Blogs And Devotionals
E-note December 13, 2024
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,…
CYF Blast December 12, 2024
Dear Families and Friends of Peace, Growing up as the son of a nurse, and having an occupation where I am around people and students a lot, I’ve always had a pretty good immune system and don’t often get sick. But once or twice a year, I’ll catch something that completely knocks me off my feet, and it takes much longer than I’d like to get back up. That happened last Thursday, causing me to miss Sunday worship and last…
E-note December 6, 2024
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…
CYF Blast December 5, 2024
Dear Families and Friends of Peace, This past Sunday was the first Sunday in the season of Advent—the four weeks that lead up to Christmas (similar to how Lent is the season that precedes Easter). For us, Advent is a season of hopeful expectation. Over 2000 years have passed since Christ’s birth, and we know what we’re going to celebrate on Christmas—that God came to us in the flesh, fully God yet fully human—through the birth of Jesus Christ, the…
E-note November 29, 2024
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…
CYF Blast November 28, 2024
Dear Families and Friends of Peace, Happy Thanksgiving to all! Today and this weekend, as you gather with family and friends, it’s my prayer that your time together would be filled with love, joy, and gratitude; that you would be able to enjoy laughter and smiles with everyone gathered at your tables, and that the thankfulness shared would fill you with faith, hope, and love. And as we give thanks for the blessings in our lives, I pray that our…
E-note November 22, 2024
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,”…
CYF Blast November 22, 2024
Dear Families and Friends of Peace, On Sunday our Confirmation students had their fall retreat. Aligning with the year’s theme, “What is Church?” we visited two ELCA congregations that are very different from Peace, and each other—Central Lutheran and Fabric, both in Minneapolis. Pastor Stephanie Friesen described Central’s history for us, saying: “The short story of Central is that we are a 107-year-old congregation that was started by 12 local, Lutheran businessmen who saw the need of a unified Lutheran church in Minneapolis. There…
E-note November 15, 2024
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…
CYF Blast November 14, 2024
Dear Families and Friends of Peace, This Sunday is Stewardship Sunday. And as I reflect on my personal and our communal stewardship of time, talents, and resources, one of my favorite aspects of our Sunday morning church services happens during the offering—it’s the children’s offering. Each week it is a delight to see the children come forward to participate in this great act of generosity. Always with smiles on their faces, they joyfully bring gifts forward that glorify God–gifts that…
E-note November 8, 2024
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…
CYF Blast November 7, 2024
Dear Families and Friends of Peace, This past weekend we observed All Saints Sunday. It is a day in which we honor all the saints—past, present, and future—by remembering the dead and celebrating the baptized. And as Lutherans, we have a unique understanding of sainthood. While Catholics venerate exceptional individuals who have performed miracles or done amazing things with their lives, as Lutherans we believe that every person is a saint. Because it’s in the waters of baptism that we are sealed by the…