Text: Isaiah 1:10-20 This morning’s scripture… wow. These are the words God speaks to the prophet Isaiah as he is called into service. This is the message that Isaiah is called to shared with the kings and rulers of Israel, the children of God. God, who created them… God, who rescued them from slavery in…
Wheat & Tares
the church in the world: mission, justice, good news
Staying Awake
Scripture: Acts 2-:7-12 This afternoon, our Volunteers in Mission, VIM Team will head to Omaha. Maybe you could already see the sleeping bags, luggage and tools outside our main entrance as you came in to worship this morning. We’ll pack everything up, get everyone securely in the vehicles, and head out. And pray that our…
You Are Family
As a child, when I feel down and skinned my knee, there was nothing I wanted more than to be held in the arms of a parent. Their soothing words helped me to know that this moment of crisis was only temporary and that I would be okay. When I was a bit older, I…
Do What Is Good
I think in many ways it is a cruel irony that as we begin our Lenten series on heroes that our first pop culture example is the Dark Knight, Batman. As a young boy, Bruce Wayne was a victim of gun violence. In a dark alley, his parents were gunned down by a thief in…
Ashes and Prayers
A colleague, Elizabeth Dilley, shared the story of imposing ashes on the foreheads of children. As she made the sign of the cross on one little boy’s forehead, “From dust you came and to dust you shall return,” his mom bent over and whispered in his ear, “But not for a really long time, okay…
The Wealth in our Wallets instead of the Well-being of the World
This afternoon I watched the United States join two nations… Syria and Nicaragua… in being the only three nations in the entire world that are no longer signers of the Paris Climate Accord. As I listened to the justifications, what I heard over and over again was the mention of a few economic sectors that…
The Hope of the World is Us
The President of the United States is currently weighing whether or not to withdraw our nation from the Paris climate accord. Political leaders within our country are skeptical about the science behind climate change and its causes. One congressman said this past week: “As a Christian, I believe that there is a creator in God who is…
The Electoral College… a view from 17 year old me.
My husband and I were talking about the electoral college and our shared frustrations about it. I’ve felt this way for a very very long time. The following is a letter I sent to Senator Grassley in the spring of 1999… and I still had a copy of it saved on my computer! That summer I…