Blogs And Devotionals (Page 25)
CYF Blast & Family Tip Of The Week February 2, 2023
Dear Peace Families, In about three weeks, the season of Lent will begin. When I shared this with our Confirmation class last evening, one student replied, “You mean like the lint that gets stuck in my belly button?” No, not that… Lent is the season that precedes Easter and is symbolic of the 40 days that Jesus spent wandering in the wilderness before beginning his ministry. Beginning on Ash Wednesday (February 22), we are reminded of our finite mortality as well as our…
E-Note January 27, 2023
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,…
CYF Blast & Family Tip Of The Week January 26, 2023
Dear Peace Families, This Sunday after worship, we will all gather together for the Peace annual meeting. During the meeting, we will review and rejoice in our 2022 ministries , elect new church council members, pass our 2023 budget, and hear some of the wonderful ways God is moving through our community. In addition, the annual report itself contains ministry reports from Pastor Mark and me; Council President Scott Moe; Treasurer Gayle Haugen; and from the Worship and Music Committee, CYF…
E-Note January 20, 2023
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…
CYF Blast & Family Tip Of The Week January 19, 2023
Dear Peace Families, On Sunday, eleven elementary aged students and their parents got to enjoy our annual communion class. While Peace gives communion to everyone who wants it—therefore we don’t have a “first communion” like many of us adults may have had in the past—this class gave students the opportunity to learn more about communion, why we do it, why it’s important, and where it comes from. The group also got to enjoy a meal together, do a taste test…
E-Note January 13, 2023
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…
CYF Blast & Family Tip Of The Week January 12, 2023
January 12, 2023 Dear Peace Families, Last week I shared with you that some of our camp registrations had opened, and as of this Sunday, January 15, all of our camp and trip registrations will be open for summer 2023. Camp Wapogasset provides students with the opportunity to come together with friends and neighbors from all across Minnesota and Wisconsin. Between the field games, water activities, bible studies, and campfire worships, it is a fast-paced experience filled with fun. Students currently…
E-Note January 6, 2023
January 6, 2023 Dear Peace Members, I hope you’re digging out from all the snow and staying warm! Meanwhile, I can think of no better way to begin the new year than to be able to look ahead this next month to our life and ministry together at Peace. Here are just a few examples: And that’s just in January! The start of a new year is an ideal time to jump into something new, to return, or to invite a friend or…
CYF Blast & Family Tip Of The Week January 5, 2023
January 5, 2023 Dear Peace Families, Over the few days, Minnesota has gotten plundered with snow, and winter breaks have been extended. So to help you think warm thoughts, I’m excited to share with you some opportunities for your students to enjoy the outdoors, grow in community, and grow in their faiths this coming summer. The summer schedule, in chronological order, is as follows: We hope that everyone will be able to participate and enjoy these events. If cost is…
E-Note December 30, 2022
December 30, 2022 Dear Peace Members, We’ll still be celebrating Christmas this Sunday in worship (9:30am). In the Christian tradition, dating back to at least 587, the 12 days from December 25 to January 5 were a time of celebration and joy recalling the stories of Jesus’ birth and the few stories that we still have about Jesus’ youth. Some are hard to imagine, such as Jesus, Mary, and Joseph fleeing King Herod and going to Egypt. Pastor Joe will…
CYF Blast & Family Tip Of The Week December 29, 2022
December 29, 2022 Dear Peace Families, Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! I hope you’ve all enjoyed quality time with friends and family, eaten good food, and rejoiced in the celebration of Christ’s birth. As we prepare to turn the calendar to 2023, I invite you and your families to look back and reflect on 2022. What were your favorite memories? What aspects of your life have brought you the greatest joy? What experiences brought you closer together as a…
E-Note December 22, 2022
December 22, 2022 “I am not alone at all, I thought. I was never alone at all. And that, of course, is the message of Christmas. We are never alone. Not when the night is darkest, the wind coldest, the world seemingly most indifferent. For this is still the time God chooses.” –Taylor Caldwell Dear Peace Members, As you likely know, the song “Silent Night” was famously written in the midst of a near disastrous Christmas Eve. The church organ broke down.…