Christ For You

When Truth Is Weaponized | Matthew 22:15–22 | Trinity 23Can you tell the truth and still be a liar? Every word they said about Jesus was true. He taught God’s way faithfully. He wasn’t swayed by public opinion. He didn’t judge by appearances. And yet Jesus called them hypocrites. Why? Because behind their true words was a trap.We know what it means to twist a lie. But what happens when we twist the truth? A Bible verse used to silence someone. A promise of forgiveness used to excuse sin. Words about love used to avoid repentance. The words may be right. But what about the heart behind them?In this sermon, Pastor Rojas examines how we turn God’s truth into a weapon—in politics, in churches, in our homes, and in our own hearts. What happens when church leaders use Matthew 18 to avoid accountability? When Christians quote Scripture to win an argument instead of win their brother? When we say, “God forgives me,” while planning to do it all again?But exposing hypocrisy cannot cure it. We need a Savior whose heart is as true as His words. Jesus took every false-hearted word, every selfish motive, and every misuse of His name to the cross. And when He speaks forgiveness to you, He means it. When He gives His gifts in Baptism and the Lord’s Supper, there is no hidden agenda. His words reveal His heart—and His heart is set on saving you.This sermon examines the misuse of Scripture, the call to repentance, the forgiveness Christ won for hypocrites, and the freedom to speak the truth in love because we no longer have to justify ourselves.Subscribe & Share if this sermon strengthened your faith.🎧 Spotify: Christ For You🇧🇷 Portuguese Podcast: Cristo Para Você🌐 Website: https://www.zionwg.org/podcastIf you live in the Winter Garden, Florida area, we invite you to worship with us at Zion Evangelical Lutheran Church, a Confessional Lutheran church where Christ is preached for you and His gifts are given for you.Support this ministry: https://secure.myvanco.com/L-ZCN9/home

What Happens When We Die? | Genesis 49:33 | All Saints’ Day 2026It's the largest question there is, and every one of us will face it. When we close our eyes for the last time, then what? What becomes of our memories, our laughter, our love? And what about the ones we've loved and lost? Where are they now? Will we ever see them again?The world has its answer. From Epicurus to Bertrand Russell to Ricky Gervais, it says the same thing: this life is all there is. Death is the end, so seize the day and make peace with it. Russell said to build your life on "the firm foundation of unyielding despair." But is that really comfort? Is it comforting to know you'll never again hear your mother's voice or hold your child?In this All Saints' sermon, Pastor Rojas sets the world's answer beside God's. Not a philosophy. Not a guess. History. Why does everything decay? Why does death hurt so much? And what happened when a dead man walked out of His tomb outside Jerusalem?Pastor Rojas also shows one of the sweetest names the Bible gives to death: being "gathered to your people." Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob died that way. So do all who die in Christ. Death isn't a closed door. It's a homecoming. And he closes with four words spoken by a grieving husband at his wife's graveside: the shortest, clearest confession of faith he has ever heard.This sermon examines the hopelessness of naturalism, the cause of death, the resurrection of Jesus, and the certain hope that those who die in Him are not lost, but found.Subscribe & Share if this sermon strengthened your faith.🎧 Spotify: Christ For You🇧🇷 Portuguese Podcast: Cristo Para Você🌐 Website: https://www.zionwg.org/podcastIf you live in the Winter Garden, Florida area, we invite you to worship with us at Zion Evangelical Lutheran Church, a Confessional Lutheran church where Christ is preached for you and His gifts are given for you.Support this ministry: https://secure.myvanco.com/L-ZCN9/home

Reformation 2026 | (Pastor Frye)

Repent, Receive, Respond | Matthew 21:33–44 | Trinity 20 (Rev. Paul Arndt)

The Part of You Nobody Sees | Matthew 9:1–8 | Trinity 19What if everyone could read your mind? What if they knew your thoughts, your motives, and the things you'd never say out loud? Would your closest relationships survive? And why does it seem like everyone at church has it all together, except you?In this sermon on Matthew 9:1–8, Pastor Rojas looks at a familiar story of Jesus healing a paralyzed man and something in it that is easy to miss. What did Jesus see when that man was lowered before Him? Why did He speak to the man's heart before He healed his body? And how did He know what the scribes were thinking when they never said a word?What does God see when He looks at your heart? The sins you remember? The ones you've forgotten? The ones you never knew were sins? The ones you keep returning to without knowing why?Is it good news or terrifying news that nothing is hidden from Him? Does God see anything in you besides your sin? And does He understand the sorrow you can't put into words?The answer is found in the eyes of the One who saw it all.And what changes when the One who knows you best is the One who loves you most?Subscribe & Share if this sermon strengthened your faith.🎧 Spotify: Christ For You🇧🇷 Portuguese Podcast ("Cristo Para Você")🌐 Website: https://www.zionwg.org/podcastLooking for a faithful Confessional Lutheran church in the Winter Garden, Florida area? We'd love to welcome you to Zion Evangelical Lutheran Church.To support the preaching of God's Word through this podcast and other outreach efforts, visit: https://secure.myvanco.com/L-ZCN9/home

The Law of Love | Matthew 22:34–46 | Trinity 18 (Pastor Kress)

All Things Visible And Invisible | Luke 10:18 | St. Michael & All Angels 2026Is there really an unseen world? Are angels and demons real, or just symbols for good and evil? And if that invisible realm is right here with us, what does it have to do with your marriage, your children, your home, and your faith?In this sermon on Luke 10:17–20, Pastor Rojas reflects on the visible and invisible world and how God works in both. Jesus sends out the seventy-two with nothing but their voices. They return amazed that even the demons submit to His name. And Jesus tells them something stunning: while they preached, He saw Satan fall like lightning.Most Christians believe the invisible can affect the visible. Satan tempts. Angels guard. God answers prayer. But can it go the other way? Can ordinary things like a human voice, water, bread, and wine reach the unseen world and change it? Why does faith come by hearing? How can words spoken on earth forgive sins in heaven? What is really happening in Baptism and at the Lord's Table?Why is church more than a classroom? Why should you keep coming even when you already know what will be said? And what happens to a home where God's Word is never spoken?This sermon examines why God joins His promises to physical things, and why that is not a Lutheran quirk but the heart of the Gospel itself. The Word became flesh. His real blood and real wounds won your real forgiveness. And the Lord who touches your soul through earthly things will one day raise your body and bring the visible and invisible together again in everlasting life.Subscribe & Share if this sermon strengthened your faith.
🎧 Spotify: Christ For You
🇧🇷 Portuguese Podcast ("Cristo Para Você")
🌐 Website: https://www.zionwg.org/podcastLooking for a faithful Confessional Lutheran church in the Winter Garden, Florida area? We'd love to welcome you to Zion Evangelical Lutheran Church.To support the preaching of God's Word through this podcast and other outreach efforts, visit: https://secure.myvanco.com/L-ZCN9/home

All Things For Good | Romans 8:28 | Funeral for +Sally Swords+What does it really mean when Scripture says that “all things work together for good”? Does that mean everything that happens is good? Does it mean suffering is secretly a blessing? And what do you do when life gives you something that does not look good at all?In this funeral sermon on Romans 8:28, Pastor Rojas reflects on one of the most comforting, and most difficult, promises in all of Scripture. What did Paul mean when he said “all things”? Does that include sickness? Dementia? Grief? Loss? Death?And what does “good” mean? A better life? Less pain? An answered prayer? Or is God promising something much greater than temporary relief?How can Christians say “we know” when there is so much we do not understand? What do we actually know when we cannot explain why God allowed something to happen? And where should we look when we are tempted to wonder whether God has forgotten us?The answer is not found in charts, explanations, or attempts to connect every painful dot in our lives. It is found somewhere else entirely.And what changes when faith finally gives way to sight?Subscribe & Share if this sermon strengthened your faith.🎧 Spotify: Christ For You
🇧🇷 Portuguese Podcast (“Cristo Para Você”)
🌐 Website: https://www.zionwg.org/podcastLooking for a faithful Confessional Lutheran church in the Winter Garden, Florida area? We’d love to welcome you to Zion Evangelical Lutheran Church.To support the preaching of God’s Word through this podcast and other outreach efforts, visit: https://secure.myvanco.com/L-ZCN9/home

Luke 7:11–17 | Why Do We Talk About Death So Much?Why does the Church talk about death so much? Why do Christian hymns, sermons, and prayers keep returning to something most people would rather avoid? Is Christianity unusually preoccupied with death, or is there a reason the Bible refuses to look away from it?In this sermon on Luke 7:11–17, Pastor Rojas reflects on the reality of death, the grief it causes, and the comfort Jesus gives to those who mourn. At the gate of Nain, two processions meet: one following Jesus, the Lord of Life, and the other following a dead man, the only son of a grieving widow.Why does Jesus tell this woman, “Do not weep”? Why can He say something that would sound cruel coming from almost anyone else? What does it mean that Jesus sees her before she ever asks Him for help? And what does His compassion reveal about the way He looks at us in our own sorrow?Why does Luke make a point of saying that Jesus “gave him to his mother”? Why is that simple sentence so important? What does this account teach us about grief, resurrection, and the Christian hope for those we love who have died in the Lord?This sermon examines why Christians do not need to ignore death, soften it, or learn to become comfortable with it, and why even the darkest reality of human life can become a place of profound comfort when Jesus Christ stands in the middle of it.Subscribe & Share if this sermon strengthened your faith.🎧 Spotify: Christ For You🇧🇷 Portuguese Podcast (“Cristo Para Você”)🌐 Website: https://www.zionwg.org/podcastLooking for a faithful Confessional Lutheran church in the Winter Garden, Florida area? We’d love to welcome you to Zion Evangelical Lutheran Church.To support the preaching of God’s Word through this podcast and other outreach efforts, visit: https://secure.myvanco.com/L-ZCN9/home

Matthew 6:24–34What makes you feel safe? How much money would need to be in the bank before you could finally relax? What would the doctor need to say? What would need to change in your family? What would tomorrow have to look like before you could finally say, “Everything is going to be okay”?In this sermon on Matthew 6:24–34, Pastor Rojas reflects on Jesus’ words about worry, little faith, the birds of the air, and the lilies of the field. Why does Jesus connect anxiety with “little faith”? Can you believe in God and still struggle to trust Him? Can your faith feel strong while your heart is quietly depending on something else for peace?What does your worry reveal about what you actually trust? What has to happen before your heart can rest? Why does Jesus tell anxious people to look at birds and study flowers? Why does He remind His disciples that their heavenly Father already knows what they need?And what does Jesus mean when He says to “seek first the kingdom of God”? Why does He describe food, clothing, money, and security as things that will simply be “added”? What happens when those added things become the main things? And what happens when good gifts from God quietly become the things we depend on to feel safe?Can you plan without trusting your plan? Save without trusting your savings? Seek treatment without making good test results the source of your peace? What does strong faith actually look like when life feels uncertain?This sermon examines worry as a diagnostic of faith, the difference between believing in God and trusting God, and the deeper question underneath so much of our anxiety: What do you need to feel safe?Subscribe & Share if this sermon strengthened your faith.🎧 Spotify: Christ For You🇧🇷 Portuguese Podcast (“Cristo Para Você”)🌐 Website: https://www.zionwg.org/podcastLooking for a faithful Confessional Lutheran church in the Winter Garden, Florida area? We’d love to welcome you to Zion Evangelical Lutheran Church.To support the preaching of God’s Word through this podcast and other outreach efforts, visit: https://secure.myvanco.com/L-ZCN9/home