The Amazing Way of God, September 3rd Worship

God’s way is often very different than what we might imagine. Jesus willingly went to the cross when His disciples could not see what that would accomplish. His sacrifice made the way that leads to our salvation. Jeremiah too was surprised by God. Jeremiah doubted the Lord's intentions but God still promised to deliver and redeem him.  St. Paul tells us in Romans how it is that what looks like a loss can be the very way in which we gain something from God. Our God is awesome, surprising, and amazing. We pray for His Spirit that we may be able to follow his way.

God is Our Rock, August 27th Worship

Rocks provide security and stability. God's Old Testament people were called back to the faith of Abraham, their ancestral "rock." Jesus promises that He will be the Rock for all those like Peter who confess His name. When given a rock solid foundation to build on we can build lives that really work and feel right. From that rock we can only marvel at God's infinite grace and eternal might, and say with St. Paul, "To Him be glory forever. Amen."

God's Great Mercy, August 20th Worship

Today we see a Canaanite woman come to Jesus to plea for her daughter's well-being.  No one probably expected Jesus to give them much attention.  Instead Jesus is filled with compassion and mercy for them.  God has abundant mercy for everyone who calls upon Him in faith.  This means we can be bold with God and confess out needs, faults and failures. So great is God's mercy that from Him we can be inspired to be merciful and care for the people in our lives. 

Courage in Almighty God, August 13th Worship

Every day we run up against our limitations. We get tired. Despite our greatest ambitions we can find ourselves coming up short of what we would have liked to accomplish. In contrast God has no limitation. He can walk on water. He can create a splendid world out of nothing. He can even declare us holy and set apart simply because He wants to. We are not alone if we struggle with understanding the nature of God. We join Peter and Job, and Paul who all were amazed to see that indeed, God has no limitation. In Him we can have courage.

God's Surprising Sustenance, August 6th Worship

During the summer months we can all relate to a group of people who had gotten thirsty and hungry. Jesus suddenly produces a reviving lunch. This miraculous feeding affirms God's generous and daily provision for all our needs.  Daily, He sustains His whole creation and feeds us with what we need for body, soul, and mind. On the day Jesus fed the crowd He showed us that He understands who we are as complex creatures with a variety of needs. Today we celebrate with wonder the surprising ways in which our God cares for us in the complex circumstances and needs we face. 

The Treasure of God's Love, July 30th Worship

God’s Word gives us an amazing array of statements about the love of God. “Nothing in all creation will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus.”  God is “keeping his covenant of love to a thousand generations.” Jesus tells us several parables trying to convey that this love is the greatest of treasures in all the world. He wants us to embrace the idea that knowing God’s love is the most vital thing for each of us. It makes an eternal and infinite difference in every way and in everything.

God of the Wheat and Weeds, July 23rd Worship

Jesus saw the farm fields around him as a place of drama. In many of his parables Jesus would point to those fields to illustrate the essence of God’s relationship to His Creation. Today as we consider the Parable of the Weeds we hear from Jesus that God plans a day of reckoning or judgment in which all things will be made accountable to Him. At this harvest of sorts God alone gets to decide what will be saved and what will be discarded. This means that all of our ideas about who deserves what must be subject to God’s standard of what is fair and just. Perhaps today we should ask, if God should send His angels out to cut the harvest tomorrow what would they find in our homes or hearts: wheat or weeds? Thankfully in his great love and compassion Jesus guides us to the harvest in the triumph he has won for us.

Growing in the Father's Care, July 16th Worship

What does it take to keep something growing in your backyard? This time of year we battle the heat, insects, hungry animals, and weeds, to keep things growing. So too in our hearts the things of the Spirit must be carefully tended if we want them to grow and thrive. The ground of our hearts might be hard-packed, rock-infested, and thorn-choked. But God’s merciful Spirit creates fertile, receptive soil in which small, new life finds purchase, takes root, and bears much fruit. Today we confidently celebrate God’s attentive care as beloved sons and daughters we cry out, “Abba! Father!”

Jesus, Refuge of the Weary, July 9th Worship

Summer is a busy time. Especially in Minnesota, our motto for summer is “go for it, you can rest in winter!” But sooner rather than later we all need to address the question of what it is that truly gives us rest. Jesus invites us to find our real rest in Him. In His sacrifice on the cross and His resurrection from the grave Jesus covers us in infinite and eternal rest. Even in the busyness of summer Jesus is our real rest. That is worth celebrating.

Our God is Strong to Save, July 2nd Worship

As we mark this 4th of July celebration we remember the many ways in which our lives have been made great by the efforts of others. As Christians we savor this all the more as we hold fast to the wonderful news that the battle has been fought and the price has been paid by our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, that we may have freedom from sin, eternal death, and the devil. Today we hear Jesus speak about the reality of what will bring us peace and freedom forever