inspiration
A MESSAGE FROM BISHOP BILL GOHL OF THE DE/ME SYNOD
Posted on: Friday, June 5, 2020
Churches are essential, and provide gospel-driven essential work in feeding, clothing, accompanying and caring for the neighbor in need, the sick and sorrowing -- that work has continued, valiantly and faithfully, despite the pandemic. The return to in-person worship gatherings is being considered prayerfully, thoughtfully and contextually across our Delaware-Maryland Synod ELCA. We are moving slowly, and we're doing so out of love of God and neighbor. Be patient, dear church; be safe and be...
» Read moreEpiphany
Posted on: Sunday, January 5, 2020
We in the church often depict Epiphany as the season of light—a thunderous congratulations to the divine revelation of the Son (or Sun) of Righteousness. The entire journey of Christmastide, from the nativity to Epiphany, beckons us to marvel at the glorious, life-sustaining light of the Son of God that has come to earth.
» Read more'Tis better to give
Posted on: Sunday, December 22, 2019
’Tis better to give A mother is a person who, seeing there are only four pieces of pie for five people, promptly announces she never did care for pie.—Tenneva Jordan
» Read moreAdvent
Posted on: Monday, December 16, 2019
“The season of Advent means there is something on the horizon the likes of which we have never seen before… .What is possible is to not see it, to miss it, to turn just as it brushes past you. And you begin to grasp what it was you missed, like Moses in the cleft of the rock, watching God’s [back] fade in the distance. So stay. Sit. Linger. Tarry. Ponder. Wait. Behold. Wonder. There will be time enough for running. For rushing. For worrying. For pushing. For now, stay. Wait. Something is on the...
» Read moreWhere Can You Find Shelter?
Posted on: Wednesday, November 22, 2017
Here we are in that time of the year when storms come upon us often. We find that the weather person on the local news program is more important to us. If they say, grab your umbrella or raincoat we pay attention. Rain storms, thunderstorms, windstorms, tornados, storms of all kind cluster into this season of the year. We understand that is just the way it is with the weather; storms come, and you prepare for them as best you can. Life goes on.
» Read morePatience Anyone?
Posted on: Thursday, March 10, 2016
Have you noticed how we all tend to struggle with waiting? When we were little kids, Christmas day couldn’t come fast enough. Minutes seem like days when you are waiting to open presents under the tree! Even during this time of year, we impatiently wait for winter to end.
» Read moreTo Preach It Is To Live It!
Posted on: Friday, February 26, 2016
I am a preacher, a term I have never preferred but which I cannot deny. I preach anywhere from two to six times a week during the year so I am a preacher. As a preacher I sometimes wonder if anyone is really listening, if the words register and then I am confronted by the fact that indeed some do listen and one of those who always listens is none other than the one I attempt to preach about, Jesus !! How do I know? Let me tell you:
» Read moreI Am a Mainline Protestant Under the Age of 35. Yes, We Exist
Posted on: Sunday, October 25, 2015
I spend (most of) my Sunday mornings sitting in a pew at an Evangelical Lutheran Church in America congregation, singing old hymns, and reciting the Lord’s Prayer which I have had memorized since before I went to school.
» Read moreLife is Complicated: Handle with compassion
Posted on: Friday, October 23, 2015
I wish I could claim this line but it is from Rev. David Lose, President of the Lutheran Theological Seminary in Philadelphia where I attended and from which I graduated. Yes, life is complicated and that is probably not something new to you. Every day seems to prove this to be true.
» Read moreDon't Quit! Keep Going!
Posted on: Tuesday, September 8, 2015
In America, we have lost sight of one central truth that runs through the whole of the Bible and the whole of history, that is, that life is supposed to be hard. Do not for a moment, allow yourself to succumb to the unbiblical, unreal American ideal that life is supposed to be pain-free, comfortable and easy. Life is supposed to be hard!
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