By Pastor Bridget Sheely Racine/Wykoff/Sumner Center UMC Spring has sprung and summer is right around the corner. What a wonderful time of year! I can’t help but feel a sense of renewed life this time of year and as I drive through the countryside all the wonderful sights only confirm my senses. Newborn calves dot the landscape, flowers are waking from their winter … [Read more...]
Love finds a way
By Pastor Mark Woodward Maple Leaf Parish Churches: Spring Valley: Faith, Cherry Grove, Fountain, Preston (and Lenora) When I was ordained as a pastor, some very talented artists from my home church made a beautiful and inspiring banner. The banner depicted a crown of holly and a crown of thorns which represented the birth and crucifixion of Jesus. Red letters … [Read more...]
Pastor Devotions – From every nation under heaven
By Pastor Jeff Jacobs Unity Lutheran Parish - St. Paul, Saetersdal and St. Matthew’s, Granger Pentecost Sunday and Memorial Day were the same weekend this year. Pentecost celebrates the Holy Spirit’s outpouring on Jesus’ disciples and how “Jews from every nation under heaven” (Acts 2:5) first heard the Gospel proclamation. People from all over the Roman Empire and … [Read more...]
Pastor Devotions – Our hope in hardships
By Pastor Michael Harman St. Johns Lutheran Church and School Job 19. I know that my Redeemer lives, and at the last He will stand upon the earth. And after my skin has been thus destroyed, yet in MY flesh I shall see God, whom I shall see for MYSELF, and MY eyes shall behold, and not another! The Book of Job tells the history of a man whose faith was tested … [Read more...]
Rock of Ages, let me hide myself in thee
By Pastor Paul Hauschild Chatfield and Root Prairie Lutheran Churches In May 2018 I went hiking in Israel with a dear friend of mine. I’ve led a couple of group tours there with church groups (and will again in April 2024), but this time I wanted something unique. The main part of the hike was on the “The Jesus Trail,” a 40-mile hike from Nazareth (the hometown of Jesus) … [Read more...]
Peace be with you
Rev. Peter J. Haugen St. Paul Evangelical Lutheran Church On the evening of our Lord Jesus’ resurrection, the disciples are not rejoicing. They are so captivated by their own anxieties and worries that they have locked themselves in the Upper Room “for fear of the Jews” (St. John 20:19). Even worse, this is after St. Mary Magdalene has reported that our Lord’s tomb was … [Read more...]
A Pastor’s Wishes for Parents
By Rev. Deanna Woodward Maple Leaf Parish - United Methodist Churches of Cherry Grove, Fountain, Preston and Spring Valley Jesus said, “Let the children come to me and do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of Heaven.” Matthew 19:14 This time of year, we move into confirmation and graduation season—important milestones in the lives of young people and … [Read more...]
New life: Easter and spring
By Pastor Nissa Peterson Chatfield and Root Prairie Lutheran Churches One of the things I love so much about spring is watching as different plants begin to sprout and grow. It starts with my daffodils, irises, and tulips. Then the grass begins to green, and buds on trees slowly begin to become leaves. It always feels like a miracle to have new growth and new life after a … [Read more...]
The cross was NOT the end!
By Pastor Pam Seebach Harmony, Mabel, and Newburg United Methodist Churches On the last page of most good stories, you will find the words ‘The End’ prominently printed following the final sentence of the story. This is fitting because every book or story eventually ends. Even Tolstoy’s 1,225-page book “War and Peace” eventually arrives at the end – no more story. Jesus’ … [Read more...]
Now what?
By Pastor Kevin Barnhart Spring Grove Evangelical Free Moment follows moment, day follows day, as you get older, they can start to fly by so quickly you can barely keep track. Events and time move quicker than we can process all that is happening, so we don’t process. We keep our head down, reduce our focus to things that impact us directly and yet more and more of life … [Read more...]