Posts by Pastor Mark Nelson

Dear Peace Members and Friends,  It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas! This coming Sunday, the children of the congregation will present “Great Joy for All.” Along with the Peace Choir and the rest of the congregation, we’ll hear the Christmas story through music, scripture, and storytelling. Following worship, there will be a Christmas cookie reception in the Fellowship Hall. Join us for a wonderful morning ahead! A reminder that the celebration of Christmas begins next Tuesday, Christmas Eve.…

Dear Peace Members and Friends,  Christmas is getting closer! I love these days of Advent; days of preparation, anticipation, days of joy and fun, as we look to the celebration of God coming in the flesh—Christmas.    This Sunday we continue our Advent sermon series, “Whose House for Christmas?” with a look at John the Baptist’s “house.” John may be an odd choice. As Garrison Keillor writes: “…….when people came from Jerusalem to hear him [John] preach and to be baptized,…

Dear Peace Members and Friends,  I’m looking forward to this Sunday, the second Sunday of Advent! Worship, education, service, and fellowship—all things that are life-giving during this wonderful season of the church year.   Our Advent sermon series—“Whose House for Christmas?”—continues. We’re touring the homes of different women and men whose stories light our way as we prepare to celebrate once again God’s coming to us in Jesus of Nazareth. This Sunday, I’ll have us stop by at the prophet Isaiah’s…

Peace Members and Friends,  Thanksgiving Day is past and, all of sudden, Advent and Christmas are upon us!  Advent in church begins with the hymn, “Let All Mortal Flesh Keep Silence.” The hymn has a deep, full melody that goes all the way back to the chants of the 4th century. The hymn also reminds us of something important: that the story of Christmas we are about to retell and the event we are about to celebrate again did not…

Dear Peace Members and Friends,  It was 1925. Benito Mussolini had been Prime Minister of Italy for 3 years. In Germany, Adolf Hitler had been out of jail for a year and his Nazi party was thriving. And—on top of all that—the world lay in a Great Depression. The Pope at the time, Pius IX, saw these authoritarian governments rising around him. His response? He established the festival of Christ the King, reminding Christians everywhere of who was ultimately in charge. “Nevertheless,”…

Dear Peace Members and Friends,  It was a great Sunday last week with Harvest Pack. Over 15,000 meals were packed by over 80 volunteers. My thanks to the each and every one of you who packed, those who came to church early to set up tables and equipment, and all those who loaded up the truck and cleaned up afterwards. A special thanks to our church Administrator, Lori Thomson for organizing the event and directing our activities. The meals that…

Dear Peace Members and Friends,  I was reminded Tuesday night and Wednesday morning, as the election results came in, of sports announcer Jim McKay’s famous line accompanying the ski jumper falling off the end of the jump; the line that opened ABC’s Wide World of Sports when I was growing up: “The thrill of victory and the agony of defeat.” For those who are relieved about the election outcomes and those who grieve about them, one thing remains true: We believe…

Dear Peace Members and Friends,  First of all, don’t forget that daylight saving time ends on Sunday. So remember to turn your clocks back on Sunday or just remember that they do it all by themselves!  Here’s one reason why: you want to be rested and ready for Sunday morning. It’s All Saint’s Sunday! The day is not as big a blip on the calendar as Halloween or Election Day, but it is a significant day for Christians, even so. If Halloween is masks-on day then…

Dear Peace Members and Friends,  Sunday is Reformation Sunday beginning with worship (9:30am). While other Protestants join in, the day is a particularly Lutheran celebration which commemorates the witness of Martin Luther, the beginnings of an historical movement that swept Europe and changed the western Church—all are important and all have influenced us.   Nevertheless, they are not the center of gravity for Lutherans. There is something else at the core of the Reformation that changed us then….. and still does.…

Dear Peace Members and Friends,  As I write this, I’m looking out on a beautiful fall day. I hope all of you are pausing a moment to take it all in!  I’m looking forward to this Sunday! In worship (9:30am), we’ll hear a powerful Gospel. Jesus’ disciples are obsessing about who will be closest to Jesus, leading Jesus to teach them and us something about God’s take on importance and power. What makes us great in God’s eyes? I’ll talk…

Dear Peace Members and Friends,  Before I get to this Sunday’s worship and activities, I want to remind you of the aftermath of both of the recent hurricanes in our nation’s southeast. Yesterday, I spoke with Peace members who winter in Florida, and they came through okay, other than they expect the electrical power to be out for days (3-4?). Still, while Milton and Helene have passed through, devastation remains. What can we do? First, pray for all those who have lost so much. Second, you can…

Peace Members and Friends,  This was an energizing week at Peace! Wednesday Bible studies, Confirmation studies, and Choir are in full swing. A group gathered to make quilts. Older adults met here at church for lunch and fellowship. Plans are being made for welcoming new members in October and, further out, for some of the biggest occasions of the year; Reformation and All Saints Sundays, Advent, and Christmas. Through all these events and plans life is given and life is…