This faith community began in the 1920s , as the neighborhood of Beaverdale was starting to rapidly grow. Reverend Orf, the pastor of Crocker Hill UMC, recognized the growing need for a church presence in this area and so area churches banded together for a committee, remodeled an old farmhouse, and on Easter Day, 1925…
Kenotic Words
worship, sermons, lectionary
Lessons for the Journey
Last winter, my immediate family planned a trip to Hawaii to escape the cold and the snow. We often like to travel all together, but because of my weekend work responsibilities, the rest of the family took off earlier, while Brandon and I stayed here in Iowa to get through church on Sunday morning and…
The Heart of the Matter
For the past couple of weeks, I’ve had this strange sensation in my neck. To me, it feels like my pulse is a bit off of rhythm, like occasionally it skips a few beats, or does a few too many in a row. It isn’t a constant thing, and it was pretty random until Thursday. …
Sermon on the Mount: The Golden Rule
My sister-in-law has been staying with us all week while she completed a training here in Des Moines for her work place. It was really nice to come home in the evenings and to be with not only my husband, but both of his siblings every evening. We relaxed, had nice meals together, caught up…
The Sermon on the Mount: Lord’s Prayer Lessons
This morning in worship, we built our entire service around the Lord’s Prayer, using songs and brief meditations to help us focus on the various parts of the prayer itself. Below are the three meditations: Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven Our Father, who art in…
Sermon on the Mount: Jesus’ Version of the Law
When we head back home to Cedar Rapids, one of the things that I like to do, as long as the weather is warm, is play disc golf at Jones Park. We always start at tee 15 – in part because the parking is better there on the hilltop pavilion, and there are bathrooms handy…
Sermon on the Mount: Blessed
This morning, friends, you and I find ourselves in a season called “Ordinary Time” That is the actual liturgical name for this time in the church year: Ordinary Time. And so, last fall, we decided to spend this Ordinary Time – this season between Christmas and Epiphany on the one side and Lent on the…
We Have Found the Messiah
“I am not the Messiah” That’s probably pretty obvious to all of you. Of course, I’m not the Messiah. But I wasn’t talking about me. These were the words of John the Baptist as he started his ministry. He was out there, talking to people about the coming Kingdom of God, preaching, inviting people to…