The last time I was here, 2 weeks ago, I announced that I would not be putting my name in as a candidate for your next pastor. Pam is no longer working here, and Connie finished her time with us. Everyone take a deep breath. This is a lot to process all at one time. […]
Sometimes I don’t like the way that the kingdom of God grows. But what is the kingdom of God? It is the place where God reigns or is in charge. I appreciate how Luther it explains it as heavenly and earthly. As people of God, we have one foot in each. Here on earth, we […]
Have you noticed that some people feel called to put themselves in the middle of conflict? Sometimes those of us are transitional or interim pastors can find ourselves there. I have seen some people run from it and others run to it. I feel that I am some place in between the two. My husband […]
What is sabbath or what is the sabbath day? Different religions have different days, thus we can’t say one day is totally right or wrong? Christians have said throughout history that Sunday is our sabbath. But what about Christian churches who have Saturday night services? At one point in our history, Sundays were strictly observed […]
When I worked on my pastoral counseling degree at the Moravian Seminary in Bethlehem, PA, I learned a new way of approaching scripture. It was to ask questions of the text in order to gain more understanding. In other words, what do I need to know in order to have somewhat of a grasp on […]
We are doing many things in our worship service today. Each one is a different celebration. It is important in our community of faith to recognize those things that we can celebrate. Celebrations can also remind us of what we can be thankful for. We give thanks to God for our music staff and all […]
Today we are celebrating the Ascension of our Lord. This actually happened on Thursday, 40 days after Easter. It is when Jesus officially, physically, goes back home. Luke feels it is important enough to share it in his Gospel briefly and then in more detail in Acts. For the Gospel writer John, it was also […]
Even after the cutting and pruning we talked about last week, Jesus still comes back to love. The cutting and pruning is about letting Jesus clean up our lives in order that we can be more intimate, have a stronger connection with him. In today’s lesson, Jesus uses the example of the love that he […]
Easter 5 B – 04 28 2024 In our Gospel lesson today, Jesus is trying to prepare his disciples for his departure. This part of the Farewell Discourses. Jesus knows he will be going home, and he wants his disciples to be prepared. This is a pastoral moment, reminding them that they will not be […]