Article: The Christmas Story as Told by Children

Long before Jesus, the nation of Israel was more of a loose confederation of tribes. There was no national government, only the 12 tribes that descended from Jacob’s sons and grandsons. The Israelites endured slavery in Egypt until God rescued them and gave them the ten commandments and the law. But they still struggled, like…

I am back from Chicago where I attended my first Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) Church Council meeting. I now am on the church council for the entire ELCA. I am honored to fill this role for the next two years. I am happy to report that it is good that Community Lutheran Church…

It is only a couple of days after Christmas and I am still thinking about the beautiful evening and morning of worship on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day at Community Lutheran Church. I can’t help but think about the end of the Christmas story in Luke chapter 2 where it says, “But Mary treasured up all…

There is one thing we do every week as the church… we worship. It may be the most important activity we engage in. For some of us, it may be the only church related activity we participate in all week. Why is worship so important? Theologians of every age have defined the act of worship…

Sometimes we forget that “winning in life” is NOT the goal of a Christian. By any tangible human measure, Jesus did not win. He was crucified and he died. That is definitely not winning. On that day, Pilate won, the Sanhedrin won and the chief priests won. Jesus certainly accomplished his mission of gifting forgiveness and salvation…

This past weekend, we began our annual sermon series on our mission statement at Community Lutheran Church. Our mission statement is in four parts. We are REAL PEOPLE, who follow an INCLUSIVE GOD, who gives RADICAL GRACE so that we can be on path of INSPIRED GROWTH. This past week, Pastor Brian preached on the…