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The South Dakota State Square, Folk, and Round Dance Association sponsoring the Spring State Square Dance Festival in Sioux Falls, SD. The event will be held on May 5 and 6, 2023, and will be hosted by the Spares N Pairs Square Dance Club of Sioux Falls. The theme of the festival is “Scoot Back to Sioux Falls.”

KellyLindwurmandJeremySmith have recently launched their new business venture, Star Lake Outfitters, LLC. The paperwork for the LLC was finalized earlier this year.

The regular meeting of the Gregory County Board of Commissioners was held at 9:00 a.m., Tuesday, April 4, 2023, at the Gregory County Courthouse. McCance pushes for hand count of ballots Steve McCance took advantage of the public input portion of the meeting to make clear that he wants all ballots cast at future primary and general elections to be counted by hand rather than solely by automated counting machines.

A beautiful spring is the reward for surviving a long, hard winter. But spring’s arrival is unpredictable.

If you’ve read any of the city council news in the last few months, you’ve seen the name Jensen Design. The company has purchased several lots in the Grandview Addition, and has now decided to locate a satellite office in Gregory.

Brothers and Sisters in Christ What does Easter mean to you personally? Is it just another holiday, the time to color eggs and tell your kids about a make-believe bunny? Is Easter to be one of the two holidays per year (the other Christmas) when you must fulfill you Christian duty to attend church? Does Easter make a difference in you life during the rest of the year? Does Easter give you true, lasting satisfaction? So many products in the stores are advertised with the phrase “satisfaction guaranteed.” Offers for magazines tell us that our satisfaction is guaranteed because we can cancel our subscription at any time. Lawn mowers, snow blowers, and power tools come with warranties guaranteeing that if they break down, the manufacturer will repair or replace them to our satisfaction.

“Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me.” (Ps. 51:10) As I prepare this message in the middle of yet another blizzard warning, it reminds me of the words of Jesus in Matthew 24:12, “Because lawlessness will be increased, the love of many will grow cold.” These are indeed cold and lawless times. Yet there was never an age, nor ever a people, who kept God’s commandments and righteous ways. Because of our fallen natures, sin proceeds from our hearts, and the commandments convict us of lawlessness and sin.

As I am getting ready to celebrate Easter this year, something that comes back to me time and again is how much Jesus loves us. Shortly after I had invited Jesus into my life, my wife gave me a plaque that read, “I asked Jesus how much He loved me, and He stretched out His arms and died for me.” This plaque used to hang on my calendar at the locker plant I managed. It was in the ideal place because I had to look at the calendar several times a day. It was a constant reminder of just how much God loves me. I needed to see that several times every day.

Grace Evangelical Lutheran Church in Burke, SD, will gather at 6:30 p.m. on Friday, April 7, 2023, to concentrate on Jesus’ final steps that led to the cross during a Good Friday Service. On the third day after this, April 9 at 10:00 a.m., we will gather to rejoice on Easter morning, to hear God’s Easter declaration of victory as Jesus’ first steps led outside his empty tomb. Come and share with us the Joy of Easter!

This week our world continues its frenzied pace of change, but not us… This week we slow down and follow our Lord from the institution of His Most Holy Presence in the Eucharist on Thursday, to His victory over sin and death on Friday through the cross, to His triumphal restoration of life through His resurrection on Saturday night and Sunday morning. We do as we have always done since the apostolic age and will do until the end of time: we stand with heads erect to proclaim that Christ has died for us, that He has been raised for us, and that He will come again to judge the living and the dead.