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…