This Advent season I am going to reflect on a hymn or carol daily as part of my spiritual practices. I am not sure where all these reflections will take me, but in conversation with my spiritual director, I am going to leave room for both “the head stuff” and “the heart stuff.” Some days might be more of one or another. I invite you … Continue reading Once in Royal David’s City- an Advent devotional for Dec. 12, 2017
This morning I had the great joy to be with the good people of Salem Lutheran Church in Fremont, Nebraska. I am especially grateful for the warm welcome and invitation from Pastor Chip Borgstadt. The sermon for today was based on the appointed lectionary readings from Matthew 16:13-20, and Romans 12:1-8, and what follows is the majority of the manuscript that I preached from. Grace … Continue reading “Who do you say that I am?”- and the stewardship of relationships
In baptism and the affirmation of baptism, we profess our faith together like we do most weeks in worship. But unlike our usual profession of faith, which usually involves some proclamation of a creed or statement of belief, in the baptism and affirmation of baptism liturgies, the creed is prefaced with three questions. The presiding minister begins, “I ask you to profess your faith in … Continue reading I renounce…
Happy August! Can you believe it’s already August? Where has time gone? I guess that makes sense, since I’ve been having so much fun, there haven’t been any links in about a month. Well, hopefully you enjoy this week’s offering. Tuesday on the blog generally means that it is time to share some links to things that I have read and found interesting over the past … Continue reading This Week’s Links
My Great Aunt Sophie Ommedal passed away earlier this week at the impressive age of 100. Sophie had just celebrated her birthday a week and a half earlier. Sophie was impressive, to say the least. She graduated valedictorian, one of many in her extended family. She served as an organist and church musician, also one of many in her extended family. She lived the longest … Continue reading Great Aunt Sophie
On Wednesday March 15th, I was invited to lead worship and preach at St. Mark’s Lutheran Church in Valley, Nebraska. For their mid-week Lenten series, they are reflecting about people of faith, and the focus for the evening was on Abraham. I was invited to preach on Hebrews 11:1, 8-22, and to share thoughts about stewardship. What follows is the majority of the manuscript that … Continue reading Faith Like Abraham- Stewarding God’s Promises, Seen and Not Seen
Today is my Dad’s birthday. I have already had a great phone call conversation wishing him a happy day today, and last week we got to celebrate a week early in person with a wonderful steak dinner out in Nebraska. But today, in honor of my Dad’s birthday, I want to share some personal reflections about my family. As I look proudly and gratefully at … Continue reading My Family- Happy Birthday Dad!
The following is a portion of a blogpost that I wrote that appears on the COMPASS blog. Please enjoy this sample, and then read the whole post over at COMPASS. Student loans? Broken down cars? How am I ever going to pay this off? Those are some pretty normal reactions to debt, and ones we have heard a little bit about this past month on … Continue reading New Engine, New Tires & Luke – Faith in the face of debt
The following is the manuscript of the sermon I shared Sunday October 2nd at Messiah Lutheran in Aurora, Nebraska. The sermon was grounded in the appointed gospel lesson from the revised common lectionary, Luke 17:5-10; and included some reflection on the congregation’s stewardship theme, “Live Simply” based on 1 Timothy 6:18-19; as well as words of welcome and introduction in my role as Director for Stewardship … Continue reading Faith, Abundant Life, and Living Simply
I am in the midst of a two-week series leading my congregation’s confirmation class in thinking about money and stewardship. Part of the first session was to paint a picture about money, and some of what the Bible has to say about it. This week’s session will be more about what it means to be a steward and how that is part of our vocation … Continue reading Money Questions from Middle Schoolers
