I know many of us have been struggling with the news, with the world these days. The violence and destruction are overwhelming, and they threaten to paralyze us. How do we move forward in such a world?
Daily Lenten Prayer
Sermon: Ash Wednesday
I’ve been meditating regularly. Back in Advent, and even just a few weeks ago, I thought I was doing well. I like doing things well. Each evening, I would sit on the pillows in my meditation room and spend 10 minutes following the directions of a guided meditation from the app Insight Timer. More recently, I was sitting in a chair each morning for 10 minutes engaged in a morning meditation from the same app. Then, one day a couple weeks ago, a friend asked: what’s your goal in meditation? I realized I didn’t know the answer to the question.
Ashes to Go!
Grace Vine: February 2018
Why don’t we use alleluias during Lent?
Learn about the background of why the church omits this word during Lent and why some congregations “bury” it. View a PDF from the ELCA explaining why.
ELCA Directory is now online
The 2018 ELCA Yearbook is now online and known as the ELCA Directory, directory.ELCA.org. Just as the printing press changed the world during Martin Luther’s time, so are the digitization of data and the internet changing the way we publish and access information.
Living Lutheran – 'The millennial mystery'
Millennials, known as people born between 1982-2000, are the largest living generation in the U.S., but you won’t find many of them at church. According to a Pew Research study, both the church and other member-based institutions aren’t being embraced by millennials like the institutions were by previous generations. But this doesn’t mean millennials aren’t seeking out community. In Living Lutheran’s cover story, hear from millennials on why they've stayed in the church, left the church or how they’re looking for spiritual nurture.
Bishop Younan honored
Synod Congregational Spotlight: Esperanza Lutheran Church
Esperanza Lutheran Church has had four primary mission partners, two local and two global: Habitat for Humanity (22 homes as part of the SE Valley Lutheran Coalition), the Kyrene Family Resource Center, Feed My Starving Children and the Meera Primary School in Tanzania.
Living Lutheran: ‘Form a faithful foundation’
The January Living Lutheran cover story centers on the topic of faith formation as it relates to leadership and how our baptismal covenant is one way to explore this. Read the full article here.
How will you lead?
Sermon: 1/28/18
The news this week is full of images of destruction. Destruction—due to biological processes beyond our control, Mother Nature, hatred and misunderstanding, desperation, abuse of power, and I don’t even know what. Images of destruction that stand in stark contrast to the destruction employed by Jesus in today’s gospel.
Serving Your Neighbor through Circles of Care
Want to help your (literal) neighbor? The Area Agency on Aging connects senior citizens who need support with neighbors who can transport them to medical appointments, provide friendly visits and support, and regularly call to check in. If you or a small group of people are interested in reaching out to a neighbor, please call 602-264-4357 or caringcircles@aaaphx.org. You can also pick up a packet of information, including a volunteer application, from the back of the sanctuary or the church office.
Sermon: 1/21/2018
Following Jesus is the part of Christianity I find most compelling. Weekly worship, Bible study, even believing certain things, these for me are not as compelling as Jesus’ call to follow. I imagine where Jesus’ disciples, his original followers, went when they followed Jesus. I imagine the people they met and with whom they spent their time. I imagine their lifestyle. I imagine their surprise and hesitancy to follow at times because of the outrageous things Jesus did. And imaging all this makes me laugh because it in no way resembles the lives of most Christians here and now.
