Gabriel: Sharing God’s News As I was setting up for the Blue Christmas service on Thursday, one of our young Daisy friends came into to see what I was doing. She was very taken by our nativity over here. She came over and we talked about all of the characters in the Nativity, from animals…
Father: Resolute and God-Trusting There is a legend about the life an Elizabeth of Hungary from the 13th century. I was reading this story to my children this week. The story goes like this. This royal princess in her own right marries another royal at the tender age of 14. While she had grown up…
I wonder if you have every heard this one: “Timmy was a little five-year-old boy that his Mom loved very much and being a worrier, she was concerned about him walking to school when he started Kindergarten. She walked him to school for the first couple of days, but when he came home one day,…
In junior high and high school, some of us might recall the fear-inducing task of deciding where to sit in the cafeteria for lunch and with whom. As any high school/coming of age/angst-filled movie suggests, this pivotal decision can give rise to twisted stomachs and evoke the fears of yesteryear of who will be our…
Moms are known for comforting their children. We think of overtired mom rocking the little one to sleep, maybe for the third time. We think of “there, there, little one.” That comes after a scrapped knew required a kiss and an extra hug. We think of the teenager who flops on the bed and “just…
About six weeks ago, I was driving with a colleague to a funeral about 3 hours away. The area where we were driving was vaguely familiar to both of us, but more familiar to my colleague. We both agreed that we would do best to use a GPS to guide us, even though we had…
I have a confession to make this morning. I struggle with Sabbath. Now, I try hard. I set aside time every Friday. Unless there is something that comes up. Unless there is something that needs my attention. Unless there is a big event to prepare for. Unless there is a life event like a funeral…
Regardless of the faith background of people or no faith background at all, Psalm 23 is the most requested funeral scripture. Almost every time without exception, when I sit down with a family to plan a funeral service, they talk about the 23rd Psalm. Sometimes they tell the story about memorizing it as a child…
Pray Like Jesus: Pray With Questions Why do people get planted in the ground? Why say sorry for screaming? How do you keep going when people are so unkind? Does God condemn people? Is the God of the Old Testament and the New Testament the same God? Why do bad things happen to good people?…
A mom from our church prays specific scripture, for her children everyday for years and still praying into their adult lives. Hear this mother’s prayer of just 4 of 12 scripture verses she prays through, and know that scripture is God’s promises. This mom is praying his promises for her children. Here she prays Ezekiel…