After attending the Greensboro MLK breakfast two weeks ago, I got on a plane to Atlanta to attend the first-ever Matthew 25 Summit. The Summit was a gathering of pastors and church members seeking to learn more about how to put into practice the teachings of Jesus to...
Lions and tigers and bears, oh my! Capital campaign and Lent and 200th plans, oh my! Shetler discernment and worship and women’s retreat, oh my! Hunger ministries and Christian formation and preschool, oh my! Maybe it is just me, but sometimes when there are a lot...
The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. would have turned 95 next Monday were he still alive. King was a revolutionary leader who cast a powerful vision for what America could be: a land of equality, unity, and justice. He dedicated his life to transforming America to...
As Jill preached on a passage in Luke 2 yesterday, the words of Simeon’s song have stayed with me. “For these eyes of mine have seen the Savior, whom you have prepared for all the world to see: a light to enlighten the nations, and the glory of your people Israel” –...
We have made it once again to Bethlehem to see this thing that God has made known to us. We remember the prophecies of the Old Testament and the Scriptures of the New Testament that lead us to Bethlehem, to pay homage to the child, to Jesus. We find ourselves in the...
The world is about to change. That is the promise of Christmas. The promise of the coming of the Messiah. The promise of God becoming human. Mary articulates this promise and expectation in her song of praise (Magnificat) in Luke 1:46-55. Mary is often portrayed as...
I don’t know about you, but lately I find myself overwhelmed with the state of the world. I know headlines filled with war and pain resound through the ages, nonetheless we occupy this time and space, called to be faithful in the face of current calamities. What,...
About 20 young adults gathered around tables in the Garden Room for dinner and fellowship last Wednesday night. We’ve been meeting monthly, just simple food and space to connect. Everyone began with how they spent their day … with 70 teenagers, with the U.S. Navy,...
It’s hard to believe that this coming Sunday is the first Sunday of Advent. Well maybe not so hard to believe given that the Christmas music has been playing for over a month not to mention the ads and other ways to extend the season. Soon the Christmas movies will...
The great 20th century Reformed theologian Karl Barth once wrote: “Grace and gratitude belong together like heaven and earth. Grace evokes gratitude like the voice an echo. Gratitude follows grace like thunder lightning.” What Barth and the Reformed tradition...
