True Pentecostal Churches

Welcome to the teaching ministry of Kungsvinger Lutheran Church. Kungsvinger is a beacon for the gospel of Jesus Christ and is located on the plains of northwestern Minnesota. We proclaim Christ and Him crucified for our sins and salvation by grace through faith alone.

And now, here's a message.

Pentecost as the Church’s Grand Opening

From Pastor Chris Roseborough. The Holy Gospel according to St. John, the seventh chapter. On the last day of the feast, the great day, Jesus stood up and cried out, If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink.

Whoever believes in me, as the scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water. Now this he said about the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were to receive, for as yet the Spirit had not been given, because Jesus was not yet glorified.

This is the gospel of the Lord. In the name of Jesus, Amen. Ah, today is the great feast of Pentecost, 50 days since the victorious death, burial, resurrection of our great Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, who bled and died for your sins and mine.

Having ascended to heaven, he told his apostles and his believers to wait, to wait, to tarry in Jerusalem, because he had one more gift to bestow on them, and that is the gift of the Holy Spirit. And so today, think of it this way, today, Pentecost Sunday, is like the grand opening of the church.

It's the grand opening. Now, by the way, I've seen some grand openings in my lifetime, and I find them quite annoying. Let me explain. So, you know, like, so let's pretend the grocery store down the street that they've been building decides that they're going to open up.

Well, what happens when they open up? Well, there's going to be balloons, confetti, fanfare, maybe one of those really annoying things that the auto dealers put up, you know, like, I don't know what it is, they put a fan in something that goes, right?

Yeah, that thing, right? And so what happens if you go to buy eggs from that store on that day? Well, you're likely to, well, get some kind of a coupon, a discount. People are likely to clap their hands as you're going into the store, and it's just annoying.

I just want to buy eggs. All right, but see, the grand opening, all of that is designed to, well, draw a little bit of attention, if you would. And once the grand opening is over, well, it's business as usual.

You know, you're able to go to the store in your jammies if you want, and sneak in, sneak out, grab the things that you need, and leave, because that store is there to serve you particular things, or that shopping center is there to serve you by supplying you with the needs that you have for your body and for your life.

Kind of in the same way, then, when the Church opens, God the Holy Spirit comes and descends, and there's a little bit of a ruckus. A sign appears. It's a sign that was prophesied in the prophet Isaiah, a sign regarding people speaking in other languages, which would be a sign to them of judgment to the unbelievers.

We'll talk about that in our Sunday School lesson today. A sign shows up. It's the sign of the ability to proclaim the wonders and the works of God in a language you have not studied. Now, I understand that when it comes to the day of Pentecost, there's a lot of really bad teaching out there.

Ever since the Azusa Street revival, there's a whole group of people within the Visible Church who are teaching all kinds of crazy nonsense. Crazy nonsense like, well, the sign that you have been baptized with the Holy Spirit, it's evidenced by you speaking in gibberish.

Now, they don't say gibberish, but that's functionally what it is that they're doing. Because it's not speaking in tongues when you say things like, she bought a Hyundai, should have bought a Kia. That's not.

That's not tongues, okay? That's gibberish, all right? And that is not at all what was going on. In fact, let me say this up front. If God the Holy Spirit were to decide that he were going to miraculously give you the gift of tongues, let's say that the Holy Spirit descends on Joshua or Eric Pedersen, for real, gives him the gift of tongues, well, what are they going to be able to do?

Well, speak a language they don't know. So maybe Joshua would be given the ability to speak Dutch. And when he speaks Dutch, what would he be doing? He'd be telling everybody about Christ, the great and mighty works of God for our salvation.

He wouldn't be off in a corner going, blah, blah, blah. That's not what he would be doing, right? So let's kind of get all of that up front, and we'll work our way through the text, and you'll see what's going on.

The big miracle, the big miracle is the Word of God that is preached, and along the way, we'll figure out what it means to be a true Pentecostal Church, a true Pentecostal Church. We'll see if we're all good Pentecostals today, shall we?

The Miracle of Hearing the Word of Christ

All right, so our text is the second reading from Acts chapter 2. When the day of Pentecost arrived, they were all together in one place. And suddenly, now those of you who understand this will think this is interesting.

Yes, that's right, they experienced a suddenly that day. Sorry, I had to say it. And suddenly, suddenly there came from heaven a sound like a mighty rushing wind. It filled the entire house where they were sitting, and divided tongues of fire appeared to them, and rested on each one of them, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit.

And they began to speak. Now, the text says in other tongues. We'll use the synonym from down a little bit farther in the context. They began to speak in other languages, as the Spirit gave them utterance.

Now note here, as the Spirit gave them utterance. You see, there's a lot of pressure being put on people today in parts of the Church, where you've got to tell God, you've got to make yourself worthy, you've got to lean in, you've got to try harder.

Try harder to do what? To manifest the gifts of the Spirit. Well, I don't see these people doing any of that. All I see is that the Spirit gave them the ability to speak in other languages. No effort on their part necessary, it was a gift sent by God the Father and God the Son, and this is the Holy Spirit.

And the Holy Spirit gave them this ability. Gave. Gave. It's a gift. And they didn't have to strive for it, earn it, practice it, or whatever. So if you've ever been in a Charismatic Church or a Pentecostal Church, and they said, you need to have the gift of tongues, and all you need to do is turn your brain off and just let whatever comes out of your mouth come out of your mouth, and that's the gift of tongues.

Nonsense. Nonsense. That's not what's going on here. And so you'll note that the context makes this clear. There were dwelling in Jerusalem Jews, devout men from every nation under heaven, and at this sound the multitude came together and they were bewildered because each one was hearing them speak in his own language.

And we see here that these are actual human language. There are people who are Parthenians, Medes, Elamites, residents of Mesopotamia, Judea, Cappadocia, Pontus, Asia, Phrygia, Pamphylia, Egypt, parts of Libya belonging to Cyrene, Jews, proselytes, Cretans, and Arabians, and then listen again, we hear them telling in our own tongues the mighty works of God.

And that's the sign, to hear the Word of God, and that's the important bit. And so all were amazed and they were perplexed. Now note here, sometimes, you know, signs and wonders can actually get in the way a little bit.

The reason why is because when a sign or wonder appears, you don't exactly know the theological significance behind it. And we sinful humans seem to concoct the strangest of stories when it comes to explaining things we cannot understand.

And so, well, these people were no different. And so rather than falling to their knees and praising God, well, a conspiracy theory began to circulate rather quickly, even without the help of Twitter or the internet.

And the conspiracy theory went something like this. Well, those guys over there telling us in our own language about the great mighty works of God, they're Galileans. Well, and everybody knows, Galileans are kind of earthy fellows.

They're not exactly known for their civility. They don't drink tea at high noon with their pinky out. Earthy fellows, earthy, earthy. And so their explanation for what was going on, well, you know, those Galileans, I guess they decided to start drinking a little early.

And you'll note here that this is kind of what we do. And so those of you who've been exposed to the false teaching of John Wimber and his power evangelism, which has been rolled up into the signs and wonders movement of Bethel, you've been told that you have to perform signs and wonders in order to demonstrate God's power so that people will be convinced that God exists.

And then, and only then, can you preach the gospel. This is nonsense. This is utter nonsense. Because remember what Paul says in Romans 10. Faith comes by hearing. Hearing by the Word of Christ. Faith comes by hearing.

Hearing by the Word of Christ. So the big miracle here is what? People are hearing the Word of Christ in their own languages, and faith comes by hearing. Hearing by the Word of Christ. The gospel is the power of God unto salvation.

The good news, that Christ has come, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, crucified, died, buried for your sins, for your salvation, raised victoriously from the grave on the third day so that you can be justified, made clean, have your sins washed away and pardoned by God himself.

This is the good news. Faith comes by hearing. Hearing by the Word of Christ. So with this conspiracy theory now circulating there in Jerusalem on the great day of Pentecost, Peter now ascends... we don't know what he ascended.

We don't even know. He just decides he's gonna do some street preaching, I guess. Maybe he's on a balcony, it doesn't exactly stay. So Peter, standing with the eleven, he lifted up his voice and he addressed them, men of Judea and all who dwell in Jerusalem, let this be known to you, give ear to my words.

These men are not drunk as you suppose, since it's only the third hour of the day. Roseborough's paraphrase, yeah, even we Galileans at least wait till five o 'clock. So you kind of get the idea. So the conspiracy theory is now shut down.

Joel’s Prophecy and the Meaning of Pentecost

Instead now he gives us a Holy Spirit-inspired interpretation of the sign itself, what it is that they were hearing, and notes that this is a prophecy that is being fulfilled in their very hearing, a prophecy from the prophet Joel.

He says, this is what was uttered through Joel, in the last days it shall be, God declares, that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh, and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy. Now let's consider this for a second.

Is he saying that your sons and daughters are gonna set up Christ alignment type destiny card reading booths at the local New Age festivals, that they're going to be giving people fortunes and tell them that in their future that they can expect to meet somebody tall, dark, and handsome, or beautiful, or that they're going to have a financial breakthrough, or things like that?

No, that's not what prophecy is at all. In fact, you'll note sons and daughters, men and women, they can all prophesy. And to prophesy is to do what? To proclaim the wonders and the works of Christ. To tell your neighbor that God, in his great love and mercy, rather than condemn them as they deserve, has sent his Son to bleed and die for their sins.

And you and I are all given the Spirit so that we can proclaim the wonders of Christ too. And it's true that in that time also young men saw visions and old men dreamed dreams. Indeed they did. And that even on male servants and female servants, I will pour out my Spirit and they shall prophesy.

And you'll note then that the Holy Spirit is given to everybody, regardless of age, regardless of financial status, regardless of gender, and it stays on all Christians, given to us in the waters of baptism.

I'll show you wonders in the heavens above, signs on the earth below, Joel prophesied, blood and fire and vapor of smoke. And then consider this little bit here. The sun shall be turned to darkness, the moon to blood before the day of the Lord comes, and the great and magnificent day.

I seem to remember, wasn't it 53 days earlier? 53 days ago it was Good Friday. And on Good Friday, while Christ hung naked, beaten, bleeding, suffering on the cross, at noon the sun stopped giving its light.

The moon was turned to blood. Not even the creation could look on while the Son of God, its Creator, was suffering for our sins. And so that part references the cross itself. And then listen to these words, and it shall come to pass, and this is the best part, that everyone, everyone, you, me, doesn't matter where you live, who you are, what you've done, everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.

This is what I need, and this is what you need as well. And so what happens next? Well, it's quite fascinating, quite fascinating. What ends up happening is exactly what Jesus said that the Holy Spirit would do.

The Spirit of Truth Bears Witness to Christ

Now, let's talk about this for a second here. Have you ever had a conversation with somebody who acted like they knew, like, everything, and in having a conversation with that person you realized they really knew nothing?

Let me give you an example, okay? So those of you who know me know that I have a...I enjoy photography. I've enjoyed photography for a lot of my life, alright? And one of the things I can tell you is that if you follow me on Instagram or on social media and I post what I consider to be a photograph that at least passes muster and worth sharing with other people, that for every one of those photographs there's more than a hundred that just are awful.

You should see my photo, it's terrible. So anyway, it's like, so hey, I'm improving, one in a hundred, yay! You know, and even the ones I post are not that, not always that great. But the point is, is that I had a conversation with somebody, you know, on social media, they were asking me about, you know, photography.

And this woman, for real, she acted like she knew a lot about photography and she was talking about how, well, real professional photographers, you know, every photograph they take is already perfect in camera, in frame.

And I tried to say, it's like, what are you talking about? Nobody is like that. You know, have you seen the rolls of film that are produced or the shot sheets from professional photographers, some of the most famous ones?

And so what I ended up doing was sending her a link to two resources put out, but one by a very famous photographer by the name of Elia LaCarte and another one by Sean Tucker, where they talk about how, you know, even in their own camera, you know, they only, you know, for every good shot, there's so many more that are just not good.

And this woman who acted like she knew what she was talking about and who clearly, well, didn't know what she was talking about, after I sent that to her, the gist of her response was like, oh, well, I guess I didn't know that.

Now, when it comes to the Holy Spirit, a lot of us are guilty of doing the same thing. Let me explain. All right. Do you guys remember Carmen? Okay. All right. Man, I'm really dating myself here. So Carmen was a Pentecostal Christian, contemporary Christian singer at the time.

And he did this. He did this one song. And in it, he took a swipe at churches that were apparently stifling the Holy Spirit. And in one of the songs, there was a little quip where, you know, he was looking for a church where the Spirit was, and you can hear audio of him opening up the doors of a church and walking in as people were together, in unison, doing this, praying, well, the Lord's Prayer.

Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. And you can hear the reverb of the echo inside of the church. And he shuts the door and basically says, well, the Spirit ain't there. So you'll note that somehow people think that they, intuitively, they know what the Spirit does or doesn't do, right?

So if they were to show up today, here online, or at Kongsvinger in a few weeks when we're able to reopen the church, what would end up happening is they would say, you know, I recognize that they have a high view of the Word of God, but I just didn't feel the Spirit there.

And, you know, what exactly does the Spirit feel like, is my question to somebody like that. Well, you know, the worship was kind of dead. Did you notice how many old people were there? Yeah, we have a few old people at Kongsvinger.

And there was no smoke machine, there was no disco ball, and where were the laser light shows, and how come the pastor wasn't wearing skinny jeans? You know, things like this, because these are apparently the indicators that the Spirit is present, or I didn't feel the anointing, or I didn't feel the presence, or, you know, the atmosphere was whatever, and this is how they talk.

And I sit in there going, where on earth does Scripture talk about these things? How do we know that God the Holy Spirit is present? And let us consider what Jesus says in this regard. So in John chapter 14 and in John chapter 16, we have some words of Jesus to tell us what the promised Holy Spirit would do.

And so in John 14 verses 15 to 17, Jesus says, if you love me you will guard, you will keep guard my commandments. I will pray, and the Father, he will give you another counselor to be with you forever.

Even the Spirit of Truth, whom the world cannot receive because it neither sees him nor knows him, you know him for he dwells with you and will be with you. So number one, you'll note here that Christ in saying he's going to send the Holy Spirit refers to the Holy Spirit as what?

The Spirit of Truth. So when you are in a church and the pastor is rightly handling God's Word and teaching the truth of God's Word, oh, even this is a gift given by the Holy Spirit, the ability to teach.

Teaching is a gift given by God the Holy Spirit. And so when somebody is preaching the truth, because what does Jesus say? Those who worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth. Oh, the Holy Spirit is present.

You say, well I don't necessarily feel truth. That's not how truth works. So you'll note then the idea here is that if there is a church and the pastor is twisting God's Word, making it void, mangling it up, pulling your leg with false signs and false wonders, thank you Todd White, well then you'll note that that's not the work of the Holy Spirit, because the Holy Spirit is the Spirit of Truth, and the Spirit of Truth dwells within believers already.

And we'll talk about that. And then in verses 25 and 26 it says, these things I have spoken to you while I am still with you, but when the counselor comes whom I shall send to you from the Father, even the Spirit of Truth who proceeds from the Father, he will bear witness to me, and you are also witnesses because you've been with me from the beginning.

What's the Holy Spirit going to be doing when the Holy Spirit shows up? He's going to be telling everybody about Jesus. And see, that's what happened on the first Pentecost. People were hearing the mighty works of God proclaimed in their languages, and what is the mighty works of God?

Oh, that God sent his Son to die and rise again for your sins and for your justification. So the Holy Spirit is always incessantly pointing people back to Jesus, not himself. To Jesus. The Spirit bears witness of Christ.

And then in John chapter 16, verses 12 to 15, it says, I have yet many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. But when the Spirit of Truth comes, and there it is, Jesus keeps referring to the Holy Spirit as the Spirit of Truth.

He will guide you in into all truth. He will not speak of his own authority. Whatever he hears, he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come. He will glorify me, for he will take what is mine and declare it to you.

So that all that the Father has is mine, therefore I said, he will take what is mine and he will declare it to you. And so you'll note that the Holy Spirit is pointing us to Christ, pointing us to the Word of God.

The Holy Spirit is glorifying Jesus, not even himself. And so where the Holy Spirit is working, also Jesus says that the Spirit will convict the world of sin and unbelief, testify about him, bring to your mind all that Christ has done.

The Holy Spirit will drive you into the Scriptures, because this is where we hear all that Christ has done. So here's our problem, though. Foolishly, we look for the Holy Spirit where he has not promised to be, and we risk grieving the Holy Spirit when we look for him where he has not promised to be at all.

See, the Holy Spirit has not promised to speak into your heart, to whisper to you the future, or things like that. The Holy Spirit, Christ has promised, will convict you of your sin, of your unbelief.

The Holy Spirit will glorify Christ. The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of truth. The Holy Spirit, you see, you get the idea here. And so what ends up happening is that we think we know better, and we think we can feel where the Holy Spirit is, rather than listen to what Jesus says are the signs that the Holy Spirit is at work.

And what ends up happening is that we despise what the Holy Spirit really is doing, because it's so common, it's so ordinary, it's so plain-Jane, and we look for the spectacular, but he hasn't promised to be in the spectacular.

And so what ends up happening is that people who are looking for the spectacular, they say to us confessional Lutherans, you guys are putting the Holy Spirit in a box. Which I find to be weird, by the way, just really weird.

It's as if a box is the Holy Spirit's kryptonite. Can you imagine? There's the Holy Spirit, and you pull out a box, and it's glowing green, and the Holy Spirit says, no, not a box! Don't put me in the box, man, I can't get out of a box!

This is nonsense. This is silly, okay? So put it all away. Seek the Holy Spirit where Christ has promised he is working, where you can tell, because Christ has told you what he would be doing. He's the Spirit of truth.

He glorifies Christ. He testifies about Christ. He convicts you of your sin and your unbelief. So the idea here is we know that the Holy Spirit is working, then, where the Word of God is rightly preached, the sacraments are administered according to the gospel, where the truth of God's Word is proclaimed, where sinners are confronted of their sins and called to repent and to believe in Jesus.

Now, it's true that the Holy Spirit goes wherever he pleases, but the Holy Spirit has told us where he will be and what he will be doing. So it's time for us to then consider this fact, that we oftentimes think we know what the Holy Spirit can and cannot do, should or shouldn't do, while ignoring what Jesus said he would do.

And so even on the great day of Pentecost, we can see then the results. The results after Peter preached his great sermon, after all these people heard the great and mighty works of God proclaimed in their languages, it says this, when they heard these things, they were cut to the heart.

Oh, they were convicted of their sin. And they said to Peter and the rest of the Apostles, brothers, what shall we do? Brothers, what shall we do? So it's time for us to lose our idolatrous notions about the Holy Spirit and hear again how he really works, and to put it all away and to repent even of our wickedness.

If you are guilty of believing that you know better than the Word of God what the Holy Spirit can or should be doing, then you need to repent, because the Holy Spirit you believe in is a false Holy Spirit.

It's not God the Holy Spirit, it's the Holy Spirit, a God of your own making. And that's called idolatry, and that sin will send you to hell. So repent and believe what the Holy Spirit does. And so they were cut to the heart, brothers, what shall we do?

Baptism, the Gift of the Holy Spirit, and the First Pentecostal Church

And here's what he said, repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. You mean baptism is for the forgiveness of sins?

Of course it is, that's what the Holy Spirit caused Luke to write for us, and what Peter preached on Pentecost. And where do you receive the Holy Spirit? In the waters of baptism. Isn't that what Paul says?

There's one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all. Let us review, how many baptisms are there? One. So when the Pentecostals say that you need to have a second baptism, a baptism of the Holy Spirit, there's only one baptism.

And if you've been baptized, you have the Holy Spirit. You go, well I do, but I don't feel the atmosphere changing in all that kind of nonsense. Who cares? Who said anything about that in the Bible? It doesn't matter if you feel the atmosphere changing or not, God is the one who made the promise, and He is faithful.

Do you believe His word or not? And so then, no, Peter says the promise, it's for you, it's for your children, all who are far off, and everyone whom the Lord our God calls to Himself. And so with many other words He bore witness, continued to exhort them, saying, save yourselves from this crooked generation, and those who received His words.

And there it is again. You'll note that the Holy Spirit has attached Himself to the preaching of the Apostle Peter. Those who received His words, they were baptized, they were added that day about 3 ,000 souls.

And here then is the first description of a Pentecostal church. Are you ready? Hope you're sitting down. Well, it looks like you guys are. Okay, here's what it says. So here's the first Pentecostal church.

They devoted themselves to the Apostles' teaching, the fellowship, and the breaking of bread, and the prayers. Say what? What about the signs and wonders? What about the disco ball? What about the healing rooms?

What about, what about, what about, what about, what about, all that? No, no, no, listen. They devoted themselves to the Apostles' teaching. By the way, where do we find that today? In the Bible, right?

That's where it's recorded for us. Fellowship, gathering together, breaking of bread, that's the Lord's Supper, and prayer. But that's so common, it's so ordinary, it's so, it's so, it's so, yeah, this is where the Holy Spirit's promised to work.

And the first Pentecostal church doesn't sound like any Pentecostal church I know of today. It doesn't sound like them at all. So brothers and sisters, this Pentecost Sunday, you who are confessional Lutherans already, you who are here thinking, what are these Lutherans all about?

Well, let me proclaim to you, all of you who are confessional Lutherans already, congratulations, you are all now Pentecostals. In the name of Jesus, amen. Eric just did an end zone victory thing. Okay.

The Nicene Creed, the Prayers of the Church, and the Christian Life

We confess our faith together today in the words of the Nicene Creed. I believe in one God, the Father Almighty, the maker of heaven and earth, and of all things visible and invisible. And in one Lord Jesus Christ, the only begotten Son of God, begotten of his Father before all worlds, God of God, light of light, very God of very God, begotten, not made, being of one substance with the Father, by whom all things were made, who for us men and for our salvation came down from heaven, and was incarnate by the Holy Spirit of the Virgin Mary, and was made man, and was crucified also for us under Pontius Pilate.

He suffered and was buried, and the third day he rose again according to the scriptures, and ascended into heaven, and sits at the right hand of the Father, and he will come again with glory to judge both the living and the dead, whose kingdom will have no end.

And I believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord and giver of life, who proceeds from the Father and the Son, who with the Father and the Son together is worshiped and glorified, who spoke by the prophets. And I believe in one holy Christian and apostolic Church.

I acknowledge one baptism for the remission of sins, and I look for the resurrection of the dead and the life of the world to come. Amen. We continue now with the prayers of the Church, and as I pray today I will say these words, hang on a second here, I'll pull this up, I will say these words, and that is, Lord in your mercy, and when I say that, your response is, hear our prayer.

Almighty God, you have blessed us in love with the Savior to whom the nations cry, in whom is forgiveness of sins, life, and salvation. Grant to us your Holy Spirit, the Comforter, whom you have promised that we and all who call upon his name shall be saved.

Help us to treasure in our hearts your mercy and to give ourselves fully to your service. Lord in your mercy. Almighty God, you delivered your word through Moses and the prophets and fulfilled your word in Christ.

He was planted in death for our sins, raised for our justification, and in him shall all the nations of the earth be united. Give us pastors who will preach this word faithfully, and church workers who are devoted to your service.

Lord in your mercy. Almighty God, you have promised the thirsty will drink from and from the empty will flow forth rivers of living water. Help us to show forth in holy lives the fruit of the Spirit and to live with love toward our neighbor.

Give us a servant's heart that doesn't seek our own way, but walks in the path of eternal life. Lord in your mercy. Almighty God, you have promised to make one people from the many. Take from us all pride, prejudice, and hate, that we may not hinder the cause of the gospel by our shame, but give welcome to all people in the name of Christ.

Lord in your mercy. Almighty God, you have ordered all things in heaven and on earth. We ask that you would bless our different heads of state, including the presidents, the prime ministers, or the kings or the queens from wherever we are gathered today.

We also pray for our governors and our parliamentarians and those who make and administer our laws. And we pray then, Lord, that you would help our civil servants so that the rule of law may protect the weak, preserve life from conception to its natural end, and that peace may reign for the benefit of all.

Lord in your mercy. Almighty God, have mercy and spare us, put an end to the pandemic, and restore the communities of the world to their common life. Lord in your mercy. Almighty God, you breathe hope into the weary and renew your church by your grace.

Bless newly planted congregations so that they may endure. Guide established congregations that they may not lose heart. And build up the AALC, as well as the Aletheia Lutheran Synod, so that our zeal for your kingdom may not flag, but flourish and prosper according to your will.

Lord in your mercy. Almighty God, you carry the burdens of our lives in your hands. Deliver from illness and suffering all who cry out to you for release. Hear us on behalf of the sick and the dying and those who mourn.

Today we especially pray for Kate, for Carl, for Carol, for Bob, for Jody, for Reuben, for Deb, Charlotte, Warren, Pat, Jean, Henrietta, and Anthony, and those whom we now name before you within our hearts.

Answer your people, O Lord, and deliver them from their infirmities and their grief by your grace, Lord, in your mercy. Almighty God, your word endures forever. Give us grace so that we may be united in doctrine and in fellowship of your table, confessing Christ boldly and living together in faith and love until our Lord returns in his glory to bring all things to their appointed completion, when we will dwell in his house forever.

Lord, in your mercy. Almighty God, you hear your people for the sake of him who loved us even to death, and who lives to call to himself all who will be saved. You know what we need and those things we should ask in your name.

Grant them to us for the sake of our crucified, risen, and ascended Lord, who lives and reigns with you in the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.

Oslo, Minnesota 567 -44. We thank you for your support. All of our teaching messages may be freely distributed as long as you do not edit or change the content of the message. And again, thank you for listening.