The stories of Holy Week and Easter are retold year after year, usually to congregations that are swelled  beyond their usual numbers. Hence, the Passion and Resurrection narratives are some of the most familiar of all. So, here’s a little Holy Week “Pop Quiz” to test how well you have been paying attention all these more »

Our theme for Lent this year is “Return to God with all your heart.” God’s “wholehearted” love is available to us through grace. But there are parts of our hearts that we withhold from God. Lent is the season to be mindful of what you might be giving your heart to, instead of giving it more »

Welcome to Lent. No kidding. I say “no kidding” because not everyone thinks of Lent as a welcome experience. This is probably because for many of us, the focus of Lent is on self-denial, fasting, and “giving something up.” Preferably, giving something up that we’d rather not do without. Chocolate, coffee, and meat are typical more »

On the third Sunday of Advent, we lit the candle of Joy in worship. Then we experienced the joy of the wonderful Christmas Pageant – “Countdown to Christmas” – with its Living Advent Calendar. Maybe some of you kept an actual Advent calendar through the month of December, each day opening another little window to more »

Ever notice how so many of the stories we associate with Christmas are tales of transformation and redemption? Scrooge “Humbugs” his way through ghostly guided tours of Christmases Past, Present and Future, only to wake up on Christmas morning determined not to be the man he once was. The Grinch’s “two-sizes-too-small heart” hatches a plot more »

Several years ago I was part of a mission team sent to a remote mountain village in Honduras. Our purpose was to improve the educational system in the village, and to provide the children with school supplies and uniforms. In Honduras, children must supply their own uniforms and supplies to be allowed to attend classes. more »

A cowboy from Oklahoma had been in Kansas City seeing things he had never even imagined. He went back to Oklahoma with this message for his friends, “Everything’s up to date in Kansas City; they’ve gone about as far as they can go!” He then proceeded to describe just how far they had gone. He more »

The following is a true story that emerged from a championship college women’s softball game between Western Oregon and Central Washington in 2008. Western Oregon senior Sara Tucholsky was small; physically not the kind of player that was capable of generating much power at the plate. In fact, she had never hit a home run more »

Beginning in September you will be seeing offering envelopes in the pews on Communion Sundays marked, “The Phoebe Fund.” Which might lead you to ask, “Who is Phoebe?” When I hear that name, the first person who comes to mind is Lisa Kudrow’s character on the old “Friends” sit-com. It’s not that Phoebe. Maybe there more »

An old saying states, “An expectation is a premeditated resentment.” Many of us expect the church to be a place of unwavering harmony and then feel resentful when that expectation is disappointed. But did you know that much of what is written in the New Testament Epistles addressed problems and conflicts in the early churches? more »

Jesus had a knack for never being where you’d expect to find him. He always seemed to be hanging around on the wrong side of the tracks, with tax collectors, prostitutes and other sinners. Finally, they crucified him, a death sentence that the Romans used to punish the worst criminals. Which meant a Cross was more »

The Apostle Paul said as much when he declared, “If Christ has not been raised, then our proclamation has been in vain, and your faith has been in vain” (1 Cor. 15:14). The reason for this is that Christ’s resurrection not only gives us hope for eternal life, but it also confirms that what Jesus more »

Membership builds strong bodies: Now you are the body of Christ and individually members of it. (1 Corinthians 12:27)