Immanuel First Lutheran Church webmaster@immanuelfirst.org http://www.immanuelfirst.org Welcome to Immanuel First's IFL Podcast, sharing God's love, comfort and hope with you! Every month we post recent and archived sermons from our pulpit. We also include MP4 videos and links to other web features. We encourage your feedback and comments, as this podcast has been downloaded hundreds of times a month since being added to the iTunes Store. Thank you. Immanuel First Lutheran Church Recent church sermons, videos, Bible studies and other features. Lutheran, Christian, sermons, podcast, Missouri Synod, audio, video, church en-us 2010 Thu, 22 Dec 2011 18:30:00 PDT webmaster@immanuelfirst.org 240 Pastor Mason Okubo Four reasons why Jesus' birth is a great gift Pastor Okubo shares four things that make a gift--it's something you actually need or want, it's something you wouldn't necessarily buy for yourself, it should be well thought out, and it should be personal--then he unveils why the birth of Christ is the greatest of all gifts. Sun, 18 Dec 2011 09:00:00 PST 18:55 Pastor Mason Okubo John the Baptist reminds us why his cousin Jesus was born in the first place The baby born in Bethlehem didn't stay a baby. He was born and grew into adulthood to ultimately die for our sins. His cousin, John the Baptist, reminds us of our need to repent and be baptized, putting our faith in the One who was greater than he. Sun, 11 Dec 2011 09:00:00 PST 17:53 Pastor Mason Okubo Why it looks like God allows suffering or is slow in his promises Why does God seem to take so long to answer our prayers, or to avenge those persecuted for their faith in Jesus? We must remember that God's timing is not the same as our own, and He always hears the prayers of His people--and ultimately answers them as He did with the birth of Christ. Sun, 04 Dec 2011 09:00:00 PST 27:44 Guest pastor Carl Nelson Learning to slow down and wait upon the Lord In defense of Martha, busying herself with preparing for her guest Jesus was not a bad thing (Luke 10:38-42). Nevertheless, just like her, we can get so caught up and trapped in "doing the Lord's work" that we forget to pause, be still and listen to His voice, which is what her sister Mary did. Sun, 18 Jul 2010 09:00:00 PST 21:29