Jesus offers many images of what the Kingdom of God is like, and even a a small seed and a small amount of yeast can help us to understand the power of God to work with what seems insignificant! We may be used to thinking that God’s Kingdom is far off, but the Kingdom is […]
“True worship is about the priority we place on who God is in our lives and where God is on our list of priorities.” It’s easy to get our focus off of worshiping God and on worshiping other things. We struggle to give up our idols (money, hobbies, stuff) and to remember that we worship […]
Our HS Youth Mission Team shared their experiences from their trip to Henderson Settlement. Their message and mission trip devotions were based on James 2: 14-19 and Ephesians 3: 14-21, especially verse 17: Then Christ will make his home in your hearts as you trust in him. Your roots will grow down into God’s love […]
Thank you so much to everyone who joined us Monday night at Ron and Vicki’s house for the worship brainstorming. Faith, politics, and money…provocative topics that generated a huge amount of discussion that was both holy and respectful! This is by far the most challenging brainstorming I have ever tried to summarize. I tried to […]
“I’m so busy” has become a badge of honor, but God calls us to honor Sabbath time. Sabbath is time to recreate and be re-created by God. How do we reclaim the gift of Sabbath and find health and strength to live more faithfully? To read Pastor Mary’s message, based on Genesis 1: 31 – […]
God’s grace is in our lives even before we recognize it, but God pursues us and desires us to know our identity as beloved children. Holy Baptism is a sacrament – a sign of God’s grace and recognition of who we are. We must listen for God’s voice among the noisiness of our lives and […]
Neighbors are not bound by how close they live or how well we know them; a neighbor is anyone in need. When we’re tempted to see each other as less than beloved, we need to remember the call to “love people, not thing; use things, not people.” But loving our neighbor is risky and requires […]
Though we might prize independence, we are ultimately dependent on God. Our freedom is not the same as being able to do what we want when we want to, but the freedom to live as God’s people – loving God and loving others by putting our faith into action. To read Pastor Mary’s message, based […]
God is with us! That’s the truth we claim; no matter where we are, God is with us. God’s presence isn’t limited to a particular space, like a church building, and yet it’s difficult to remember that the incarnation (God coming “in the flesh” and literally “pitching a tent”) means that God knows our human […]
Our story as human beings begins with God creating us in the images of God, yet we can get caught up in our view of ourselves rather than God’s view of each of us as beloved. We need to reclaim that what happened “in the beginning,” paying special attention God’s work as Creator. In the […]