Divine Savior Church-Santa Rita Ranch Sermons Pastor Stephen Apt

"God is love" is one of the most beautiful and comforting truths of the Bible, but it is also one of the most abused. Some understand God's love as if it were like human love, mostly based in feelings that change according to the behavior of those around us. Others feel a God of love is like a strict parent who is tough on you in order to push you toward great accomplishments. Still others think of God as a permissive grandfather in whose eyes you can do no wrong. He is willing to overlook yo...

It just sounds too good to be true, doesn't it? Those who trust in Jesus alone are completely forgiven and reconciled with God. This is what you have been taught, but this is such an important issue so it totally makes sense that there must be at least something that you have to do. Then you look in the Bible and it seems to agree with you because James says, "You see that a person is considered righteous by what they do and not by faith alone." Is James telling us that faith alone in Jesus i...

As sheep, we are prone to wander. We need a Shepherd over us and we need to shepherd one another. Let’s follow our shepherds, pray for them, and encourage them. We are all serving The Shepherd who gave his life for us. So we humble ourselves, but God will exalt us! There is no safer place in the universe than in God’s hands – so let’s cast all our cares on Him. We need his protection – the enemy is real! But we are safe with God. Forever. The world can take away everything… but it cannot take...

It’s not easy being a Christian today. It never has been. Jesus said that would be the case. We need a deeper joy, a deeper hope to live for to make it through. Easter gives us that living hope. But don’t be surprised by the suffering. Jesus experienced it too. Rejoice in it! It’s proof you belong to Him! Don’t be ashamed – be honored! We have nothing to fear about the future – but everything to look forward to! We are in the hands of the God who loved us so much He suffered for us and gave h...

Jesus knows what it is like to be ridiculed, abandoned, and humiliated. He suffered for us and by doing that, gave us a reason to live for Him, even when that is hard or means suffering for us. The first enemy we have to fight is our own sinful self. It craves things that God knows aren’t good for us. Let God change our hearts and minds – which will begin to change our behavior. The best way to do this is living with the end in mind – especially when the going is difficult. Living for God inc...

It’s not easy to suffer. We want to fight back and get revenge. But as Jesus followers, we live a new way. We don’t repay evil with evil, but evil with good. We are called to actively bless people! Even hard-to-bless people! If we are afraid of people, we will keep our mouths shut and not share the life-giving hope we have to share. Let’s remember the living hope of Easter. That will open our mouths and give us reason to share our hope. We have a living, eternal hope! Death is not the last wo...