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you should know

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you're my last hope A sermon on St. Paul's perfect sermon on the resurrection : Remember that old sermon introduction? “Grace, mercy and peace to you from God our Father and our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.” I’m sure there are some of you here this morning who remember that. In fact, I’m sure there are some of you who wish I’d start using that greeting. I have no problem with that greeting. However, it feels a little awkward . As far as I see it, I already greeted everyone at the beginning of the service. So, it feels a little odd to greet you all over again at the sermon.   But hey, if you’ve got a bee in your bonnet and want to harass your pastor— and I know there are some of you out there who sit up at night just thinking how you can make my life harder ! And for all you , by all means, gripe about the sermon introduction ! I can’t imagine I’ll change. But it’s a pretty tolerable complaint, all in all. So I’ll take it. I didn’t bring up that old introduction so we could tak
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we are all our hands and holders

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beneath this bold and brilliant sun A sermon on Paul's more excellent sermon on love We take it for granted that the goal of life is to MAKE something of ourselves . A person ought to GROW into their full potential. And one should develop all their capabilities , too. Shouldn’t they? You know the drill , be all you can be and all that.   But then again, the folks in Corinthian thought the same thing. And you know what? That belief was the source of a lot of problems . In fact, as far as St. Paul was concerned, it amounted to nothing more than a whole bunch of misguided religious folderol . Somewhere along the line, probably the world at large, the folks at First Lutheran in Corinthian got it into their heads that they needed to make something out of their newfound faith . All they really did, though , was undo everything the Holy Spirit had already done amongst them! And that’s our first point, brothers and sisters in Christ . Trying to make something out of yourself ma
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may the last long year be forgiven

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all that war left within it A sermon on St. Paul's divinely inspired retreat : What did it take for you to get here today? It’s a bit of an odd question, I know. After all, it’s pretty self -evident. I mean, here you are. But I want to ask nonetheless. What did it take for you to get here today? Maybe you didn’t give it much thought. Maybe coming to church on Sunday is so routine you barely have to think about it. Or maybe it took a lot of thought for you to get here today! Maybe your life has recently been upended . Maybe all your old routines are out the window. Maybe life has you back to the drawing board, and it’s not so easy to get around right now.   Or maybe you’re in one of those times of life when it’s not so simple to get anywhere anymore. Maybe you don’t move as fast as you used to. Or maybe the person you came with isn’t moving as fast as they used to. Or maybe you’re just in that stage when hauling your family from point A to point B takes time. That’s just t
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