Sermons by Darryl G. Klassen

WALKING IN THE SPIRIT   We all struggle with our sins. The voices in our heads keep telling us that we are failures at this Christianity thing. You resolve to do better and then fall into the same pit of bad decisions. Do you feel that no matter how hard you try, you are just not good enough to be called “Christian”? At the end of each day, do you feel like you have a new list of sins to confess to God? Are you living under a weight of judgment?             Martin Luther knew how you felt. He lived 500 years ago in Germany and felt a great sense of condemnation under God before discovering the writings of Paul in Romans. He wrote: Although I lived a blameless life as a monk, I felt that I was a sinner with an uneasy conscience before God. I also could not believe that I had pleased him with my works. Far from loving that righteous God who punished sinners, I  actually loathed  him. I was a good monk and kept my order so strictly that if ever a monk could get to heaven by monastic disci

BE FILLED WITH THE SPIRIT   I have often shared with you my constant prayer for this church: That we would be filled with the Spirit. From the day I arrived in Rosenort, I have persistently prayed that the Spirit would fill each of us individually and all of us corporately. This is a good and biblical thing to pray.              But what does it mean to be filled with the Spirit?             Jesus promised his disciples that he would send another Paraclete to be with them, someone to take his place and be with them. Jesus further explained the work that the Spirit would do in their lives. At Pentecost, the Holy Spirit came upon the believers in dramatic fashion. From that point on, when someone put their faith in Jesus, they were baptized with water and with the Holy Spirit.              Someone has said there is one baptism and many fillings. When you believe in Jesus, you have the Spirit. And yet Paul commands the church in Ephesians to “be filled with the Spirit.” If we have the Spi

THE WORK OF THE HOLY SPIRIT   What is the Holy Spirit doing in your life today?              Try opening a conversation with that question at Jake Horton’s (local coffee shop). My guess is there would be a lot of stammering and head-scratching to try and answer that one. Ask someone this question and watch them squirm.              I am not encouraging you to be mean; I am merely illustrating that to explain the work of the Holy Spirit in our lives requires thought. Our struggle to respond causes us to review the extraordinary moments, the “God-thing” that happened to you, and we grow frustrated when we can’t think of one from last week.              What is the Holy Spirit doing in your life today? I “googled” some common misconceptions about the Holy Spirit. There are some who think that the Holy Spirit helps us feel good about ourselves. Many assume that the warm fuzzy feelings are evidence of his presence. Others fear that the Spirit is someone who makes you do weird and uncomforta

THE PROMISE OF THE HOLY SPIRIT   In the Christmas season we have celebrated “Immanuel” or “God with us” in the birth of Jesus. That’s what Christmas is all about – rejoicing that God came into our world to live with us in the man, Jesus Christ.               But in the present tense, Jesus is no longer “with us” that we could go and find him and talk with him face-to-face. We cannot sit and eat with him. We cannot see his facial expressions and ask him his thoughts on matters that concern us. There are certain people in our lives that walk into a room give us a sense of relief. Jesus can’t do that for us. He’s not here; he’s not “with us.” We wish he was.               The disciples had followed Jesus for about three years. They had enjoyed his presence, eating with him, learning from him, knowing him, and loving him. Having Jesus in their lives was life changing. Jesus unpacked the mysteries of their world for them. He taught them about God. He showed them God. Jesus was the most impo