Pent 4_6-24-2012_Great Music At The Party

The little congregation in Jerusalem is making beautiful music.  Their continual devotion to the apostles' teaching, the life together, the breaking of bread, and the prayers is leading to a life together of mercy for everyone around them and they are enjoying the favor of the entire city.

This sermon was preached on June 24 at St. John's Lutheran in North Prairie.

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Pentecost 2_6-10-2012_Are We There Yet?

The first in a series Pastor Torkelson has developed for the 125th anniversary of St. John's in September.  The series is out of the early chapters of Acts and is called "Joining The Party."

Today's text is Acts 1:1-11 and speaks to the disciples failure to grasp the present reality of Christ's kingdom, His party for sinners.

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Pentecost_5-27-2012_That One!

Jesus speaks to His disciples with a pointed specificity regarding the Holy Spirit.  "That one will guide you in all truth."  He is the Spirit of Truth.

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ENCORE--His Game, His Turf, His Rules--Epiphany 4--1/29/2012

Jesus heals a demon-possessed man in Mark 1 as if he owned the place.  That's because He does.  He bosses the spirits around and orders them to be quiet.  It's His game, His turf, His rules--And that's Good News for us.

Because St. John's had a mission Sunday with guest preacher on May 20, we offer this sermon from this year's archives.

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Easter 6_5-13-2012_I Wanna Know What Love Is

Jesus instructs His disciples again on love just before He will define it for all eternity on the cross.  His disciples needed this instruction because, as Paul writes, "we see in a mirror dimly..."  Especially when it comes to love.

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Easter 5_5/6/2012_You Can't Do Nothing

Jesus' use of a double negative, "apart from me you can't do nothing," underscores that when it comes to salvation, we truly cannot do anything to earn salvation.  It also underscores that the Christian life is a life lived "in Him."  In Him, we can do all things.  It's only apart from Him we can do nothing.

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Easter 4_4-29-2012_The Voice Of The One Who Loves You

Why do we confirm?  Not as a ticket to the Lord's Supper, not as a rite of passage, not as a graduation.  We confirm that our youths are beginning to recognize the voice of Christ, the Good Shepherd, as the voice of the one who loves them to death and to eternal life.

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