Posts from 2024 (Page 11)
E-Note February 16, 2024
Dear Peace members and friends, On Ash Wednesday we began the season of Lent. Many see this season in the church as year as a grim, merely-to-be-endured time in the church year and understandably so. Lent begins with ashes on our foreheads, reminding us of life’s limits….and our own. Yet that’s exactly why I also see Lent as an opportunity not to be missed; a time to reflect, to act, to grow and to learn as we make our way…
CYF Blast February 15, 2024
Dear Families and Friends of Peace, As of yesterday, Ash Wednesday, we have officially begun the season of Lent. Lent echoes the 40 days that Jesus spent wandering through the wilderness, facing temptation. In Matthew’s Gospel, this journey happens immediately following his baptism from John, and is followed by his three years of ministry. During this season, we will follow Jesus on his 40 day journey to the cross—but it should also be noted that this is a journey to…
2/15/2024 Lenten Daily Devotional
Genesis 9:8-17 8Then God said to Noah and to his sons with him, 9“As for me, I am establishing my covenant with you and your descendants after you, 10and with every living creature that is with you, the birds, the domestic animals, and every animal of the earth with you, as many as came out of the ark. 11I establish my covenant with you, that never again shall all flesh be cut off by the waters of a flood, and…
2/14/2024 Lenten Daily Devotional
Joel 2:1-2, 12-17 1Blow the trumpet in Zion; sound the alarm on my holy mountain! Let all the inhabitants of the land tremble, for the day of the Lord is coming, it is near— 2a day of darkness and gloom, a day of clouds and thick darkness! Like blackness spread upon the mountains a great and powerful army comes; their like has never been from of old, nor will be again after them in ages to come. 12Yet even now,…
E-Note February 13, 2024 – Lent
Dear Peace Members and Friends, The season of Lent begins tomorrow. The word “Lent” comes from the Old English word “lengten,” which simply means “spring”—when the days lengthen and new life springs up. It is a time in which we anticipate the victory of the light and life of Christ over the darkness of sin and death. Still, Lent doesn’t have to be grim! It is, to borrow a phrase from C.S. Lewis, a season of a kind of “happiness…
E-Note February 9, 2024
Dear Peace members and friends, I’m looking forward to being back with you this Sunday. And what a Sunday it is on the church calendar: the Transfiguration of Our Lord. It’s a strange story. Jesus transformed. Petrified disciples. Heroes from the past. A shiny cloud. It’s a milestone in the life of Jesus. From this moment, Jesus is on his way to Jerusalem to (in the words of Luke) “accomplish” something. The Transfiguration is what God is about to go…
CYF Blast February 8, 2024
Dear Families and Friends of Peace, As I mentioned last month, and as you’ve hopefully seen in the Blast, bulletin, and/or website, our deadline for summer camp registration is quickly approaching. The deadline for Camp Wapo Seeds, Camp Wapo Youth Camp, and Family Camp at Wilderness Canoe Base is just one week away—next Thursday, February 15. As a refresher, here’s our summer 2024 schedule: Camp Wapo provides students with the opportunity to come together with friends and neighbors from all…
E-Note February 2, 2024
Dear Peace members and friends, This Sunday in worship (9:30am) is the Fifth Sunday after Epiphany. Pastor Joe writes, “The season of Epiphany celebrates Jesus’ physical presence among us—that God became manifest through Jesus in the flesh. The season started with the wisemen following the star to see Jesus in Bethlehem, and this Sunday we’ll hear the story of Jesus healing the disciple Simon’s mother-in-law, and then a whole town. It reminds us, as the Apostle Paul described in his…
CYF Blast February 1, 2024
Dear Families and Friends of Peace, On Tuesday night, the Jefferson Jaguars faced off against the Kennedy Eagles in a boys hockey game at Bloomington Ice Garden. Like most games, there were parents chatting, Mites and Squirts giddily sporting their own jerseys, and a raucous group of students supporting their team. But for this game, while the score was still important to players and spectators, there was also a bigger purpose—Hockey Fights Cancer. Held annually for three years now, both…
E-Note January 26, 2024
Dear Peace members and friends, It’s a big Sunday ahead! The Annual Congregational Meeting of Peace Lutheran Church will take place in the Parish Hall, beginning at 10:45am. At this meeting, both a proposed budget for 2024 and new Council members will be voted upon; Pastors’, Committees, and President’s reports will be offered. All members of Peace are encouraged to attend! Before the meeting we will gather for worship (9:30am). As we near the end of the church season of…
CYF Blast January 25, 2024
Dear Families and Friends of Peace, This Sunday, immediately after worship, we will gather together as a congregation for the Peace Annual Meeting. During the meeting we will review and rejoice in our 2023 ministries, elect new church council members, pass our 2024 budget, and hear some of the wonderful ways God is moving through our community. In addition, there’s also a lot to catch up on in our annual report, which will be available at the meeting. The annual report…
E-Note January 19, 2024
Dear Peace members and friends, He said to me: “Have you heard any good news lately?” I paused. I had to think. And my first response was, “Well, no—no I haven’t.” I had to admit that I hadn’t heard any good news on TV or read any in the newspapers. That’s why, when I read this Sunday’s gospel that begins, “…Jesus came to Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God,….,” my reaction was, “What is it? I want to know!”…