Wow, what a week at Bethel! Even if you haven’t been at church this week, there is a lot going on. We began the week with filling Easter eggs for our annual Easter egg hunt, others made fleece blankets for those in need, some students were in a class to learn more about Holy Communion…
At the Wednesday Lenten Service, I talked about being reLENTlessly misguided. When Jesus was the Garden of Gethsemane on the Mount of Olives between Jerusalem and the town of Bethany he was arrested. The Passover meal had ended and they left Jerusalem for Bethany because they were most likely staying at Mary, Martha and Lazarus’…
I attended a meeting a couple of weeks ago. That in itself is not odd, I have meetings every day. However, this meeting consisted of Lutheran pastors. We spent time talking about what is happening in our congregations. As this discussion progressed I discovered that two churches are close to closing and two other churches…
How does Lent feel so far? Some of you know, it is my favorite season. One of the reasons I like Lent so much is the reflective nature of these forty days. But I also really enjoy the gatherings on Wednesday evenings. Being a life-long Lutheran, I can’t remember a time that my Wednesday evenings…
“And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’”- Jesus (Matthew 22:39) “So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets.” –Jesus (Matthew 7:12) I know that you know these verses. I also know that some of you are…
Yesterday we began the intentional journey toward the most important event on the Christian calendar: Easter. It is so important that we take these 40 days (minus Sundays) to prepare for Jesus’ resurrection. Every excursion has a starting point. For us, our starting point is Ash Wednesday. Ash Wednesday has a long history within Christianity….
15 “Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves. 16 By their fruit you will recognize them. Do people pick grapes from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? 17 Likewise every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. 18 A good…
Here is my handout from the sermon “Building a Life of Impact.”
…remember that at that time you were separate from Christ, excluded from citizenship in Israel and foreigners to the covenants of the promise, without hope and without God in the world. But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near through the blood of Christ. For he himself is…
Last Sunday we had one of our two congregational meetings of the year. I talked about several things but I reflected that as a leader and as your pastor I need to be thinking about Bethel in multiple levels of time all at once. I need to be thinking about: The day-to-day operations of Bethel…
