Yesterday I preached at Lamb of God Lutheran Church in Pleasant Prairie, Wisconsin. Here's how I began the sermon.
"I drove up here from St. Louis with things on my mind, personal concerns, work worries, you know how that goes. Then I cross from Illinois into Wisconsin and see a big green sign with white letters, "Pleasant Prairie." I have arrived! A place where my concerns and worries can be gone, Pleasant Prairie! (Smiles and chuckles from the crowd.) No? Pleasant Prairie isn't heaven on earth? (Pause). That's why we're here in church. Deep down in our hearts we're all looking for a "Pleasant Prairie."
Then I spoke about our daily need for help and hope, ending the sermon thus: "So where is "Pleasant Prairie?" It is here, in the heart of everyone who trusts the promises of the Lord Jesus Christ, whatever may be going on in the outward circumstances of your lives. "Change and decay in all around I see; O Thou who changest not, abide with me." If you don't see it now, trust and wait on the Lord. One day you too will say, He has done all things well." (Mark 7:37)
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