St. Matthew Lutheran Church

Seventh Sunday of Easter
May 20, 2012

“Sanctified in the Word of Truth” (John 17:11b-19; 1 John 5:9-15)

In today’s Gospel reading, Jesus prays for his disciples–he prays for all believers, he prays for his church–he prays for us, here in this time between his ascension and his return. And one of the things Jesus prays for us is this, where he says to the Father: “Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth.” “Sanctified in the Word of Truth.” Let’s find out what that means for us now.

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Sixth Sunday of Easter
May 13, 2012

“All You Need Is Love” (1 John 5:1-8; John 15:9-17)

“All you need is love. Love is all you need.” No, I’m not quoting John the Beatle. I’m quoting John the Apostle, or at least I’m paraphrasing him. Yes, John–that John, St. John–talked about love a lot. And he’s doing it again today, both in the Epistle reading from 1 John and in the Gospel of John. Basically, John is saying today, “All You Need Is Love.”

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