Blogs And Devotionals (Page 25)
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.…
CYF Blast & Family Tip Of The Week December 22, 2022
December 22, 2022 Dear Peace Families, Christmas blessings, from all of us at Peace to you. First, I would like to take a moment to thank everyone who helped make this past Sunday’s Christmas Program possible. It was such a joyous morning, and the Sunday School children did an amazing job singing, acting, and sharing the Christmas story and the love of God. As I mentioned on Sunday and wrote in the bulletin, it took a great team to bring…
E-Note December 17, 2022
December 16, 2022 Dear Peace members and friends, I’m looking forward to Sunday and one of the highlights of the year: the Children’s Christmas program (9:30am). Actually it’s more than that! It’s less a program than it is worship. The participants are not only children, but the Peace Choir and all of us gathered together. And it still is Advent, but we get to hear the Christmas story told and sung about by the children of the congregation. They have been working hard on their parts and they are…
CYF Blast & Family Tip Of The Week December 16, 2022
December 16, 2022 Dear Peace Families, This Sunday will be a very special one—the Peace Christmas Program. This year’s program is called Follow The Star, and there will be 31 Sunday School students participating, including our 11 Alleluia Singers. They’ve been doing a wonderful job rehearsing and preparing, and we are so excited to praise God with you on Sunday. They will share the Christmas story through music, scripture, and costume, and they’ll be joined by the Peace Choir’s participation—and yours…
Blue Christmas Service 2022
December 13, 2022 Dear Peace Members: Here is a reminder about tomorrow night’s Advent worship service at 6:30pm. It’s a special service called, “Those Who Dream…Are Not Alone.” If you are undecided about whether to come, here are a few reasons to be there: I hope you can join us! Tomorrow night, 6:30pm. Grace and Peace, Mark
E-Note December 9, 2022
December 9, 2022 Dear Peace members and friends, It’s Advent. And church doesn’t get much more joyful than these last couple of weeks of Advent and Christmas as we anticipate hearing the proclamation of the Christmas angel: “….I bring you good news of great joy for all the people: to you is born this day….a Savior……” And yet we know, joy isn’t easy. We don’t feel joy all the time (even at this time of the year!) Joy is something that…
CYF Blast & Family Tip Of The Week December 8, 2022
December 8, 2022 Dear Peace families, This year I’ve waited a little bit longer than usual to listen to Christmas music. I’m not sure if there was any specific reason for it—I just wasn’t ready yet. But when I did start to listen, I noticed something—that the music always seems to meet us wherever we are in our lives and proclaim Christ’s presence, promise, and peace into them. Presence—that God will not leave us alone in our deepest challenges nor…
E-Note December 2, 2022
December 2, 2022 Dear Peace members and friends, Coming up is the Second Sunday of Advent. We will again light candles on the Advent wreath. It’s a tradition, created by a German pastor in the 19th century as a way to teach children about the coming of Jesus Christ. The tradition traces back to 1833 in Hamburg, Germany. Johann Hinrich Wichern opened the “Rauhe Haus,” the Rough House, which sheltered orphaned or neglected children. Every night of Advent, he told them stories, prayed, and lit a…