Glad You Asked

Big Idea

Christianity isn’t complicated. God loves us despite our sins. Jesus saved us by giving himself for us. The Holy Spirit works faith in our hearts. And we are compelled to serve and love others to share this Good News with them.

So why does being a Christian seem so challenging? Why do we have all these unanswered questions about God, the Bible, and what it looks like to live as a Christian? Because we live in a sin-wrecked world. Only God knows the answers to all our questions, and only Jesus is the answer to our sin problem. But, through prayer and digging into God’s Word, we can come to understand His will for us and learn how He calls us to live as His redeemed children in a broken world.

Through this series, we’ll be answering some of your tough questions about God, Jesus, and Christianity. We’ll look at what God’s Word has to say about these topics and explore how we can apply these answers to our own lives.

Series Breakdown

June 5, 2022: Why do we need to keep asking God for forgiveness?

Jesus lived a perfect life, died as our substitute to pay the price of sin, and defeated death when he was resurrected. Because of all this, God doesn’t see our sins any longer.

So why should we keep asking for forgiveness if we know we’re already forgiven? What’s the point of feeling guilty for our sins? To help us understand why we continually go to God with our sins and ask for his forgiveness, we’ll study Jesus’ parable of the unmerciful servant.

Sermon Text: Matthew 18:15-35
Preacher: Pastor Bill Limmer

June 12, 2022 – Do you have to be baptized to be saved?

Most likely, you’ve witnessed a baptism, and maybe you’ve been baptized yourself. You hear the pastor explain the sacrament of baptism, seen the application of water on the head and the heart, and prayed over the baptized person. But why is baptism important? Do you have to be baptized to go to Heaven? When should you be baptized? And what happens to those people who weren’t or couldn’t be baptized before death?

To answer these questions, we’ll dig into the account of Pentecost in the book of Acts. It’s here where Peter encourages people to “repent and be baptized”. We’ll explore what the Bible says about baptism and what that means for all our questions about baptism in our lives.

Sermon Text: Acts 2:38-39
Preacher: Pastor Ben Sadler

June 19, 2022: Will only Christians go to Heaven?

Being a Christian isn’t just about going to Heaven. It’s about serving and loving others, showing them the love of Jesus and telling them about Him to have an eternal impact on their lives. We know through the faith worked in our hearts by the Holy Spirit that we can look forward to eternity in Heaven with God.

But we still have a lot of questions about eternity. What will it be like in Heaven? Who is going to be there with me – only Christians, or can non-believers go there too if they were good enough or if they didn’t get the opportunity to hear about Jesus? What happens to Christians who commit suicide? To answer these questions, we’ll read Jesus’ words in the book of Luke where he explains the narrow door that must be entered to get to Heaven.

Sermon Text: Luke 13:22-30
Preacher: Pastor Bill Limmer

June 26, 2022 – Why does God let bad things happen?

We know that being a Christian doesn’t guarantee us care-free lives. But the weight of the world often gets heavy. We see senseless violence, suffering and pain, hardship, and strife everywhere we look. Some of the most faith-filled people endure more difficult trials than we can ever imagine.

We can’t help wondering why these bad things happen in our lives and the lives of those around us. We know that God has the power to prevent all of it. So why doesn’t he? To answer this question and find the meaning in the suffering, we’ll study and learn from the account of Jesus healing a blind man in the Gospel of John.

Sermon Text: John 9:1-41
Preacher: Pastor Ben Sadler

July 3, 2022 – Where did sin come from?

Right at the start of the Bible, we read in Genesis how God created a perfect earth with perfect people. However, things didn’t stay perfect forever. God’s creation used the free will given to them by their Creator to be tempted by Satan, thereby staining the world with sin forever.

But is this where sin actually started – in the Garden of Eden? Or did it start when Satan fell from Heaven? And why did God allow sin to happen at all? To answer these questions about the origin of sin, we’ll go to the book of Revelation to see how and why sin is defeated.

Sermon Text: Revelation 12:1-17
Preacher: Pastor Bob Johannes

July 10, 2022: What does God say about divorce?

God created marriage in such a way that man and woman “become one flesh”. Marriage is supposed to be a sacred bond that lasts until death. But we know that’s not always the case. Marriages are tricky relationships because of our sinful nature.

So what does God say about divorce? Are there situations where it’s okay to get divorced, or should people stay in marriages no matter what? What happens in future relationships for people who have been divorced? To learn what God says about marriages and divorce, we’ll read and study Jesus’ explanation of marriage and why God allowed Moses to permit divorce.

Sermon Text: Matthew 19:1-9
Preacher: Pastor Ben Sadler

July 17, 2022 – How do Christian values and politics interact?

When people find out you’re a Christian, they tend to make assumptions about your political stance on different issues. These assumptions may or may not be accurate, and you might not even know what to think about politics. No party’s values align completely with God’s values, so you might feel like you don’t know how to vote or what to do as a citizen in a democracy.

So, who should Christians vote for? How are we supposed to remain true to our Christian values when none of the candidates seem to align with these values? How do we have loving, honest conversations with others about politics? To help us answer these questions, we’ll look at what Jesus says and does when faced with questions about allegiance and government.

Sermon Text: Matthew 22:15-22
Preacher: Pastor Bill Limmer

July 24, 2022 – How do we support people with different views on sexuality?

We are all equal in Christ, and every person we meet should be treated with love and respect as a child of God. But even amongst Christians, this looks different – particularly in how they interact with those in the LGBTQ+ community.

Should Christians support the LGBTQ+ community? What does it look like for a Christian to truly “love the sinner, but hate the sin”? How can Christians support people whose beliefs about sexuality and lifestyles are different than what God teaches us about sexuality? Paul’s words in the book of 1 Corinthians will guide us to understand sexuality as God intends it, as well as what it looks like for Christians to interact with people who have definitions of sexuality that differ from God’s.

Sermon Text: 1 Corinthians 5:9-13
Preacher: Pastor Ben Sadler