Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs

We are encouraged and enlightened

Know Jesus, no hell

Jim Henkell cites himself as an unusual place he’s found God.
Jim Henkell cites himself as an unusual place he’s found God.
Place

St. Paul’s Lutheran Church

1376 Felspar Street, San Diego

Membership: 500

Pastor: Jim Henkell

Age: 42

Born: Chicago

Formation: Concordia University, Irvine; Concordia Seminary, St. Louis, MO

Years Ordained: 17

SDR: How long do you spend writing your sermon?

Pastor Jim Henkell: We tend to preach in sermon series. We just finished a sermon series entitled “The Devil’s in the Details,” which talked about different parts of the Bible that don’t get highlighted, relative to the devil. Each sermon takes about five hours to prepare. They are very much preaching rather than teaching sermons. I certainly exegete the text but teach it in an applicable manner to people’s lives with law and Gospels.

SDR: What is your favorite subject on which to preach?

Sponsored
Sponsored

PH: Without a doubt, I love to preach about Jesus. It’s something that seems so simple, but maybe it’s something people take for granted. I preach all different parts of the Bible, but in reality every part of the Bible directs us toward Jesus and everything he’s done for us. And it’s not so much Jesus as teacher or example, but especially Jesus as savior.

SDR: What’s your main concern as a member of the clergy?

PH: The balance between the law and the Gospel is so important. The Bible has both law and the Gospel, but among believers and what I’ll call pre-believers, the law tends to get emphasized — the things we should do for God, the ways in which we need to please him, or the manner we should live in response to God. On the other hand, there’s the emphasis on the Gospel and all the things God does for us. When you emphasize the law, it becomes too much about us and people find themselves disillusioned or disappointed in things that are going on. When the emphasis is on God, we are encouraged and enlightened.

SDR: Why did you become a minister?

PH: It’s something God put on my heart when I was very young, even by the time I was in the third grade. It was really a thought of eternity: the things we experience for eternity are going to be much more significant than the things we experience here on Earth. So, I was moved by God to help people prepare for eternity. As meaningful as the things of Earth are, they really don’t compare.

SDR: Where is the strangest place you ever found God?

SDR: My initial thoughts are about finding God at a prison or a boardroom, but the most unusual place I found God was in me. The Bible teaches that when we are baptized the Holy Spirit dwells in us. I know the thoughts I have that I shouldn’t have, or the words I say that I regret, or the things I’ve done which are sinful, and that God dwells in me, loves me and forgives me anyway — this fact makes myself probably the most unusual place that I can think of God being.

SDR: Where do you go when you die?

PH: Those who are united with Jesus by faith remain united with him for eternity. That’s probably the best description of heaven that the Bible gives us — we are with Jesus and with that come all the blessings of Jesus. Those who are separated from Jesus without faith are separated from him for all eternity and have the suffering that is part of that separation — and that’s probably the best description of hell that the Bible gives us.

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Angry Pete’s goes from pop-up to drive-thru

Detroit Pizza sidles into the husk of a shuttered Taco Bell
Next Article

2024’s Best Bitcoin & Crypto Casinos – Play BTC Casino Games Online

Best Bitcoin Casinos (2024): Top 10 Crypto Casino Sites for BIG Payouts
Jim Henkell cites himself as an unusual place he’s found God.
Jim Henkell cites himself as an unusual place he’s found God.
Place

St. Paul’s Lutheran Church

1376 Felspar Street, San Diego

Membership: 500

Pastor: Jim Henkell

Age: 42

Born: Chicago

Formation: Concordia University, Irvine; Concordia Seminary, St. Louis, MO

Years Ordained: 17

SDR: How long do you spend writing your sermon?

Pastor Jim Henkell: We tend to preach in sermon series. We just finished a sermon series entitled “The Devil’s in the Details,” which talked about different parts of the Bible that don’t get highlighted, relative to the devil. Each sermon takes about five hours to prepare. They are very much preaching rather than teaching sermons. I certainly exegete the text but teach it in an applicable manner to people’s lives with law and Gospels.

SDR: What is your favorite subject on which to preach?

Sponsored
Sponsored

PH: Without a doubt, I love to preach about Jesus. It’s something that seems so simple, but maybe it’s something people take for granted. I preach all different parts of the Bible, but in reality every part of the Bible directs us toward Jesus and everything he’s done for us. And it’s not so much Jesus as teacher or example, but especially Jesus as savior.

SDR: What’s your main concern as a member of the clergy?

PH: The balance between the law and the Gospel is so important. The Bible has both law and the Gospel, but among believers and what I’ll call pre-believers, the law tends to get emphasized — the things we should do for God, the ways in which we need to please him, or the manner we should live in response to God. On the other hand, there’s the emphasis on the Gospel and all the things God does for us. When you emphasize the law, it becomes too much about us and people find themselves disillusioned or disappointed in things that are going on. When the emphasis is on God, we are encouraged and enlightened.

SDR: Why did you become a minister?

PH: It’s something God put on my heart when I was very young, even by the time I was in the third grade. It was really a thought of eternity: the things we experience for eternity are going to be much more significant than the things we experience here on Earth. So, I was moved by God to help people prepare for eternity. As meaningful as the things of Earth are, they really don’t compare.

SDR: Where is the strangest place you ever found God?

SDR: My initial thoughts are about finding God at a prison or a boardroom, but the most unusual place I found God was in me. The Bible teaches that when we are baptized the Holy Spirit dwells in us. I know the thoughts I have that I shouldn’t have, or the words I say that I regret, or the things I’ve done which are sinful, and that God dwells in me, loves me and forgives me anyway — this fact makes myself probably the most unusual place that I can think of God being.

SDR: Where do you go when you die?

PH: Those who are united with Jesus by faith remain united with him for eternity. That’s probably the best description of heaven that the Bible gives us — we are with Jesus and with that come all the blessings of Jesus. Those who are separated from Jesus without faith are separated from him for all eternity and have the suffering that is part of that separation — and that’s probably the best description of hell that the Bible gives us.

Comments
Sponsored
Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Top Websites To Buy Instagram Likes + Bonus Tip!

Next Article

SDSU pres gets highest pay raise in state over last 15 years

Union-Tribune still stiffing downtown San Diego landlord?
Comments
Ask a Hipster — Advice you didn't know you needed Big Screen — Movie commentary Blurt — Music's inside track Booze News — San Diego spirits Classical Music — Immortal beauty Classifieds — Free and easy Cover Stories — Front-page features Drinks All Around — Bartenders' drink recipes Excerpts — Literary and spiritual excerpts Feast! — Food & drink reviews Feature Stories — Local news & stories Fishing Report — What’s getting hooked from ship and shore From the Archives — Spotlight on the past Golden Dreams — Talk of the town The Gonzo Report — Making the musical scene, or at least reporting from it Letters — Our inbox Movies@Home — Local movie buffs share favorites Movie Reviews — Our critics' picks and pans Musician Interviews — Up close with local artists Neighborhood News from Stringers — Hyperlocal news News Ticker — News & politics Obermeyer — San Diego politics illustrated Outdoors — Weekly changes in flora and fauna Overheard in San Diego — Eavesdropping illustrated Poetry — The old and the new Reader Travel — Travel section built by travelers Reading — The hunt for intellectuals Roam-O-Rama — SoCal's best hiking/biking trails San Diego Beer — Inside San Diego suds SD on the QT — Almost factual news Sheep and Goats — Places of worship Special Issues — The best of Street Style — San Diego streets have style Surf Diego — Real stories from those braving the waves Theater — On stage in San Diego this week Tin Fork — Silver spoon alternative Under the Radar — Matt Potter's undercover work Unforgettable — Long-ago San Diego Unreal Estate — San Diego's priciest pads Your Week — Daily event picks
4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs
Close

Anchor ads are not supported on this page.