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The Holy Spirit’s Christmas

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Wouldn’t it be nice to have Christmas twice each year? We all love the traditional food, carols, and decorations that go with the season. Giving and receiving gifts is nice too, and remind us of… 

Thank You, Father, for Mother

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“Respect Your Mother” is a very nice sentiment—until it appears on a bumper sticker next to a graphic of planet Earth! (I don’t mean to suggest we shouldn’t appreciate the wonderful gift planet Earth is, but… 

Life In the Gap

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“For a bishop must be blameless, as a steward of God…holding fast the faithful word as he has been taught…”  (Titus 1:7ff) For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men, teaching… 

THE FOURTH COMMANDMENT

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“As the head of the family should teach them in a simple way to those of his household.”  (Martin Luther) By way of introduction, isn’t it a remarkable privilege that you were born into a Christian… 

Jesus Cares For Body and Soul!

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“The Works That I Do In My Father’s Name, They Bear Witness Of Me.” (John 10:25) Please have your Bible open to the Gospel of John chapter 5:1-16.  Imagine for a moment that back in in… 

The Beauty and Joy of Christian Fellowship

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(Last of eight installments) We have seen how believers in the Messiah in Old Testament times experienced the beauty and joy of Christian fellowship. Of course, we find such moments of beauty and joy in… 

IMMANUEL — GOD WITH US

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(written after graduation 2012) Recently we enjoyed one of the highlights of each year—the closing concert of our CLC’s Immanuel Lutheran High School, College, and Seminary in Eau Claire, Wisconsin. Messiah Lutheran Church in Eau… 

May 2013 Announcements

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West Central Delegate Conference May 28-30, 2013—St. Luke’s Lutheran Church Lemmon, South Dakota Agenda Items:  + Examining the Distinction Between Outpouring of the Holy Spirit and Regeneration – Pastor James Sandeen + Comparing the Two… 

Easter Customs or Jesus?

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One gets concerned with all the baskets, eggs, and candy displayed before the eyes of our children this time of year. Long ago I tired of this blatant attempt to dishonor and discredit the most important day in the Christian church year, so my children and I used an old shoebox to make a replica of an Easter tomb. After the children had done some earth-tone painting on the box, I would painstakingly cut an opening in one side and then reseal the opening.

My children would wake up to see that during the night “miraculously” the tomb’s door would be open and the insides found EMPTY!
It helped teach them a great lesson. Our Lord’s PHYSICAL resurrection is the crowning proof and assurance from the Father that all Jesus came to accomplish has been accepted as payment in full for the sins of the world. Therefore our salvation is certain. Our children were not confused about the Easter Bunny playing any part in our salvation.

Now, the Christian faith is lacking something that almost every other religion in the world has: a dead man’s bones! Whereas other religions have a grave or a tomb containing the bones of its “saint,” the tomb of Jesus Christ is empty!

Witnesses of an Empty Tomb

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On that first Easter morning the soldiers guarding Jesus’ tomb saw the angel come and roll away the stone, but they squandered the opportunity to be powerful witnesses and took the bribe to remain silent.

“You are witnesses of these things.” (Luke 24:48)

Mary Magdalene’s heart overflowed with love for her Lord—first in weeping as she witnessed the empty tomb and then with rejoicing after she met her living Savior.

On Easter evening Jesus appeared to the disciples who were gathered behind locked doors. First of all, He assured them that He was not a ghost and then“He opened their understanding, that they might comprehend the Scriptures”