Evening Prayer

Dear Friends in Christ, Jesus said to them again,“Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you”(John 20:21). When Evangelical Lutheran Worship (ELW) was published back in 2006, I was serving as a parish pastor at St. John’s, Stony Ridge. We soon started...

It Starts with Small

Dear Friends in Christ, “And again, Jesus said,“To what should I compare the kingdom of God?It is like yeast that a woman took and mixed in withthree measures of flour until all of it was leavened” (Luke 13:20-21). It doesn’t always have to be big with flashing...

Fresh Expressions

Dear Friends in Christ, “Keep on doing the things that you have learned and receivedand heard and seen in me, and the God of peace will be with you” (Philippians 4:9). The Church in Philippi learned a lot from St. Paul. In Philippians 4:9, Paul reminds them of the...

A New School Year

Dear Friends in Christ, “You shall put these words of mine in your heart and soul,and you shall bind them as a sign on your hand and fix themas an emblem on your forehead. Teach them to your children,talking about them when you are at home and when you are away, when...

Wildflowers

Dear Friends in Christ, “Consider the lilies, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin;yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not clothedlike one of these” (Luke 12:27). Two weeks ago, we welcomed new neighbors on the east side of our house. Our old...