Blogs And Devotionals (Page 10)
E-Note July 26, 2024
Dear Peace Members and Friends, Thank you for both the meaningful and fun “Hymn Sing” last Sunday! You chose terrific hymns and you sang them wonderfully. Once again, I was reminded what a singing congregation Peace is! I’m already looking forward to this the next hymn sing. It will be a part of our Sunday worship on August 11th. Mark the day on your calendars! In this Sunday’s worship (9:30am), we, continue our sermon series, “Ordinary People in the Bible.” I would be willing to bet that…
CYF Blast July 25, 2024
Dear Families and Friends of Peace, Pastor Joe is on vacation this week after a whirlwind week in New Orleans last week! Given all the airline troubles, we are grateful that our group returned home as planned. It’s an exciting weekend ahead! Sunday afternoon, 11 Peace youth (4th-8th Graders) will head to Camp Wapogasset’s Youth Camp in Amery, WI for the week. The Peace youth are: Ellie Anderson, Ben Budz, Trevor Budz, Emery Byers, Kiya Losinski, Myla Macejkovic, Elsie Macejkovic, Asher Rogers, Ayla Rogers, and Grace…
E-Note July 19, 2024
Dear Peace Members and Friends, I’m looking forward to this Sunday’s worship (9:30am)! For one, we’re having a “Hymn Sing.” And that means during the portion of worship where we typically share in the Lord’s Supper, we will instead sing hymns that have been chosen by you—yes you. We’ll take a few minutes at the beginning of the service so you can look up your hymns. In the meantime, you might want to be pondering your hymn choice! In worship, we’ll also continue with our sermon…
CYF Blast July 18, 2024
July 18, 2024 Dear Families and Friends of Peace, We have been having a fantastic week at the ELCA Youth Gathering in New Orleans. Together, our group of 8 students and 3 adults have enjoyed exploring the city, boating on the bayou with the local ‘gators, and meeting 16,000 new friends from around the US. In their words, here are some of our favorite experiences from the trip so far: Please continue to keep us in your prayers as we…
E-Note July 12, 2024
Dear Peace Members, Yesterday, we had another gathering of older adults at church. It was terrific! I’ll say more in a moment. But first, let me remind you: Moses would have had a hard time getting a management job these days. As a matter of fact, he might have had a hard time getting any job. Why? Not simply because he was a murderer and a fugitive from the law, but he himself admitted he was a lousy speaker. Instead, God called him to be…
CYF Blast July 11, 2024
Beginning on Monday, 8 students and 3 adults will venture down to New Orleans for the 2024 ELCA National Youth Gathering. While there we will gather under the theme, “Created to Be,” inspired by Psalm 134:14, which states: “I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.” The Gathering staff explains the theme further: “We have been created to be ourselves. Created by the Holy One. Since the last time the ELCA came together for an ELCA Youth Gathering…
E-Note July 5, 2024
Dear Peace Members and Friends of Peace, I hope you having a good July 4th holiday week/weekend! This Sunday in worship (9:30am), we’ll conclude our current sermon series, “Following Jesus in Mark’s Gospel.” In the early chapters of Mark’s Gospel, Jesus has been teaching Discipleship 101 to his followers. Lessons have included the importance of both resting and remembering we belong to God; that we have, not only our own family but God’s family to bless and support us along…
E-Note June 28, 2024
June 28, 2024 Dear Peace Members, I know that a number of you are traveling this coming July 4th week (more about this celebration near the end of this e-note). God’s blessings on your travel, your reunions, your gatherings, and all your celebrations! This Sunday in worship (9:30am), we continue in our sermon series, “Following Jesus in Mark’s Gospel.” In Sunday’s Gospel scene, Jesus meets a desperate woman who has suffered from hemorrhaging for 12 years. She has not only…
CYF Blast June 27, 2024
June 27, 2024 Dear Families and Friends of Peace, It’s been a whirlwind of a week in our CYF ministries since you received last Thursday’s edition of the Blast. Last weekend, from Thursday to Sunday, Peace families attended Family Camp at Wilderness Canoe Base up in the Boundary Waters. And from Monday through today, we have been hosting Vacation Bible School every morning this week with our friends over at Community of the Cross Lutheran Church. During both events, discussions…
E-Note June 21, 2024
June 21, 2024 Dear Peace Members, Believe it or not, I was once a Boy Scout and scouting was, in part, about earning merit badges at summer camp. One of those awards was swimming. And one of the requirements for the badge was to pass a time test treading water. I was pushed off a dock and told, “Keep your head above water.” My fear? I was way, way in over my head. In Sunday worship (9:30am), we’re going to…
CYF Blast June 20, 2024
June 20, 2024 Dear Families and Friends of Peace, VBS begins on Monday, and it’s going to be an incredible week as we go deep sea diving in this year’s program, SCUBA! “Scuba” is our underwater-themed curriculum that has kids dive deep into an adventure full of faith-building fun. Throughout the week, students will travel with their crews to different stations that help kids to grow personally, relationally, and spiritually. Each of these activities will help teach us and show…
E-Note June 14, 2024
Dear Peace members and friends of Peace, Many years ago, I had the opportunity to attend a workshop about helping organizations discover their strengths. At the beginning of the workshop, the speaker asked us to finish this sentence: “The thing that is wrong with most organizations is…….” Then he said, “The answer that you have just given to this sentence is what you will be looking for before you begin working with a group. That is your point of view.…