Welcome to “Campfire Stories,” our summer sermon series. I want to think together about the power…and the importance…of stories for just a moment. Stories are central to who we are. Stories teach us important lessons…the stories we remember…the stories we tell…they say something about who we are as a people…they say something about our hearts. I have always … More Pick it Up
Every three years, the ELCA Youth Gathering takes place. It is a milestone event in the lives of tens of thousands of young people across the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. It is more than an event; it is a pilgrimage that offers profound spiritual growth, community, and inspiration to both the youth and the … More As We Gather: Created to Be
The people were angry. They were. The Jewish people had been robbed of their land, and their dignity. They were subjects to the Romans, their rights had been taken away and the Roman soldiers were regularly mistreating, beating and even killing those who broke any kind of law or rule. Emotions were high, and the people were angry. Enter … More Something Different
And God said, “it is good.” It is good. It is amazingly, astonishingly, good. And we are the beneficiaries of this goodness. The scripture tells us that there is an author, a creator, and that the creator is good. The creator is the source of all things good. The Hebrew word for God is Elohim…Elohim … More Created Fresh
“If we are to love our neighbors, before doing anything else we must see our neighbors. With our imagination as well as our eyes, that is to say like artists, we must see not just their faces but the life behind and within their faces. Here it is love that is the frame we see … More Seeing Each Other
The power of water is an amazing thing to witness. Certainly, we saw that earlier this week. The heavy rains Thursday and the flooding between here and Rochester were a stark reminder of what water can do. At an earlier stage of my life, I spent a lot of time on the water, in canoes. … More Nope. Never Again.
At our sophomore day away about a month ago, we spent time talking about our faith questions. We had great questions from our 10th graders! But we couldn’t get to them all. I promised the group that I’d answer their questions here on my blog. This is the final in a four-part series to try … More 10th Grade Faith Questions Part IV
This past Sunday, our 10th graders did a mini-retreat as they prepared for their Affirmation of Baptism (confirmation) that will take place on October 28th. In one of our activities, we spent time talking together about the faith questions that have emerged for them as they have learned and grown over the past three years. … More 10th Grade Faith Questions Part I
There are things that I wonder about. Things that keep me up at night…thinking. Questions and problems that do not have easy answers. Let me share a few of them with you: Why is it that we park on a driveway, and we drive on a parkway? If nothing sticks to Teflon, how do they … More Trick Questions
“Then the Lord appeared to Abram, and said, “To your offspring[c]I will give this land.” So he built there an altar to the Lord, who had appeared to him. 8 From there he moved on to the hill country on the east of Bethel, and pitched his tent, with Bethel on the west and Ai on the east; and there … More A New Worship Along the Way
Test Driving Theology 