Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ:
I pray you have had a blessed week.
Holy Week and Easter are always hectic times around the church. Between preparing for all the extra services, actually leading the services, and then adding to that all the additional, unforeseen things that inevitably come up, when I get to Easter and finish that last service, I am ready for things to get…
Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ:
I pray you had a blessed Easter.
Our Gospel text this coming Sunday, April 3, is the same text we read every year on the Second Sunday of Easter, John 20:19-31. Now, most of us refer to this story as the story of “Doubting Thomas,” but as I have said before, I don’t like to refer to Thomas in this way because I think it makes Thomas…
Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ:
I pray you have had a blessed Holy Week.
Easter is so early this year. Now, I know that the weather around here for the most part has been incredible already and many of us have flowers blooming in our yards, the daffodils are blooming at Salem, but in many places across this country people will go to church this Easter where trees will…
Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ:
I pray you have had a blessed week.
As I write this note, it is early Thursday morning, it is St. Patrick’s Day and although there are some fun stories in the news about St. Patrick’s Day, the majority of the news is filled with stories about our government and how it can’t seem to function, as it should. Today, our government is fighting…
Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ:
I pray you have had a blessed week.
Have you been following the presidential races? Last week, Kansas held its primary caucuses and, to the surprise of many, Ed Cruz won the majority of the Republican vote and Bernie Sanders won the majority of the Democratic vote. Now, personally, I don’t know if those wins are good or bad, but they…
Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ:
I pray you have had a blessed week.
We Christians love to talk about God’ grace and we are so thankful for that grace, aren’t we? By definition, God’s grace is God’s love in action towards those who do not deserve God’s love. Literally, that means all of us. God’s grace is that undeserved love that God sheds on us. God’s…
Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ:
I pray you have had a blessed week.
Listen to the news, watch just about any reality TV show, or just watch a weekly detective or mystery series and you will hear and see people using mean language toward each other, talking and acting vengeful and judgmental. We don’t often hear about mercy, forgiveness or hope. Whether it is our politics,…
Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ:
I pray you have had a blessed week.
As we heard in our gospel text last week (Luke 4:1-13), life is filled with temptations; temptations that entice us to turn from God and God’s ways. And this week, our gospel text (Luke 13:31-35) continues this same theme. Jesus had been going about his ministry and talking about the coming of God’s kingdom.…
Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ:
I pray you have had a blessed week.
Have you ever felt like you just weren’t good enough? I know there was a point in my life where I felt that way. When I was young, I was overweight, and I was never part of the “cool” group of kids. I loved sports, but I was never good enough for the coaches of my teams to play me much. Other kids…
Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ:
I pray you have had a blessed week.
Believe it or not, next Wednesday, February 10, is Ash Wednesday which means the Season of Lent is about to begin. But before we get to Ash Wednesday, we will celebrate Transfiguration Sunday. On Transfiguration Sunday we read about how Jesus took Peter, James and John up a mountain to pray and while they…