.Preached at Holy Cross Evangelical Lutheran Church in Rocklin, California on the Sixth Sunday of Easter Sunday, May 5, 2013 by Pastor Todd Peperkorn

Sermon Text: John 16:23-33
Sermon Theme: "Whatever You Ask in My Name"

First Lesson: Acts 16:9--15
Epistle: Revelation 21:9--14, 21--27
Holy Gospel: John 16:23--33

We Pray to the Father in Jesus' Name

"In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world" (John 16:33). Jesus has opened the way to the Father, so that "whatever you ask of the Father" in Jesus' name, "he will give it to you" (John 16:23). We pray, therefore, in the confidence that we will be heard and answered, that our "joy may be full" (John 16:24). We pray because the Gospel has been preached to us, and the Lord has opened our hearts to believe the Gospel (Acts 16:10, 14). We pray in the name of Jesus because we have been baptized into Him, as Lydia and her household were baptized (Acts 16:15). We have been healed, and we live and walk and pray in newness of life (John 5:8--9). For we stand upon the firm foundation "of the twelve apostles of the Lamb" (Rev. 21:14), and our temple is "the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb" (Rev. 21:22).