By Pastor Nissa Peterson Chatfield and Root Prairie Lutheran Churches Today I bought Valentine’s cards for my kid’s school classes- because if I don’t buy them early, I’m making a frantic shopping trip Febuary 12 and nobody wants that. And even over a month before Valentine’s day, there was a whole aisle of red and pink choices — because the world is ready to talk about … [Read more...]
Winter carnival being held in Wykoff on Saturday, January 28 St. Johns Lutheran Church & School hosts annual carnival as part of National Lutheran Schools Week
St. Johns Lutheran Church and School invites the community to its annual Winter Carnival on Saturday, January 28 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. in the Wykoff Commons in Wykoff. The youth-oriented event will offer fun, games and activities, featuring multiple inflatable bouncy units and a balloon artist. St. Johns is hosting this event as part of National Lutheran Schools Week (NLSW), … [Read more...]
Life of a puppy
By Pastor Pam Seebach Harmony, Mabel, and Newburg United Methodist Churches My husband and I have a 1 ½-year-old black Labrador retriever; his name is Haka. Haka loves to do many things: play in the snow, play in the creek, play with the neighbor’s dog, … play just about anywhere and anytime! But Haka also loves to sleep. This morning, before he left for work, my husband … [Read more...]
New year, new goals…
By Pastor Kevin Barnhart Spring Grove Evangelical Free Everyone runs to the gym, memberships spike, diet plans soar, fitness coaches, life coaches, all kinds of new year’s resolutions are being planned right now as I type. Those are all good things; do them, stick to them. But what if this year, instead of a new goal, we all grabbed hold of an ancient promise, a past … [Read more...]
A new year means new opportunities
By Pastor Stuart Weist First Baptist Church of Preston We have come to the time of year again when many people make plans for the coming year. Resolutions generally at the top of the list are to lose weight, improve wealth, spend time with family, complete education, etc. But, what about your faith? Where is your relationship with the King of Kings and Lord of Lords? As a … [Read more...]
The lanyard
By Rev. Debra Jene Collum Chatfield United Methodist Imagine for a moment, a gift you received from a child: a grand child, a son or daughter, a niece or nephew, a neighbor child. Think carefully. What did it look like? Was it a clay mug with a misshapen handle? A leather key fob made at camp with the word “mom” crookedly stamped on to it? Or a cross made from macaroni and … [Read more...]
Good News
By Pastor Mark Woodward Maple Leaf Parish Churches: Spring Valley: Faith, Cherry Grove, Fountain, Preston (and Lenora) Please take a moment and look at the Nativity Scene pictured here... take a moment to consider the Good News of the birth of our Savior Jesus... This is the Good News of Christmas...John 3:16 reminds us that God sent his only Son out of love for the human … [Read more...]
Rushford church inspires “deeper meaning of Christmas” with live Nativity
“Last year, my husband and I had the wonderful opportunity to take a lovely drive down to Rushford to experience the Nativity at Root River Community Church. We could imagine ourselves coming from other parts of Israel to go to Bethlehem. We heard the news of something quite mysterious and we wanted to see and hear for ourselves,” recalled Julie Miller. She had attended the … [Read more...]
Pastor Devotion – “In the Bleak Midwinter”
By Pastor Mark Woodward Maple Leaf Parish Churches: Spring Valley: Faith, Cherry Grove, Fountain, Preston (and Lenora) I love to walk in the woods. I love to listen to the birds. I love to hear the wind blow through the trees. I love the beauty and wonder of God’s Creation. The other day I went for a walk and in a field near our house a deer was standing quietly in the … [Read more...]
Pastor Devotion – So hard to have faith
By Pastor Jeff Jacobs Unity Lutheran Parish - St. Paul, Saetersdal and St. Matthew’s, Granger A colleague of mine was once on a mission trip in Mexico. While there, he visited an impoverished woman who, through an interpreter, talked about her life. Then at one point, she expressed how sorry she felt for Americans. My colleague was surprised, to say the least, as he … [Read more...]
