On Your Mark ~ Get Set ~ Go!!!

On Sunday, September 10, we began our journey through the second year of the Narrative Lectionary.  We are so excited about the themes surrounding the weekly Bible stories that will shape our faith in the coming year.

This fall, as we hear about God working through people in the Old Testament, we will engage in the ways God works through people like us.  We will consider what it means to be ON YOUR MARK, celebrating the gifts with which God has already equipped each of us to serve.

In the winter, we will GET SET as we hear stories of Jesus’ life in Mark’s Gospel and notice how Jesus transforms people like us for God’s work.

Then in the spring, we will encounter stories of the Holy Spirit at work in the early church while we discover ways that the Spirit sends people like us to do God’s work.  The Spirit tells us to GO! 

 God does not call us simply to remember servants of the past or look forward to service one day in the future. Every day, God calls, transforms and sends us – HERE AND NOW!  On Your Mark!….. Get Set!….. And GO!!!

Weekly At-Home Devotions are available on the worship resource table for continued faith formation at home.  A digital copy is available here as well.  While our lives are busy with a multitude of activities, we pray that there are also moments throughout the week where you are reminded of the love of God and gift of faith.

While now known to arise from various factors related to biology, genetics, environment and personal preference, this non-conforming identity has historically been associated with the devil in the Bible, witchcraft among the pious, blasphemy by world religions, deviance, incorrigibility and perversion.  And through the years, those forced to conform have performed more poorly in school and work; suffered physical, mental and emotional illness; and endured the distress of social stigma from family, friends and the wider community.

These dynamics were once related to a non-conforming identity known as left-handedness, which gratefully today is largely accepted and affirmed within mainstream American social norms.  And now similar dynamics are at play for non-conforming sexual and gender identities.

So for the sake of caring for our neighbors and strengthening community, let’s do all we can to accept and affirm those too, especially given the tone of much public discourse on the topic these days.  Those non-conforming identities are, in essence, no less normal than being left or right-handed.

Next February I will be leading a Sunday School conversation for youth and adults on “Sexuality, Gender and the Church.”  If you are interested, please watch for details and join the dialog.

God’s Peace,
Pastor Steve

“What do you have that you did not receive?” asks the Apostle Paul (1 Corinthians 4:7). The world admires the “self-made man”, one who has started with little or nothing and has turned it into millions. While we should respect those who work hard and use their gifts wisely, we need to remember that it is God Who is the giver of those gifts and that God gives those gifts for a reason: “You will be made rich in every way so that you can be generous on every occasion, and through us your generosity will result in thanksgiving to God” (2 Corinthians 9:11). For more information about stewardship, please contact Max Buban at maxmbuban82@gmail.com.

For a printer-friendly version of this week’s news, please click Engaged by Grace Weekly 09102023

First Corinthians 15 has been called the Resurrection chapter of the Bible. It rings with the promises of God concerning our victory through Christ over death and our eternal life in Heaven with God. It ends with the command to stand firm in the Lord and to use our mortal lives in God’s service.  “Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain” (1 Corinthians 15:58).  This is our stewardship response to God Who has given us all we are and have.   For more information about stewardship, please contact Max Buban at maxmbuban82@gmail.com.

For a printer-friendly version of this week’s news, please click Engaged by Grace Weekly 09032023

Remembering that God owns everything prompts a remarkable shift in our view of stewardship. Usually when we think of stewardship, we define it as our giving to God or to the church something that belongs to us. However, stewardship is just the reverse, because it is our freely using, enjoying, and giving what already belongs to God (Psalm 50:9-12). The air we breathe, the water we drink, the land on which we live are all gifts from God. All that we have are gifts we enjoy our of God’s love for us. For more information about stewardship, please contact Max Buban at maxmbuban82@gmail.com.

For a printer-friendly version of this week’s news, please click Engaged by Grace Weekly 08272023v.2

We rejoice with the following young people who will make their public affirmations of faith on Sunday, August 27:  Olivia Berkemer, Kipton Darding, Madeline Fox, Marshall Reinke, and Abbie Thomas.  Thank you for supporting them thus far in their faith journey and please continue to do so in the years ahead!