So often we refer to the Lord’s Prayer as the prayer that begins “Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name.” In fact, we pray that prayer together every Sunday as a part of our worship service. It was the prayer that Jesus gave his disciples in Matthew 6 in response to their …
The Front Porch December 24, 2021
Indeed, a pronouncement that would change the world forever. Though maybe not in the way many had hoped for and prayed. They had longed for a Savior that would set things right. Topple Roman rule and oppression. Restore what had been lost. Crown a new king. But the birth of Jesus didn’t seem to do …
The Front Porch December 9, 2021
We Protestants sometimes shy away from giving too much attention to Mary. Too often we think of that as a ‘Catholic thing’. I think it surprised some people (and maybe even turned off some people) to see that this year’s Advent Devotional is entitled “I Am Mary”. Each of the daily devotions is written from …
The Front Porch November 25, 2021
Thanksgiving is more than an annual holiday. It is a spiritual discipline. Truth be told, we don’t always feel thankful. This has been another challenging year for all of us, but some have suffered more than others. We hosted a memorial service last Saturday for a victim of Covid-19. David was a father of a …
The Front Porch November 11, 2021
When I was young I didn’t like to pray out loud. By nature I am an introvert, so I didn’t even really like talking, let alone praying in front of other people. Ministry stretched me out of my comfort zone. Both talking and praying were part of the job description. I’ve become much more comfortable …
The Front Porch October 28, 2021
For many years our church has hosted events on Halloween to open our doors a little wider to the neighbors of our community (that is until Covid-19 put a damper on bringing together large groups of people). The tradition started when Halloween happened to land on a Sunday evening at a time we had an …
The Front Porch September 23, 2021
Life can be fragile. Life can also be random. We were reminded of that this week when a twin-engine Cessna fell out of the sky in Santee crashing into a neighborhood. Amazingly only the pilot and a UPS driver were killed. The UPS driver was Steve Krueger. By all accounts he enjoyed his job, he …
The Front Porch September 23, 2021
We often refer to the church as our “family of faith”. And with good reason. Many of us are deeply connected to one another. Often in ways we are not connected to our own families of origin. The families we grew up in don’t always understand us. And they don’t always appreciate our faith, which …