“You are one body and one spirit, just as God also called you in one hope.” (Ephesians 4:4, CEB) Dear Friends, Nearly forty years ago God called me to be a pastor, and this coming Sunday I will be completing this call after serving four Presbyterian churches in Kansas, Indiana and Illinois. It’s been quite …
“The Comforter” “What is your only comfort, in life or in death?” begins the Heidelberg Catechism of 1563. It’s a very good question to ask ourselves, given the proliferation of this word throughout our culture to describe the shoes we walk in, the food we eat, the hotel rooms we sleep in and also …
I often wonder what it must have been like to stand among his followers at Golgotha—at the Place of the Skull—on the day that Jesus died. Carrying out from the City his own rough cross as he struggled and fell three times under its crushing weight, Jesus was crucified around 9 am in the morning …
Devotion: February 19, 2023 | Transfiguration Yesterday as we drove up North for a brief time away, the storm grabbed ahold of us just south of Milwaukee as we rolled up I-94. Visibility deteriorated rapidly as the semis pushed aggressively forward, riding our bumper and throwing out slush from in front. It was life …
The Baptism of the Lord “Let it be so now; for it is proper in this way to fulfill all righteousness.” -Jesus of Nazareth (Mt. 3:15) Jesus’ public ministry lasted only three short years, and all four gospels agree that he began his ministry at the Jordan River when he chose to submit …
Weekly Devotion: The Baptism of the Lord | January 6 Read More »
“A Righteous Man…” Each December we retell the Christmas Story with childlike wonder and delight in the angels and shepherds, the ox and the ass, the mother and child, the Magi and the Star. But do we fully appreciate the suffering of Joseph in learning his espoused wife has become pregnant? This constituted his “dying …
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Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday, which may be the case because of my firm belief that “there’s always room for more.” More turkey and stuffing. More mashed potatoes and gravy. More pie. And more happy days coming—days filled with joyous anticipation, culminating in Christmas Day itself. Thanksgiving begins the holiday season. Our gratitude leads the …
“I am confident of this, that God who began a good work in you will be faithful to complete it on the day of Jesus Christ.” -Philippians 1:6 Dear First Pres. Family and Friends, During the past 2 ½ years, we’ve been through a lot. Through the pandemic, we’ve had to close our doors—twice. We’ve …
During the hard time when God’s people were living in exile, many had given up hope that God would act to deliver the people. In Psalm 137, the psalmist laments, “By the waters of Babylon—there we sat down and wept when we remembered Zion.” The house of God had been razed and their nation was …
Devotion: November 4, 2022 “The Path Forward…Embrace the Possibilities” Read More »