spiritual preparation Advent invites.
If that is how we feel, perhaps the frenzy of December has done us a favor. We have been stretched to our limits. We have been made painfully aware of our shortcomings. We have been humbled. Perfect! For being made aware of our weakness does not disqualify us from God’s care. It does the opposite. IT is what prepares us for the work he does best. He is a God who lifts up the lowly.
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Improbable Not Impossible
September 2, 2025 -
Is Faith All You Need?
August 29, 2025