Blogs And Devotionals (Page 27)
2/27/2023 Lenten Daily Devotional
Monday, February 27 Hebrews 2:10-18 10It was fitting that God, for whom and through whom all things exist, in bringing many children to glory, should make the pioneer of their salvation perfect through sufferings. 11For the one who sanctifies and those who are sanctified all have one Father. For this reason Jesus is not ashamed to call them brothers and sisters, 12saying, “I will proclaim your name to my brothers and sisters, in the midst of the congregation I will praise you.” 13And…
E-Note Febuary 24, 2023
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…
2/24/2023 Lenten Daily Devotional
Friday, February 24 Romans 5:12-19 12Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death came through sin, and so death spread to all because all have sinned— 13sin was indeed in the world before the law, but sin is not reckoned when there is no law. 14Yet death exercised dominion from Adam to Moses, even over those whose sins were not like the transgression of Adam, who is a type of the one who was to come. 15But the…
2/23/2023 Lenten Daily Devotional
Thursday, February 23 Genesis 2:15-17; 3:1-7 15The Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to till it and keep it. 16And the Lord God commanded the man, “You may freely eat of every tree of the garden; 17but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall die.”1Now the serpent was more crafty than any other wild animal that the…
2/25/2023 Lenten Daily Devotional
Saturday, February 25 Matthew 4:1-11 1Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. 2He fasted forty days and forty nights, and afterwards he was famished. 3The tempter came and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread.” 4But he answered, “It is written, ‘One does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’” 5Then the devil took…
2/22/2023 Lenten Daily Devotional
Ash Wednesday, February 22 Psalm 51:1-17 1Have mercy on me, O God, according to your steadfast love; according to your abundant mercy blot out my transgressions.2Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin.3For I know my transgressions, and my sin is ever before me.4Against you, you alone, have I sinned, and done what is evil in your sight, so that you are justified in your sentence and blameless when you pass judgment.5Indeed, I was born guilty,…
E-Note Febuary 17, 2023
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…
E-Note Febuary 10, 2023
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…
E-Note Febuary 3, 2023
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…
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,…
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…
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…