The single biggest troublemaker in churches

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Are you ready for this one?

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It’ll take all of about 2 minutes to hear it. But the hard part (for many) will be realizing that it is true. 

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audio clip 

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Thank you, Pastor Mark.

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And thanks to flickr and Mary Jo, for the photo.

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Breathing in God

www.AlastairHumphreys.com

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Because Jesus breathed in the air of God with every breath…and because Jesus has ascended…now you are breathing in the air of God with every breath.

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Listen

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Thank you, Pastor

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And thanks also to flickr and www.AlastairHumphreys.com, for the photo.

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Have trouble discerning law and gospel?

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Join the club.

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These may help  

Bible study 1                              Bible study 7

Bible study 2                              Bible study 8

Bible study 3                              Bible study 9

Bible study 4                             

Bible study 5

Bible study 6

and they are in easy to digest bites.

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Enjoy.

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Thank you, Pastor Mark.

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And thanks to flickr and makin_bacon, for the photo.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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The Gospel of John Bible Study (part 4)

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Here’s part 4 of the Gospel of John Bible Study that Pastor Mark has been teaching the past month or so. This one deals with the first three signs. And there’s a very good question near the end of the class on why Jesus tells the man who He just healed in the Pool of Siloam, “Go and sin no more, lest something worse befall you.”

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listen

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Thank you, Pastor Mark.

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And thanks to flickr and Tita Abbott, for the photo.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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“When Believing is Hard”

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“Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid.”

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listen  

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Thank you, Pastor Mark Anderson.

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And thanks to flickr and debaird, for the photo.

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Gospel of John (part 3) – ‘miracles’…or ‘signs’?

Zo187

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Pastor Mark’s class on the Gospel of John (part 3):

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Thank you, Pastor Mark.

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And thanks to flickr and Zo187, for the photo.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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“All you need is love”

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Pastor Mark’s sermon for the 5th Sunday in Easter, “Need Love” vs. “Gift Love” :

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Thank you, Pastor Mark.

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And thanks to flickr and lentes bravo, for the photo.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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“And the Word became flesh…”

sj0m0Ted.Waters

John 1

“And the Word became flesh…”

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In the Old Testament God is the one who led His people out of Egypt. In the New Testament God is the one who raised Jesus from the dead. In both testaments God is revealed as the God who acts and is involved in what we call history, in temporal time and space.

The progress of the Gospel throughout human history has had real and demonstrable effect not only on individual human beings but also on the whole range of human reality. Institutions, cultures, ideas, etc. have been shaped by the Gospel and its implications. This has often been not because of the Church but in spite of it. For the perpetual temptation of the religious impulses that we naturally associate with Christianity (which is not a religion) always want to spiritualize, internalize or spatialize the Gospel. The Bible, on the other hand, reveals the God who is temporalized in the real world of people and events, including sacraments.

Non-sacramental Christianity which emphasizes reason and the internal character of faith, skates dangerously close to the brink of gnosticism which discounts the temporal for the sake of the spiritual. Martin Luther ran into this mentality among the ‘anabaptists’ of his day. The following is a quote from Luther on this score as it applies to infant baptism.

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The  anabaptists pretend that children, not as yet having reason, ought not to receive baptism. I answer: That reason in no way contributes to faith. Nay, in that children are destitute of reason, they are all the more fit and proper recipients of baptism. For reason is the greatest enemy that faith has: it never comes to the aid of spiritual things, but – more frequently than not – struggles against the Divine Word, treating with contempt all that emanates from God. If God can communicate the Holy Spirit to grown persons, he can, a fortiori, communicate it to young children. Faith comes of the Word of God, when this is heard; little children hear that Word when they receive baptism, and therewith they receive also faith.”

                   – Martin Luther (1483-1546), Table Talk CCCLIII [1569] .

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“May the peace of God that passes all understanding keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

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From Pastor Mark Anderson’s daily devotional blog:

Pastor Mark Anderson’s Daily Devotional blog site

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Thanks to flickr and sj0m0 and Ted.Waters, for the photos.

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Pastor’s class – The Gospel of John (part 2)

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 Listen >The gospel of John (part 2)

 

 

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Thank you, Pastor Mark.

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And thank you to flickr and Lawrence OP, for the photo.

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The Book of Revelation – When will we be a family again?

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Pastor Mark’s sermon for the 4th Sunday in Easter:

 

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Thank you, Pastor Mark.

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And thanks to flickr and Waiting For The Word, for the photo.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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