E-notes (Page 9)

Dear Peace Members and Friends, Tomorrow night, we continue Midweek Lenten Worship series with Holden Evening Prayer and the theme, “Lessons from the Desert.” As you remember, “God led the people by the roundabout way of the of the wilderness toward the Red Sea (Genesis 13:18).” Apparently though, there are no short cuts or straight lines out of Egypt. On the way from slavery to freedom one might very well have to follow the roundabout way, what Robert Frost knew as the road less travelled. It is…

Dear Peace Members and Friends, I look out my window and see the snow coming down—again! I hope that all of you are managing in the continuing winter. And I know one way to help you cope with later-Winter blues: join us for worship on Sunday! It’s the Third Sunday in Lent (10:45am). We’ll read together the famous (and complicated) story of Jesus meeting the woman at the well. I’ll have a message about the life-giving good news of the story entitled, “Say, ‘I Do’.” The Peace…

Dear Peace Members and Friends, Last week, we began our Midweek Lenten Worship series with Holden Evening Prayer and the theme, “Lessons from the Desert.” We started with the Hebrew people, freed from slavery in Egypt, and through the Red Sea. Now they were on their way to the Promised Land. But not so fast! They were in the desert. They could have gone on the other road—literally; the road called the “Way of the Philistines,” with water, rest stops, and restaurants along the way. But…

March 3, 2023 Dear Peace Members and Friends, It was wonderful to see so many of you here at Peace this last Wednesday for Lenten worship and fellowship. To spend a few moments in our busy days visiting around the dinner table; to worship in the quiet and dusk of the sanctuary with Holden Evening Prayer—well, it was a life-giving evening. Thank you. I’m looking forward to this Sunday, the Second Sunday in Lent. The children—the Alleluia Singers—will be singing (our thanks to Ben Hanson for leading this terrific group…

Dear Peace Members and Friends, Lenten Midweek worship and fellowship begins tomorrow night with worship at 6:30pm, preceded by dinner being served, beginning at 5:30pm! One of the purposes of Lent is to focus our lives on following Christ all the way to the new life that his resurrection announces and offers us. One of the important questions of the season is, “What do I need to leave behind to experience this new life?” One tried and true way to…

Dear Peace Members and Friends, I hope all of you are well getting around after another bout with snow and wind. Take heart! The days are getting longer! Spring is coming! In the meantime, be careful out there! This Sunday begins a new season of the church year: Lent. And along with the calendar shift come changes in worship: new color (purple); new parts of worship (a sung confession, petitionary prayer, hymns, and Communion setting); and new readings (Scripture pointing us to who God…

Dear Peace Members and Friends, Our Epiphany sermon series, “Jesus Rediscovered” concludes Sunday with the question: “Why Jesus?” With Bible readings from Galatians and John’s Gospel in hand, Pastor Joe will remind us why God gave us Jesus and what it means for our following him. We will also receive new members, Jim and Carolyn Bergum, Marcia Craig, and Mona Gerike. Join me in welcoming them to Peace this Sunday! Following worship, the Education Hour will start (10:45am), and we’ll continue with the series, “On Faith and Justice with ‘A Peace…

Dear Peace Members and Friends, I’m looking forward to being back in worship with you on Sunday. We will continue our Epiphany worship series, “Jesus Rediscovered.” We have made our way through just some of the different Jesus’ that I, and maybe you, have known: friend, teacher, Savior, Lord, and way. This Sunday, we’ll look at another Jesus; “Jesus….As Presence.” What does it mean to say, Jesus is “present”? How do we experience Jesus’ presence? I’ll say more on Sunday. Following worship, the Education Hour will…

Dear Peace Members and Friends, On Sunday in worship we will continue with our sermon series, “Rediscovering Jesus.” We have looked at Jesus as Friend, as Teacher, and as Savior. This weekend, Pastor Joe will continue the series with a message entitled, “Rediscovering Jesus: Way.” Pastor Joe writes, “There are so many ways we can describe Jesus, but what do we do when other people misunderstand our beliefs about Jesus? How do we respond when preconceived notions about what we believe…

Dear Peace Members and Friends of Peace, I want to first thank the many of you who responded to Wednesday’s email and its urgent call to help clothe, in this cold, cold weather, some Ecuadoran refugee students who will begin school in Bloomington next week. I also want to thank those who have answered the call for the need of infant diapers at VEAP (and John Sandness’ great joke to inspire that effort. You had to be there in worship last week. It was good!). In the name of Christ,…

Dear Peace Members and Friends, In 1966, Minnesota musician Bob Dylan in an interview reported that he had “done everything I wanted to do.” “So, to what do you have to look forward?” Dylan responded: “Salvation. Just plain salvation.” When the interviewer pressed him further about what he meant by “salvation,” Dylan said, “I’d also like to start a cookbook magazine….I want to referee a heavyweight championship fight.” I’m not sure if Dylan’s answer was tongue-in-cheek (I suspect so!), but…

January 13, 2023 Dear Peace Members and Friends, I started kindergarten sometime around 1960 or ’61. My Mom brought my twin brother and me to (now long gone) St. Patrick Church school on 102nd Street between Xerxes and Penn Avenues. This was a whole new experience. Now I had a desk and I had to sit in it. There were rules on how to behave (I spent some quiet time in the hallway!). That fall, Sunday School changed, too. Now there…