Pastor Otterstatter • February 12, 2023

You Are...So Be

Imagine a beautiful guitar, carefully crafted out of the finest mahogany and steel strings. Now imagine that fine instrument is never played. It is placed atop a bookshelf and never touched. It just collects dust. Tragic, right? What a thing is finds fulfillment when that thing does what it was made to do. Of what use is a guitar that makes no music?


What would be the point of turning on a lamp and then throwing a heavy blanket over it. It might still be a lamp, but it provides no light. (It only serves as a fire hazard!) Form and function are intimately connected.


In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus teaches that the same is true of discipleship. He wants us to see that being a disciple and acting as a disciple are intimately connected. When God called us to faith, he declared that we were something new: light, salt, his children. Jesus now encourages us to be what God says we are, so that God might bless the world through us. As Jesus speaks to us, he means to mold our will to his own.

Promises/Prayer

By Pastor Quinn • October 19, 2025
Disciples of Jesus need to learn how to pray. And learning to pray is not like many of the other things we learn to do in our lives. Once we know how to write our name, tie our shoes, or ride a bike, the learning is done. There is virtually no danger we will forget how to do those things. Not so with prayer. Learning to pray consists of a lifetime of persistence. So, what is the cause of persistent prayer? The precious promises of God. “God is not human, that he should lie. . . . Does he promise and not fulfill?” (Numbers 23:19). God cannot lie. So, we know every promise he makes us—to forgive, to provide, to help, to be with us—he must keep. When we persistently go to God in prayer and press him to keep his promises, God does not view that as nagging. He loves it! Because it demonstrates that our faith grasps not only that he can do what we ask, but that he will . . . because he promised.

Generosity/Gratitude

By Pastor Quinn • October 12, 2025
Gratitude is the appreciation we feel when someone does something kind to us or for us. There are two factors that effect the intensity of gratitude. First, there is the deservedness factor. Say you do a favor for your neighbor. A month later, your neighbor does a favor for you. You are grateful, but not overwhelmingly so, because you deserved his help to some degree. However, if you have been an unkind or selfish neighbor, and yet your neighbor provides help when you are in need, you are extremely grateful precisely because you know you are undeserving. Second, there is the generosity factor. Imagine you pick up the mail for your neighbor for the three days he is out of town. When he gets back, he gives you a hundred-dollar bill. You might protest, “This is too generous!” He insists, and so you are very grateful. Apply this to God. Deservedness. How deserving are we of his blessing? What does God owe us? Generosity. What has God done for us? What blessings has he given us now? What blessings has he promised us in eternity? As we answer those questions, we are stunned by the undeserved generosity our God has shown us. The effect? We overflow with gratitude.

Increased Faith Increases Duty

By Pastor Quinn • October 5, 2025
As someone rises through the ranks at work, there are typically benefits: higher salary, more authority, better benefits. However, there is often a corresponding increase in responsibility: longer hours, more meetings, raised expectations. So, if someone is offered a promotion, they might ask, “Is this worth it?” It is similar in God’s kingdom. As our faith grows, there are obvious benefits: the comfort of knowing you are a redeemed and loved child of God, the peace of knowing your eternity is secure. However, increased faith also increases duty. There are ever more opportunities for service. This week, Jesus has sharp words for those who want the benefits of being Christian but would shirk those responsibilities. However, to lead us to take up those responsibilities, our Savior doesn’t threaten or cajole. He helps us see that while increased faith increases duty, increased duty increases delight. The believer knows he serves the One who came to serve us first. Just as Christ’s service brought him great joy, so does our service to others.
More Sermons