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Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Services’ 2021 Annual Report highlighted its partnership with Peace in resettling newly arrived Afghans. It also features Peace member Bill Penoyer, who is an LIRS ambassador. Read the 2021 LIRS Annual Report to learn more about national refugee resettlement efforts and Peace’s involvement. Supporting the resettlement of newly arrived Afghans, LIRS established a temporary office at…
The Rev. Sarah Scherschligt, a senior pastor of Peace Lutheran Church in Alexandria, and Rachel Rhodes, cantor at Temple Rodef Shalom in Falls Church, write Governor Youngkin to stress the importance of climate change as a matter of faith and ask him to continue Virginia’s participation in the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI). Read the Op-Ed at the Washington Post.
In the gospel, Jesus listens to some folks grumbling that he is eating with the wrong people. He tells them stories about a shepherd who goes after one lost sheep, and a woman who searches for one lost coin.
Jesus tell his followers that to be a disciple requires hard choices. Hate your father and mother. Give up your possessions.
In Luther’s time, only monks, nuns and priests were considered to have a vocation. Luther expanded the idea of vocation to all people, even people who did menial work that was disrespected in society.
This week, the Lutheran theme is “Law and Gospel.” People often misunderstand this concept, thinking that the law is bad and the gospel is good. Others misunderstand it by thinking that some parts of scripture are “law” and others are “gospel.”
If you’re so inclined, I suggest this activity. Take 5-10 mins. First, pray to understand more about the cross of Jesus. Then journal what the cross means to you. (I’d love to hear what you come up with.)
Freedom. This word is often understood as being unconstrained, as in: “I can do what I want.” For Christians, freedom means something different.
Grace. If I could summarize the Christian faith in one word it would be Grace. Grace means getting what you don’t deserve, in a good way. It means being loved even when you feel unlovable; being forgiven when you are still steeped in guilt; being healed when you are incapable of healing yourself. This week, I start a summer series on Lutheran…
If you have been disturbed to the point of tears these past days, you are not alone. Words are inadequate to express my outpouring of grief and anger at the consistent horror of preventable gun deaths. The question so many people – including myself – are asking is “how can this get better?” No one wants to live in a world where going to…
I haven’t known exactly what to say in light of the multiple mass shootings last weekend. The one in Buffalo is a special brand of horror, with its combination of white supremacy, internet-fueled isolation and easy access to assault rifles. Again I find myself asking, what does our faith have to say about this? A few things come to mind.…
A question we have all asked at some point and especially over the course of the past two years during the worldwide pandemic: Why doesn’t God heal us all? This may be the most daunting question in Christian theology. For the sixth week of Easter, Pastor Sarah reflects on the universal and personal application of God’s love. Read the full…
As of this week, 1 million people have died in the United States from COVID-19. After the 10:30 service on Sunday, we will ring the church bell twelve times. Once for each hundred thousand people and two extra times for the two members of Peace who died from COVID-19. All week I’ve been going through news articles from the early…
Peter is hardly the first person to challenge the status quo because of something God told him in a dream. In this reflection for the 5th week of Easter published in the Christian Century, Pastor Sarah asks the hard questions: What do you need to do to be part of Jesus’ community? What rituals do you need to participate in?…
Christians are sometimes called “an Easter people.” That means we are always in the after. Even when we don’t live like it, and even when the world still seems to “groan in pain,” the resurrected Jesus has changed everything.
Indeed, for Christians, community is key to almost everything we do. Easter is a time when we not only rejoice in the resurrection of Jesus, we also rejoice that through his resurrection, Jesus rebuilt the community that would become the earliest church.
Hope is a word that gets thrown around a lot, especially at Easter. It’s an encouraging and powerful thing, hope. But, let’s be real. Sometimes it is hard to muster even the smallest bit of hope. Every year at Easter I am reminded of the same, simple, powerful truth: The resurrection of Jesus was all God’s doing. People had lost all hope…
On a cold, rainy March 26,2022, around 70 participants in the Neighbor2Neighbor (formerly called Homework Club) program gathered at Peace Lutheran Church to celebrate Nowruz, the Afghan New Year. The group included approximately 12 Afghan families and many of the volunteers who have worked with them as tutors or mentors or have provided household furnishings, books, toys, children’s clothing, rides or donations.
Thank you to everyone who helped Peace host Memorial services for Susan DeHaven, Erin Messner, as well as the Memorial prayer for Sophia Katamba’s father. Peace offered Christ-like hospitality and comfort to many grieving people. Last Sunday, my sermon was about the worldview of the Eminem Song “Lose Yourself,” which says you have to seize your one shot. On the surface this…
This weekend Peace will host Memorial Services for Peace members Susan DeHaven and Erin Messner on Saturday. We will also have a special Memorial Prayer and fellowship for Sophia Katamba’s father, who passed away in Tanzania on January 18th. It’s a time of grief as well as a time to thank God for the amazing people that have been “companions in…
Author: Pastor Sarah Four years ago, I tore my ACL. After the surgery, I felt like I would never walk again, much less recover full use of my leg. It took a year of physical therapy, but eventually I healed. From time-to-time, however, my knee starts to act up. This means I need to get back to the basics: stretching,…
Every time we gather for worship, we hear Scripture read out loud. This is an unusual practice. After all, I’m almost certain that every adult in our congregation is literate and has access to Scripture on the phone in their pockets. Why waste time having someone read to us, out loud, like we are preschoolers? The Bible passages we’ll hear…
Last week I preached about worship. I asked you to focus attention on what it means to you to worship God. I pointed out how amazing it was that the wise men recognized the toddler Jesus as someone who was worthy of worship. They were changed when they worshiped him. We are too. This week we will hear Jesus’ first…
The following were Pastor Sarah S Scherschligt’s Remarks at the ribbon cutting for the new LIRS field office at Peace Lutheran. December 16, 2021 Greetings honored guests, In the evening of Friday, October 8 – just over two months ago – I was in my car with my family driving to our church retreat when a colleague of mine sent…
This is a season of hospitality. You will welcome others and you will be welcomed. The Christian tradition has a long history of hospitality, with commands to “welcome the stranger (i.e.. foreigner)” repeated throughout Scripture and practiced throughout faith communities.
Kids often ask for the same book to be read over and over (and over!) again. They are comforted by familiar words and pictures. Because they are developing so rapidly, they experience the story differently from reading to reading; understanding a new word, connecting the plot, enjoying a character they hadn’t noticed before. They hear the same words, but they don’t hear the same story.
Have you ever been welcomed as if you are the most important person in the world? Can you think of someone who eased your way through a difficult time? I encourage you to pray about who might need you to give them the red carpet treatment.
Today is Veteran’s Day. We honor those who have served in our military, including many of you and your families. Please join me in this Veteran’s Day prayer:
Almighty and ever-living God, we give you thanks for the people who have served and defended our country and the values of freedom and justice we hold so dear…
Sunday is All Saints Day. We will light candles as we read the litany of saints who have died. It is always a holy and beautiful commemoration.